Generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence that can create new data instances resembling input data, unleashing the power of AI creativity. It can generate text, code, images, and more, opening up new possibilities for innovation and improvement. In this article, we explore how the leading HCM vendors harness generative AI to enrich their products and the advantages and challenges of this technology for HR professionals and employees.

Leader

SAP SuccessFactors

SAP has teamed up with Microsoft to use its generative AI models such as GPT-4 and DALL-E to enhance SAP SuccessFactors solutions. The integration aims to help organizations attract, retain, and develop their talent by addressing skills gaps.

SuccessFactor’s key generative AI features

  • The first innovation is embedding generative AI capabilities, in partnership with Microsoft, to enhance recruiting and learning processes and deliver personalized and bias-free experiences for employees.
  • The second innovation is introducing a talent intelligence hub that uses AI to build, maintain, and infer a skills portfolio for each employee and provide personalized recommendations for learning, mentoring, and career opportunities.
  • The third innovation is enhancing total workforce management functionality that integrates SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Fieldglass, and SAP S/4HANA Cloud to provide increased visibility and flexibility across employees and external workers.

SAP claims that its generative AI capabilities are innovative, scalable, and trustworthy. It also emphasizes its focus on ethics, customer trust, and emerging global regulation.

 

Workday

Workday has embedded AI and Machine Learning into the core of its platform —”delivering unrivaled business adaptability and competitive advantage to its customers”. One of its flagship products is Workday Skills Cloud, which helps organizations take a skills-based approach at every step of the talent lifecycle.

Workday’s key generative AI features

  • Skills Inference: This feature can read any text related to your work, such as your resume, job description, or feedback, and figure out what skills you have or need. It can also match your skills to Workday’s own database of skills, so you can see how you compare to others.
  • Skills Insights: This feature can give you useful tips and suggestions based on your skills data. It can help you find out what skills are in demand, what skills you need to improve, and what skills you can leverage for your success. For example, it can recommend learning courses or career paths that suit your skills, interests, and goals; or advise you on how to manage your talent based on your skills needs and availability.
  • Skills Verification: This feature can check and confirm your skills through tests or feedback. It can create relevant quizzes or ratings for your skills and rank them according to how reliable they are. For example, it can test your knowledge or ability on a certain skill; or ask for feedback or ratings from your colleagues or managers to verify your skill claims.

Workday claims that its AI features are unique, high-quality, and customized. It also emphasizes its honesty, data accuracy, and data organization as key strengths.

 

UKG

UKG is collaborating with Google Cloud to integrate its generative AI capabilities into UKG’s human capital management suite.  They use Google’s Vertex AI and combine it with their own AI models to “create more conversational interactions with its HCM solutions, augment employee requests with more relevant business insights, and support people managers with a deeper understanding of how business decisions can impact employee engagement “.

UKG’s key generative AI features

UKG didn’t announce any specific features, yet, “it’s still early days in the partnership” with Google. But they are working on “understanding intent behind requests (in app or for support), anticipating needs to surface additional helpful information or recommended actions, or fundamentally reimagining what it means to engage with software” and we can surely expect interesting news soon.

UKG is also very careful about protecting your data and using AI ethically. They are making sure that their AI applications respect your privacy and values.

 

Oracle

Oracle has recently introduced generative AI capabilities within Oracle Fusion Cloud Human Capital Management (HCM). The new capabilities are embedded in the existing HR processes and are technologically supported by the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) generative AI service. The objective of Oracle is to “drive faster business value, improve productivity, enhance the candidate and employee experience, and streamline HR processes”.

Oracle’s key generative AI features

  • Assisted Authoring: This feature helps you write better content and save time. You just need to give it a short hint, such as a draft title for a job posting or a performance goal, and it will write the rest for you. You can then review, edit, and approve the content as you like. Some of the things it can help you write are job descriptions and postings; clear and measurable goals; and helpful articles for HR tasks.
  • Assisted Recommendations: This feature gives you personalized suggestions based on what you like, do, and need. For example, it can recommend learning courses or career paths that suit your skills, interests, and goals; find the best candidates for open positions based on their skills and fit; or offer the best compensation packages based on market data and fairness.
  • Assisted Summarization: This feature helps you understand large amounts of information by giving you short summaries. For example, it can summarize employee feedback from surveys or reviews; highlight important insights from analytics dashboards; or provide executive summaries of long documents.

Oracle claims that its generative AI capabilities are enterprise-ready, secure, performant, and responsible by design. It is also supposed to give customers control of the data used by generative AI, ensuring privacy and compliance.

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What are the Reactions in the Market?

Generative AI is a hot topic in the HR world. It has sparked a lot of debate among HR experts and AI thinkers.

The recurring points of criticism

  • Generative AI may be unethical or harmful. Some people worry that generative AI may create content that is unfair, wrong, or misleading. This could hurt candidates or employees; or violate the rights or rules of existing content creators.
  • Generative AI may take away human control, creativity, or engagement. Some people think that generative AI may do things that humans should do themselves, such as making judgments, using intuition, or showing emotion. Or that it may make humans less involved or interested in HR processes.
  • Generative AI may cause problems for data quality, security, and governance. Some people fear that generative AI may produce data or content that is low-quality or irrelevant. This could mislead users to make bad decisions; or expose data that is private or valuable to risks or threats.

The recurring points of positive expectations

  • Generative AI will make work easier, faster, or better. Some people believe that generative AI will take care of boring or repetitive tasks; make HR processes quicker or simpler; or improve the quality or reliability of HR content.
  • Generative AI improves how candidates and employees feel. Some people say that generative AI can provide content that is tailored and interesting; suggest things that are useful and timely; or support learning and development opportunities that match individual skills and goals.
  • Generative AI opens up new possibilities and opportunities. Some people claim that generative AI will create content that is original and diverse; find hidden patterns or insights from data; or enable new ways of communicating or collaborating.
  • Generative AI will create new jobs. A controversial point with supporters saying that generative AI will create new demand and new businesses that we can’t imagine yet.
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Outlook for the Users of HCM Systems

Generative AI is a game-changer for the HR world. It will change how HCM systems work and how we use them, especially for big companies. On one hand, we will enjoy smarter and more personalized HR services and solutions. Generative AI will let us talk to HCM systems like we talk to people; get customized and helpful content and suggestions; and have quicker and easier HR processes. On the other hand, we will have to learn new skills and habits. Generative AI will ask us to work closely with machines; check and trust the quality and accuracy of generated content; and keep learning new things to stay ahead of the HR curve. Companies using HCM systems will have to weigh the pros and cons. Generative AI will give us many benefits but also some challenges. Organizations will have to make sure that generative AI is used ethically and responsibly; keep their employees’ data safe; and keep their human touch and creativity.

Generative AI is an amazing and exciting technology that will shake up the HR landscape. It offers many chances for innovation and improvement but also some worries and doubts. HR experts need to be ready for the impact of generative AI on their HR functions and processes through HCM systems. They can start by making their processes more adaptable, one by one.

  • Dr. Ralph Köppen
  • Managing Partner