Most HR teams still find answers the slow way: pull a report, find a benchmark, then call a specialist. Amy Farner, Executive Vice President at The Josh Bersin Company, believes that model is ending. In a conversation with UC Today, she laid out what agentic HR could look like by 2030.
TL;DR
Agentic HR tools will analyze problems and help teams act, not just answer questions.
Trusted, grounded content matters more than speed alone.
Real-time workforce data will change the CHRO role and how HR measures success.
What Does Agentic HR Look Like by 2030?
Agentic HR means AI that does practical work for HR teams. Farner says the field is moving past the question-and-answer model that made generative AI popular. HR professionals want help solving problems in their daily work, not just information. UC Today recently covered the same theme at AI workforce strategy at UNLEASH Paris, where speakers argued that job redesign and human skills matter more than the technology itself.
Why Does Trusted Content Matter More Than Speed?
The Josh Bersin Company built Galileo, an AI assistant for HR that the company says is the first of its kind. It draws on the firm's 25 years of research. Farner says trust was the foundation of that design.
Amy Farner said:
AI will confidently lie to you. You can ask any agent a question about HR topics, and it's going to answer. If that information is pulled from random internet content, you don't know if it's telling you the right thing to do. In HR, that is particularly critical because we are talking about people.
Can AI Make Learning Part of the Work?
Farner argues that employees rarely seek training for its own sake. They seek answers when a need arises, such as preparing for a hard conversation with a CFO. AI can connect learning to that moment.
Talking about content creation, Farner gave a concrete example from her own team. A storyboard that once took a week now takes 20 to 40 minutes, she said. A human instructional designer still reviews and refines the output.
How Will the CHRO Role Change With Real-Time Data?
The Josh Bersin Company's HR 2030 research describes a "super worker" network of HR leaders with real-time visibility across the organization. Farner says that visibility moves the CHRO beyond the org chart. Leaders can see skills, capacity, and opportunity, not just headcount.
Describing the shift, Farner said:
AI creates an opportunity for the CHRO to have visibility beyond the org chart, beyond the people, and now looking at not just who is there, but what are their skills? What is their capacity?
Will AI Actually Improve HR Metrics?
Farner expects time savings, but she sees a larger gain in what HR can now do. Talent acquisition is a clear example. Agentic screening can offer every candidate a faster, more consistent process, which can also reduce bias from inconsistent human screening.
