We have to admit, there's something a little ironic about bringing artificial intelligence into Human Resources.
After all, few business functions are as fundamentally human as HR. From recognizing potential and developing talent to navigating career aspirations and preparing future leaders, the decisions HR helps organizations make have a profound impact on people.
So, where does AI fit into the picture?
AI is already becoming a bigger part of how organizations operate. In fact, SHRM's 2025 Talent Trends research found that 43% of organizations reported using AI for HR tasks, up from 26% in 2024.
And perhaps nowhere is that question more interesting than in succession planning, where decisions about leadership potential, readiness, and opportunity can shape people's careers and the future of an organization.
At SuccessionHR, we believe AI absolutely has a place in Human Resources. But how we choose to apply it matters. Succession planning offers a particularly interesting example of where AI can add value, and where human judgment remains essential.
To understand AI's growing role in succession planning, we first need to consider how it's changing the way organizations operate and the skills they'll need from tomorrow's leaders.
According to the World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, employers expect 39% of workers' existing skills to change or become outdated by 2030.
For succession planning, that raises an important consideration: the skills that make someone a successful leader today may not be the same ones required five years from now. Organizations need leaders who can navigate uncertainty, adapt to emerging technologies, and guide their teams through constant change.
Yet succession planning often remains an annual exercise, focused on today's leadership requirements rather than anticipating what comes next. If leadership requirements are continuously evolving, our approach to identifying and developing future leaders needs to evolve, too.
Technology has already changed what's possible in succession planning. Purpose-built succession planning software gives organizations a centralized way to manage critical roles, assess successor readiness, track development, and gain visibility into leadership risk.
AI builds on that foundation, creating new opportunities to make succession planning more efficient, informed, and personalized. At SuccessionHR, we're putting these opportunities into practice through AI-powered capabilities that help organizations:
Across these applications, AI's value lies in helping organizations make better use of their information, providing relevant suggestions and supporting more informed decisions.
But as AI becomes more capable, it raises an important question: How much responsibility should we actually give it?
Should AI independently decide who deserves a promotion, who has leadership potential, or who should ultimately succeed a critical leader?
We don't believe those decisions should belong to AI alone.
Succession planning is deeply contextual. It requires an understanding of individual aspirations, organizational culture, business strategy, and leadership dynamics that may not be fully captured in a dataset.
An employee might look like the ideal successor on paper, but have no interest in taking on the role. Another might have tremendous potential that isn't fully reflected in their performance history.
There's also the risk of bias. If the data AI relies on reflects existing assumptions or unequal access to opportunities, those biases can carry through into the insights it provides. And when those insights influence people's careers and opportunities to grow, human oversight becomes essential.
At SuccessionHR, our philosophy is simple: AI should support the process. People should make the decisions.
That's the thinking behind how we've incorporated AI into our platform.
Whether it's suggesting development activities for a key role or recommending skills and competencies based on a job description, AI provides a starting point that leaders can review, refine, and apply to their organization.
But those suggestions are only one piece of the puzzle. Leaders still need to understand individual aspirations, assess potential, have meaningful development conversations, and take action to prepare people for future roles.
Because ultimately, better technology only creates value when it leads to better decisions and stronger leadership pipelines.
So, does AI belong in Human Resources? Absolutely. The key is being intentional about how we use it to help people do their jobs better, rather than simply automating more of what they do.
As AI continues to evolve, HR leaders have an opportunity to focus more on the work that requires human insight: engaging business leaders, understanding talent, strengthening development strategies, and preparing organizations for future leadership needs.
And because succession planning can't live with HR alone, that intelligence needs to support the people across the business who share responsibility for leadership continuity.
Ultimately, the measure of successful AI adoption shouldn't be how many decisions we've automated. It should be whether we're making better decisions, developing stronger leaders, and building organizations that are better prepared for what's ahead.
