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Will HR and IT functions merge to reshape the role of the profession?

Steve Bridger

It's a bit of a provocative question, but not a hypothetical one.

In May, the huge biotech company Moderna merged its technology and HR departments under one executive, creating the new role of Chief People and Digital Technology Officer. This move reflected a broader push within the organisation to redesign work around human-AI collaboration (including the deployment of over 3,000 custom GPT agents to assist in - for example - performance management and benefits queries). We have discussed how the use of AI in recruiting is already rapidly accelerating that integration. AI in the workplace 

Is this a new trend - a fad that will blow over - or something that more organisations may adopt in the near future? 

This was another topic of discussion in this week's HR People Pod.

As the guests commented - this isn't about sticking two functions together to create a Frankenstein department - and HR will not be fixing employee laptops anytime soon - but the tywo functions already work closely - innovating, creating dashboards, etc. 

In few years ago a friend (who will remain nameless) rather harshly referred to the "cold hands of HR and IT". Can the two functions really merge together in err, warm embrace?

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  • I remember when you first posted this Steve, thinking that you were provoking an interesting debate, but that obviously the two departments had little in common. I have to admit, my thinking has shifted.

    If we don't get involved in the 'how' of work, the uncalculated drift to AI has the tantalising cost advantages and speed to recommend it (alongside all the risks and negatives identified above). We have to get involved, to ensure that the cost benefits are properly assessed, that technology enhances rather than replaces human thinking, and that we take a long-term view when we design our resources. I'm still an HR Director (rather than a People Director, and maybe I need to instigate that change), and while that's a different question it defines the people in our organisations as human resources. To strategically evaluate and deploy our resources effectively, we can't divorce the people from the technology. That genie is out of the lamp and doing its own thing. Instead we need to realistically measure the impact, identify and manage the risks and ensure that our staff teams understand the power of the tools they are using at pace.

    So my answer now would be that at a strategic level, I see real value in an organisation bringing its people and its technology together. However operationally, while I'm sure each team would get added value from a close working relationship with the other, I cannot see the skillsets required ultimately being similar enough to combine. My solution would be an overall directorate that combines, with aligned-but-separate specialists.
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  • I remember when you first posted this Steve, thinking that you were provoking an interesting debate, but that obviously the two departments had little in common. I have to admit, my thinking has shifted.

    If we don't get involved in the 'how' of work, the uncalculated drift to AI has the tantalising cost advantages and speed to recommend it (alongside all the risks and negatives identified above). We have to get involved, to ensure that the cost benefits are properly assessed, that technology enhances rather than replaces human thinking, and that we take a long-term view when we design our resources. I'm still an HR Director (rather than a People Director, and maybe I need to instigate that change), and while that's a different question it defines the people in our organisations as human resources. To strategically evaluate and deploy our resources effectively, we can't divorce the people from the technology. That genie is out of the lamp and doing its own thing. Instead we need to realistically measure the impact, identify and manage the risks and ensure that our staff teams understand the power of the tools they are using at pace.

    So my answer now would be that at a strategic level, I see real value in an organisation bringing its people and its technology together. However operationally, while I'm sure each team would get added value from a close working relationship with the other, I cannot see the skillsets required ultimately being similar enough to combine. My solution would be an overall directorate that combines, with aligned-but-separate specialists.
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