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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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  • Depends on the sector and org size but many organizations are transforming and the shifts are happening rapidly. The key question from the above isn't, "Who reports to who?" so much as it is, "Will HR be a strategic leader in the digital transformation of their organization's workforce?". Employee interaction with technology (AI enabled or not, and again, depending on the sector), is increasingly being viewed as an employee experience making employee engagement with tech a shared priority between the People and Technology functions.

    To a point made above, HR in many organizations have delivered the level of value to merit the "seat at the table". The question moving forward is about the value HR will continue to deliver for its organization in the midst of rapidly shifting working and technology paradigms- the impact of empowering value creation while prioritizing the humans who are at the center of it all. Those who seek to co-create this strategy will force-multiply their impact and protect/empower the people. Those who pit themselves against progress or prioritize maintaining HR's status quo, will wonder how they lost their seat. The driver behind the question in the OP isn't about reporting lines, its about HR's willingness to embrace an increasingly critical and expanded role in the future of strategic organizational leadership.
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  • Depends on the sector and org size but many organizations are transforming and the shifts are happening rapidly. The key question from the above isn't, "Who reports to who?" so much as it is, "Will HR be a strategic leader in the digital transformation of their organization's workforce?". Employee interaction with technology (AI enabled or not, and again, depending on the sector), is increasingly being viewed as an employee experience making employee engagement with tech a shared priority between the People and Technology functions.

    To a point made above, HR in many organizations have delivered the level of value to merit the "seat at the table". The question moving forward is about the value HR will continue to deliver for its organization in the midst of rapidly shifting working and technology paradigms- the impact of empowering value creation while prioritizing the humans who are at the center of it all. Those who seek to co-create this strategy will force-multiply their impact and protect/empower the people. Those who pit themselves against progress or prioritize maintaining HR's status quo, will wonder how they lost their seat. The driver behind the question in the OP isn't about reporting lines, its about HR's willingness to embrace an increasingly critical and expanded role in the future of strategic organizational leadership.
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