Industrial Research Unit · Straits Institute for Applied AI
Applied AI in HR & People
Every entry is dated and traced to a named source: 53 deployments, 12 pieces of evidence of adoption, 9 regulations and 6 pieces of evidence of impact.
Walmart associates trained with OpenAI report a 27% gain in AI confidence
Walmart — Walmart associates who completed OpenAI courses gained 27% in AI confidence, Chief People Officer Maren Waggoner told the CNBC Workforce Executive Council Summit. Its first workforce AI survey of 2.1 million associates, run in June with 1.7 million-plus replies, found 77% of office-based staff keen on AI bettering work and 84% of US frontline associates at ease with digital tools. Free learning and certification with Google and OpenAI date back 13 months.
China's State Council issues 18 tasks to cushion AI's effect on jobs
General Office of the State Council — China's State Council General Office has published an Opinion listing 18 main tasks in six areas, a national blueprint for AI and employment policy. The document covers curbing AI-driven displacement, risk assessment, skills courses, AI-supported job services, protections for human-machine collaboration and early warnings, together forming labour-market safeguards for AI.
Men gain more jobs than women in AI-exposed US occupations, Pew finds
Pew Research Center — Men's employment rose 6.3% for each one-point step up an occupation's exposure score, against just 0.2% for women, in a Pew Research Center study of 480 jobs comparing 2017–19 with January 2023 to June 2026. In the most AI-exposed occupations, male headcount climbed about 24% more than at the bottom, while women outpaced men in the least exposed roles. Pew says the AI exposure link may not be direct.
Fed's Beige Book finds AI curbing hiring in five of 12 districts
Federal Reserve — The October 2026 Beige Book finds firms in five of the Federal Reserve's 12 districts shedding staff by attrition, deferring hires or foreseeing slower job creation after AI investment raised output per worker. Most districts report flat overall employment; evidence comes from business contacts' anecdotes, not payroll figures.
Suri Services answers staff HR questions with its Eva AI agent
Suri Services — Suri Services uses Eva, an AI agent for HR queries, so employees check company policies and procedures without approaching the human-resources team, CEO Héctor Ocadiz told Publimetro. Automation and AI trimmed operating times by up to 40% and released over 420 work hours monthly, by company figures. Ocadiz wants tools like this HR assistant led by the business, not IT.
Greece moves to limit AI in the management of workers
Ministry of Labour and Social Security (Greece) — Minister Niki Kerameos of Greece's Ministry of Labour and Social Security now holds a committee blueprint curbing AI in HR management while transposing EU Directive 2024/2831 for gig platforms. Software could no longer read an employee's emotional or psychological condition. Pivotal calls on staff would require a human check plus rights to explanation and appeal, and unions and employer groups will debate these algorithmic management limits first.
Nestlé brings its AI and VR training platform to its Araçatuba factory
Nestlé Brasil — Nestlé Brasil has extended Nesverso, a virtual reality and AI workforce training platform, to the Araçatuba plant after twelve months elsewhere in the country. Tailored challenges, skills-gap diagnostics, guide characters, a help chatbot and Brazilian Sign Language translation run on the system. By Nestlé's count, this VR-based upskilling has logged almost 50,000 online sessions, four times the uptake operators gave conventional video courses.
Norway signs an AI agreement with unions and employers to 2029
Government of Norway — Eight labour and employer organisations joined the government in a Norway AI policy pact valid from 2 October 2026 to 31 December 2029. Signatories pledge safe, accountable adoption at work that safeguards staff rights. Under these AI rules for working life, firms, workers and society should all share the gains.
State of Connecticut — Connecticut AI regulation advanced as parts of the Artificial Intelligence Responsibility and Transparency (CART) Act, Public Act No. 26-15, began: large frontier AI model whistleblower protection, AI subscription disclosure and AI definitions. Chatbot rules under this state AI law follow 1 January 2027. Employers using automated employment decision-making have until 1 October 2027 for a framework, must notify applicants and employees of AI, and cannot cite AI against discrimination claims.
California limits AI in firing, discipline and workplace surveillance
State of California (Governor Gavin Newsom) — California AI regulation widened as Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 947, curbing AI-driven dismissals and discipline, and SB 951, requiring disclosure of automation-linked layoffs. AB 1883 bans emotion prediction and brain-data collection, AB 1331 outlaws AI-powered bathroom surveillance and AB 1979 reserves patient-care calls for health professionals. Two other workplace AI rules, AB 2575 and SB 903, were vetoed.
PwC: 64% of workers worldwide used AI at work this year
PwC — PwC's 2026 Global Workforce Hopes and Fears Survey of 49,364 workers across 48 countries and regions puts AI use at work at 64% over 12 months, up 10 points. Daily generative AI users rose from 14% to 22%, while learning access fell from 59% to 51% in this May and June 2026 workplace AI adoption snapshot.
Only 9% of US employers feel very prepared for AI's labour impact
Littler — Littler surveyed 665 in-house lawyers, HR professionals and executives, 93% US-based; only 9% judged the organisation very ready for labour and staff-relations fallout from AI adoption. Just 17% talk proactively and consistently with worried staff; AI's arrival at work is expected to reshape duties (67%), move work across teams (42%) and cut entry-level roles (30%).
France launches an €80 million plan to bring AI into work
Ministry of Labour and Solidarity (France) — Jean-Pierre Farandou's Ministry of Labour and Solidarity unveiled Impulsion IA 2027, pumping 80 million euros of new cash into 12 steps that shape France AI policy for workplaces. Extending Osez l'IA from summer 2025, the package brings Explore IA, a no-cost skills-check tool, CPF priority for AI courses and task forces coaching small and medium-sized firms. A labour-market AI observatory will monitor job effects, while 20 companies and sectors pilot fresh tech-focused social dialogue.
Danmarks Nationalbank — Companies that take up artificial intelligence subsequently recruit fewer people than similar non-users, Danmarks Nationalbank finds in fresh work on AI and employment built from unique Danish records. The pullback falls hardest on younger and better-educated candidates; pay has not moved. Nothing yet points to a fall in national employment, and the central bank expects none soon. Director Signe Krogstrup argued that a flexible labour market and deep digitalisation leave Denmark well placed to gain from the AI jobs effect.
Catalyst Brands gives 70,000 associates an AI agent for HR questions
Catalyst Brands — Catalyst Brands is giving roughly 70,000 North American associates an AI HR assistant from WorkJam, across JCPenney, Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Lucky Brand and Nautica. Staff ask HR and benefits questions in plain language in the app and get policy-based replies, cutting calls to support centres and managers' time off the floor. The JCPenney owner plans to widen the agent beyond HR.
Adecco Group rolls out Agentforce Coworker to 27,000 staff
The Adecco Group — The Adecco Group is giving 27,000 employees across over 40 countries Salesforce's Agentforce Coworker, bringing agentic AI in recruitment into routine work after UK and France pilots. Announced from Zurich, the tool assists selling, hiring and dealings with clients and candidates. Recruiter-facing AI agents already run in ten markets producing 50% of group revenue.
La Plata university opens an AI job-matching platform to its region
Universidad Nacional de La Plata (PROLAB) — Universidad Nacional de La Plata has opened Nodos de Empleo, free AI job matching run by its PROLAB careers service. Advanced algorithms weigh each professional profile against vacancies employers post, linking jobseekers, graduates, firms and community bodies without an intermediary. Talentia furnished the technology; PROLAB lent reach and local standing. Any organisation may raise a node, paying nothing to build one.
Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay screens intern applicants with AI interviews
Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (BHU) — Banco Hipotecario del Uruguay (BHU) is screening 2026 administrative internship candidates through AI job interviews on the MeetPIA platform. The eliminatory video interviews run about 45 minutes without pauses between 11 and 15 September, scoring up to 30 points with 15 needed to pass. MeetPIA chief executive Martín Liguori says the system assesses and suggests while a person always decides.
Mitsubishi Electric deploys BAKUTAN OS to unify HR data across 200 group companies
Mitsubishi Electric — BAKUTAN OS now underpins HR records for roughly 15万 (150,000) staff across 200-plus Mitsubishi Electric group firms, built by University of Tokyo spin-off BAKUTAN for this AI HR data integration push. Agents translate disparate HR formats into one shared standard, cutting integration effort by 60% or more. A pilot also tests algorithmic matching of rising leaders to roles, part of a shift toward AI-powered talent management.
Shoprite gives 12,000 staff generative AI tools on its own platform
Shoprite Group — Shoprite Group deployed generative AI in retail for roughly 12,000 workers via Shoprite AI, a homegrown tool with a ChatGPT-style interface that automatically routes each request toward whatever model works best and cheapest. CTO Chris Shortt framed it as an operational rollout, not a pilot, touching general workplace output and merchandising judgement calls including category management, pricing and replenishment.
Maya puts AI behind its HR desk in the Philippines
Maya — Fintech Maya has put AI in HR operations alongside employee self-service, so staff produce their own certificates of employment and similar documents while managers handle promotions and transfers themselves. AI checks the company's BIR Form 2316 filings for inconsistencies and supports recruitment through market analysis and candidate sourcing. People group head Charee Lanza says technology clears away tasks employees should manage without waiting for HR.
California lawmakers pass ban on AI surveillance of workers' emotions
California Legislature — California lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 1883 on 30 August, sending Governor Gavin Newsom a measure barring employers from AI surveillance of a worker's individual emotional state or collection of their neural data. Violations would cost $500 each, with certain aircraft and product development for defence, military, space or national security exempt.
OPM tells agencies most AI in federal hiring is not high-impact
US Office of Personnel Management — The US Office of Personnel Management told agencies, in a memo from Director Scott Kupor, that AI in federal hiring is mostly not high-impact when used to draft job announcements, screen applicants, check files pre-offer or assess hiring metrics, as long as an official reviews it independently and adopts it. OPM plans AI features in USAJOBS, USA Staffing and USA Hire, but agencies need not wait for them.
Employment for AI-exposed 22-to-25s sits 19% below peers
Stanford Digital Economy Lab — Employment of 22-to-25-year-olds in the most AI-exposed occupations is 19 per cent below the path of less-exposed peers, finds a revised version of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab paper Canaries in the Coal Mine. Using high-frequency ADP payroll data on millions of US workers through June 2026, Erik Brynjolfsson, Bharat Chandar and Ruyu Chen show the gap widening steadily since August 2025, driven by less hiring rather than more separations. Declines cluster where AI substitutes for people, while employment is flat or rising where it complements them; the authors call these early descriptive indicators, not causal evidence.
Half of Belarusian jobseekers now use AI in their search
praca.by — AI job search runs deep among Belarusians, praca.by found: 29.5% do so routinely, 24.4% have tried neural networks on a vacancy at least once, and 20.7% mean to try. A quarter refuse outright. Of users, 63% build CVs and covering letters this way, 53% rehearse interviews, 47% dig into employers and 44% pick apart adverts. Only 12% would hand AI-assisted jobhunting the entire task.
NTT East Group — Roughly 30,000 NTT East Group staff now work under Mikiwame AI, an AI-based employee monitoring software covering personality checks, wellbeing surveys and management tools group-wide. Leadingmark built the engine; NTT HumanEX advises on turning its output into development moves, an AI employee wellbeing platform in practice.
Toyota Technical Development deploys AI for resume screening of 800 applications a year
Toyota Technical Development — AI resume screening has reached Toyota Technical Development: JAPAN AI HR filters roughly 800 applications yearly, once a single staff member's job. Weighted scoring replaces ad hoc judgement, giving the Toyota Group firm a uniform yardstick, while managers get the system's verdicts for the screening that follows.
Mitsukoshi Isetan HR arm cuts interview time 40% with JAPAN AI HR
Mitsukoshi Isetan Human Solutions — A 40% drop in interview workload followed Mitsukoshi Isetan Human Solutions' adoption of JAPAN AI HR for AI interview transcription across roughly 180 to 200 annual hires. Fixed-criteria scoring and automatic minutes replaced its dual-interviewer panel with one reviewer plus the system, standardising candidate evaluation company-wide.
US court lets AI hiring-bias case against Workday proceed nationwide
In Mobley v Workday, a US federal court let a nationwide ADEA age-discrimination collective action proceed over Workday's AI hiring-screening tools, for applicants 40 and over rejected since September 2020. The flagship US test of AI hiring bias, it asks whether a vendor can be liable as an employer's 'agent'; opt-ins closed in March 2026 and core discrimination claims advanced in June 2026.
LinkedIn now receives about 11,000 job applications a minute
LinkedIn gets about 11,000 applications a minute, up roughly 45% year on year. Generative-AI 'auto-apply' tools largely drive the surge, shifting the volume problem to recruiters.
LinkedIn launches Hiring Assistant, its first recruiting AI agent
LinkedIn has launched Hiring Assistant, billed as its first AI 'agent', which sources candidates and builds shortlists autonomously, freeing recruiters for relationships. Early enterprise user Certis, a security firm, reported recruiter productivity up 60 to 70 per cent and shortlists produced in minutes instead of days, per its chief human resources officer.
51% of organisations have no formal policy for AI in HR
HR governance lags adoption: 51% of organisations have no formal AI-use policy and 52% leave HR out of AI strategy (SHRM). Yet 62% expect AI to raise headcount in 2026, and only 7% expect a fall.
EU AI Act's high-risk hiring rules deferred to December 2027
The EU AI Act treats AI in recruitment and employment as 'high-risk', but the Digital Omnibus (Regulation (EU) 2026/1744, in force 27 July 2026) pushed those duties from August 2026 to 2 December 2027, and embedded product AI to 2 August 2028. Article 5 prohibitions have applied since February 2025: banned now, regulated later.
Qatar deploys AI to forecast labour market trends through LMIS
Ministry of Labour — Qatar's Ministry of Labour now runs AI labour market forecasting through a revamped Labour Market Information System (LMIS), built jointly with the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia. A central AI agent, drawing on domestic employment records and policy rules, generates sector-level job-demand projections across three strategic lenses. Staff quiz the agent directly for tailored real-time breakdowns split by demographic group.
FAHR announces Injazati AI performance system for federal staff
Federal Authority for Government Human Resources (FAHR) — Federal Authority for Government Human Resources built Injazati, an AI performance management system rolling out UAE-wide from January 2026. A unified dashboard fuses OKRs, KPIs and core competencies, giving instant feedback and linking staff targets to national priorities. HR chiefs gain visibility through its AI-driven workforce analytics.
Four of five Chilean SMEs use AI in HR, Deel study finds
Deel — Roughly four-fifths of Chilean SMEs (80%) already embed AI in HR processes, a Deel and Criteria study of 300 firms shows. 92% plan broader use, led by attendance monitoring (29%), staff training (27%) and hiring (22%). 64% foresee raising budgets for AI-powered human resources management within 12 months.
PNG launches AI-powered e-recruitment system for the public service
Department of Personnel Management — Papua New Guinea's public service now hires through an AI-powered e-recruitment system covering every government body, unveiled by the Department of Personnel Management at the Digital Transformation Summit 2025 in Port Moresby. Secretary Taies Sansan described an AI recruitment platform built on large language models that scans applicants' CVs, transcripts and credentials, aligns their skills against open roles, assembles candidate shortlists, and drafts offer letters plus contracts automatically. Trials start at the Department of Personnel Management and the Department of Information and Communications Technology, before an 18-month expansion brings every remaining national, provincial and health-sector office on board.
Care provider Cera launches AI recruitment agent Ami
Cera — Cera, a leading UK home care provider, built Ami, an AI recruitment agent now live across its 10,000-strong workforce. Screening costs fell two-thirds and recruiters freed up two workdays weekly, since Ami conducts candidate interviews and screening alone. Cera also licenses this AI hiring tool industry-wide.
Bestjobs AI agent Bestie handles 70,000 interactions in 60 days
Bestjobs — Over 70,000 candidate interactions inside a single 60-day stretch: that's what Bestjobs, Romania's largest recruitment platform, attributes to its 24/7 AI recruiting agent Bestie. Working non-stop without human oversight, the system independently handled upwards of 10,000 interviews spanning video, text and audio formats, connecting with more than 17,000 distinct users while managing candidate screening and booking interview slots as an autonomous AI recruiter.
Growth Experts deploys IBM watsonx Orchestrate AI agent to HR team
Growth Experts — Growth Experts fields staff queries, leave requests and system registrations through IBM watsonx Orchestrate, an AI agent in HR running chat support all 24 hours. Routine handling sped up 83%, manual input errors reached zero via integration, and foreign staff gained multi-language support. Accounting and general affairs are next for this watsonx Orchestrate expansion.
IPB University deploys AI talent management as first public campus
IPB University (Institut Pertanian Bogor) — AI talent management has arrived at IPB University, marking Indonesia's first public-campus rollout of a Talent Management System, built on ESQ Corp's TalentDNA platform and unveiled at the IPB Stakeholder Forum in ICE BSD, Tangerang. Hidden aptitude among students, lecturers and staff now surfaces through software rather than manual review, steering placement choices, scholarship awards and recruitment interest from industry partners — an early case of AI-driven talent identification in higher education.
LC Waikiki launches AI assistants across HR functions
LC Waikiki — LC Waikiki applies AI in human resources via six assistants: EDA (training announcements), KORAY (KPI guidance), SEDA (training evaluation), SERA (procurement simulation), Elsie ChatBot (24/7 payroll and leave queries), and MİYA, a recruitment-speeding avatar. About 500 staff joined an AI4FUTURE contest building RPA and agent tools — workforce automation piloted at the Turkish retailer.
Snappmarket deploys AI hiring assistant Banafsheh for job interviews
Snappmarket — Snappmarket, the grocery delivery unit of Snapp group, has introduced an AI hiring assistant named Banafsheh to run first-round job interviews, built in partnership with startup Highlight. Trial participants called the process modern, transparent and motivating, citing lower anxiety and greater fairness than ordinary phone screenings. Snappmarket claims to be Iran's first firm hiring staff via this AI-driven interview screening, freeing HR teams from manual early-stage interview work.
ČEZ uses Talentiqa AI to conduct first-round job interviews
ČEZ — ČEZ, Raiffeisenbank and Bageterie Boulevard now run first-round job interviews through an AI job interviews assistant from Czech-Slovak startup Talentiqa. Dozens of agents chat with applicants around the clock, narrowing candidates to a shortlist within a day. Talentiqa says the tool frees up sto hodin (one hundred) hours of recruiter time each month, a claim backing its fresh 25 million crown round from Purple Ventures and Venture to Future Fund for AI-driven candidate screening.
Three-quarters of Colombian SMEs now use AI in HR processes
Deel / Edelman DXI — Edelman DXI's research for Deel puts AI in HR adoption at 75 per cent among small and medium enterprises in Colombia. Payroll leads the use cases at 70 per cent, ahead of performance evaluation at 58 per cent, training and development at 57 per cent, and HR information systems at 52 per cent. Seven in ten SMEs plan to raise their HR automation spending.
Livspace — CoHyre.AI cut Livspace's cost per hire by 30 to 35%. The Indian home interiors firm saw hiring cycles shrink 40%, cultural fit climb 20%, and roles once stuck at 45 days close in 15 to 20 days — an agentic AI recruitment platform delivering an AI hiring platform upgrade.
XpressJobs launches Sri Lanka's first AI-powered WhatsApp recruitment assistant
XpressJobs — XpressJobs unveiled Sri Lanka's first AI-powered recruitment assistant, texting pre-matched candidates via WhatsApp, fielding thousands at once. Interaction hit 85% in John Keells Retail Sector's launch, an early sign of AI-powered hiring tools taking hold locally.
Telenor Pakistan — Telenor Pakistan built an AI HR assistant chatbot in Microsoft Teams for quick staff answers on HR policies. Shown at its AI Day and AI Expo in Islamabad beside systems for service monitoring and smart energy management, it marks fresh use of AI in HR support.
Esperia Group deploys AI-powered HR platform for 1,250 employees
Esperia Group — Wages for over 1,250 workers at Esperia Group, based in Rhodes, now flow through an AI-powered HR platform running on Entersoft-SOFTONE's WorkLife HCM system. Tips, overtime, benefits and clock-in records are managed through automated payroll processing, while attendance figures pass automatically to ERGANI II under Greece's Digital Work Card scheme.
78% of Brazilian companies use AI in HR, survey finds
Think Work — AI adoption in Brazilian human resources has reached 78% of companies, Think Work found, staff using such tools daily. A quarter of HR workflows (24% average) run with AI tools in HR departments support. The poll drew 203 respondents, firms of varying size, mostly Southeast region, 69% management roles.
Ansa McAL launches AI across its human resources systems
Ansa McAL Ltd — Trinidad and Tobago's Ansa McAL claims a first for the English-speaking Caribbean: the earliest large-scale enterprise running AI in human resources throughout its business, joining a generative AI assistant to its human capital management setup via SAP and HRIZONS. Workers can pose HR questions conversationally and get tailored study and career pointers, backing a plan to renew infrastructure and boost how staff experience an AI-driven HR platform.
City of Sydney uses SAP AI to build HR skills framework in weeks
City of Sydney — A skills framework for 2,000 City of Sydney staff took six weeks with SAP Business AI, an AI in HR skills management case, versus months before. Discovery Consulting merged hiring, growth, and appraisals into one system, cutting paperwork 25%. The AI-driven skills taxonomy updates itself as needs shift.
Oman's labour ministry launches Nadeem AI career advisor
Ministry of Labour (Oman) — Oman's Ministry of Labour has introduced Nadeem, billed as the nation's first AI career advisor, powered by generative AI. It guides job seekers through employment hurdles, matches them to tailored solutions, and feeds usage data into future job-matching and programme design, the AI-powered virtual career advisor's role within the ministry's Smart Management Project.
COSAPI deploys AI system for HR recruitment and training
COSAPI — Peruvian builder COSAPI now screens, trains and evaluates job candidates through COSAPIA, an HR platform marking one of the earliest large-scale uses of AI in human resources recruitment nationwide. A WhatsApp chatbot answers queries, cross-checks paperwork against official databases, and fires off notifications and reports unattended — automated candidate screening replacing manual work.
Biedronka launches jAIn AI platform for leadership development
Biedronka (Jeronimo Martins Polska) — Biedronka, Poland's biggest supermarket group, has rolled out jAIn, an AI leadership development tool for HR building tailored growth plans for staff. A conversational assistant discusses each employee's goals, then drafts a plan on the 70/20/10 framework linked to EduAkcja, its e-learning system, for AI-driven personalised coaching.
Red Sea Global deploys SAP's AI copilot Joule for HR functions
Red Sea Global — Red Sea Global (RSG), a PIF-owned developer, is the Middle East and Africa North region's first firm running SAP's AI copilot Joule across human capital management, an early case of AI in human resources in real estate. Candidate screening, job description drafting and performance tracking now sit inside SAP SuccessFactors, covering roughly 10,500 staff. RSG will next extend the SuccessFactors AI assistant to ERP and procurement.
Adecco UK deploys agentic AI to screen job candidates
Adecco UK — Human interviews at Adecco UK & Ireland now happen only after an agentic assistant built on Salesforce's Agentforce platform has already messaged applicants by SMS or email, handling AI candidate screening automatically. Most of these automated recruitment chats, over half, land outside typical office hours. Applicants themselves gave the process an average score of 4.6 out of 5.
Bunnings pilots AI to understand its 55,000-strong workforce
Bunnings — Bunnings is piloting AI in human resources to map career goals across 55,000 staff, pairing Workday Skills Cloud, built on the vendor's Illuminate AI, with HiredScore for AI workforce skills matching to internal vacancies. A chatbot separately handles queries on leave, policy and procedure so employees skip a human contact.
Anglicare Sydney starts using AI in HR recruitment and coaching
Anglicare Sydney — Hiring at Anglicare Sydney now takes six days, down from 42, after AI recruitment tools joined its Workday HCM system. Yvette McDonald credited the AI-assisted staff recruitment shift at the Workday Elevate summit, spanning 5,500 staff, onboarding and job coaching.
South Korea's AI job matching service placed 87,000 workers in first half of 2025
Ministry of Employment and Labor — Job seekers using Work-Net, the AI job matching platform run by South Korea's Ministry of Employment and Labor, secured over 87,000 placements across the first half of 2025 — an 84% jump against the equivalent stretch in 2024. Matching candidates against openings via analysis of resumes, work history and career goals, the system also produced a wage gap: workers placed through its recommendations took home 120,000 won more each month than those who landed jobs unassisted. Come September, the ministry adds four further AI capabilities to the platform, including an aptitude test built around the individual and a tool projecting employment probability, extending its AI recruitment matching capacity.
Deutsche Telekom deploys askT AI assistant to 50,000 HR users
Deutsche Telekom — Askt, Deutsche Telekom's internal generative AI assistant, now serves 50,000 active users handling roughly 500,000 monthly queries on HR, finance and procurement matters, part of a broader push into AI in human resources. Alongside it sit Growth Hub, offering tailored learning recommendations, and Nadja, a virtual coach rehearsing difficult workplace dialogues with managers. Even as these AI-driven HR tools spread, Telekom stressed that people, not algorithms, sign off on hiring and personnel outcomes.
104 Job Bank AI System cuts headhunter prep time by 80%
104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) — 104 Job Bank's AI System automates job-description drafting, company research and candidate matching, forming an AI recruitment automation tool for headhunters. Adoption reached over 70% of consultants within three months, shrinking case prep from about 10 hours to under 2 — an 80% gain that lifted division revenue by 6%, a result of the recruiting automation approach.
Cherkizovo Group pilots Polina AI recruitment assistant
Cherkizovo Group — Polina AI, an AI recruitment assistant built by ITFB Group, launched at Cherkizovo Group in 2025, with six staff scanning CVs through an hh.ru browser add-on from day one. An LLM ranks files and flags leading candidates, trimming 10-15% off hours once spent on cold sourcing and paperwork. This AI hiring tool could soon spread across the whole business.
Infostud launches 10 AI tools to transform recruitment in Serbia
Infostud — Ten new AI recruitment tools now run on Infostud, Serbia's biggest job platform, built to speed hiring and cut screening workloads. Smart Sort ranks applications by relevance; other features summarise CV documents, draft job descriptions, generate interview questions and fill candidate profiles automatically, aiming for sharper employer-candidate matches through AI-driven hiring rather than guesswork.
55% of UK organisations now invest in AI for HR, survey finds
SD Worx — SD Worx finds UK employers topping a 16-country European survey on AI in HR: 55% now fund such tools, a jump from 35% in 2024 and well past the 38% continental average. Britain's workforce likewise reports the heaviest routine AI use on the job, 31% versus 23% elsewhere. Training and development absorbs the biggest slice of this AI adoption in human resources (31%), with recruitment and HR support close behind at 28% apiece.
Banco Galicia integrates generative AI into HR processes
Banco Galicia — Banco Galicia has embedded AI in HR processes across the organisation, from drafting job descriptions and setting performance goals to running interviews and internal learning programmes. According to the bank's head of HRBP and Talent, the tools help pinpoint skills gaps and guide employee development tailored to each role. This AI-driven talent management approach links recruitment, training and workforce planning under one system.
Apiux implements AI avatars for IT recruitment in Chile
Apiux — Interview slots now sit in candidates' own hands as Apiux rolls out PoolRecruitIA's avatars for AI in IT recruitment across Chile. Automated note-taking, ATS updates and unbiased scoring trim evaluation time over 80%, pushing manual AI-driven candidate screening out of Apiux's pipeline.
MediaMarkt Turkey speeds hiring 78% with AI recruitment tools
MediaMarkt Türkiye — Turkish electronics retailer MediaMarkt Türkiye cut hiring time by 78% using AI recruitment tools: AI'DA for automated pre-interviews and AI'M Hiring, an AI-integrated recruitment platform. In one year the AI-based hiring process screened 916 candidates, cut pre-interview time by 66%, hit 89% candidate satisfaction and filled 21 posts via AI'DA. Figures are the company's own, unaudited.
JD.com — More than 100,000 Chinese job seekers have used JD.com's AI interview agent recruitment tool, built on its JoyAI large model, to screen for entry-level logistics and support roles. The e-commerce firm says the system now handles tens of thousands of first-round conversations daily, recognising over 20 regional dialects while flagging impersonation through digital-human hosts with layered verification checks — an AI-driven hiring screening approach. JD.com credits this with lifting hiring speed by 70% and scoring 91% accuracy, though these are the company's own unaudited figures.
Vietjet deploys AI recruitment system for cabin crew hiring
Vietjet Air — Vietjet Air now runs AI recruitment for cabin crew hiring, becoming Vietnam's first carrier to fold artificial intelligence into staff selection. A pair of tools drives the workflow: AI Interview builds tailored questions from an applicant's background and rates language ability, teamwork and customer service, whereas AI Grooming Check inspects appearance. The Vietjet Aviation Academy hosted the debut round on 12 April 2025.
Manulife rolls out generative AI tools to its entire global workforce
Manulife — Manulife has extended generative AI in insurance to 100% of its global workforce, and 75% regularly turn to ChatMFC, its proprietary GenAI assistant, alongside supporting training. Spanning Canada, the US and Asia, over 35 GenAI applications are already operating, with 70 further ones lined up for 2025. Nearly 200 machine learning engineers and data scientists underpin this generative AI adoption in insurance, pushing usage company-wide.
AZAQ deploys Elevatus AI recruitment platform across its businesses
Al Zaid Al Quraishi & Brothers Company (AZAQ) — AZAQ, a Saudi holding firm spanning cars, consumer goods, logistics and property, now runs Elevatus's AI recruitment platform group-wide, folding AI in recruitment into daily hiring. A new branded portal automatically screens, sources and onboards job seekers using Elevatus's AI-powered hiring software. The rollout backs Vision 2030's diversification push.
SK C&C deploys AI recruitment system cutting screening time to four hours
SK C&C — Four hours: that is how long SK C&C's new AI recruitment platform now needs to sift a stack of job applications that used to take a week. Co-built with SK Telecom, A.Biz HR applies an AI capability test (AICT) gauging each applicant's technical grasp, problem-solving and readiness for the job, and now runs across entry-level and junior hiring at the South Korean firm's AI hiring system. Since an internal trial went well, bosses will next bolt on AI talent search and recommendation tools, due later this year.
Chemist Warehouse deploys AIHRA agent to handle HR email queries
Chemist Warehouse — At Chemist Warehouse, staff can now get HR answers drafted automatically through AIHRA (AI HR Advisory), a shared-inbox agent handling roughly 300 weekly email queries sent by 30,000 employees and store owners across Australia — an early rollout of AI HR email management. Human advisors still check each draft before anything is sent out. Insurgence AI, a Microsoft partner, built the tool on Azure AI Foundry combined with Power Platform, and Chemist Warehouse reckons it now saves about 1,950 hours yearly, turning it into a blueprint other departments are copying for AI-assisted HR query handling.
Libya's NOC launches Connect HR platform powered by AI
National Oil Corporation of Libya — National Oil Corporation now filters CVs and job applications through Connect, an AI recruitment automation platform covering its Libya workforce. Employees receive individually matched training suggestions while the tool separately tracks performance outcomes. NOC's HR division co-developed this AI-driven HR platform alongside Med Oil Istanbul.
39% of organisations now use AI within their HR functions
About 4 in 10 organisations (39%) now use AI in HR, with recruiting the top use case (27%). An earlier SHRM instrument put AI-in-HR use at 43% in 2025, from 26% in 2024; the 2026 figure uses a different survey base, so it shows the current level, not a fall.
Chipotle deploys an AI hiring assistant across 3,500 restaurants
Chipotle has put Paradox's conversational AI hiring assistant, 'Ava Cado', in more than 3,500 restaurants across North America and Europe to handle candidate messages, interview scheduling and job offers. Announcing it in October 2024, the company said it expected in-restaurant time to hire to fall by up to 75 per cent.
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We research and keep track of applied AI globally. HR & People's record gained 9 entries in October. Your next dispatch will open with HR & People, then the most important news about how AI is being used, applied and regulated globally.
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United States
China
Mexico
Greece
Brazil
Norway
France
Denmark
Switzerland
Argentina
Uruguay
Japan
South Africa
Philippines
Belarus
European Union
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Chile
Papua New Guinea
United Kingdom
Romania
Indonesia
Turkey
Iran
Czechia
Colombia
India
Sri Lanka
Pakistan
Trinidad and Tobago
Australia
Oman
Peru
Poland
Saudi Arabia
South Korea
Germany
Taiwan
Russia
Serbia
Vietnam
Canada
Libya