New research from Conduent reveals a growing tension at the heart of modern HR: the race to digitize is accelerating, but employees still want a human on the other end of the line.
The study, Humanizing HR: The 2026 State of Experience in the New World of Work, surveyed 765 employees and 254 HR professionals across three markets to understand how workplace expectations are shifting in an increasingly automated environment.
The research shows that while technology is reshaping how HR operates, it hasn’t replaced what employees truly value. With 79% of employees saying their interactions with HR directly influence their loyalty to their employer, the challenge for HR leaders lies in deciding what to automate and when to keep a human touch.
The Detail Behind the Data
Employees consistently ranked three qualities as most important in their HR interactions: competence (79%), convenience (77%), and caring (72%). These numbers have remained steady since Conduent’s 2023 survey, suggesting that despite rapid technological change, employee expectations themselves haven’t shifted dramatically.
What has changed is the pressure on HR teams to meet those expectations at scale.
HR leaders are now thinking carefully about the infrastructure needed to deliver consistent, high-quality employee experiences. When asked to identify the most important characteristics of effective HR delivery, 59% pointed to a scalable technology footprint across Human Capital Management systems, while 51% highlighted the need for intuitive, direct employee access to information. Another 51% emphasized consolidating enterprise data into a single, reliable source of truth. Nearly half (48%) cited the importance of closed-loop processes that gather and act on employee feedback.
To strengthen HR delivery, leaders are increasingly seeking to incorporate AI into their workflows. The survey found that 38% of HR leaders plan to use AI for administrative efficiency, and 35% for employee self-service. However, 81% of employees said they prefer human interaction for sensitive or complex issues. This highlights the importance of striking the right balance when automating HR tasks.
Conduent’s own platform data illustrates this in practice. Over a 90-day period, 86% of online HR inquiries were resolved by Conni, Conduent’s AI-powered intelligent assistant, while 14% were escalated to a human agent. Systems that can automate when necessary and hand off when appropriate deliver efficiency without weakening the employee connection.
What HR Leaders Should Take Away
The message from this research isn’t that AI shouldn’t be used in HR, it is that organizations must understand where to apply it and when human intervention is essential.
Conduent’s Chief Commercial Officer Kimberly Marshall put it plainly: “Employees expect HR to be efficient but also empathetic. Technology can elevate satisfaction, but human understanding remains essential.”
Rolling out AI without a clear sense of where it fits isn’t just an operational risk, it is a relationship risk. Employees notice when they’re being handled rather than helped, and that distinction directly affects how connected they feel to their company.
