- AI isn’t just a tech shift — it’s a people strategy, and HR is at the center of figuring out how to integrate AI into their day-to-day people ops to help drive strategy for their organizations.
- Pacesetter organizations win with AI because these places invest in finding and developing skills, not just applying new tools.
- To thrive in the AI era, HR must continuously redesign work, roles, and talent strategies.
For HR leaders, the arrival of the AI era is both exciting and urgent: AI is already reshaping jobs, workflows, and entire industries.
Understanding how the most forward-thinking organizations — a group The Josh Bersin Company calls “Pacesetters” in their latest report — are navigating this disruption can help every HR function prepare for what’s next.
These pacesetters aren’t just reacting to AI, they’re actively using it to create a new kind of workforce — one built on continuous learning, strategic agility, and human-AI collaboration.
In fact, Bersin’s research shows that these top performers don’t just adopt AI faster. They use it more effectively to build what the report calls “superworker organizations,” where people and AI systems work together to deliver outsized impact.
Here are three key takeaways from the research that every HR leader should know.
Related content: Learn more about what it means to be a Pacesetter in this podcast episode from The Josh Bersin Company.
1. AI is a growth strategy, not just a cost-cutting tool
In many organizations, AI adoption begins with automation. But in Pacesetter organizations, it doesn’t stop there.
Instead of simply looking to AI to reduce head count or speed up administrative tasks, these organizations treat it as a platform for long-term growth, continuous innovation, and better experiences for customers and employees.
Take DBS Bank, for example: as documented in the research, the business built an internal AI-powered talent marketplace called iGrow to support employee growth, learning, and mobility.
The result? Nearly half of the organization’s roles were filled internally, and 91% of employees said that they felt empowered to grow their careers. DBS didn’t use AI to replace its workforce. It used AI to elevate it.
The same is true at Providence Health, where an AI-based scheduling system now predicts staffing needs based on patient volume and care requirements. By automating this task, the organization not only saved managers time, but also ensured nurses could spend more time on meaningful, top-of-license care.
Pacesetters know that real performance gains come not from replacing people, but from enabling them to do their best work. They use AI to reduce friction, support smarter decisions, and fuel ongoing innovation.
For HR leaders, the shift is clear —move the narrative around AI away from efficiency alone and toward value creation. Focus on how AI can make work more human, not less.
Related content: Check out The Josh Bersin’s Company last Pacesetters report, “The Seven Winning Strategies of Pacesetter Organizations.”
2. The real advantage lies in skills, not the tech
While technology changes fast, the competitive edge comes from talent. Pacesetter organizations stand out not just because these use AI but because their leaders invest in the skills, roles, and organizational models needed to get the most out of it.
Toyota is a case in point. Their organization isn’t just producing electric vehicles, it’s redesigning its organizational model to support faster prototyping and continuous feedback. Even with a contingent workforce that makes up 40% of its workforce, Toyota remains agile because it equips teams with the right skills and structures for innovation.
At a broader level, Bersin’s research shows that Pacesetters consistently prioritize rising technology and change-management skills.
For example, in the automotive industry these leaders employ three times more workers with emerging tech expertise than their peers. And in health care, they’re far more likely to invest in skills like data mining and predictive analytics to stay ahead.
For HR teams, this means doubling down on skill-building. Dynamic skilling models, internal academies, and skills-based hiring aren’t just nice to have, these are now mission-critical.
Whether through AI-driven learning journeys or robust internal-mobility platforms, Pacesetters build deep talent density by ensuring the right people are in the right roles at the right time.
3. To succeed with AI, organizations must continuously redesign work
AI doesn’t just change what we do — it changes how we work. That’s why the most successful businesses treat work as a dynamic system, not a static set of job descriptions.
In the age of the superworker, Pacesetters are constantly redesigning roles, workflows, and team structures to unlock human potential and respond to changing business needs.
Instead of layering AI onto outdated models, these organizations start fresh.
ING implemented a radical redesign of its operating model, replacing traditional hierarchies with cross-functional squads and agile rituals. The result was not just greater efficiency but also improved retention and well-being — proof that thoughtful design leads to real outcomes.
Bon Secours Mercy Health has taken a similar approach by developing clear career pathways and mobility programs, particularly for lower-wage workers. By giving employees a way to move into more advanced roles, the organization has improved retention and built a more robust talent pipeline. More than half of new hires cited these programs as a reason for joining.
It’s all about flexibility. Pacesetters adapt not only their workflows but also their talent strategies, recruiting based on critical capabilities rather than traditional roles, reskilling workers in real time, and using AI to forecast future needs. These organizations recognize that agility isn’t a one-time initiative — it’s a cultural capability.
For HR, this means rethinking work itself, reimagining how teams are structured, how jobs are defined, and how work flows.
HR has a central role to play in orchestrating this change, especially as systemic models gain traction.
Your role in leading the AI transformation
AI isn’t just a technology shift — it’s a people transformation. And that puts HR at the center of the action.
As Bersin’s research points out, the best organizations are empowering CHROs and HR teams to lead this transformation through systemic thinking, data-driven planning, and strategic foresight.
Whether it’s redesigning work, investing in future skills, or fostering a culture of change agility, you have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape what work looks like in the AI era.
The question isn’t whether AI will transform the workforce. It’s how ready your organization is to lead that change.
Pacesetters are showing the way. Now it’s up to the rest of us to follow or fall behind.
Read The Josh Bersin Company’s full report, “Pacesetters in the Superworker Era.”
