From Hype to Impact: What CHROs Need to Know About Generative AI

This report examines how GenAI is reshaping the workplace amid fluctuating hype, uneven adoption, and growing strategic importance. While early expectations of rapid, universal productivity gains have given way to more realistic projections, GenAI is delivering real value in targeted, unit-level applications—particularly in HR functions such as talent acquisition, onboarding, benefits administration, employee feedback, and internal mobility. At the same time, most organizations face a significant readiness gap, as employees report limited training, low confidence, and mixed enthusiasm despite their leaders’ optimism. Looking ahead, GenAI is driving major shifts in the labor market, including soaring demand for AI skills, rising wage premiums, increased emphasis on soft skills, and large-scale occupational disruption requiring reskilling and redeployment. For CHROs, the imperative is not to wait out a single hype cycle, but to invest deliberately in workforce readiness, governance, and skills development to ensure GenAI adoption translates into sustainable organizational impact rather than abandoned pilots and unrealized promise.