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How AI Is Reshaping HR in 2025 | Melissa Bowden, Workday

Shane O'Neill |


By Shane O’Neill, Director, Civitas Talent & Host of The HR Community Podcast

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The world of HR is changing faster than ever before. At Civitas Talent, our community of HR and Talent leaders is seeing technology, AI, and workforce expectations collide in ways that are reshaping how organisations attract, retain, and grow their people.

In a recent episode of The HR Community Podcast, I sat down with Melissa Bowden, Senior Director for People & Purpose at Workday across APAC & Japan, to explore how AI is redefining HR and what it means for the future of our profession.

From Recruitment to HR Leadership – Melissa’s Journey

Melissa’s career began in agency recruitment with Hayes before moving in-house with Adobe, Intuit, and now Workday. Her path mirrors the evolution of HR itself: from transactional recruitment to strategic leadership, guiding organisations through hyper-growth, disruption, and transformation.

At Workday, Melissa leads the People & Purpose function across APAC & Japan, responsible for scaling talent strategies across complex and diverse markets including Japan and India.

Building a Skills-Based Organisation

One of the most compelling parts of our discussion was Workday’s long-term commitment to becoming a skills-based organisation.

  • Workday’s Skills Cloud helps employees identify, validate, and develop skills that align with their career aspirations.

  • Employees are supported by a Career Hub that recommends learning, projects (“gigs”), and career paths powered by machine learning.

  • The result? Employees participating in “gigs” saw a 42% increase in internal mobility, while career growth sentiment scores rose 11%.

This data-driven approach is not just building capability but also strengthening retention and engagement.

Real-Time Listening and Employee Experience

Through Peakon, Workday’s employee listening tool, Melissa and her team gather live insights from employees every week. This real-time feedback:

  • Identifies hotspots across teams, genders, tenure, and locations.

  • Informs policy design and benefit programs.

  • Provides managers with engagement scores and actionable insights – even for teams as small as three people.

As Melissa notes, this level of listening has fundamentally changed how HR leaders can adapt with agility to shifting business and workforce needs.

AI & Digital Agents – The Future Workforce

AI is no longer theoretical – it’s already embedded across Workday’s HR strategy. Melissa highlighted how Workday sees AI as a way to amplify, not replace, the human experience.

Examples include:

  • HydeScore (recent Workday acquisition): Uses AI to identify hidden skills in CVs and resurface talent from past pipelines.

  • Paradox partnership: Reduced interview scheduling time from 3 days to just 7 hours, enabling faster hiring decisions.

  • AI Agents: Moving from task-oriented to role-oriented, redefining how HR leaders manage both human and digital workforces.

For recruiters and HR professionals, this means less time on administration and more time working strategically with the business.

Trust, Transparency & the Human Element

Technology is powerful, but Melissa emphasises the importance of trust:

  • Employees must trust the systems capturing their skills and career goals.

  • HR leaders must validate AI outcomes and ensure fairness in decision-making.

  • Businesses must embrace AI as a way to enhance, not replace, the human experience at work.

Looking Ahead – HR in the Next 10–20 Years

Melissa’s predictions for the future of HR are bold:

  • HR will not just support the business, but shape strategy and outcomes directly.

  • With AI and real-time data, HR will predict risks, identify skill gaps, and mobilise talent before challenges hit.

  • The workforce will include both human and digital employees – requiring HR to rethink onboarding, management, and governance.

As Melissa put it, “We are in an incredible position to really shape how we land the plane.”

Key Takeaways for HR Leaders

  1. Adopt a skills-based approach – mobility, retention, and career growth all benefit.

  2. Listen in real time – employee insights must be continuous, not once a year.

  3. Use AI to free HR for strategy – automate admin, but double down on people impact.

  4. Trust and transparency matter – technology must enhance the human experience.

  5. Prepare for digital workforces – HR must manage human and AI agents together.

Final Thoughts

Our conversation with Melissa Bowden reinforced that the future of HR is already here. AI is not just transforming processes – it is redefining the role of HR as a strategic driver of business outcomes.

For HR and Talent leaders across APAC, now is the time to experiment, learn, and lean into this transformation. As Melissa said: “Get your hands dirty. If you don’t, you’ll fall behind.”

👉 Listen to the full episode of The HR Community Podcast with Melissa Bowden on Listen to the Episode here

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