Conventional methods are giving way to innovative approaches, in which the main role is played by Artificial Intelligence (AI).

A new year is not just a unit of time, it is an opportunity for organizations to chart new paths towards sustainable growth.

In the world of work, more specifically in the area of Human Resources, innovation has been the compass that leads some organizations towards more agile and effective approaches, while it continues to represent a mystery to others.

According to the ManpowerGroup study, 70% of organizations around the world have already implemented new technologies such as AI, virtual reality (VR) and machine learning (ML) in their recruitment processes or plan to do so in the next three years. However, acceptance of these new methods varies among professionals. Almost 60% of candidates were receptive to recruitment experiences using VR, in contrast to 38% of respondents who disagreed.

In the case of EDP, “per hour Artificial intelligence it is used in the talent retention process in the USA where the market is very dynamic”, explains Milena Monteiro, Deputy Director of Planning & Analytics P&OD at EDP. While at Vieira de Almeida, “the use of systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been occurring for some years and is based on a strategic vision that seeks to understand how we can derive more value from the use of these systems, and not the automation or replacement of work by algorithms”, says José Sintra, Head of People Strategy at VdA.

Aware of these challenges, José Sintra explains that VdA created a multidisciplinary team to lead the Change Management program, which consists of monitoring and monitoring new technologies at the firm. “We have developed a sustainable growth strategy in which the functions of the Technology Department have been reinforced annually, as well as integrating other employees (lawyers and management departments) who have professional and academic knowledge related to technology”, adds José Sintra.

In a context of technological changes, a new concept emerges: digital Darwinism. Similar to Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, this phenomenon suggests that organizations best able to evolve in response to technological changes tend to gain a competitive advantage.

In the context of Human Resources, digital Darwinism challenges companies to become active agents in digital transformation — therefore, it is not just about integrating advanced technologies, but about adopting a new mindset.

“The so-called Gen AI allows us to do in three days what we normally did in five, allowing for greater productivity and responsiveness from our various employees. Today we talk about having an assistant per employee, or even a management assistant for each people manager. This virtual assistant, based on artificial intelligence tools, allows you to do more and better”, says Rogério Canhoto, Chief Business Officer at PHC Business Software.

MuleSoft revealed, in its annual study, that 69% of companies say they are ahead of their progress and IT projects increased by 41% compared to the previous year. The survey, carried out among more than 1,000 CIOs and IT professionals, shows that around 1,000 applications are used by companies, however, only 29% of these are integrated.

In fact, resistance to change is a common challenge, as Milena Monteiro says. “The challenges are the same for any technological tool. That's why employees need to be trained to efficiently use these new tools. It is essential to invest in information security and data literacy”, explains Milena Monteiro.

This gap in integration highlights the need to, first, work on people's mentality and, then, concentrate forces on implementing strategies and technological tools. This holistic approach, which prioritizes mindset over technology, represents a significant step in building more agile organizations in the digital era.

Personalize results with “prompting”

When we specifically analyze generative AI models, we see that the ability to interact effectively with these technologies emerges as a natural extension of this digital mentality.

“Generative AI models (the best known being the ChatGPT) can give us outputs that are more relevant the better our natural language input is — that is, the prompt. The art of prompting is something completely new, something we are not used to working with. The employees who best know how to master this art, that is, those who best know how to talk to AI, are those who will be most capable of extending their capabilities through AI and will actually be able to have a personal assistant – a 'copilot' – in their work”, explains Manuel Faria, Technical Specialist at Microsoft.

O job market has observed the emergence of new professions as AI gains relevance — one of them is the prompt engineer. This profession consists of training AI systems until professionals are eventually replaced by them. According to a study published by the World Economic Forum, this increasing automation of workforces will cause the loss of 85 million jobs by 2025. However, it is expected that more than 97 million new jobs will emerge and prompt engineering is one of them.

“I think it is difficult to think of any process in an organization where none of these capabilities could be useful or even highly transformative. We can think of examples such as the automatic processing of invoice or contract values; obtaining an automatic summary of calls in a call center; generating meeting minutes or hearing summaries; consulting procedural or regulatory documentation with a simple question in natural language; the production of marketing content; pattern-based fraud detection; updating and improving code and its documentation; etc.”, highlights Manuel Faria.

With the evolution of the professional scenario and the introduction of new professions, it is imperative that organizations invest in continuous training programs in order to enable employees to integrate into this technological environment. “This increase in value in employee productivity requires a training plan in these innovative tools that are now within our reach. It is essential to optimize the investments made and guarantee the well-being and motivation of employees in their current and future roles”, points out Rogério Canhoto.

Manuel Faria also highlights that “AI can also help us give clues about the best way to carry out a task: in the case of Copilot for Microsoft 365 – a generative AI solution embedded in Office applications, with access to the user's corporate information – helps us know how to use Office tools better. For example, Copilot in Outlook allows us not only to help us create a draft of an email, but also to evaluate a draft email already written by me and make suggestions for improvement, in a feature called `Coaching`”.

Create commitment to information security

KPGM’s “CEO Outlook 2023” report notes that implementing technologies such as AI is at the top of the agenda for many business leaders (72%), despite challenges associated with information security risks.

At Vieira de Almeida, data security is viewed “with great seriousness and professionalism”. In addition to the 27001 certification and compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), José Sintra reinforces that information security is the basis of everything. “It is a strategic pillar of our training program, Learning Journey, in which we regularly provide training sessions on these topics”, he explains to RHmagazine.

This position is also shared by EDP. “Our group’s standard procedure is that whenever a project involving the processing of personal data begins, we have to create a privacy by design to ensure the implementation of measures to guarantee the protection of the rights of data subjects and compliance with the law”, highlights Milena Monteiro.

This strategic focus is fundamental in an era in which the intersection between technology and security shapes the path to sustainable business success, a reality that is observed in several sectors in Portugal.