Skills and AI in HR are no longer “emerging” trends

Last month, the Hirehoot team had the privilege of attending the HR Technologies UK event at the ExCeL Centre in London—a vibrant gathering that showcased the future of HR innovation and digital transformation. From cutting-edge AI in HR applications to transformative skill-based talent acquisition strategies, the event offered a wealth of insights. 

Key discussion areas included:​

• Corporate Health & Wellbeing
• Recruitment & Talent Acquisition
• Talent & People Success
• Human Capital Management
• Change Leadership & Management

And across it all there were two big themes: 

1. Digital acceleration and emerging technology (By which we mean various flavours of AI in HR and recruitment)
2. Skills as strategy, and how a skills-based approach will form the backbone of modern HR from talent acquisition through employee experience, workforce planning, L&D and beyond

What’s striking is that neither of these trends felt like “emerging” ideas anymore. Both are now widely recognised as self-evident necessities.

On the AI front, there’s a growing consensus that it can—and should—take on the heavy lifting: improving efficiency, reducing administrative load, streamlining data across systems, increasing personalisation, and freeing up humans to focus on the uniquely human aspects of HR—coaching, culture-building, leadership.

The same goes for a skills-based approach. The benefits are clear:

• Greater clarity and consistency in how people are hired and developed
• More future-proof workforce planning
• A more agile, resilient organisation—able to flex and adapt in the face of disruption
  
  

Great in theory—now what?

The challenge, of course, is in the doing.

While the “why” is largely accepted, the “how” remains a source of friction and uncertainty. Whether it's AI integration or skills-first hiring, most organisations are somewhere in the chasm between early enthusiasm and widespread adoption.

There’s clear momentum in places—TA and L&D teams often leading the way—but elsewhere? The reality is messier. Many hiring managers are still locked into legacy mindsets, working from outdated job specs, relying on years-of-experience checkboxes, and thinking in terms of roles, not outcomes or capabilities.

Change management is patchy. Technologies are evolving rapidly, but behaviours, processes, and comfort levels with new tools are changing at different speeds across the business.

There’s also a lingering question: Which of these new tools and frameworks are here to stay?
With the pace of change, it's hard to separate real progress from the short-term hype cycle.

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So, what can we do now?

While the road ahead may feel complex, there are practical starting points that can drive real progress—without requiring a full overhaul on day one.

1. Acknowledge the AI reality. Like it or not, both your candidates and your employees are already using AI—whether it's to prep for interviews, refine CVs, or streamline their own work. Rather than resist it, look for ways to embrace and guide it. Consider where AI can meaningfully augment your processes and people.
   
   
2. Start small with skills. You don’t need a perfectly defined ontology to start thinking in terms of skills. Begin with a pilot—maybe for a new role or team—and define the core capabilities needed to succeed. Think outcomes and deliverables, not just responsibilities. Build from there.
   
   
3. Meet teams where they are. Don’t expect everyone to instantly shift how they hire or manage. Focus on nudges—shortlist review templates based on skills, interview guides aligned to capability areas, coaching for hiring managers on how to think beyond the CV.
   
   
4. Invest in cross-functional understanding. A skills-based approach isn’t just an HR exercise—it touches operations, finance, IT, and leadership. The more you can build shared understanding across departments, the smoother your implementation will be.
   
   
5. Stay curious, stay human. Technology can take us a long way, but people are still at the heart of every great workplace. As you explore what’s next, keep asking: How does this help people do their best work?
   
   

Final Thought

If there’s one thing we’re taking away from this year’s HR Technologies event, it’s this: skills and AI aren’t separate trends—they’re deeply intertwined. Skills are the language AI can understand, and AI is the tool that can help us scale skills-based strategies across the entire talent lifecycle.

You don’t have to have it all figured out. But the time to start experimenting, learning, and evolving? That’s now.

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