As AI takes over routine tasks and work becomes more distributed across time zones, HR leaders are rethinking what they expect from employees - and what employees expect from them. Usha Gunasegaran, Human Resources Director for Asia Pacific at Speedcast, argues the answer is not less human involvement but stronger accountability, continuous learning, trust and empathetic leadership.
Gunasegaran, who has spent more than two decades in HR, said technology can enable transformation, but its success depends on the human context around it. "Technology enables transformation. People make it successful," she said in an interview with ETHRWorld SEA.
Work-life balance is about outcomes, not hours
Gunasegaran said the term "work-life balance" has become misunderstood. It is not about logging off at a fixed time, avoiding accountability or working fewer hours to prioritise personal commitments. "Work-life balance belongs to the employee, and accountability also belongs to the employee," she said.
She once viewed working from home as taboo but now sees flexibility as a matter of trust and outcomes. The question, she said, should not be how long an employee is logged into a laptop, but whether key deliverables are being met.
AI should create capacity, not anxiety
Gunasegaran sees AI as another chapter in a long history of technological transformation. Each major shift initially creates uncertainty before opening up new opportunities, she said.
At Speedcast, she has approached AI and digital tools as business enablers rather than threats to jobs. When employees expressed interest in developing data-analysis capabilities, the organisation opened up Power BI training across the APAC region. The response required multiple batches to accommodate demand.
For Gunasegaran, this shows how organisations can make technology adoption meaningful: give employees the tools and skills to use technology to improve their work. AI and automation can take away repetitive administrative tasks, allowing employees to spend more time analysing information, solving problems, collaborating and advising the business.
Adoption also requires clear boundaries. Employees need to understand data security and how organisational information can be used with digital tools. "The future is not AI versus people. It is a collaboration between people and AI," she said.
Skills planning must look beyond job titles
As technology evolves faster, Gunasegaran believes organisations need to rethink workforce planning. Rather than asking which jobs will exist three to five years from now, HR leaders should focus on the capabilities the organisation will need and how those capabilities can be developed.
Talent mapping, internal mobility and continuous learning become central to that work. But she stressed this cannot be an HR-only exercise. Organisations need to identify future skills, while employees must take ownership of remaining relevant.
Technical capabilities such as engineering, cybersecurity and data analysis will continue to matter. At the same time, curiosity, adaptability and learning agility are becoming equally important. For Gunasegaran, the willingness to learn may ultimately matter more than having one fixed skill set. This shift is part of a broader change in how AI for Human Resources is being applied across talent development and workforce planning.
The more digital work becomes, the more human leadership matters
"The more digital our workplace becomes, the more human leadership is needed," Gunasegaran said. Her definition of empathetic leadership does not involve lowering expectations. The strongest leaders, she believes, combine empathy with accountability - listening to employees, recognising their efforts, understanding different working realities and creating confidence while maintaining clear performance expectations.
Working across APAC has made this especially relevant. Leaders and employees often work across multiple time zones, making flexibility and mutual understanding essential. Even small acts of appreciation can strengthen employee trust, she said, recalling managers who encouraged employees to step back when workloads became excessive while still maintaining performance expectations.
Gunasegaran also cautioned against applying a single workforce strategy across the region. Labour laws, cultures, demographics, skills availability and employee expectations differ across markets such as India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Yet she sees common trends: skills shortages, rapid digitalisation, demand for flexibility, career development and meaningful work. Employees increasingly want to know whether they can grow within an organisation, whether they can trust their leaders and whether their roles will remain relevant.
Why this matters for HR professionals
Gunasegaran's experience with workforce transformation reinforces a practical lesson: introducing a new system is not the same as making it work. At Speedcast, adopting employee-of-record platforms involved data analysis, cost comparisons, legal considerations and collaboration across HR, finance and leadership. The technology provided the infrastructure, but people had to build the case, secure organisational support and make the change work.
For HR leaders, the immediate takeaway is to shift from predicting what the future will look like to preparing people to adapt to it. That means making continuous learning part of everyday work, giving employees ownership of their relevance, and holding them accountable for outcomes rather than hours logged. The organisations that remain resilient will be those that combine technology with trust, adaptability with empathy, and strategy with purpose.
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