Gen AI Empowers Top HR Teams to Boost Engagement, Efficiency and Strategic Value
The Hackett Group’s 2025 HR research shows top teams use Gen AI and automation to cut costs by 29% while supporting triple the employees. Strategic HR now drives business value and agility.

The Hackett Group®: How Gen AI Elevates HR Engagement, Efficiency, and Strategic Impact
The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT), a leader in generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) consulting and executive advisory, has published its 2025 Digital World Class® Human Resources (HR) research. The findings reveal how top HR teams are redefining excellence by integrating digital tools and AI to drive business value and operational efficiency.
According to the report, Digital World Class® HR organizations—those in the top quartile for both business value and operational excellence—achieve 29% lower costs while supporting three times more employees. This success stems from a strategic approach focused on scaling HR’s impact rather than simply doing more with less.
Leading HR teams are adopting Gen AI and advanced automation to expand their capacity, freeing up time for higher-value activities. This transformation is helping HR become a more agile, insight-driven partner, enhancing the workforce experience and better supporting business goals.
What Sets Digital World Class® HR Apart
The Hackett Group’s extensive benchmark studies highlight key traits of top-performing HR organizations:
- Integration with Business Strategy
These HR teams spend twice as much time collaborating directly with line leaders on business-aligned talent plans. They are 2.4 times more likely to be seen as valued partners by business stakeholders and fill 57% more roles internally, reflecting stronger alignment between talent development and business needs. - Focus on Enterprise-Level Initiatives
Digital World Class® HR dedicates 32% more staff to strategic workforce planning and embeds 40% more organizational development efforts into success metrics. They also emphasize change enablement, assigning more HR professionals to facilitate business transformation. - Investment in AI and Automation
These organizations are 2.3 times more likely to provide self-service automation for HR data, compliance, and reporting. They align human capital management strategies with enterprise goals twice as often and actively use 71% of their primary software functionality to maximize technology ROI and scalability.
Additionally, Digital World Class® HR teams adapt more quickly to disruptions such as workforce shifts, economic pressures, and regulatory changes.
Blueprint for Closing the Performance Gap
The research provides clear guidance for HR teams aiming to leverage Gen AI and improve their service delivery model:
- Proactively address long-term workforce needs using emerging tools to optimize planning, skills development, and internal mobility.
- Automate routine and transactional HR tasks to create capacity for strategic initiatives.
- Identify HR skills gaps and adopt new ways of working, such as co-intelligence, while boosting data literacy and storytelling to enhance strategic influence.
- Partner with AI vendors who prioritize ethical practices, transparency, and trust to improve operational efficiency.
- Transform the HR operating model into an integrated and digitally enabled function that drives measurable business value.
A public version of the research report, “Driving HR Performance With Gen AI”, is available for free with registration.
About The Hackett Group®
The Hackett Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: HCKT) is a Gen AI strategic consulting and executive advisory firm that supports organizations in achieving Digital World Class® performance. Their proprietary platforms, AI XPLR™ and ZBrain™, guide organizations through ideation to implementation of Gen AI solutions that deliver measurable results.
The firm’s expertise is based on benchmarking a broad range of leading companies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 90% of the Fortune 100, 70% of the DAX 40, and 51% of the FTSE 100. Visit www.thehackettgroup.com for more information.