Transform Talent Thailand 2026: Nine lessons on leading HR through AI
HR leaders in Southeast Asia gathered on May 28 for Transform Talent Thailand 2026 to discuss how artificial intelligence is reshaping workforce strategy. The event produced a consistent message: AI accelerates work, but people provide the context, judgment, trust and compassion that make change meaningful.
HR as a regional control tower
Chih-Hao Huang, Chief Human Resources Officer for Delta Electronics' Southeast Asia region, outlined how HR must support business expansion across multiple countries. He operates with 70-75% confidence in achieving goals rather than 90-95%, accounting for the uncertainties that come with managing growth across different markets.
Huang described HR's role as a "control tower" that balances global standards with local requirements. This requires three steps: first, understanding each country's labor laws, tax codes, safety requirements and compliance needs; second, standardizing HR processes across markets so employees and managers can move between countries without friction; third, transforming how employees work as the business model shifts.
The lesson: HR cannot design for one country and replicate the approach everywhere.
Spoken English as a business metric
Will Polese, Vice President of Revenue at ELSA Corp., connected communication skills directly to revenue. About $2 trillion is lost globally each year to miscommunication, he said.
Employees often have English ability but lack confidence to use it when it matters - during sales calls, performance reviews, supplier negotiations and executive presentations. AI now enables practice before high-stakes conversations. The issue is not language ability alone but readiness to speak when it counts.
Why enterprise AI adoption lags behind personal use
Ruth Protpakorn, Country Manager at Workday Thailand, identified the gap between personal and organizational AI adoption. People use AI daily for writing and summarizing. Organizations struggle to scale it.
The reason: context. Public AI tools lack understanding of an organization's structure, permissions, workflows, policies and security rules. This creates three problems. First, AI projects become disconnected - solving one narrow task rather than serving the whole organization. Second, they misalign with strategic outcomes. Third, fragmented data prevents AI from working effectively.
Personal productivity gains do not automatically translate into organizational productivity. Protpakorn said organizations need to move from individual time savings to broader outcomes that unlock business value. This requires combining people data, permissions, business rules and workflow context with AI capabilities.
Transparency turns AI anxiety into impact
Vibhore Kumar, Director of Human Resources at Western Digital, and Sundaram Iyer, Head of Banpu Academy, said employees experience excitement and fear simultaneously about AI. They worry about job displacement and whether AI outputs can be trusted.
HR's response should be radical transparency. Kumar said: "If you are implementing an AI, be very transparent about which area you are implementing it, how it will be implemented, and how it is going to be effective, because until you tell your people how it is going to affect them, they will always be on high alert."
Employees need psychological safety to experiment, fail and build confidence with AI tools. AI should not be treated as another HR initiative but as a tool to solve specific business problems. The speakers identified adaptability, learning agility and AI literacy as critical leadership skills.
Intent becomes the user interface
Mark Chan, Regional Head of Strategic Accounts Asia at Darwinbox, described how Human Capital Management technology is evolving. Traditional systems are like electric vehicles - faster than before but still operating on the same roads. AI-native systems are more like self-driving cars.
The next step requires a "context" or "cortex" layer above the system of record. This layer translates between what users want to achieve and organizational policies, history, compliance rules and business environment. Instead of navigating tabs and workflows, employees state their intent and AI guides them through it.
The challenge is no longer running isolated AI experiments but scaling AI into real business use cases. Chan said organizations must move from simple AI features on legacy systems to rethinking how work itself is structured.
Productivity beyond headcount
A panel of HR leaders from Bayer, Johnson & Johnson MedTech and Jebsen and Jessen Group cautioned against measuring productivity only through headcount or short-term output. Productivity operates on four layers: clear priorities, efficient processes, people capability and healthy culture.
Without clear priorities, employees work hard on the wrong things. Without good systems, they waste time on paperwork and spreadsheets. Without capability, they cannot execute. Without healthy culture, productivity becomes burnout.
Adding headcount does not solve productivity problems if priorities are unclear or processes are poor. HR's role is shifting from responding to hiring requests to helping the business understand root causes, redesign work and remove low-value tasks. Line managers are especially important - they must support wellbeing, coach people and create psychological safety.
Leadership style must shift
Akarin Phureesitr, Chief People Officer at Central Pattana, said leaders must adapt how they lead. Most were trained in a directive style: telling, advising, solving problems. Today's environment demands a different approach.
Phureesitr called this "high ask, low tell" - asking powerful questions, listening deeply and enabling people to think for themselves. This unlocks potential and creativity far beyond what any single leader can do alone.
He also defined talent around four attributes: strategic and execution thinking, influencing others, achievement orientation and self-awareness with humility. Organizations should measure and develop these intentionally through self-assessments, manager feedback and 360-degree reviews.
Compassion as a leadership advantage
Kriangkrai Yooyeun, Executive Vice President and People Director at B.Grimm, said compassion should not be seen as soft or weak. It creates better outcomes for people, teams and organizations.
He offered a simple practice: ask one more question when facing a people issue. Instead of asking why an employee is underperforming, ask what obstacles may prevent that person from performing. This changes the conversation and leads to better solutions.
Compassionate leadership does not mean avoiding difficult conversations or lowering standards. Yooyeun said: "Be tough on the issue, but respectful to the person, because we can challenge the performance without attacking the dignity."
Mindfulness helps. A 10-second pause before responding to a difficult email or conversation allows leaders to choose a wiser response.
Humans must remain accountable for AI decisions
Aleksander Højgaard, Director of Talent Acquisition at Minor Hotels, and Sidchana Mahasupachai, Regional HR Director at Medtronic, said AI should support human judgment, not replace it.
They warned against processes where AI writes job descriptions, screens candidates and makes rejections with minimal human oversight. The concern is not just that AI might make mistakes but that people stop being able to explain decisions. Højgaard said: "If a CEO asks why we rejected someone and I can't answer that question because I blindly trusted the AI, there's a real concern."
AI is trained on data created by humans, so it carries human bias. HR cannot assume AI outputs are neutral. AI literacy must include learning to spot answers that sound convincing but may be wrong, incomplete or biased. HR teams need to challenge AI outputs, not simply accept them.
Organizations need an "AI compass" covering confidentiality, accountability, transparency, governance and bias. Governance should be simple and practical so employees use approved tools rather than finding workarounds.
The core takeaway
Technology improves efficiency. People create trust, judgment, context and meaning. Organizations that combine AI with strong leadership, clear governance, business context, transparent communication and genuine care for people will benefit most.
For HR, this creates an opportunity to grow as a strategic partner in productivity, capability, culture, workforce transformation and business growth.
Learn more about AI for Human Resources and explore resources for HR leaders navigating AI implementation.
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