FAO launches "Ms FAO AI," a virtual HR colleague built to serve people first
Rome, 5 November 2025 - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has introduced its first HR Avatar, "Ms FAO AI," an AI-powered virtual colleague supporting staff worldwide, 24/7.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu framed the move as a mindset shift. "Ms FAO AI was not designed as a robot, but as a companion," he said. He also reminded staff of a simple truth: "To do a good job, one must first sharpen the tools."
What Ms FAO AI does for HR
The Avatar helps employees make informed decisions, answers HR questions in real time, and improves access to existing services. It supports a more inclusive, multilingual experience and reduces routine workloads, so HR can focus on higher-value work.
This launch builds on HR CertusCare-FAO's earlier AI chatbot that operates in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. CertusCare covers queries on social security, health insurance, performance management, learning and career development, HR policies, and recruitment.
A practical model HR leaders can apply
- People-first design: Treat AI as a colleague that supports, not replaces. Keep humans in the loop for edge cases and sensitive issues.
- Start with high-volume, policy-heavy topics: Benefits, leave, insurance, recruitment FAQs, and performance cycles are ideal.
- Go multilingual early: Equity and consistency improve when all staff get the same answers, in their language, at any hour.
- Build iteratively: Launch, learn from real questions, and update weekly. Both Ms FAO AI and CertusCare learn from interactions.
- Measure what matters: Response accuracy, time saved, case deflection, and employee satisfaction. Use these to guide updates.
- Set clear guardrails: Data privacy, audit trails for content sources, and escalation to human HR when confidence is low.
Why this matters
FAO is laying the groundwork for a one-stop shop that streamlines HR processes and boosts service reliability. The focus is simple: faster answers, fewer manual tasks, and better outcomes for the people FAO serves.
As the Director-General put it: "Innovation and application are key to FAO. But no innovation can succeed without human values - we need to always put people first. Technology must serve humanity, not replace it."
How to get started in your organization
- Map the top 50 HR questions from tickets, email, and intranet search logs.
- Create a single source of truth for policies and procedures, with version control.
- Pilot with one function (e.g., benefits), measure deflection and satisfaction, then expand.
- Offer multilingual support where you have sizable language groups.
- Set an escalation path: low-confidence answers go to human HR with context attached.
- Train HR teams on prompt writing, quality review, and continuous improvement.
If you're building HR AI skills and playbooks, explore practical learning paths by job role at Complete AI Training. For policy and governance guidance, see SHRM's AI resources.
Bottom line
FAO's approach is clear: sharpen the tools, keep humans at the center, and ship improvements often. For HR leaders, this is a workable blueprint to improve service delivery without losing the human touch.
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