With artificial intelligence and related tech making serious inroads in today's workplace, it may come as little surprise that upskilling and reskilling will be key to evolving employee competencies that complement technological innovation, according a new survey. Unfortunately, the same survey, the 2020 Talent Trends Report released by Randstad Sourceright, found that, while 91% of human capital leaders believe it's their company's responsibility to provide reskilling to meet business needs, only 22% are currently doing so to address talent scarcity. Nearly one-third of respondents who said they intend to offer reskilling aren't sure how to get it done. The good news is most employers (66%) plan to provide training and reskilling in the area of artificial intelligence, while 60% plan to develop workers' soft skills. The findings mirrored those in the company's 2019 research on employees, wherein their most desired skills included both technical capabilities (43%) and soft skills, such as communication (41%).

With artificial intelligence becoming all the rage across the HR world, there clearly appears to be rewards from using AI to find and land the best talent. Do AI-based tools in recruiting and hiring really outperform human decision-making? And if they do, could they potentially expose HR and employers to the same types of discrimination issues that can impact hiring driven by people, not algorithms? Right now, the legal landscape in the U.S. has yet to catch up those critical considerations. In Europe, for instance, the U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office recently released guidance for organizations about transparency within AI decision-making.

Over the last several months, I've been focusing on the planning, execution and post-event activities for the recently concluded HR Technology Conference, which, by all accounts, was our largest and most successful event ever. It's only in the last week or two that I've had a chance to reflect on the conference--and on the year overall--thinking about the technologies and trends that have mattered the most in 2019 and speculating on what might dominate the conversations in 2020. Here's my semi-scientific look at what was important to the HR-tech community this year, and what we will probably spend more time on in 2020. AI in HR tech was probably the No. 1 tech topic and trend in 2019. There were about 500 exhibitors at HR Tech, and I bet easily over 100 of them are developing, deploying, or at least discussing, how AI is driving their technology offerings.

A new report from software company Sage titled The Changing Face of HR finds that 82% of HR leaders anticipate their role will be "almost completely unrecognizable" within 10 years. And yet, despite this predicted sea change, the survey's findings reveal that most of these leaders consider themselves and their organizations poorly prepared for such a transformation. For example, nearly half (43%) of the 500 HR leaders at mid-sized organizations surveyed believe their organization will not keep up with related changes in technology during the next decade. Fewer than one in three consider their skills at an "expert" level for the change, 57% say they can't invest in new technology because of resourcing restrictions and only 25% consider themselves tech-savvy. "It's clear that while many companies are adopting new technologies and making advancements within their HR departments on their journey towards a'People' function, just as many remain resistant to invest," says Paul Burrin, Sage's vice president of people.

There used to be a time in the not-too-distant past when we feared the oncoming hordes of robots in the workplace. That time is no longer. People now have more trust in robots than their managers, according to the second annual AI at Work study conducted by Oracle and research firm Future Workplace. The study of 8,370 employees, managers and HR leaders across 10 countries, found that AI has changed the relationship between people and technology at work and is reshaping the role HR teams and managers need to play in attracting, retaining and developing talent. The latest advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence are rapidly reaching mainstream, resulting in a massive shift in the way people across the world interact with technology and their teams, says Emily He, senior vice president, human capital management for Oracle's cloud business group.

Influence in HR technology comes from many places, takes many forms and continues to evolve over time. When the HRE/HR Tech Conference team met over to work on this Influencers list, we knew it would be important to consider all aspects of influence. Some have more of a direct and immediate effect on products, while others have a more subtle yet longer-term impact. It's safe to say all, however, are having an important and noticeable impact on where HR technology has been, where it is today and, perhaps most importantly, where it is heading. And that, above all else, informed the decision-making that went into compiling this list, which presents those being recognized in alphabetical order.