Human Resources (HR) is a people profession. This industry that is known to be very human and personal, is accepting the digital transformation with ease. The new-age HR is adapting technology to attract and retain top talent. Technology has made its way to all HR operations resulting in a major shift in the way employers contact employees, store and analyse data, and evaluate employee performance. Organisations are increasingly using technology to liberate HR professionals from administrative burdens and help them recruit and engage quality employees, and boost their productivity.

But staying relevant is not just a matter of innovating or achieving operational excellence. It's also about transforming the business and the corporate models it is based on in order to become a real workplace of the future. I believe that Human Resources (HR) professionals have a big role to play in that transformation process. HR will be the pioneering force in creating the workplace of the future. To accomplish this, it will essential to leverage new technologies, data management, and other innovations.

While scientists and sci-fi writers alike have been speculating and experimenting with AI for decades, the emergence of the current spectrum of artificially intelligent machines and software has perhaps been driven by one factor more than any other – the overwhelming abundance of data that organisations of all types have to deal with today. The sheer weight of data available to businesses and other entities is simply beyond the scope of human operators to sort, analyse and utilise. But with the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, we now have the tools available to not only deal with this data, but to properly utilise it to deliver business insights and efficiencies. This is as true in human resources as in any other sphere of business. Recruitment, in particular, is an area in which many HR professionals feel there is considerable scope for improvement.