Unleash World 2025: Where Your AI in HR and Skills Strategies Start
- Jean-Baptiste Audrerie
- Oct 30
- 4 min read
Updated: Oct 31
Reinvention, Not Transformation
The message from Unleash World 2025 was impossible to miss: HR is no longer transforming, it is reinventing itself.
As Josh Bersin reminded the audience, with over $1 trillion invested in AI, CEOs and CFOs expect measurable productivity returns. The weight of that expectation lands squarely on the CHRO’s desk. The obstacle is not the technology; it is the redesign of jobs, workflows, and above all, skills.
AI is rewriting the DNA of work. The rise of AI agents is spawning “super-worker” roles that blend human judgment with machine precision. The HR function must evolve from managing compliance and process to designing human-centred experiences and orchestrating what he calls a density of talents.
"The only appreciating asset you have is your people. Everything else, including AI data centers, depreciates rapidly due to the pace of technological change." Josh Bersin - HR Analyst and Industry Thought Leader
And in this new AI-infused world, the most valuable skills are yes technical, but also profoundly human: Critical thinking, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence are now the top differentiators.
HR is no longer a support function; it is the new R&D of human potential, as Amy Coleman emphasized during the opening keynote on the first day of Unleash World 2025, the 13th Edition.
"HR is the next R&D, emphasizing that realizing this potential requires changing how HR professionals think, build, learn, and co-create with employees." Amy Coleman - Chief People Officer, Microsoft
The New Skills Paradigm: Human-Centric, Agile, Integrated
The conversation around AI skills at Unleash World was not about coding or algorithms, it was about capability ecosystems.
At Schneider Electric, the mantra is simple: “No skills, no adoption, no value.” Their success in scaling digital and AI programs came from a bottom-up approach, meeting employees where curiosity and appetite for learning are strongest. This peer-driven model turns employees into internal advocates for change, accelerating adoption far beyond traditional training campaigns.
Capgemini’s research added another powerful insight: among the top ten skills in AI-related roles, eight are human-centric. Even in technical domains, what matters most is how teams collaborate, think critically, and empathize. This is a sharp reminder that the AI era amplifies human strengths, it does not erase them.
The future of HR strategy lies in integrating skills across every touchpoint: recruitment, mobility, performance, and learning. Organizations must build skills engines that power business agility and continuous reinvention.
HR Tech 2026: From Systems of Record to Systems of Intelligence
By 2026, the HR technology landscape will look unrecognizable. Agentic AI will replace static dashboards with proactive, conversational, and self-acting systems. These AI agents will not just retrieve information, they will trigger workflows, recommend actions, and anticipate needs before they surface.
For employees, this evolution means a hyper-personalized experience. Career paths, learning suggestions, and internal mobility opportunities will be curated dynamically by AI, tailored to each person’s context and goals.
But this promise comes with new responsibilities. Data governance will become the foundation of every AI-driven HR strategy. Without trustworthy, connected, and secure data, even the smartest AI will fail. The CHRO of 2026 will act not only as a people leader but as a strategist of human-machine collaboration, balancing productivity, ethics, and the human experience in equal measure.
Unleash World 2025 Paris by the Numbers
Unleash World 2025, at a glance:
8,000 HR leaders
120 countries represented
350 exhibitors
300 speakers
17 stages of inspiration and innovation
Unleash World has become more than a global HR Tech conference; it is a living laboratory where the future of work is being debated, built, and accelerated.
From Awareness to Action
The Unleash World 2025 conference did not just showcase the future, it issued a challenge. HR must stop reacting to technology and start shaping how AI serves people.
The winners of this next decade will be the organizations that merge data intelligence with human insight to create workplaces where learning, innovation, and inclusion thrive together. It is not enough to attend the AI revolution; HR must design its blueprint.
Why It Matters for HR Leaders in Canada
Canada and Québec are at a crossroads. Between demographic pressure, digital acceleration, and an increasingly polarized world of work, the AI in HR revolution will test leadership maturity like never before. We are entering an era where augmented humanity is not a slogan but a business imperative.
To navigate this shift, HR leaders need a collective voice. Nexa RH invites you to contribute to the 1st Barometer of AI in HR in Canada, a landmark initiative designed to map adoption, readiness, and the human impact of AI in Canadian organizations.
Take part in the conversation.
Contribute to the 1st Barometer of AI in HR in Canada, Ontario and Québec. Help define how AI will reshape HR, learning, and skills strategies for the next generation of work.
Read our other posts on AI in HR Strategy and AI Skills Transformation to deepen your insights from Unleash World 2025.
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