The AI Tools HR Consultants Need to Stay Competitive

As an HR consultant, you’ve probably noticed the growing buzz around artificial intelligence (AI) in the business world. Over the last 25 years, I’ve watched HR consulting evolve from manual processes and spreadsheets to becoming a strategic partner using cloud-based tools and automation. And now, we’re on the cusp of the next big leap—AI.

You might be wondering: “Is AI really necessary for my consulting business?” The answer is yes! To stay competitive and offer the kind of strategic, timely, and data-driven services clients expect, investing in AI tools is no longer optional. It’s essential. AI helps streamline processes, offers deeper insights, and enables consultants to deliver more value without getting bogged down by routine tasks.

In this article, I’ll walk you through some of the AI tools available for your HR consulting business, how AI is revolutionizing core HR functions, and the steps you can take to start integrating AI into your business.

The Changing Landscape of HR Consulting

Technology’s Role in HR Consulting

HR consulting has come a long way, thanks to technology. I remember when managing employee data meant updating physical files and manually tracking time-off. Today, we have access to more modern and formalized internal HRIS systems and to external standalone AI solutions. With these tools being readily available, our jobs are sooo much easier. When used properly, almost every task in human resources can be streamlined. But as tech evolves, so do client expectations.

Why Staying Competitive Requires AI

As more businesses adopt AI, clients are becoming accustomed to faster, smarter solutions. HR consultants who don’t leverage AI risk falling behind. Clients expect their consultants to bring cutting-edge solutions to the table, and AI enables you to offer data-driven insights and enhanced efficiency.

As just a few examples, AI tools allow HR consultants to process large amounts of data, offer predictive insights, and automate routine tasks, which ultimately provides more value to clients. More specifically, AI can be used in recruiting, creating or updating job descriptions, setting and tracking employee goals, designing performance management programs, tracking employee engagement, and assisting with feedback and communication.  And these are just a few examples of how AI can be leveraged.

Example of How AI is Revolutionizing Core HR Functions

AI in Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

Recruitment is one of the most time-consuming tasks for HR consultants. Reviewing resumes, picking the best ones, creating the right interview questions, and shortlisting candidates can take up a lot of time. But AI tools can speed up the process without sacrificing quality.

HireVue

HireVue is one tool that uses AI to transform the recruitment process, helping HR consultants screen candidates more efficiently. It uses video interviews and AI-powered assessments to evaluate candidates based on their skills, personality traits, and cognitive abilities. This reduces the time spent on manual resume reviews and shortlisting candidates.

Zoho Recruit

Zoho Recruit is another tool that integrates AI into the hiring process by using machine learning algorithms to parse resumes and match candidates with job descriptions. This system automates candidate tracking, making it easier to manage the talent pipeline across multiple clients.

AI for Employee Retention and Engagement

Employee engagement and retention are critical for any business, and AI can help consultants provide deeper insights in this area. Whether you are designing employee survey questions or reviewing the answers to glean trends and action items, AI can provide faster answers.

Lattice

Lattice is an AI-powered platform that helps HR consultants track and improve employee engagement, performance, and career growth. Using data analytics, Lattice provides insights into how employees feel about their work, predicts retention risks, and recommends actions to boost employee satisfaction. 

Peakon

Peakon (now part of Workday) is an employee engagement and feedback platform that uses AI-driven insights to measure and improve workplace satisfaction. It collects real-time feedback from employees through pulse surveys and provides organizations with actionable data on engagement, productivity, and retention risks. 

AI for Compliance and Risk Management

HR consultants know that staying compliant with ever-changing labor laws is a huge challenge. AI can help by monitoring regulations, updating policies automatically, and flagging potential risks. This is often a feature already provided in many internal HRIS systems today, which offer a lot more functionality than just payroll processing. 

Gusto

Gusto’s AI-powered platform helps HR consultants manage payroll, benefits, and compliance. It also automates compliance tracking and proactively keeps clients informed of changes in laws and rules. Gusto recently took this a step further and introduced an AI assistant named Gus, that helps with compliance related questions including compensation changes.

ADP

ADP is another AI-powered HR and payroll solution that assists consultants in managing compliance and risk. It automates payroll tax calculations, tracks time and attendance, and provides real-time insights into regulatory updates. ADP added a human loop into its processes to ensure high data quality checks and balances into the output their AI generates.

AI’s Usefulness in Other HR Projects and Communication

Many of the robust systems mentioned previously require a contract and payments up front for access. However, sometimes we may need faster and more ad-hoc solutions. This is where the external standalone AI solutions come in handy. 

ChatGPT

ChatGPT is one of the most widely used ad-hoc tools in HR consulting projects today. It can be used to create job descriptions and job advertisements, provide custom interview questions for each role, and establish goals for each position. It can also create performance evaluations forms and provide tips for training and development. It can even write or edit existing announcements or workplace policies. 

Jasper

Jasper is an AI writing assistant focused on content generation and productivity. Jasper is widely used for creating marketing copy, social media content, and email campaigns, but it can also support HR consultants in various ways. For HR tasks, Jasper can assist by drafting job descriptions, creating training materials, generating reports, and with writing internal communications or policy documents. 

AI’s Impact on Data-Driven Decision Making

Turning Data into Valuable Insights

One of the greatest benefits of AI is its ability to process vast amounts of data and turn it into actionable insights. Whether it’s analyzing workforce trends, predicting future hiring needs, or identifying employee engagement issues, AI can do in minutes what would take a human hours—or even days—to process.

This is important because HR decisions should be data driven and provide concrete results or outcomes. Whether you are implementing a new training program, increasing a salary, or deciding to terminate someone’s employment, each decision should be based on measurable data.

Offering More Strategic Services to Clients

In today’s competitive market, clients expect more than basic HR services—they want strategic insights that drive business outcomes. AI allows you to go beyond surface-level data and offer clients meaningful, data-driven recommendations that directly impact their bottom line.

As an example, I implement annual employee engagement surveys for most of my clients. It is structured in a way to provide concrete data which shows the highest and lowest scores in a variety of categories. When the lowest scores pertain to employee development and training, we can cross check that data with exit interview feedback to confirm the results. Then we create a compelling proposal with a data-driven analysis, explaining exactly why investing in more comprehensive training programs will benefit the company.. 

Addressing the Concerns and Challenges of AI Integration

Concerns About AI Replacing Human Expertise

One of the biggest concerns consultants have about AI is the fear that it might replace human expertise. But the truth is, AI is here to complement, not replace, the work we do.

While AI can handle data processing and routine tasks, HR consultants are still needed for relationship-building, context, and strategic decision-making. Your clients will always value the human element of your expertise—AI just helps you deliver that expertise more efficiently.

Ethical Considerations and Bias

It’s important to acknowledge that AI is not without its risks. If not properly managed, AI algorithms can introduce bias into processes like recruitment or performance evaluations. That’s why it’s critical for HR consultants to ensure that AI tools are used ethically and that there are double and triple checked in certain places to mitigate bias. You should never just ask an AI tool and then copy and paste the response. Each action needs to be vetted.  

Steps to Start Integrating AI into Your HR Consulting Business

Identify Areas for AI Integration

Start by identifying the areas of your business that could benefit most from AI. Are you spending too much time on recruitment? Do your clients need deeper insights into employee engagement? Focus on the areas where AI can make the biggest impact.

Start Small with the Right Tools

You don’t need to overhaul your entire consulting practice overnight. Start by adopting one or two AI-powered tools that address your immediate needs. Explore the current systems that you have access to, such as an existing HRIS platform, to learn more about the AI features. Or try going to ChatGPT and start asking it questions about your latest HR tasks or assignments. Make sure to delve deeper and provide more information, if you are not getting the correct answers. The great thing about AI is that it’s always growing and learning. As you become more comfortable with AI, you can expand into other areas.

Conclusion

AI is transforming the HR consulting industry, and investing in AI tools is essential for consultants who want to stay competitive. From automating routine tasks to providing data-driven insights, AI enables you to offer higher-value services, work more efficiently, and deliver better results for your clients.

If you haven’t started exploring AI yet, now is the time. Start small, focus on the areas where AI can have the biggest impact, and watch as your consulting business becomes more efficient, competitive, and profitable.