Skills gaps, trust concerns, and legacy systems limit AI's impact across HR functions
LONDON, Jan. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Avature, the AI-powered platform for strategic recruiting and talent management, today releases its AI Impact Report 2026, a benchmark examining how HR professionals are applying artificial intelligence across HR functions and where progress continues to stall.
The study finds that while interest in AI remains strong, many HR teams are still in the early stages of adoption. In most organizations, AI has not yet been built into the workflows that support hiring, skills development and workforce planning as teams navigate skills gaps, trust concerns and integration challenges.
"AI is influencing how organizations think about talent, but the real opportunity is in how it is applied," said Dimitri Boylan, founder and CEO of Avature. "The next phase depends on HR's ability to use AI to understand skills, anticipate change and make better workforce decisions. If AI only makes individual employees more efficient, companies risk ending up on the wrong side of disruption. The real advantage comes from using AI to drive smarter, organization-wide decisions."
AI Investment Is Rising, but Scaling Remains a Challenge
Nearly all organizations surveyed are embracing AI, with 88% expecting to increase their investment. Despite this momentum, many organizations are still early in their AI maturity:
- Approximately half (51%) of organizations are still in the exploratory or piloting phase
- 28% of HR leaders cite legacy software limitations as a top barrier
- Only 11% have integrated AI into core HR processes
- Just 5% are using AI as a strategic advantage
Skills Gaps Emerge as the Top Barrier to AI Success
A lack of AI expertise is the most significant obstacle to effective adoption:
- Only 9% of respondents note they have strong, organization-wide AI expertise
- 70% say they are still building AI capabilities or have only isolated pockets of talent
- Skills shortages are the top-cited HR challenge, ahead of technology or software limitations
Confidence in forecasting future skill needs is also low. Just 11% of HR leaders feel "very confident" predicting skills needs 12 months out, with confidence falling further over a 2-to-5-year horizon.
Entry-Level Roles Face the Greatest Pressure from AI
The entry-level squeeze is real, though the pace of impact is still unknown:
- 76% of respondents concerned about AI's impact on early-career positions believe it will significantly reduce hiring
- However, only 19% expect job losses this year and 27% say it is too soon to tell
- Within HR and talent teams, 35% anticipate slight headcount reductions and 21% remain unsure
Trust in AI Drops Sharply When Judgment Is Required
While HR leaders are comfortable using AI for logistical tasks, trust declines significantly when AI is asked to make judgment-based decisions:
- 98% do not completely trust generative AI to make workforce decisions
- More than a quarter (26%) do not trust it at all, while most have only slight or moderate confidence
- 62% trust AI to schedule interviews, but only 8% trust it to make hiring decisions without human oversight
Respondents are most comfortable assigning AI repetitive, low-risk tasks such as answering candidate FAQs (70%) and matching candidates to roles (64%).
"HR is at an inflection point," added Boylan. "If organizations want to see real ROI, AI has to move beyond supporting individual tasks and become context-aware, embedded into workflows and fully integrated into how the organization operates."
The AI Impact Report 2026 points to the need for HR teams to move beyond experimentation and apply AI in ways that support skills development, internal mobility and longer-term workforce planning.
Methodology
This report is based on a survey conducted between September and November 2025 with more than 180 HR, talent acquisition, and talent technology professionals across industries worldwide. The respondent base reflects large, complex enterprises, with 61% working at organizations with more than 30,000 employees. The most common primary responsibilities among participants include HR technology and systems (61%) and talent acquisition and recruitment (57%).
About Avature
Avature is an AI-powered platform for strategic recruiting and talent management. Founded by Dimitri Boylan, Avature brings modern internet technology to human resources organizations worldwide. Its solutions support candidate relationship management, applicant tracking, career sites, onboarding, internal mobility, learning and performance management. Avature works with 110 Fortune 500 companies across more than 164 countries and 32 languages.
Avature delivers its services through a private cloud and the public cloud, with data centers in the United States, Europe and Asia. The company has offices in Buenos Aires, London, Madrid, Melbourne, Munich, New York, Paris, Shenzhen and Virginia.
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