share on
"By embedding AI into everyday HR processes, we can reduce significantly administrative effort, accelerate decision-making, and focus more attention on creating meaningful employee experiences and business impact," the HR team says.
As organisations adopt artificial intelligence (AI) to improve productivity, HR teams are also finding opportunities to rethink how everyday work gets done. Repetitive administrative tasks, manual data analysis and employee queries can take up valuable time that could otherwise be spent addressing workforce needs and supporting business decisions.
At CapitaLand Investment (CLI), the HR team saw an opportunity to embed AI directly into existing systems and workflows, rather than introduce it as a collection of standalone tools. The initiative supports activities such as analysing employee feedback, drafting job descriptions, reviewing candidates, and preparing reports. It also helps leaders access workforce insights more quickly, while making HR services more accessible and personalised for employees. In CLI’s 2025 employee pulse survey, 80% of employees agreed that digital productivity tools, including AI solutions, enabled them to perform more effectively in their roles.
Post its bronze win for 'Excellence in AI-Supported HR Solutions' at the HR Excellence Awards 2026 – Singapore, the HR team at CapitaLand Investment shares how it is embedding AI into the employee lifecycle, building trust through responsible adoption and preparing for a future where skills and workforce capabilities take centre stage.
Q What was the ‘lightbulb moment’ behind your HR initiative?
We saw an opportunity to rethink how HR work gets done. While HR sits on a wealth of data, too much time was being spent manually processing information rather than acting on insights. Whether it was analysing employee feedback, drafting job descriptions, reviewing candidates, preparing reports or responding to employee queries, many HR activities were labour-intensive and repetitive.
At the same time, CapitaLand Investment was accelerating AI adoption across the organisation and seeing tangible business value from it. This prompted us to ask: if AI could transform how we operate as a business, how could we apply the same principles to HR? Rather than introducing AI as standalone tools, we saw an opportunity to embed it directly into existing HR systems and workflows.
Our ambition was to equip HR teams and leaders with better tools and insights to work more effectively. By embedding AI into everyday HR processes, we can reduce significantly administrative effort, accelerate decision-making, and focus more attention on creating meaningful employee experiences and business impact.
Q Innovation rarely comes without obstacles. What was the biggest challenge your team faced along the way, and how did you overcome it?
The biggest challenge was not the technology itself. It was building confidence and trust in how AI could be used responsibly within HR. Employees understandably had questions about relevance, ethics, governance, accuracy and the role of AI in decision-making.
We knew that successful adoption required more than deploying new tools. It required a mindset shift. Our approach focused on demonstrating how AI could support employees in practical ways, while maintaining clear accountability and oversight. We invested in capability building to help employees understand how to use AI effectively and responsibly, including structured certification programmes in partnership with Microsoft.
We also worked closely with our Digital & Technology colleagues to integrate AI into familiar systems and processes, making adoption more seamless and practical. By focusing on education, governance and relevant business use cases, we were able to build greater confidence and encourage responsible adoption across the organisation.
Q How has this initiative influenced your people and organisation, and what conversation do you hope it sparks across the HR community?
The initiative has shifted how HR delivers value. AI has enabled our teams to spend less time on manual tasks and more time analysing trends, addressing business challenges and creating meaningful employee experiences. In employee listening, for example, HR teams can move beyond reporting survey results to diagnosing organisational issues and recommending targeted interventions more quickly. Leaders also receive faster and more actionable workforce insights to support decision-making.
For employees, AI-enabled capabilities have made HR services more accessible and personalised, from easier access to information to tailored development and career recommendations. In CLI’s 2025 employee pulse survey, 80% of employees agreed that digital productivity tools, including AI solutions, enable them to perform more effectively in their roles.
The conversation we hope to spark across the HR community is that AI should not be pursued for automation’s sake. Its real value lies in helping HR become more responsive, insight-driven and employee-centric, while creating more time for strategic thinking, collaboration and meaningful engagement.
Q What’s next? How are you planning to build on your progress and keep the momentum going?
Our next chapter is focused on creating a more integrated, AI-enabled employee lifecycle. Rather than applying AI to individual HR processes, we are looking at how AI can support the entire employee journey, from attraction and recruitment through onboarding, development, engagement, career growth, and offboarding.
Some of the areas we are exploring include conversational AI agents to enhance employee self-service, AI-powered onboarding and employee support solutions, skills intelligence capabilities, and more advanced workforce analytics to enable proactive decision-making. We are also looking at AI-generated learning insights and enhanced employee listening capabilities to strengthen workforce planning and organisational effectiveness.
Just as importantly, we will continue investing in AI literacy and responsible AI practices.
Technology evolves rapidly, but sustainable success depends on helping our people develop the confidence and capabilities to use these tools effectively and responsibly.
Q As the HR landscape continues to evolve, what do you believe will be the next big opportunity for HR leaders, and how is your organisation preparing for it?
The workforce of the future will be defined less by job titles and more by skills, capabilities and adaptability. As jobs evolve and business needs change more rapidly, organisations will require a deeper understanding of workforce capabilities, emerging skills gaps and future talent requirements. AI can help generate these insights at scale and enable more dynamic approaches to workforce planning, career development, internal mobility and talent deployment.
At CLI, we are preparing for this future by strengthening our AI-enabled workforce analytics capabilities, exploring skills-based workforce planning, and enhancing the intelligence embedded within our HR systems. We see AI not only as a productivity tool but as a strategic capability that can help employees grow, leaders make better decisions, and the organisation remain competitive in a rapidly changing environment.
Ultimately, we believe the organisations that succeed will be those that strike the right balance between technological innovation and human-centred leadership.
AI will continue to transform how work gets done, but people, culture, and judgement will remain at the heart of great organisations.
Read more interviews on why organisations have won trophies for their HR practices - head over to our Winning Secrets section!
Lead image / Provided
share on
