AI in HR: 9 Real-Life Use Cases for People Leaders (With Prompts)

AI is everywhere these days — and in HR, it’s hard to escape the hype. We keep hearing the same refrain:

More AI! More automations! More efficiency!

But here’s the problem: no one is really telling us how to make it happen. What does “leveraging AI in HR” actually look like? How can we use AI in a way that genuinely enhances our workflows, rather than just adding another shiny new tool to the tech stack?

Let’s cut through the noise. Below are real, practical ways I’ve used AI to make my role at Ethena more efficient, data-driven, and (dare I say it?) a little easier. Whether you’re looking for quick wins with free tools or ready to invest in a paid platform, there are plenty of ways to start incorporating AI into your workflow.

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Starting small: free ways to use AI in HR

You don’t need a big budget or fancy tools to start benefiting from AI. Even a free tool like ChatGPT can be a surprisingly powerful asset in a People leader’s day-to-day work. Here’s how:

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1. Making a business case for HR initiatives

Imagine this: You have a fantastic idea for a new People initiative. You know it will make a positive impact, but now comes the hard part: getting leadership buy-in. You need data, financial justification, and a rock-solid argument. Instead of staring at a blank screen, you can turn to AI.

By providing AI with a high-level summary of your idea, it can help frame your proposal in terms of cost savings, ROI, and business impact. It can even suggest stats and case studies to strengthen your case. Suddenly, you’re not just making a proposal — you’re presenting a compelling business case that speaks the language of leadership.

Example prompt:

• “Help me write a business case for a [new initiative, e.g., mental health benefit] for our employees. Include expected outcomes, ROI, industry benchmarks, and language that appeals to executives.”

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2. Creating job descriptions, assessments, and interview guides

Writing job descriptions can be tedious. You want them to be engaging, inclusive, and reflective of your company’s culture, without sounding like every other job posting out there. AI can help by generating a solid first draft, which you can then refine and personalize.

Need an interview guide or a take-home assessment? AI can craft structured, thoughtful questions based on the skills and competencies you’re hiring for. It’s not about replacing human judgment — it’s about streamlining the process and giving you a strong starting point.

Example prompts:

• “Create an inclusive and engaging job description for a [Job Title] in [Industry]. Emphasize our company’s commitment to [values, e.g., diversity, innovation, flexibility].”
• “Write 5 behavioral interview questions for a [Job Title] role focused on [key skills, e.g., collaboration, adaptability, efficiency].”
• “Draft a take-home assessment for a [Job Title] to evaluate [specific skill].”

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3. Crunching the numbers on hiring and retention

Recruitment and retention are all about numbers. How long does it take to fill an open role? What’s the cost per hire? How many employees leave within their first year?

Instead of manually calculating these figures, AI can do it in seconds. Simply feed it historical data on your hiring process, and it can generate key metrics, highlight trends, and even suggest strategies for improving efficiency. This means you can make more data-driven decisions — without spending hours crunching numbers yourself.

Example prompt:

• “Based on this hiring data, calculate time-to-fill, cost-per-hire, and first-year attrition rate. Suggest trends or areas for improvement: [Insert data here]”

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4. Automating employee communications

We’ve all been there — staring at an email draft, trying to strike the perfect tone. Whether it’s an announcement about a policy change, a response to an employee concern, or an engagement survey reminder, AI can generate a polished, professional message in seconds.

And it’s not just about speed. AI can tailor the message’s tone based on your input. Want something friendly and upbeat? Straightforward and professional? AI can adjust accordingly, so you can focus on strategy rather than wording.

Example prompts:

• “Write a friendly but professional email informing employees of a new [policy update]. Keep it concise and include next steps.”
• “Draft an employee spotlight celebrating [employee name]'s recent achievement in [project or initiative].”

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5. Streamlining HR surveys

Employee surveys are a valuable tool, but crafting the right questions can be tricky. AI can help by suggesting survey questions that are clear, unbiased, and aligned with your goals. Whether it’s an engagement survey, an exit survey, or a quick pulse check, AI ensures you’re asking the right questions in the right way.

Example prompts:

• “Help me write 10 employee engagement survey questions to measure trust in leadership, team cohesion, and workload balance.”
• “Rewrite these questions to be more inclusive and unbiased: [paste survey questions].”

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Leveling up: paid AI tools for HR

If your company is ready to invest in AI, the possibilities expand even further. With a paid AI platform that protects company data, HR teams can leverage AI in more advanced ways.

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6. Analyzing employee feedback at scale

HR teams collect a massive amount of qualitative data; think engagement survey responses, exit interviews, and performance reviews. Manually reading through hundreds (or thousands) of comments is time-consuming and subjective. AI can instantly analyze open-ended responses, identifying trends, sentiment shifts, and common themes.

Instead of relying on gut instinct, you now have clear, data-backed insights to inform your strategy. If employees are consistently citing burnout as a concern, or if exit interview feedback points to a specific issue in management, AI can surface these patterns instantly — so you can act on them sooner.

Example prompt:

• “Analyze the following engagement survey responses for common themes and sentiment. Highlight areas of concern and emerging trends: [Paste anonymized responses]”

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7. Identifying compliance risks in HR policies

Staying compliant with state and federal labor laws is a moving target. AI can review internal policies and flag areas that might be outdated or misaligned with regulations. While AI shouldn’t replace legal counsel, it can serve as an extra set of eyes — helping HR teams catch potential compliance gaps before they become an issue.

• “Review this parental leave policy for compliance gaps and outdated language based on current U.S. labor laws: [Insert policy text]”

It doesn’t hurt to say it again: always run any flagged issues by Legal before making changes.

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8. Measuring the true cost of meetings

Have you ever wondered how much that standing weekly meeting is actually costing the company? AI can calculate the financial impact of meetings based on employee salaries, helping teams be more intentional about their time. If the data shows that a recurring meeting costs thousands of dollars per month, it might be time to rethink that calendar invite.

Example prompt:

• “Calculate the total monthly cost of a 60-minute weekly meeting attended by 8 employees with an average salary of $90,000.”

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9. Optimizing HR workflows

AI isn’t just about replacing manual work — it’s about making existing processes smarter. By feeding AI your current workflows (like recruitment, onboarding, or performance reviews), it can suggest ways to cut the time required by 25% or more through automation and efficiency improvements.

For example, if onboarding takes an average of 10 hours per new hire, AI might suggest automating parts of the process — like scheduling, document collection, or benefits enrollment — so HR teams can focus on the human side of onboarding instead.

Example prompt:

• “Here’s our current onboarding process. Identify time-consuming steps and suggest automation or efficiency improvements: [Paste workflow steps]”

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The bottom line

AI isn’t just changing how HR works — it’s changing how everyone works. If your organization is using AI tools internally, your employees likely are, too. That’s why it’s critical to set clear expectations around what responsible use looks like.

Ethena’s Generative AI Policy Template makes it easy to create practical, flexible guidelines for safe and compliant AI use at work. And — if you want to take things a step further — our AI in the Workplace course helps employees understand how to use AI tools ethically, securely, and in line with your company’s values.

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About Ethena

Ethena takes you beyond checking the box with a modern library of 150+ customizable course modules and tech that lets you set it and forget it. An employee hotline, case manager, and phishing simulator are all built-in, so you can identify risks and tailor your training to them. Ethena is trusted by People and Compliance teams at Zendesk, Pinterest, Notion, The Salvation Army, and more.

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