Australian HR departments are rapidly adopting new tech, with research showing most have moved beyond pilot programs to embed these tools into daily operations.
A 2025 study by recruitment agency Robert Half of found 85% of HR departments are using AI in some capacity and 82% have adopted automation. More significantly, 27% have extensively or fully integrated AI into their business operations – 23% have done the same for automation.
For EAs who work closely with HR on recruitment, onboarding and employee communications, these changes signal a fundamental shift in how people-related processes will operate.
Current AI and automation priorities
The top areas where HR leaders are already using AI focus heavily on recruitment:
- Job description creation and optimisation (58%)
- Resume screening (54%)
- Candidate sourcing (49%)
- Employee communications (49%)
- Onboarding (45%)
Automation is being used similarly, with resume screening (52%), candidate assessment (48%) and job description creation (48%) leading adoption.
But future plans will see an expansion beyond recruitment. Exit interviews and offboarding analytics (44%), compensation benchmarking (42%) and compliance and policy enforcement (39%) top the list for planned AI implementation.
For automation, the focus shifts to employee learning and development (39%), compensation benchmarking (35%) and workforce planning and analytics (35%).
Strategic evolution underway
Emma Sestic, associate director at Robert Half, says there’s a clear strategic evolution within HR departments.
“While the immediate benefits of AI and automation are being realised in high-volume, efficiency-driven tasks, the true transformation lies in the future,” she explains.
“Companies are rapidly pivoting to leverage these technologies for more analytical and forward-looking functions to empower HR to move beyond transactional processes and become a more data-driven, strategic partner to the business.”
This evolution mirrors the changing role of EAs; increasingly moving from administrative support to strategic business management.
What this means for EAs
The research suggests significant changes in how high-level assistants interact with HR processes:
- Traditional manual tasks like resume screening and job posting creation are becoming automated.
- More strategic functions around workforce planning and analytics are emerging.
- EAs involved in recruitment support, employee onboarding or internal communications should familiarise themselves with the new tools to remain effective partners to both their executives and HR teams.
- Explore opportunities to focus on higher-value strategic work as routine HR tasks become automated.
With only 15% of HR departments having no plans to adopt AI and 18% avoiding automation, the transformation appears inevitable across Australian organisations.