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Free guide for CHROs and People leaders
The AI-Ready HR Vault
20 resources for CHROs and People leaders who want to lead AI without creating more chaos.
A curated starting library for HR leaders who need to answer: where do we start, what can we safely automate, how do we redesign work, and how do we prove value?
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AI-ready HRGuide 01
20
resources for the next HR conversation
Work designAI literacyExecutive narrativeOperating model
Your team does not need more AI tools. It needs a safer way to start.
Access to AI is no longer the hard part. The real question is whether your organisation can adopt AI safely, redesign work around it, and produce measurable value.
AI does not create capacity when it is added to unclear processes, weak data, or unowned decisions. So this vault starts with the work, then moves to literacy, narrative, operating model and action.
Four questions this vault helps you answer
02
What can we safely automate?
03
How do we redesign work?
04
How do we prove value?
What is inside
This page is a preview of the vault. The full version, with every link ready to use, comes as a PDF you can download and share with your team.
Start here: work before technology
4 resources
Establishes the core message. AI does not create capacity when it is added to unclear processes, weak data, or unowned decisions.
Free courses: build HR AI literacy
5 resources
Prioritises judgement, governance and safe use, not just prompt writing.
TED talks: shift the executive conversation
4 resources
Short, shareable and easy to play in a meeting, to help explain AI and work to executives.
Books: go deeper on the operating model
5 resources
Chosen for work design, people analytics, responsible AI and HR transformation.
How to sequence it
A five-step learning path
From diagnosing the work to proving the value.
Start here: work before technology
These resources set out the core message of the vault. AI does not create capacity when it is added to unclear processes, weak data, or unowned decisions.
AI Transformation Requires Redesigning Work, Not Cutting Roles
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, ARTICLE
The best executive-level framing of the thesis. Break roles into tasks, identify where AI improves performance, and redesign processes around human and technological capability.
4 Actions HR Leaders Can Take to Harness the Potential of AI
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, ARTICLE
Practical, HR-specific guidance on redesigning operating models before you automate legacy activity.
Close Your Workforce AI Skills Gap by Designing an Adaptive Organization
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, ARTICLE
Reinforces the right sequence. Simplify end-to-end workflows before you automate them.
The CHRO Playbook
SPENCER STUART, PLAYBOOK (PDF)
A strong strategic resource on skills-based workforce views, continuous reskilling, governance, transparency and human oversight.
Read these first if you are deciding where AI should, and should not, enter HR.
Free courses: build HR AI literacy
Prioritise courses that develop judgement, governance and safe use, not just prompt writing.
Embrace Responsible AI Principles and Practices
MICROSOFT LEARN, FREE
A free, credible starting point for responsible AI principles and practices.
OpenAI Academy
OPENAI, FREE
Free vendor-led learning for practical AI use. Useful for HR teams beginning to experiment safely.
Anthropic Academy
ANTHROPIC, FREE
Free learning on Claude and responsible deployment practices. Useful for teams evaluating AI tools and workflows.
Responsible AI at Work
LINKEDIN LEARNING, PAID AFTER FREE TRIAL
A six-course, five-hour path covering AI literacy, risk, policy-aligned practice, regulation and agentic AI governance. A good team upgrade once your baseline is set.
Preparing HR Teams for Agentic AI
LINKEDIN LEARNING, PAID AFTER FREE TRIAL
Especially relevant if you are considering AI agents. Risk, ethics, employee trust and human-centred implementation.
Create a shared AI baseline across HR, not a team of AI engineers.
TED talks: shift the executive conversation
Short, shareable and easy to play in a meeting. Use them to help you explain AI and work to executives and teams.
Why people and AI make good business partners
SHERVIN KHODABANDEH, TED TALK, ABOUT 10 MINUTES
A strong framing for redesigning organisations so people and machines learn from each other.
Talks on AI and the Future of Work
TED, PLAYLIST
A curated playlist on what AI changes, what it cannot replace, and how careers and organisations adapt.
How to Shape the Future of Work
TED, PLAYLIST
Talks on leadership, human and AI collaboration, and designing better organisations for the future of work.
AI is coming for your job. Now what?
VLAD TENEV, TED TALK
Prompts a more sober executive discussion about job redesign, workforce transition and human oversight.
Watch one before your next leadership meeting on AI and work.
Books: go deeper on the operating model
Chosen for work design, people analytics, responsible AI and HR transformation, not generic future-of-work titles.
Artificial Intelligence for HR
BEN EUBANKS, BOOK
A practical guide to responsible AI, data governance, tool evaluation, employee concerns and executive pressure around adoption.
Data-Driven HR
BERNARD MARR, BOOK
Connects HR metrics, analytics and business outcomes across recruitment, engagement, performance, wellbeing and learning.
High-Impact HR
SONIA MOONEY, BOOK
A transformation playbook centred on measurable business value, simplification, redesigned people practices and durable transformation capability.
Building the Skills-Based Organization
KOREEN PAGANO, BOOK
A practical blueprint for shifting from job titles to skills across hiring, performance, learning and careers. Essential groundwork for AI-driven work redesign.
The AI-Savvy Leader
DAVID DE CREMER, BOOK
A human-centred leadership framework for integrating AI into culture, decision making and organisational agility.
Read one book per quarter with your HR leadership team. Turn the discussion into a decision about what to fix next.
How to sequence it
Do not treat this as a list of links. Work through it in five steps, from diagnosing the work to proving the value.
01
Diagnose the work
Read the HBR work redesign articles and identify manual, fragmented or low-value HR workflows.
02
Build shared literacy
Complete one responsible AI course as an HR leadership team.
03
Create the narrative
Watch one TED talk and use it to open a leadership discussion on human and AI collaboration.
04
Design the operating model
Use the CHRO Playbook and the skills-based organisation material to connect AI to skills, governance and workforce planning.
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Turn insight into action
Choose one workflow. Define the data and the decision rights. Pilot responsibly. Measure the capacity released and the quality maintained.
Want help turning this into an AI-ready HR plan?
Start with the HR Systems and AI Readiness Audit. Identify the workflows, data gaps, governance risks and capacity constraints to address before scaling AI.