82% of HR Professionals Adopt AI, but Lack of Role-Specific Training Limits Confidence

A recent General Assembly survey found that while 82% of HR professionals use AI in their work, only 30% have received comprehensive, job-specific AI training. This training gap is leaving many to self-teach, resulting in mixed outcomes on confidence and effectiveness.

Although 69% of HR professionals say AI has freed up time for strategic work and 41% report working fewer hours due to AI adoption, insufficient formal training hinders their ability to maximize the technology’s benefits.

“AI is transforming every aspect of work, but to harness its full potential, we need to upskill every department, especially HR,” said Daniele Grassi, CEO of General Assembly. “HR teams who receive job-specific AI training are 35% more likely to feel very or completely confident in their AI skills compared to those learning on their own.”

How HR Teams Are Using AI

  • Analyzing employee feedback (46%)
  • Writing job descriptions (46%)
  • Designing training materials (45%)

Training Gaps

Outside of the 30% who received role-specific training, HR professionals reported:

  • 18% received only basic training covering concepts, not applications
  • 12% had generic training not tailored to HR tasks
  • 14% sought out training independently
  • 26% had no formal AI training at all

Generational and industry divides are also evident. 38% of Gen Z HR professionals say they’ve received no AI training. Healthcare leads in lacking training (32%), while finance (39%) and professional services (46%) report the highest levels of comprehensive AI training.

Confidence and Role-Specific Training

Training strongly correlates with confidence — 85% of HR professionals with role-specific training say they feel very or completely confident in their AI skills. Many also expressed a desire for more practical and hands-on learning opportunities:

  • 70% want interactive HR-focused AI workshops
  • 63% seek regular training updates as AI tools evolve
  • 59% of non-users say HR-specific training is essential to adoption

The most requested AI applications include:

  • Workforce planning (47%)
  • Designing training materials (46%)
  • Writing employee communications (42%)

Mandates vs. Encouragement

The study revealed that mandating AI use can backfire. At companies where AI adoption is required, 41% of HR professionals said it created more work and distractions. By contrast, only 13% reported this at companies that encourage but don’t mandate usage. Notably, just 6% say leadership demands motivate them to use AI — most are driven by a desire to improve productivity, quality, and workload balance.

Learn more about the survey here.

Methodology

The survey was conducted by General Assembly from June 9–20, 2025, among 288 HR professionals at organizations with at least 100 employees in the US and UK.

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