Skills, trust, and AI, oh my! The biggest themes we saw at HR Tech Vegas 2025

Thousands of HR and IT leaders gathered at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, for HR Tech 2025 – the world’s largest HR technology conference. It’s an event I’ve personally been attending for more than a decade – and one that I enjoy every year.

This year’s HR Tech Conference was once again centered around AI, with plenty of speculative sessions about “what’s next” feeling like carbon copies of the ones from 2024. With more than 500 exhibitors and a buzzing Pitchfest showcasing the latest and greatest ideas in the space, perhaps it’s not surprising that AI dominated the conversation across the show floor and in the breakout sessions; but vendors who stood out this year did more than just guess at what comes next – they demonstrated impact of what’s already arrived.

But the HR technology landscape is about more than just AI. Building trust in a fragmented world, redefining how HR helps employees solve problems, and launching new benefits that people will actually use also took center stage across the three days of the event.

Let’s dig in on some of the things we heard.

1. AI takes center stage – but strategy matters more than hype

The strongest message from across the week was that AI only works with the right foundations. ServiceNow cautioned against “agenting everything” and stressed the importance of governance, conversational experiences, and clear ROI measures. Salesforce showed how it has scaled AI support internally using its “4 Rs” – Redesign, Reskill, Redeploy, and Rebalance – to give employees a unified, self-service experience while reducing manual workload. In the same vein, CrowdStrike demonstrated how embedding AI into day-to-day HR queries can free up teams to focus on higher-value work.

The big takeaway? It’s not a new message for this crowd, but it’s one we need to hear again and again: don’t just implement AI for AI’s sake. Companies are pouring billions into AI investments in search of productivity gains, but are not yet seeing real bottom-line impact. People leaders must treat AI adoption as a strategy, not a sprint – testing use cases carefully, creating change management plans and learning paths, setting guardrails, and scaling only where the business impact is clear.

Want to dive deeper into how People teams are already using AI to cover more ground and deliver better benefits experiences? Our latest report explores the reality behind the hype – from guiding employees through personalized benefits journeys to freeing HR from admin so they can focus on strategy.

2. Skills-first strategies are rewriting the workforce playbook

The shift from jobs to skills is no longer theoretical, it’s here – especially in organizations leading the pack when it comes to AI adoption. Speakers in multiple sessions suggested that job titles can no longer capture how value is created in a hybrid human–AI workforce. Deloitte and Salesforce shared how they are moving from siloed HR programs to a product-led model – where People teams design end-to-end employee experiences as integrated “products,” managed with clear outcomes, roadmaps, and continuous improvement. Combined with a skills-first approach – treating skills capital as a measurable asset that can be deployed where the business needs it most – this places HR at the heart of enterprise digital transformation. It’s a big shift, but one that turns HR from service provider to people strategist – that is, if HR leaders ensure they’re not losing the “human” in Human Resources as they make this transition!

Deloitte’s sessions reinforced this need for balance in orchestrating how human and machine capabilities combine to deliver business outcomes. It’s a role that HR was born to play – but one that not many are ready to step into in practice, especially with mounting pressure to AI everything.

To bring this dream to life, we need to be defining skills capital, measuring it in real time, and deploying it dynamically to where the business needs it most. The message was sharp: HR leaders who wait to adopt skills-first planning will be left behind – as will those who lose their humanity in the race for AI.

3. The benefits experience is being reinvented

Employee expectations of benefits and workplace experiences are changing rapidly, and technology is the catalyst.

In our own joint session with Microsoft – “You’ve mastered U.S. benefits, now let’s talk global” – we showed how organizations can move from fragmented, manual processes to a truly global, digital benefits experience. Microsoft shared how they’re consolidating 800+ unique benefits across 100 countries, cutting millions of manual data points, and transforming the way they communicate about their benefits from spreadsheets and siloed systems to one intelligent platform.

With Benifex and Microsoft Copilot, employees now get a single, personalized experience wherever they work – whether it’s day-one onboarding in Mexico or navigating family healthcare in Germany. The result? Faster access, fewer suppliers, and a consistent global benefits platform that frees up thousands of HR hours while driving engagement at scale.

As Samantha Sergent, Director of International Benefits at Microsoft, emphasized: “We’re now able to showcase benefits in a way we’ve never done before – a connected, intelligent, global benefits experience that delivers one experience, wherever you work.”

This aligns with the perspective Craig Foster, Microsoft’s Director of HR Digital Transformation, shared at our Benifex Forum earlier this year. In his keynote, “Unlocking the next era of work with Microsoft,” Craig explored how AI and tools like Copilot are helping HR teams integrate complex systems, personalize employee interactions, and create knowledge-powered workplaces.

Across the event, the trend was clear: employees want benefits that feel personal, dynamic, and digital-first. Panasonic shared how Gen Z’s demand for “delighter” benefits like mental health support and financial wellness is pushing HR leaders to redesign legacy systems. Businessolver demonstrated how omni-channel communication and AI-driven decision support can make benefits easier to understand and access in the flow of work.

The opportunity for HR leaders is to move away from static programs and design intuitive, global benefits experiences that meet their employees’ rising expectations – and this is where Benifex is leading the way.

4. Trust, security, and ethics are rising to the top of the agenda

AI is creating enormous opportunity, but it’s also raising important questions about how we keep people at the center of work. Across the event, speakers returned again and again to themes of trust, transparency, and ethics.

Speakers from ADP emphasized the importance of keeping “humans in the loop,” ensuring AI never replaces human judgment in critical workflows. ServiceNow echoed this with guidance on balancing automation and human oversight – using AI to streamline, but not to sideline. Deloitte reinforced the call for guardrails, highlighting the need for ethical frameworks that help organizations adopt AI responsibly while protecting both business outcomes and employee confidence.

The takeaway was clear: trust is now a strategic priority. It isn’t just about reducing risk – it’s about creating a foundation employees can believe in. Technology will continue to evolve, but people need to know that decisions about their work, their pay, and their future are being made with fairness and accountability. Companies that get this right won’t just avoid missteps; they’ll earn the confidence of their workforce and unlock the full potential of AI.

5. HR’s strategic role is being redefined for the AI era

If one theme tied all of the tech content at HR Tech Vegas together, it was the redefinition of HR’s role in business success. Keynotes and panels featuring leaders from Salesforce, GE Healthcare, and Seagate all emphasized that HR is no longer a support function – it’s a strategic driver of transformation.

Sessions like “HR Reimagined” and “The AI Uprising in HR” explored how HR teams are moving to product-led models , building new skills, and acting as translators between business strategy and AI capability. The resounding takeaway? The CHRO is becoming a culture catalyst and enterprise strategist, tasked with embedding AI responsibly while shaping future-ready organizations.

This marks a pivotal shift. The future of HR is about designing operating models that put people and technology side by side, creating the conditions for agility, resilience, and innovation.

Where to focus next

HR Tech 2025 showed just how quickly the market is evolving. For HR and Reward leaders, the priorities are clear:

• Embed AI responsibly – start small, set guardrails, and scale what delivers value.
• Adopt a skills-first mindset – measure skills as enterprise capital and mobilize them dynamically.
• Redesign benefits for personalization – give employees intuitive, digital-first experiences that meet rising expectations.
• Protect trust and security – keep humans in the loop, build ethical frameworks, and make transparency a priority.
• Step up as strategists – HR’s role is no longer support; it’s shaping the future of work.

The message from HR Tech Vegas was unmistakable: the pace of change is accelerating, and HR is at the center of it. Those who act now will not only keep pace but lead the transformation of work.