Forum Takeaway 2025: Use AI to meet skyrocketing employee expectations
08.07.25
Matt Macri-Waller, Founder and CEO, Benifex
The gap between what employees expect and what organizations can realistically deliver persists. Every year, the bar rises — personalized experiences, real-time support, and consumer-grade experiences aren’t ‘nice-to-haves’ anymore. They’re non-negotiables. And the only way to deliver on them at scale is through artificial intelligence.
AI is no longer a buzzword. It’s the most powerful tool we have to close the expectation gap. It can cut through complexity, surface tailored benefits, reduce admin, and support employees and HR teams alike in making better decisions. The stakes are high — but so is the opportunity.
AI has enormous potential to help employees understand and access the value of their benefits. It enables people to discover what’s available to them and make informed decisions in the moments that matter, all while removing friction and decision fatigue. Employees don’t want endless options; they want clarity, confidence and support at their fingertips.
That’s where AI excels — not as a replacement for human interaction, but as an intelligent layer that guides, empowers, and enables employees to take action. And while some HR leaders are wary that AI will reshape the HR function (nearly half fear AI could replace most HR jobs within five years) most are starting to recognize its potential to scale what HR already does best.
We’ve already seen it in other business areas. Marketing is using AI to personalize outreach and scale campaigns. Finance is automating forecasting. The transformation in HR is already underway — the opportunity is now to shape the future, rather than be shaped by it.
Trust plays a major role in adoption. When AI is seamless (think Netflix recommendations or predictive text) people are less likely question it. But when it’s visible and labelled, confidence drops. That’s the irony: the more AI blends into everyday tools, the more powerful and accepted it becomes.
And one of the most impactful future applications of AI is decision support. For employees, that means surfacing relevant benefits based on life stage or personal circumstances, and getting answers quickly. For HR teams, it’s about smarter data analysis, global compliance management, responsive scheme design, and delivering relevant, impactful communication with speed and ease. It’s how we move from access to action.
AI becomes the translator between benefits complexity and real-world clarity, helping people make choices they feel good about.
AI will ultimately redefine the role of HR — not by replacing people, but by freeing them to focus on what really matters. And the organizations that embrace that change — who use AI to unlock insight, scale personalization, and support people better — will be the ones who lead.
Because when we give employees the tools and confidence to engage with their benefits, they make better choices. They stay longer. They thrive. And that’s where the real value lies.
