Overwhelmed by AI hype? Saaame. Let’s talk about what actually works.
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Surprised to see me in your inbox on a Thursday?! Well, here I am!
This is a ✨special edition deep dive✨ of I Hate it Here. Every now and then, you may get one of these from me! 👏
This special edition deep dive is sponsored by SAP.
What's a deep dive?
Deep dives are opportunities for me to collab with specific companies in the HR/People space on topics of joint interest to them, me, and even you! The sponsoring company provides invaluable input on the topic but this edition itself is written, edited, and published by your fave gal, me!
Today, I'm discussing 3 ways to use AI agents in your org.
Let's get into it!
3 Ways to Use AI Agents in Your Org, Without Losing Your Mind
If you’re tired of hearing the word AI every 3.2 seconds, join the club. I empathize with you!
Between every vendor calling themselves “AI-powered” and every new update promising to revolutionize HR, it’s no wonder we’re all overwhelmed and maybe a little suspicious.
You’re juggling layoffs, compliance, culture, and a tech landscape that changes every time you open your inbox.
So let’s cut the noise, shall we?
I promise that this isn’t another toothless “AI will save the world” spiel.
This is about what you can actually do RIGHT NOW with AI agents that will make your life easier, save you time, and keep your people experience top-notch, even when your budget looks like it’s been through a shredder.
Here’s where AI agents can quietly become your most reliable (and least annoying) teammate: recruiting, goals, and performance.
That’s what we will be focused on for this piece, so let’s break it down!
Recruiting: Stop Playing Guess Who
Recruiting has always been expensive, stressful, and occasionally a matter of luck. 🍀
Between endless resumes, ghosted interviews, and “urgent” reqs that magically change halfway through the process, it’s a miracle that stress balls aren’t mandatory in our roles!
But that’s where AI agents can make an immediate impact.
Since SAP’s acquisition of SmartRecruiters, the recruiting side of SAP’s ecosystem has leveled up in a major way.
These agents can scan thousands of applicants in minutes, surface candidates who match your culture and skills needs, and even predict which ones might actually stay past the 90-day mark!
For smaller orgs, that means more precise shortlists without needing a full-time sourcer.
For larger enterprises, it’s about data-driven consistency, which means less bias, faster screening, and hiring managers who finally stop complaining about not seeing enough options.
And to be clear, this is NOT about replacing your recruiters! It’s about giving them better intel so they can spend their time building relationships instead of spreadsheets.
💡 Pro tip: Before you commit to any fancy AI recruiting tool, ask them to show you how it integrates with your HRIS in real time. (If it can’t show you right now, it probably never will.)
Goals: Stop Copy-Pasting Last Year’s Objectives
Ready for the next truth bomb?
Half of your employees don’t even remember what goals they set last quarter, and the other half are still waiting for their manager to review them.
AI agents can change that!
Instead of treating goal-setting as a quarterly ritual, these tools can analyze performance data, skills inventories, and even organizational priorities to recommend personalized goals that ladder up to company objectives.
SAP’s Talent Management Suite tackles this by learning how your teams actually operate and helps refine goals so they’re achievable, relevant, and transparent!
Smaller orgs can use AI agents as their “strategy whisperer,” helping overworked HR teams guide managers through better conversations.
Larger orgs get scalable alignment across departments, where every goal actually connects to something bigger and more detailed than “do better this year.”
When AI handles the structure and alignment, you can focus on the human side, like coaching, motivation, and the occasional honest talk about what’s not working.
Performance: Feedback That Doesn’t Make Everyone Cry
Performance management shouldn’t feel like emotional dodgeball, but somehow it always does.
Managers avoid feedback, employees brace for it, and in the end, HR inevitably ends up playing referee! 😑
AI agents can change that by taking the emotion out of the data, while you keep the humanity in the process.
Imagine a system that aggregates feedback from multiple sources, identifies patterns, and nudges managers when it’s time for a check-in, before things hit your inbox.
Joule acts like your digital chief of staff, connecting dots between engagement, productivity, and development in ways a spreadsheet never could. And the result?
Reviews grounded in facts instead of feelings, and more time to focus on actual growth instead of paperwork!
AI agents also make calibration smarter, which means no more endless debates about who “exceeds expectations” when the data tells you exactly where skill gaps and growth trends exist.
The Human in the Loop
AI isn’t here to do your job.
Without humans, it’s basically the equivalent of a gardener with no plants and a really fancy watering system.
A really nice tool, but nothing to nurture.
It’s here to give you back the time to actually do your job!
You know, the part where you lead, mentor, and fix the things a tool never could (like culture, burnout, or your CEO’s “urgent” Slack messages).
I think that the best HR tech balances intelligence with empathy.
So when AI agents handle repetitive, boredom-inducing admin tasks like screening, data collection, and reporting, then you can focus on connection, creativity, and the messy human side of work that no algorithm can replicate.
And trust me, there’s still PLENTY of messy human work that needs us more than ever!
Think of AI as your assistant who doesn’t sleep, complain, or double-book meetings, but still needs your guidance to make the right calls.
Smart Tech, Human Results
So if you’re still trying to figure out where to start, SAP’s Learning and Talent Suite offers a clear roadmap.
It’s built to connect every piece of the talent puzzle (recruiting, goals, learning, and performance) so AI is a force multiplier instead of a run-of-the-mill feature.
This isn’t just buzzword bingo. Josh Bersin described SAP’s approach as “a new era of AI agents that elevate HR’s strategic impact.”
From SmartRecruiters to Joule, the focus is on giving People Leaders less chaos, more clarity, and a workforce that feels supported by tech that understands their issues.
Whether you’re a 500-person org trying to scale or a global enterprise trying to simplify, the goal is the same!
Look, I know this is all a lot to wrap your head around!
The truth is, you don't need to become an AI expert overnight. You just need to know where to start and which tools will actually learn with you instead of adding another training manual to your "someday" pile.
You're not behind. You're just building in a storm where the rules keep changing. And now that AI is a tool none of us can avoid, it's time to make it work FOR HR instead of adding to your plate!
SAP's Learning and Talent Suite connects recruiting, goals, and performance so AI becomes a multiplier instead of another system to manage.
