The Lattice CPO Council Weighs in on HR's Approach to AI

The rise of AI has ignited a pivotal conversation in HR: Are we moving fast enough to harness its potential, or is caution holding us back? This month, we posed that very question to our CPO Council, a group of top people leaders shaping the future of work. Their responses reveal a tension between urgency and prudence—a balancing act that HR leaders must navigate as they integrate AI into their organizations.

Some argue that HR is lagging, slowed by internal politics, risk aversion, and the sheer noise in the HR tech market. Others see AI as a game-changer but emphasize the need for careful, ethical, and strategic adoption. What’s clear is that HR has a critical role to play in ensuring AI is not just implemented, but implemented wisely—enhancing work, rather than replacing it.

Here’s what our CPOs had to say about the state of AI adoption in HR today.

Melanie Steinbach, Chief People Officer at MasterClass

When considering AI technology and how to integrate it into our work in HR, I love the leaning into the ‘test and learn’ framework. In my view, we should be moving quickly to test different technologies, approaches, and models for working with AI – and we must ensure we are learning as much as we can from these tests before rolling anything out to our organizations in practice. With a technology that is moving as quickly as AI – and one that carries a stigma of being a job replacer, rather than a job enabler – HR's role is to stay apace with the technology by moving quickly to test, then rolling out those learnings in a measured way that will benefit our organizations and employees alike.

Q Hamirani, Chief People Officer at HighLevel

In my view, HR is moving too slowly on AI, and several factors are driving this hesitation. Internal politics and rigid organizational structures often discourage experimentation, prioritizing safety and risk avoidance over innovation. In some cases, CEOs or CTOs restrict AI adoption entirely due to fear of the unknown. Another challenge is the crowded HR tech market, where nearly every vendor claims to use AI. This makes it difficult to differentiate between real innovation and repackaged ChatGPT-style solutions. As a result, many HR teams struggle to assess AI’s true value, leading them to delay investment altogether.

HR has always been data-savvy—we understand both the power and risks of leveraging data. While caution is natural, in this case, we need to be cautiously optimistic rather than overly hesitant. AI has immense potential to elevate HR, and we risk missing out if we don’t embrace it strategically.

Natalie Breece, Chief People + Diversity Officer at ThredUp

AI is moving at breakneck speed. In my opinion, the question isn’t whether HR is keeping up, it’s whether we’re leading the charge with clarity, conviction, and a moral compass. We can’t afford to sit on the sidelines, but we also can’t afford reckless missteps. AI has the power to redefine hiring, workforce planning, and employee development. But if we aren’t intentional, it can just as easily magnify bias, jeopardize data security, and fracture trust. The organizations that will thrive aren’t the ones chasing AI blindly, they’re the ones embedding it into their DNA with a governance framework built on transparency, fairness, and accountability.

So, is HR moving too slowly? I don't think so. The best HR leaders aren’t sprinting toward the future, they’re architecting it. Bold enough to innovate, smart enough to mitigate risks, and relentless in keeping people at the center of it all.

Donald Knight, Partner at Valor Ventures 

Let’s be real—HR is being careful with AI, and whether that’s the right move or a missed opportunity depends on your perspective. AI has the potential to revolutionize HR, from streamlining hiring to personalizing the employee experience. Companies leveraging AI for recruitment, engagement, and workforce planning are gaining a competitive edge—cutting time-to-hire, making sharper decisions, and driving efficiencies. More than just automation, AI enables HR to proactively address workforce trends, skills gaps, and employee needs before they become problems.

That said, moving carefully isn’t without merit. Bias and ethical concerns are real—AI is only as fair as the data it’s trained on. If we don’t actively manage it, we risk reinforcing biases rather than breaking them down. Regulatory uncertainty is another factor, with evolving laws around AI compliance (GDPR, EEOC, and beyond) requiring careful navigation.

Equally important is employee trust. If AI feels like a black box making career-impacting decisions, people will lose faith in HR. And without trust, we have nothing. AI should enhance—not replace—the human connection that defines HR. We can automate tasks, but leadership, empathy, and culture-building can’t be outsourced to an algorithm.

So, is HR moving too slowly on AI? Maybe. But the real question isn’t just about speed—it’s about strategy. The best approach is intentional adoption: leveraging AI where it drives efficiency (resume screening, HR chatbots, workforce analytics) while ensuring human oversight remains central to high-impact decisions like hiring, promotions, and exits. Let’s get this right.

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Courtney Cherry Ellis, People Leader & HR Strategist

I’m seeing a lot of People teams adopting AI quickly but staying quiet about how they’re using it—mostly because they aren’t sure what’s allowed when it comes to confidential company and employee data. That’s why HR needs to be at the forefront of advocating for company AI policies, training, and yes – access.Caution isn’t the right approach, but this should be treated like any other pilot or development cycle. An agile framework—starting small, learning, and iterating—is key to embedding AI into business processes effectively. Now, if you aren’t using AI for non-confidential work (like writing job descriptions or analyzing talent markets), you are moving too slow. There’s no good reason to be cautious there.

Most importantly, I think HR teams should be moving quickly to think about what cultural and structural elements are needed to accelerate AI adoption, and yes, clear policies are key, but I think a culture of trust, feedback, and learning mindset is maybe the most important.
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The conversation around AI in HR is far from settled. As our CPO Council highlights, there’s no single right answer—only the need for HR leaders to balance innovation with responsibility, speed with strategy. Whether you believe HR is moving too cautiously or simply taking the time to get AI right, one thing is clear: the way we navigate this shift will define the future of our field.

We’d love to hear from our community on this: Where does your team stand on AI adoption? Are you moving fast, taking a measured approach, or still figuring out the right path forward? Share your thoughts with us on LinkedIn.

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