International HR Day: The Future Looks Bright for HR

For International HR Day 2026, Geraldine Doyle asked some of Brisbane's most respected HR leaders one big question: what will HR look like in 2050? Their answers are bold, clear-eyed and deeply inspiring.

Today is International Human Resources Day and this year's theme, Empower People to Lead Change, couldn't be more approporiate.

HR has never had a more complex, more consequential, or more exciting role to play. AI is reshaping the nature of work at speed. Workforce expectations are shifting. The old models of people management are breaking down and something better is being built in their place.



As someone who works alongside HR leaders every day, I wanted to mark the occasion by asking some of the best in Brisbane a single question: What will HR look like in 2050? What came back  was a shared vision — urgent, human and full of conviction.

From Administrator to Architect

The clearest thread running through every conversation was this: HR's administrative era is ending, and a strategic era is beginning in earnest.

"Digital platforms will absorb the administrative and procedural work HR does today," Hanson Wheeler, Group Manager People & Performance at Adbri, told me, "creating a powerful opportunity to focus on building human capability that drives competitive advantage."

That shift is already underway. Research from SHRM shows that 62% of organisations are currently using AI somewhere in their business, and 92% of CHROs anticipate greater AI integration in workforce operations in the years ahead. The question is no longer whether AI will change HR — it's whether HR will lead that change or be caught behind it.

Nicholle Duce-O'Brien, Executive HR Leader, was unequivocal: "AI isn't coming, it's here. By 2050, organisations that thrive will use it to bring out the best in people. That's HR's opportunity — not to manage the change, but to architect it."

Vivienne Robinson, GM People & HR Transformation at Virgin Australia, agreed: "In 2050, our value will be designing how people, AI, skills, culture and wellbeing work together. We will have moved from managing employees to unlocking human and AI potential."

The Human Edge in an AI World

Here's the paradox at the heart of this moment: the more powerful AI becomes, the more valuable genuine human skill becomes. It was a theme I heard again and again.

"HR has evolved far into one of the most powerful strategic levers an organisation has," Hayley Gould, Chief People Officer at Diabetes Australia, explained. "In a world where AI can replicate IQ, the real competitive advantage lies in what it cannot do — genuine human connection, empathy and emotional intelligence to bring people along on a journey."

This is strategy more than sentiment. A London School of Economics study found that employees using AI for work tasks save an average of 7.5 hours per week. That time, redirected toward deeper people work, culture building, and capability development, is where HR's greatest future value lies.

Emily Brooks, Group People Manager at BESIX Watpac, captured it in a single line that has stayed with me: "HR is a tech-enabled, data-driven, people-first function designing adaptive, human-centred work systems."

Hard Questions, Honest Answers

What I appreciated most about these conversations was the honesty. This community isn't just painting a rosy picture, they're naming the hard stuff too.

"This shift raises key challenges," Hanson acknowledged: "how do we develop the next generation with fewer entry-level roles, and how do we build capability across both human intelligence and artificial intelligence?"

It's a real tension. The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report projects that 41% of employers globally plan to reduce their workforce in areas where AI can automate tasks within the next five years, while simultaneously forecasting 170 million new roles created by 2030. The transition, not the destination, is where the risk lies. HR is uniquely positioned to help organisations navigate it.

"Automation won't kill all jobs but it will expose the ones we failed to reskill for," Kylie Reed, GM People & Capability at Cement Australia, told me plainly. "The organisations that succeed will invest early and hard in capability transition, while HR navigates human-AI teaming, radical flexibility, and complex ethical questions around data and trust."

Jane Humphreys, VP HR & Safety at Volvo Group, added that the profession itself must keep pace: "HR practitioners will need to be AI literate. Not experts, but capable of teaching AI to work for them, while also becoming architects of skills ecosystems and dynamic skill clusters managing employees, AI agents and gig talent."

Earning the Seat and Keeping It

One of the most powerful themes to emerge from my conversations was a call for HR to match the ambition of the moment and to walk the talk.

"We can't champion transformation and high performance while running reactive, transactional people functions ourselves," Nicholle said. "We can't be the electrician whose house is in the dark."

Hayley framed the opportunity with equal clarity: "We must earn our seat at the table. HR is the strategic link between operations, finance and technology, translating strategy into action by giving people clarity, confidence, and capability to execute."

Debra Briscoe, Chief People & Strategy Officer at WorkCover QLD, offered perhaps the biggest view of all: "HR will shape the social contract, balancing wellbeing, inclusion, trust and organisational performance. HR will be the catalyst for cultural evolution — translating strategy into behaviour and ensuring long-term sustainability for business."

And Jane closed the loop on what that means day to day: "Wellbeing will become a measurable performance and productivity metric — not a perk, but a performance driver."

A Revolution, Not an Evolution

Jane may have said it best: "HR will have experienced a revolution, rather than evolution by 2050."

Sitting with all of these conversations, I find this transformation genuinely exciting to be part of. The people professionals I spoke with see clearly what's at stake, stay honest about what's hard, and remain unshakeable in their belief that people are, and will always be, the point.

On International HR Day 2026, I want to celebrate every HR professional doing exactly that. The work you do matters more than ever.

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