We surveyed 585 HR and business leaders across every major industry and every size of organisation, from teams of under 50 to companies of 1,000+. Here’s what stood out.
say AI has lived up to expectations when HR leads or shapes it, dropping to 39% when HR is left out
name a less human, more transactional workplace as their biggest cultural risk from AI
want AI to help improve workforce health, but only 8.2% have started
What you’ll find inside
Real data from HR Leaders
The 5 headline findings: from the sentiment gap between HR and employees to why most AI in HR is still stuck doing the admin
Benchmarks to compare your organisation: see where you’re ahead, where you’re typical and where there’s room to move, by company size and sector
The 4 habits of teams seeing results from AI: It’s not just about the tech you use
Where HR wants AI to go next: discover the gap between what HR wants from AI and what’s actually happening today
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Who we asked
People like you in the numbers
The findings in this report come from 585 HR and business leaders representing more than half a million employees. Over two-thirds were HR Directors, Heads of People, HR Managers, or People Partners. They span every size of organisation, from teams of under 50 to companies of 1,000+, and every major industry, so wherever you sit, there are people like you in these numbers.
585
HR and business leaders
66.7%
are HR Directors, Heads of People, HR Managers or People Partners
47.1%
work in organisations of under 250 people
Every major industry
from tech and financial services to retail, healthcare and the public sector
Know how your people are doing while there’s still time to help
Employee Insights, powered by Yunity, YuLife’s AI, turns everyday signals from your workforce into health trends on one dashboard. Burnout and absence risk shows up early, while you can still do something about it.
HR Loop is YuLife’s webinar series for HR and People leaders. Real conversations about the things on your desk right now, with people who’ve been there.
Are your benefits giving you a clear picture of your people? Book a 20 minute call with our team and we’ll talk through where you are with AI, what your peers are doing and how YuLife could help you spot risks earlier.
It’s YuLife’s research with 585 HR and business leaders into how HR teams are using AI, where it’s delivering and what’s holding it back. It includes benchmarks by company size and sector, and the 4 habits of teams seeing results.
Who took part in the research?
585 HR and business leaders from the HR Ninjas community and YuLife customers, surveyed between 21 July and 10 September 2026. Two thirds are HR Directors, Heads of People, HR Managers or People Partners, and together their organisations employ around 508,000 people.
How many HR teams use AI, and what for?
92% of HR teams use AI for at least one admin or content task, led by writing internal communications (73.3%), reporting and people data (55.7%) and scheduling (42.9%).
Are HR teams using AI to reduce sickness absence?
Not many yet. 83.2% of leaders want AI to help improve workforce health, but only 8.2% are using AI to act on workforce health today. The report shows where HR wants AI to go next, and how far that is from what’s happening now.
Does HR involvement make AI more successful?
It looks that way. Where HR leads or shapes AI decisions, 55.2% say AI has lived up to expectations, compared with 38.6% where HR is only kept informed or left out. The report breaks down the 4 habits of teams seeing results.
What are the biggest risks of AI for HR?
61.9% of leaders name a less human, more transactional workplace as a cultural risk from AI, the most common answer at every company size. Almost a third (30.9%) say their employees are anxious about AI and their jobs, rising to 46.8% in organisations of 1,000 or more.
Can I compare my organisation with others?
Yes. The report includes benchmarks by company size and sector, so you can see where you’re ahead, where you’re typical and where there’s room to move.
Is the report free?
Yes. Fill in the form to download it instantly, and we’ll send a copy to your inbox too.
About YuLife
YuLife is reimagining employee benefits
YuLife combines group insurance with AI-powered workforce health insights. We turn everyday employee check-ins into anonymised trends, so you can spot risks like absence and burnout early and act while there’s still time.
YuLife is one of the vanguard employers in the government’s Keep Britain Working programme.
