The new reality of human resources

Five things HCM leaders in government must do now to prepare for AI

Federal government agencies are undergoing some of the most significant disruptions in decades. Though workforce reductions have gained widespread media attention, human resources (HR) departments are facing other challenges, including an executive order directing agencies to accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

Beyond compelling agencies to close skills gaps, these dual focuses—workforce reductions and the call for rapid AI adoption—are forcing agencies to rethink their human capital management (HCM) strategies more broadly and reassess the role of HR.

HR’s ability to respond, however, is often limited by an outdated infrastructure and business practices, governance policies, and controls that are stuck in the past. This moment calls for federal HR leaders to initiate transformative HCM modernization to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and agility of both HR operations and the workforce as a whole.

In this article, we explore the challenges government HR leaders are facing and how KPMG and Workday can help solve them with modern technologies and new talent strategies that account for human-AI collaboration. It covers:

• Why traditional HR systems are no longer up to the challenge
• Why HR must shift from role-based hiring to a skills-based model
• What the rise of AI agents means for workforce management—and why HR and not IT must lead the way
• How to go beyond technology upgrades to drive sustainable transformation with a Target Operating Model (TOM)