In the Era of AI, Organizations Should Consider HI, Human Intelligence: Implications for Organizations and Human Resources

By Edwin Mouriño, Ph.D., President & Founder, Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace

To point out that organizations are facing a lot of change is an understatement. Today’s workforce is aging, growing multi-generational, and multi-cultural in particular Latino. It is dealing with increased stress, there is an increasing skills shortage, and has a changing psychology and different set of expectations from its organizations and leaders. Add to this the uncertainty, which has become the defining word in 2025, the second time in 35 years only to the pandemic and made worse with the exponential growth of AI. All of this lines up to create a perfect human capital storm and an opportunity or challenge for organizations and its leaders.

Today’s workforce is feeling overworked, burned out, and more prefer remote/hybrid or 4-day workweek and flexibility. This while some managers consider remote workers less productive and promotable. For 70% of today’s workforce their biggest stressor is their boss. This is impacting employee engagement which has reached a 10 year low and costing companies $7 trillion in lost productivity, causing higher absenteeism, more accidents, more errors, and lower productivity. These are not issues that AI will address, but leadership can.

Today’s workforce is looking for appreciation, purpose, autonomy, well-being, meaning, and happiness at work. In the growing era of AI, leaders will need to be compassionate, empathetic, to listen and communicate better, all human factors which AI cannot replace. When this happens employees are more trusting, committed, satisfied with their job, and feel psychologically safe. When leaders create high trusting organizations, their workforce is less stressed, more energetic, more productive, more engaged, and feel less burnout.

Depending on who you read or listen to you’re going to get different versions of what the future will hold when it comes to AI for organizations and humanity overall. One is that AI will eliminate jobs which is to be expected. When the PC came into existence, it eliminated 3.5 million jobs and created 19 million.   The World Economic Forum estimates that AI will eliminate 92 million jobs and create 170 million by 2030. The thing to keep in mind is address these changes strategically and with critical thought and not to do what some have already done. IBM laid off 8000 employees due to AI, only to have to rehire them because of the extra work AI created. So yes, AI will eliminate jobs, but it will also create others.

I believe AI will be a very advanced form of technology that will eliminate redundant jobs that most do not want to do and enhance other capabilities. Which means many will need to be reskilled. Just like the PC did when it came into existence. Microsoft an IT organization even highlighted that some of the primary skills needed in the future will be emotional intelligence, flexibility, bias detection, and analytical judgement among others. In other words, the interpersonal skills. IBM has a White Paper supporting this point,  where organizations that create better human experiences by enabling human-centered organizations will achieve higher revenue and outperform S&P 500 organizations.  Again, emphasizing the power skills (interpersonal skills) while complimented by the AI, technical skills.

It is because of this, that I believe organizations need to consider in the era of AI, to enable HI, or a Human Intelligent Workplace. I define this in the following manner:

A Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace is one where leaders demonstrate effective leadership behaviors that create an organizational culture that workers experience is to be engaged while collaborating with a diverse team. An organization where the workforce feels psychologically safe, listened to, and understood by its leaders. Where the workforce finds satisfaction with their work and organization.    

Each of the bolded and underlined terms have plenty of research, articles, and books written about them. However irrespective of this, is this not something or someplace we would like to work in? To observe these practices and feel this way at work? It has been said that we will spend 90,000 waking hours of our adult life at work. Would we not prefer to work in a place that feels like the above in these hours during our lifetime?

Now if some believe this is nirvana and not practical, you might want to dig into The 100 Best Places to Work, where it has been found that in these organizations their workforce create 8.5x greater revenue per employee than those not on the list. Because here the employees expect their managers, not AI to care about them.

One of the categories above is where the workforce feels psychologically safe, and when organizations want to be innovative and creative, this will be crucial and it means leaders will need to be open to mistakes when their workforce is being creative and innovative, because there is a 50/50 chance of failure. In addition, an HI Workplace has leaders who listen, this when one of the books below highlight a study where they found that only 8% of leaders were effective listeners and communicators.

AI is going to compliment Human Intelligence (HI). Professions like leadership require critical thinking and problem solving skills that can be enhanced by AI, not replaced. In addition to smart technology through AI, organizations are going to need to ensure those in management are performing as a smarter boss. One that demonstrates what a good BoSS can be, Behaviors of Smart Supervisor, irrespective of level, from front line supervisor through CEO.

In order for those in management to do this, they will need to lean into their human self and help create healthy human centered and human intelligent workplaces.  By being HUMAN I mean the following.

HR’s role is to influence and guide their senior leadership and drive these changes. I have always thought that HR and Finance are a complimentary set that can help an organization move forward while adapting. To ensure they do not become the Blockbuster or Circuit City of the past. HR needs to ensure they are working as a strategic enabler of the human capital strategy to drive these changes. That in the growing age of AI, HI will serve in a complimentary manner to help their organizations change and adapt. This when it has been found that 66% of organizational change efforts fail. All of these issues are not touchy feely issues, but business issues with bottom line implications.

In the era of AI, organizations will need leaders with a HUMAN touch. As an addition, below I am highlighting some books that I believe make the case for this change and you might find interesting and informative. In closing as Mr. Spock would say, live long and prosper.

Dr. Mouriño is an experienced professional with many years of leading, supporting, and consulting on areas focused on Leadership Development, Executive Coaching, and Workplace Strategies.  Dr. Mouriño is an Air Force veteran and brings broad industry experience that include Aerospace, Government, Utility, IT, Military, Higher Education and Fortune 100 companies,   He is founder and president of Human Intelligent (HI) Workplace, an organization focused on helping leaders help themselves through leadership, human capital trends, and executive coaching emphasizing the area of Human Intelligence (HI) in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  He has spoken at numerous professional venues in the U.S. and internationally and presented in Spanish. He has written numerous articles on human capital trends with implications for organizations and its leadership.  He is the author and co-editor of several books and numerous articles on related topics.