Case Study | How Microsoft Used AI to Streamline HR (and Save $55M)

Hey HR Pros!

As AI continues to transform the workplace, forward-thinking HR leaders are shifting their focus from traditional training models to enabling dynamic, real-time learning.

At Visa, Jeremy Broome is championing a peer-driven approach, encouraging employees to share AI knowledge with each other rather than relying solely on formal instruction. Meanwhile, at Microsoft, Prerna Ajmera is embedding AI directly into the employee experience.

Together, their approaches highlight a new blueprint for HR leadership in the AI era: less control, more empowerment, and a deeper understanding of how people actually learn and grow at work.

Upcoming In This Issue:

• 👩‍💼 Gallup Data | Why Gen Z Isn’t Sold on Fully Remote Work

• 🧠 Latest on AI | Escaping AI Anxiety (or AIxiety)

• 🧠 Case Study | How Microsoft Used AI to Streamline HR and Save $55M

• 🧑‍💼 Lessons from an HR Pro | Don’t Teach—Enable: Visa’s Bold Rethink on AI and Talent

The Fastest Way to Find the Right HR Tools 👇️ 

 📰 Latest in HR News

• Agentic AI will replace 'soul-crushing jobs,' ServiceNow CEO says

• Job Posts with AI Skills Listed Are Willing to Offer 28% Higher Salaries

• Meta to let candidates use AI during coding interviews

• HR documents appear in 82% of all data breaches, finds Lab 1

👩‍💼 Gallup Data | Why Gen Z Isn’t Sold on Fully Remote Work

When your job can technically be done from anywhere, you'd think everyone would jump at the chance to work from home in pajamas. But apparently not for Gen Z.

In workplaces navigating the hybrid mode, the youngest employees are sending a different signal. Their preferences—and pain points—around remote work reveal much more than just where they want to sit.

Key Insights

• 👶 Gen Z least prefers full remote
  Only 23% of Gen Z remote-capable workers prefer fully remote roles, compared to 35% of older generations—challenging assumptions about digital natives.

• 💻 Millennials are remote-loyal
  41% of hybrid millennials say they'd definitely job hunt if remote work flexibility were reduced—the highest percentage of any generation.

• 🏠 Productivity split among Gen Z
  Just 37% of Gen Z say they do their best work remotely; nearly equal shares say on-site (32%) or location doesn't matter (31%).

• 😔 Loneliest generation on the job
  Gen Z is nearly three times as likely as boomers to report feeling lonely during the workday—possibly driving their desire for more office interaction.

read the full 528-word article here

🧠 Latest on AI | Escaping AI Anxiety (or AIxiety)

When the future of work starts to look like a sci-fi plot, you start thinking differently about your next move.

For Gen Z, that shift is happening now—and it’s pushing many away from white-collar desks and toward tool belts and trade schools. With AI threatening to rewrite what “entry-level” even means, a generation raised on tech is finding security in jobs that AI can’t do (yet).

Key Insights

• 🛠️ 42% of Gen Z already in trades
  Nearly half of Gen Z surveyed are working in or pursuing blue-collar or skilled trade jobs—many with bachelor’s degrees in hand.

• 📉 College losing its edge
  65% of Gen Z believe a college degree won’t shield them from AI-related job loss; many say AI made their education feel irrelevant.

• 😤 “Rage applying” is real
  Out of frustration with AI disruption, Gen Z is proactively reskilling, earning certifications, and mass applying to new roles out of urgency.

• 💼 41% admit to sabotaging AI
  Both Gen Z and millennials say they’ve actively undermined their company’s AI strategy—pointing to mistrust and tension in digital transitions.

read the full 504-word article here

😄 Comic Relief (HR Edition)

🧠 Case Study | How Microsoft Used AI to Streamline HR and Save $55M

Led by Prerna Ajmera, General Manager, HR digital strategy & innovation at Microsoft, introduced AI-powered tools grounded in real-world use cases. From automating HR self-service to redesigning career mobility through centralized platforms, the company built a scalable HR system that prioritized both employee experience and operational efficiency—without losing the “human” in human resources.

Strategy & Implementation

• Launched an AI-powered Employee Self-Service Agent using Microsoft Copilot within Dynamics 365 to reduce repetitive HR queries.

• Integrated D365 Copilot for HR advisors to streamline case research, summarize history, and auto-draft responses.

• Developed a centralized Microsoft Career Hub, connected with Viva, LinkedIn, and Eightfold to guide personalized career growth.

• Embedded Sirva Mobility into the self-service platform, cutting relocation costs and enhancing support for mobile talent.

• Prioritized ethical AI design by involving responsible AI experts from the start—not after launch.

• Focused on user-centered design, blending operational effectiveness with aesthetics and employee trust.

📊 Results

• 30% reduction in HR ticket creation

• 36% increase in employee use of IT self-help tools

• 22% decrease in HR case resolution time

• 16% boost in HR advisor job satisfaction

• $55 million in projected annual savings from streamlined relocation and career systems

• Employees receiving key support—like employment verifications—in seconds, not days

Microsoft’s AI-enabled HR transformation didn’t start with tech—it started with people. By focusing on the actual needs of employees and HR teams, Prerna Ajmera and her team built systems that are faster, smarter, and more human.

As AI becomes central to the employee experience, Microsoft’s case shows that strategic innovation starts with empathy—and scales with intention.

read the full article

🧑‍💼 Lessons from an HR Pro | Don’t Teach—Enable: Visa’s Bold Rethink on AI and Talent

When AI adoption becomes company-wide, HR’s job isn’t to “teach people stuff”—it’s to build an ecosystem where employees teach each other. That’s the message from Jeremy Broome, SVP and Global Head of Talent at Visa.

Key Learnings from Jeremy Broome, Visa’s Head of Talent

• 🧠 “Ask better questions” is the new skill benchmark
  In an AI world, lateral thinking and question quality matter more than research or rote problem-solving.

• 📣 “Give the megaphone to employees”
  Rather than top-down training, Broome believes in democratizing learning through peer sharing and internal best-practice visibility.

• ⏱ “Make learning part of the day—not a detour”
  With time tight, learning must be integrated into flow-of-work tools like Copilot and LinkedIn Learning—not added on top.

• 🧩 “HR connects the dots, not controls them”
  HR’s job is to bridge the tech-human gap—connecting the business, employees, and tools in real-time, scalable ways.

read the full 1,378-word article here