11 real-life Business Process Automation examples for People
11 real-life Business Process Automation examples for People
Automation in the people or HR function must account for the fact that the work often deals with sensitive employee data, trust, compliance, and culture, not just transactions, and human-to-human contact.
The highest-value automations reduce repetitive administration in recruiting, onboarding, policy support, scheduling, survey analysis, and internal communications, but they need strong governance so consistency improves without creating impersonal experiences or biased decisions.
Industry
Sector
Bank of America's Erica for Employees
Bank of America deployed Erica for Employees, an AI-powered virtual assistant embedded in its internal operations, achieving over 90% workforce adoption and reducing IT support call volumes by more than half — part of a broader $4 billion technology investment driving measurable productivity gains.
Use Case
AI Employee Virtual Assistant for HR and IT Support
Tools
Internal Tools
Input
Employee queries on IT support, HR policies, benefits, processes, and internal knowledge
Process
Uses natural language processing to understand employee queries across HR, IT, and operational topics
Output
Instant, accurate responses to employee HR and IT queries and automated resolution of routine support requests.
Outcome
Over 90% adoption and IT support call volumes reduced by more than 50%.
Retail and SME Banking
People
Deutsche Telekom's AI HR Assistant and Talent Intelligence Platform
Deutsche Telekom deployed askT, a generative AI HR chatbot, alongside the Eightfold talent intelligence platform to automate employee HR queries and transform recruitment and skills matching across its 200,000-person workforce, accumulating over 2.5 million employee conversations.
Use Case
AI HR Chatbot and Intelligent Talent Management
Tools
Internal Tools & Eightfold
Input
Employee HR queries, applicant profiles and CVs, employee skill profiles and development preferences; internal job postings and training catalogue data from 30+ Telekom departments
Process
askT's generative AI classifies and responds to HR queries around the clock using knowledge from HR policies and broader enterprise knowledge bases.
Output
Instant HR query responses available 24/7 in multiple languages; AI-generated candidate shortlists for recruitment; personalised career development and learning recommendations for each employee
Outcome
Over 2.5 million employee conversations since launch and HR knowledge base expanded to cover 30+ Telekom departments
Telecom Operators
People
Albertsons' AI Inbound Labour and Replenishment Matching
Albertsons use AI models to predict daily inbound shipment volumes and match them to available store labour, ensuring receiving teams are correctly staffed to process deliveries and restock shelves without overstaffing or backlogs.
Use Case
AI Inbound Labour and Replenishment Forecasting
Tools
Internal Tools
Input
Historical shipment data, supplier delivery schedules, store labour availability and seasonal demand patterns.
Process
Machine learning models forecast daily inbound volume for each store location and automatically match predicted workloads to available labour shifts, adjusting staffing recommendations in advance.
Output
Daily staffing recommendations for receiving and replenishment teams, aligned to predicted inbound shipment volumes by store.
Outcome
Albertsons move products from loading dock to store shelves approximately 15% faster during peak shopping seasons, reducing delays, overstaffing costs and out-of-stock incidents.
Grocery and FMCG Retail
People
Pearson and IBM's AI-Powered Personalised Learning Platform
Pearson partnered with IBM to build AI-powered personalised learning tools using watsonx Orchestrate and watsonx Governance, combining Pearson's learning content and credentialling expertise with IBM's AI platform to deliver adaptive professional development at enterprise scale.
Use Case
AI-Personalised Professional Skills Development
Tools
watsonx Orchestrate
Input
Learner skills profiles, career goals, and performance data drawn from Pearson's assessment and credentialling products, including Credly, Faethm and Pearson Professional Assessments.
Process
watsonx Orchestrate agents analyse individual skills gaps and learning histories to generate personalised development pathways, while watsonx Governance ensures transparency and accountability across AI-driven recommendations.
Output
Tailored learning recommendations and curated content pathways delivered to individual learners and organisations, accessible to IBM's 270,000 employees and broader enterprise clients globally.
Outcome
The partnership addresses a $1.1 trillion annual US economic cost attributed to skills mismatches, providing organisations with faster, more relevant upskilling aligned to AI-driven workforce transformation.
Professional Training Providers
People
IBM's AskHR Employee Self-Service Agent
IBM deployed AskHR, a generative AI-powered HR virtual agent built on IBM watsonx Orchestrate, to automate over 80 HR tasks and handle more than 11.5 million employee interactions annually, enabling a 94% containment rate and cutting HR transaction times for managers by 75%.
Use Case
AI-Powered HR Self-Service and Process Automation
Tools
IBM Watson
Input
Employee queries on payroll, benefits, policies, career development, and HR transactions
Process
AskHR's large language models classify employee prompts and route them to specialised AI agents for HR domains including Benefits, Payroll, and Career and Skills.
Output
Personalised, multi-lingual responses on HR topics delivered conversationally via a single platform
Outcome
94% success rate with only 6% escalated to human advisers) and an NPS of +74
IT Services and System Integration
People
Schneider Electric's Open Talent Market Internal Mobility Platform
Schneider Electric runs Open Talent Market, an AI talent marketplace matching employees to internal jobs, short-term gigs and mentoring, to improve retention and mobility across a 140,000-strong global workforce.
Use Case
AI-Powered Internal Talent Marketplace
Tools
Gloat
Input
Employee profiles, skills and career aspirations alongside internal job openings, short-term projects and mentoring opportunities posted by managers.
Process
Gloat's AI engine matches the supply and demand of talent, recommending relevant roles, gigs and mentors to each employee based on skills and goals.
Output
Personalised recommendations connecting employees to internal roles, part-time projects and mentors across the organisation.
Outcome
Adoption reached 89% of employees, supporting internal mobility and reducing voluntary turnover previously driven by a perceived lack of opportunities.
Industrial Equipment and Engineering Services
People
Unilever's AI-Powered Graduate Recruitment
Unilever partnered with HireVue and Pymetrics to deploy a fully automated early-careers recruitment process, using neuroscience-based games and AI-analysed video interviews to screen 1.8 million applications annually for cognitive ability and emotional intelligence, reducing time-to-hire by 90% and saving over £1 million per year.
Use Case
Automated High-Volume Candidate Screening and Assessment
Tools
Internal Tools, Hirevue & Pymetrics
Input
AI-analysed video interview recordings
Process
Candidates complete gamified psychometric assessments via Pymetrics, which measures cognitive and emotional traits.
Output
Ranked candidate shortlists for final assessment stage with bias-reduced evaluation scores
Outcome
Time-to-hire reduced from four months to four weeks (90% reduction)
Direct to Consumer Brands
People
EY's Intelligent Payroll Chatbot
EY, with Microsoft, built an intelligent payroll chatbot that answers employees' pay questions and automates administrator controls, modernising payroll employee care across its Next Gen Payroll Platform.
Use Case
Automated Payroll Employee Support
Tools
Azure OpenAI Service
Input
Employees' payroll queries about pay slips, deductions, tax withholding and company policy, submitted through EY's employee experience applications.
Process
A generative AI chatbot, built on Azure OpenAI Service, interprets each pay slip and links regulatory and policy rules to generate personalised answers.
Output
Personalised, compliant explanations of pay and deductions delivered to employees, natively across many countries and languages.
Outcome
An initial proof of concept answered 93% of questions correctly first time, with first-contact resolution and satisfaction expected to improve by over 50%.
Accounting, Audit and Tax
People
Chipotle's Ava Cado AI Hiring Assistant
Chipotle deploys an AI recruiting assistant, Ava Cado, across its US restaurants to automate candidate screening, question answering and interview scheduling, freeing managers and accelerating hiring during rapid national expansion.
Use Case
Automated Recruitment and Candidate Screening
Tools
Paradox
Input
Job applications and candidate messages arriving through Chipotle's careers channels, including contact details, availability and applicant questions.
Process
A conversational AI assistant, built on Paradox, collects applicant information, answers questions in multiple languages, screens candidates and schedules interviews automatically.
Output
Screened, scheduled candidates delivered to restaurant managers, with completed applications and confirmed interview times ready for hiring decisions.
Outcome
Time to hire fell by up to 75%, from around twelve days to four, while application completion rose above 85%.
Restaurants and Food Service
People
Publicis Groupe's AI-Powered Team Selection
Publicis Groupe has transformed its talent management by building an "intelligent backbone" that centralises global expertise to facilitate dynamic talent mapping. By using AI algorithms to match employee skill sets and historical performance data with specific project briefs, the system ensures the most effective creative teams are assembled instantly, significantly increasing workforce utilisation across the agency's global network
Use Case
Dynamic Talent Mapping
Tools
Marcel
Input
Global employee skills data, 35 years of Sapient coding/transformation data, and specific project briefs
Process
Marcel identifies and matches the best-fit creative and technical talent to specific client requirements using an AI-driven "intelligent system" algorithm
Output
Optimised project team assignments and real-time visibility into global resource availability
Outcome
Reduction in "bench time" (unallocated staff time) and improved operational efficiency
Marketing, Advertising and PR Agencies
People
Novo Nordisk's NNGPT internal AI employee assistant
Novo Nordisk has built NNGPT, a proprietary chat assistant trained on internal knowledge including SOPs, safety documents, research databases, and code repositories, to approximately 17,000 employees across R&D, manufacturing, and corporate functions.
Use Case
Enterprise AI Knowledge Assistant for Employees
Tools
NNGPT
Input
Employee natural language queries submitted via the NNGPT interface, resolved against a curated corpus of internal standard operating procedures, scientific literature, safety documentation and software API references.
Process
A large language model fine-tuned on Novo Nordisk's proprietary internal knowledge base retrieves and synthesises accurate, contextually relevant answers to employee questions in real time.
Output
Instant, accurate answers to operational and scientific questions, boilerplate code generation for developers, and procedure look-ups for process engineers, all surfaced via a conversational interface.
Outcome
Adopted by approximately 17,000 employees, NNGPT reduces time spent searching documentation and answering routine queries, freeing staff to focus on higher-value scientific and commercial work.