JOSH BERSIN

Insights on Corporate Talent, Learning, and HR Technology

HR 2030 Research Initiative

HR 2030 Research Initiative by the Josh Bersin CompanyRedefining HR as the Operating System for Business Growth

HR 2030™ is The Josh Bersin Company’s signature research initiative on the transformation of the HR function in the age of agentic AI. It is a continuously growing body of research, frameworks, benchmarks, and practical guidance — not a single report, and not a one-time project.

Its central premise: the agentic HR system is not simply a better transactional system with agents layered on top. It is a new agentic business system — one that automates, streamlines, and personalizes the work experience of every employee, manager, leader, and HR professional. It redefines HR not as a service function, but as the operating system for continuous business growth.

“This new vision, as bold as it seems, is very likely to come true in the next four years — and it transforms HR into the business enablement function it always aspires to be.”

HR has always aspired to be more strategic. For decades, the function has moved incrementally from compliance and administration toward talent and people strategy. HR 2030 takes this to a fundamentally different level — powered not by organizational restructuring, but by AI agents and networks of superagents that perform, observe, predict, and learn across the entire enterprise. In this world, HR doesn’t just support the business. HR enables it to adapt, grow, and compete in real time.

Why This Matters Now

We have entered a world of accelerating growth and accelerating disruption. The CEO question today is not “how do we adopt AI?” but “how do we apply AI to our specific growth strategy, fast enough to matter?”

New Josh Bersin Company research shows most industries will see revenue per employee nearly double in the next 5–7 years, but only for organizations that redesign work and management systems around scarce human judgment and powerful AI agents. Labor shortages are intensifying at the same time. US workforce growth is projected at only 3.5% over the next decade, while GDP demands a 22% productivity improvement simply to hold current levels.

The math only works with AI.

But the obstacle to AI-fueled transformation is not technology: it’s organizations’ ability to redesign jobs, workflows, and operating models fast enough to take advantage of what AI makes possible.

HR 2030 is what makes that possible.

This is a Collective Program, Not a Single Report

HR 2030™ does not describe a fixed endpoint. It describes a strategic direction and a focused approach supported by an ongoing research program, capability building, special sessions, and advisory support to help HR leaders navigate it.

“We see HR 2030 as a collective program of innovation, learning, and technology exploration. Our HR 2030 Blueprint and Vision are only the beginning. We will be publishing detailed architectures, vendor analysis, operating models, and benchmarks to help business leaders, HR leaders, and vendors move swiftly into the future.”
— Josh Bersin

The most important principle on this journey: start with the problem, not the technology. AI enables strategy, but it is not the strategy itself. The most common failure in HR AI transformation is technology-led implementation: selecting tools before defining the business problems they are meant to solve.

The Josh Bersin Company is your partner on this journey — providing research, benchmarks, advisory, Galileo® intelligence, and Galileo Learn® professional development to help your organization move from vision to action.

To learn more or to get involved, contact us.

Published HR 2030 Research & Additional Resources