In this blog, Lisa Hogan, Membership Development and Communications Manager, shares the key takeaways from the first session of the CIPD and Sustainable HRM Skillnet’s new AI Community of Practice.
AI is changing how HR teams work, but most of us are still figuring out what "good" looks like in practice. That's exactly why the CIPD and Sustainable HRM Skillnet launched a new AI Community of Practice, bringing people professionals together to share what's working, what isn't, and what they're learning along the way.
At our first session, hosted by Accenture and chaired by Meg Dunphy, Policy and Engagement Lead at the CIPD in Ireland, three panellists shared honest, practical insights from their own organisations: Aisling Campbell (Country HR Director, Accenture), Cleo McCormack (Co-Creation Director, Office of the CTO, Version 1) and James Ryan (CEO, Workmatters).
With it’s cross-functional view, HR teams can be the connector in the collaborative, multidisciplinary approach AI implementation needs. They can also bring people together to shape strategy and ensure AI works for everyone, not just the most digitally confident. This requires building inclusion and wellbeing into how we adopt AI, not adding it on afterwards.
It also means moving beyond individual productivity gains and thinking about what AI and technology can do at a team and organisational level. The greatest gains from AI often come not from personal use cases, but from how these tools are applied collectively. There is a risk that these tools are used to focus on doing more with less; greater opportunity lies in freeing up time for higher-value work and more impactful contributions.
Be clear on what challenge you're trying to solve and how you'll know when it's been solved before selecting a technological solution. Gathering user stories from across the organisation is a useful early step in understanding how people are already using AI, both officially and unofficially, where it's adding value and where the gaps are. As work moves from being job-focused to skills-focused, understanding the existing capabilities and where development is needed is increasingly important.
Organisations are using accelerated hands-on learning approaches to build the entry-level skills that were traditionally developed through more administrative, experience-based work.
People need to feel confident that being open about their work and engaging with AI won’t put their role at risk. High-performing teams in an AI world will be built on psychological safety, where people feel safe to experiment, make mistakes and admit when they don't have all the answers. Creating space for curiosity and exploration unlocks real potential as people engage with new tools.
As AI grows, the human element will become more important, and we’ll increasingly be valued for the elements that make us human. Mental agility, critical thinking, creativity, curiosity, empathy and lived experience are growing in importance in the professional space and the very things that make us distinctly human are what we need to cultivate and protect.
Responsible AI adoption requires a broader lens, including environmental impact and how tools are used in practice.
Practical steps include creating a shared prompt libraries within teams to reduce repetitive prompting, improve consistency and support both productivity and sustainability. Policies and governance need to keep pace with how AI is already changing the way decisions get made and ethical guardrails need to be built into how AI is deployed in the organisation.
Organisations are also starting to consider the underlying cost of these tools, not just financially, sometimes framed as a ‘token economy’, but in terms of resource use. This creates a need for more deliberate use, balancing experimentation with efficiency and ensuring value is generated, not just activity.
Nobody has it all figured out yet, and, as Meg Dunphy put it, that’s exactly why we’ve created this space. Now is the right moment to leverage our community and shared learnings to move from curiosity and isolated experimentation towards more confident, joined-up practice, together.
This Community of Practice is designed to be practical and member-driven, built around real use cases, shared experimentation and peer learning. Not theory, but real conversations between people who are navigating the same challenges.
The next event takes place on 3 September. Whether you're just starting to explore AI, or already piloting initiatives in your organisation, we’d love for you to get involved.
To help shape the topics, formats and future learning and development pathways of this community we’re establishing a steering committee. The best ideas will come from bringing different perspectives together. If you have user stories to share, case studies from your own organisation, or simply a strong view on what this community should focus on next, we want to hear from you.
If you're interested in joining the steering committee or finding out more, get in touch with the CIPD in Ireland team at info@cipd.ie.