From fearful to flourishing: How HR leaders can encourage AI-first mindsets 

HR can turn AI fear into fluency by leading with empathy, transparency, and a focus on human-centred innovation.

In brief:

• AI adoption is a people challenge, not a tech one - HR must lead with empathy and clarity to build trust.
• Transparency, experimentation, and critical thinking are essential to help employees engage confidently with AI.
• HR should model AI use internally to inspire organisation-wide confidence and curiosity.

AI can be a coach, a catalyst and a career builder – but only if people know how to use it. Just 44% of Australians and 49% of New Zealanders in professional roles are using AI at work. HR leaders can change this story.

We surveyed 15,000 people around the world to understand their attitudes to AI adoption – and found Australians and New Zealanders are less enthusiastic than almost every other market.

This isn’t a technology problem. It’s a people problem. And it needs the “people people” to step in – not to push software, but to build trust, understanding and confidence.

Why aren’t we embracing AI?

The EY AI Sentiment Survey found people in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand are more sceptical about AI generally, and less enthusiastic about its role in the workplace than most other markets.

There are many reasons for this. Some are structural, like data quality issues, limited understanding, and legitimate questions around governance and ethics. 

Other barriers are personal. Many people lack the skills they need to engage with AI confidently – and they don’t know where to start. Can I use it? Should I? Is it safe? 

Younger employees are curious, but older workers are more hesitant, worrying about job security or struggling to understand how AI can enhance, rather than replace, their roles.

As HR leaders, we must lead with empathy – acknowledging fear and doubt while fostering a sense of optimism and opportunity.

A thought partner, not a taskmaster

AI can be a powerful ally – but only when it’s used to enhance human judgement, not replace it. 

HR leaders have a critical role to play in helping people across the organisation make the leap to adopting GenAI. And what better way to lead than by example – by reimagining how HR itself uses AI to support people and performance.

Our survey found 27% of Australians and 20% of New Zealanders were comfortable with AI making performance recommendations, compared with 43% globally. It’s similar for resume screening – just 30% in Australia and 23% in New Zealand, versus 43% globally.

The best use cases for AI in HR are as a thought partner, not a taskmaster. We’re seeing AI offer real-time feedback during meetings, coach managers through challenging conversations, and help redraft feedback with balanced language. These aren’t examples of deferring to AI. They amplify human empathy, critical thinking and ethical judgement.

Leadership starts with listening

If we want employees to embrace AI, we need to start by understanding their hesitation – which is a response to a real knowledge gap and a sense of being left behind. 

HR leaders can change that – and there are several practical steps:

1. Lead with empathy. Acknowledge hesitation, listen to concerns and ensure AI is always framed as an augmentation tool, not a people replacement.
2. Demystify AI. Explain what AI is – from generative AI and large language models to machine learning and AI agents – and how the various tools can help people work smarter.
3. Be radically transparent. Tell employees when AI is being used and when it shouldn’t be used. For instance, if using AI in recruitment, explain that it’s a tool to support decisions, not replace human judgement. 
4. Design with intention. AI doesn’t replace roles, but it can streamline tasks, freeing people for higher-value work. This requires a fundamental reimagination of work and roles. With that in mind, identify which tasks AI can uplift and where human judgement remains essential.
5. Build critical thinking. Teach employees to evaluate AI outputs, spot bias and decide when to trust AI versus when to rely on human expertise. 
6. Encourage experimentation. Create “sandboxes” where teams can experiment with AI without fear of making mistakes – through peer learning sessions, hands-on workshops or informal coaching.
7. Keep humans@centre. The future of work is human-AI collaboration, not just automation or augmentation. HR’s role is to ensure that AI supports people’s work – freeing them from mundane tasks so they can focus on creativity, strategy and complex problem-solving.

HR practitioners will recognise this as change management 101. But one thing is different: the exponential pace of change. 

HR professionals see this in their own work. New tools emerge faster than we can learn them. Training manuals drafted one week are obsolete the next. 

That means HR’s role isn’t just to teach people how to use AI – it’s to cultivate an AI-first mindset that is excited by the opportunities. This means asking: How can we make this meeting, task or experience better with AI? That question should come before the work begins.

AI is here. It can be a partner, a coach and a catalyst – but only if we show our people how to make it work for them.

This article is the eight in the new EY AI Sentiment Index series, explores how HR leaders can drive AI adoption by fostering trust, transparency, and experimentation to empower employees with confidence and curiosity. Next up, Director, Business Consulting, Ernst & Young, New Zealand, Michael Summers-Gervai, discusses how New Zealand retailers can build AI trust by making its benefits visible, practical, and clearly aligned with customer needs.