IBM HR enhances employee experience with IBM watsonx Orchestrate
As IBM’s workforce grew globally, the Human Resources (HR) department faced mounting complexity. Siloed processes, inconsistent policies across regions and heavy reliance on manual, repetitive tasks burdened employees and HR professionals alike. HR was also battling multi-channel experiences that led to low user satisfaction, handoffs that delayed responses, and non-strategic tasks that were overwhelming their everyday work.
Despite earlier digital innovations in the department, IBM recognized that traditional AI and cloud solutions alone could not meet the rising expectations for faster, more personalized HR support. The company had already implemented the “eliminate, simplify, automate” principle and a methodology to "transform, not transfer"—ensuring no inefficient processes were automated, and all redesigns were anchored in the reimagining of employee experiences. Now, there was a critical need to move beyond fragmented experiences to a unified, intelligent system that could streamline workflows, deliver instant, accurate support and free HR experts to focus on higher-value, strategic work.
It was time to pioneer a new era of HR services, powered by advanced generative AI (gen AI), automation and a commitment to continuous innovation and ethical AI practices.
Over the past six years, IBM has continuously refined their internal virtual agent, AskHR, to automate more than 80 HR tasks and handle over 2.1 million employee conversations annually. Most recently, in 2025, the team integrated IBM® watsonx Orchestrate® to enhance AskHR’s gen AI and agentic automation capabilities. These updates continue to advance a unified, conversational experience that helps employees access HR support quickly, intuitively and in their preferred language.
AskHR currently operates on a two-tier support model: AI handles routine inquiries while human advisors manage more complex needs, driving both efficiency and personalized service. Behind the scenes, complex HR processes are streamlined through deep integration with enterprise systems such as Workday, SAP and Concur.
Thanks to these enhanced capabilities, employees can ask, “Where can I see my payslip?” or “What is the sickness policy?” and receive personalized responses aligned with payroll and local HR policies. They can request job verification letters, submit vacation requests, or get nudges for travel planning and weather alerts, all handled by AskHR. Managers benefit too, with automation helping them to initiate employee transfers or update organizational structures through SAP SuccessFactors. The adoption of AskHR has reached 99% among managers.
By helping HR professionals shift to higher-value strategic work, IBM continues to redefine the employee support experience—and set the bar for gen AI-driven HR innovation at scale.
With AskHR, IBM delivered measurable, company-wide impact. The AI agent helped contribute to a 40% reduction in the HR team’s operational costs over the past four years. AskHR also achieved a 94% containment rate of common questions, has led to a 75% reduction in support tickets raised since 2016, and created more than 11.5 million employee interactions in 2024 alone.
IBM HR documented significant productivity gains in domain-specific tasks between 2022 and 2024, with some areas improving by as much as 75% through AI-powered automation.
AskHR supports a range of automations including employee letters, vacation requests, payroll access and manager-specific workflows such as compensation changes and organizational updates. Overall, the virtual agent deploys around 80 automated tasks.
Powered by watsonx Orchestrate, AskHR has evolved from a virtual assistant into a fully functional digital agent, with responses generated through highly compliant large language models (LLMs). These LLMs classify the employee prompt, route it to the relevant HR domain (Benefits, Payroll, Career and Skills), and then trigger a task or provide an AI-generated response.
With AskHR, IBM’s HR operating model has shifted toward hybrid automation, enabling digital labor to help deliver zero-touch support while preserving the human experience where needed.
IBM is a multinational technology company with a rich history dating back to 1911. It serves a diverse range of customers globally, offering a wide array of products and services in the fields of cloud computing, AI, data analytics and consulting. IBM is recognized for their commitment to innovation, with a significant focus on research and development. The company's workforce comprises talented professionals, contributing to their substantial revenue and influence in the tech industry.
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Examples presented as illustrative only. Actual results will vary based on client configurations and conditions and, therefore, generally expected results cannot be provided.