Human Consulting Group (HCG), which started as an HR consulting firm, is accelerating development of HR AI agents. It is unveiling various AI agents that can be used within its existing solutions. It is also focusing on strengthening skill-based capabilities linked to the entire HR domain.

In the mid to long term, the company is also approaching the effort with what it calls a big picture. The direction can be summed up as proactively reflecting AI-driven changes in work.

Park Tae-seo (박태서), head of HCG's AI×HR R&D Center, said, "HR is the area that can feel changes in work due to AI the fastest. If we respond proactively, HR-led AX can spread." He added, "Right now, most organizations own AI agents, but if they are closer to individual employees, members can have a more personalized HR experience," he stressed.

HCG has pushed an "AI-based HR transformation" centered on its AI×HR R&D Center. It has installed an "AI HR Assistant" in its main HR solution, Huenel, a service that lets users look up HR information such as leave requests, department information, pay statements and expected severance pay, and automatically drafts documents. It is also deploying natural-language query-based AI talent search, an AI HR dashboard, and AI agents for evaluation, attendance, payroll and year-end tax settlement.

HCG's HR SaaS platform, talenx, also provides functions in which AI analyzes HR and performance data and helps members set goals. It offers an "AI feedback analysis" function that summarizes performance, feedback and evaluation data to support leaders' decisions on evaluation, compensation and development. The company said it also applies "AI-based sentiment analysis technology" to visualize positive and negative feedback tendencies and key keywords, helping users intuitively identify talent strengths and areas for improvement.

As it adds AI functions to its main solutions, HCG also supports building customized AI agents that customers can create and use as needed. The agent platform supports both cloud and on-premises deployments.

At the current stage, HR AI is spreading mainly through adding AI that can be used in HR solutions or using AI to interpret in-house data for HR needs. Park said, "Each member of an organization has different capabilities, and the essence of skill-based AI is to combine AI with that so organizations can deploy the right people to the work they need."

He said the HR function has several distinctive characteristics from an AI transformation, or AX, perspective. First, HR holds a lot of personal information within an organization. Depending on the sensitivity level of data, privacy or access-control issues can be variables, and from the standpoint of providing HR AI, it is important to address them. Park said, "When HCG attaches AI to existing systems and services, it can control the permission structure and integration, how far the data AI can see goes, and what it should not see."

Another HR characteristic is that HR processes vary by company. A specific function may fit well with one company but not with another.

The characteristics of the HR organization itself also need to be considered. Since adopting AI in a company is a company-wide decision, agreement is needed among multiple departments beyond HR. HR is also connected to other functions such as IT and finance. HR teams need to understand laws and statistics, and at times must play an assistant role.

As a result, AI is being adopted heavily in relatively standardized HR areas. Park said, "Queries and company rules have many universal methodologies, making them suitable areas to apply AI." He added, "We have applied AI to 360-degree evaluation analysis since last year, and customers are now at the stage of starting to use it," he said.

Park said that, just as AI is shaking up the software development field, AI-driven changes in HR will become increasingly concrete.

He said, "Vibe coding has evolved from whether the output works or not to also looking at the rationality of the process. In HR, in the past, the priority was whether we selected the right person for hiring or promotion, but now it is shifting toward looking at the process itself."

The HCG AI×HR R&D Center led by Park aims to implement AI that supports the HR lifecycle beyond AI agent development, positive and negative evaluation, and employee search. Park again stressed, "If HR and AI are blended with a focus on individuals rather than organizations, the quality of the experience will improve further."

HCG will hold its first in-house AI conference in late October. Park said, "Through the conference, we will present the AI agent area, how it works, and the results it provides."