If you talk to HR leaders today, the conversation almost always starts the same way. There’s pressure from the business to move faster, pressure from professionals to work differently, and pressure from regulators to get it right. Add AI to that mix, and the complexity only increases.
What’s often missed in the AI discussion is where the real change is happening. It’s not confined to HR systems or administrative tasks. AI is being adopted directly by the people doing the work, and it’s fundamentally changing how productive they can be. That shift has consequences for how HR designs workflows, governs talent, and supports the business.
Independent workers are a useful place to start because they adopt productivity tools early. Their success depends on speed, quality, and repeatability. Over the last few years, AI has become embedded in how they operate, from research and analysis to content creation, testing, and delivery. The result is work that moves faster and often requires fewer handoffs.
Full-time employees are following a similar path. Generative AI helps internal teams automate routine work, shorten feedback cycles, and spend more time on higher-value tasks. Productivity gains are real, but HR infrastructure hasn’t always kept pace.
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Productivity Is Accelerating Faster Than Process
AI, while making individuals faster, also changes the shape of work. Projects that once took weeks can now be completed in days. Work that previously required multiple roles can now be handled by a smaller, more specialized group. Independent professionals, in particular, are delivering outcomes that don’t map neatly to traditional job descriptions or time-based assumptions.
This creates a challenge for HR teams still operating with workflows designed for a more static workforce. Approval processes, onboarding steps, classification reviews, and compliance checks often assume slower timelines and clearly bounded roles. When AI compresses the work itself, those assumptions break down.
Contingent and independent workers are increasingly relied on to navigate uncertain economic conditions, fill specialized skill gaps, and help organizations stay flexible. They are one of the most effective tools businesses have in a volatile market, but managing that workforce largely falls to HR.
Extended Workers Are Strategic, but the Burden Is Operational
Most organizations now recognize the value of extended workers. Independent professionals help companies respond to shifting demand without locking in long-term costs. They bring expertise that may not exist internally. They allow teams to scale up or down without disruption.
What’s less visible is the operational burden this places on HR. Finding the right talent, verifying credentials, onboarding quickly, ensuring compliance across regions, and maintaining visibility across engagements all fall under HR’s remit. As AI accelerates the pace of work, that burden grows.
This is where automation becomes less about efficiency and more about sustainability. Manual processes don’t scale when work moves faster. Disconnected systems create risk when engagements span geographies. Without well-designed workflows, HR teams are forced into reactive mode: trying to keep up rather than setting the pace.
AI, in this sense, is exposing where HR infrastructure has an opportunity to evolve.
Risk Grows When Work Moves Faster
Productivity gains often come with new risks. As independent professionals operate globally and take on multiple clients, compliance challenges multiply. Candidate fraud, misclassification, inconsistent verification, and regulatory complexity are now part of daily operations.
AI plays a role here too. It lowers barriers to entry and makes it easier for individuals to present themselves professionally across borders, while simultaneously increasing the velocity of engagements. In this environment, compliance can’t be treated as a final checkpoint. It has to be built into the way work is requested, approved, and managed. HR teams need workflows that balance speed with control and flexibility with oversight.
High-Skill Independents Are Choosing Carefully
High-skill independent professionals are deliberate about who they work for. Many earn six figures and have no shortage of options. AI has amplified their leverage by enabling them to deliver more value in less time. They look for clarity, efficiency, and professionalism. Slow onboarding, unclear scopes, and fragmented processes are signals they notice immediately. In many cases, they will simply choose not to engage.
From an HR perspective, this changes the equation. Access to top independent talent now partly depends on how easy it is to work with the organization once a decision is made. Well-designed workflows, clear compliance processes, and consistent engagement models matter more than ever. That is what being a client of choice means in practice, even if the phrase is never used internally.
Workflow Design Is the Real Lever
All of this brings us back to workflow design. AI is accelerating productivity for both employees and independent workers. Contingent talent is helping organizations navigate a difficult economic landscape. HR often sits at the center of these forces.
The question HR leaders should be asking is not whether to embrace AI or independent talent. That decision has already been made by the business. The real question is how to design systems that make it easier to find the right workers, engage them efficiently, and manage them responsibly.
This doesn’t require adding layers of complexity. Simplicity is often the goal: clear pathways for engaging independent talent, automated checks that reduce risk without slowing things down, and visibility that helps HR support the business rather than react to it. When those elements are in place, AI-driven productivity becomes an advantage rather than a source of strain.
What This Means for HR in 2026
Looking ahead, the HR organizations that succeed will be the ones that recognize how deeply AI has changed the nature of work. Productivity, once confined to headcount, is now distributed across a blended workforce of employees and independent professionals working side by side.
Contingent workers will continue to play a critical role in helping businesses stay agile. AI will continue to raise expectations for speed and output. HR’s role will be to connect those dots through thoughtful workflow design.
This isn’t about adopting more technology for its own sake. Building systems that reflect how work actually gets done is the core goal. When HR leads that effort, the result is a workforce that is faster, safer, and better aligned with the realities of a changing economy.
AI may be transforming productivity, but HR will determine whether that transformation delivers lasting value.
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