AI enables employees to navigate benefits on their own, freeing HR to focus on driving strategy, not decoding benefits jargon. Here's how.
Picture this: an HR professional sitting down — again — to explain the same set of benefits to help an employee manage anxiety and stress. It’s the tenth time this month, and the questions are always the same.
Despite investing in robust, comprehensive benefits packages, HR teams often find themselves acting less like strategic leaders and more like full-time translators. Benefits directories, 1-800 numbers, basic chatbots, and engagement sessions promise solutions, but still put the burden on HR to bridge the gap when employees can’t “speak benefits.”
As a result, around 80% of employees don’t read their benefits materials, leading to a nonstop loop of repetitive questions and missed opportunities.
It’s a poor use of HR’s time and talent. But AI is changing that. By removing the need for translation, AI enables employees to navigate benefits on their own, freeing HR to focus on driving strategy, not decoding benefits jargon.
In today’s workplace, HR teams are stuck translating a complex language few employees understand: benefits. From copays to coinsurance, HR becomes the interpreter between cryptic terms and real employee needs.
And as benefits packages grow, so does the burden. Nearly half of organizations now offer 6–15 point solutions, which multiplies the number of questions HR must field. The result is a never-ending loop of repetitive inquiries about eligibility, network providers, and access instructions, each one stealing time from high-value work.
HR’s day is often driven by interruptions. Walk-ins with urgent benefits questions derail progress on other, more strategic initiatives. Employees, meanwhile, expect HR to be instant experts on the myriad of benefits offered and how to access them.
The toll shows up in hours spent walking employees through life event paperwork and crisis moments where HR scrambles to find answers they don’t have at their fingertips.
This constant reaction mode drains productivity and prevents HR from leading on talent development, culture, and retention. Over time, the impact becomes personal. HR professionals burn out, stuck in support roles instead of stepping into their full potential as strategic business leaders.
AI is giving HR teams their time back. With AI-powered conversational benefits agents, basic questions about what’s available, who’s covered, and how to access benefits no longer require HR intervention. These tools understand and respond to employees in natural language, eliminating the constant translation burden HR has shouldered for years.
Employees can ask questions in their own words: “What’s covered for therapy?” or “What can I do to improve my sleep?”, and get clear, accurate answers instantly. With 24/7 availability, AI reduces the number of drop-ins and emails HR must field, freeing them to focus on high-impact initiatives.
AI’s contextual intelligence goes a step further, tailoring responses based on employee eligibility, social determinants of health, and proven interventions, so HR doesn’t have to dig through records or play benefits detective. It also integrates fragmented point solutions into a seamless experience, without HR acting as the connector.
Real-world HR time savings include:
AI also equips HR with analytics, showing which programs are underused and where employees are struggling, which fuels better benefits design.
As AI handles routine inquiries, HR can shift into strategic roles, focusing on culture, talent, and growth. This is part of why many organizations report 30–50% reductions in HR admin costs as a result of AI adoption.
Imagine what HR could achieve if it weren’t bogged down by benefits translation. Freed from routine inquiries, HR teams can focus on what truly drives organizational success: employee development, retention strategies, and a thriving workplace culture.
Instead of acting as procedural guides, HR professionals can build deeper, more strategic relationships, coaching employees through growth and transitions rather than walking them through the minutiae of benefits programs.
Now’s the moment to reposition HR from reactive help desk to proactive business driver. With AI, HR can step fully into its role as a strategic force for people and performance.