IBM's AI Chatbot Rollout: Lessons and Strategies from the CHRO

IBM's CHRO says their initial AI rollout didn't sit well with employees -- and explains how the company turned things around

In the footrace to roll out AI within the workforce, companies are bound to slip up along the way. IBM has been open about its dedication to build, implement, and scale company-wide AI, and over the past decade the company has built 280 different AI mechanisms within HR alone. But that doesn't mean the tech giant hasn't had a few hiccups getting there. When the company first introduced its benefits assistant chatbot, AskHR, to staffers back in 2017, it was not a runaway hit. "When we started on this journey, we started on it as a technical change. 'Here's this technical tool,'" Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at IBM, tells Fortune. "And what happened was nobody used it. The technology was there, the tool was there, but behavior wasn't there." She says staffers weren't ready for that change back then -- especially when the company's strategy was more calculated than cordial. When IBM realized its workforce wasn't going to start using AskHR willingly, leaders brought down the hammer. In 2018, the company told more than 20,000 workers that they were spending too much time on busywork, and that rather than ask the HR department questions as usual, they would have to use the chatbot instead. That didn't make staffers happy. Before that moment, IBM's HR department had an employee CSAT score -- which measures an individual's satisfaction -- of +19, on a scale from -100 to +100. But within that first year after the firm required workers to use AskHR, HR's CSAT rating plummeted to -35. That was a wake up call. "We were trying to force the behavior change, but we thought about it from the perspective of the HR team," says LaMoreaux. In the pursuit of eliminating busywork, they force fed employees a tool they weren't comfortable with. "There's a manager on the other end that says: 'You want me to type into a chatbot?' And again, this was 2018. So we started asking managers directly: 'How could the chatbot be better? What do you like about it?'" What staffers most enjoyed about AskHR, according to LaMoreaux, was that they could ask questions in real time and with customized responses. The chatbot could automatically synthesize a worker's career data to point them to the policies that were most relevant to them. Previously, they would have to sift through dense employee manuals to find what they're looking for. After listening to what employees really wanted, LaMoreaux says IBM tweaked AskHR to make everything even more direct, instantaneous, and personalized. The company developed the chatbot to create more concise and digestible answers, assist job transfers to get staffers into their desired positions quicker, and roleplay nerve-wracking conversations like performance evaluations. "By taking that feedback from them, being centered to who your end user is, that's what then got us out," she says, referencing HR's then-low employee satisfaction score. "And now our score is consistently high." Today, the CSAT score for the HR team is in the +80s -- a huge leap from the worker dissatisfaction it grappled with before. AskHR has now evolved to handle 94% of employee queries and resolves around 10.1 million interactions per year for the HR department, according to the company. And while it handles the vast majority of questions, LaMoreaux says that the chatbot will direct workers to arrange a meeting with an HR leader directly if their issue is more sensitive. Situations like low performance or misconduct are still handled by humans. Although many businesses rolling out AI tools in 2024 emphasize the importance of having a human touchstone, LaMoreaux says it was initially hard to see how people fit into the tech equation. She emphasizes that user feedback and change management in employee behavior, like asking workers to automate some of their duties gradually rather than all at once, is crucial to successful AI implementation. She warns that simply throwing chatbots or copilots into a workforce and expecting them to adjust only builds resentment against the new tech and leadership team. For companies just now adopting their own tools, it may seem daunting to establish a new way of work optimized by AI. But LaMoreaux says HR leaders shouldn't be afraid to break the mold -- that's what drove the business and employee gains IBM couldn't have tapped into before. Thus far, AskHR has automated 765,000 tasks and trimmed down the HR operating budget by 40%. "Most people say don't experiment in HR," she says. "But we are now moving our AskHR to generative AI. That allows us to trade faster, the natural language is a lot better, and it's giving us better outcomes."

The CHRO of IBM details a huge mistake in getting its workforce onboard with AI

As a frontrunner in the AI race, the firm has invested in and implemented AI for client companies and among its own workforce. Because of its tech chops, IBM has been experimenting with AI longer than most businesses, rolling out chatbots and copilots for more than 10 years, according to the company. The organization now has more than 280 unique AI mechanisms solely within its HR function. Nickle LaMoreaux, chief human resources officer at IBM, tells Fortune that back in 2017 the company introduced benefits assistant chatbot AskHR to staffers. It was built to address workers' questions and reduce the need for HR leaders or employees to parse through long company manuals to find the right answer. "When we started on this journey, we started on it as a technical change. 'Here's this technical tool.' And what happened was nobody used it. The technology was there, the tool was there, but behavior wasn't there," she says. Faced with worker apathy, the company decided to force employees to use AskHR. In 2018, IBM told its 21,000 frontline managers that HR staff would no longer assist them with inquiries -- they would now have to use the AI chatbot to get their questions answered. But worker satisfaction with the HR department plummeted. That prompted people leaders to radically switch up their strategy. IBM's HR professionals started listening to employee feedback, and implemented a new strategy to influence employee behavior by gradually asking workers to optimize their days with the tech, like asking the chatbot to answer policy questions or roleplay conversations with managers on performance evaluations. Today, the department's satisfaction score is leaps and bounds higher than it was before any AI rollout, and AskHR is widely used among staffers; it handles 94% of inquiries and 10.1 million HR-related interactions per year. Despite addressing most employee issues, LaMoreaux says the chatbot will direct staffers to consult an HR leader if they bring up sensitive issues like low performance or misconduct. "Most people say don't experiment in HR," she says. "But we are now moving our AskHR to generative AI. That allows us to trade faster, the natural language is a lot better, and it's giving us better outcomes." More fast casual restaurants like Chipotle and Sweetgreen are testing out robots to assist workers in making food and trim down labor costs. Wall Street Journal The Biden Administration proposed a rule to protect laborers from the summer heat, which would impact millions of workers, but faces opposition from business groups. Washington Post A U.S. court dismissed a lawsuit against Elon Musk in which he is accused of not paying more than $500 million in severance to thousands of laid off Twitter employees. The Guardian Everything you need to know from Fortune. Pressure cooker. More staffers at the European Central Bank are experiencing burnout and suicidal thoughts amid historical levels of inflation and alleged "power games" at work. -- Ryan Hogg Opulent disruption. With the wedding of Asia's richest person right around the corner, office workers in Mumbai are planning to work from home during the festivities to avoid traffic jams. -- P R Sanjai, Bloomberg Blacklist. Law firm Sullivan & Cromwell employed a background check company to verify that applicants didn't participate in protests over the way in Gaza -- and to potentially disqualify any who have. -- Seamus Webster Checked out. Although employees are staying put in their roles, many are still actively job hunting, creating a disengaged workforce that is fueling "The Great Detachment." -- Chloe Berger