Trust Is The New HR Currency In India’s AI-Driven Workplaces

By Ruhie Pande
 

Artificial intelligence sits at the heart of the HR transformation in India today. Over the last few years, organisations have embedded AI into everything from recruitment and capability building to performance cycles to employee experience design. What began as an efficiency enhancer has quickly become a foundational layer of how work gets done.

Yet amidst this rapid adoption, a deeper truth arises, that AI only succeeds when trust grows with it. In 2025, trust has become the real currency of HR: the factor that decides if employees will embrace AI, question it, or quietly resist its influence. Technology may speed up processes, but it is trust that makes those processes seem fair and transparent, with a human touch.

Fast-Moving AI Landscape, But Hesitant Employee Confidence

AI momentum in the HR function is undeniable in India. Studies have indicated that a majority of large and mid-sized companies use AI to support at least one core HR function, while many are scaling this across the employee lifecycle. Employees too increasingly engage with AI, whether through chatbots, talent-matching engines, learning tools, or automated feedback systems.

But enthusiasm for using AI does not automatically translate into trust in how organisations deploy it. Surveys conducted in India and globally show an interesting split: on one hand, employees like the ease and speed AI brings; on the other hand, many remain wary of its fairness, bias, and opacity in making decisions. This unease is not about AI as a technology but about the systems behind it: how decisions are arrived at, data stored, and outcomes validated.

It's a changing mindset that is reimagining how organisations approach their digital transformation journeys. Adoption is no longer the objective; assurance is.

Where Policy Meets Practice

While India is progressing on digital accountability norms, especially the upcoming frameworks under the Digital India Act and initiatives for labour digitalisation, AI in HR will enter a more structured era. In other words, for organisations, internal policies on AI will gradually move from optional to indispensable.

These increasingly cover areas such as data consent, audit trails, bias checks, explainability protocols, and access rights. Workers want transparency, not just about what AI is doing but why it is doing it. When governance becomes embedded in quotidian processes, AI shifts from feeling like an intrusive intelligence to becoming a trusted collaborator.

Good policies are only as strong, however, as the communication that supports them. The more accessible the language, the more inclusive the discussion. Employees are far more willing to engage with AI when the narrative around it is transparent, contextual, and respectful of their concerns.

Trust Is Built Through Human Signals, Not Automated Accuracy

But for all the advances AI offers, trust is ultimately a human experience. It is shaped by how leaders explain decisions, how managers contextualise technology, and how openly HR teams acknowledge limitations and safeguards. Employees are reassured when they see that AI is used to elevate judgment, not to replace it. Trust is further strengthened when leadership demonstrates transparency, clear communication, and consistent actions, and employees trust AI systems more readily when they trust the leaders who are introducing them.

Transparency is no longer a technical feature; it's a cultural choice. When organisations share how algorithms work, what data is used, and how human oversight is applied, employees begin to view AI not as some kind of black box, but rather an extension of collective intelligence. Inversely, even the most sophisticated tool will be eyed sceptically by those around it if it doesn't have a clearly defined purpose or process.

Glimpse from the Ground Across India Inc.

Across industries in India, from infrastructure to financial services and technology, one trend is becoming increasingly clear: AI gains real traction only when employees understand the intent behind it. HR leaders widely observe that the success of any AI-led initiative depends less on the sophistication of the tool and far more on how openly organisations communicate its purpose, limitations, and safeguards. Studies by global research firms echo this, showing that explainability and visible human oversight significantly increase employee confidence in algorithm-driven systems.

What employees seek is not perfection from AI, but clarity and accountability in how it is used. When organisations frame AI as an enabler that strengthens human judgment rather than a mechanism that replaces it, adoption rises and apprehension fades. This shift towards transparency, context-building, and responsible implementation is now defining the evolution of AI in India’s HR ecosystem.

The Road Ahead: AI That Employees Trust

As AI is integrated even deeper into talent decisions, learning journeys, and workplace planning, the question for organisations will no longer be "How do we implement AI?" but "How do we ensure employees feel secure and empowered within AI enabled systems?"

The organisations that shall stand out in 2025 and beyond are those that treat trust as an operational priority, not a wishy washy ideal. Such companies will invest in ethical, explainable, human-aligned AI. They encourage discussion over compliance. They will elevate transparency into an everyday practice rather than an annual review item.

AI will continue to redefine HR; sharpening insight, personalising experiences, and enabling agility at a scale previously impossible. But technology alone will not shape the future of work. It is trust, the belief that systems are fair, empathetic, and accountable, and that will determine how confidently employees participate in this transformation. When trust and technology move in the same direction, workplaces do more than adapt. They evolve. They become stronger and more resilient. And they unlock a future where people and intelligent systems progress together in clarity, confidence, and mutual purpose.

Ruhie Pande is Group CHRO & CMO, Sterlite Electric, Resonia and Serentica Renewables.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of NDTV Profit or its affiliates. Readers are advised to conduct their own research or consult a qualified professional before making any investment or business decisions. NDTV Profit does not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of the information presented in this article.