The team published their findings in the Journal of Management. Their work is based on insights from a unique summit that brought together HR scholars and senior leaders from Fortune 500 companies. These include Chief Human Resources Officers and their tech leaders. The key message: both academics and practitioners must take bold steps into this fast-evolving, largely uncharted territory.

GenAI’s transformative power brings big opportunities—but also a major mindset shift. Business leaders who are used to control will need to embrace uncertainty and create cultures that support continuous learning, experimentation, and adaptability. In this new environment, curiosity and the drive to learn become crucial for career growth.

The team identified research priorities and GenAI implications across six core HR areas:

• Recruitment and selection
• Training and development
• Performance management
• Job and work design
• Talent management
• Compensation and benefits

Recommendations

Boon and her co-authors call for use-inspired research—work that combines deep theoretical thinking with real-world problem-solving. Successful integration of this research approach in the GenAI domain could foster a symbiotic relationship between academia and industry. Practical challenges inform research agendas and research findings enhance organisational practices. To accomplish this, management research on GenAI must align theoretical exploration with practical application. The researchers emphasise that there is an urgent need for rigorous academic, yet practice-focused, research. This is necessary for addressing ethical concerns, data management, and the transformative potential of GenAI in reshaping HR practices. 

Publication details

The study, titled A Brave New World of Human Resources Research: Navigating Perils and Identifying Grand Challenges of the GenAI Revolution was co-authored by Prof. Corine Boon (University of Amsterdam) and 14 international colleagues. The lead researchers are Anthony Nyberg and Deidra Schleicher.