AI is moving into HR fast, but the real question is whether it gives people more time to be human.
AI is changing HR’s job description. Frontline workers make up about 80% of the global workforce, yet they’re often left out of strategy. At the same time, HR teams are buried in tactical work while AI, automation, agents, security, compliance, and employee expectations keep accelerating.
In this episode… Noah Mithrush breaks down what HR on the front line actually looks like, why managers need more empathy, and how AI agents could take tactical work off HR’s plate without replacing the human side of the job.
Key Takeaways :
- Frontline workers are about 80% of the global workforce, yet Noah says they’re often forgotten when companies build strategy.
- Good management isn’t about finding people who work exactly like you. Different perspectives, working styles, and life experiences can make a team stronger.
- Empathy is a management skill, not a soft extra. Managers need to understand their people, build trust, celebrate wins, and genuinely care about what’s happening in their lives.
- AI should remove tactical HR work, not remove HR. The goal is to free HR teams from repetitive questions and processes so they can focus on employees, development, and strategy.
- HR and payroll teams face an impossible compliance problem. Laws and regulations keep changing across locations, making it difficult for humans to track everything manually.
- The future isn’t simply AI replacing people. Noah’s bigger question is how technology can help organizations become more human, especially for frontline employees where the gap between the office and the workplace can be significant.
This episode was recorded live at SHRM Annual 2026
The Heroes of HR podcast is a limited series sponsored by isolved.
isolved is an HCM platform that modernizes HR, benefits, and payroll across Healthcare, Hospitality, Manufacturing, and more.
Learn more about isolved: https://www.isolvedhcm.com/
Guest : Noah Mithrush
Director, Growth Marketing at Guusto, Noah focuses on the frontline workforce and hosts HR on the Front Line, a podcast exploring the challenges that often get overlooked when HR strategy meets the realities of frontline work.
LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/nmithrush/
The Heroes of HR Podcast is hosted by
Amy Miller, Product Evangelist at isolved
https://www.linkedin.com/in/amycmiller/
Ryan Leary, Co-founder at WRKdefined
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanleary/
William Tincup, Co-founder at WRKdefined
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tincup/
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