AI agents set to transform HR and financial operations for public sector

Picture this: You, as a human resource (HR) manager, tell an artificial intelligence (AI) agent to develop a job description for a new hire, which is a task that typically takes many painstaking hours of manual effort.

The agent pulls data from past successful job postings in minutes, crafts a compelling description, and even creates multiple versions to test with the hiring manager.

After your approval, the agent executes the posting process, following which, it would curate a list of candidates based on your requirements of the desired skills for potential interviews.

The AI agent helps to speed up a process that is currently a source of frustration for most government agencies and applicants alike without compromising human agency as the HR and hiring manager are the ones making the final decision on candidate selection.

This new AI reality means that HR managers can finally focus on providing strategic support to the business, rather than managing manual processes.

The transformative potential of AI agents was illustrated by Workday’s Principal HCM Solution Consultant Dominic Chia, in a product showcase, at the Workday Elevate event on May 20.

The by-invite-only session for public officers, titled Taking the public sector forever forward in the age of AI, explored how public management has evolved across the globe and use cases on how AI unlocks efficiency, effectiveness and enhances the quality of government jobs.

To subscribe to the GovInsider bulletin, click here. 

Using agents to drive value and boost compliance

“The way to encourage compliance is to make things easy,” said Workday’s Managing Director and Industry Lead for Government and Education, Rowan Miranda.

Highlighting the potential of policy agents in areas such as expense management or procurement, he described how AI can be used to ingest voluminous policy documents that people in most organisations seldom read.

A policy agent could then be queried by the user to answer specific questions or synthesize documents into frequently asked questions (FAQs) making it easier for employees to comply with policies.

In another example, Miranda discussed AI-based contract intelligence tools that can analyse large volume of government contracts surfacing opportunities to improve pricing, identify risks or leverage product warranties.

GovInsider earlier covered how AI agents can support policy analysis, providing policymakers with better insights into the impact of government policies and helping them to make more informed decisions.

Global public management trends

During his presentation, Miranda highlighted some of the top trends shaping global public management.

“Twenty years ago, there was the ‘new public management’ philosophy, particularly popular in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, aimed at running the government more like a business.

“So, there was a lot of emphasis on privatisation, contracting out, and performance-based compensation for government employees.

“Today, the focus has shifted significantly to improving the government from within especially through technology,” he said.

One such trend is an emphasis on citizen experience (CX) and personalised services, as there is a drive to make government services and processes more responsive to citizens.

He said the highly-digitised governments such as Singapore and Australia have made processes much easier for citizens in recent years, and this has increased voluntary compliance in areas such as taxation.

Another trend is deploying a skills-based talent strategy. When it comes to hiring practices, organisations are increasingly moving away from traditional degree-based hiring towards a skills-based approach. This is gaining traction in the UK, Australia, the US and Singapore.

Implementing this approach at scale, however, requires robust human capital management systems with AI as the foundation.

In a previous GovInsider article, Workday’s Eunice Lim shared how by embedding AI-driven insights based on skills data, government agencies could match internal resources to the right opportunities, enable employee growth, and better implement long-term talent strategies.

Other trends Miranda highlighted include analytics-driven decision making, as well as the expanded use of shared services among governments to improve efficiency.

Summarising his presentation in three key takeaways, he said:

1. Global innovation: No single country dominates innovation in public management, although countries like Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are at the forefront
2. Tech is key: Nearly all of the major advancements in public management practice have relied on advances in information technology
3. AI’s inevitable impact: AI is already rapidly transforming government operations and will continue to elevate performance, becoming a permanent and impactful technology

Workday’s Head of Public Sector, Singapore, Sarah Choe, commended the Singapore government’s leadership in AI and innovation.

“We are a nation that we don't just talk about the future, but we proactively work towards it,” she said.

“This commitment has made the Singapore public sector a leader in technology adoption, a position we're incredibly proud of,” she added.

Workday’s focus on contributing to the broader public sector transformation is exemplified through bringing continuous technology innovation to market and driving business value for their public sector customers worldwide.

In addition to Singapore, Workday’s global public sector footprint is rapidly expanding, serving government customers in Australia, Malaysia, the UK, Canada and the US.