Lattice’s AI agent helps HR teams shift from admin work to strategic talent management

Lattice’s new AI agent represents a significant evolution in HR technology, addressing the administrative burden facing HR professionals while providing personalized support to employees across organizations. By embedding AI throughout its talent and payroll platform, Lattice aims to transform how companies handle employee inquiries, career development, and strategic workforce planning—potentially allowing HR teams to shift from administrative work to more strategic talent management while offering employees judgment-free guidance on career development.

The big picture: Lattice has launched an AI agent designed to support both HR teams and employees by automating responses to common inquiries and providing personalized guidance on benefits, career paths, and company policies.

• The platform uses a simple search bar interface that grounds responses in contextual data specific to the user’s department, geography, and job level.
• CEO Sarah Franklin describes the system as addressing the overwhelming burden HR teams face fielding basic questions and managing notifications across multiple systems.

How it works: The AI agent integrates with existing workplace documentation and communication systems to provide accurate, contextual information to employees.

• The system pulls from employee handbooks, onboarding guides, and training materials created by legal, internal communications, and leadership teams.
• It connects with Microsoft, Google, and other workplace collaboration platforms to access the most current company information.

Key capabilities: Beyond answering basic HR questions, the AI agent provides personalized career guidance and management coaching.

• The platform offers templates and guidance for first-time managers on conducting one-on-ones, delivering feedback, and assessing performance.
• For employees, it answers questions about career paths, promotion criteria, benefits, and even provides basics on finance or math concepts.

Why this matters: The AI agent addresses the psychological barriers that often prevent employees from seeking guidance while reducing HR’s administrative workload.

• “The fear of judgment is a very interesting human characteristic, which makes it hard to seek out coaching,” Franklin explained, noting that people “fear less that they’re going to be judged” when asking questions of AI.
• Companies often maintain expensive HR help desks and case management software that could potentially be streamlined with this technology.

Future implications: Franklin envisions AI enabling more sophisticated workforce planning and dynamic team organization.

• The technology can capture insights from employee requests, coaching interactions, and other data to help companies deploy talent more effectively.
• “The more that teams become built dynamically around the business need, instead of created statically around a functional need, you’re going to see a lot more speed and performance and innovation happen,” Franklin said.

Industry context: Lattice’s offering aligns with broader trends in HR technology that aim to shift human resources professionals from administrative work to strategic roles.

• Consulting analysts have previously noted that HR AI use cases have primarily focused on administrative and recruiting tasks.
• The platform’s capabilities could help organizations become more agile and responsive to changing business conditions.