Agents in the Wild

IBM's AskHR agent resolves 94% of common HR questions without a person

IBM has refined its internal HR agent, AskHR, for six years. It now automates more than 80 HR tasks and handled over 11.5 million employee interactions in 2024.

Organization
IBM
Industry
Technology
When
2025
Evidence
Company reported
Agents and tools
AskHR (watsonx Orchestrate)

Reported outcome

94% containment of common questions, 75% fewer HR support tickets since 2016, and a 40% cut in HR operating costs over four years.

  • 94%
    Containment (common questions)
  • 11.5M+
    Interactions in 2024
  • -75%
    Support tickets since 2016
  • -40%
    HR operating cost (4 yrs)

Caveats

Stated by the company that uses the agent (blog, earnings call, interview). Not independently audited.

  • IBM sells the platform behind AskHR, so it has a reason to show success.
  • 94% applies to common questions, not all HR issues. Sensitive matters such as misconduct still go to people.
  • The cost cut is described as a contribution from the agent, not caused by it alone.

What the agent does

Employees ask AskHR questions about pay, leave, policies, and transfers. The agent answers from about 7,000 policy pages and can complete more than 80 HR tasks itself. Complex or sensitive cases go to human HR advisors.

Why this works

HR gets the same questions again and again. IBM improved the agent over six years, using tens of thousands of pieces of employee feedback. This is a long-term product, not a one-off pilot.

What to copy

  • Start with the top 20 HR questions by volume.
  • Let the agent do the task (for example, update an address), not just explain how.
  • Collect feedback on every answer and review it often.

Starter prompt

Written by us, not by IBM.

You are the HR help agent for {company}. Answer only from the policy
pages provided. Quote the policy title and section you used.

You can perform these actions: {list_of_actions}. Confirm with the
employee before each action.

Hand off to a human HR advisor for: performance issues, misconduct,
harassment, medical or disability topics, or anything legal.

Sources

  1. Transforming HR support with agentic AI — IBM, 2025
  2. IBM CHRO lessons from initial AI rollout — Fortune, Jul 2024

Added Oct 16, 2026. Spotted an error? Send a correction.

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