Skills-based strategy key to integrating AI agents into workforce
Organizations must adopt a skills-based approach to manage AI agents as digital employees, ensuring seamless integration with human workers, says Workday executive.
By Aaron Tan, Informa TechTarget
Published: 01 Jul 2025
Companies must transition from a credential-based to a skills-based strategy to effectively integrate AI agents into their workforce, according to Fabio Tiviti, Workday’s group vice-president for Asia-Pacific and Japan. In a recent interview, Tiviti emphasized that AI agents should be treated as "digital employees" with defined skills and capabilities, managed through the same lifecycle as human workers—onboarding, training, and even offboarding.
Key Insights
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Human-AI Coexistence:
- AI agents must work alongside humans, requiring governance and a "system of record" to manage both in-house and third-party agents.
- Without this approach, AI may be perceived as a threat rather than an enhancer of productivity.
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Skills-Based Adoption:
- Over 40% of companies in Singapore have begun adopting skills-based strategies, with 60% reporting benefits like increased innovation.
- However, 49% of business leaders cite change management as a barrier.
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Practical Implementation:
- Start by automating repetitive tasks to free up human workers for strategic roles.
- Maintain human oversight, especially in sensitive areas like hiring, where AI should augment—not replace—decision-making.
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Workday’s Role-Based Agents:
- Workday’s AI agents, such as its recruitment tool, have shown a 54% increase in recruiter capacity and a 35% reduction in review time.
- The company recently launched the Workday Agent Partner Network and Agent Gateway to integrate third-party AI agents (e.g., from Microsoft and Google Cloud) using protocols like MCP and A2A.
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Future Outlook:
- A forward-thinking AI strategy will attract top talent, as candidates prefer companies that embed AI thoughtfully into their culture.
- Tiviti predicts that blended human-AI workforces will become a key differentiator in talent acquisition.
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About the Author
Michael Rodriguez
AI Technology Journalist
Veteran technology journalist with 12 years of focus on AI industry reporting. Former AI section editor at TechCrunch, now freelance writer contributing in-depth AI industry analysis to renowned media outlets like Wired and The Verge. Has keen insights into AI startups and emerging technology trends.