By Johannes Sundlo — AI & Future of Work Advisor. Based on the AI & HR i Sverige survey of Swedish HR professionals (2024: n=257; 2025: n=461).
What is the state of AI in HR? Across two years of surveying Swedish HR professionals, one pattern dominates: access to AI is racing ahead of real adoption. In 2025, 81% had generative-AI tools through their employer — up from 66% in 2024 — yet only 25% used AI agents in HR and just 33% had received any formal AI training. This is the adoption gap, in data.
Key findings (2024 → 2025)
- AI policies nearly doubled: 47% of organisations now have an AI policy, up from 27% in 2024 — but 44% still have none.
- Access surged: 81% have employer-provided generative AI, up from 66%.
- Adoption lags access: only 25% use AI agents in HR and 33% have had formal AI training.
- The hype is maturing: “very positive” sentiment cooled from 86% to 79% — enthusiasm giving way to realism.
- Job fear stays low: just 7% worry AI will replace their HR job — unchanged across both years.
AI policy is catching up — slowly
In 2024, 63% of HR professionals said their organisation had no AI policy. By 2025 that fell to 44%, and the share with a policy climbed from 27% to 47%. Governance is finally moving — but nearly half of organisations are still letting employees use AI with no written rules.
Access is everywhere. Adoption isn’t.
This is the core story of AI in HR right now. Tools are in people’s hands — 81% have employer-provided generative AI and 93% are allowed to use tools like ChatGPT or Copilot. But having access is not the same as changing how work gets done: only a quarter use AI agents in HR, and only a third have had any formal training.
That 81%-to-25% gap is exactly where value leaks out. Access is a procurement decision; adoption is a change-leadership one. The organisations closing the gap are the ones building AI into real workflows and training their people — not just buying licences.
Why adoption lags: the barriers
Ask HR what’s standing in the way, and the answer isn’t fear or doubt about value — it’s capability and capacity. The top two barriers to AI in HR are a lack of technical skills in the HR team (41%) and simply not having enough time (41%). Budget (32%), legal/ethical concerns (30%) and technical limits (28%) follow. Resistance to change is the smallest (22%).
This is the adoption gap explained. The blockers aren’t motivation — they’re skills and time. Both are solvable with the right enablement: hands-on training that builds real fluency, and AI built into existing workflows so it saves time instead of adding a task. That’s precisely the work of turning access into adoption.
Which AI tools HR actually uses
Among those with employer-provided AI, the landscape is strikingly consolidated. Microsoft Copilot leads at 77% — unsurprising in Microsoft-centric Nordic workplaces — followed by ChatGPT at 49%. Google Gemini (9%) and Claude (4%) trail far behind. For most Swedish HR teams, AI means whatever is already bundled with their Microsoft stack.
Do the tools actually work?
When HR does use AI, it mostly delivers: 64% rate their AI tools as effective (13% very, 51% fairly), 23% are neutral, and only 13% find them ineffective. The tools aren’t the problem — which sharpens the point that the real gap is enablement, not technology.
The road ahead
Momentum is clear: 77% of organisations plan to expand their use of AI in HR — 54% within the next year and another 23% within 2–3 years. Only 19% are unsure or have no plans. Expansion is coming whether teams are ready or not; the question is whether adoption and training keep pace with access.
Sentiment is cooling from hype to realism
In 2024, 86% of HR professionals were “very positive” about AI in HR. In 2025 that dropped to 79%. That’s not disillusionment — it’s maturation. As people actually use the tools, blanket enthusiasm gives way to a more grounded, practical view. Meanwhile, fear of being replaced stayed flat and low at just 7% in both years.
Whose job is AI, anyway?
HR still doesn’t clearly own the AI agenda. In 2024, only 6% saw AI primarily as an HR question — 39% called it an IT question and 41% said “both”. AI in the workplace is fundamentally about people and change, yet HR is too often a passenger. That’s the opportunity: the function best placed to drive adoption is the one least likely to be holding the wheel.
What it means
The data tells a consistent story: the bottleneck in HR is no longer access to AI — it’s adoption. Policies and tools are arriving; lasting behaviour change is not, because training and real-workflow integration lag far behind. The organisations that win won’t be the ones with the most licences. They’ll be the ones that make AI stick — built into daily work, human-in-the-loop, with leaders going first.
Want to close the adoption gap in your organisation?
I help HR and leadership teams move from AI access to AI adoption that sticks — through keynotes, workshops and change programs.
Methodology
Figures are from the AI & HR i Sverige survey of HR professionals in Sweden, run by Johannes Sundlo: 257 respondents in 2024 and 461 in 2025. Percentages are of those answering each question. The 2025 survey added questions on AI agents and formal training, so no 2024 comparison exists for those. For the practical playbook behind the numbers, see the guide on AI adoption that sticks and AI for HR.
