The promise and the problem of AI
AI is transforming all the ways we live; how we work, shop and connect. From personalised shopping recommendations to recruitment algorithms, it is now a standard part of the way businesses operate. While AI brings efficiency and scale, it often raises the same question: how do we keep the human touch?
Research from PwC shows that 70% of UK executives believe AI will significantly change the way they do business in the next five years. Yet the 2024–2025 HRO Today Annual Top Concerns of CHROs found that only 53% of leaders feel “very prepared” to address the ethical and human impact of AI. The gap between adoption and empathy is still too wide.
Why empathy matters in a digital-first world
Connection is not a nice-to-have. It is one of the biggest drivers of loyalty, engagement and retention. Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace report revealed that employees who feel recognised are twice as likely to be engaged at work. Meanwhile, Salesforce’s research found that 84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is critical to winning their business.
The irony is that AI, often seen as cold or transactional, has the potential to strengthen these connections if designed with empathy at its core. It is not about replacing human interaction but about enabling more meaningful, personalised experiences at scale.
Designing human-first algorithms
Building human-first AI starts with the data. Too often, algorithms focus on transactional information, like purchase history, and miss the bigger picture of what drives human behaviour. Studies in behavioural science show that personal values, life events and emotional triggers play a huge role in how people make decisions.
Take corporate recognition as an example. A generic “thank you” voucher might tick the box, but a gift or message linked to a personal milestone, like parental leave or a promotion, lands very differently. It shows awareness and care, not just efficiency. AI can be trained to recognise these life moments and suggest responses that feel authentic.
Crucially, transparency is key. Research from the PrivacyEngine highlights that 60% of consumers worry about how their data is used by companies. Human-first AI must prioritise clear consent, ethical data practices and explainable outputs if it is to win trust.
Small data, big impact
There is a tendency to think bigger is better when it comes to data, but when it comes to empathy, small, high-quality data points are often more powerful.
A Harvard Business Review study showed that personalisation based on just a few relevant factors, such as timing and context, outperformed complex, large-scale datasets in driving customer engagement. This suggests businesses do not always need vast amounts of personal information to create meaningful experiences. They just need the right insights, used responsibly.
Human + AI = better together
Human-first AI is not about letting machines make all the decisions. It is about equipping people with better tools. A manager using an AI-powered system to understand when their team might need recognition or support still has the responsibility to deliver that gesture with empathy.
A good parallel is in healthcare. AI can spot anomalies in scans faster than humans, but it is still the doctor who communicates the diagnosis with compassion. In the workplace, AI can surface the right moments for recognition, but it is leaders and colleagues who bring the humanity.
Putting empathy into practice
Some organisations are already showing how this can work. For example, MIT research into customer service chatbots found that when AI responses were written with empathetic language, customer satisfaction scores rose by 9%. In HR, Deloitte reports that companies using personalised recognition platforms see retention improve by up to 31%. These examples show that empathy is not a soft concept. When applied thoughtfully, it translates into measurable gains in performance, loyalty and long-term business value.
The reputational advantage
Investing in human-first AI also makes strong business sense. A 2022 Accenture study found that companies leading in responsible AI practices are 25% more likely to see increased trust and stronger brand reputation. McKinsey also reports that organisations with strong personalisation strategies can deliver 40% more revenue growth than those that do not.
At a time when 69% of employees say personalised rewards make them feel more valued, and 76% of consumers say they are more likely to buy from brands that personalise, the evidence is clear. Empathy, when combined with AI, drives loyalty, retention and advocacy.
AI will inevitably continue to evolve at speed, but the businesses that succeed will be those that treat it not as a replacement for human connection, but as a tool to enhance it. Scaling connection without losing empathy requires intentional design, responsible data use and leaders who see technology as a bridge, not a barrier. If we get this right, AI has the potential to make business not just more efficient, but more human. That is a future worth building.
