Published in: Developing Staff in Higher Education and Research (PEH, “Personal in Hochschule und Wissenschaft entwickeln”), issue 1/2026, pp. 13–27. Section “Developing strategies”.
Opportunities, risks and design perspectives for universities — AI as an accelerator of organisational reality and transformation
Artificial intelligence is not only changing HR processes — it calls core assumptions about work, performance and responsibility into question. Universities face a particular challenge here: they are employers, educational institutions and sources of societal orientation all at once. The article shows why AI in university HR has to be understood not as a question of tools, but as a strategic design task. It analyses current usage patterns, names the key risks and places them in a legal, ethical and organisational framework. At its centre is the role of HR as an active designer and translator between technology, organisation and people.
Contents
- AI as an accelerator of organisational reality
- Status quo: AI in HR between potential and overload
- AI along the employee lifecycle: support, not replacement
- Legal and ethical framework for AI in HR
- Transforming the world of work: rethinking leadership
- HR as an AI enabler, and quick wins
- Outlook: universities as future labs of work
Keywords: artificial intelligence, HR, transformation, world of work
