AI Agents are joining the workforce and being managed by HR

Moderna was all over the headlines in 2020. This was because of its success in developing a COVID-19 vaccine that saved countless lives amid a deadly global pandemic. Fast forward five years, the $3.2 billion-revenue biotechnology company is back in the news.

This time for an entirely different reason; its trailblazing decision to combine its IT and HR teams – who increasingly both deploy and also manage AI Agents and the AI “colleagues” that run in the business - into one department – People and Digital Technology – overseen by the CHRO Tracey Franklin.

This led to a job title change for Franklin; she’s now Moderna’s Chief People and Digital Technology Officer. In an exclusive interview with Franklin the WSJ delved into Moderna’s decision to combine IT & HR which is, to all intents and purposes, a world first.

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“This isn’t just about HR or Digital – it’s about rethinking, system-wide, how we build and rebuild the company to scale,” shares Franklin.

Is this a model for other companies to follow if they want to thrive in this AI-powered era of work?

Franklin joined Moderna in 2019 when the biotech company had just 800 employees all based in Massachusetts – six years later, Moderna now employs 5,000 people across the world.

“I’ve had a front row seat to how this company was built”, and now Franklin has the opportunity to take all those learnings to rethink “how we invest our time and resources to deliver the biggest impact.”

The decision to have a combined People and Digital Technology team is a central part of this mission.

For Franklin, the move is about “integrating the talent and technology strategy of the company to accelerate how we work” and “unlocking the full potential of our people, process, and technology to drive innovation and impact for our patients”.

Ultimately, “merging HR and Digital isn’t just about consolidation – it’s a deliberate move to close the gap between the people who shape culture and those who build the systems that support it.”

“Together, we can truly architect the flow of work – how tasks, information and decisions get done,” adds Franklin.

“We can move toward ‘work planning’, rather than siloed ‘workforce planning’ (historically HR’s focus) or ‘technology planning’ (historically IT’s focus).”

This approach allows the organization to take “a holistic view of what work is being done, and architect the most optimal workflows and resources to match”.

“We start with the basic questions – what are we trying to accomplish? From there, rethink how technology can enable the work, and what type of people capability we need alongside it,” adds Franklin.

Ultimately, it may seem like HR and IT don’t have much in common – “but, in reality, we’re both focused on the same outcome: How to get work done at the highest quality and at scale”.

The WSJ asked Franklin her perspective on whether other organizations should follow Moderna’s suit and merge HR and IT.

“The traditional model that separates talent from technology is increasingly outdated. Organizations ready to embrace the integrated lines between people, systems and the flow of work – and invest in aligning culture with technology – can drive meaningful change system wide.”

However, “it’s not a one-size-fits-all solution” – “those who have built a strong foundation and are prepared to commit, the potential impact is significant”.

AI is the topic of the moment in HR.

Moderna is ahead of the curve; “we’ve always been an AI company, so it’s been embedded in how we work since the early days,” says Franklin.

For Franklin, this AI approach plays into why merging HR and IT is a natural step for the biotechnology company.

“We’ve long fostered a digital-first mindset across the company, encouraging deep curiosity about technology and AI” – this is powered by training, as well as putting “powerful AI tools directly in employees’ hands” that they can experiment with, and then share their insights with their peers.

A core partnership that supports the biotech giant in its AI approach is with OpenAI.

Moderna and OpenAI “share a vision of AI’s transformative potential in the future of business and healthcare”, adds Franklin.

Through the partnership with OpenAI, Moderna has developed more than 3,000 custom GPTs that are designed to help its employees with specific tasks. Franklin shares a few GPT examples specific to the HR function.

‘Ask HR’ is a centralized GPT that acts as the “front door to HR support at Moderna”, it then routes questions to specialized GPTs in areas like performance, career and benefits, as well as acting as a “one-stop resource for employees seeking HR guidance.”

“By automating directing employee questions to the right GPT or resource, it minimizes wait times and maximizes response quality.”

Moderna goes one step further and actually uses “the insights from recurring questions [to] help us spot opportunities for policy improvements, better communication, and stronger engagement with HR services.”