Practical AI in HR: 20 Use Cases with Prompts

General-purpose AI tools are quietly transforming the way HR teams operate—no IT department required.

You don’t need a data scientist to benefit from artificial intelligence. Platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot are already helping small and mid-sized companies automate repetitive work, improve communication, and make faster, smarter decisions across the employee lifecycle.

But the real advantage comes from knowing where to start.

This guide gives you 20 practical, everyday use cases for applying general AI in HR. Each use case includes beginner and advanced prompts, so you can start using these tools whether you’re brand new to AI or looking to scale your usage with more complexity.

These aren’t theoretical use cases. They’re based on real tasks HR teams perform every week—writing job descriptions, giving feedback, summarizing interviews, answering policy questions, and more.

Whether you’re an HR generalist, a People Ops manager, or leading HR at a fast-growing company, this article is your playbook for putting AI to work right now, without waiting for a full platform rollout or technical integration.

1. Writing Job Descriptions #

What it does: Drafts clear, inclusive, role-specific job descriptions in minutes.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Poe

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a job description for a remote customer success manager. Include responsibilities, basic qualifications, and benefits.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Write a detailed job description for a mid-level Customer Success Manager in a 120-person B2B SaaS company. The CSM will manage 20–30 enterprise accounts, use tools like Salesforce and Gainsight, and support retention and expansion. Highlight remote-first culture, career growth, and inclusive values. Format in three sections: About the Role, What You’ll Do, and What You Bring.”

2. Screening Candidate Resumes #

What it does: Compares resumes based on required skills and highlights alignment with role criteria.

Best tools: Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity

Beginner Prompt:
“Compare these two resumes for a marketing associate. Which one is stronger for a role involving HubSpot and SEO?”

Advanced Prompt:
“Based on the job description below, compare these two candidates for a Growth Marketing Manager position. Prioritize experience in paid social, marketing attribution modeling, A/B testing, and campaign ROI analysis. Candidate A worked at two startups; Candidate B worked at an agency. Highlight alignment with required skills, years of experience, and any leadership potential.”

3. Writing Candidate Emails #

What it does: Generates personalized and professional interview, offer, or rejection emails.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot

Beginner Prompt:
“Write an email inviting a candidate to a second-round interview next week with our CTO.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Write a rejection email for a VP of Product finalist who interviewed with five stakeholders. Be respectful, acknowledge their strengths in strategic thinking and product-market fit, and encourage staying connected for future roles. Keep tone warm, not overly corporate. Mention that another candidate had more relevant experience in B2B SaaS at scale.”

4. Summarizing Interview Feedback #

What it does: Turns scattered notes into organized, usable candidate evaluations.

Best tools: Claude, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Summarize this feedback into a pros-and-cons list for our top candidate.”
(Paste notes)

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a structured evaluation of Candidate X based on interview notes from three panelists. Categorize feedback under Communication, Technical Skill, Ownership, and Leadership. Highlight consensus points, disagreements, and areas where the candidate exceeded or fell short of expectations. End with a ‘Hire’ or ‘No Hire’ summary rationale.”

5. Creating Hiring Manager Guides #

What it does: Helps HR generate interview rubrics, competency maps, and structured hiring workflows.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Claude

Beginner Prompt:
“Create a basic interview guide for a customer support hiring manager.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Develop a detailed interview playbook for a Senior Backend Engineer role. Include a 3-stage process: phone screen, technical assessment, and final culture interview. List questions for each stage, describe what strong answers look like, and provide a scoring rubric (1–5) for skills like system design, debugging, and collaboration.”

6. Drafting Onboarding Plans #

What it does: Designs ramp-up plans with goals, milestones, and check-ins based on the role.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Claude

Beginner Prompt:
“Create a 30-60-90 day onboarding plan for a remote product designer.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Generate a comprehensive onboarding plan for a mid-level Data Analyst joining a hybrid Fintech company. Include software to learn (SQL, Looker), initial projects (reporting for churn analysis), stakeholder meetings, and success metrics for each 30-day period. Provide suggested manager check-ins and performance review dates.”

7. Writing Welcome Messages #

What it does: Creates custom introductions for Slack, newsletters, or team updates.

Best tools: Gemini, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a welcome message for Leo, our new HR generalist, joining from Chicago.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Write a Slack message introducing Amira, our new Senior Frontend Engineer. Mention her previous work at a HealthTech startup, her interest in accessibility and performance, and her move to Portland. Use a warm, inclusive tone that matches our company culture and shows we’re excited to have her on board.”

8. Drafting Offboarding Messages and Surveys #

What it does: Generates offboarding emails, checklists, and exit interview surveys.

Best tools: Claude, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a resignation confirmation email for an employee leaving next Friday.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a complete offboarding flow for a team lead who’s voluntarily resigning. Include an email to acknowledge resignation, a checklist for IT, HR, and equipment return, and a 10-question exit survey focused on team engagement, manager support, workload, and retention factors.”

9. Answering HR Policy Questions #

What it does: Responds to common HR queries using your internal policies as the base.

Best tools: Perplexity, ChatGPT with custom instructions, Copilot

Beginner Prompt:
“What is the vacation policy for part-time employees?”
(Paste policy snippet)

Advanced Prompt:
“Based on the following handbook excerpt, summarize the key differences in parental leave policies for full-time vs. part-time employees in California and Texas. Include who is eligible, paid vs. unpaid leave, and when employees must notify HR.”

10. Writing Policy Announcements #

What it does: Generates internal emails or Slack messages for new policies or changes.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Gemini

Beginner Prompt:
“Announce that the office will be closed on Friday for a team-wide offsite.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Write an internal announcement for the rollout of our new Learning & Development stipend. Include who is eligible, how to access the $1,000 per year, what it can be spent on, and a Slack channel for questions. Keep tone excited and clear.”

11. Creating HR Checklists #

What it does: Automates the generation of checklists for any HR process.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Claude

Beginner Prompt:
“Make an onboarding checklist for a remote employee.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a detailed checklist for performance review season. Include tasks for HR (calendar setup, system reminders), managers (review prep, 1:1 scheduling), and employees (self-review, peer feedback). Timeline: 30 days from kickoff to completion.”

12. Translating Internal Communications #

What it does: Accurately translates messages, surveys, and policies for international teams.

Best tools: DeepL, Gemini, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Translate this PTO policy into French.”
(Paste text)

Advanced Prompt:
“Translate this exit interview survey into German. Ensure clarity, neutral tone, and GDPR-compliant language for questions about workload, leadership, and company culture.”

13. Writing Performance Review Summaries #

What it does: Converts raw notes into professional, structured performance summaries.

Best tools: Claude, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Summarize these review notes into a paragraph.”
(Paste bullets)

Advanced Prompt:
“Based on the following self-assessment and manager notes, draft a performance summary for Q2. Include progress on goals, standout contributions (especially in team leadership), and areas to improve. Structure in three paragraphs: Achievements, Challenges, Next Steps.”

14. Suggesting OKRs and Goals #

What it does: Generates role-specific, metric-driven objectives.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity

Beginner Prompt:
“Give three goals for an HR generalist this quarter.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Generate Q4 OKRs for a Talent Acquisition Manager at a 300-person remote company. Focus on decreasing time-to-fill, improving DEI in candidate pipelines, and launching a referral program. Include 3 objectives, each with 2–3 measurable key results.”

15. Writing Recognition and Praise #

What it does: Helps leaders and peers write appreciation messages quickly.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Gemini

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a thank-you Slack message for someone who helped test a new HR system.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Draft a public message recognizing Jose for leading our compensation benchmarking project. Mention how he partnered with Finance, improved our equity bands, and made the process transparent. Keep tone proud, sincere, and team-oriented.”

16. Drafting Constructive Feedback #

What it does: Helps frame feedback that’s direct but supportive.

Best tools: Claude, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“Help me write feedback for someone who’s great at strategy but weak on follow-through.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Write constructive feedback for a senior engineer who consistently produces strong code but avoids giving peer feedback in reviews. Acknowledge their strengths, express the need for leadership at their level, and suggest ways to get more involved in team development.”

17. Creating Role-Based Learning Paths #

What it does: Designs upskilling or promotion tracks for employees based on goals.

Best tools: Perplexity, ChatGPT

Beginner Prompt:
“What should a customer support agent learn to become a team lead?”

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a 6-month development plan for a mid-level Product Manager who wants to grow into a Group PM role. Include books, courses, stretch projects, and soft skills to focus on. Tie each step to measurable outcomes.”

18. Generating Training Guides #

What it does: Produces internal training content for tools, processes, or workflows.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Copilot

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a short guide on how to request time off in BambooHR.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a 3-section training guide for new hires on how to use Slack effectively in our remote-first team. Include etiquette, channel naming conventions, and how to use reminders and integrations.”

19. Summarizing Meetings or Documents #

What it does: Extracts highlights, actions, and insights from transcripts or notes.

Best tools: Claude, Perplexity, Otter.ai

Beginner Prompt:
“Summarize this transcript into key points.”
(Paste transcript)

Advanced Prompt:
“Summarize this 45-minute HR all-hands transcript. Break down into 5 major updates, 3 decisions made, and any outstanding action items. Write in a tone suitable for an internal newsletter recap.”

20. Drafting HR Policies #

What it does: Drafts structured policies that HR teams can refine and legalize.

Best tools: ChatGPT, Claude

Beginner Prompt:
“Write a remote work policy for a small company.”

Advanced Prompt:
“Create a comprehensive hybrid work policy for a company with 250 employees. Include expectations on in-office days, equipment stipends, meeting guidelines across time zones, performance tracking, and exceptions for caregivers or employees with accessibility needs.”

Conclusion #

AI isn’t here to replace HR—it’s here to support it.

With the right prompts, general-purpose AI tools can instantly take over low-value tasks, bring structure to chaos, and help HR professionals focus more on what they do best: building a great place to work.

By learning to use tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot, your team can speed up hiring, improve onboarding, reduce admin work, and strengthen culture—without compromising on quality or human touch.

You don’t need a massive budget or technical expertise to get started. You just need a clear use case, a thoughtful prompt, and the willingness to try something new.

The future of HR isn’t just digital—it’s conversational, assisted, and scalable. These 20 use cases are just the beginning.