AI is reshaping employee benefits: A guide for HR teams

That governance framework extends to vendor oversight. Because benefits vendors may handle sensitive health, financial, and personal employee information, HR leaders need to scrutinize vendor relationships thoroughly – examining security and compliance practices, data ownership, permitted uses of analytics, breach-response responsibilities, and how data will be returned or securely destroyed when a contract ends. This is not the responsibility HR can delegate entirely to procurement or IT. The decisions sit squarely within the people function.

“From a compliance and fiduciary perspective, employers should treat AI as part of the broader benefits governance framework, not as a stand-alone technology purchase,” White said. “Tools should be evaluated for data quality, accuracy, integration, employee outcomes and their ability to support appropriate oversight.”

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration sets the fiduciary framework under which employer-sponsored plans must evaluate vendor relationships and data stewardship – HR leaders governing AI tools in benefits are operating within those same obligations.

Making AI work for employees year-round

Beyond compliance and governance, White says the most meaningful shift for HR leaders to target is moving AI out of the annual enrollment window and into a year-round support model that connects employees to the right resource, provider, or benefit at the moment they actually need it.

“Employees should have 24/7 access to the right resources and information at the moment they need them, with a clear path to human support,” White said. “That includes benefit counsellors who are available virtually or by phone when an employee wants help interpreting options, validating guidance or working through a more complex decision.”