Employee recognition has entered the era of intelligence. Organisations in 2025 are using real-time insights to reward performance, uncover potential, and build stronger teams. Workhuman Live 2025 illustrates a growing trend: recognition is no longer reactive—it’s a business-critical strategy.
AI Shifts Recognition from Instinct to Intelligence
Traditionally, employee recognition programmes were reactive, inconsistent, and influenced more by visibility than value. Managers praised what they happened to notice, often overlooking meaningful but less visible contributions. AI has flipped that script.
Organisations harness data from:
- Communication patterns
- Performance reviews
- Peer-to-peer feedback
These data sources proactively identify moments worth celebrating.
“We have collected best practices related to how recognition and rewards programs are set up, launched, cultivated, and communicated. We have loaded that data into an LLM and can serve those insights back to employers querying optimization opportunities in their own programs.” – Tom Libretto, President of Workhuman
The shift turns recognition into a strategic, always-on capability—driven by analytics, customised to individual preferences, and scaled through automation.
Recognition Programmes Become Measurable and Adaptive
AI’s applications in recognition go beyond sending better thank-you messages. A key function is evaluating the health of a company’s recognition programme.
AI systems help identify:
- If participation is equitable
- Messages that are meaningful
- Where adoption is lagging
Organisations can improve how recognition is delivered, boosting employee experience and business outcomes, with diagnostics built into recognition platforms.
Recognition Data as Strategic HR Intelligence
The most promising frontier is using recognition data to understand people better. AI can mine this data for insights that traditional HR systems miss—provided the input is rich enough.
“There’s an almost limitless runway in use cases where the recognition data itself is mined for rich, authentic, peer-based insider knowledge around who is doing what work in the organisation, what skills are being invoked to do that work, and what they are being recognised for relative to the impact that work is having on the broader company,” said Libretto.
Use cases include:
- Identifying leadership potential
- Predicting promotion readiness
- Spotting cultural influencers
- Matching employees to internal job opportunities
Employers can now ask questions like “Who is the cultural flag bearer in this department?” and receive data-backed insights. This is possible because recognition data is descriptive, peer-generated, and tied to actual work.
Data Quality and Adoption Drive System Value
The impact of AI depends on the quality of input data, starting with how recognition messages are written.
“Our platform will coach the writer of an award message to be more comprehensive and more specific and nudge them to talk about the impact to the business that the person receiving recognition demonstrated,” Libretto noted.
Shallow messages like “John did a great job” limit AI’s usefulness.
“There’s not a lot AI can do with that. That’s where the in-product coaching comes in to get into something more specific and descriptive,” he added.
Low adoption is another common issue especially if only half of employees receive recognition, the system misses the contributions of the other half.
Broad adoption is essential, and requires:
- Consistent promotion of the programme
- Executive support
- Easy-to-use tools that encourage participation
Embedding Recognition into Organisational Culture
AI’s biggest impact may be cultural. It surfaces contributions that typically go unnoticed and encourages a more inclusive environment where employees at all levels feel seen and valued.
When recognition is:
- Frequent
- Personalised
- Tied to business impact
Conclusion
AI advances with tools like large language models and agentic interfaces, organisations are treating recognition as both a data asset and a human connection point.
“Who is showing leadership skills that is predictive of a promotion in the next 18 months?” That’s no longer an abstract question—it’s something AI can help answer today.
The future of recognition promises not only better rewards but smarter, more strategic business outcomes, for companies ready to invest in quality data and broad participation.