We recently hosted a webinar featuring three HR leaders at the forefront of AI adoption: Piyush Vyas, Deputy Manager at Clear Trail; Shachi Jois, Head of HR at Swish; and Aditya, Chief Revenue Officer at Pazcare. Here's what we learned about the real-world applications, challenges, and future of AI in employee benefits.
The HR landscape has changed fast over the last few years. From paper files to spreadsheets, from early HRMS tools to today’s AI-led systems, HR teams have continuously rethought how work gets done. Each shift has been about cutting friction and making day-to-day operations simpler and more effective.
But here’s the real question: what does this evolution mean for Indian organizations navigating uniquely complex realities? Managing deeply diverse workforces, uneven digital literacy across teams, and an increasingly layered regulatory environment means HR transformation in India isn’t just about adopting new tools. It’s about adapting them thoughtfully to the context on the ground.
Clear Trail's implementation of Iterative deepening A (IDA), their internal AI chatbot, offers a compelling case study. Starting in 2020, the team identified that basic employee queries about onboarding documentation, leave policies, payroll calculations, and benefits were consuming significant HR bandwidth.
"Most queries were basic ones," saidPiyush Vyas. "So we decided to build our own chatbot to update and respond to employees instantly."
The results? After initial resistance, IDA now handles 80-85% of employee queries, covering everything from onboarding to exit processes. The chatbot manages queries across HR functions HRBP(Human Resource Business Partner), compensation and benefits, accounting, payroll, and leave management with human intervention only when additional information is required.
Pazcare has rolled out AI applications that are transforming the benefits experience for over 500,000 employees across 2,000+ corporate clients. Their implementation focuses on three key areas:
Employee support interface: Analysis showed that 50% of incoming queries were generic fact-based questions like "How do I use cashless insurance?", while 20% were individual-specific queries requiring personal data access. AI now handles the generic queries by simply responding instantly, while the second benefits from intelligent routing with privacy safeguards.
Document verification: With AI-powered verification of hospital bills and claim documents, employees do not have to wait for weeks to discover missing documentation and they receive instant feedback on whether their claim submissions are complete and accurate.
Personalized wellness: Pazcare with its partner ecosystems is deploying AI to analyze biometric data and provide personalized health regimens for conditions like diabetes and obesity, tailoring interventions to individual metabolism and physiology.
One of IDA's initial hurdles was differentiating between similar queries. For instance, insurance-related questions about "cashless" versus "reimbursement" required extensive keyword selection and database refinement.
"We did a lot of testing with our internal team," Piyush recalls. "Only when we were confident it could give proper answers was it rolled out organization-wide."
The solution? Specific keyword identification, extensive UAT (User Acceptance Testing), and iterative improvements based on captured queries. This took approximately a year before launch.
When AI systems need access to sensitive information, payroll details, health records, insurance claims, privacy becomes paramount.
Pazcare took a more sophisticated approach for Paz Claims AI, developing a system where user-specific information is only exposed to the AI engine for that particular user's query. "Even inadvertently, the model cannot access information about other users," Aditya explains. "For every new query, the model starts with a clean slate.”
Perhaps the most human challenge comes from Swish's experience with frontline employees.
"At least one in four frontline employees weren't feeling confident using digital tools," Shachi shares. "We had to hand-hold at times, sitting on video calls, teaching the employees on how to use their Employee Benefits App..'"
The solution required making AI implementation human-centered, slow, supported, and structured.
Challenge #4: Change fatigue
In fast-paced organizations, employees already deal with new SOPs, KPIs, and deliverables daily. Adding another platform can trigger resistance.
"People are already dealing with changes every single day," added Shachi. "That's where the human touch comes in ensuring employees feel comfortable, addressing their fears and concerns as they come up."
Building effective AI solutions requires more than just deploying a model. Here are some technical insights from our panelists:
Extensive Prompting: Pazcare developed 15-20 pages of tailored prompts that preface any query to safeguard accuracy. "Getting wrong health information at the wrong time can be a very poor experience," said Aditya .
Cautious Upgrades: AI models evolve rapidly, but upgrades aren't automatic. "Every time you upgrade the underlying technology, behavior might change," says Aditya. "We're being very cautious, not allowing new iterations without extensive testing."
Data Hygiene: Before AI can work effectively, the foundation must be strong. "Ensuring all data we're collecting is clean and consistent, following templates regardless of source, that's where our challenges started," added Shachi.
Predictive analytics: AI will help identify attrition risks, predict staffing needs based on customer behavior, and flag burnout indicators before they become problems. "We should be able to see the changes that lead to burnout, small things that affect organizational functionality," says Shachi.
Hyper-personalization: From onboarding videos featuring the employee's own avatar to microlearning modules tailored to individual learning paces, personalization will extend across the employee lifecycle. Pazcare is already launching personalized onboarding videos where employees see their own pictures on avatars explaining benefits.
Career intelligence: AI will map individual employee behavior, pace, and performance to create clearer career trajectories in both operations and corporate roles.
Cultural impact: AI will help shape organizational culture, support diversity and inclusion initiatives, and create flexible policy frameworks for remote work and global talent pools.
Based on Aditya's market experience, HR leaders should focus on three areas for maximum short-term value:
“Identify your data points and database, then take a leap forward,” said Piyush. “Identify the areas of concentration before implementation,” he added.IStep 2: High-impact, Low-disruption use cases
Look for areas where AI can deliver immediate value without overwhelming employees. Shachi suggested: "Automated policy explanations, attendance tracking, or a simple AI help desk for daily queries."
Start in smaller places where you can ease adoption for all segments of the workforce, irrespective of their familiarity with digital platforms
Step 4: Build governance
Create a framework where AI provides recommendations but isn't the final decision-maker. "It's essential that AI is one of the major layers but not the final decision-maker," Shachi emphasized.
Clear Trail took a year to develop IDA, but the real improvements came from capturing queries and continuously building the database. "We kept building it to give proper responses to employees," shares Pooja.
In conclusion, AI isn't about replacing jobs, it's about freeing HR professionals to focus on what they do bestThe organizations succeeding with AI today are those that:
Want to hear these insights directly from our expert panelists?
Watch the complete webinar discussion featuring Piyush Vyas (Clear Trail), Shachi Jois (Swish), and Aditya (Pazcare) as they dive deeper into AI implementation strategies, share live examples, and answer audience questions.
Ready to explore AI-powered employee benefits for your organization? Pazcare helps companies implement intelligent benefits solutions that improve employee experience while reducing administrative burden. Connect with us to learn more.
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Employee engagement means how committed, motivated, and emotionally connected employees are to their work and the organization.
It improves retention, boosts productivity, enhances workplace culture, and helps attract top talent.
Low employee engagement in India is often linked to lack of mental well-being support, rigid work structures, and limited opportunities for employees to feel connected and valued. Companies that overlook employee well-being often face high attrition and low productivity.
The 5 C’s are: Care, Connect, Clarify, Convey, and Celebrate, essential factors to keep employees engaged.
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