How Shapes Uses AI Agents to Reinvent HR Automation
HR automation often gets pigeonholed as simple cost-cutting or efficiency gains. Shapes, a Tel Aviv startup, just raised $24 million to prove this view misses a deeper structural lever.
Their modular AI-powered platform offers customizable HR apps and agents that automate tasks like onboarding, payroll, and retention. Shapes combines flexibility with automation, letting companies pick exactly the AI tools they need.
This modular design isn’t just software flexibility—it changes the game by making workforce management scalable and adaptive. “Every company works differently,” says CEO Arnon Nir. “You want to give them the power to decide what they want to use.”
Modular AI architectures reduce cost and complexity barriers, unlocking bespoke HR solutions that evolve with businesses.
Contrary to Efficiency Myths, HR AI Is About Constraint Repositioning
Conventional wisdom treats AI in HR as a straightforward efficiency play to cut payroll or accelerate hiring. This misses the critical shift: Shapes reframes HR automation as a system that flexibly repositions organizational constraints.
Unlike legacy platforms like Workday or HiBob, which bundle features rigidly, Shapes’ modular app store lets companies add or remove AI agents as workforce size and needs fluctuate.
This approach addresses a key constraint for HR leaders: adapting to unpredictable workforce dynamics without rebuilding entire systems. It’s a leap beyond mere labor saving toward elastic organizational design. See how HR teams must evolve amid accelerating workforce shifts like those discussed in Why 2024 Tech Layoffs Actually Reveal Structural Leverage Failures.
The AI Agent Model Automates Proactivity and Precision at Scale
Shapes embeds AI agents that act autonomously—tracking signals such as low salary, recent absences, and high performance—to alert HR about employee retention risks. This proactive layer is a major upgrade over reactive HR workflows.
Automation also extends to high-friction tasks like contract drafting and payroll processing, triggered by prompts from HR staff. Employees could self-serve through AI agents for policy questions or time off requests.
This level of system autonomy replicates successful strategies from AI giants like OpenAI, which built leverage by embedding AI agents that scale interaction without linear human effort.
Modular Platforms Multiply Strategic Elasticity Amid AI Workforce Shifts
In the AI era, workforce sizes and skill needs will fluctuate more dramatically than ever. Shapes’ “PeopleOS” modular framework allows companies to scale their HR technology up or down by installing only the necessary apps—no monolithic, costly overhauls.
This design radically changes the strategic constraint. Rather than being locked into expensive, sprawling systems, companies gain operational elasticity. They buy AI-powered capability instead of legacy features.
Firms like Quantum Machines and NextSilicon, among hundreds of clients from 79 countries, gain incremental control over their workforce systems without vendor lock-in.
For HR operators, this means redefining leverage: the system works not harder, but smarter, enabling adaptive workforce management that evolves without rebuilding.
Who Gains from Rethinking HR System Constraints?
Companies facing unpredictable hiring climates and rapid AI adoption must reexamine HR system rigidity as a constraint. Shapes shows that modular AI platforms create new leverage by shifting that constraint to software configurability.
HR leaders can now avoid costly legacy system lock-ins and quickly deploy AI agents that act proactively, reducing churn and manual effort.
This modular approach is a blueprint other SaaS companies should study—especially ones competing with entrenched players like Workday and HiBob.
“Every company needs to rethink its structure, its people, its culture,” says cofounder Shirley Baumer. “Every company needs to kind of find itself from scratch.”
AI-powered modularity changes HR from cost center to strategic engine.
Related Tools & Resources
In the context of reshaping HR practices through technology, leveraging tools like Blackbox AI can enhance efficiency in coding and development tasks. By integrating AI code generation capabilities, businesses can streamline their HR automation solutions, aligning perfectly with the modular approach discussed in the article. Learn more about Blackbox AI →
Full Transparency: Some links in this article are affiliate partnerships. If you find value in the tools we recommend and decide to try them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools that align with the strategic thinking we share here. Think of it as supporting independent business analysis while discovering leverage in your own operations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shapes and how does it innovate HR automation?
Shapes is a Tel Aviv startup that raised $24 million to develop a modular AI-powered platform for HR automation. It offers customizable AI apps and agents that automate onboarding, payroll, and retention, enabling flexible and scalable workforce management.
How does Shapes' modular AI platform differ from traditional HR systems?
Unlike legacy platforms like Workday and HiBob, Shapes utilizes a modular app store allowing companies to add or remove AI agents as workforce needs change. This avoids costly, rigid systems by providing operational elasticity and customizable AI-powered HR solutions.
What tasks can Shapes' AI agents automate?
Shapes AI agents autonomously track employee retention risks by monitoring signals such as low salary, absences, and high performance. They automate high-friction tasks including contract drafting and payroll processing, and enable employee self-service for policy s and time off requests.
Who benefits most from using Shapes' HR automation platform?
Companies facing unpredictable hiring climates and rapid AI adoption benefit greatly from Shapes’ platform. It helps HR leaders avoid legacy system lock-ins and deploy proactive AI agents that reduce churn and manual effort.
How does the modular design of Shapes affect HR strategic flexibility?
The modular design of Shapes’ PeopleOS framework allows firms to scale HR technology up or down by installing only needed apps. This creates strategic elasticity, enabling businesses to adapt their workforce systems without expensive overhauls.
What is the significance of AI agents’ proactivity in Shapes’ platform?
Shapes AI agents act proactively by tracking employee signals to alert HR about retention risks, shifting HR workflows from reactive to proactive. This enhances precision and scale in workforce management.
Which companies currently use Shapes’ HR platform?
Hundreds of clients from 79 countries, including firms like Quantum Machines and NextSilicon, use Shapes’ modular AI-driven HR platform for adaptive workforce management without vendor lock-in.
How does Shapes’ approach change the perception of HR from a cost center?
By leveraging AI-powered modularity, Shapes transforms HR from merely a cost center to a strategic engine that enables companies to rethink structure, people, and culture with scalable and tailored automation.