In Part 1, I told you the origin story: December 2015, AMEX Saudi Arabia, plain PowerPoint, no AI — and 9 months of real competency-based HRM work that became a living case study.
You received it well. And then someone asked the question I was waiting for: “But Shah — how would you design this in the AI era?”
(So here we are. Part 2. — and this one asks the uncomfortable questions.)
The AI vendor will tell you the following:
✓ Competency frameworks generated in minutes ✓ Industry-standard competencies pre-loaded in your HRM system ✓ Role profiles mapped automatically from job descriptions ✓ Real-time analytics on workforce capability gaps
The brochure looks amazing. The boardroom demo is flawless. And then reality shows up.
✗ Generic competencies that reflect nobody’s strategy ✗ Pre-loaded library items nobody has read, reviewed, or customized ✗ Role profiles copied from global templates — none tailored locally ✗ Dashboards that are beautiful. Data that means nothing.
Here are the five questions I’d ask at every AI HRM demo. Watch the room go quiet.
❓ Is it customized to YOUR strategy — or just your logo on a global template? ❓ Are the competencies actually measurable — or does every manager score them differently? ❓ Does senior management understand what they’ve approved — or just the price tag? ❓ Are line managers trained as assessors — or given a login and left alone? ❓ Who sat with the department heads, studied the org, ran the focus groups — and customized all 121 positions?
AI doesn’t attend stakeholder interviews. It doesn’t run focus groups. It doesn’t translate your mission, vision, and strategy into behaviorally specific, culturally grounded, measurable competency indicators. A human being does that. A qualified one.
The AMEX Saudi Arabia project taught me something that only becomes more valuable in the AI era:
You can install a competency system in a day. Making it measurable takes months — and it takes a methodology. At READ Academy, we’re building exactly that bridge: The Boomi AgentStudio and its embedded AI agents platform handles the technology — LMS, HRMS, analytics, career mapping, 77+ e-learning modules and 100 plus AI agents. Our consultants handle the strategy, the culture, the stakeholder engagement, the assessor training, the senior management briefings, and the behavioral indicator calibration.
Not AI instead of human expertise. The Force Multiplier: both Boomi + READ.
Action:
Now through the Boomi AgentStudio Hub, 8 AI Agents drawn directly from Boomi’s Hire-to-Retire solution brief Boomi and AgentStudio capabilities Boomi:
| Agent | Source Capability |
| Job Requisition | Evaluate roles to produce compliant JDs that attract the right candidates |
| Onboarding | Accelerate speed to productivity through automated onboarding |
| Employee Sentiment | Detect burnout and engagement risks; suggest interventions |
| Compensation | Analyze compensation data to optimize pay, recommend bonuses, ensure parity |
| Learning Paths | Drive targeted development using people analytics |
| Performance | Performance reviews and career development plans |
| Succession Planning | Talent pipeline; M&A synergy integration |
| Offboarding / Compliance | Compliant offboarding, access control, identity and compliance systems |
And yes — Part 3 is coming.
Return of the Consultant. How READ Academy delivers the complete AI-era competency HRM system for GCC organizations — with measurable outcomes, not just beautiful dashboards.
READ fever started back then — the saga continues… and now AI Awakens the FORCE. From Star Trek’s diversity lessons to Star Wars–level AI strategy — READ Academy evolves with the times. ????
— Dr. Shah Siddiqui Founder, READ Academy | Principal Consultant, Riyadh