An Exploratory Review on the Role of Automated HR Chatbots to Promote Employee Engagement: Lessons from BRICS Countries

Abstract

Abstract Automated human resource (HR) chatbots represent one of the most rapidly diffusing artificial intelligence (AI) applications in contemporary organisational settings, offering scalable, accessible, and personalised employee support that conventional HR architectures cannot deliver at comparable cost or scale. Despite their proliferation, the academic literature on HR chatbot-driven employee engagement remains fragmented, particularly in emerging-economy contexts. This is especially consequential in BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa), which collectively account for over 40% of the global workforce and exhibit distinctive socio-cultural, regulatory, and institutional features that substantially mediate how AI-HR tools are adopted, experienced, and governed. This article presents an exploratory review of peer-reviewed studies and selected authoritative reports published between 2015 and 2025, with deliberate emphasis on literature from 2022 onwards, systematically mapping the evidence on automated HR chatbots and their effects on employee engagement across BRICS contexts. Four thematic clusters are identified: (1) the functional architecture of HR chatbots and their engagement mechanisms; (2) adoption antecedents across BRICS-country organisational settings; (3) cultural and regulatory moderators shaping chatbot-engagement relationships; and (4) ethical, governance, and equity challenges particular to BRICS contexts. Building on these thematic findings, this article introduces the BRICS-HR Chatbot Employee Engagement Framework (BHEEF) as an original conceptual contribution, integrating social exchange theory, technology acceptance theory, and Ubuntu philosophy within a governance-sensitive, culturally calibrated model for HR chatbot deployment in emerging economies. Practical implications for HR practitioners, technology developers, and policymakers in BRICS settings are discussed.