Purpose. Indian higher education institutions are expanding while simultaneously con-fronting faculty shortages, uneven digital maturity, and pressure to improve institutional quality. Artificial intelligence (AI) and human resource analytics (HRA) are often presented as solutions, yet the literature rarely explains how technological tools become durable human resource man-agement (HRM) capabilities in universities. This article critically reviews that relationship and develops an India-sensitive capability and governance framework.

Design/methodology/approach. The article is a critical narrative review rather than an empirical or systematic review. Google Scholar was the sole literature-discovery platform, supplemented by backward and forward citation searching, during July–August 2026. The review audits the 32 references in the source manuscript, retains 22 traceable and relevant seed sources, and adds 29 scholarly, policy, and legal sources. A structured narrative process covered identification, relevance screening, design-sensitive appraisal, thematic coding, and narrative synthesis. Dynamic capabilities theory structures the analysis.

Findings. AI does not independently improve institutional outcomes. Its value is realized through HRA capability—the routines, expertise, data architecture, and interpretive practices that turn workforce data into defensible decisions—and through redesigned HRM practices. Leadership, digital skills, interoperable data, employee participation, and responsible-AI gover-nance condition this process. Evidence specific to AI-enabled HRM in Indian universities remains sparse; most positive claims are transferred from corporate or non-Indian higher education settings and are predominantly cross-sectional.

Originality/value. The review replaces a technology-adoption narrative with a capability-conversion explanation. It contributes a five-stage digital HR transformation framework, an AI–HRA–HRM relationship model, and testable propositions that distinguish technological affordances from analytics capability, HRM redesign, governance, and institutional outcomes.

 

Keywords: artificial intelligence; human resource analytics; strategic human resource management; higher education; India; dynamic capabilities; responsible AI; digital transformation