<p>The integration of employee engagement with artificial intelligence (AI) has become essential in recent years, driven by the demand for advanced technologies, data-driven-decision-making, and predictive analytics to improve Human Resource (HR) management and performance. This study employs bibliometric, thematic, and content analysis to explore key trends, emerging technologies, and their impact on smart employee management (SEM). Data were extracted from two reputed academic databases Scopus (<i>N</i> = 920) and Web of Science (<i>N</i> = 363) covering the period from 1984- August, 2025. After removing 240 duplicate records, a total of 1,043 articles were analyzed using bibliometric and altmetric tools such as VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, Altmetric Bookmarklet, and Dimensions. The study found that 2021 marked the peak year for a noticeable increase in literature pertaining to SEM with 129 publications and 4,912 citations. From 2019 to 2023, research trends shifted from general subjects such as employment, manufacturing, and business processes to more specialized applications, with a particular emphasis on the role of AI in employee performance, trust and decision-making. Further, the study incorporated altmetric analysis, providing complementary insights by capturing real-time attention and societal impact of globally cited documents. The findings highlighted that while automating repetitive work, building trust, and addressing ethical issues like prejudice and transparency, managers should integrate AI with human skills, placing an equal emphasis on creativity and human-touch. The uniqueness of study stands at triangulating bibliometric, thematic, content and altmetric insights to map scholarly evolution and societal attention to SEM and provide a set of future research directions to advance theory and practice in AI-augmented HR systems.</p>