AI Emphasis Among HR Executives’ Primary Focuses for 2026

Artificial intelligence (AI), agility and culture are top of mind for HR executives as they look ahead to 2026. This is according to Gartner’s annual HR priorities survey, which pooled responses from 426 chief human resource officers (CHROs) across the globe and 23 industries.

The consulting firm’s new report identified four HR focus areas for the new year:

Harness AI to revolutionize the function.
Shape work in the human-machine era.
Mobilize leaders to make change routine.
Embed corporate culture in employees’ daily work.

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Here Are 3 Ways HR Can Exhibit Agility and Show Value in the New Year

Korn Ferry’s 2026 trends to watch and the 2026 priorities report from the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR) shared similar insights and cautions — particularly around the shift to prioritize AI.

In total, the reports point to HR’s need to achieve ambitious organizational goals amid constant change in 2026.

“CHROs should take an enterprise-wide view of AI’s impact on work, the impact of change on leaders and employees, and how to evolve organizational culture to support performance expectations,” said Mark Whittle, the vice president of advisory in the Gartner HR practice. “In today’s climate, it is critical for CHROs to focus on the priorities that will enable their organization to respond to the broad trends impacting the workforce and business environment.”

A Time of Great Change

HR priorities have certainly evolved in recent years due to rapid change from AI, external pressures like economic uncertainty, and CEO prioritization of growth and transformation, said Gartner HR practice director Rachel Juley.

“For HR leaders, these [factors] lead to shifting labor market dynamics, new questions about talent strategies and evolving employee expectations,” she said. “Disruptions due to AI and market movement will shift [the organization’s talent focus] from role-based to skills-based rewards, allowing organizations to attract and retain critical skills while supporting business transformation.”

Hannah Yardley, the chief people and culture officer at Achievers, an employee recognition software company, agreed a new chapter will be written in 2026.

“Every year, HR leaders are trying to build happy, productive, high-performing workforces, but the playbook on how to get this done keeps evolving,” she said.

For example, Yardley outlined that:

In 2024, HR priorities shifted from the pandemic-era focus on flexibility to recognize that in-person collaboration and workplace friendships still fuel belonging.
In 2025, HR evaluated what makes a “perfect candidate,” with skills-based hiring and internal mobility rising as more effective ways to unlock top talent within the organization.
In 2026, the next evolution is reimagining how AI fits into workforce design.

“As companies double down on AI, the real differentiator won’t be the technology itself but the human readiness behind it,” she said. “This will be the year of the human-AI handshake, where HR, IT and leadership redesign workflows and roles so all employees can thrive alongside the AI-powered tools.”

AI Appears Entrenched at Top of HR’s To-Do List

The HR reports were in alignment that 2026 may be the year AI becomes a true difference-maker for the function and the organization as a whole.

The AIHR report cited McKinsey & Co. data that nearly 8 in 10 organizations have deployed AI in at least one function, but only 1 in 5 have rebuilt work processes and protocols as the result of AI.

“Too many AI initiatives prioritize automation and efficiency, overlooking the workforce and human impact of change,” the report stated.

As traditional job pathways disappear and skills needs shift, employees face growing uncertainty and disengagement. Pew Research found 1 in 3 U.S. workers fear reduced job opportunities as skills requirements shift faster than job structures.

According to the AIHR report, AI will remain a tech project with limited impact unless HR leaders can frame AI as both a tool for optimization and an enabler of human potential by working with business and technology leaders to reinvest time savings into upskilling, innovation and culture-building.

The Gartner report added, “With an HR-focused AI strategy in place, CHROs will evolve their HR operating models to unlock new strategic capabilities. Most organizations and vendors are still experimenting, but CHROs need to be open to reimagining work, processes and talent to truly harness AI’s value.”

Shaping Work in the Human-Machine Era

Pervasive AI usage will likely shape work going forward, but the exact shape organizations take will largely depend on the decisions executive leaders, including CHROs, make about how and why AI is used.

The Gartner report stated that HR executives must prepare for several human/AI work scenarios, based on how and where AI is deployed, including:

Humans filling gaps left by AI by doing the work that remains; and,
Workers navigating the space of innovation or exploration where AI allows them to push boundaries.

According to the report, “CHROs must prepare for the future of work, while successfully driving talent results today, with a ‘now-next’ talent strategy that clearly defines how to get the most from their talent today (over the next 12 months) and the actions to inflect better talent outcomes in the future (over the next one to three years).”

Mobilizing Leaders for Growth in an Uncertain World

Navigating change and transformation is likely essential for leaders to drive growth, but most organizations have found change to be untenable and ungovernable. To effectively lead today, organizational leaders likely will need to make change both dynamic and routine.

To help leaders “routinize” change in 2026, the Gartner report recommended that HR directors:

Clarify to organizational leaders they must focus employees on making progress across the change journey and reset leader expectations about their role in change.
Help leaders regulate employees’ — and their own — discomfort with change by teaching them to understand their own emotions, what’s driving them, and what they can do to cope and move forward.
Teach leaders how to build employees’ change reflexes by helping leaders identify what core change skills matter most, finding moments within daily work to practice those skills and securing employee commitment to building the necessary reflexes.

Powering Performance by Addressing Culture Atrophy

CEOs increasingly rely on their CHROs to deliver a corporate culture that fosters a productive, engaged and skilled workforce. However, Gartner’s Whittle said CHROs are struggling to create and embed a culture that drives this success. (A July 2025 Gartner survey showed only 47% of surveyed HR executives believed their culture drives employee performance.)

“At the team level, employees must feel empowered to provide open feedback on team-defined productivity behaviors, actively shaping what works best for them and working together effectively,” he said. “HR must equip managers to have actionable productivity discussions with employees. And, employees must feel empowered to solve their own productivity problems.”

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