Gartner Says CHROs’ Top Priorities for 2026 Center Around Realizing AI Value and Driving Performance Amid Uncertainty
Gartner has identified four critical priorities that CHROs must focus on next year to help move their organizations forward (see Figure 1).
Figure 1:
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Harness AI to revolutionize HR
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.
Shape work in the human-machine era
CHROs must prepare for several human/AI work scenarios, based on how and where AI is deployed, from humans filling gaps left by AI by doing the work that remains to workers navigating the space of innovation or exploration where AI allows them to push boundaries.
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.
Mobilize leaders for growth in an uncertain world
HR must take three main actions to help leaders routinize change:
- Clarify to leaders that 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.
Address culture atrophy to power 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,” said Whittle. HR must equip managers to have actionable productivity discussions with employees. And employees must feel empowered to solve their own productivity problems.”
