CEOs across industries are asking their chief human resources officers to take on more than ever, including steering AI transformation. Yet only a quarter of HR leaders say they are doing well at getting their workforce ready for AI, according to an Oct. 7 report from executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles.
The report is based in part on an online survey Heidrick & Struggles ran in late spring 2026. The survey covered 600 HR leaders, including 58 in healthcare, a spokesperson for the firm confirmed to Becker’s. Every respondent worked at a company with at least $1 billion in revenue, a third worked at companies with $10 billion or more, and half worked at publicly traded companies.
The report also draws on the firm’s analysis of 2,716 CHRO searches and its data on heads of HR at Fortune 1000 companies.
The findings come as the health system CHRO role turns over faster and grows broader. Becker’s covered at least 25 hospital and health system CHRO and chief people officer appointments between Jan. 1 and Sept. 30, more than double the 11 it reported in all of 2025. Many of those leaders came from other health systems, and several took on titles and duties that reach beyond traditional HR.
At Atlanta-based Piedmont, CHRO Alison Smith, PhD, said the system is using trained “change champions” to help roll out new technology such as ambient listening. She added that Piedmont is treating reskilling as an ongoing effort.
“We’re also trying to make sure people understand that we’re not focused on eliminating roles,” Dr. Smith told Becker’s in September. “We’re focused on making sure people are doing the value-added parts of the job, which we believe are the patient connection and the things that require judgment and expertise.”
Here are seven things to know from the report:
1. Most CHROs surveyed (78%) said readying employees for AI and technological change will be among the most important factors in their organization’s near-term success. Just 25% said they handle it effectively now.
2. At Fortune 1000 companies, 45% of CEOs have asked their top HR executive to help lead AI transformation, according to Heidrick & Struggles’ analysis. The share of CHROs who directly oversee functions beyond HR more than doubled, from 13% in 2022 to 29%. Those functions include enterprise transformation, communications and workplace strategy.
3. Across the firm’s CHRO searches, the average number of skills CEOs sought rose from about 8.6 in 2016 to nearly 13 in 2026. Companies in the top third for total shareholder return placed less weight on traditional HR generalist skills. They put more weight on AI and digital enablement, advising the CEO, ethics and integrity, succession planning, mergers and acquisitions, organizational design, workforce planning and workforce restructuring.
4. CEOs and boards want CHROs who can contribute from day one. Among Fortune 1000 CHROs hired from outside, the share who had held the role before climbed from 41% in 2022 to 75% in 2025. The share with experience in the same industry grew from 23% to 34% over the same period.
5. CEOs at the highest-performing companies are not boosting HR budgets to match their higher expectations. Compared with industry peers that had lower total shareholder return, high performers showed no statistically significant difference in HR staffing ratios or HR spending per employee.
6. A quarter of CHROs fit the report’s definition of an “enterprise CHRO.” These leaders run core HR operations well, are building strength in integrated workforce planning, executive succession and AI workforce transformation, and are strongly aligned with their CEO. Compared with other CHROs, they are 32% more likely to be held accountable for leadership bench strength, 20% more likely to be evaluated on how well the workforce is adapting for AI, and 23% more likely to bring future skill needs to the board.
7. The senior technology leader is joining the CEO, CFO and CHRO as a core partner in shaping the workforce. Enterprise CHROs spend 10 more hours each month working directly with their chief technology officer. Ninety percent of them reported strong alignment with finance and technology leaders on workforce priorities, compared with 73% of other CHROs. Asked whether they spend enough time with technology and data leaders to make workforce transformation work, 63% of enterprise CHROs agreed, compared with 30% of other CHROs.
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