What our senior executive clients are expecting and prioritizing in 2026

Looking ahead, the lessons of 2025 are shaping priorities for 2026, particularly around talent.

Talent and AI are no longer separate conversations

CEO surveys and leadership research suggests in 2026 CEOs are looking at innovative technology and workforce strategy in a more integrated way. AI is widely seen as a growth accelerator, but leaders increasingly recognize that its impact depends on human capability, so CEOs plan to prioritize:

• Upskilling and reskilling at scale.
• Redesigning roles to blend human judgment with machine intelligence.
• Building organizations where people can work effectively with technology, not in competition with it.

From hiring to capability building

There’s a growing belief among CEOs that resilience depends on the organization’s adaptability, not just the headcount. So, while competition for talent remains intense, CEOs plan to develop talent internally including:

• Building stronger internal leadership pipelines.
• Creating clearer career paths that are tied to future skills.
• Investing in learning ecosystems, rather than one-off training.

Leadership capacity as a strategic risk

For 2026, leadership development isn’t seen as a “soft” initiative –  it’s viewed as essential to an organization’s success. CEOs see that, especially in a volatile environment, leaders at every level need to be able to:

• Make high-quality decisions with incomplete information.
• Communicate clearly during change.
• Engage with their people, while pushing for performance.

Sustaining culture while driving performance

Another emerging concern for 2026 is how to sustain culture amid rapid change. CEOs know that transformation fatigue can be a real challenge, and that engagement can erode when people feel uncertain or overwhelmed. CEOs recognize that to sustain a thriving culture, it’s vitally important to build:

• Trust and transparency.
• Clear accountability and role definition.
• A balance of empathy and decisiveness.

People make strategies real

The outlook for 2026 points to a clear theme:

The differentiator is not strategy or technology alone. It’s the organization’s ability to attract, build, deploy, and develop talent amidst all the change.

Senior executives are moving away from the belief that clarity will come from outside the organization. Instead, they’re looking within – strengthening leadership capability, investing in talent, making people a big part of their AI strategy, and designing organizations that can adapt continuously.

As 2026 evolves, the most effective CEOs will be those who understand that people are the foundation of every strategy. The future of work isn’t just about what organizations do, but who they enable their people to become.