This article is part of a recurring series highlighting recent talent mobility industry reports. If you would like the WERC editorial team to consider covering a specific industry report, email mobility@talenteverywhere.org.
Surveying 2,500 chief human resources officers (CHROs) across multiple industries over two weeks in December 2025 and January 2026, the 2026 CHRO Insights Report: AI, hiring integrity, and HR’s future suggests that human resources is under pressure to modernize while preserving trust. Just 28% of respondents say they currently have a seat at the decision-making table, even as their function shifts from a service function to a strategic problem-solver. HR is at the center of hiring strategies and ensuring companies are future-ready, but technology adoption has revealed some gaps in the process.
AI Adoption Is Accelerating
The competitive 2026 labor market has CHROs concerned about their organizations’ ability to retain top talent. To find that competitive edge, 55% of CHROs say they have artificial intelligence-powered workflows or have used AI in a single-use case. AI priorities are clustered around high-friction, high-stakes parts of the hiring life cycle: speeding up background checks while ensuring accuracy, automating resume screening and filtering, and scheduling interviews with job candidates.
While CHROs are looking to reduce friction and speed up processes, they also want to maintain system integrity and trust. When asked about their confidence in preventing hiring fraud, only 31% say they are extremely confident, citing strong controls and technology. The majority see gaps: 45% report partial controls with some weaknesses, 17% are neutral or unsure about the scope of their fraud prevention programs, 5% say they have limited controls and low confidence, and 2% acknowledge that they lack confidence and face a high level of risk.
This risk-conscious mindset is reshaping AI priorities. Compared to 2025—when the focus was on resume screening and early filtering, background check speed and accuracy, streamlining candidate communications, coordinating interviews, and generally speeding up the hiring process—CHROs now place identity fraud detection in the top five areas where AI can improve operations. This is in addition to background check speed and accuracy, resume screening and early filtering, interview scheduling, and managing recruiter workload at scale. With identity fraud detection and AI-powered background check enhancements in the top five, CHROs are signaling that risk management is a priority.
HR Needs More Than AI to Modernize Talent Management
Although 37% of CHROs say AI-driven hiring acceleration can differentiate their companies from the competition, employee experience and well-being (28%) and modernizing HR technology for scale and return on investment (17%) were also cited as important differentiators.
Even so, modernizing HR technology stacks can face significant roadblocks, including budget limitations (19%), tool integration gaps (16%), customization challenges (16%), resistance to adoption (15%), complexity of implementation (14%), insufficient data analytics capabilities (13%), and difficulties scaling tech solutions (7%). Even a year ago, budget limitations were a considerable barrier, but the report indicates that integration and complexity are increasingly concerns as HR staff connect disparate solutions into coherent workflows.
Expectations regarding technology are only being partially met, with 71% of respondents saying that HR tech tools meet some expectations and 27% indicating that their tools have been below expectations. Just 26% reported that their tools exceeded their expectations. Additionally, the report indicates that technology adoption can vary by industry priorities, such as an emphasis on safety and compliance or the volume of resumes received and candidates’ experiences.
Rather than solely relying on technology to solve friction in HR operations, CHROs are also encouraging HR leaders to ask pointed questions about processes and whether workarounds are being used because the tech stack is unable to meet operational needs. Once HR focuses on areas that require the most manual time, they can then track risk metrics, prioritize integrations for solutions, and align hiring priorities with recruitment capacity.
Maintain the Integrity of the Process
Trust emerges as another critical differentiator, especially in the context of AI-enabled hiring. When asked about trust erosion related to AI, 39% of CHROs reported moderate or extreme concern that candidates may lose trust in AI-mediated processes, 25% are unsure if trust will be affected, and 36% say they are only slightly or not at all concerned. As AI’s footprint expands, HR leaders emphasize that trust cannot be an afterthought.
To generate and maintain trust among job candidates, CHROs point to clear reporting structures, audit screening tools, and workflows that adhere to hiring strategies and reduce risk management gaps that can erode trust. With job candidates prioritizing work-life balance and flexibility, competitive pay and benefits, and career growth and development, HR professionals need to ensure that these value propositions are carefully articulated and consistently reflected in how roles are marketed. CHROs point out that to find and retain top talent, HR needs to consider flexible work options, customized recruitment messaging tailored to each generation, and inclusive, multigenerational training programs.
The report also addresses what it will take for HR to remain at the decision-making table. Beyond simply being invited into executive conversations, HR must demonstrate that it has clear priorities, meaningful metrics, and strong alignment with business outcomes.
Over the next two to three years, HR leaders are encouraged to anchor their strategies to questions such as:
- How can we enhance employee experience to boost retention and engagement?
- How can we leverage AI to improve recruitment processes?
- What metrics should we use to assess the effectiveness of HR initiatives?
- How do we prepare for the future of work while accounting for evolving employee expectations?
The report indicated that high-performing CHROs will exhibit a balance of skills: a mix of technical and human skills (48%), primarily human skills—adaptability, judgment, and communication (22%), and technical and AI-related skills (16%). However, just 8% of those surveyed indicated a focus on strategic leadership and change management skills was necessary to be a high performer.
Overall, the report finds that CHROs must treat hiring efficiency and trust as interconnected priorities, not trade-offs. AI adoption and maturity are advancing unevenly across industries. This can be problematic if it means organizations are unable to execute effectively, measure impact, and align efforts with broader business goals. The report finds that CHROs should focus on developing operational clarity, meaningful management, and deliver long‑term value while leveraging technology in an evolving workforce landscape.