Overview

Published in September 2026, Designing the Thinking Organization is the 2026 Chief Human Resources Officer Study from the IBM Institute for Business Value. It is a global study that examines how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping work, workforce capabilities, organizational decision-making, and the role of human resources. It focuses particularly on how organizations determine which work should remain human-led, which should be assisted by AI, and which can be executed by AI.

IBM uses the term “thinking organization” to describe organizations that intentionally combine people and AI to improve decision-making, continually redesign how work is performed, and use capacity created by AI to support organizational growth.

The study identifies five areas of focus for human resources leaders:

1. Defining what should remain inherently human
2. Redesigning work and the workforce
3. Advancing skill development and addressing skill erosion
4. Shaping employee experience and culture
5. Building trusted AI practices within human resources.

The research identifies a gap between the capabilities senior human resources leaders believe employees need in an AI-enabled workplace and the skills employees themselves prioritize. IBM reports that 71% of Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) and other workforce executives identify the ability to supervise, validate, or override AI outputs as an important capability. The study also finds substantial concern among both executives and employees about the erosion of existing human skills as AI takes on more workplace tasks (they refer to this as skills erosion).

Methodology

The IBM Institute for Business Value conducted the research in collaboration with Oxford Economics. Two complementary global surveys were conducted from April through June 2026. The research included:

• 1,500 CHROs and equivalent senior executives
  • Responsible for workforce strategy across 21 geographies and 23 industries.
  • Participating organizations ranged from $250 million to $123.7 billion in annual revenue or budget and from 200 to more than 880,000 employees.
• 8,800 full-time employees across 28 countries
  • Surveyed about their experiences with AI in the workplace.
• Other
  • Additional analysis comparing organizations that IBM identified as AI primarily into growth with those using it primarily to generate savings.
  • Organizations were also segmented according to strategic maturity, organizational capabilities, and cultural readiness.

 Key Findings

• Human judgment, critical thinking, and skill erosion
  • The study identifies growing concern that increased use of AI may weaken some capabilities employees need to retain.
  • 60% of employees report being concerned about skill erosion associated with AI.
  • Among employees concerned about skill erosion, approximately three-quarters say AI has already begun to erode at least some of their skills.
  • 46% of CHROs identify skill erosion as a major concern.
  • 57% of CHROs and 49% of employees identify critical thinking and problem framing as important skills in the AI era.
  • IBM identifies a substantial difference between executives and employees in the priority placed on evaluating AI outputs: 71% of executives prioritize the ability to supervise, validate, or override AI outputs, compared with 38% of employees.
  • IBM argues that organizations may need to address not only skill gaps—new capabilities workers must develop—but also skill erosion, in which existing capabilities can weaken when AI increasingly performs tasks that previously required human analysis or judgment.
• Work redesign and accountability
  • The findings suggest that many organizations are adopting AI without fully redesigning work or establishing clear accountability for decisions involving AI.
  • Only 26% of organizations clearly define work across human-led, AI-assisted, and AI-executed activities.
  • 36% of executives say unclear accountability complicates AI deployment.
  • 43% of employees report that when something goes wrong with AI, responsibility or blame falls on them.
  • 41% of CHROs believe employees may not feel safe challenging or overriding AI outputs.
  • Where human judgment is explicitly incorporated into work design, 62% of CHROs report increasing employee confidence in AI-enabled decisions; where it is not, 57% report declining confidence.
  • IBM reports that organizations clearly defining workflows as human-led, AI-assisted, or AI-executed achieve an 18% reduction in risk and a 20% improvement in quality.
• Role of human resources in AI strategy
  • The study finds that human resources leaders are often expected to guide workforce transformation but are not consistently involved in enterprise AI strategy.
  • 46% of organizations do not involve the CHRO when AI strategy is defined.
  • Only 28% of CHROs report having a joint roadmap with information technology supported by a shared operating cadence.
  • 73% report difficulty coordinating consistently across senior leadership.
  • Where the CHRO shares responsibility for determining which decisions remain human-led, 76% of employees report feeling safe questioning or overriding AI recommendations, compared with 43% where human resources serves only in an advisory capacity.
• AI and “invisible” work
  • AI may reduce some forms of work while simultaneously creating new activities for employees.
  • 80% of CHROs believe AI creates additional or “invisible” work, such as validating recommendations, correcting mistakes, providing context, and handling exceptions.
  • 42% of employees say AI either increases their workload or results in some of their work going unrecognized.
  • 42% of CHROs report that productivity gains generated by AI are primarily reinvested in innovation or worker reskilling.
• AI adoption within human resources
  • Despite expectations that human resources will help organizations manage AI-related workforce transformation, adoption of AI within the human resources function remains limited.
  • 72% of organizations report limited or no use of AI within human resources.
  • CHROs rate their functions relatively low in AI literacy across the human resources team, AI performance measurement, and change management for AI adoption.
  • IBM reports that organizations with more mature human resources AI capabilities—including governance, technology architecture, and measurement—are nearly twice as likely to report positive effects across a larger number of business performance indicators.

Five Areas of Attention Are Highlighted

Based on its findings, IBM identifies five areas of attention for CHROs and other workforce leaders:

1. Own the inherently human — determine which capabilities and decisions should remain human-led as AI takes on additional work.
2. Redesign work and workforce — design workflows and workforce structures together as responsibilities shift among people and AI systems.
3. Advance skill growth — develop emerging AI-related capabilities while also identifying and addressing erosion of existing human skills.
4. Shape employee experience and culture — consider how AI affects employee confidence, learning, workload, opportunity, and willingness to question AI-generated recommendations.
5. Build trusted AI in human resources — develop AI literacy, governance, measurement, and practical experience within the human resources function itself.

Partners

The study was conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, IBM's business research and thought-leadership organization, in collaboration with Oxford Economics. IBM's publicly available description of the study does not identify a separate external funder.

Resources

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2026-09-21-new-ibm-chro-study-ai-puts-critical-thinking-at-the-center-of-workforce-priorities

IBM Institute for Business Value. (2026). Designing the thinking organization: 5 focus areas for CHROs as AI reshapes work. IBM. 2026 Chief Human Resources Officer Study

IBM Newsroom. (2026, September 21). New IBM CHRO study: AI puts critical thinking at the center of workforce priorities. IBM Newsroom announcement and methodology