Gartner Says CHROs’ Top Priorities for 2027 Focus on Meeting CEOs' Expectations While Minimising Organisational Risk

7 October 2026 — Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company, has identified the top critical priorities for 2027 that CHROs must address to ensure the health of their organisation. CHROs will look to deliver the growth and productivity that CEOs are seeking while minimising risks to the organisation. 

"As leaders today push their organisations to achieve more, faster, and with less, CHROs must ensure that their workforces are capable of meeting these expectations while simultaneously minimising risk," said Mark Whittle, VP Analyst in the Gartner HR practice.

HR Excellence Requires Speed to Value, Not Just Efficiency
Most organisations today find business needs are evolving faster than HR can deliver. 

"Many HR functions are trying to close that gap to the business by doubling down on process efficiency," said Whittle. "This makes HR faster at executions, but not faster at delivering value. Leading organisations are looking outside of HR for answers, and they've found they can accelerate the right kind of value speed by adopting product principles."

Human Accountability Is Essential No Matter What Work AI Takes On
Today's matrixed organisations blur ownership, while most corporate cultures reward teamwork and consensus. However, when it comes to AI, neglected accountability creates new organisational risk.

Enterprise AI agents are not just eliminating work, they systematically escalate ambiguity, judgement, and recovery work to human employees. However, a July 2026 Gartner survey of 297 CHROs found only 24% of leadership teams are aligned on who should be accountable for AI agents. True accountability demands that humans remain the gatekeepers of AI, enforcing values, preserving trust, and stepping in when needed.

Fewer, Differentiated Skills Carry Most of the Weight
The July 2026 Gartner survey revealed that while 67% of CHROs report increased expectations for employee productivity, organisations are simultaneously eliminating some middle management layers and not hiring as many entry level employees. 

"A more load-bearing workforce heightens performance risks," said Whittle. "While there are several levers HR can pull to alleviate some of the weight, the most critical tool is to focus on fewer skills that differentiate the organisation's value. This 'less is more' strategy is critical in an environment where the number of skills per job keeps rising every year."

Once leaders identify the business capabilities that set their enterprise apart and drive competitive advantage, they can determine the workforce skills that their talent delivers to underpin each differentiated capability. Progressive organisations also acquire and mobilise employees with "skills promise" - the willingness and ability to learn from a minimum viable skills foundation - not just skills proficiency.

The Leader Role Is Not Designed or Supported for Disruption
Currently, CEOs' ambition exceeds the ability of leaders to execute against it. A May 2026 Gartner survey of 203 CEOs and other senior business executives found that 63% are radically redesigning the operating model to accelerate financial returns from AI. 

Unfortunately, their senior leadership is struggling to meet these expectations due to entrenched ways of working, lagging team performance, and critical knowledge gaps. HR must work with leaders to embrace "deliberate disruption" as a capability by continuously abandoning legacy behaviours and ways of working that no longer create value and replacing them with ones that better align with evolving business needs.

About Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo
Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo is where CHROs and their leadership teams gather each year to reimagine their strategies through the lens of Gartner's research-driven insights and expert advice on leadership and learning, employee experience, culture and change, talent acquisition and workforce planning, and HR technology. Gartner HR Symposium/Xpo is being held October 7-9 in London, October 27-29 in Florida, and November 17-18 in Sydney. Follow news and updates from these events on LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.

About Gartner for HR Leaders
The Gartner HR practice brings together the best relevant content approaches across Gartner to offer individual decision makers strategic business advice on the mission-critical priorities that cut across the HR function. Additional information is available at https://www.gartner.com/en/human-resources/products/gartner-for-hr. Follow news and updates from the Gartner HR practice on X and LinkedIn using #GartnerHR.

About Gartner
Gartner (NYSE: IT) delivers actionable, objective insight that drives smarter decisions and stronger performance on an organisation's mission-critical priorities. To learn more, visit gartner.com.