CEOs Give HR a Dismal Report Card as Only 10% See Value, New Research Shows
25.06.2026 - 02:46:05 | boerse-global.de
Confidence in corporate technological readiness is slipping fast among senior technology executives, even as companies pour billions into artificial intelligence. A study by Akkodis published on June 23, 2026, found that trust among technology chiefs in the scalability of AI solutions dropped from 82% in 2024 to just 48% this June. Only 36% of CTOs said they were satisfied with their workforce’s AI readiness, while barely 44% of respondents believed their leadership teams possessed adequate AI expertise. The findings underscore a growing gap between investment and execution.
That gap is compounded by a crisis of confidence in human resources departments. Johnny Taylor, CEO of the Society for Human Resource Management, warned in June 2026 that only 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs see value in their HR functions. Nearly a third of those executives see no meaningful contribution at all. Taylor urged HR leaders to reinvent themselves as “chief work officers” who can demonstrate the return on investment of every employee and orchestrate the interplay between people, robots, and AI systems.
A KPMG report published June 24 reinforced that diagnosis. Traditional HR models, the report argued, are no longer sufficient. Companies are redesigning job architectures, moving away from rigid job descriptions toward competency-based approaches that can flex with hybrid teams of humans and AI agents.
The structural upheaval is already visible in employment numbers. Oracle shed approximately 21,000 positions—about 13% of its workforce—as of May 31, 2026, citing an AI-driven restructuring while pledging billions in new AI infrastructure spending. Across the United States, nearly 120,000 layoffs had been logged by June 2026, with AI cited as the primary cause in recent months.
Entry-level workers are feeling the heat most acutely. A report from jobs.ch released June 24 shows that the share of entry-level positions in AI-affected occupations dropped 32% since the technology’s recent breakthrough. More than 40% of workers under 25 now fear for their career relevance.
The Boston Consulting Group has flagged qualitative risks as well. Heavy reliance on AI, it warns, may erode human judgment, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities—competencies traditionally considered indispensable for leadership.
On the operational side, adoption is racing ahead of transformation. ManpowerGroup found that while more than 90% of companies now use AI in recruiting, fewer than 5% achieve transformative results; most gains remain confined to operational efficiency. At the same time, the complexity of deployed systems is rising. KPMG reports that multi-agent orchestration usage doubled from 9% to 18%.
SAP CEO Christian Klein cautioned that success in AI transformation does not hinge on the model alone, but on deep integration into business processes and modernization of the entire system landscape. Most companies, he said, remain in an experimental phase, making change management the decisive factor for scaling.
