What the 2026 SHRM CEO Priorities Report Means for Strategic HR Leaders

January 05, 2026•3 min read

What the 2026 SHRM CEO Priorities Report Means for Strategic HR Leaders

Every year, SHRM releases its CEO Priorities report, and every year, HR professionals either ignore it or skim it quickly before going back to their overflowing inboxes.

Big mistake.

This report is basically a cheat sheet for what your CEO is thinking about—and if you want a seat at the strategic table, you need to understand their priorities better than they do.

Let me break down what the 2026 report actually means for you.

The Big Three CEO Priorities

According to SHRM's 2026 research, CEOs identified their top three priorities for the coming year:

Adopting AI (40%) — This is the #1 priority for CEOs. Not revenue. Not cost-cutting. AI adoption.
Revenue Growth (31%) — Always a priority, but notice it's second to technology.
Attracting Top Talent (27%) — Finally, something that sounds like HR territory.

But here's what most HR professionals miss: ALL THREE of these are HR issues.

Why AI Adoption is an HR Strategy Issue

When 40% of CEOs say AI adoption is their top priority, they're not just talking about buying new software. They're talking about:

Workforce transformation — 87% of CEOs expect AI to drive widespread reskilling and upskilling
Organizational restructuring — 83% anticipate AI will transform how their organizations are designed
Role elimination and creation — 88% believe AI will phase out repetitive work while creating new roles
Governance and ethics — 82% foresee increased investment in AI governance

Who do you think should be leading workforce transformation? Organizational design? Skills development? Ethics oversight?

If you said "HR," you're right. If you're not actively positioning yourself to lead these conversations, someone else will—and it probably won't be someone who understands the human side of change.

The Challenge CEOs Admit They're Facing

Here's the data point that should make every strategic HR leader perk up: 54% of CEOs identified "adapting to technological advancements" as their top organizational challenge.

That's more than half of CEOs admitting they're struggling with something that HR should be helping them solve.

Technology adoption isn't primarily a technology problem—it's a people problem. It's about change management, skills gaps, resistance, communication, and culture. All of which should be HR's wheelhouse.

But if you walk into your CEO's office talking about "HR technology initiatives," you've already lost. You need to walk in talking about "enabling our AI adoption strategy through workforce readiness."

What This Means for Your 2026 Strategy

If you want to be strategic in 2026, align your work with what your CEO is already worried about:

Reframe AI as a workforce strategy issue. Don't wait for IT to lead AI adoption. Position HR as the function that ensures the organization has the talent, skills, and change management capability to actually benefit from AI investments.

Connect talent acquisition to revenue. When you talk about hiring, tie it directly to revenue generation, customer acquisition, or market expansion. Your CEO cares about filling roles; they care more about the business outcomes those roles enable.

Lead the upskilling conversation. With 87% of CEOs expecting widespread reskilling, this is your moment. Don't wait to be asked. Come to the table with a skills gap analysis and a development roadmap.

Position yourself in governance discussions. AI governance, ethics, and workforce risk management are emerging CEO concerns. HR should be at the center of these conversations, not an afterthought.

The Bottom Line

The 2026 CEO Priorities report isn't just interesting reading—it's your strategic roadmap. The CEOs who were surveyed have essentially told you exactly what they're thinking about and what keeps them up at night.

The question is: Are you going to use this intelligence to transform how your CEO sees HR? Or are you going to keep showing up with compliance updates and headcount reports?

The seat at the table is there. But you have to speak the language of business priorities to claim it.

How are you planning to align your HR strategy with your CEO's 2026 priorities? I'd love to hear your approach.

Join the Strategic HR Circle.

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Reanette Etzler, The Strategic HR Coach

Reanette knows what it's like to stand in front of skeptical executives who think HR is just about birthday cakes and paperwork—talk about giving everyone a serious case of the HR Hangover. She's been the voice that speaks up when others stay quiet, asking the tough questions that make people squirm. Sure, she wasn't always the most popular person in those boardroom meetings, but her willingness to tell the truth became her greatest asset. Her superpower? She's the HR Hangover cure. Reanette transforms HR professionals from order-takers to strategic powerhouses who drive real business results through keynote presentations, workshops and planning sessions. She doesn't just talk about moving from transactional to transformational—she's the coach on that journey, complete with war stories and a roadmap that works. From the Southwest HR Conference to countless SHRM Chapter events and Office Dynamics Administrative Professionals Conference, Reanette has shared her straight talk as a keynote speaker across the country. When she's not on stage, you'll find her serving on boards for two SHRM Chapters and her local housing authority commission—because changing the employee experience isn't a solo sport. Reanette is on a mission to help HR professionals step into their strategic power and become the business partners their organizations are desperately waiting for. She's here to transform HR's image from hall monitor to strategic champion—the captain of the business success squad, not the fun police.

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