Deloitte releases 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report
Deloitte released its annual “Global Human Capital Trends” report and identified opportunities for organizations to build what it called the human advantage by increasing adaptability, redesigning work and aligning culture with Artificial Intelligence (AI), findings the firm said matter for organizational performance.
The report found a gap between leaders' priorities and progress: 85% of leaders said building organizational and workforce adaptability was critical, while 7% said they were leading in helping workers continuously grow and adapt; 65% of organizations said their culture needed to change because of AI.
On methods and capabilities, the report described redesigning work to support human-AI convergence, embedding adaptation into the flow of work through continuous learning and in-the-moment support, defining clear decision rights and trust thresholds, and prioritizing transparency and authenticity in AI use to secure trust in AI outputs.
The report presented usage and performance data and highlighted where work remained incomplete: 60% of executives used AI in decision-making but 5% said they managed it well; 56% of leaders designed AI only for business outcomes while 40% designed for both business and human outcomes; 66% of C-suite leaders said traditional functions must change yet 7% reported progress.
“Organizations are facing a new reality. Change is relentless and the old playbook can't keep up. Leaders need to build adaptability into how work gets done so that their people have clarity, trust and the support to evolve with AI and the shifting demands of work. That's how the human edge becomes a competitive advantage.” said Simona Spelman, U.S. Human Capital leader, Deloitte
“The real transformation isn't adding humans and machines together, it's redesigning work with clear decision rights and trust thresholds to deliver exponential value as human and machine capabilities converge in the work itself. Organizations that intentionally design how humans and AI interact can unlock better outcomes and more meaningful work. Without that design, AI can create confusion and culture debt just as quickly as it scales productivity.” said David Mallon, U.S. Human Capital head of research and chief futurist, Deloitte
“HR's future hinges on helping the organization operate differently. As work becomes more dynamic and skills-based, HR has a chance to lead a shift away from rigid functional silos toward a model where expertise moves to the work, work is designed around outcomes and learning is continuous, not episodic.” said Kyle Forrest, U.S. future of HR leader, Deloitte
The report said leaders should guide human-AI adoption while treating culture as core infrastructure so they do not slow transformation or build “culture debt.”