HR AI Institute · Research

Work After AI — The 2026 Executive Study

What actually changed, and what nobody can answer yet.

Fourteen questions, about five minutes. Every one is something you can answer from your own head — there is nothing here you’d have to go and look up, and “I wouldn’t know” is a real answer everywhere it appears.

Research for my October HR Tech session, The Architecture of AI Adoption: Why Your HR Pilots Stall and How to Fix It, and for Work After AI. In return I’ll send you what the other executives said, before any of it goes public.

Reported in aggregate only. I will never quote you by name without asking first.

Question 1 Which best describes your level of seniority?

C-suite / Executive EVP / SVP / VP Director / Head of Manager Individual contributor / Practitioner Other

Please choose an option.

Question 3 What’s the question about AI and your workforce that you don’t have a good answer to — and haven’t found anyone who does? Write it the way you’d actually say it out loud, not the way you’d write it in a deck. One sentence is fine. This is the one I most want, which is why it’s before anything else.

Question 4 Which part of your own job is most different now because of AI?

Honestly, nothing yet How I get information and prepare for things What I ask my team to produce What I take to my CEO or the board What I spend my time deciding How much of it there is — I’ve genuinely got time back Something else

Please choose an option.

Question 5 Since AI arrived, what is the most significant thing you have personally stopped doing, stopped receiving, or stopped requiring?

A recurring report I used to read A recurring meeting I used to hold or attend An approval that used to need my sign-off A vendor or system I decided not to renew A role I decided not to backfill Honestly — nothing has come off my plate Something else

Please choose an option.

Question 6 In the last 12 months, has AI changed a headcount plan, a role design, or a hiring requisition in your organization?

Yes — I signed off on it myself Yes — we slowed hiring or left roles open longer than we otherwise would have Yes — somewhere else in the business, not my decision It’s been discussed, but nothing has actually changed No I wouldn’t necessarily know

Please choose an option.

Question 7 When AI is given as the reason for a workforce decision in your organization, how true is that usually?

AI is genuinely the main reason AI is part of the reasoning, but not the driver Honestly, AI often gets attached to a decision that was going to happen anyway We haven’t made a decision like that Not sure

Please choose an option.

Question 8 What is actually stopping your organization from going further with AI right now? Choose the one that most closely reflects what you see.

We don’t know which work to change The technology isn’t reliable enough for what we’d need it to do Legal, privacy, works council, or regulatory constraints There’s too much else in flight to take on a change that size right now Nobody owns it We can’t fund it against everything else on the list Our people don’t want it Honestly, nothing structural — we’re moving at the pace we chose

Please choose an option.

Question 9 Three years from now, do you expect your organization to employ more people, about the same, or fewer?

Noticeably more About the same Noticeably fewer Fewer in some parts, more in others Genuinely don’t know

Please choose an option.

And will they be doing largely the same work?

Largely the same work, better supported Meaningfully different work in some functions, the same in most Meaningfully different work across the organization A different organization altogether — different roles, different structure Genuinely don’t know

Please choose an option.

Question 10 Think about the two answers you just gave about three years from now. Where would you be willing to say that?

I’d put it in front of the board I’d say it to my leadership team I’d only say it privately I don’t have a view I’d defend

Please choose an option.

Question 11 Which part of a manager’s job do you expect AI to absorb most?

Status collection, reporting, and updates Scheduling, routing, and admin Reviewing and checking people’s work Coaching and development Performance and difficult conversations Hiring decisions Honestly, none of it — the time just gets absorbed by other things

Please choose an option.

Question 12 Where is the pressure on you about AI actually coming from?

The CEO The board The CFO, or the cost agenda The CIO or technology My own team Employees Candidates and the talent market Honestly, mostly from me No one, really — it’s quiet

Please choose an option.

Question 13 If you could get one straight, trustworthy answer, which would you take?

What AI is actually doing to the work inside companies like mine What our AI spending has actually produced How many people we’ll actually need in three years What to tell employees about their future The specific decisions my peers have actually made — headcount, budget, structure — not what they say on stage Which of the things we’re being sold actually work

Please choose an option.

Who’s contributing

Asked so responses can be attributed correctly inside the research and so I can follow up. Individual answers are never publicly attributed to you without the permission on the next screen.

Full name

Please enter your name.

Work email

Any address is fine — a work domain just helps me place the response.

Please enter a valid email address.

Two permissions, then you’re done

These do two different jobs. Both are optional.

Contributor acknowledgement

Yes — you may include my name in the acknowledgements as a contributor to this research.

Leaving this unchecked simply means your name won’t appear publicly. It covers acknowledgement only; it does not permit individual answers to be attributed to you.

Private research follow-up

As a thank you, I share a few things with contributors that I won’t be sharing at HR Tech: my conference slides, additional findings and breakdowns that won’t make the presentation, and my direct commentary on how to apply the research.

Yes — send me the private research materials and occasional follow-up insights on AI adoption.

Review my answers