AI Puts Critical Thinking at the Center of Workforce Priorities: IBM CHRO Study

• 21 Sep 2026
• TM Team
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A new global study from the IBM Institute for Business Value points to a disconnect between the skills Chief Human Resource Officers (CHROs) say AI requires and those employees prioritize. While 71% of CHROs identify the ability to supervise, validate and override AI outputs as the workforce's most essential skill, only 29% of employees rank judgment as important.

The study which surveyed 1,500 CHROs and 8,800 employees globally, finds that 60% of employees worry about skills erosion, with critical thinking cited most often as declining. At the same time, CHROs identify critical thinking (57%) and human judgment (48%) as among the workforce's most important capabilities.

The findings also show that organizations creating the greatest value from AI are redesigning work, decision-making and workforce capabilities around people and technology. Organizations that clearly define workflows as human-led, AI-assisted or AI-executed report achieving 18% risk reduction and 20% quality improvement. Yet, nearly half (46%) of organizations do not involve the CHRO when AI strategy is being defined.

"AI is changing not only how work gets done, but where people can contribute the greatest value," said Nickle LaMoreaux, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, IBM. "As AI takes on more routine and process-driven tasks, uniquely human capabilities become even more important. CHROs have a critical role to play in redesigning the workplace of the future so people can focus on the areas where they can have the greatest impact."

Other key findings from the study include:

Concerns about skills erosion reinforce the importance of judgment and critical thinking   

• Among employees who worry about skills erosion, three out of four say AI has already begun to erode at least some of their skills.
• Skills erosion ranks among CHROs' top concerns, cited by 46% of respondents. 
• 49% of employees and 57% of CHROs say critical thinking and problem framing are among the skills that matter most in the AI era.  
• Where judgment is built into how work is done, 62% of CHROs report growing employee confidence in AI-enabled decisions; where it is not, 57% report confidence declining. 

AI accountability gaps are impacting employees 

• 43% of employees report that when something goes wrong with AI, the blame falls on them, while 41% of CHROs believe employees may not feel safe challenging or overriding AI outputs.
• 36% of CHROs say unclear accountability complicates AI deployment.
• Only 28% of CHROs report a joint roadmap with IT backed by a shared operating cadence, and 73% say they struggle to coordinate consistently across the C-suite. 
• Where the CHRO at least shares responsibility for which decisions remain human-led, 76% of employees feel safe to question or override AI recommendations, compared with 43% where HR is merely advisory.

AI gains are creating new pressure on the workforce 

• 80% of CHROs believe AI adoption creates "invisible" work for employees, including validating recommendations, fixing mistakes, providing context and managing exceptions. 
• 42% of employees say AI increases their work or their work goes unrecognized. 
• 42% of CHROs say AI productivity gains are primarily reinvested for innovation or reskilling.

HR is expected to lead AI transformation, but its own adoption lags 

• 72% of organizations make limited or no use of AI inside the HR function. 
• CHROs rate HR's capabilities particularly low in AI literacy across the team (13%), AI performance measurement (16%) and change management for AI adoption (20%). 
• Organizations with mature HR AI capability, including governance, architecture and measurement, are nearly twice as likely to report a higher number of positive business KPIs.