50 Global HR Leaders Building Future-Ready Organizations in 2026
The future of work is being shaped by more than HR alone. It is being influenced by people and talent leaders, researchers, advisors, analysts, CEOs, and other voices who are challenging how organizations think about people, leadership, technology, and work.
We curated a list of 50 Global leaders in this space whose ideas, work, and influence are helping shape that conversation. Some are driving change within global organizations. Others are advancing new thinking through research, advisory work, analysis, or public conversations. What connects them is their ability to move the conversation forward and offer perspectives that matter in a rapidly changing world of work.
We have divided the list of 50 leaders into four sections based on the nature of their roles and influence: AI & Skills Transformation, Analysts & Researchers, CHRO Practitioners, and Advisors & Authors.
Section 1: CHROs/ People Officers
Senior people leaders driving transformation from within organizations through talent strategy, culture, employee experience, and workforce planning.
1. J. Ofori Agboka
VP People Experience & Technology, Global Operations, Amazon
He oversees HR strategy across Amazon’s customer service, fulfillment, transportation, delivery, and robotics operations globally. His remit includes workforce staffing and employee relations across some of the company’s largest operational units. He has won several accolades including 2018 Michigan Chronicle – “Man of Excellence” and “2018 Most Influential Blacks in Corporate America” by SAVOY Magazine.
2. Erika Broadwater
VP of Talent Acquisition, BNP Paribas
Erika’s career has centered on diversity, equity and inclusion alongside talent acquisition strategy. She is a key member of Global Centers of Excellence and is a recipient of 11 professional awards, including the 2023 Trailblazer Award. She serves as National President/CEO of the National Association of African Americans in Human Resources, where she drives leadership development.
3. Amy Cappellanti-Wolf
EVP and Chief People Officer, Dayforce
She focuses on driving business growth through leadership development, culture, employee experience and strategic workforce planning. Her work sits at the intersection of HR practice and HR technology, given Dayforce’s own position as a software provider. She has been recognized by the National Diversity Council as one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Technology.
4. Gianna Driver
Chief People Officer, One Workplace
Gianna brings deep expertise in building high-performing, people-first organizations during periods of growth and transformation. Her work centers on creating scalable people practices, strengthening talent strategies and helping organizations turn employee experience into a business advantage. She also contributes her perspective to the broader HR technology ecosystem through advisory work.
5. Kris Dunn
Chief Human Resources Officer, U.S. & Canada, Marriott International
He is a talent acquisition leader who has built HR practices across both Fortune 500 companies and venture-backed startups. His background bridges enterprise hospitality HR with startup-stage talent strategy. He has written two books named ‘The 9 faces of HR’ and ‘Best Boss Ever.’
6. Teuila Hanson
SVP and Chief People Officer, LinkedIn
Teuila Hanson has helped advance LinkedIn’s work on inclusion, belonging and workforce equity. Under her leadership, LinkedIn reported a 127% increase in its Black senior population and a 74% increase in its senior Latino population as part of its broader representation goals. She leads strategy and people functions aimed at addressing complex business, talent and cultural challenges.
7. Monique Herena
Chief Colleague Experience Officer, American Express
Monique Herena has made colleague experience a strategic lever for leadership, growth and organizational resilience. She has helped shape an approach at American Express that connects leadership development, succession, colleague listening, wellbeing and continuous learning. She also contributes to the wider HR profession through the CHRO Association and the National Academy of Human Resources.
8. Kelly Jones
Chief People Officer, Cisco
Kelly Jones has been recognized for turning employee wellbeing and inclusion into tangible workplace initiatives. Her work has included expanding neurodiversity support, menopause resources, parental leave and leadership wellbeing programs. She leads Cisco’s People & Communities team, setting people strategy for the company’s global workforce.
9. Donald Knight
Group SVP, People & Culture, Warner Bros. Discovery
Donald Knight brings a strong business lens to people and culture, focusing on how talent and organizational culture can contribute directly to business performance. He is known for a strong commercial focus, using people strategy to deliver financial results and drive business growth at Warner Bros. Discovery.
10. Cristi Lockett
CHRO, Baylor Scott & White Health
Cristi Lockett focuses on building people strategies that can support organizations through complex transformation, with particular emphasis on talent, leadership, inclusion and change. Her focus areas include diversity and inclusion, crisis communication, change management and talent acquisition.
11. Lindsay-Rae McIntyre
EVP Chief People Officer, Alaska Air Group
She leads people strategy across talent acquisition, leadership development, total rewards and culture, and advises the airline’s leadership team and board. In this role, she supports Alaska’s vision to connect people to the world through a remarkable travel experience rooted in safety, care and performance.
12. Holly Tyson
Chief People Officer, Cushman & Wakefield
Holly Tyson has led major workforce and culture transformations, including the cultural integration of a significant acquisition at Zebra Technologies. More recently, she has emerged as a voice on how AI will reshape work, emphasizing the need to redesign jobs while preserving human judgment and critical thinking.
13. Jennifer Weber
CHRO, ADM
Jennifer Weber has built her leadership around navigating organizations through significant transformation, including consolidation, M&A, and periods of rapid growth. Her work has spanned talent acquisition, development, culture and broad-based business transformation, giving her a strong track record of connecting people strategy with the operational realities.
14. Ulrika Biesert
People, Sustainability & Communication Manager, Ingka Group
She sits on Ingka Group’s (IKEA) Group Management team, working to align people and sustainability strategy with the company’s founding purpose. Her mandate spans co-worker experience, customer focus, and sustainable business growth. Biesèrt is also a member of the World Economic Forum CHRO community, the world’s leading Chief Human Resources Officers community.
Section 2: AI & Skills Transformation
Leaders helping organizations navigate AI adoption, workforce transformation, skills evolution, and the changing nature of work.
15. Jacqui Canney
Chief People and AI Enablement Officer, ServiceNow
Jacqui Canney is focused on improving employee experiences and preparing the workforce for the future. Under Jacqui’s leadership, ServiceNow is weaving AI learning, upskilling, behaviors, and hands-on experience into every role, team, and function. She is a member of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community.
16. Tracey Franklin
Chief People & Digital Technology Officer, Moderna
Tracey Franklin has been instrumental in connecting people strategy with technology and business transformation. During her leadership of the HR function, the organization scaled from roughly 800 to nearly 6,000 employees globally. She has also played a key role in advancing AI initiatives, bringing together workforce strategy, digital transformation and emerging technology.
17. Nickle LaMoreaux
Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, IBM
Nickle has helped make AI a practical part of IBM’s HR transformation, with HR itself serving as an early testing ground for the technology. Her work has focused on using AI and automation to redesign employee experiences and improve productivity and accelerate innovation.
18. Judith Wiese
Chief People and Sustainability Officer, Siemens AG
Judith Wiese has made lifelong learning a measurable part of Siemens’ workforce strategy. Under her people and sustainability agenda, Siemens invested €442 million in learning and development in FY2024, with employees averaging 27 hours of digital learning, exceeding the company’s 25-hour target a year early.
19. Karalee Close
Global Lead, Talent & Organization, Accenture
Karalee Close is helping organizations rethink work for a human-and-AI workforce. She has helped develop a structured approach for bringing AI agents into real business functions, tested through Accenture’s own corporate operations. She also launched the Human+AI Impact Initiative, bringing together technology, talent, academic and innovation expertise.
20. Christopher J. Fernandez
Founder, Agentic Connect
Christopher J. Fernandez is a leading voice on human-centered AI and the future of work. He previously led Microsoft’s global HR AI transformation, helping shape how AI is understood, implemented, and applied across HR and the wider organization. He focuses on changing the world’s labor market through human-centered AI.
21. Emily Rose McRae
Analyst, Future of Work and Workforce Transformation, Gartner
Emily advises CHROs and other C-suite executives on the future of work, with a focus on AI’s impact on the workforce. Her core area of focus is AI’s impact on the workforce and new ways of working. She also helps executives with topics around new employment models and evolving employee expectations.
22. Mahe Bayireddi
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Phenom
Driven by a purpose to help a billion people find the right work, Mahe built WorkOps, an operating model that gives enterprises the precision to deploy autonomous agents at scale with the context that each role, industry, geography, and moment demands. Under his leadership, Phenom has become one of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing private companies for six consecutive years.
23. Lydia Wu
Analyst, AI in HR and Future of Work, Gartner
Drawing on consulting, HR practitioner and vendor experience, Lydia Wu focuses on how AI creates durable value in HR and helps CHROs turn AI strategy into practice. Her work focuses on the practical application of AI in HR, examining how emerging technologies intersect with human behavior, trust, governance, data, and operating models.
24. Johannes Sundlo
People Director, Avalanche Studios Group
Johannes Sundlo has built a distinctive voice around making AI adoption practical for HR and business leaders. Through his FullStackHR work, he has supported 150+ organizations globally, helping leadership teams move from AI experimentation to measurable changes in workflows, governance and adoption.
25. Jason Averbook
Senior Partner & Global HR Transformation Leader, Now To Next
Jason is recognized as a leading voice in global generative AI strategy within HR technology, working as a speaker, author, analyst and consultant. He has authored two best-seller books and now drives Generative AI strategy and services, helping organizations rethink HR as a digital function rather than a collection of technology projects.
26. Jennifer Morgan
CEO, UKG
Jennifer Morgan is the CEO of UKG since 2024, leading the company’s strategic direction and operations She has been globally recognized for her outstanding leadership and results, including being named one of the Most Powerful Women in Business by Fortune, Most Powerful Women in the World and Technology by Forbes, and as a Great Place to Work CEO For All Leadership.
27. Amy Coleman
EVP & Chief People Officer, Microsoft
Amy Coleman has played a central role in shaping Microsoft’s employee experience on a global scale, with a focus on creating a culture that attracts, develops and retains talent. Her work brings together culture, leadership, employee experience and organizational effectiveness to help build a workforce that can adapt and thrive as the nature of work evolves.
Section 3: Analysts & Researchers
Researchers and analysts translating workforce trends, people data, and technology shifts into insights that help organizations make better decisions.
28. Dani Johnson
Co-Founder and Principal Analyst, RedThread Research
Dani Johnson is a leading voice in learning, careers and human capital strategy. She has spent the majority of her career writing about, conducting research in, and consulting on human capital practices and technology. Before starting RedThread, Dani led the Learning and Career research practice at Bersin, Deloitte.
29. Dawn Klinghoffer
VP, HR Business Insights & People Insights, Microsoft
She leads Microsoft’s HR Business Insights organization, building advanced analytics and employee-listening capabilities that inform enterprise decisions. She is recognized as a thought leader on using data and AI to improve workforce outcomes and employee experience. At Microsoft, her work has brought together employee survey data, attrition, diversity and de-identified workplace signals to uncover workforce patterns.
30. Ben Eubanks
Chief Research Officer; Author, AI for HR, Lighthouse Research & Advisory
He leads research initiatives focused on talent strategy, innovation and technology as Chief Research Officer at Lighthouse Research & Advisory. Ben is an expert speaker on the future of work as it relates to talent, technology, and innovation. His book on AI serves as the definitive guide to artificial intelligence and machine learning applications for HR and talent.
31. David Green
Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Insight222
David is a is a global expert in people analytics. He co-founded Insight222 in 2017 to help CHROs place people analytics at the center of business decision-making. He is also a speaker, author and host of the Digital HR Leaders podcast.
32. Stacey Harris
Chief Research Officer and Managing Partner, Sapient Insights Group
Stacey has been a leading member of the HR practices and technology research community, producing groundbreaking research on high-impact HR organizations. She leads the industry’s HR Systems Survey and is the author of “Introduction to HR Technology.” She also hosts an award-winning podcast and is a globally recognized speaker on HR technology and workforce strategy.
33. Madeline Laurano
Founder, Aptitude Research
Madeline is a global speaker and analyst focused on talent acquisition and employee experience. She is the co-author of Best Practices in Leading a Global Workforce and is often quoted in leading business publications. Her work helps companies both validate and re-evaluate their strategies and understand the role technology can play in driving business outcomes.
34. Holger Mueller
Vice President and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research Inc.
Holger provides strategy and counsel to key clients, including Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Product Officers, Chief HR Officers, investment analysts, venture capitalists, sell-side firms, and technology buyers. He covers next-generation enterprise applications and the future of work as a principal analyst.
35. Betsy Summers
Principal Analyst, Forrester
Betsy specializes in talent management strategy and technology, known for practical research on improving work experience through technology and leadership. With a wide range of HCM experience including research, strategy, design, and delivery, Betsy has been both a practitioner and a strategic partner to heads of HR, talent, and learning.
36. Rebecca Wettemann
CEO and Principal Analyst, Valoir
Rebecca is a leading expert in Technology ROI, human capital management (HCM), and analytics and AI technology and strategy. She helps organizations maximize the business value of their digital transformation investments. She works as a researcher, author and speaker covering the HR technology space.
37. David Wilson
Founder & CEO, Fosway Group
David leads Fosway’s research, analysis and insight into next-generation HR, talent and learning technology. He personally leads Fosway’s research and corporate advisory agenda. He is the author of over 150 research papers and articles as well as being a leading speaker at major conferences and events around the world.
38. Anita Lettink
Partner, HRTechRadar
Anita Lettink is an international keynote speaker, advisor and author. She has been recognized as a Top 25 Global Thought Leader on the Future of Work. She helps companies and workers prepare for the challenges and opportunities of the changing world of work.
39. Trent Cotton
Head of Talent Insights & Analyst; Author, iCIMS
Trent leads talent insights at iCIMS, an enterprise talent acquisition platform, helping organizations use data-driven strategies to hire more effectively. He is known for translating workforce trends into actionable business insights. He is also a Learning and Development maestro, and High Performance Coach, attempting to reshape the future of HR.
Section 4: Advisors & Authors
Independent advisors, authors, coaches, and thought leaders shaping how organizations think about leadership, HR, technology, and the future of work.
40. Cara Brennan Allamano
Chief Work Officer, Sol
Cara is a recognized leader in the evolution of the modern workplace and in scaling high-growth companies. She most recently served as Chief People Officer at Lattice and previously held senior HR leadership in renowned companies. She is also co-founder of PeopleTech Partners, a group of 500+ HR leaders working to bring new HR/recruiting technologies to market.
41. Diane Gherson
Board Director, Senior Advisor and prior IBM CHRO, Kraft Heinz/HBS
Diane Gherson is widely recognized for pioneering the use of AI to transform HR, helping move the function beyond traditional people processes toward a more technology-enabled model. Her work has shaped thinking around workforce analytics, employee experience and the future of HR, and she continues to influence the field through board and advisory roles.
42. Gena Cox
Organizational Psychologist, Executive Coach and Author, Feels Human
Gena Cox is a Thinkers50-recognized executive coach and the author of Leading Inclusion, a multiple award-winning guide to building inclusive organizations from the top down. She has advised leaders at Fortune 500 and global organizations on culture, employee experience and leadership impact.
43. Kyle Forrest
Future of HR Leader, Deloitte Consulting
Kyle advises CHROs and HR leadership teams on HR strategy, AI-powered operating models, and the future skills and roles needed to drive measurable business outcomes. He helps business and HR leaders drive business and workforce outcomes through Deloitte’s knowledge and practical understanding of HR operating models, processes, AI and automation capabilities.
44. Richard Rosenow
Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer, Ikona Analytics
A thought leader in People Analytics and HR transformation, with a focus on turning organizational knowledge into actionable intelligence. His work has been recognized among the leading voices in People Analytics, including being named a Top 20 People Analytics Influencer globally in 2025 and a Top 30 influencer in 2026.
45. Trisha Steed
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, H3 HR Advisors
Trish Steed is a seasoned HR executive and strategic advisor with a proven track record of aligning business objectives with transformative people strategies. With deep expertise in market analysis and trend forecasting, Trish has guided companies navigating the evolving landscape of human capital management.
46. Mark Stelzner
Founder/Managing Principal, IA
Mark is recognized as an HR technology and transformation thought leader whose writing, speaking and advisory work help Global 1000 leaders navigate organizational change. By offering unbiased and candid advice to C-level leaders in nearly all geographies and vertical market segments, Mark has brought great value to his clients and employers.
47. Perry Timms
Founder & Chief Energy Officer; Author, Transformational HR, PTHR
Perry is a globally recognized HR futurist, author, and speaker. An award-winning HR practitioner, he is a two-time TEDx speaker and three-time author with three decades of experience in change and organization design. He was inducted into the HR Most Influential’s Hall of Fame in 2023.
48. Nazim Ünlü
Global HR & Transformation Leader, The HR Scientist
He is an international keynote speaker on AI, workforce strategy and organizational transformation, and also works as an HR tech investor and strategic advisor. His expertise spans multi-country leadership, talent acquisition, agile HR transformation, organizational design, and DEI. He has received multiple honors, including the ‘He for She’ Award, Innovation HR Award.
49. Amy Wilson
Advisor & Podcaster, Amy Wilson Advisory
Amy Wilson helps CEOs and leaders navigate the business and leadership shifts required to make AI transformation work, not just the technology itself. She advises HR tech founders and enterprise leaders, and co-hosts “The Meg & Amy Show,” helping leaders make sense of AI’s impact on work and the workforce.
50. Ian Ziskin
President, EXec EXcel Group
Ian Ziskin is a business leader, board advisor and member, coach, consultant, CHRO, entrepreneur, teacher, speaker, and author. He is the lead author of The Secret Sauce for Leading Transformational Change. In 2007, he was elected a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources, considered to be the highest honor in the HR profession.
What we can learn from Global HR leaders
The future of work will not be shaped by one function, one role, or one industry. It will be shaped by people who are willing to question established ways of working, understand what is changing, and turn those insights into action.
That is what makes this 50 leaders list stand out. Across vital roles, these individuals are contributing to some of the most important conversations facing organizations today; from AI and skills transformation to leadership, workforce resilience, culture, and the changing nature of work.
At Tekstac, we see this shift every day. Building a future-ready workforce requires understanding which skills matter, where capability gaps exist, and how organizations can turn learning into measurable readiness and business outcomes.
Book a demo to explore how Tekstac helps organizations measure real capability, close skill gaps, and accelerate workforce transformation.
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