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Meeting Details
Framing the 2026 Landscape – Kevin Oakes & Kevin Martin
Oakes emphasized a shift from reactive to proactive workforce strategies, warning against using AI as a blunt instrument for layoffs instead of a tool for redesigning work. Martin noted that organizations are still behind in AI and skills-readiness, citing recent i4cp data showing most CEOs and Boards lack confidence in their companies’ ability to build the skills needed for the future. The duo outlined four key predictions for 2026: AI-driven layoffs as a strategic lever, skills as the new operating system (OS), digital work twins becoming mainstream, and fluid, modular workforce design. These themes were later reinforced by nearly every Board, revealing common concerns around readiness, capability building, and the need to lead with foresight.
Redesigning the Enterprise from the Future Back
Future of Work Board – Karen Kocher, Global General Manager, Microsoft
The Chair of our Future of Work Board, Karen Kocher, shared how Microsoft guides teams to redesign workflows first, before deciding how AI fits. Rather than layering new technologies onto old processes, the Future of Work Board emphasized the need to fundamentally rethink how work gets done. She shared methods borrowed from the Institute for the Future to assist leaders in future-back thinking that can help any Board member navigating any disruption (not just AI):
- Foresight – Identify and analyze weak signals and trends from the external environment that could impact the organization.
- Insight – Extract meaning from those signals by considering what they might imply for the business, workforce, or workflows.
- Action – Design and execute experiments to test possible responses or solutions, validating what works before scaling.
The Future of Work Board’s experimentation lens was echoed in later presentations, highlighting that true agility requires building a culture where experimentation replaces pilots as the default.
From Reporting to Strategic Intelligence Engine
People Analytics Board – Alexis Fink, Former Meta VP, People Analytics & Workforce Strategy
The Chair of our People Analytics Board, Alexis Fink, stated that People Analytics functions must shift from basic reporting to becoming R&D engines for HR. She stressed the importance of analytics in supporting innovation, workforce planning, and operational efficiency across all HR functions. The ability to deliver scenario intelligence, measure the ROI of HR initiatives, and serve as ethical stewards of data is no longer optional. As skills and AI reshape job architectures, analytics becomes the backbone of informed experimentation. Her remarks aligned with Kocher’s on the need for anticipatory insight and with the CLTO Board’s emphasis on tracking skill proficiency across roles and teams.
Skills as the New Operating System of Work
Chief Learning & Talent Officer Board – John Cone’, Former Chief Learning Officer, Dell Computers & Amy Schultz, Chief Learning & Talent Officer & Executive Director, Organizational Effectiveness, DTE Energy Company
Chair John Cone’ and Member Co-Chair, Amy Schultz, described skills as the new operating system of work, reframing how organizations think about talent, capability, and internal mobility. Cone’ mapped the impact of skills across each of our other six Boards, offering valuable insights to the implications across the enterprise.
Schultz spoke candidly about the challenges of progress, including tech limitations and misaligned job architecture. Her focus on what’s possible now resonated with earlier calls to embrace experimentation and was reinforced by Talent Acquisition and Impact & Belonging leaders who discussed similar tensions. Together, they emphasized the cultural shift required to embed skills into daily operations, echoing the IBL Board’s assertion that inclusive access to development must be a business imperative, not a side initiative.
Elevating DEI from Programs to Embedded Strategy
Impact & Belonging Leader Board – Sherida McMullan, VP, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging, & Danyelle “DC” Wright, VP, Government Affairs & Social Impact, Employment & Labor Counsel
Member Co-Chairs Sherida McMullan and DC Wright presented a compelling case for embedding Impact & Belonging into core business strategy. The Board emphasized that inclusion work cannot be siloed or delegated to a select few—it requires active partnership across the organization. Leaders in this space must be meaningfully involved in strategic decisions, not merely present. The conversation acknowledged the importance of preserving the substance of the work, even as the language used to describe it may change in response to growing sensitivity around certain terminology. Several noted that while “DEI” may no longer be explicitly named in some frameworks, its principles remain embedded in broader efforts such as leadership development. The Board stressed that these efforts must still be visible, measurable, and tied to leadership accountability. Their perspective resonated across the session, particularly in discussions on equitable access to development (CLTO), inclusive hiring practices (Talent Acquisition), and rewards strategies that reflect organizational values (Total Rewards).
From Requisitions to Capabilities: Rethinking Talent Supply Chains
Talent Acquisition Board – Dani Monaghan, SVP, Global Talent Acquisition, Expedia Group
Board Chair Dani Monaghan shared how Talent Acquisition leaders are evolving their strategies to align with future readiness, focusing on early-career talent and capability-based hiring. By declining backfills and challenging hiring managers to justify roles, Talent Acquisition is forcing a shift toward automation, upskilling, and job redesign, mirroring approaches discussed by the Future of Work and CLTO Boards. Monaghan’s insights tied directly into the skills-first philosophy shared by John Cone’, while reinforcing the People Analytics Board’s call for better workforce intelligence. Talent Acquisition’s efforts to forecast capability needs also echoed themes from the CHRO Board about preparing for demographic shifts and machine-human work models.
Redefining Compensation Through the Lens of Development
Total Rewards Leader Board – Pete Manias, Former Microsoft HR Executive
Board Chair Pete Manias articulated the opportunity for Total Rewards to go beyond pay and benefits by recognizing development access and skills acquisition as part of compensation. In his view, rewards leaders are the economists of internal labor markets and must support equitable access to growth. This perspective integrated seamlessly with the CLTO Board’s view of skills as currency and the IBL Board’s focus on fairness. Pete emphasized that internal mobility, mentorship, and access to AI tools should be part of the reward strategy, a sentiment shared across the Boards as they explored how to build capability without expanding cost.
Orchestrating Integration: The CHRO as Enterprise Architect
Chief HR Officer Board – Skipp Spriggs, Former Senior Executive VP & Chief Human Resources Officer, TIAA
Board Co-Chair Skipp Spriggs closed the session with a call to action for CHROs to lead with clarity and integration. He positioned CHROs as architects of the future-ready enterprise, responsible not just for function-level excellence, but for orchestrating a system where Impact & Belonging, skills, analytics, learning, and leadership are aligned. His remarks validated and synthesized the themes of earlier presentations, especially the shift from siloed innovation to coordinated execution. CHROs, he noted, must model the mindset of experimentation, use data to navigate ambiguity, and ensure that all talent strategies are deeply embedded in business strategy.
Additional Resources
A summary of some of the links that were shared by i4cp staff and our Board members during meeting.
- 2026 Priorities & Predictions Report
- Please consider taking a few minutes to contribute to the i4cp Early-Career Hiring Survey
- Was 2025 the worst year ever for graduates? Revelio Labs Entry-Level Trends
- The Institute for the Future
- DEI in 2025 Brief
Our annual look at the Priorities and Predictions shaping the coming year began with insights from our annual report curated especially for Executive Board members. Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Oakes, and Chief Research Officer, Kevin Martin, framed macro predictions and top priorities, emphasizing AI's role in shaping workforce strategies. From there, each Board shared its perspective on their own priorities and predictions, offering powerful and often overlooked insights that revealed critical interdependencies across HR disciplines.
Key themes included:
- embedding experimentation over pilots
- skills as the new OS of work
- inclusive leadership accountability
- leveraging AI for redesign—not just reduction
This summary captures the unique and interdependent insights that surfaced when HR leaders came together across disciplines.