Decision Intelligence Benchmark: Culture & Experience Talent Decisions for 2026 – 2027
How culture and experience leaders are gaining influence across the business, while headcount and career paths stay flat
Culture and experience leaders are being pulled into bigger conversations, from how the company operates to how new AI tools reach employees. Many now run their teams like product teams, with personas, pilots, and quick iteration. Engagement is high and confidence is strong. But headcount is flat, teams are being folded together with DEI and change management, and for many capable people there’s only one seat above them.
This report takes you inside culture and experience teams to see how they are handling a wider mandate, and what it means for the people on them.
Inside, you’ll discover:
- Why culture and experience leaders are more confident in their teams than most functions we studied, and the role AI testing may be playing
- How teams are borrowing from product management to shape the employee experience
- Why most leaders expect headcount to hold flat, and how consolidation is reshaping these teams
- The skills that may matter more than new titles as AI changes the work
- Why this function expects to replace top performers faster than any other we studied, and where that talent comes from
- The retention risk that outranks burnout by more than two to one
- How leaders are creating room to grow when there’s only one VP of HR at the top
Download the report to see how your peers are giving capable people room to grow when the org chart isn’t adding layers.
