- CEO expectations for CHROs have skyrocketed, but gaps in experience can hold them back
- Only 12% of CHROs rank as top-five highest-earners, yet AI skills & organizational change are #1 priorities on CEOs’ agendas
- CHRO turnover is rapidly increasing, with average tenure dropping from 6 years to 4.8 over the last five years, and 70% of CHROs are in their first role
- Findings emerge from research on 25,000+ CHRO profiles, a survey of 200 CHROs, and 50+ face-to-face interviews
OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Josh Bersin Company unveils data-driven research into the evolving realities for CHROs as AI reshapes the workplace. At the core of the issue: the rapid evolution of the CHRO role brings immense opportunity, but also a series of paradoxes—paradoxes that must be addressed, as they define what it means to lead HR in today’s business landscape.
Drawing on a dataset provided by Findem based on over 25,000 CHRO highly-granular profiles, the study—The Five CHRO Paradoxes: Turning Tension into Advantage—has uncovered:
The Transformation Paradox
CHROs are expected to be both agents of rapid transformation and stewards of lasting culture—but CEO’s patience is wearing thin. While 86% of surveyed CHROs report their role is changing “significantly” or “dramatically,” the average tenure has declined from 6 to 4.8 years.
The challenge: Can CHROs deliver AI-driven productivity fast enough to satisfy other C-level leaders that AI is paying off? The concern is that while the CHRO may take the lead, they cannot succeed without CIO support and AI technology that truly delivers.
The Influence Paradox
More than ever, CHROs are highly visible and integral to business strategy, with six in ten seeing themselves as equal to other C-suite leaders.
The challenge: Only 12% rank among the top five highest-paid executives, and many still struggle to secure buy-in for people strategies, often needing to “influence without authority.” Despite HR’s rise in importance, the CHRO is still often seen as the C-Suite’s support role. Can CHROs speak and act like business leaders if they’ve spent their entire career in HR? (More than 70% of CHROs have never held a non-HR job.)
The Diversity Paradox
With a 68% female ratio, the CHRO role leads the C-suite in gender diversity—but is this helping or hurting?
The challenge: CHROs are becoming increasingly female, while other C-suite roles remain predominantly male. With so few female CEOs, does this dynamic help or hurt CHROs’ credibility in this new leadership landscape?
The Success Pathway Paradox
Business acumen and cross-functional experience are now critical for CHRO success, yet most still rise through traditional HR pathways.
The challenge: Only 3 in 10 CHROs have a business background (e.g., consulting, strategy, or commercial roles), potentially widening the gap between what’s needed and the typical CHRO development path. The study found this cohort outperforms their peers, but how can a CHRO get real leadership experience?
The Aspiration Paradox
Many CHROs aspire to broader executive or advisory roles after their tenure, yet 42% move to lower-level HR positions after the C-suite, and only 5% become CEOs.
The challenge: If CHROs do not have a clear pathway to CEO, what are their career opportunities? To grow into “Chief Administrative Officers?” The research shows that most CHROs move from company to company, looking for new ways to add value, but few find CEO roles, leading to an endless “cycling” of CHROs globally. Many now add “Chief AI Enablement” or “Chief AI Transformation Officer” to their titles, reflecting ongoing uncertainty around the role.
The research, complemented by a survey of nearly 200 CHROs and in-depth interviews, provides an unparalleled snapshot of the real-world demographics, career pathways, and diversity trends among today’s CHRO population.
These paradoxes, The Josh Bersin Company emphasizes, are not just HR issues—they have direct implications for business transformation, culture, and long-term competitiveness.
To resolve these paradoxes and drive progress, the research finds that high-performing organizations are:
- Institutionalizing transformation (e.g., succession planning, culture playbooks)
- Embedding HR in business strategy
- Building diverse leadership pipelines
- Creating intentional pathways for CHROs to move into broader roles.
The study includes case studies from organizations that are doing so, as well as practical guidance for current and aspiring CHROs, and for corporations and CEOs looking to solve the paradoxes they both face.
Josh Bersin Company SVP Research Kathi Enderes says:
“What the data makes clear is that the future CHRO isn’t just a culture steward or operational leader; they are now a transformation driver at the center of business strategy.
“And yet, the contradictions in the role are profound. We expect CHROs to architect AI-enabled workforces and redesign talent systems, but often fail to give them the time, resources, or recognition afforded to other C-suite executives.
“This study exposes gaps between where CHROs want the role to go and where the structure of the C-suite is actually allowing it to go. Finding a way out of these five paradoxes could be the difference between organizational failure and success.”
Josh Bersin Company CEO Josh Bersin says:
“CHROs are now in the hot seat. All CEOs want a more rapid adoption of the AI agenda, yet CHROs are responsible for the problem of skills development, organization redesign, and finding key talent. The precipitous drop in CHRO tenure tells me just how challenging a role this has become, and some CHROs are struggling to keep up.
On the other hand, most CEOs now know that the CHRO is central to the AI transformation. Is the real career path for CHROs to become Chief Transformation Officers?”
About Findem
Findem’s Talent Data Cloud combines expert-labeled, 3D data with AI to unlock smarter talent strategy and streamline the way businesses connect with top candidates. By bringing together multichannel sourcing, CRM, and insights into one place, Findem eliminates inefficiencies and allows TA teams to focus on the right candidates and decisions that drive business impact. Findem empowers customers like RingCentral and Nutanix to solve enterprise challenges at scale, creating continuous pipelines of top, diverse candidates, delivering improved ROI, and making great hires. For more, go to www.findem.ai/about-us
About The Josh Bersin Company
The Josh Bersin Company is the world’s most trusted human capital advisors, providing research-based insights on talent, leadership, and organizational performance.
Unlike traditional consultancies, we capture our integrated models, research, and guidance in a structured, scalable knowledge base—Galileo™—making trusted advice and decades of expertise accessible to anyone, anywhere, in real time.
With a dedicated team constantly tracking market change, testing ideas, and applying a unique business lens, we help over a million HR and business leaders address their most pressing people challenges—aligning work, knowledge, and skills for maximum impact. For more information, visit joshbersin.com.
SOURCE The Josh Bersin Company
