Deloitte releases Global Human Capital Trends report showing organisations racing to adopt AI, but few unlocking real advantage

Auckland, 9 April 2026 – As organisations across the world navigate rapid technological, social and economic change, we’re approaching a defining moment for how work gets done, and value is created. Deloitte's 2026 Human Capital Trends report, From tensions to tipping points: Choosing the human advantage, finds that businesses have a unique opportunity to turn disruption into differentiation by intentionally building the ‘Human Advantage’; the multiplier effect created when human creativity, judgement and adaptability are deliberately combined with the power of AI.

Unsurprisingly, this year’s trends are heavily centred around AI. Globally, organisations are investing heavily in AI, but largely on the wrong side of the equation with 93% of AI investment focused on technology, and just 7% spent on people. As a result, very few organisations are getting the people side of AI right. Only 7% globally say they are good at designing how people and AI work together, even though those that do are almost 2.5 times more likely to report better financial results. 

At the same time, trust and fairness concerns are rising. 80% of global leaders worry that people are using AI to appear more productive than they really are, and 65% say workplace culture needs to change because of AI. Traditional change and learning approaches are struggling to keep pace with the scale of disruption.

A New Zealand perspective on global trends 

For the first time, this year’s report includes a dedicated New Zealand-specific data set from more than 60 local respondents, allowing us to explore how the global trends are playing out in the context of Aotearoa.

For New Zealand leaders, the findings reflect how AI and workforce pressures are playing out day-to-day for those closest to delivery and change in New Zealand. The report reinforces that our competitive edge has never been scale or surplus, but problem‑solving, trust and human judgement.

As AI adoption accelerates, the next phase of value creation will depend on redesigning work and culture in ways that amplify these human strengths, rather than bypass them.

In New Zealand, these global challenges are amplified. Organisations are smaller and capacity is tighter. While leaders recognise the importance of redesigning how humans and AI work together, only 2% of New Zealand organisations say that they are leading in this area, compared with 7% globally.

Key New Zealand findings

• Confidence in HR’s change capability is higher in New Zealand. 54% of NZ respondents (vs. 48% globally) say they are confident or very confident in HR’s ability to navigate changes required over the next three to five years.

• New Zealand organisations lag global peers in understanding AI’s human impacts. 18% of NZ respondents reported that efforts are expanding in understanding/managing the human relationships of AI (vs. 23% globally).

• Understanding AI’s implications is a bigger challenge in New Zealand. 55% of NZ respondents cite “insufficient understanding” (vs. 40% globally) as the greatest challenge when addressing AI’s implications for decision-making and leadership.

• New Zealand leaders place less emphasis on AI ethics and trust. Only 50% of NZ respondents (vs. 69% globally) consider balancing benefits, risks, ethics and potential conflict in AI as extremely or very important.

• Future workforce planning matters more in New Zealand than globally. 87% of NZ respondents (vs. 74% globally) consider planning for future workforce needs amid growing uncertainty/disruption as extremely or very important. 

• New Zealand’s ability to adapt to change is most constrained by a lack of capability and resources. 51% of NZ respondents cite “lack of capabilities and resources” (vs. 41% “internal constraints” globally) as the greatest barrier to adapting to the speed required by today’s world.

• Kiwis place less weight on human-machine interaction as a top priority. 52% of NZ respondents (vs. 68% globally) consider designing human-machine interaction ‘very’ or ‘extremely’ important. 

New Zealanders are confident in HR – but expectations are rising

New Zealand organisations express higher confidence in HR’s ability to navigate the changes required over the next three to five years (54%), compared with global peers (48%). This suggests that HR is viewed as a more trusted and central capability within New Zealand organisations as they face ongoing disruption.

With flatter structures, smaller leadership teams and sustained workforce pressure, HR teams in New Zealand are typically required to operate closer to the business, helping to integrate workforce, culture and change considerations into core business decisions.

“The implication is that HR in New Zealand enters the next phase of change with a relatively strong mandate and level of trust. However, confidence also raises expectations,” says Deloitte New Zealand Partner, Naila Naseem.

As the pace and complexity of change continues to accelerate, HR will be expected not only to support change, but to actively shape how organisations adapt, redesign work (including for AI) and build resilience over time.

“This means that New Zealand organisations need to ensure HR’s capability, capacity and authority keep pace with expectations. That includes strengthening skills in change leadership, workforce planning and work redesign, and ensuring HR is equipped with the data and influence needed to guide difficult decisions. Without sustained investment, confidence in HR risks outstripping its ability to deliver, placing pressure on a function that is already carrying an expanded role,” she continues.

But how are organisations really adapting to change?

Unlike global peers, who struggle most with structure and culture, New Zealand’s dominant barrier to adapting to change is capability and resources, with 51% citing resource and capability constraints (vs. 41% globally citing internal constraints). As a result, change competes directly with day‑to‑day delivery, increasing the risk that AI adds pressure and frustration rather than improving results.

Workers are being asked to pivot at a dizzying pace. One-third of surveyed workers globally experienced 15 major changes last year alone, and the ripple effects show up in well-being, clarity, engagement, and workload. The opportunity for leaders is in shifting from change management to “changefulness”: using new tools like AI to embed continuous learning, feedback, and in-the-moment support, directly into the work.

New Zealand organisations are experiencing the same change fatigue as the rest of the world, but with fewer buffers, says Naseem.

“Adaptiveness is now a national productivity lever. Organisations that cultivate adaptive capability are more than twice as likely to achieve better financial results.”

“Taken together, the findings point to a clear challenge for New Zealand organisations. AI adoption is accelerating, but the way work, organisations and leadership are designed has not kept pace. Without sharper focus on the people side of change, the risk is that AI compounds existing pressure on teams rather than lifting productivity,” concludes Naseem.

Dealing with AI’s ‘cultural debt’

As AI moves from pilots into everyday decisions, work is at a tipping point. How organisations redesign work, governance, and culture will shape their long-term success. Deloitte's research finds that many organisations are experiencing sustained strain, rising trust concerns, and cultural friction at the exact moment they need speed, resilience, and reinvention.

Leaders must guide human-AI adoption while treating culture as core infrastructure, so they don't build “culture debt,” - the negative consequences accumulated by neglecting culture, as the pace of change outpaces human capacity.

In New Zealand’s high‑trust, team‑based environment, suspicion around use of AI can undermine psychological safety, increase stress and reduce autonomy - especially when resources are tight and workloads are already high. For New Zealand’s stretched workforce, these effects can hit harder.

“If our workers are quietly worrying that colleagues are using AI to appear more productive, it can create mistrust and hidden tension. Without leadership guidance, individuals create their own rules - and those rules don’t always align,” says Naseem.

“Transparency, personalisation, inclusion and worker empowerment, reinforced by AI, can turn culture into New Zealand’s competitive advantage,” she concludes.

Trust, accountability and data at the human-machine convergence

As AI becomes embedded in hiring, performance, and everyday decision-making, organisations are moving quickly, but not always with the guardrails to match. For example, the report highlights that 60% of executives use AI in decision-making, however, only 5% say they manage it well, reflecting gaps in accountability.

New Zealand mirrors this trend. In a country where trusted institutions play a critical role, AI amplifies every weakness in data systems.

New Zealand’s people‑first identity is a strength. Designing AI practices that reinforce the concepts of connection, care and respect, fairness, collaboration and humility in leadership turn culture into an advantage. Transparency, inclusion, personalisation and worker empowerment, when supported by AI, convert values into measurable outcomes.

Trust is a national asset, but also a vulnerability when data governance lags. In this context, the principles that underpin Māori data sovereignty are examples of countermeasures to the data and trust crisis.

“Evolving as they are, Māori data sovereignty principles align with global calls for stronger lineage, governance, transparency and accountability in AI‑enabled systems, ensuring data best serves Māori interests", says Deloitte New Zealand Partner and Māori Services Lead, Anthony Ruakere.

“In many ways, Māori data sovereignty is therefore already advocating for exactly the types of trusted data infrastructure that the global trends say everyone will need in the future.”

What leading organisations do differently  

The report highlights several differentiators that separate organisations making progress from those stuck in pilot mode: 

• They embed adaptation into the flow of work, not one-time change programmes.
• They secure trust in AI outputs by prioritising authenticity, transparency, and critical thinking.
• They redesign work for humans and machines for both business and human outcomes.
• They treat culture as infrastructure for AI transformation, proactively addressing norms, ethics, and connection to prevent culture debt.

To access the full report and learn more about the findings, please visit Global Human Capital Trends 2026.