In the new reality of work, success will belong to organizations that build their strategy around human advantage

Key takeaways:

• Adaptability is the new advantage in times of change. Most leaders—85% globally and 85% in Ukraine—consider it vital to develop the organization’s and workforce’s ability to quickly adapt to today’s fast-paced and ever-changing work landscape. Yet only 7% globally and 4% in Ukraine say that they are leading in ensuring continuous workforce development and adaptability.
• Work design is critical to AI return on investments. Companies that redesign work to enable closer human-AI collaboration gain a competitive edge. However, only 6% of respondents globally and 3% in Ukraine report progress in this area.
• AI is challenging workplace culture. AI transformation is forcing leaders to rethink culture in the workplace: 65% of organizations globally say their culture requires changes significantly due to AI adoption.

Why this matters

With AI moving from a pilot tool to a true collaborator in everyday decisions, work is nearing a tipping point. How organizations redesign workflows, governance, and corporate culture will shape their long-term success. Deloitte’s 2026 Global Human Capital Trends report, “From tensions to tipping points: Choosing the human advantage”, reveals that many organizations are facing persistent strain, declining trust, and cultural friction—precisely at the moment they need speed, resilience, and reinvention. Leaders are at a critical juncture: they must guide human-AI adoption while relying on culture as a foundation. Otherwise, they risk slowing transformation and accumulating “culture debt”, the negative consequences that arise when culture is neglected.

From change exhaustion to changefulness

Employees are being asked to adapt to changes at a dizzying pace, which significantly affects their well-being, clarity, engagement, and workload. At the same time, traditional approaches to change management are falling behind reality: only 27% of respondents globally and 26% in Ukraine believe their organizations manage change effectively. The opportunity for leaders lies in moving from change management to changefulness—building organizations that can operate organically in a constantly evolving environment. This includes leveraging new tools, including AI, to embed continuous learning, real-time feedback and support directly into daily work, enabling employees to quickly adapt to new priorities, skills, and technologies.

In human–machine interaction, trust, accountability, and culture can be both constraints and opportunities

With AI being embedded in recruitment, performance assessment, and everyday decision-making, organizations are moving quickly—often without establishing adequate guardrails. For example, 60% of executives globally use AI in decision-making; however, only 5% believe they manage it well, reflecting gaps in accountability. At the same time, many organizations are optimizing AI for efficiency without due consideration of its impact on people: 56% of global leaders implement AI solely for business outcomes, while only 40% consider both business and human outcomes. These challenges are increasingly cultural rather than just technical: 34% of organizations globally say culture is hindering them in achieving their AI transformation goals while 42% of workers globally and 64% in Ukraine state that their organizations aren’t evaluating AI’s impact on people.

Traditional functions can’t keep pace with modern work

The report shows that traditional functions such as HR, finance, IT, and legal—originally designed for efficiency and control—often operate in silos. This creates gaps, limits cross-functional collaboration, and ultimately constrains organization’s growth, agility, and value delivered. Accordingly, 66% of organizations globally and 64% in Ukraine say that traditional functions must change. Yet only 7% globally and 4% in Ukraine report making progress in this area. That mismatch is becoming harder to ignore as 7 in 10 business leaders say their primary competitive strategy over the next three years is to be fast and nimble.

What leading organizations do differently

The report highlights several factors that distinguish successful organizations from those stuck in “pilot mode”:

• They embed adaptation directly into workflows (not one-time change programs), using real-time feedback and support.
• They secure trust in AI outputs by prioritizing authenticity, transparency of AI use, and critical thinking skills.
• They redesign work for human–machine collaboration—not just for business outcomes, but balancing business oucomes and human outcomes such as trust, fairness, skills development, and a better day-to-day employee experience.
• They treat culture as infrastructure for AI transformation, proactively addressing norms, ethics, and human connection to provent “culture debt”.