The CHRO Role Is Changing — Is the Function Ready?
The expectations placed on Chief Human Resources Officers are shifting rapidly.
Operational excellence is still essential, but it is no longer enough. Today’s organisations need CHROs who can operate as strategic business leaders—connecting workforce decisions to commercial performance, leading the redesign of work around AI, strengthening leadership pipelines and positioning culture as an operational system rather than an HR initiative.
The lesson is simple: people do not necessarily fail because they become less capable. Sometimes, the role evolves faster than the person occupying it.
In The CHRO at a Crossroads, Paul Craig, Partner at Agilitas Advisory, examines how the CFO and CIO roles evolved before HR, what their transitions reveal about the future of the CHRO, and why the gap is particularly consequential in energy, resources, transportation and industrial organisations.
The report also explores the capabilities CHROs must now build—from commercial and analytical fluency to workforce redesign, AI leadership, CEO succession and stronger internal leadership benches.
The organisations that get this right will not treat HR as a support function. They will position the CHRO at the centre of transformation, performance and enterprise strategy.
View the full report to explore what the changing game now requires from the CHRO position.
