2025 CHRO Survey Reveals Demographics, Plans for DEI and AI

HRPA’s 2025 CHRO survey reveals thought-provoking insights on how AI will impact leadership, DEI changes in response to the current backlash, CHRO transition, and other issues confronting CHROs today. 

In a new approach for this year’s survey, we partnered with Professor Patrick Wright and the Center for Executive Succession at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, yielding the highest response rate to date with 184 CHROs participating. 

The top five issues of concern to CHROs remained largely consistent:

1.  Executive development (including critical role succession)

2. AI and digitization of the workplace.

3. Workplace/culture transformation.

4. Organizational change – In 2025, organizational change replaced supervisor and management capability, which made the list in 2024.

5. Employee engagement. 

A handful of key findings:

• HR Budgets: A majority (71%),  expect their HR budgets to hold steady or increase over the next three years.

• On DEI: Few expect to decrease ERG programs (4%) mentorship programs (10%) or training (23%), but over half expect to decrease participation in outside culture surveys (51%), tying DEI metrics to executive pay (53%), and setting public quantitative goals (64%).

• On AI: Personalizing the employee experience is a top goal for most (68%), and over one third view AI as improving accuracy and objectivity in HR processes and in making better talent management decisions. The survey results include key qualitative input on AI’s impact on leaders and leadership development.

We will incorporate HRPA’s member survey responses as we explore topics in depth, but wanted to provide you with a selection of critical survey results fresh from the field. Read the 2025 CHRO survey results.