Dr Hari Mann
December 10, 2025
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As we look ahead to 2026, one theme keeps surfacing in conversations with senior leaders: the game is getting harder, not easier. Yet beneath the turbulence there are real reasons for cautious optimism.
Periods like this tend to separate organizations that merely cope from those that intentionally re-architect themselves for the next decade of growth. The organizations that will come out stronger are those that combine strategic clarity with a renewed commitment to developing their leaders and investing in their people.
2026 trends in brief
Scroll down to read the 2026 trends in full detail.
#1
Economic uncertainty is here to stay
But it will become more navigable in 2026, with boards and investors seeking scenario-based planning and consistent execution.
#2
Strategy needs to be an ongoing leadership conversation
Leaders who can translate a simple, compelling vision into a small number of non-negotiable priorities will be the ones who succeed.
#3
Tough choices lie ahead with AI
In 2026, I expect the AI narrative in large organizations to move from hype to hard choices as to where AI can actually add organizational value.
#4
Expect to see more targeted restructuring
Not only headcount reductions, but a redesign of roles and control. Leaders will be asked to manage changes with both firmness and humanity.
#5
Human sustainability is an urgent strategic risk
Organizations that will thrive in 2026 are those that treat talent, well-being and leadership development as one conversation.
#6
The definition of “better” leadership is changing
Our latest research shows that “better” starts with understanding the mindset shifts that matter most for an organization at this moment.
#7
A rise in team-based executive leadership
Given the pressures on CEOs and their top teams, we can expect to see more senior team development and longer-term programs accompanying major initiatives.
What can we expect in 2026?
Economic uncertainty will remain part of the landscape. Executives who ask, “When do we get back to normal?” are beginning to recognize that the last decade, not the present, was the anomaly. The environment we are now operating in – uneven growth across regions, shifting trade patterns, volatile capital markets and geopolitical tension – is becoming the baseline. The difference in 2026 is that this uncertainty should become more navigable. We are likely to see fewer dramatic shocks and more of a sustained requirement for disciplined navigation. Boards and investors will ask less for grand narratives and more for evidence of robust, scenario-based planning and consistent execution.
In that world, strategy is no longer a document produced once a year; it is an ongoing leadership conversation. The leaders who will succeed are those who can hold a simple, compelling vision at the center of the business and translate it into a small number of non-negotiable priorities that are executed with rigor. This is not just an analytical task. It is a human one: creating clarity in ambiguity, aligning others around that clarity and sustaining energy through prolonged effort.
At the same time, the story of artificial intelligence is evolving. The period from 2023 to 2025 often felt like an AI gold rush. Every function had pilots, and almost every board presentation featured a language model or an ambitious data initiative. Some of this experimentation was essential; some of it was expensive theatre. By 2026, I expect the AI narrative in large organizations to move from hype to hard choices. Senior teams will need to decide where, specifically, AI can transform their economics or client experience and where they will simply adopt industry-standard tools and move on.
This shift will bring real implications for structure and talent. As AI reshapes value chains, we will see more targeted restructuring: not only headcount reductions, but a genuine redesign of roles, spans of control, and where work gets done. Leaders will be asked to manage these changes with both firmness and humanity, holding together performance, ethics, and long-term organizational health. AI will remain noisy and occasionally over-hyped, but the leaders who can distinguish signal from noise and align AI investments with a clear strategy will create real, compounding advantage.
Alongside these forces sits a quieter but increasingly urgent trend: human sustainability. After years of crisis management, continuous transformation, and heightened stakeholder expectations, many senior leaders and critical teams are operating at, or beyond, their limits. Burnout, fragile succession pipelines and declining engagement are no longer peripheral “people issues”; they are mainstream strategic risks. The organizations that will thrive in 2026 are those that treat talent, well-being and leadership development as part of a single conversation: how to design work norms and expectations so that people can perform at a high level over time, not just endure the next round of change. This reframes investment in people as a core component of resilience, rather than a discretionary benefit.
Within that context, the very definition of “better” leadership is changing. Many organizations have spent years building long lists of competencies and behaviors, and many executives feel they have completed countless programs without feeling substantially more equipped for today’s realities. The emerging insight is that better leadership does not come from endlessly accumulating more skills. It begins with sharper prioritization: the ability to clarify what really matters for this organization, at this moment, and to focus attention and resources accordingly. It also requires the capacity to navigate complexity, balancing competing demands and managing real trade-offs rather than searching for a perfect checklist. And it depends on a growth mindset and adaptability: seeing leadership not as a fixed state to be attained, but as a practice that evolves over time, with equal attention to personal sustainability and organizational performance.
"Rather than asking, 'What new skills can we add?' more organizations are now asking, 'Which leadership actions and behaviors will have the greatest impact for us right now, given our strategic intent?'"
Leadership development is moving away from generic, one-size-fits-all curricula and toward more tailored, context-specific work that sits much closer to live business challenges. At Hult Ashridge Executive Education, we work with organizations to identify and prioritize the leadership shifts that will make the biggest difference in their current environment, and then design learning experiences that are tightly integrated with their strategic agenda rather than running alongside it.
The themes that dominate these engagements are remarkably consistent: strategy under uncertainty, restructuring and portfolio change, and leading through multiple waves of transformation. CEOs and their top teams are under immense pressure to make consequential choices faster, with less data and more scrutiny. They need structured, high-quality spaces in which to think, learn, rehearse decisions, and align together. Increasingly, this means team-based executive education, longer-term programs that accompany major initiatives, and coaching and advisory support that sit alongside mergers, demergers or redundancy programs.
For me, the key reflection for 2026 is this: investing in people and leadership development is not a discretionary extra that sits at the margins of the business. It is one of the most important strategic levers you have for resilience and growth. When you invest in your leaders’ capacity to prioritize, to navigate complexity, to work intelligently with AI, to safeguard human sustainability, and to lead restructuring with integrity, you are not only supporting individuals – you are hardwiring adaptability into the organization itself.
2026 will not be a simple year. But for organizations willing to confront complexity honestly, and for leaders prepared to keep growing, it may be the year in which the foundations of the next decade of performance – and the next generation of leadership – are quietly laid.
Meet the expert
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Hari Mann
Dean of Faculty at Hult Ashridge Executive Education and Dean, Ashridge Campus at Hult International Business School
As the Dean at Hult Ashridge, Hari brings over two decades of experience in academia and business. His main interests are in strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining Hult Ashridge, Hari held senior roles in investment banking and then later in Politics.
At Hult Ashridge, Hari has been the MBA and Executive MBA director, and more recently the director of Product Solutions. His research currently involves how financial organization lead and innovate, and how purpose matters in increasing company profits.
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