The Culture Playbook Is Broken. CXOs Must Take The Wheel Now.

Forbes

13-05-2025

Shujaat Ahmad Speaking On Stage
For years, leaders have been told to pay attention to 'people and culture.' But in most organizations, that directive has quietly defaulted to human resources (HR).
The result? Culture has been treated as a support function—adjacent to business, not embedded within it. In a world that is increasingly defined by social, technological, and geopolitical disruption, this approach is no longer viable.
The playbook is outdated. And the assumptions behind it no longer hold.
It's time for CXOs to take direct responsibility for culture and people strategy—not as a matter of values, but as a matter of business viability.
For the past decade, HR leaders and influencers have told leaders to invest in engagement surveys, wellness programs, and diversity initiatives; months long processes to create purpose and value statements.
And yet, employee satisfaction remains elusive, turnover persists, and cultural misalignments continue to undermine organizational objectives.
Shujaat Ahmad, an expert in AI, Future of Work, and Cultural Transformations, notes, 'The traditional people and culture playbook has grown stale. What worked in predictable, stable environments breaks down amid rapid technological change, shifting societal expectations, and evolving workplace norms.'
He points to an uncomfortable truth: The command-and-control approach to organizational dynamics is colliding with the reality of a workforce that demands transparency, purpose, and agency.
The external environment only makes these challenges worse.
Employees no longer have hard boundaries between work and home lives. Political polarization seeps into workplace dynamics. Economic uncertainty creates tension between organizational needs and individual security. Social movements continue to transform expectations around equity, inclusion, and corporate citizenship.
In this new world of work, current people strategies don't just underperform—they actively backfire.
When confronted by culture challenges, executives rightly look to HR leaders for guidance. Leaders who bring impressively formatted dashboards and comprehensive reports that provide more confusion than clarity.
In short, data theatre.
In his experience, Ahmad has seen engagement scores, turnover metrics, and diversity statistics fill PowerPoint slides without answering the fundamental question: "What should we do differently? And why does it matter to our business?" Benchmarks and industry comparisons create the illusion of insight while obscuring the unique context of your organization —too much information, not enough actionable intelligence.
To move beyond data theater, executives must push for insights that connect to business outcomes. Rather than asking "How engaged are our employees?" demand to know "How does engagement impact our ability to innovate?"
Rob Hadley observes, 'I have seen companies implement a generic engagement survey such as Gallup, with the expectation that their managers have the ability to understand that data (which is light on context), and take action while running their businesses or functions. They simply aren't equipped in many cases.
If organizations are not executing regular interaction between managers and employees e.g., 1-on-1s or other opportunities to connect and communicate, no amount of engagement data is going to be helpful in building a better employee experience. Talking to people and building relationships is still the best engagement data.'
Leaders, instead of tracking time-to-hire, focus on the quality of decisions and their downstream effects on performance and culture.
This shift requires a new partnership with HR—one where executives clearly articulate their strategic questions and HR delivers targeted insights that inform decision-making. But it also demands that CXOs take responsibility for translating people data into cultural direction.
Hadley says, 'It's a mistake for business leaders to think they can outsource culture to HR. Many of the factors that drive employee engagement—like day-to-day operational clarity and team dynamics—are far beyond HR's scope. If your daily operations are chaotic, no HR program in the world can fix that.'
Whether you care about the work habits and expectations set by Gen Z employees or not, younger workers have fundamentally different values around transparency, authenticity, and purpose. And close behind them, Gen Alpha is developing perspectives shaped by even more profound technological and social change.
Gone are the days where the employees remained silent on dissatisfying and toxic workplaces.
These generations have no interest in silently enduring work cultures that don't prioritize their safety, dignity and well being. At the same time, they're not afraid of sharing their unfiltered reality on Discord, Reddit, and TikTok—creating a permanent, searchable record of your culture that no employer branding campaign can overcome.
They are 40% of the workforce and growing—more than that in your customer base. Their experiences at work are your brand. One viral post about toxic leadership can undo years of carefully crafted recruitment messaging.
Any leader serious about building a lasting brand has to contend with the incoming workforce.
Shujaat Ahmad is seeing this play out in real-time. AI is changing everything: how work is done, how skills are valued, and how companies are structured. This is not a future scenario—it's already here. AI is reshaping how businesses and careers are built. As he sees it, 'The biggest shift isn't just in productivity today—it's in unlocking innovation that wasn't possible with humans alone.'
Business strategy is shifting from taking the easy but failed path of predictable planning to the hard but impactful path of innovating amidst uncertainty. That means your culture—how your people collaborate, learn, and lead—has to shift too. And here's the truth: most leadership teams don't yet know how to hire, design, or upskill for this new environment.
Ahmad shares his foresight based on how AI has made it easier and faster to build a technology product and go to market. 'Companies will shrink their full-time workforce, relying on AI, marketplaces, and fractional talent. This shift will fuel a rise in smaller, more agile businesses disrupting traditional giants.'
Last month, Leslie Feinzaig, the CEO of Graham & Walker named this new trend - seed-strapping. She has seen more and more female founders, 'Raising one round and growing profitably from there.' With smaller, higher impact teams.
However, Ahmad makes a key callout for leaders. 'The fundamentals of good leadership and culture remain the same. AI isn't replacing human skills—it's reshaping what matters. Critical thinking, ethical decision-making, and empathy will be indispensable. The ability to ask the right questions and interpret AI-driven insights will separate leaders from followers.
In a world flooded with AI-generated output, authenticity and originality will be the ultimate differentiators. Storytelling and communication—translating complex insights into action—will be a game-changer. Leadership and collaboration will matter more than ever. AI can crunch data, but only humans can inspire teams, build trust, and drive meaningful change.'
Ahmad believes that AI can be your strategic culture advisor—giving you the signals that matter and cutting through the noise. But AI only works if your organization is truly data-oriented—measuring outcomes, not activities.
Culture is no longer a downstream concern—it is a strategic differentiator. It determines whether your organization will attract top talent, adapt to disruption, and retain customer trust in a high-transparency era.
Chris Powell, CEO of Talmetrix, with decades supporting CXOs agrees - 'Culture isn't decor—it's the code. It drives decisions, power, and performance. Transformation means recoding the patterns that run the place.'
The organizations that lead the next decade will not be defined by their technology alone, but by the cultures they build to support innovation, inclusion, and agility.
It's time for the C-suite to lead that effort.
Not beside the business strategy. But at the very heart of it.