When a new CPO gets appointed, that alone signals major change. But there are only a limited number of CPO hires each year.
So how else do we find the companies about to embark on major change and major spend?
When there is consistent change across the top table of an HR function, new voices enter the room. Direction shifts. Legacy decisions get revisited.
That is when meaningful change happens.
But volume alone does not dictate spend. You have to balance hiring activity against company size, growth ambitions and wider investment plans.
Or you can get Bernard to do it for you.
We asked Bernard to build a list of companies that have seen the most senior HR team changes so far in 2026, and research key investments.
The results surfaced 200+ businesses where senior change is stacking up. Not churn. Not backfill. Structural change.
Here are five examples from that list we're betting on in 2026.
Aristocrat operates in over 90 countries with around 7,300 employees and ongoing digital expansion across gaming and interactive platforms.
Recent senior HR appointments include:
When senior hires stack up across business partnering, service operations and talent performance, it usually signals structural change rather than routine hiring.
With continued digital growth and acquisitions underway, this looks like an HR function modernising at pace. Systems, engagement tools and performance frameworks are unlikely to stand still.
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Nscale is scaling high-performance AI infrastructure across the UK, Norway, Iceland and North America.
Recent senior hires include:
That is a full growth stack.
When CPO, Reward and Global TA leadership are strengthened at the same time, it signals serious headcount growth and increasing international complexity.
This is not maintenance hiring. It is a people function being built for scale.
Dentsu operates across 145 markets with around 45,000 employees, with continued investment in AI-powered media and integrated digital capabilities.
Recent senior HR appointments include:
In an organisation of this size, strengthening HR operations and global reward governance at the same time typically signals integration and standardisation across markets.
Add L&D leadership into the mix and it points to capability building alongside structural alignment. That combination often precedes wider systems and framework investment.
Databricks continues to expand globally, particularly across Asia-Pacific, while accelerating AI product growth and enterprise partnerships.
Senior people hires include:
When employee relations leadership strengthens alongside talent acquisition and regional expansion, it usually reflects organisational growth becoming more complex and more regulated.
That tends to drive investment in scalable hiring, people data and compliance infrastructure.
MBDA employs around 13,000 people across Europe and the US and is growing fast.
Recent senior HR appointments include:
Reward leadership, HR systems ownership and transformation roles appearing together rarely happens by accident.
Combined with large-scale recruitment and ERP upgrades, this points to coordinated HR modernisation rather than isolated hiring.
When we asked Bernard to surface companies hiring multiple senior HR leaders, he returned 200+. You can access all of them in Honch.
More importantly, you can target every business and every leader with full context of what is happening across their wider HR team and company.
Anyone can target a new HR leader. Very few understand what is happening around them.
If you know:
… your outreach changes.
Context is the difference between noise and relevance.
Honch is built on signals.
Senior hires. Stacked appointments. Team expansion. Benefits strategy. Growth markets.
All individually interesting, but combined? Commercially powerful.
And you do not need to be a data analyst to find it.
Just ask Bernard.
If you want to target HR teams interested in your products and services in 2026, start with signals.
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