Andy Ortiz, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer at Cedars-Sinai, has been named the 2026 NHRA-LA HR Executive of the Year by the National Human Resources Association Los Angeles chapter. The recognition, announced at NHRA-LA’s 11th annual Executive of the Year Awards, highlights the expanding role of HR leadership in workforce transformation, organizational culture and change management.
Andy Ortiz, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Cedars-Sinai, has been named the 2026 NHRA-LA HR Executive of the Year, placing workforce leadership and organizational change at the center of the Los Angeles HR community’s latest annual awards program.
The National Human Resources Association Los Angeles chapter announced the recognition at its 11th annual Executive of the Year Awards at the Skirball Cultural Center on September 17. The event used the theme “Catalyst” to focus on HR leaders working to accelerate organizational change and workforce progress.
Ortiz was selected from four finalists. The other finalists were Kathleen Vu, executive vice president of human resources at Caruso; Oracio Galindo, head of employee experience at the Los Angeles Rams; and Ellen Goldsmith, global chief people officer at Deluxe Media. The finalists represent sectors including healthcare, real estate, sports and media.
For HR technology and workforce strategy, the recognition comes at a time when the responsibilities of senior HR executives are expanding well beyond traditional talent administration.
Gartner’s 2026 research identifies AI-driven HR transformation, workforce redesign, leadership readiness and organizational culture as four major priorities for CHROs. The research, based on 426 CHROs across 23 industries and four global regions, found that redesigning the HR operating model could account for 29% of predicted AI productivity gains.
That shift is changing what organizations expect from HR leadership. CHROs increasingly have to connect workforce planning with technology strategy, employee experience, leadership development and organizational change rather than treating those areas as separate programs.
Gartner’s 2026 future-of-work research also points to several challenges that sit directly within the HR leadership mandate. These include managing AI-enabled work, addressing culture and performance pressures, responding to AI-generated low-quality work, and redesigning recruiting practices as artificial intelligence changes both candidate and employer behavior.
Ortiz’s recognition comes against that broader backdrop. According to NHRA-LA, he was recognized for his leadership, commitment to people and work to create a thriving workplace. Ortiz said the award was especially meaningful because of the opportunity to share the recognition with the other finalists and emphasized workplaces where people are “seen, heard and empowered to thrive.”
The organization’s recognition also reflects the growing importance of leadership development as organizations redesign work. In an interview shared by NHRA-LA before the awards, Ortiz said he wanted to encourage greater investment in leadership education at all organizational levels and strengthen leadership pipelines that provide employees with opportunities to develop.
That emphasis aligns with a wider HR technology trend: technology can provide workforce analytics, skills intelligence and employee-experience tools, but organizations still need leaders capable of translating those capabilities into changes in how work is organized.
Gartner’s research on AI and HR makes a similar distinction. It says AI adoption alone is not sufficient; HR leaders must align technology with enterprise strategy, redesign HR operating models and prepare employees for changing roles and skills. Gartner estimates that more than 30 million jobs could be redesigned each year by AI-driven innovation by 2030, while organizations investing in upskilling and reskilling are 2.5 times more likely to achieve positive AI outcomes, according to its research.
For enterprises, this places CHROs at the intersection of technology adoption and workforce readiness. HR leaders are increasingly involved in questions about which tasks should be automated, how roles should change, what skills employees need and how organizations maintain trust during periods of disruption.
The implications extend to HR technology providers as well. Platforms for talent management, employee experience, workforce planning, learning and skills intelligence increasingly need to support the organizational changes surrounding AI, rather than simply automate isolated HR processes.
NHRA-LA President Andrew Agress said the 2026 finalists demonstrated leadership in helping organizations navigate change, support employees and build workplaces where people can perform effectively. The association has been focused on the professional development, career planning and leadership of HR professionals since 1951.
Ortiz’s award therefore sits within a broader transition in the HR function. As AI changes workflows and organizations rethink workforce structures, the CHRO role is increasingly tied to the practical side of transformation: preparing leaders, developing talent pipelines, sustaining culture and helping employees adapt to new ways of working.
The NHRA-LA awards provide a local snapshot of that transition, with the four finalists reflecting how HR leadership now spans employee experience, organizational culture, workforce strategy and change across very different industries.
Market Landscape
The CHRO role is expanding as organizations move from experimenting with AI to redesigning work around human-machine collaboration. Gartner’s 2026 research identifies AI transformation and workforce redesign among the four leading priorities for CHROs, alongside leadership readiness and organizational culture.
Gartner also says the HR operating model has the highest predicted impact on AI productivity gains among the initiatives it studied, at 29%.
For HR technology vendors, this creates demand for systems that connect workforce data, skills intelligence, employee experience, learning and organizational planning. For CHROs, the challenge increasingly involves translating those technologies into sustainable changes in work, leadership and employee development.
Top Insights
- Andy Ortiz, Cedars-Sinai’s CHRO, was named the 2026 NHRA-LA HR Executive of the Year at the association’s 11th annual awards.
- The four finalists represented healthcare, real estate, sports and media, reflecting the breadth of HR leadership across Los Angeles.
- Gartner identifies AI-driven HR transformation and workforce redesign among the leading CHRO priorities for 2026.
- Gartner says the HR operating model has the highest predicted impact on AI productivity gains among its four 2026 HR priorities, at 29%.
- Ortiz has highlighted leadership education and stronger internal leadership pipelines as areas where HR can prepare organizations for workforce change.
Join thousands of HR leaders who rely on HRTechEdge for the latest in workforce technology, AI-driven HR solutions, and strategic insights
