As the world of work evolves at an unprecedented pace, HR leaders must take the lead in shaping its future. How can organisations embrace AI, culture, and leadership to create agile, purpose-driven environments that attract and retain top talent? How can we rethink employee experience, learning, and workforce transformation to ensure businesses stay competitive and employees remain engaged? The future of work is not something we wait for - it’s something we must build.  Are you ready to boldly lead your workforce into the future?

• How can the C-suite lead authentically and inspire their organisation with a clear future-focused vision and purpose?
• Building trust through transparent and empathetic leadership.
• How are the executive leaders driving change and transformation whilst fostering a thriving workplace culture?
• What’s next? Key priorities for the Leadership Suite in shaping the future of work.

A quick ice-breaker session you can get to know your fellow attendees

The degree of global uncertainty today and for the foreseeable future is more complex than at any time in recent memory, with risks evolving daily. A new corporate landscape is emerging, as the forces that underpinned 40 years of globalization-driven growth come under increasing strain.

Risks are coming at us from every direction: trade, climate, technology, and workforce dynamics. It’s no longer a question of if disruption will occur, but when and how it will impact your organization and its people.

While you cannot control trade winds, predict the weather, or fully anticipate technological evolution, you can shape how your workforce responds. As the key influencer and decision-maker, your role is critical in planning, preparing, and equipping your people to adapt, perform, and thrive—no matter what challenges lie ahead.

In the current AI revolution and the exponential pace of change people are dealing with, understanding how organizations can humanize their workplaces and also create thriving, high-performing cultures is important and critical. It is a polarity that leaders will have to understand and manage effectively to drive sustained growth and success. Based on the latest book, 'The Restored Organization' and conversations and interviews with over 100 global business leaders, this session will share ways organizations can impact the future of work, build culture capital and foster environments where both people and results can flourish together. Through the session, learn six effective ways for culture restoration using the FLOWER™ framework, in order to drive better engagement that is built on Trust, Empathy and Inclusion.

• How can HR use technology to enhance collaboration, connection, and productivity?
• When should organisations use technology for collaboration, and when is in-person interaction essential?
• How can AI, digital platforms, and automation streamline teamwork across dispersed teams?
• How can digital tools reinforce organisational purpose and drive long-term engagement?
• How can virtual networking and AI-driven tools recreate ‘water-cooler’ moments and strengthen workplace connections?

As AI transforms the world of work at speed and scale, learning departments must shift from static delivery to intelligent and adaptative ecosystems. What does a truly future ready learning culture look like? How can AI, automation, and data shape learning that is personal, scalable and embedded into the flow of work?

• Creating meaningful employee experiences that drive engagement.
• How is EVP evolving to meet changing workforce expectations?
• What leaders must do to turn engagement strategies into action.
• Empowering employees to make changes to improve their work experience directly. 
• What operational aspects can you improve to enhance employee experience?

• Join us as we wrap up Day 1 with drinks, networking, and a chance to experience how Speak makes learning fun and human.
• Day 1 Closing & Wrap-Up.
• Language party tricks for networking events.
• Learning a language beyond translation — sharing culture, building confidence, and understanding each other.

Sponsored by Speak

As AI transforms the world of work at speed and scale, learning departments must shift from static delivery to intelligent and adaptative ecosystems. What does a truly future ready learning culture look like? How can AI, automation, and data shape learning that is personal, scalable and embedded into the flow of work?

• How tech-forward L&D leaders are shaping organisational impact.
• Exploring emerging trends and their influence on structures and future strategies.
• Identifying critical skills for long-term success and how L&D leaders can enhance workforce capabilities.
• Ensuring L&D initiatives align with overall business objectives and drive measurable results through the use of technology.
• Shifting L&D from support role to strategic advisory role within the business.

A quick ice-breaker session you can get to know your fellow attendees

This session will explore how video helps solve common workplace challenges such as meeting overload, fragmented information, and low engagement. Attendees will gain practical takeaways for organisations looking to adopt a video-first approach to internal communications. Abi will showcase how Vimeo leverages its own video platform to connect and engage a global and diverse workforce, sharing examples that include monthly all-hands live streams (State of the Vimeo), asynchronous video updates, employee training, and cultural celebrations. The presentation will also demonstrate how embedding video in our intranet, The Loop, creates a single source of truth for employees.

• Strategy on skills embedded with Flow of work.
• What skills matter beyond AI (resilience, storytelling, ethical decision-making). 
• How L&D can prepare adaptive learning ecosystems. 
• How humans complement AI rather than compete with it.

• What does a strong learning culture look like, and how does it contribute to long-term business success? 
• How can leadership champion and model a learning culture to drive engagement at all levels? 
• The role of leadership in tech adoption to make learning truly accessible.
• Encouraging a Growth Mindset and strategies to engage employees and overcome resistance to continuous learning and digital learning engagement.

• What does the research tell us about the changing world of work?
• How are emerging roles and new ways of working reshaping expectations?
• Which critical skills do people and organisations need to stay ahead?
• What practical steps can L&D leaders take now to build future readiness?

• AI-Powered Talent Development – A Business Imperative
• Why Personalization is the Key for Talent Development
• Success Stories from ELSA Business

• A look into the evolving learning tech landscape including: LMS, LXP, LRS and other emerging tools.
• How AI and tech can complement existing methods for a balanced and complete approach.
• Solving challenges in user adoption, privacy, and ethics.
• What tech is worth the investment to help streamline administrative tasks, programme management, and analytics within L&D?
• What does the future of learning programmes hold? Leveraging VR, AR, and gamification for enhanced employee engagement.

• Join us as we wrap up Day 1 with drinks, networking, and a chance to experience how Speak makes learning fun and human.
• Day 1 Closing & Wrap-Up.
• Language party tricks for networking events.
• Learning a language beyond translation — sharing culture, building confidence, and understanding each other. 

Sponsored by Speak

• What do employees now expect from employers? A look at the changing employer/ employee dynamic.
• How can you ensure your EVP drives employee engagement and retention setting you apart from the competition?
• Aligning company values with talent expectations.
• What employees really want in 2026—rethinking benefits, flexibility, and career growth.

• How can CHROs and talent leaders harness AI and emerging technologies to drive workforce transformation while maintaining a people-first approach? 
• How can organisations optimise decision-making using AI-driven insights on talent acquisition, workforce planning and leadership development?
• Striking the balance between automation and human interaction and using technology to enhance, rather than replace, the human element of talent management.
• The role of AI and technology in fostering continuous learning, upskilling, and workforce agility to meet evolving business needs.
• Navigating ethical considerations and bias in AI-powered talent management and ensuring responsible use.

AI is fundamentally changing how work is performed, faster than ever. That’s why it’s imperative to find the right talent that can thrive in today’s disruptive work environment.  Many organisations are taking a skills-based approach to talent management, with continuous upskilling as part of the solution. But what skills are, in fact, the most important to future-proof our workforces and most efficiently and effectively equip them for continuous change? There is a great deal of speculation, but much less scientific research on the topic. In this session, we will share important insights from our research about what skills and capabilities are most critical for organisations to cultivate today — and how they can do this successfully. 

Description:

The future of HR isn’t shaped by policies or technology alone, it’s created through shared experiences, insights, and bold ideas. In this interactive session, you’ll explore the biggest shifts in HR, debate how emerging technologies and talent trends will shape the next five years and capture your own vision for the future. You’ll leave with practical takeaways, peer insights, and renewed energy to drive impact in your organisation.

Key Takeaways:

• Identify today’s most significant shifts in HR and talent management
• Debate the impact of emerging HR technologies and trends
• Define your personal vision for the future of HR in your organisation

• Strategies for building a positive, inclusive, workplace culture that’s built on respect, transparency and trust.
• The role of leaders in inspiring and guiding teams, what qualities must good leaders have?
• Ensuring psychological safety, how can you create an environment that encourages innovation and creativity and reduces the fear of failure?
• Building synergies among the different generations in the workplace
• Embedding DEI as a core element of workplace culture to foster belonging, equity, and diverse perspectives at all levels.

• Reinvent your CHRO identity – The Digital CHRO playbook: shift from traditional HR leader to digital change-maker, blending human resources, empathy, and AI fluency.
• Build an AI-first team – Identify the right AI tools and relentlessly upskill your HR talent to adopt, apply, and scale them.
• Drive organizational AI readiness – Position HR at the center of transformation, embedding AI into culture, skills, and ways of working.
• Partner with Tech Leaders – Collaborate with CTOs and digital teams to co-create an AI-ready operating model for the enterprise.
• Lead the frequency shift – Ignite rapid transformation by raising leadership fluency across AI, Emotional Intelligence, and Subconscious Intelligence.

Create environments where families and organizations thrive together

By the Parent-friendly Label™ (PFL) Program under Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority

• Led by the Parent-Friendly Label™ (PFL) Program under the Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, PFL is redefining workplace culture in the UAE and setting a benchmark for global best practices.
• Tackles key challenges for working parents—childcare, flexibility, and parental leave—while boosting retention and well-being.
• Adopted by 100+ organizations, reaching 311,000 employees in the UAE and 1 million globally, including families with children of determination.
• Delivers shared value: stronger employer reputation, improved work-life balance, and national development impact.
• By embracing PFL, leaders commit to a future where success is measured by people, purpose, and performance.

• What does the next decade of work look like?
• Balancing tech-driven transformation with human-centered leadership.
• How real-time employee listening and predictive workforce analytics will shape future-ready organisations.
• Predictions for workforce trends and HR’s evolving role.

• Successfully aligning HR strategies with the company’s vision, mission, and strategic priorities.
• How can you tailor change initiatives to fit diverse cultural differences across global teams as well as adhering to legal implications in different regions?
• How can you build trust and engagement from employees, so they are more open to change, how do you deal with change resistance or fatigue?
• Ensuring that changes contribute to the long-term success and stability of the organisation.

• Understanding the strategic value of developing leaders and nurturing talent at all levels within the organisation.
• Techniques for recognising, assessing, and fostering leadership potential among employees to build a strong talent pipeline.
• Designing effective leadership and talent development programmes. What are the key elements of successful initiatives that drive long term growth?
• Integrating classic leadership theories with modern talent development strategies, including coaching, mentoring, upskilling, and digital learning.
• Exploring leadership competencies: identifying core skills and behaviours that define effective leaders and aligning development programs to cultivate these competencies across all levels, and tracking these through tech.

This session goes beyond training to explore the power of psychological safety - what it is, why it matters, and how it shapes fearless, high-performing teams. We’ll unpack the science and stories behind environments where people feel safe to speak up, take risks, and learn through play and innovation. Drawing on personal insights, the aim is to share practical tools and applications that will help leaders build fun, collaborative, and future-ready learning cultures in your own workplace.

Description:

The future of learning isn’t defined by a single voice; it’s created through shared experiences and ideas. In this interactive session, you’ll explore the biggest shifts in L&D, debate what will shape the next five years, and capture your own future learning philosophy in a single statement. You’ll leave with fresh insights, practical takeaways, and renewed energy for shaping what’s next, together. 

Key Takeaways:

• Discover today’s biggest shifts in L&D.
• Debate the forces shaping the next five years.
• Define your learning philosophy in one statement.

• How can L&D leaders design learning strategies that boost engagement, retention, motivation, and performance?
• What types of learning initiatives resonate most with employees? How can organisations leverage data from employee feedback and surveys to refine L&D programmes.
• What key learning and development metrics should be tracked and benchmarked to measure the impact and effectiveness?
• The role of AI and data analytics in personalising learning, understanding development needs, and predicting engagement trends.

• Why Purpose Matters Now – why purpose is the anchor for leaders in an AI-driven, fast-changing world.
• The Leadership Gap – what happens when skills and strategy exist without purpose (impact on culture, engagement, and business performance).
• Three Shifts to Lead with Purpose – practical frameworks leaders can adopt to align personal, team, and organisational purpose.
• Stories in Action – real examples of leaders and organisations that thrived by putting purpose at the centre.
• Call to Action – how leaders can start leading with purpose today to drive growth, culture, and resilience.

This presentation shares key personal insights from a journey in organizational transformation and learning over 20 years spanning across various sectors, including telecommunications, higher education, logistics and healthcare. It outlines critical lessons in areas of strategy, customer centricity, ways of working, culture and change management.

• Learn to recognise and identify the most valuable digital and human skills needed within your organisation.
• How to conduct an assessment on individuals to gauge which skills they are lacking.
• What strategies can be used to embed the development of these into existing L&D programmes?
• What tools and frameworks can measure the impact of training on employee development?
• How to embed continuous development into tech-based workflows for a more integrated and tech-enabled learning ecosystem.

• Beyond AI, what skills will be critical for the next decade? 
• How L&D leaders can prepare their workforce for automation and emerging technologies? 
• Creating adaptive learning ecosystems for ongoing skill development.
• Balancing human-centric skills with AI-driven efficiencies in the workplace.