HR Tech 2026 kicks off next week at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, October 20 to 22. More than 7,000 HR and business leaders will be there, with 200+ sessions to choose from.
That's a lot of agenda. So here's our take on this year's theme, the sessions we'd make time for, and where you can find us.
This year's theme is From Change to Transformation, and the show's framing is direct. AI is the biggest disruption to hit the workforce in a generation. Finance can automate numbers. Operations can automate processes. HR has to lead the change with people at the center, and that's a very different job.
We agree, and we'd add one thing. Change has stopped being an event. Reorgs, hiring freezes, new AI tools and shifting plans now arrive every quarter, sometimes every month. So transformation becomes something you do all the time: handling the next change well, and the one after that.
That depends on three things.
Knowing where you stand right now. Most leadership teams still make org decisions from last quarter's spreadsheet. By the time the deck is built, the numbers have moved.
Seeing what a change will do before you make it. What does a 10% reduction do to capacity? What happens to spans if you remove a layer? Which teams are already stretched? Those answers belong before the announcement.
Making sure AI works from the right picture. AI agents are moving from answering questions to taking actions. That's only useful if the agent understands how your organization actually works, and only safe if it's limited to what it's allowed to see and change.
That's the thread we'll be following through the week. It also shaped our picks below.
Session times can change, so check the HR Tech app before you head over. A few of these are part of add-on programs, and we've flagged those.
Leading the Future of Work Through Transformation and Innovation
Kelly Jones, Chief People Officer, and Michael Kiley, Director of People Data & Generative AI Strategy, Cisco
Tuesday, October 20, 3:45 p.m. (opening keynote)
The opening keynote goes straight at the theme: how HR guides constant change while keeping people, culture and business results lined up. Cisco bringing its people data and AI lead on stage is a good sign this won't stay abstract.
I, Human: AI Isn't the Problem, Your Talent Strategy Is
Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Chief Science Officer, Russell Reynolds Associates
Wednesday, October 21, 8:15 a.m.
His argument is that AI will expose the weak spots already in your talent practices. It's a useful gut check before you buy anything.
AI and the Future of Talent: Reflections from Anthropic
Mike Boufford, Head of People Products, Anthropic, with Tim Sackett, CEO, HRUTech.com
Thursday, October 22, 2:45 p.m.
A rare look at how an AI company runs its own people function, and why it rebuilt hiring around evidence and outcomes.
The Future Is Unbound… There Is No Finish Line
Prerna Ajmera, GM of HR Digital Strategy and Innovation, Microsoft
Thursday, October 22, 3:25 p.m. (closing keynote)
A practical close to the week on delivering results quickly when the ground keeps moving. The title is the theme in six words.
Setting the Lens: Making AI Practical, Responsible, and Scalable
Jason Averbook, Now to Next
Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. (HR Tech Intensive: Operationalizing AI in HR, add-on)
A grounded start if your team is moving from pilots to real use and needs a way to think about responsibility at scale.
Ask the Experts: Managing a Hybrid Human x AI Workforce
Joey Price, Jumpstart HR
The Knowledge Center, Expo Hall
Bring your actual questions about managing teams where some of the work is done by agents.
Redesigning the Workforce: What Changes When AI Can Do the Work?
Kyle Forrest, Deloitte Consulting
HR Executive Strategy Summit (add-on)
If you're being asked which roles AI changes and what the org looks like afterwards, start here.
Designed for Disruption: The Agility Routines that Enable Future Readiness
Kevin Oakes, i4cp
HR Executive Strategy Summit (add-on)
Research-backed habits from organizations that handle change well.
Rethinking Work: Framing the Decisions HR Leaders Must Make
Kimberly Carroll and Mark Stelzner, IA
Tuesday, 9:30 a.m. (HR Tech Intensive: Redesigning Work, add-on)
A structured way to frame the work redesign decisions landing on HR right now.
Roundtable: What Workforce Questions Are Hardest for HR Leaders to Answer for the C-Suite?
HR Executive Strategy Summit (add-on)
This is the question we hear most. Go and compare notes with peers on the board and exec questions that still take weeks to answer.
Build, Buy, or Mesh? The New HR Tech Decision
Stacey Harris, Sapient Insights Group, and Shrikant Pattathil, Harbinger Group
Solutions SnapShot Theater, Expo Hall
Useful if you're deciding how new tools should fit around the systems you already run, rather than replacing them.
You'll find ChartHop at Booth #6134 in the Expo Hall. Stop by to see a live demo, talk through your planning or AI questions, or just grab a ChartHop bunny while they last.
Our CEO, Ian White, will be at the booth. If you have questions about AI in HR, whether it's agents, governance or where to start, bring them.
Expo Hall hours
Want a set time? Book a meeting with our team →
Unlock Your HR and Business Data: AI, Agents, Analytics and Planning Alongside Workday, SAP and More
Tuesday, October 20, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Demo Theater 1, Expo Hall
With Ian White, CEO, and Justin Garrity, Product, ChartHop
It starts right after the opening keynote, so walk straight over. In an hour, you'll see how ChartHop:
This is a working demo with live product, and there's time for questions at the end.
Add the demo to your HR Tech agenda →
ChartHop is the organizational intelligence company. We connect your people and business data into a living model of your organization, so you can see what's changing, plan what's next and act on it. More than 350 companies, including Airbnb, Headspace, Sweetgreen and 1Password, use ChartHop to run their organizations with the full picture.
Not going to HR Tech? Book a demo → and we'll walk you through it anyway.
See you in Vegas.
Organizational intelligence is what a company knows about itself, connected in one place and current enough to decide on. Here is where the term came from, the five layers of data it spans, how it differs from workforce intelligence and people analytics, and the test a system should pass before it uses the name.
Heading to HR Tech 2026 in Las Vegas? Our take on the show theme, the sessions worth your time, and where to find ChartHop's booth and live demo.
Organizational intelligence is what a company knows about itself, connected in one place and current enough to decide on. Here is where the term came from, the five layers of data it spans, how it differs from workforce intelligence and people analytics, and the test a system should pass before it uses the name.
