What is the HR Innovation Roundtable?

A powerful closed-door workshop bringing together 60 Chief HR Officers and Global HR executives from leading global
brands for intimate discussions about specific challenges and transferable solutions.

Agenda: Day 1

February 24th, 2026

2 - 2:15 PM

Arrival Reception & Welcome

About:

For more than a century, IBM has stood at the intersection of innovation and impact. Founded in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR), it was renamed International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924, and over the decades grew into a pillar of the technology era — from punch-card tabulators to mainframes, to today’s hybrid cloud, AI and quantum platforms.

Join us at IBM’s striking new office at One Madison Avenue in New York City for the HR Innovation Roundtable, hosted in a space designed to spark cross-functional collaboration and elevate the employee experience. This flagship venue underscores IBM’s commitment to reimagining work for the digital era.

IBM is a constituent of the Fortune 100 and employs approximately 270,000 people globally across more than 170 countries. IBM delivers hardware, software and services solutions spanning hybrid cloud, AI, consulting, and quantum computing. Their mission is to lead in the creation, development and manufacture of the industry’s most advanced information technologies, while applying these to enable clients, students, governments and society to “make the world work better.”

2:15 - 3:15 PM

AI, Agents & HR: How IBM is Leading the Future of Work

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

At IBM, AI isn’t a future concept—it’s already transforming how 270,000 employees work, learn, and grow. From automating millions of HR interactions to empowering employees through self-service and AI-driven insights, IBM’s journey showcases how agentic AI can elevate both performance and purpose. In this keynote, discover how IBM is reimagining HR through AI agents that free teams from repetitive tasks, improve decision-making, and personalize the employee experience at scale. Learn how the company balances automation with ethics, ensures transparency in every interaction, and equips its workforce to thrive alongside intelligent systems.

How automation, AI agents, and orchestration can free HR to lead the AI future.

• Agentic AI at Scale: Gain insight into how IBM is using AI agents to transform HR into a strategic, data-driven function.

• Responsible Intelligence: Learn how to balance automation, ethics, and human connection in enterprise-scale AI adoption.

• The AI-Ready Workforce: Understand how IBM is equipping its people to collaborate with AI, building agility, skills, and performance for the future.

3:15 - 4:30 PM

Talent Strategies for an AI-First World: Hiring, Building, and Scaling Smarter

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

AI isn’t just reshaping how we work—it’s fundamentally changing how organizations find, attract, and build talent. The future of talent strategy requires a shift in mindset: from filling roles to building capabilities, from chasing resumes to assessing potential, and from manual processes to intelligent, AI-driven systems. This session will explore how leading organizations are redesigning their approach to talent acquisition and workforce strategy to thrive in an AI-first world—where automation, skills intelligence, and agility define success.

How to redesign your talent strategy to align with the realities of an AI-driven world where speed, agility, and skills intelligence determine success.

• From Hiring to Building: Why progressive organizations are shifting focus from acquisition to internal skills-building, mobility, and reskilling.

• AI in Action: How AI and automation are transforming recruitment workflows, from sourcing and screening to assessment and candidate experience.

• Designing for the Future: Why future-fit talent strategies prioritize adaptability, continuous learning, and human-AI collaboration over static role definitions.

4:45 - 6 PM

The Future of HR: How Data, Technology, and Partnerships Drive GenAI Success

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

In an age of constant disruption, organizational structures must evolve faster than ever. This session explores how leading companies are moving beyond traditional models to create agile, skills-first, and technology-enabled organizations built for speed and resilience.

How future-ready organizations are designed to unlock performance, agility, and innovation.

• How to design organizational structures that keep pace with market shifts and skills evolution.

• Why agility, skills, and accountability—not hierarchy—are the currency of modern organizations.

• How HR leads the charge in shaping operating models that fuel growth.

6 - 7:30 PM

Networking, Drinks & Evening Dinner

Get to know your esteemed peers over some hors d'oeuvre and deliciously prepared cocktails. We will then head to Merck’s private restaurant for a three-course evening dinner. Enjoy the relaxed atmosphere in the presence of your peers to learn, share and ponder over the key topics of what was discussed earlier in the day and the exciting conversations in store for you on day 2.

Agenda: Day 2

February 25th, 2026

8 - 8:40 AM

Registration & Breakfast followed by Welcome Reception

PanelistS:

Join us nice and early to grab a tasty bite to eat and your daily dose of caffeine to set you up for a full-on day of learning, sharing and innovating. At 8:30 AM hear a few words from our event chair (Chris), host (Betty) and partner (Will) on what to expect over the course of the day.

8:40 - 9:20 AM

Building Skills-First Organizations: IBM’s Blueprint for the AI Economy

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

How IBM’s approach to skills is driving its business transformation, from reskilling at scale to embedding skills intelligence into every part of the people strategy.

How skills strategies power agility, retention, and AI-readiness.

• How IBM identifies, builds, and redeploys skills at scale.

• Integrating skills into performance, mobility, and workforce planning.

• Making skills the currency of growth and innovation.

9:20 - 10:30 AM

Purpose-Led, Performance-Driven: The New Leadership Playbook

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

The demands on leaders have changed. This session explores how organizations are developing leadership capabilities that drive performance, foster culture, and deliver on purpose—while navigating complexity and ambiguity.

How to develop leadership behaviors aligned to modern workforce expectations and business needs.

• How leadership drives culture, accountability, and performance.

• Building leadership pipelines equipped for agility, empathy, and complexity.

• Why human-centered leadership is the key to resilience and innovation.

10:45 - 11:55 AM

Wellbeing, Productivity & Profit: Finding the Balance That Works

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Wellbeing is no longer a “nice-to-have.” It’s a business driver linked to retention, productivity, and brand. This session shows how top organizations are embedding wellbeing strategies into culture, leadership, and performance models.

How to link wellbeing to performance and embed it across the business.

• The commercial impact of wellbeing on retention, performance, and brand.

• Rethinking leadership accountability for mental health and wellbeing.

• Building a culture of care that drives sustainable performance.

12:55 - 1:25 PM

How IBM Reimagined Performance to Fuel Growth, Skills & Culture

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

A deep dive into IBM’s transformation of performance management—from annual reviews to real-time, skills-based, growth-centered systems that link individual performance to business impact and cultural alignment.

How to build performance models that inspire growth, align to strategy, and reflect evolving work realities.

• Why IBM replaced annual reviews with continuous, skills-based performance conversations.

• How behaviors, skills, and business results are linked to growth at IBM.

• Practical lessons for any organization seeking to modernize performance frameworks.

1:25 - 2:35 PM

The Analytics-Driven CHRO: Why Insight is Your Superpower

panelists:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

Data-rich, insight-poor? Not anymore. This session uncovers how progressive HR leaders are embedding people analytics deep into business strategy, transforming workforce data into decisions that drive growth, retention, and resilience.

How to shift from reporting on people to influencing business outcomes through people intelligence.

• Connecting workforce data to P&L outcomes: how to win leadership buy-in.

• Practical use cases where people analytics is delivering commercial impact.

• Evolving from dashboards to foresight: building a predictive, actionable analytics function.

2:50 - 4 PM

Building the AI-Ready Workforce: HR’s New Frontier

PanelistS:

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:

AI is redefining roles, skills, and work itself. This panel explores how organizations are aligning skills strategies to AI transformation, ensuring talent stays ahead of the curve and business stays competitive.

How to future-proof your workforce and drive growth through skills strategies aligned to AI.

• Why skills are the foundation for AI transformation success.

• How to align learning, skills, and workforce strategies to business outcomes.

• Practical approaches to build AI literacy across your organization.

4 - 5 PM

Closing Remarks & Networking

SPEAKER:

Apply to Attend

Please fill out your details in the form below.

We reserve the right to reject any registrations if your role is to provide HR services, products, or consultancy offerings.
The HR Leaders Innovation Roundtable is strictly reserved for Executive level HR Practitioners (both generalists & specialists).

Why Should You Attend the Innovation Roundtable?

Members

Hosted at IBM’s Flagship Office in New York City

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