2026 Topics & Themes
Practical Applications of AI in HR
Employment Law and Compliance
Change and Uncertainty in Organisations
HR Data-Driven Decision Making
Employee and HR Wellbeing
Organisational Growth and Talent Planning
Global and Local Workforce Trends
For more information and live updates on our speaker programme, follow our Summit Events LinkedIn page.
If you are interested in a speaking opportunity, please contact [email protected]
Jenny is People & Culture Director at Commercial, recently named in the Sunday Times Best Places to Work 2026. With over 20 years’ experience in HR, she has a strong track record of leading progressive, people-focused strategies within growing organisations.
Passionate about employment law, Jenny brings a deep understanding of UK legislation and best practice, ensuring organisations not only remain compliant but also create fair, inclusive, and high-performing workplaces. She is particularly focused on evolving modern HR practices that enhance the team member experience while supporting business success.
Coming soon
Ady is the Chief People Officer for Futura Learning Partnership, a Multi Academy Trust and commercial entity of 26 schools and 1700 employees across the South-West. Ady spent the first half of his career outside of HR, working as at a FTSE 250 listed Recruitment Consultancy as Operations Director, before moving in-house firstly within the Utilities sector, leading Talent and HR teams through significant periods of transformation, before moving into Education in 2024 . His passion is developing people strategies that have tangible impact and creating cultures that people want to work in.
It’s a tough time to be in HR.
Expectations are higher than ever. The landscape keeps shifting and whether it’s leaders, employees, regulators or the media, it can feel like everyone is watching.
It’s no surprise so many of us feel the pressure. But are we partly to blame?
Are there things in the way we work, the habits we’ve built, the way we show up, the role we carve out for ourselves – that sometimes make things harder than they need to be?
In this interactive session, we will explore:
• What it really feels like to work in HR right now – the pressures, tensions and expectations
• Where our own approaches can unintentionally knock our credibility or add to stress
• What changes when we step outside HR and experience it as a ‘customer’
• Small, practical shifts that make a big difference to our impact and wellbeing
The aim is to give you chance to pause, reflect and bounce ideas off each other with the hope that everyone can take some actionable tips back to their organisation.
Hope to see you there!
A highly experienced, academically qualified, and award-winning HR professional with a consistent track record of success, achieved across different countries, cultures, and sectors. Transformation, strategy, and engaging stakeholders from board to floor, have been key pillars of a progressively enjoyable career to date. Proud to have led organisations on successful transformation programmes using innovative technology solutions leveraging leading practices
The session will be about how GOSH has leveraged and continue to accelerate the use of AI and automation in HR in a healthcare setting, in particular, how we have learned from our clinical and research colleagues as we transition to a digital first People service and a new target operating model.
Kelly Blackaby MCIPD is a globally experienced People & Culture Executive with over 17 years of HR leadership across some of the world's most complex and fast-moving environments. Currently serving as Group HR Director EMEA at Mavenir, Kelly leads HR across a diverse, multi-jurisdictional workforce spanning emerging and established markets, operating at the intersection of people strategy, organisational growth and geopolitical reality.
Earlier in her career, Kelly lived and worked in the Middle East - a unique experience that shaped her understanding of people risk from the ground up. Navigating the cultural, operational and human complexities of the region first-hand gave her a perspective on crisis preparedness that no classroom or framework can replicate, and one she has carried into every leadership role since.
Her specialisms include M&A integration, GCC expansion, global mobility and employment law. Kelly brings a practical approach to the challenges facing HR leaders today - and a proven track record of building people functions that hold up when it matters most.
Geopolitical instability is no longer a backdrop - it's an operational reality. As the Middle East conflict continues to disrupt markets, global supply chains and workforce mobility, business continuity has moved from a risk register line item to one of the most urgent priorities on every People leader's agenda. Yet most HR functions are underprepared, under-resourced and - critically - not in the room when it counts.
Drawing on the live situation in the Middle East as a real-time case study, and grounded in Kelly's own unique experience of working in the region, this session shares a practical, honest and immediately applicable framework for navigating crisis - before it hits, during it and in the critical recovery that follows. From duty of care and payroll continuity, to communicating with people on the ground and rebuilding trust once the dust settles, we will consider where the biggest gaps are and exactly what to do about them.
Because when the world gets complicated, we need HR to be ready.
Speaker Programme
The Summit programme consists of inspirational Keynotes, Strategy Sessions (case study presentations followed by focused discussion), interactive Action Learning Workshops, and debate. In addition, we will add value by offering a series of round tables, presentations, and toolkits in the build-up to the event.
If you have any recommendations for speakers or topics for future events please email [email protected]
Register your interest in the 33rd Human Resource Summit
7-9 October 2026
Submit your name and email address and a member of the Summit team will send you further details including:
- the confirmed list of attendees
- instructions on how to apply for a delegate place
- sponsorship options
“The event was a fantastic learning and development opportunity for any HR professional. It was a great to meet peers across various HR disciplines, learn and benchmark against our own HR function. It was my first time attending an event like this and it opened my eyes to the types of suppliers and services that are available to our organisation to assist us on various challenges we face.City of London Corporation”
“This HR Summit was a brilliant way to meet with very relevant industry counterparts and suppliers. The sessions were carefully chosen with an excellent set of speakers. And the suppliers did not hard-sell their products, as often is the case with forums like these. The venue provided ample opportunity to unwind as well the arrangements done by the Summit team in terms of food and hospitality were excellent.General Assembly”