Melbourne HR Technology Summit 2027

Beat the rush and join us early for complimentary barista-made coffee and breakfast.

Employees often have to navigate a maze of inboxes, hotlines, portals and systems just to get a simple answer about leave, pay or onboarding. For HR teams, that fragmentation means repetitive queries, slow response times and little visibility of what employees actually need.

This session explores how organisations are consolidating people services into a single, simple experience, and how getting those foundations right paves the way for AI-powered service that is faster, smarter and more personalised.

• Why fragmented HR service models frustrate employees and stretch HR teams
• How to consolidate people services and drive self-service adoption
• How strong service foundations set HR up for AI-powered support

AI agents are moving beyond chatbots answering leave questions into actively managing scheduling, performance tracking, and parts of the employee lifecycle with limited human oversight.

This keynote covers how far agentic automation has actually progressed in workforce management, and where organisations are drawing the line on what stays human.

• Where AI agents are already running meaningful parts of workforce management today
• What decisions organisations are deliberately keeping human, and why
• The oversight and escalation model needed as agents take on more of the employee lifecycle

HR AI is moving beyond answering questions. Agents can now start workflows, access employee information and take actions across HR systems, raising a new question for HR leaders: what should they be allowed to do on their own?

This interactive session explores where organisations are comfortable giving HR agents autonomy, and where human oversight still matters when decisions or actions affect employees.

We'll discuss:

• Which HR tasks could agents handle without human approval?
• Where should a person still remain in the loop?
• What happens when an agent gets it wrong?
• How should permissions and escalation work as agents become more capable?

Most organisations have HR data scattered across systems that were never designed to talk to each other, making genuine workforce analytics harder than it should be.

This case study covers how one HR team built a working people analytics capability, from getting the data into shape to getting leaders to actually act on the insights.

• What their data actually looked like before the analytics program, and why it wasn't usable
• How they got business leaders to trust and act on workforce data insights
• A real decision the business made differently because of the data

A hands-on, interactive session working through a real workforce technology scenario as a room. Details announced soon.

Traditional L&D content and delivery models are struggling to keep pace with how fast skills needs are changing, and a lot of corporate learning spend still isn't translating into capability.

This case study covers how one organisation rebuilt their L&D approach around AI-powered, personalised learning, and what actually changed in completion rates and skill application.

• What was failing in their traditional L&D model before the redesign
• How they used AI to personalise learning paths without losing instructional quality
• The measurable change in engagement and on-the-job skill application

Research consistently shows only a minority of employees feel genuinely equipped for AI, and managers are often the least prepared to lead teams through the change.

This case study covers how one organisation built manager capability for the AI transition, rather than assuming it would happen on its own.

• What the AI-readiness gap actually looked like among their frontline managers
• The capability-building approach that got managers genuinely ready, not just briefed
• How manager readiness changed team-level AI adoption

Most workforce plans are still built on headcount spreadsheets and annual budget cycles, while the skills a business needs are changing faster than that process can keep up with.

This panel looks at how HR and people analytics teams are using skills data, AI and scenario modelling to plan ahead instead of reacting.

We'll cover:

• Moving from headcount planning to skills-based workforce planning
• Where AI and scenario modelling are improving forecasts, and where the data isn't ready yet
• Getting HR, finance and business leaders working from one shared workforce plan

Small-group, discussion-based sessions where you'll work through real workforce and people technology challenges with peers in similar roles. Roundtable topics will be announced soon.

Put your knowledge to the test in this fast-paced quiz covering real-world trivia, key concepts, and emerging trends. Compete for bragging rights — and a voucher — as the top scorer takes the crown.

AI-driven recruitment tools can scale hiring efficiency and scale bias at the same time if they're not built and audited carefully.

This case study covers how one organisation identified bias in their AI recruitment process and rebuilt it for genuinely inclusive hiring, without giving up the efficiency gains.

• Where bias was actually showing up in their AI-driven recruitment funnel
• What they changed in the tooling, criteria, and human oversight to correct it
• How they verified the bias was actually reduced, not just addressed on paper

More than a year into Australia's right to disconnect laws, organisations are still working out what genuine compliance looks like in a digital, always-on work culture, and the Fair Work Commission's guidance continues to evolve.

This closing keynote covers what compliance actually requires in practice, and where organisations are still exposed.

• What right to disconnect compliance looks like in practice, beyond a policy document
• Where digital work tools and AI agents create new right to disconnect risk
• What's changed in Fair Work Commission guidance since the laws took effect, and what to watch next

If AI takes on more of our work, what happens to the time it saves?

Do organisations use that time to get more done, reduce headcount, or give some of it back to employees? This Think Tank looks five years ahead at what AI could mean for the four-day week, jobs, productivity and how HR plans the workforce.

• By 2031, will a four-day week be normal for knowledge workers in Australia?
• If AI saves your team 20% of its time, what will your organisation do with it?
• Who should benefit most from AI productivity gains?
• How will you measure performance in five years?
• What is HR least prepared for as AI changes work?

Unwind with your peers for a couple of drinks on us!

Beat the rush and join us early for complimentary barista-made coffee and breakfast.

Employees often have to navigate a maze of inboxes, hotlines, portals and systems just to get a simple answer about leave, pay or onboarding. For HR teams, that fragmentation means repetitive queries, slow response times and little visibility of what employees actually need.

This session explores how organisations are consolidating people services into a single, simple experience, and how getting those foundations right paves the way for AI-powered service that is faster, smarter and more personalised.

• Why fragmented HR service models frustrate employees and stretch HR teams
• How to consolidate people services and drive self-service adoption
• How strong service foundations set HR up for AI-powered support

AI agents are moving beyond chatbots answering leave questions into actively managing scheduling, performance tracking, and parts of the employee lifecycle with limited human oversight.

This keynote covers how far agentic automation has actually progressed in workforce management, and where organisations are drawing the line on what stays human.

• Where AI agents are already running meaningful parts of workforce management today
• What decisions organisations are deliberately keeping human, and why
• The oversight and escalation model needed as agents take on more of the employee lifecycle

HR AI is moving beyond answering questions. Agents can now start workflows, access employee information and take actions across HR systems, raising a new question for HR leaders: what should they be allowed to do on their own?

This interactive session explores where organisations are comfortable giving HR agents autonomy, and where human oversight still matters when decisions or actions affect employees.

We'll discuss:

• Which HR tasks could agents handle without human approval?
• Where should a person still remain in the loop?
• What happens when an agent gets it wrong?
• How should permissions and escalation work as agents become more capable?

Most organisations have HR data scattered across systems that were never designed to talk to each other, making genuine workforce analytics harder than it should be.

This case study covers how one HR team built a working people analytics capability, from getting the data into shape to getting leaders to actually act on the insights.

• What their data actually looked like before the analytics program, and why it wasn't usable
• How they got business leaders to trust and act on workforce data insights
• A real decision the business made differently because of the data

A hands-on, interactive session working through a real workforce technology scenario as a room. Details announced soon.

Traditional L&D content and delivery models are struggling to keep pace with how fast skills needs are changing, and a lot of corporate learning spend still isn't translating into capability.

This case study covers how one organisation rebuilt their L&D approach around AI-powered, personalised learning, and what actually changed in completion rates and skill application.

• What was failing in their traditional L&D model before the redesign
• How they used AI to personalise learning paths without losing instructional quality
• The measurable change in engagement and on-the-job skill application

Research consistently shows only a minority of employees feel genuinely equipped for AI, and managers are often the least prepared to lead teams through the change.

This case study covers how one organisation built manager capability for the AI transition, rather than assuming it would happen on its own.

• What the AI-readiness gap actually looked like among their frontline managers
• The capability-building approach that got managers genuinely ready, not just briefed
• How manager readiness changed team-level AI adoption

Most workforce plans are still built on headcount spreadsheets and annual budget cycles, while the skills a business needs are changing faster than that process can keep up with.

This panel looks at how HR and people analytics teams are using skills data, AI and scenario modelling to plan ahead instead of reacting.

We'll cover:

• Moving from headcount planning to skills-based workforce planning
• Where AI and scenario modelling are improving forecasts, and where the data isn't ready yet
• Getting HR, finance and business leaders working from one shared workforce plan

Small-group, discussion-based sessions where you'll work through real workforce and people technology challenges with peers in similar roles. Roundtable topics will be announced soon.

Put your knowledge to the test in this fast-paced quiz covering real-world trivia, key concepts, and emerging trends. Compete for bragging rights — and a voucher — as the top scorer takes the crown.

AI-driven recruitment tools can scale hiring efficiency and scale bias at the same time if they're not built and audited carefully.

This case study covers how one organisation identified bias in their AI recruitment process and rebuilt it for genuinely inclusive hiring, without giving up the efficiency gains.

• Where bias was actually showing up in their AI-driven recruitment funnel
• What they changed in the tooling, criteria, and human oversight to correct it
• How they verified the bias was actually reduced, not just addressed on paper

More than a year into Australia's right to disconnect laws, organisations are still working out what genuine compliance looks like in a digital, always-on work culture, and the Fair Work Commission's guidance continues to evolve.

This closing keynote covers what compliance actually requires in practice, and where organisations are still exposed.

• What right to disconnect compliance looks like in practice, beyond a policy document
• Where digital work tools and AI agents create new right to disconnect risk
• What's changed in Fair Work Commission guidance since the laws took effect, and what to watch next

If AI takes on more of our work, what happens to the time it saves?

Do organisations use that time to get more done, reduce headcount, or give some of it back to employees? This Think Tank looks five years ahead at what AI could mean for the four-day week, jobs, productivity and how HR plans the workforce.

• By 2031, will a four-day week be normal for knowledge workers in Australia?
• If AI saves your team 20% of its time, what will your organisation do with it?
• Who should benefit most from AI productivity gains?
• How will you measure performance in five years?
• What is HR least prepared for as AI changes work?

Unwind with your peers for a couple of drinks on us!