Hear from thought leader Kevin Oakes, author of the bestselling book Culture Renovation®, as he offers his predictions for the year ahead and outlines the challenges (and opportunities) HR leaders face. You'll also gain insight into what to expect from i4cp in 2026 from our new CEO, Terry Waters.

Details coming soon!

Details coming soon!

Angela will talk about how the most effective HR leaders are great coaches and how it’s an essential role for unlocking the highest potential from leaders, teams and organizations. She’ll provide insight into the key mindsets and skills that differentiate coaching, and why they are critical for HR professionals building future-ready organizations with growing human-agentic workforces. Illuminated with stories and examples from her decade with Accenture, as a CHRO and in working with a wide array of clients, Angela will share lessons learned from triumphs and tribulations through the lens of coach.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, successful mergers and acquisitions aren't just about financial deals or strategic fit—they’re about people. Behind every transition are individuals navigating uncertainty, adapting to new cultures, and redefining their roles.

This keynote explores the human side of M&A: how we lead people through change with empathy, clarity, and intention. We’ll discuss the key principles of effective change management, the common emotional and operational challenges teams face, and the strategies that help people—not just companies—thrive through transformation.

Whether you’re a business leader guiding a company through change, a manager supporting your team, or team member involved in transformation, this session will offer practical insights and real-world examples to help you face change with resilience and confidence.

We're celebrating our 13th year in partnership with Best Buddies International. In this short session, you'll hear about Best Buddies' mission to support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. An estimated 81% of adults (18+) with developmental disabilities do not have a paid job in the community, yet i4cp's research shows that these people represent an untapped talent pool who can contribute to the workforce in a myriad of ways.

CEO succession is the board’s most pressing risk—and the CHRO’s greatest opportunity. Drawing on unique CES research this session will describe the practices that distinguish successful transitions from costly failures. We will discuss how CHROs can elevate their influence and shape the future of organizational leadership.

Details coming soon!

Details coming soon!

Connect with other attendees to discuss and debate key takeaways from today's session.

Join a powerful, closed-door session exclusively for CHROs and CPOs—a forum dedicated to exploring the most critical topics shaping the future of work, from agentic AI’s impact on the workforce to new approaches in organizational agility and talent strategy.

• Interactive brainstorming and peer discussions
• Direct access to i4cp’s Chief Research Officer and senior analysts
• Collaboration with participants from i4cp’s regional CHRO Forums and CHRO Board

The forum will also include a CHRO-exclusive cocktail hour for additional networking opportunities.

Join your peers for a unique evening at the Fairmont's Copper Canyon, where we'll explore the next frontier while enjoying dinner, drinks, and fun activities. Who knows what the future holds, but we guarantee this night will be one to remember.

Participate in the 13th i4cp/Best Buddies Friendship Walk, in support of inclusion and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It’s a great opportunity to stretch your legs, soak in a beautiful Arizona sunrise, and learn more about Best Buddies. RSVP here. (opens in a new tab)

Enjoy breakfast with your peers and get ready for the day's events. If you haven't already checked in to receive your badge, registration also opens at 7:30am.

Zillow committed to staying remote first in 2020, and set out to learn how run a growing business in ways. Five years in the experiment has grown into new way of working that supports employee location flexibility and drives tangible business results. Zillow shares it's learnings and challenges in this session.

Building skills-based cultures and programs sounds great in theory, so why do so many companies struggle with managing skills in reality? Don't miss this session which explores the latest research on the talent practices that turn organizations into skills-oriented, future-ready powerhouses.

50-year CEO Bob Chapman and Chief People Officer Rhonda Spencer will share how they partnered to transform Barry-Wehmiller’s culture while driving 16% revenue growth and 14% share growth, compounded since 1987.

Barry-Wehmiller is a growth platform and value-added operator redefining success in business by demonstrating how human and economic vibrancy work in harmony. With a portfolio spanning industrial and packaging automation, professional services, and life sciences technology, BW combines disciplined operations, people-centric leadership, and purpose-driven growth with a permanent capital mindset to create lasting value for all stakeholders. Recognized globally for pioneering a model of leadership that empowers leaders to perform with excellence while caring for others, BW has grown into a $3.6 billion organization with more than 12,000 team members united by a shared mission of building a better world through business. To learn more, visit barrywehmiller.com.

Conference participants will receive a copy of Everybody Matters: The Extraordinary Power of Caring for Your People Like Family, the revised and expanded edition of Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia’s best-selling book which chronicles Barry-Wehmiller’s journey in creating new expectations of business, released October 2025.

Details coming soon!

Lunch isn't just lunch at an i4cp event! Since we don't allow HR vendors or consultants to attend, each table is jam-packed with people you'll want to meet. Further, we'll reserve some tables for specific topics or functions so you can connect with others who have similar interests or responsibilities.

i4cp's research has uncovered a formula for building and sustaining a future-ready organization. In this must-attend session, i4cp's chief research officer Kevin Martin dives into that equation with data, case studies, and more, while highlighting the key business and talent trends he and his team of analysts are observing.

In this panel, hear from experts and former practitioners representing different regions of the world as they dissect local trends they're seeing and the implications for global leaders and organziations. The panel will focus on the future of work, the rise of agentic AI, and how such themes are manifesting in APAC, EMEA, and other markets.

Details coming soon!

Chip Conley is one of the world's leading experts on intergenerational collaboration in the workplace based upon his role as the "modern elder" to the founders of Airbnb, a Boomer in the land of Millennials. He wrote about this in his bestselling book "Wisdom@Work" and, subsequently, created the world's first midlife wisdom school, the Modern Elder Academy (MEA), with campuses in Santa Fe, NM and Baja, Mexico. In an era in which knowledge is increasingly commoditized due to artificial intelligence, is it possible that human wisdom is what's valuable? Just like knowledge management practices became popularized soon after management theorist Peter Drucker coined the term "knowledge workers," Chip believes that "wisdom workers" (of all ages) are starting to create wisdom management practices in the most successful companies. He will be in conversation with Dr. John Boudreau about the value of having five generations in the workplace for the first time.

A future-ready organization needs a future-ready culture, but many companies aren't set up to embrace disruptive change. Further, only 15% of culture change efforts succeed. In this session, you'll get the latest research and insight on the key actions that help build and maintain cultures that will outperform competitors, and hear how real companies have put these actions... into action.

Connect with other attendees to discuss and debate key takeaways from today's session.

Join us for the star-studded i4cp 2026 Awards Ceremony, where we’ll celebrate HR excellence Hollywood style, with red carpet moments, sparkling champagne, and coveted awards. Dress to impress if you like—we look forward to seeing you in your most glamorous style.

Following the Red Carpet Arrival from 5:00 - 5:30 PM, don’t miss i4cp’s Award Ceremony (starting at 5:30 PM) where we hand out several prestigious honors to individuals and organizations that are driving real change. During the ceremony we’ll announce the winners of our Next Practice Awards, and recognize recipients of our High-Performance Award and Member of the Year Award, among others. See last year's winners.

And of course there will be an afterparty! Dress up or dress down, whatever your preference may be, and see you there!

Join us for more fun at our Hollywood-style Awards Afterparty, where we further celebrate our award winners and each other with food, drinks, and entertainment. It’s a great way to cap off the i4cp conference in glamorous style.

Kick off the final day of the conference with your peers, where you'll hopefully make connections that last for years.

Our most popular speaker from last year's event returns to offer his latest guidance and recommendations.

Details coming soon!

When NRG acquired Vivint in 2023, our workforce more than doubled overnight—jumping from 6,000 to over 15,000 employees. But with this expansion came a challenge: integrating two vastly different workplace cultures. The corporate, structured environment of NRG met the dynamic, entrepreneurial spirit of Vivint, creating a unique crossroads that tested our adaptability and leadership.

Mergers and acquisitions often spark uncertainty, and this transition was no exception. Combining teams, redefining roles, and fostering a unified culture required deliberate effort—but the payoff was extraordinary. Through collaboration and commitment, our employees embraced the journey, shaping a bigger, better NRG in the process.

As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” Navigating cultural integration isn’t just important—it’s essential for long-term success. The challenges, breakthroughs, and triumphs of merging two large companies have forged a stronger, more versatile organization ready for the future."

See the latest findings from i4cp's latest study on generative AI. This study is designed to help CHROs address a significant CEO need: guidance on what needs to happen with the workforce due to disruptive technologies—most notably GenAI.

We seek to surface how high-performance organizations are ensuring a future-ready workforce, and what their HR teams are doing differently.

Details coming soon!

Kevin Oakes will wrap up the conference with closing remarks and an actionable send-off for every individual in the room.