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Human Edge Conference 2026

Technology changes the game. People drive growth.

 

Crown Sydney | 21 October

 

Optional masterclasses: Marsh Barangaroo | 20 October

Register now

Adoption was the easy part

Many organisations have moved quickly to adopt AI, yet demonstrating a clear return on that investment remains an open challenge.

The pressure is arriving from every direction at once: executive mandates to move faster, tighter budgets and rising employee expectations. The organisations seeing the strongest returns are often those focusing as much on the human side of change as on the technology itself.

These pressures also arrive together rather than one at a time. Leadership gaps, skills shortages, employee financial insecurity and declining health compound where they intersect, which is why the answer rarely sits with one function alone.

Human Edge Conference 2026 brings HR, risk and finance leaders into the same room for a day to work on both halves of the problem: driving the transformation and protecting the people who make it work.

Event details

  • When

    Conference: Wednesday 21 October 2026, 8.30am to 4.35pm AEDT

    Masterclasses: Tuesday 20 October 2026, 10am to 5pm AEDT

  • Where

    Conference: Crown Sydney - 1 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo, NSW 2000, Australia

    Masterclasses: Marsh Barangaroo - 100 Barangaroo Ave, Barangaroo, NSW 2000, Australia

  • Contact

    Questions?

    Contact the Events Pacific team

Who’s in the room 

More than 200 senior leaders from across the Pacific: CEOs, CFOs, CROs and CPOs, alongside the heads of HR, risk, rewards and transformation.

You will spend the day with peers making the same decisions on the same timelines, with the opportunity to build professional connections that extend beyond the day.

What you'll leave with

  • An expert discussion of where AI adoption is creating value, and where the risks are less visible
  • Practical approaches to redesigning work without burning out the people doing it
  • Case studies from organisations mid-transformation, including the parts that did not go to plan
  • A way to lead your teams through decisions where the answer is not yet settled
  • A stronger business case for investing in people, drawing on the latest Marsh research and data
  • Actions you can take to your executive team the following week

Why does AI adoption succeed for some organisations and fail for others? Because it's not about the technology, it's about how you manage people through the transition. With 20+ years leading HR transformation globally, Ilya opens on why people-first approaches drive growth and efficiency, not compromise them.

Further speakers and the closing keynote will be announced in the coming weeks.

Agenda:

Wednesday 21 October: main conference

Crown Sydney

Sets the stakes using the latest Marsh Global Talent Trends data and People Risk research, and frames the day's question: how do you drive transformation, manage the risk and fund it all at once? Speaker: Ilya Bonic.

A candid account from an organisation that faced the same do-more-with-less mandate. How they redesigned roles, invested in leadership and skills and released budget in the process, including where it did not go to plan.

Why leadership capability gaps are among the most significant multipliers of people risk during AI adoption — and how to detect cognitive overload early.

How to redesign roles so people and AI genuinely work together, build fair access to training and technology, and turn anxiety into confidence through clear skills pathways.

What frameworks support good decisions when the outcome is not knowable? How do you lead transparently without all the answers, and protect culture and employee voice while still moving at pace?

Benefits and insurance as a strategic enabler rather than a cost line, with data on the retention and engagement returns.

What you will take away and act on.

Speaker to be announced.

Tuesday 20 October: optional pre-conference masterclasses

Marsh Barangaroo

Two streams of hands-on sessions for you, your team or your managers. Choose one session per time slot.

Arrival and morning tea from 10am. End-of-day refreshments from 3.45pm.

Stream A: thought leadership and data

The workforce trends shaping 2026. Expert panellists unpack emerging employee expectations, business priorities and what they mean for organisations mid-transformation.

The latest people risk insights, and practical approaches to managing rising health and benefit costs while maintaining employee value and workforce resilience.

Salary increases alone may no longer retain critical talent as skills age faster and AI reshapes jobs. A challenge to conventional thinking on rewards, and the choices organisations now face.

Cost of living pressure is straining employee financial security. What that means for organisations, and how they are finding practical ways to enhance their offering.
Stream B: workshops and case studies

Practical training on working through common organisational change impacts, and how generational differences need to be considered at work.

Organisations struggle to realise value from AI because they deploy technology without redesigning work. A practical framework for deconstructing roles and rebuilding work around creativity, judgement and relational intelligence.

Work through a client scenario to identify wellbeing needs, evaluate interventions and develop a targeted, evidence-led response.

How to deconstruct roles, identify where AI substitutes, augments or transforms, and rebuild work around the skills that drive sustainable performance. Includes a live client case study on job architecture and skills taxonomy.

Come for the conference, add the masterclasses or do both.

View the full agenda and choose your sessions

Register

Questions? Contact the Events Pacific team: EventsPacific@mmc.com.
Marsh Workforce and Rewards empowers business leaders to make better decisions for their workforce through HR, reward and talent consulting. Trusted for our data-driven insights and deep expertise, we are leaders when it comes to data, with one of the largest employee salary and benefits databases in Australia, providing you with valuable insights to shape your workforce strategy. We can work with you to transform your organisation, total rewards program, employee health and benefits, HR function and skills strategy to help nurture the right environment and opportunities for your people to succeed.

Marsh Health and Benefits empowers employers to navigate the complexities of people risks, costs management and employee benefits with confidence, helping them make the best decisions for the health and protection of their employees, so their people and businesses can thrive.

We are one of the leading people and health risk consultancies in Pacific, drawing from an extensive global network to provide insights and expertise on people risk solutions, workers compensation, employee health and benefits, and more.

This content is issued by Mercer Consulting (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 55 153 168 140 (MCAPL). MCAPL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mercer (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 32 005 315 917 (Mercer Australia). References to ‘Mercer’ shall be construed to include Mercer Australia and/or its associated companies. We process your personal data as described in our privacy policy: https://www.mercer.com/en-au/footer/privacy-policy/
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