2026 Agenda

Most education benefits are designed backward—dropping employees straight into degree programs and hoping they succeed. This session argues that early learning experiences determine everything that follows, from persistence to mobility to ROI. Workforce Edge, Sophia, and EnGen explore how starting with the right building blocks—foundational coursework, English language skills, and targeted credentials—creates stronger outcomes for employees and employers alike. Led by CEOs, this conversation redefines what a “successful” education benefit really looks like in today’s workforce.

• Learn to leverage coaching at all critical stations of an employee’s journey—from recruitment and onboarding, through high-potential development and succession planning—to boost engagement and productivity
• Understand how to move beyond isolated offerings to an integrated, scalable coaching program embedded within the organization’s culture
• Identify specific opportunities where an integrated coaching approach serves as a more cost-effective and impactful alternative to common talent management and recruitment challenges, maximizing the reach of your L&D budget
• Embrace coaching as the essential bridge between strategic intent and daily behavior. Understand how a unified coaching ecosystem serves as the ultimate tool for driving sustainable behavior change that locks in cultural alignment and supports top-down strategic shifts

Join Kent as he shares how to tackle key talent and leadership challenges, including:

• What’s your organization’s annual net talent production?
• What percentage of your leaders are truly leading at the right level?
• How do you drive measurable change in leadership behavior?
  (Only 10% of CEOs say their leadership development initiatives have clear business impact — Fortune survey)
• How to create a leader-led development culture?
  (90% of middle managers believe strong front-line leadership is critical — yet fewer than 5% of front-line managers report being developed as leaders)

For decades, leadership succession has been treated like a Game of Thrones episode. Zero-sum, top-down, and cloaked in silence. That story is outdated. Succession is no longer just a boardroom event. It’s a system-wide risk, and opportunity, playing out in real time.

• The story is shifting: Succession isn’t a blood sport. It’s a mindset shaped by culture. The old power-play narrative is giving way to a more human, transparent model
• The crisis is everywhere: Succession gaps don’t just exist at the top. Most organizations neglect non-C-suite roles, draining talent quietly and weakening institutional resilience
• Wisdom transfer is the missing link: The best transitions happen when leaders don’t just leave, they lift. Endorsement and collaboration between generations is an undervalued asset
• AI changes everything: This could be the last cohort to lead all-human teams. Succession plans must now address relational fluency and technological literacy
• Future-fit succession is adaptive: The best strategies balance:
• • Immediacy – Act fast when the moment demands it.
  • Continuity – Preserve what makes your culture work.
  • Generativity – Grow leaders who leave a legacy, not a vacancy.

• Leveraging research and data to identify resilient skills that help build agile talent pipelines to enable growth
• How AI is changing the definition of skills
• Gather insights from two case studies of organization who have enabled career mobility at scale
• Working cross-functionally with Strategic Workforce Planning, Talent Management, and Talent Acquisition to prepare for the future
• Tapping into new budgets for talent development

AI is reshaping work—and it’s also reshaping how we support and grow our leaders.

Join leadership expert Al Dea, and AI technologist James Cross, as they cover the latest approaches to enabling leaders using new technologies.

Al Dea will share why now is the time to reimagine how we think about leadership development in a rapidly changing world of work, drawing on conversations with 40+ talent and learning executives.

And James Cross will share real-world examples of AI being used to support managers across industries – including a live demonstration of building a voice AI simulation for a performance conversation.

The session will conclude with Q&A, and attendees will receive access to an AI role-play simulation tool.