CIPD's Annual Conference and Exhibition 2026

CIPD's Annual Conference and Exhibition 2026: where the profession steps up to lead

The people profession is being asked to address some of the most complex and significant challenges we face - as employers, as organisations and as a society. Employers are under immense pressure to improve productivity and performance while simultaneously responding to skills shortages, AI, and profound changes to the way we work.

These are not separate workforce issues. How organisations build skills, deploy technology, manage people and design work will help determine whether they can turn economic and technological change into stronger performance and growth. Quite simply they aren't elements of the strategy - they determine whether the strategy can be delivered at all.

To help meet this challenge, the CIPD has announced a sharp focus for its Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE), taking place at Manchester Central on 4-5 November.

CIPD ACE will bring together people professionals, business leaders and experts to examine how employers can respond - sharing evidence, practical experience and innovative approaches with real-world impact.

Across two days, the programme will address four areas where people professionals have a critical role to play:

• Skills and capability: identifying future skills needs, addressing capability gaps and building workforces equipped for changing organisational demands.
• AI and digital change: turning investment in technology into better decisions, stronger capability and organisational performance, while retaining the human judgement that matters.
• Employment rights: understanding the practical implications of employment law reforms, the importance of managing risk and building trust.
• Leading change: helping organisations make effective choices about people, work and capability - and bringing employees with them.

Keynote speakers include Octopus Energy founder and CEO Greg Jackson; leadership expert and London Business School Charles Handy Professor of Organisational Behaviour Herminia Ibarra; performance psychologist and high-performing teams expert Jamil Qureshi; and AI entrepreneur Priya Lakhani OBE.

This year also marks the inaugural CIPD ACE address by Neil Carberry, chief executive of the CIPD. Accredited media will have the opportunity to meet and speak with him during the event.

Neil Carberry, chief executive of the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, says: "Work is changing quickly, but saying that is the easy bit. The harder question is whether organisations have the skills, leadership and confidence to respond.

"Look at almost any challenge facing employers - AI, employment rights, productivity, workforce readiness or organisational change - and somewhere within it there is a people question.

"That is why CIPD ACE matters. It brings the profession together to learn from each other, hear what is working, challenge our thinking and take practical ideas back into our organisations."I'm looking forward to welcoming colleagues to Manchester Central and to two days focused on the difference our profession can make."

The conference includes a free exhibition showcasing the latest products and services across HR, technology, L&D, and reward and benefits. Alongside this sits a packed programme of free experiences within the exhibition hall, including expert presentations, a careers hub, employment law support and mock tribunals, as well as the CIPD membership assessment support centre, and live workshops on navigating AI.

New for 2026, Member Central provides a dedicated space for CIPD members with exclusive guided networking and learning sessions designed to bring members together around shared interests and workplace challenges.

The full conference programme can be viewed here.

Delegates can purchase a conference pass here.

Notes to editors

• The CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2026 runs from 08:30-17:10 on Wednesday 4 November and 08:30-16:00 on Thursday 5 November at Manchester Central.

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