Our Take: 5 must attend sessions at UNLEASH America 2024

UNLEASH America 2024 is here! The international festival of HR returns to fabulous Las Vegas this week.

This year’s show marks my fifth show in my three years as a journalist at UNLEASH, and I just know this is going to be the best show yet.

All of the UNLEASH team have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to bring you the best and brightest from the world of HR and tech.

Kicking off on May 7 with exclusive pre-event summits, HR leaders from the likes of Crocs, Microsoft, FedEx and Marriott will be discussing the topics of the day, specifically how to attract and retain talent in this competitive job market, and how AI will transform the world of work.

We’re sprinkling some magic onto the show this year, with NBA legend Magic Johnson closing out the whole show on Thursday May 9. He’ll share his secrets to success, both on and off the court.

AI is, of course, the core theme of our opening and closing keynotes throughout the rest of the two-day event.

Wharton Professor Ethan Mollick will start the show with the bang by asking: Will AI be as disruptive to the workplace as the COVID-19 pandemic?

We’re buzzing that Salim Ismail, founder of OpenExO, will take us into the UNLEASH Happy Hour with a keynote on HR functions can unleash AI to stay ahead in this every-changing world of work, and Mark Blyth, professor at Brown University, will give us the inside track on how to navigate the new normal of populism with the help of technology.

Of course, beyond these incredible keynotes, we’ve got hundreds of hours of content across 15 stages.

HR leaders from the best-known American brands will take to our breakout stages sharing tips, tricks and advice for their peers about on every HR topic you can imagine.

Here are the standout sessions for me at this year’s show.

1. Unlocking Infinite Potential – The Use of AI in HR

As well as her role as Startup Award judge, Sadie Bell, HPE’s VP of People Systems and Automation, will be on the AI stage tackling how to demystify AI’s role in the future of HR.

While there is a lot of excitement about AI, there is also a lot of concern about whether it’ll steal people’s jobs, as well as how ethical and biased the tech is.

HR is on the frontline of all of these conversations, while also trying to figure out how to leverage AI into their own HR processes.

On Wednesday May 8, Bell will take to the AI stage to share how HR leaders can navigate all this complexity, and ultimately future-proof their organizations.

This is not Bell’s first rodeo at UNLEASH America; I’ve seen her speak before, and and her sessions are always so popular with the audience!

2. Fostering Diversity in a Climate of Reduced Funding and Attention

The global economy is rocky, and this is forcing organizations to rethink how they’re spending their limited resources.

In some cases, this means layoffs, in others, this means budget cuts.

One area of HR that is bearing the brunt is diversity; this is a real concern because, as myself and the Editorial has been reporting, over the last few years progress has stalled around workplace inclusion.

With HR teams being forced to do more with less in the realm of diversity, on Thursday May 9, UNLEASH is here to help.

Moderated by Ginni Lisk, founder of Further, we will bring together a panel of experts (Takeda’s Head of Global Talent Acquisition Jimmy Zhang, Jerrell Moore, CHRO of Cadence Bank, and the FBI’s Chief Human Capital Officer Michael Schneider) to will take to the employee experience and engagement stage to discuss this challenge.

With that caliber of speakers – I interviewed Takeda’s Zhang ahead of UNLEASH America last year – this session really is essential for all HR leaders at the show!

3. Fostering Future Leaders: Leadership Development in the Fortune 500

Building future-ready businesses requires top-notch leadership; one that is empathetic, socially responsible, inclusive and human-centric.

Success here requires a commitment to continuously nurture and develop their people – businesses can only grow if their people do.

One organization with experience here is Fortune 500 pharma giant Bristol Myers Squibb, and its CLO Jeff Orlando will be joining us on May 8 on the Learning and Skills stage to share his top tips.

4. Steering the Course of Holistic Transformation in the Era of Intelligent Services

Building on the success of the 2023 Vendor Summit, UNLEASH is adding  even more top-notch content to the year’s agenda with the HR Tech & Transformation Summit.

One session in the half-day event on Tuesday May 7 particularly stands out to me.

It is all about not seeing technology as the end-game (something I spoke to Citi’s Sahana Mukherjee about in depth at last year’s UNLEASH America), but instead figuring out how to leverage tech to revolutionize the world of work forever.

We are delighted that Liz Almedia, CHRO, North America, at Panasonic, Microsoft’s VP of HR Services Andrew Winnemore, Jaime Nielsen, CPO of Trimble, and last year’s MC Gary Bolles (Chair for the Future of Work at Singularity University) will be taking to the stage to share their unique insights into how to get HR transformation right.

My colleague Lucy Buchholz had the pleasure of interviewing Panasonic’s Almeida head of the show – check that out now!

5. Leading Through Uncertainty: Strategizing Resilience & Navigating Economic Downturns

The COVID-19 pandemic changed businesses forever; HR teams have become integral to the success of organizations.

At UNLEASH, we love that HR has been elevated to this new status – but it creates new challenges.

CHROs need to step up within the C-Suite and really use their expertise to ensure their organizations remain resilient despite ongoing challenges – whether that’s economic, geopolitical or something else altogether.

So, we decided to gather top tier CHROs from Principal, F5, International Medical Group to share their thoughts on Thursday May 9.

Fortune 500 financial services giant Principal’s CHRO Jon Couture already gave me a sneak peek of his secrets to success, so I am excited to see how he builds this out during the session.

That’s just some snippets of our amazing agenda – worried about feeling the FOMO? It’s not too late to grab your ticket and join us in beautiful Las Vegas May 7-