Explore the Agenda
Workshop A: Leveraging AI Efficiency
9:20 am Registration & Networking
9:50 am Pre-Conference Day Chair’s Opening Remarks
Supercharging Productivity Session Scaling Coaching with AI
10:00 am Discover: Transforming Organizational Coaching with AI at Recursion
- How can HR leaders successfully transition from traditional one-to-one coaching to an AI-driven platform that scales across the entire organization?
- Explore Recursion’s journey in implementing an AI coaching solution, including the change management strategies used to overcome adoption challenges and address employee concerns around privacy and performance monitoring
- Learn how this initiative is expected to drive measurable improvements in performance and retention, while reducing coaching costs and unlocking realtime, data-driven insights, positioning AI as a catalyst for cultural and operational transformation
10:20 am Discover: Launching an AI Enabled Workforce to Supercharge Productivity in a 90 Person Biotech Startup
- How can a rapidly scaling biotech empower every employee, from scientists to HR, to use AI confidently and effectively while maintaining a lean people function?
- Learn how the organization rolled out a company wide AI initiative, introduced “vibe coding” to non-technical teams, embedded AI into recruiting and performance tools, and equipped employees with practical skills to automate workflows and accelerate decision making
- By leveraging AI powered applicant screening, manager enablement tools, and everyday productivity use cases, the organization is reducing manual workload, improving hiring efficiency, and enabling a team of one to support 30% annual growth, freeing capacity for higher value strategic work
10:40 am Develop: Scaling Organizational Impact with AI-Driven Coaching & Productivity
Question & Answer Session Facilitated by the Focus Day Chair
This session explores how organizations can leverage AI to transform traditional coaching and workforce productivity models. Learn practical strategies for implementing AI-driven coaching platforms and embedding AI tools across functions to unlock efficiency, reduce costs, and enable cultural and operational transformation.
- Transitioning from one-to-one coaching to scalable, AI-enabled solutions
- Overcoming adoption challenges and addressing privacy concerns
- Embedding AI into recruiting, performance, and everyday workflows
- Driving measurable improvements in engagement, retention, and productivity
11:00 am Action: Operationalizing AI for Workforce Enablement & Cultural Change
Output Focused Action Session Facilitated by the Chair
Building on the Q&A insights, this roundtable invites participants to share experiences and strategies for embedding AI into organizational processes while maintaining trust and agility.
Together, we’ll explore how to balance innovation with employee confidence and create frameworks that sustain cultural alignment during rapid transformation.
- How do you build trust and overcome resistance when introducing AI into people processes?
- What practical steps help non-technical teams adopt AI confidently?
- How do you measure the ROI of AI-driven coaching and productivity initiatives?
- What cultural shifts are essential to make AI a catalyst for growth rather than disruption?
11:20 am Networking Break
11:50 am Discover: Embedding Psychological Safety While Integrating AI into HR Practices in Biotech
- How can HR leaders in biotech foster psychological safety while introducing AI-driven tools for recruitment, performance management, and workforce planning?
- Explore practical approaches to building trust and transparency in AI-enabled HR processes, ensuring employees feel valued and secure during organizational transformation
- Learn how organizations are creating inclusive cultures that embrace innovation without compromising employee wellbeing, and the steps to align AI adoption with ethical and human-centric principles
12:10 pm Discover: Evolving Organizational Culture & Behavior While Leveraging AI for Skills Development
- How can organizations continuously adapt their culture and behaviors to stay competitive in a rapidly changing business landscape?
- Explore strategies for embedding agility and resilience into the workforce, ensuring employees embrace change while maintaining alignment with organizational goals
- Learn how AI-powered tools can support personalized skill development, enabling HR leaders to foster a future-ready workforce without compromising human connection and trust
12:30 pm Develop: Embedding Psychological Safety While Integrating AI into HR Practices
Interactive Q&A Session
This interactive Q&A explores how HR leaders in biotech can foster psychological safety while introducing AI-driven tools for recruitment, performance management, and workforce planning. Gain practical insights into building trust and transparency in AI-enabled processes, ensuring employees feel valued and secure during organizational transformation.
12:50 pm Action: Evolving Organizational Culture & Behavior While Leveraging AI for Skills Development
Roundtable Discussion
This roundtable builds on the Q&A session by focusing on how organizations can adapt culture and behaviors to remain competitive in a rapidly changing landscape. Explore how AIpowered tools can support personalized skill development while maintaining human connection and trust.
- How can organizations embed agility and resilience into their culture?
- What approaches help employees embrace change without losing alignment with organizational goals?
- How do you ensure AI-driven skill development remains ethical and human-centric?
- What practices foster trust and inclusion during technological transformation?
1:10 pm Lunch
2:10 pm Fireside Chat: AI Chat with Stacy Proctor
Discover how leading HR and business innovators are practically harnessing AI to unlock productivity, enhance decision‑making, and accelerate strategic impact. This candid fireside chat explores real use cases, lessons learned, and the mindset shifts required to adopt AI responsibly and at scale, offering attendees clear, actionable inspiration for what’s possible right now.
2:40 pm Discover: The Execution Switch™: How to Reduce Cognitive Overload & Get Back to Follow-Through
Most people don’t quit when work gets harder than expected – they start slipping. Not from laziness, but because cognitive overload hijacks focus, drains decision energy, and makes “relief” behaviors (avoidance, procrastination, busywork) feel like the only option. In this fast, practical session, Tanya Booke introduces The Execution Switch™: a neuroscience-based approach to lowering the Cognitive Load Tax™ and rebuilding momentum. Attendees will learn how to spot their execution leaks, convert vague goals into clear finish lines, and walk away with repeatable tools to ship meaningful work without burnout.
Learning takeaways:
- Understand the Cognitive Load Tax™ and why overload makes follow-through harder
- Identify personal “execution leaks” that trigger procrastination or busywork
- Learn a finish-line method to turn “work on it” into measurable progress
- Apply quick tools to regain momentum in real work conditions
3:10 pm Chairs Closing Remarks & End of Workshop
Workshop B: C-Hacking Session
3:30 pm Registration & Networking
3:50 pm Pre-Conference Day Chair’s Opening Remarks
4:00 pm Panel: Leadership That Scales: Developing Leaders for Growth, Change & Impact
In this interactive, in-person conversation, learn what it takes to build leadership capacity that keeps pace with growth, ambiguity, and mission-critical work.
Unpack the behaviors and systems that shape culture, performance, and trust. Expect practical stories from inside Karius, plus time to pressure-test your own leadership approach through audience Q&A and discussion so you leave with ideas you can apply immediately back at your organization.
- Define the observable behaviors that distinguish “scaling leadership” from strong people management especially in complex, fast-changing environments
- Identify the core elements of a leadership development system (cadence, feedback loops, coaching, and visibility) that builds leaders at every level before and after promotion
- Apply at least one actionable practice to create clarity and alignment during high stakes change (e.g., pivots, restructures, shifting priorities) without defaulting to micromanagement
4:40 pm Discover: Engaging the Board to Drive Strategic HR Impact
- How can HR professionals secure board-level buy-in to elevate people strategies from operational to strategic priorities?
- Explore proven approaches for translating workforce initiatives into business language, aligning talent programs with organizational goals, and presenting data that resonates with board members
- Learn how AssemblyBio have achieved measurable outcomes, such as improved retention, accelerated leadership development, and enhanced organizational agility, by fostering a stronger HR–board partnership
5:00 pm Discover: Driving Enterprise Leadership to Navigate Integration, Layoffs & Budget Constraints at Vir Biotechnology
- How can HR leaders rebuild trust and engagement after workforce reductions while integrating two distinct business units?
- Learn how Vir Biotechnology rolled out an enterprise leadership program, including on-site and virtual leadership events, external facilitation, and practical frameworks to shift senior directors from siloed thinking to enterprise-wide decision-making
- By fostering agile leadership and embedding cost-conscious behaviours, Vir is targeting measurable improvements in engagement scores and operational efficiency, enabling smarter trade-off decisions and reduced spend across the organization
5:20 pm Networking Break
5:40 pm Discover: Re-Energizing Workforce Resilience in Life Sciences – A CHRO Blueprint for Leading Through Uncertainty
- How can CHROs sustain engagement and morale when the industry faces its toughest cycle in decades, with near-zero attrition masking disengagement?
- Explore actionable strategies to boost resilience and purpose across the workforce, including peer support networks, transparent communication, and energy-building initiatives that keep employees connected to patient impact
- Learn how leading organizations are reframing resilience as a core business priority, helping employees feel supported and energized while navigating a challenging market cycle
- Keeping your EVP and EX top of mind even as priorities constantly shift for the organization
6:00 pm Panel: The People Agenda in Life Sciences: CHRO Leadership for a New Era of Innovation
In today’s high‑stakes biotech environment, every organization looks to HR for clarity, resilience, and leadership. CHROs are tasked with guiding their companies through scientific uncertainty, shifting market pressures, evolving workforce models, and constant change. But while HR is expected to have all the answers, the people at the top rarely have a dedicated space to ask their own questions.
This panel creates that space. Join an honest, senior‑level conversation designed exclusively for biotech CHROs who carry the weight of organizational wellbeing on their shoulders. This is an opportunity to step out of the role of constant problem‑solver and into a room of peers who truly understand your pressures, your constraints, and your challenges.