There is no shortage of AI promises in HR. The harder part starts when leaders must decide which work to redesign, which decisions must stay human, and what skills their organizations need next.
That is the backdrop for UNLEASH Paris 2026, which takes place from October 20 to 22 at Paris Convention Centre. UC Today will attend the event for the first time, joining HR, business, technology, and AI leaders as they tackle a timely theme: “Repurposing Humanity in the Age of Machines.”
UNLEASH says it expects more than 8,500 attendees from 140-plus countries, alongside 300-plus speakers and 250-plus exhibitors. It is a sizable stage for a market that is moving quickly from AI pilots toward deeper questions about operating models, workforce strategy, learning, and governance.
TL;DR
UNLEASH Paris will bring HR leaders together around AI, skills, workforce strategy, and work technology.
The speaker lineup pairs major business leaders with HR, learning, and future-of-work voices.
For buyers, the key test is whether AI conversations translate into practical job redesign, clear governance, and better employee experiences.
UC Today will be on the ground for its first UNLEASH Paris, speaking with vendors and tracking the technology developments shaping the HR market.
Why Is UNLEASH Paris Landing at a Critical Moment for HR?
UNLEASH Paris lands as HR teams face pressure to turn AI ambition into an operating model that employees, managers, and leaders can actually use. They must improve productivity while protecting trust, developing new skills, and avoiding a narrow automation-first approach to workforce transformation.
The market has moved past a simple “will AI change work?” debate. Leaders now need to understand how AI changes the work itself. That includes how they hire, develop skills, support managers, plan workforce needs, and govern sensitive people data.
In a January 2026 analysis, Josh Bersin argued that organizations are moving beyond applying AI to individual productivity and toward redesigning business processes. He positioned this as a major reinvention of HR, with implications for operating models, job design, and AI orchestration.
That does not make every AI deployment transformative. It does, however, raise a more useful question for the Paris agenda: where can AI create capacity, and where does the organization need more human judgment, context, and accountability?
In UNLEASH’s July event announcement, Marc Coleman, Founder and CEO at UNLEASH, said:
“If you are tired of the doom and gloom around AI and jobs, Paris is the antidote.”
The announcement also quotes Coleman saying leaders are no longer debating whether work will change. Instead, they are showing how they are reinventing it.
What Does Repurposing Humanity in the Age of Machines Mean?
UNLEASH’s theme argues that organizations should use AI to rethink human contribution, not simply replace it. For HR leaders, that means connecting technology investment to better learning, smarter job design, clearer accountability, and work that people can perform with confidence.
“Humanity” can become a soft counterweight to hard automation targets unless leaders connect it to practical choices. Which tasks do employees hand to an agent? Which decisions require escalation? Who validates recommendations that affect hiring, pay, development, or performance?
UNLEASH has organized its 2026 agenda around AI, skills, operating models, workforce strategy, reward, data, technology, talent, and transformation. Those themes reflect the knot HR teams are trying to untangle: technology decisions now shape both employee experience and business execution.
Across its first day, the event will offer selected attendees summits, salons, hosted employer expeditions, and executive dinners across Paris. The main conference then opens on October 21 and 22, with seven stages, an exhibition, product discovery, startup showcases, analyst insight, and implementation-focused sessions.
Which UNLEASH Paris Speakers Should HR Leaders Watch?
The UNLEASH Paris speaker lineup gives HR leaders access to business, people, learning, and technology perspectives. The value lies in the contrast between those viewpoints, from global enterprise leadership to practical people strategy and the science of how people learn.
Nicolas Hieronimus, Chief Executive Officer at L’Oréal, will take the stage alongside L’Oréal Chief Human Resources Officer Jean-Claude Le Grand. UNLEASH says the session will explore how L’Oréal has connected talent, skills, and AI as part of its innovation approach.
Josh Bersin, Founder and CEO at The Josh Bersin Company, will bring a market lens to the changing work technology landscape. His session should be one to watch for leaders trying to separate useful innovation from the swelling noise around agentic AI.
Brian Glaser, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Learning Officer at Google, brings the learning agenda into focus. As AI changes task requirements, learning teams need to move beyond course catalogs and ask how they help employees apply new skills in their day-to-day work.
Anne-Laure Le Cunff, Ph.D., neuroscientist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, adds an important perspective. Technology can accelerate access to information, but organizations still need to understand attention, motivation, learning, and behavior change.
Other key names include Eddie Wilson, CEO at Ryanair; Sharon Doherty, Chief People & Places Officer at Lloyds Banking Group; and Peter Hinssen, co-founder and partner at nexxworks. Each offers a different view of transformation, from large-scale operations and regulated environments to leading through persistent uncertainty.
Meanwhile, broadcaster and filmmaker Louis Theroux will feature in the October 22 closing keynote, “Two Visions, Two AI Strategies: One Extraordinary Conversation.” It is a signal that UNLEASH wants the conversation to extend beyond HR technology and into the social questions that accompany it.
See the full UNLEASH Paris speaker lineup and event agenda.
