Conference Program

Times and details are subject to change.

Friday, October 9

Registration Check-In and Breakfast

Walnut Street Entrance of Huntsman Hall (Ground Floor)

Welcome & Opening Remarks

Session 1: The Insider Advantage: Moving Up, Finding Success, and Building a Career That Lasts

As we engage in new conversations about the future of work, it’s worth reflecting on the failure of some of our past predictions. This conversation between Wharton professor and Faculty Director of Wharton People Analytics, Matthew Bidwell, and McNulty Leadership Program Executive Director, Jeff Klein, will discuss why conventional wisdom about the decline of long term employment and the growth of free agency has fallen so wide of the mark. Building on some of the ideas in his forthcoming book, The Insider Advantage, Bidwell will explain how longer term relationships between employees and employers are good for organizational performance and employee careers and wellbeing. He will also draw out some of the implications for People Analytics and workforce decisions.

Matthew Bidwell, Xingmei Zhang and Yongge Dai Professor of Management; Faculty Director, Wharton People Analytics, The Wharton School
Jeff Klein, Executive Director, The Anne and John McNulty Leadership Program, The Wharton School

Session 2: Your Best Meeting Ever: Redesigning Collaboration in the Age of AI

Meetings are where some of our most important work happens and where enormous amounts of time and energy are wasted. In the age of AI, we have a new opportunity to rethink when we meet, how we meet, and what work should happen outside the meeting altogether.

Drawing on research from her bestselling book Your Best Meeting Ever, Rebecca Hinds will share practical, evidence-based principles for designing meetings that get things done. She’ll explore when a meeting is truly necessary, how to improve participation and decision-making, and how AI can reduce low-value coordination while preserving the human interaction that matters most.

Rebecca Hinds, Best Selling Author of Your Best Meeting Ever; Head of the Work AI Institute, Glean
Martine Haas, Vice Dean, Global Initiatives; Dr. Felix Zandman Professor of International Management, The Wharton School

Networking Break

Please join us on the Forum Floor for networking, beverages, and light fare.

Session 3: The Art of Collaboration: Lessons in Creativity, Leadership, and Performance

In this dynamic session combining live performance and conversation, Grammy Award-winning ARKAI violinist Jonathan Miron and cellist Philip Sheegog will be joined by Wharton Executive Director, Jeff Klein, to explore how trust, improvisation, and a shared creative vision have shaped their journey from an impromptu jam session at Juilliard to some of the world’s most prestigious stages, from Carnegie Hall to the 2026 NBA Finals.

Drawing on their experience writing, producing, performing, and collaborating across disciplines, they will offer a distinctive perspective on the human dynamics behind exceptional performance. As organizations navigate a future increasingly shaped by data and technology, ARKAI will remind us that creativity, adaptability, and human connection remain essential ingredients for innovation and collective success.

ARKAI, Jonathan Miron & Philip Sheegog, Grammy Award-Winning Musicians
Jeff Klein, Executive Director, The Anne and John McNulty Leadership Program, The Wharton School

Lunch Break

Please join us on the Forum or 8th floor for lunch.

Session 4: Transcending the Numbers: How Great Organizations Evaluate Talent

What does it take to recognize talent when the numbers tell only part of the story? Baltimore Ravens Director Steve Clagett Jr. and Wharton Professor Cade Massey bring real-world experience and academic research together to explore how organizations make consequential decisions about people.

Clagett’s experience selecting special operations personnel in the U.S. military and assessing NFL prospects, developing leaders, and strengthening organizational culture along with Massey’s research on judgment under uncertainty will inform the discussion on how data, human judgement, character, and culture come together to identify talent and build high-performing teams.

Steve Clagett, Director, Football Innovation, Baltimore Ravens
Cade Massey, Practice Professor, Operations, Information and Decisions Department; Faculty Co-Director, Wharton Sports Analytics & Business Initiative, The Wharton School

Session 5: From Insight to Impact: How AI is Delivering the Promise of People Analytics

People Analytics has evolved dramatically over the past fifteen years, but many organizations have struggled to translate analytical insight into everyday action. Traditional models informed strategy, yet rarely changed the daily experience of managers or employees. AI is now enabling organizations to operationalize years of accumulated intelligence through embedded coaching, conversational interfaces, and personalized decision support.

Alex will share lessons from building People Analytics across multiple organizations and discuss how leading firms are moving beyond reports to create intelligent talent systems that influence work in real time.

Alex DiLeonardo, Chief People Officer, Citadel Securities

Networking Break

Please join us on the Forum Floor for networking, beverages, and light fare.

Session 6: The Workforce AI is Creating

AI is reshaping roles, skills and the decisions leaders need to make about their workforce. In this fireside chat, Justina Nixon-Saintil, IBM’s Chief Impact Officer, joins Dr. Renita Miller, Executive Director of Wharton Community Engagement, for a conversation about what responsible AI adoption looks like in practice.

Drawing on IBM’s own transformation and Justina’s work expanding access to AI skills globally, they’ll explore how jobs are evolving, where organizations are getting AI adoption right, and concrete examples leaders can take back with them to prepare their people to succeed alongside AI.

Justina Nixon-Saintil, Vice President and Chief Impact Officer, IBM
Renita Miller, Executive Directior, Wharton Community Engagement, The Wharton School

Session 7: Lucky By Design: The Hidden Economics of Talent and Opportunity

Talent may be everywhere, but opportunity is not, and the systems organizations use to allocate it can have a profound impact on who succeeds. Drawing on insights from his book Lucky by Design and his research in behavioral economics and market design, Wharton professor Judd Kessler will reveal the “hidden markets” operating inside organizations, from promotions and professional development to internal mobility and access to high-value opportunities.

He will explore why identifying great talent is only part of the challenge and how the rules, incentives, and matching systems organizations design can shape employee behavior and determine whether the right people find the right opportunities. Connecting economic research to the exploration of data, technology, and human insight, Kessler will offer a fresh perspective on how organizations can design talent systems that make opportunity less a matter of luck.

Judd Kessler, Howard Marks Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy, The Wharton School; Author of Lucky by Design

Networking Break

Please join us on the Forum Floor for networking, beverages, and light fare.

Session 9: People Analytics in the Age of AI: What Comes Next?

AI will fundamentally reshape work, organizations, and society but technology alone will not define the future of work. In this forward-looking conversation, Dawn Klinghoffer and Jeremy Shapiro will explore, along with Matthew Bidwell, how AI is transforming the role of People Analytics, the evolving skills organizations will need, and why human connection will become even more valuable in an increasingly AI-enabled workplace.

Together, they will examine how leaders can thoughtfully balance what humans do best with what AI does best, creating organizations where technology augments rather than replaces people. They will provide a deeper understanding of how People Analytics must evolve beyond traditional analytics to help organizations design a future where innovation, trust, and human-centered leadership remain at the core.

Dawn Klinghoffer, Former Vice President of HR Insights, Microsoft
Jeremy Shapiro, Assistant Vice President of Workforce Analytics, Merck & Co.
Matthew Bidwell, Xingmei Zhang and Yongge Dai Professor of Management; Faculty Director, Wharton People Analytics, The Wharton School

Closing Remarks

Matthew Bidwell, Xingmei Zhang and Yongge Dai Professor of Management; Faculty Director, Wharton People Analytics, The Wharton School

Cocktail Reception