That’s a wrap on the CIPD Annual Conference and Exhibition 2026. Over two days in Manchester, speakers from very different sectors kept coming back to the same two ideas. Start with what your organisation needs to achieve. And don’t wait to begin. 

Whether you were with us or following from afar, here are six takeaways, each with something you can do about it. 

1. Start with the problem, not the tool

It sounds obvious, and it’s easy to skip when you’re busy. It’s also where our chief executive Neil Carberry started in his opening address. Building workplaces that perform comes first, he said, and performance “is not something you extract from people. It’s something you build with them.” 

AI is a good test of it. Priya Lakhani, founder and CEO of CENTURY Tech, told delegates not to give AI a strategy of its own. Build it into your business strategy, she said, and use it to redesign processes, not just to automate the ones you already have. Graeme Burns, formerly of Nationwide, said that holding AI proposals up against the organisation’s purpose ruled out half of the potential use cases. 

Before your next project gets going, write one sentence on what will be different for your organisation if it works. If you can’t, you’ve found the first thing to sort out. The same test works for a learning programme or a hiring plan. If you’re deciding where AI fits, our AI in the workplace hub brings our practical resources together in one place. 

2. Don’t wait to be asked

Neil’s other challenge was about influence. We’ve spent years talking about a seat at the table, he said. It’s time to stop and earn one, by showing what changed because you were there. 

Zoe Sweet of the Ministry of Justice put the same challenge in practical terms. People professionals are now expected to be advisers, architects and change leaders, she said, so does your people function have the capability to lead major transformation? 

Find out what your organisation’s hardest problem is right now, and offer a way forward before anyone asks. Speak the language of the business without losing the expertise that makes you distinctive. The Profession Map sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours expected of people professionals, and the Learning hub offers online programmes to develop the skills you need. 

3. Back your managers, and back them early

Strategy, change and new rules all land with managers. Michelle Hobson of Moorepay said there’s a difference between managers who are competent and managers who feel confident supporting people through change. The confident ones are the ones who help change stick. 

Confidence comes from practice, and from starting early. HR consultant Edua Effiom told delegates that performance conversations need to happen in “week two, not month five”, and that managers need coaching to have them, not just instructions. Professor Herminia Ibarra of London Business School added the skill underneath it: asking questions instead of giving advice, which many managers think they do better than they do. 

So ask your managers what they need to feel confident, and give them that, whether it’s practice, coaching or clearer expectations. Encourage them to talk early, while the conversation is still small. Our management factsheet and line manager resources are a good place to start, then use our performance management guide to help your managers support their teams. 

If you’re in the UK, the Employment Rights Act 2025 reduces the unfair dismissal qualifying period to six months from 1 January 2027, so early probation conversations matter more. Our guidance on unfair dismissal changes and probation periods can help you get started. The ERA 2025 also brings greater trade union access rights, and our trade union access guidance can help you get managers ready before the first request arrives. 

4. Protect how people learn

Every task you automate was also, for someone, a way of learning the job. Paula Allerton, head of apprenticeships at HMRC, said AI removing routine tasks can lift productivity, but those tasks also help career starters understand a role. The aim, she said, is that “we don’t automate the development.” Ibarra raised the same worry. As AI takes on tasks that used to build junior colleagues’ judgement, coaching matters more. 

James Faulconbridge, professor of management at Lancaster University, also warned that adopting AI isn’t a one-off project. It needs a culture of continuous learning, so you can adapt as the technology does. 

Before you automate a task, ask what it taught the person doing it and where that learning will happen instead. And if you’re holding out for the perfect candidate, think about whether you could build the skills you need in someone who’s nearly there. Our skills factsheet is a good place to start building development into how you work, and there’s also a tool to guide you through whether to train, hire or automate for certain skills. 

5. Build confidence by doing

The conference’s first and last keynotes made the same point in different ways: act first. Performance psychologist Jamil Qureshi said you can weaken a strength by trying to strengthen a weakness, so look at what’s already working and do more of it. Ibarra said leaders build confidence in leading change by trying new behaviours before they feel ready, even when it feels clunky. 

Pick one idea from your notes and try it this week. Then look at what your regular routines reward. Ibarra pointed to Microsoft’s quarterly business reviews, where people focused on presenting a positive picture instead of learning from mistakes. What do your own meetings reward? Our leadership resources can help you build on it. 

6. Turn it into CPD

If you were with us in Manchester, attending counts as continuing professional development (CPD), so make sure you log it. What turns a good two days into something that develops your practice is what you do next. Note down the one idea you plan to try, what you did and what happened. 

That gives you a record of how you’re developing, and something concrete to draw on in an appraisal or job application. If you couldn’t be there, you can still log other learning, as long as you reflect on what you took from it and how you’ve applied it. CIPD members can log their CPD in the Learning hub, and our CPD pages explain how it works. 

Put it into practice with other people professionals 

Thank you to everyone who joined us in Manchester. Whatever you’re taking back to work, we can help with what comes next. CIPD members get evidence-based guidance and practical tools, alongside a global community of more than 160,000 members. If you’re not a member yet, join the CIPD to get started.