Breaking Boundaries: Shaping the Next Evolution of People & Organisations
Join us at the People Matters LLC 2025 and learn how to shape the future of business, talent and culture.
October 8/Wednesday
Areas:
7:30 AM - 9:20 AM
Registration & Networking:
Shape the future of learning at India’s largest learning, leadership and culture conference—exchange ideas with leaders and explore innovative solutions in the Expo to undo, redo, and outdo.
9:20 AM - 9:30 AM
Kickstart People Matters LLC Conference 2025: Get ready to lead with a human edge. Together, we’ll unlock collective potential, architect growth, and outdo the limits.
9:30 AM - 9:50 AM
Welcome Note: Lead With A Human Edge: Architecting Growth Through Collective Potential
In a world of accelerating change, our unique human capabilities—empathy, creativity, and connection—are our greatest differentiators. This theme is a call to action to empower learning and leadership by harnessing our collective strengths. Together, we will discover how to build high-performing organizations that are not only resilient and innovative but also purpose-driven and deeply human.
9:50 AM - 10:20 AM
Opening Keynote: Owning The Unknown: How Leaders Build Confidence In The AI Era
Andrew Bryant
Author of Potential-ize
Too often, fear drives leaders to hide behind tools, waiting for certainty, shifting responsibility to algorithms, or leaving a vacuum when bold leadership is most needed. This keynote is a call to step forward: for leaders, to inspire ownership and articulate accountability. In uncertain times, self-leadership is crucial for transforming fear into fuel for progress. For HR heads, this involves designing cultures that reward ownership and leverage AI to enhance, rather than replace, human trust and care. For L&D leaders, it means moving beyond technical skills to build judgment, resilience, and courage. Learn how to use AI as a partner that amplifies human potential and leave with a renewed responsibility to lead with clarity, care, and confidence.
10:20 AM - 10:50 AM
Fireside Chat: Succession Beyond Seats: Building Culturally-Resilient Leaders For Scale
Succession planning is often reduced to a tactical exercise of 'who comes next', but in reality, it is a strategic lever for growth and continuity. As organisations scale, the true challenge lies not just in identifying successors, but in shaping leaders who can carry forward the culture while steering the business into uncharted territories. This session will challenge conventional thinking by asking: Are we preparing leaders to inherit roles—or to inherit responsibility for the soul of the organization? How do we ensure that executive leadership development equips future business leaders with both enterprise-level capabilities and cultural resilience?
10:50 AM - 11:20 AM
Refreshment & Networking Break
11:20 AM - 11:40 AM
Keynote: The Skilling Paradox: Preparing Today’s Workforce for Jobs That Don’t Exist Yet
By 2030, millions of jobs will evolve or disappear due to AI, automation, and industry shifts. Yet leaders must skill today’s workforce for an uncertain tomorrow. This session addresses the paradox of preparing for the unknown. What core skills remain timeless? How to balance immediate business needs with future skill bets? Explore these questions and gain practical frameworks for building 'skills of tomorrow' in fast-changing industries.
11:40 AM - 12:00 PM
Fireside Chat: Always-On Learning Culture: Thriving in the Age of Endless Updates
In today’s workplace, information flows faster than organisations can absorb it. The challenge is no longer whether to learn, but how to stay relevant, filter the noise, and sustain attention in a world of constant updates. This session will explore urgent questions: How do we distinguish signal from noise in a hyper-connected learning ecosystem? What tools and practices allow individuals and teams to learn at speed without burning out? How can leaders transform continuous learning from an overwhelming demand into an energizing cultural habit? With insights from forward-looking organisations, the discussion will unpack what it takes to build resilience, focus, and momentum in an always-on learning culture.
12:00 PM - 12:20 PM
Fireside Chat: Learning in the Age of FOBO: Reskilling for Relevance
Fear of becoming obsolete (FOBO) is the new workplace anxiety. How can organisations transform this fear into fuel for growth? This discussion brings together business leaders, psychologists, and L&D strategists to examine how learning technology can combat obsolescence through personalised reskilling, reverse mentoring, and AI-assisted learning journeys. The panel will highlight stories of employees who’ve reinvented themselves, while also tackling leadership’s role in creating a culture where continuous learning is celebrated—not feared.
12:20 PM - 12:50 PM
CHRO Panel: Leading For Results vs Leading For Readiness: From High Performance To High Adaptability
In a business world where change is relentless and uncertainty is the norm, even the most high-performing teams can fail, unless their leaders can lead with agility. In this conversation, a panel of visionary CHROs will unpack what it really takes to shift from driving results to cultivating readiness. Walk away with actionable insights to embed adaptability into leadership development, team culture, and organizational DNA, ensuring they—and their people—are ready for whatever’s next. Join this session to future-proof your leadership approach and transform adaptability from a survival skill into your strongest strategic edge.
12:50 PM - 2:00 PM
Networking Over Lunch: Feed your appetite & your network—grab lunch, connect with peers, & enjoy the synergy!
2:00 PM - 2:20 PM
Case Study: Rewiring Culture as the Operating System for Tech Transformation
Transformation succeeds only when culture is rewired to support experimentation, agility, and trust. For CTOs, this means embedding a mindset where teams embrace continuous learning and innovation rather than fearing disruption. For CHROs, it requires rethinking talent, rewards, and leadership behaviors so that people feel empowered, included, and connected to purpose. In this session, learn how to align values, behaviors, and systems with the possibilities that technology unlocks. The organisations that succeed will be those that treat culture not as a by-product of change, but as the deliberate foundation on which tech-driven transformation stands.
2:20 PM - 2:40 PM
Fireside Chat: AI in the Boardroom: Can Technology Really Enable Human-Centric Leadership?
AI has moved from the back office into the boardroom—shaping decisions, influencing strategies, and redefining how leaders connect with people. But the critical question is: Will AI amplify human empathy and ethics, or erode them? This session challenges leaders to rethink AI’s role—not as a silent assistant, but as a co-pilot in shaping culture, trust, and humanity in leadership. Participants will debate provocative ideas: Should algorithms have a 'seat at the table'? Can we truly design AI that is human-first? Does trust come from instinct or AI evidence? The conversation will explore the paradox of empathy, the risks of bias, and the future skills leaders need to navigate a world where leadership is shared with technology.
The promise of digital learning was to make education borderless—but is it truly accessible to all? As platforms expand globally, the challenge is not just delivering world-class content, but ensuring affordability, cultural relevance, and inclusion. This panel explores critical questions: Can learning tech bridge—not widen—the gap between privileged and underserved learners? What business models (freemium, employer-sponsored, public-private partnerships) will democratise access without compromising sustainability? How do we design content that resonates across diverse geographies and learning styles? Leaders from global learning platforms will share strategies and stories of scaling impact, making learning not just available, but truly equitable.
3:00 PM - 3:20 PM
Fireside Chat: The Collective Leader: Moving from Individual Heroes to Team-of-Teams”
The age of the lone visionary leader is fading. In today’s complex, fast-changing world, no single individual has all the answers. Organizations are now asking: How do we move from heroic leadership to collective leadership—where influence, accountability, and innovation flow across networks, not just hierarchies? This Big Idea Panel will explore the mindsets, structures, and skills needed to make 'team-of-teams' leadership real. Panelists will discuss: What does power-sharing look like at scale? How do we balance autonomy with alignment? Can collective leadership drive faster decisions without chaos? Through bold insights and real-world examples, the session will reimagine leadership as a shared enterprise—one that unlocks agility, trust, and collective potential.
3:20 PM - 3:40 PM
Big Questions: Agentic AI in Learning: Can We Trust Machines to Decide How Humans Grow?
We’ve spent years debating AI’s role in human decision-making—who to hire, who to promote, how to reward. Now, agentic AI raises an even bigger question: Can we trust machines to shape how humans learn, grow, and realize their potential? This session explores the promise and peril of agentic AI in learning. Could AI-driven agents personalize development journeys with more precision than any manager—or does outsourcing learning decisions risk eroding human judgment, empathy, and fairness? Panelists will debate: What learning decisions can we safely delegate to AI? Where must the “human in the loop” remain non-negotiable? The discussion will challenge assumptions about trust, ethics, and the future of human growth in an AI-augmented world.
3:40 PM - 3:50 PM
Panel: The Conscience Code: Why Values Remain Leadership’s Irreplaceable Edge
AI can optimise efficiency and calculate consequences—but it cannot wrestle with values, ethics, or conscience. That responsibility lies with leaders. This session explores: What does it mean to lead with conscience in an age of automation? Can ethical leadership be scaled, or does it remain a personal choice? When profit and principle collide, what defines the “right” decision? Drawing on examples from business, society, and history, panelists will debate whether values can (or should) be embedded into machines, and why human judgment remains the final frontier of leadership. The session will challenge leaders to see conscience not as a constraint—but as their greatest competitive advantage.
3:50 PM - 4:20 PM
Panel: The Hidden Org Chart: Using Network Analysis to Rethink People Decisions
The most important influencers in an organization aren’t always on the formal org chart. They are the connectors, collaborators, and knowledge brokers who drive innovation and culture from within. Organisational Network Analysis (ONA) makes these hidden dynamics visible—revealing who really shapes performance, trust, and change. This panel explores: How can ONA help leaders make better talent decisions—about succession, mobility, and team design? Can mapping networks replace biased perceptions with data-driven insight? Where do privacy, ethics, and trust come in when analyzing relationships at work? Through case stories and bold perspectives, the session will show how network intelligence is redefining people strategy—helping organisations unlock influence, agility, and collective potential.
4:20 PM - 4:40 PM
Fireside Chat: The New Social Contract at Work: Redefining Engagement & Belonging
The old deal between employers and employees—stability in exchange for loyalty—has all but vanished. Today’s workforce seeks more: purpose, fairness, flexibility, and a sense of belonging. This session will inspire us to think: What does the new social contract at work look like in an era of hybrid work, generational shifts, and rising expectations of equity and inclusion? How can organizations design experiences that go beyond perks to deliver meaning, trust, and voice? Can belonging be measured—and engineered—at scale? Leaders will explore how engagement strategies must evolve from transactional to transformational, shaping workplaces where people don’t just work for a paycheck, but for shared purpose and community.
4:40 PM - 5:10 PM
Keynote & Candid Conversation: The 100-Year Mindset: Nurturing Great Leadership Across Generations
Dr. Niranjan Hiranandani
Hiranandani Group & NAREDCO
In a fast-evolving world, this talk would explore building intergenerational teams, mentorship-driven cultures, and the longevity of purpose-led leadership. Expect real-world lessons, timeless principles, and forward-looking strategies that bridge generations while keeping the flame of innovation and integrity alive. In a world where change moves at lightning speed, the leaders who stand the test of time aren’t just visionaries — they’re builders of legacies. Get inspired!
5:10 PM - 5:20 PM
Conference Closing
Time to connect the dots, summarise important actionables, & express our gratitude. We close the conference with a shared vision, setting the stage for even greater achievements next year!
5:20 PM - 5:40 PM
High-Tea & Networking
After a full day of learning, take the well-deserved break you need—stay back for high tea, connect with peers, & experience the innovative learning solutions and technologies that can help you drive transformation.