CHRO Leadership Conclave & Talent Acquisition Excellence Awards 2026
CHRO Leadership Conclave & Talent Acquisition Excellence Awards 2026
WHEN HIRING FAILS, Rebuilding Talent Acquisition Around Skills That Actually Perform
Industry - Institute Meet 2026
In Partnership with:
MIT India (Maharashtra Institute of Technology)
Curated by:
BeingHR
Date: 20 January 2026
Venue: T-Hub, Hyderabad
Networking Breakfast: 9:00 AM onwards
Main Programme: 10:00 AM to 5:20 PM
Event Context and Purpose
Hiring has changed.
Talent has not disappeared.
Capability has.
Across industries, organisations are hiring at unprecedented scale. Recruitment pipelines are active, employer brands are strong, interview cycles are faster, and sourcing channels are richer than ever before.
Yet, once candidates join, a different reality unfolds.
New hires take longer to become productive.
Managers struggle with real execution readiness.
Early attrition emerges, driven by skill mismatch rather than culture.
Business leaders begin questioning whether hiring is delivering what the organisation truly needs.
This leads to a hard but necessary truth.
The hiring challenge today is not about the availability of talent.
It is about accuracy in hiring for capability.
The CHRO Leadership Conclave & Talent Acquisition Excellence Awards 2026, organised as an Industry–Institute Meet in partnership with MIT India, exists to confront this reality and redesign hiring as a capability-building engine, not merely a recruitment process.
What It Really Means When Hiring Fails
Hiring does not fail because recruiters are ineffective or markets are competitive.
Hiring fails when organisations optimise for speed instead of readiness, resumes instead of skills, pedigree instead of performance, and closures instead of contribution.
It fails when job descriptions no longer reflect real work, interviews reward articulation over application, and hiring success is measured on joining day rather than sustained performance.
In many organisations, hiring has become operationally efficient but strategically fragile.
This platform is designed to help CHROs and Talent Acquisition leaders rebuild trust between hiring decisions, performance outcomes, and business impact.
The Shift This Platform Calls For
This conclave stands for a decisive shift in how hiring and learning are designed and governed.
From resume-based hiring to skill-based hiring
From role fulfilment to workforce readiness
From reactive recruitment to capability planning
From volume metrics to performance impact
It challenges leaders to ask sharper questions.
What skills actually drive performance in our organisation
How accurately do we assess those skills before hiring
How quickly do new hires become productive
How accountable is hiring for post-joining success
How future-ready are our talent pipelines
Why This Conversation Is Urgent
The hiring and capability landscape has changed permanently.
Skills evolve faster than hiring frameworks.
AI is reshaping job roles across functions.
Businesses demand faster time-to-productivity.
The cost of a wrong hire is rising sharply.
Managers expect hiring and learning to deliver readiness, not potential.
Traditional models were built for predictability.
Today’s organisations demand adaptability.
CHROs are no longer evaluated on how fast they hire.
They are evaluated on how well hiring and learning perform together.
Who This Event Is Designed For
This is a curated, CHRO-led leadership forum, not a mass conference.
It is designed for:
CHROs and Chief People Officers
Heads of Talent Acquisition
Workforce Planning and Capability Leaders
HR leaders owning hiring and learning strategy
GCC and large-scale hiring leaders
Expected participation is 120 to 150 senior leaders.
There are no junior audiences, no vendor sales pitches, and no generic sessions.
Every conversation is senior, strategic, and grounded in real organisational challenges.
Distinguished Speakers
Pankaj Choudhary | HR Director | MCO
Ranjeeth Maroju | Head – Human Resources | Hetero
Srikanth Jadhav | Head of Talent Development | EPAM Systems
Monika Naidu | Vice President | SAGE IT
Rajasekhar Pullela | Assistant Vice President | JM Financial Home Loans Ltd
Roshni MJ | Senior Director – Human Resources | Netenrich Inc.
Ankita Jain | Senior HR Business Partner | Microsoft
Sanketh Ramkrishnamurthy | Global Head | AutoRabit
Sandeep Mantry | Manager – Human Resources | ADP India
Karan Yadav | Technology Expert | Microsoft
Event Experience Design
The event is designed as a diagnosis-to-rebuild leadership journey, aligned to the Industry–Institute collaboration intent.
Roleplay-Led Reality Experience
A professionally enacted three-act roleplay runs through the day.
Act One
Aggressive hiring, impressive credentials, strong branding, yet performance collapses under real delivery pressure.
Act Two
The organisation responds with more tools, certifications, and platforms, increasing complexity without fixing capability gaps.
Act Three
Hiring and learning are rebuilt around skills, simulations, manager ownership, and real work readiness. Performance stabilises.
This roleplay ensures the challenge is not theoretical.
It is visible, human, and unmistakable.
Leadership Panel Discussions
Panel Discussion 1
Credentials to Capabilities
This panel examines why traditional credentials such as degrees and certifications are no longer reliable predictors of performance. CHROs and leaders discuss the growing gap between qualifications and real capability, how skills and adaptability now define success, and what changes are required in hiring and education to assess what truly performs.
Panel Discussion 2
The Line Manager as the Chief Learning Officer (CLO)
Capability is built through work, not classrooms alone. This panel explores how line managers have become the most critical drivers of learning and performance. Leaders discuss how managers can embed learning into daily work, build coaching capability, and take ownership of team readiness in fast-changing environments.
Panel Discussion 3
Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity
Threat Detection, Incident Response, and Predictive Analytics
As cyber threats grow more complex, AI is transforming how organisations protect themselves. This panel discusses how AI enhances threat detection and response, the skills required to use AI effectively, and how talent strategies must evolve to support AI-driven cybersecurity.
Talent Acquisition Excellence Awards 2026
The awards are a core pillar of this platform.
They recognise organisations and leaders who have transformed hiring and capability building into strategic, performance-driven systems.
The awards are jury-reviewed, outcome-focused, and free from paid nominations or popularity voting.
Recognition is based on capability, readiness, and sustained organisational impact.
Award Categories
Talent Acquisition Organisation of the Year
CHRO Hiring Leadership Excellence Award
Head of Talent Acquisition of the Year
Excellence in Skill-Based Hiring Framework
Best Hiring-to-Performance Integration
Outstanding Workforce Readiness Program
Innovation in Hiring Architecture
Future Skills Hiring Initiative of the Year
Excellence in AI-Enabled Talent Acquisition
Best Hiring Analytics and Predictive Insights
Excellence in Diversity-Driven Hiring Strategy
Best Campus-to-Capability Hiring Program
Excellence in Lateral Hiring at Scale
Hiring Manager Enablement Excellence
Excellence in Candidate Experience
Employer Readiness Experience Award
Best Internal Talent Mobility and Redeployment Program
Excellence in Niche and Critical Skill Hiring
Hiring Excellence in Global Capability Centres
Best Academia–Industry Hiring Collaboration
Emerging Talent Acquisition Leader of the Year
Outstanding Contribution to the Talent Acquisition Community
Event Agenda
09:30 AM – 10:30 AM
Networking Breakfast & Registrations
Senior leaders arrive, register, and engage in informal networking to set the tone for open dialogue and peer exchange.
10:30 AM – 11:20 AM
Opening Address & Context Setting
Welcome address, inauguration, and setting the context for the conclave theme
11:20 AM – 11:40 AM
Chief Guest & Leadership Address
Leadership perspective on hiring, capability, workforce readiness, and the evolving role of CHROs.
11:40 AM – 12:00 PM
Roleplay – Act One
12:00 PM – 01:15 PM
Panel Discussion 1: Credentials to Capabilities
01:15 PM – 01:30 PM
Leadership Networking & Group Photo
Structured networking and official group photograph.
01:30 PM – 02:10 PM
Lunch & Peer Interactions
Informal peer conversations and cross-industry exchange.
02:10 PM – 02:25 PM
Roleplay – Act Two
02:25 PM – 03:40 PM
Panel Discussion 2: The Line Manager as the Chief Learning Officer
03:40 PM – 04:00 PM
Roleplay – Act Three
04:00 PM – 04:50 PM
Panel Discussion 3
Artificial Intelligence in Cybersecurity: Threat Detection, Incident Response, and Predictive Analytics
04:50 PM – 05:10 PM
Talent Acquisition Excellence Awards 2026
Recognition of CHROs, leaders, and organisations driving capability-led hiring and measurable performance outcomes.
05:10 PM – 05:20 PM
Closing Reflections & Vote of Thanks
Key takeaways, acknowledgements, and formal closure of the conclave.
05:20 PM onwards
Group Photo, High Tea & Programme Concludes
What Participants Take Back
Participants leave with:
A sharper diagnosis of why hiring and learning fail
A capability-first hiring and development mindset
Practical approaches to assess readiness
Insights into aligning hiring, learning, and performance
Peer learning from senior leaders
Recognition for excellence
This is not motivation.
This is strategic clarity.
This is not an event about filling roles.
It is about building organisations that perform.
As an Industry–Institute Meet 2026, this platform creates meaningful dialogue between CHROs, business leaders, and academic institutions shaping the future workforce.
For CHROs and leaders who believe hiring and learning define culture, capability, and competitiveness, this platform offers clarity, community, and direction.
Conclave Registration:
https://luma.com/6yie5ulw