A one-day conference for New Zealand HR, L&D and people leaders on adopting and scaling AI across the workforce, held at the Aotea Centre in Auckland on 21 October 2026 and produced by conference organiser Aventedge.
The AI at Work Summit for HR & L&D Leaders lands at Auckland's Aotea Centre on 21 October 2026, a single-day conference framed for the people leaders now being asked to put artificial intelligence to practical use across their organisations. The programme is pitched at leaders "ready to invest, implement and scale practical AI solutions" rather than at a purely technical audience.
The summit is produced by Aventedge, a B2B conference organiser active across Australia and New Zealand. Its official event site (aiw-nz.aventedge.com) confirms the Auckland date and Aotea Centre venue, and the programme is shaped by a named New Zealand advisory panel: Jo Fair (Chief of People & Culture, Southern Cross Healthcare), Katherine Jensen (University of Auckland Business School), Ryan Ghisi (Head of People Operations, 2degrees), Sarah Morris (GM People & Capability, Palmerston North City Council) and Loren Thomas (Head of People Partnering, Trade Me).
The audience is HR, L&D and people leaders responsible for capability and organisational outcomes. According to the organiser, the agenda spans AI adoption across recruitment, learning and performance management; workforce planning and employee experience; productivity gains and rapid upskilling; workforce transformation and capability building; and responsible AI governance. A full agenda and speaker line-up are published on the event site.
The Aotea Centre sits at 50 Mayoral Drive on Aotea Square in the Auckland CBD, the city's main civic and performing-arts precinct. As context for delegates, the location is central and well served by public transport: it is a short walk from the Wellesley Street and Queen Street bus corridors and from the Te Waihorotiu (Aotea) City Rail Link station in the surrounding blocks, with a range of CBD hotels within walking distance for those travelling in. This is noted only as neutral logistical context.
A single-day corporate conference at a flagship CBD venue, backed by an established organiser and a recognisable local advisory panel, is a representative slice of New Zealand's business-events market: sector-specific, professionally produced, and drawing senior delegates into the Auckland city centre. Its focus on AI in the workplace also reflects a live theme pulling HR and L&D audiences to in-person events across the region.
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