SHRM Tech26, the 12th edition of SHRM’s flagship conference on HR and workplace technology, opened today at the Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai, bringing together more than 2,500 HR and business leaders, including over 500 CXOs and 150+ speakers from India and around the world. Held under the theme “Connected Intelligence,” the two-day conference is examining how organizations can combine human capability with AI-powered systems to transform decision-making, workforce strategy, and enterprise performance.

From boardroom strategy to frontline execution, Day 1 discussions reflected a clear shift in how organizations are moving beyond AI experimentation toward scalable, and responsible adoption. Opening the conference, Achal Khanna, CEO, SHRM APAC & MENA, said the future of work will belong to organizations that can seamlessly connect people, technology, and data. “Connected Intelligence is about creating workplaces where human capability and artificial intelligence amplify one another.