The 2026 People & Talent Wrap: What Worked, What Changed, What's Next

It's that time of year again. Our final NJA Meetup for 2026! 🎉

2026 was the year everyone wanted us to "do more with AI."

Some of us built agents. Some of us got handed the org-wide AI upskilling programme (wild). Most of us spent the year cleaning up "workslop" and wondering if we were the only ones who hadn't automated massive chunks of our job.

Meanwhile, hiring turned into an arms race. AI-written CVs flooded every role, candidates read answers off a second screen, and some of us met our first deepfake candidate. 🫠And somehow we still did the day job. Developed managers and leaders. Uplifted performance. Comp reviews. Restructures. Roles cut in the name of AI productivity gains and extending runway... it's a long list!

So before your out-of-office goes on, let's unpack what worked, what changed and what's actually worth your energy in 2027.Who's this for?CPO, Heads of People, Heads of Talent, Talent Leads, People Partners, TA and People Ops folks at tech startups and scale-ups who want to walk into 2027 feeling inspired, plus expand their network with Sydney's vibrant People & Talent community 💙 Enterprise folks welcome to join too, of course!

Meet the panel

⭐️ Lorraine Dooley, Global Head of TA at Canva⭐️ Sophie Richardson, Head of Recruitment at Google⭐️ Karolina Bartusz, Head of People & Culture at Prospa⭐️ Isa Notermans, Group Chief People Officer at Fleet Space Technologies

Moderated by Brandon De Souza, Senior People & Culture Manager at Bridgit.

Plus 20 minutes of Ask Me Anything via Slido, so bring the questions you'd love to ask our panel.

You'll leave with a head full of practical insights and a heart full of new connections across Sydney's People & Talent crew.

Agenda

🕔 5:00pm: Doors open, drinks & mingling🎤 6:00pm: Welcome + a quick word from our sponsors🗣️ 6:10pm: Panel session, with 20 mins AMA🥂 7:15pm: More drinks, more networking👋 8:30pm: We lovingly kick you out ;)

Venue: Canva (thank you for hosting us 💜)Address: 115 Cooper St, Surry Hills NSW 2010

🙏 Big thanks to our sponsors:

Deel

Hola

Rippling

🎟️ TicketsOnly 120 seats and they'll go fast!! Grab a friend (or bring your team!) and RSVP now.

✨ Notes

This event is built for internal People & Talent professionals, the community we love celebrating with. We also ❤️ the vendors, external recruiters and founders who support our work. If that's you, please grab the correct Rec Agency/Vendor/Founder ticket. It's capped at 5% of seats and needs approval, to keep the room focused.

Need an invoice after buying your ticket? Follow the instructions here: https://tinyurl.com/2hp25fc6

All ticket sales are final, so no refunds.

Grabbing a ticket adds you to the NJA newsletter. Want to hear from our sponsors too? Simply tick the box when you register.

We can't wait to see you there, Sydney!Cheers,Pam, Emer & Anthony