The AI Workforce Redesign Hackathon 2026

The hard truth of 2026 is that AI adoption is no longer a technology problem; it is an organizational design crisis. Middle managers are bottlenecking adoption. Junior talent pipelines are collapsing. Productivity gains are being lost to “shadow” admin, and Legal is terrified of autonomous bot liability. Welcome to The AI Workforce Redesign Sprint—Australia’s first dedicated, hands-on strategic lab for HR Executives.

WHAT YOU WILL DO

This is a high-intensity, immersive simulation. You will be seated at a cross-industry table of 6 peers. Your table will be assigned a specific “Org Profile” with rigid constraints, and a critical workforce crisis. All these companies have 1000+ employees - more details on the day. You have a full day to debate, design, and deliver a pack consisting of three tangible artifacts:

• Part A(Strategy): A definitive decision on the path forward.

• Part B (Operations): The operational workflow, policy, or checklist.

• Part C (Communications): The exact script to sell this change to a skeptical workforce, union, or board.

At the end of the day, each table outlines the first few decisions they’d make, the likely resistance, and one early success metric, as part of a 90 day “reality check”

THE EXECUTIVE SPRINT CHALLENGES

Delegates will choose to tackle one of the following high-stakes simulations during the day:

1. The “Junior Void” Simulation

Major Bank | Hybrid | Heavily Regulated (APRA)

The Crisis: AI agents now do the data entry and compliance checking that 200 Graduates used to do. Line managers are refusing to hire entry-level staff because “the bot is faster.” You risk having no senior leaders in 5 years.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

• Strategy: The “2027 Rotational Model”—mapping a 12-month Grad journey without manual data entry tasks.

• Operations: The “Synthetic Training Curriculum”—3 specific simulated wargames a Grad must pass to prove risk comprehension.

• Comms: The “University Recruitment Pitch”—redefining the value proposition for Gen Z talent.

2. The “Shadow AI” Risk Simulation

National Healthcare Provider | Extreme Patient Privacy

The Crisis: Doctors and Admins are using public AI tools to write patient notes because internal systems are ancient. A total ban has failed, creating a massive unmanaged legal risk.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

• Strategy: The “Risk Triage Framework”—categorizing data into Red (Air-gapped), Amber (Sanitized), and Green (Open).

• Operations: The “Amnesty Process”—drafting the “Safe Harbour” declaration form for staff to report tool usage without penalty.

• Comms: The “Chief Medical Officer’s Video Script”—explaining the shift from “Ban” to “Manage” without compromising patient trust.

3. The Productivity & Union Simulation

Large Logistics Co. | Blue & White Collar | Unionized

The Crisis: The Copilot rollout resulted in a 20% efficiency gain. The Union has issued a notice demanding to know if this means 20% fewer jobs next year. Trust is plummeting.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

• Strategy: The “Reinvestment Model”—defining exactly where saved hours go (e.g., Safety, R&D) if not to headcount reduction.

• Operations: The “AI EBA Clause”—the legal text guaranteeing job security in exchange for AI adoption.

• Comms: The “Town Hall FAQ”—answering the 3 hardest questions, including “Will I be fired?” and “Do I get paid more?”.

4. The New Performance Metric Simulation

Big 4 Consultancy | Billable-Hours Business Model

The Crisis: Juniors are using AI to do 10 hours of work in 1 hour. If they bill 1 hour, the firm loses money. If they bill 10, it’s fraud. The old KPIs of “Speed and Volume” are broken.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

• Strategy: The “Outcome-Based Billing Model”—pricing projects on value delivered rather than hours worked.

• Operations: The “2026 Promotion Scorecard”—defining the 3 new non-utilization KPIs for a Senior Associate.

• Comms: The “Client Pitch”—the script explaining to a client why fees remain the same while time-to-completion drops.

5. The Fluid Talent Simulation

National Retailer | Hiring Freeze | Low Margins

The Crisis: Marketing has automated heavily and has idle staff. Supply Chain is drowning. You need to move people, but middle managers are hoarding talent and refusing to share resources.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

• Strategy: The “Internal Gig Marketplace”—the SLA outlining who pays the salary and who holds performance rights during a talent swap.

• Operations: The “Rapid Reskilling Bootcamp”—the 2-week crash course to make a Marketing Coordinator useful in Supply Chain.

• Comms: The “Internal Campaign”—framing a horizontal secondment as a promotion rather than a punishment.

6. The "Agentic Architect" Simulation

Insurance | Rigid | Legacy Job Architectures.

The Crisis: The leadership team has greenlit a move from "Chatbots" to "Agentic Workflows"—autonomous AI agents that can execute multi-step processes across the entire Claims function. However, the rollout is stalling. There is no clear roadmap for which sub-functions to pilot first, and the workforce is terrified that "working alongside agents" is just a polite term for being replaced. We are facing a "capability chasm" where staff know how to prompt AI, but have no idea how to manage, audit, or collaborate with an autonomous digital workforce.

The Full-Day Deliverables:

Strategy: Design the "Agentic Priority Matrix."

Create a scoring rubric to determine which functional areas are prioritized for the agentic rollout.

Define the criteria for a "High-Impact Pilot" (e.g., Complexity vs. Risk vs. ROI).

Operations: Create the "Orchestration Capability Framework."

Outline the "Human-Agent Synergy" protocol.

Design a 3-step training roadmap that takes an employee from a "GenAI User" to an "Agentic Orchestrator" (someone who monitors, directs, and validates agent outputs).

Comms: Script the "Role Evolution Manifesto."

Draft a communication to be delivered to the function’s 1000+ staff.

None of the above challenges of interest to you? Drop us an email with a challenge suggestion and we will include it in the mix! Feedback welcome: muneesh@humanityinbusiness.com.au

THE AGENDA: YOUR FULL-DAY SPRINT

This is a working summit. Leave your laptop closed; we provide the frameworks, the facilitators, and the high-stakes environment. Each table will have five executives and one moderator.

08:30 AM

Registration & Coffee

09:00 AM 

The Briefing: Unpacking the Crisis

The Lead Facilitator outlines the state of the market, the rules of engagement, and assigns your table its specific Org Profile and Crisis.

09:30 AM 

Sprint Phase 1: Strategy & Alignment (Part A)

Debate the dilemma and lock in your strategic direction. What is the business case?

11:00 AM 

Morning Tea & Networking

11:30 AM 

Sprint Phase 2: Operational Design (Part B)

Move from theory to practice. Draft the checklists, SLAs, and policies required to make your strategy legally and operationally safe.

11:00 AM 

Working Lunch

02:00 PM 

Sprint Phase 3: The Comms Plan & Pitch Prep (Part C)

How do you sell this to a union, a board, or a terrified workforce? Write the scripts and prepare your final A1 Solution Poster.

03:30 PM 

The Showdown: 3-Minute Pitches & Live Voting

Pencils down. Each table gets strictly 3 minutes to present their “Battle Pack” to the room. Once all pitches are complete, the room participates in a live, peer-to-peer vote to select the most actionable, scalable, and human-centric solution for each challenge.

04:30 PM 

Winners Announced & Networking Drinks

The winning tables are crowned.

05:00 AM 

Event Close

Who Should Attend?

This working event is strictly for senior leaders, from organisations with at least 500+ employees, who hold the mandate for change, including:

• CXOs

• Chief Operating Officers

• Chief People Officers

• HR Directors

• Chief Transformation Officer

• Heads of Workforce Transformation & Strategy

• Heads of Organisational Development (OD)

• Heads of Workplace Relations

FREE attendance for senior leaders till May 31st. Only 100 places available on a first, first come basis.

Attendance is subject to our email confirmation.

Cancellation policy: If you cancel your complimentary attendance less than two weeks prior to the event, you will be liable for a $500 cancellation fee. However, you are welcome to transfer your ticket to a colleague. 

Consultants, HR and technology service providers can only attend as sponsors and cannot attend as delegates.

REGISTER AS a CXO:

Sydney, September 10

Melbourne, September 15

REGISTER Your Interest as a Sponsor