Arthur Carmazzi to open HR Tech MENA 2026 in Dubai

QnA International has unveiled the speaker lineup for the 12th Annual HR Tech MENA Summit, set for Sept. 9-10, 2026, in Dubai. The event will focus on moving AI in HR from hype to practical, human-centered execution as agentic AI reshapes work across the region.

Why it matters: - HR leaders in the Middle East and North Africa are being pushed to turn AI from a discussion point into a measurable workplace tool. - The summit puts culture, leadership and human-centered execution at the center of the region’s AI and HR agenda. - The event comes as agentic AI begins to change how organizations manage work, people and decision-making.

What happened: - QnA International announced the full speaker and participant lineup for the 12th Annual HR Tech MENA Summit 2026. - The summit will take place on Sept. 9-10, 2026, at the Waldorf Astoria Dubai Palm Jumeirah. - Arthur Carmazzi will deliver the opening international keynote for the two-day event. - The summit is themed “The Era of Execution: Where AI Gets Human.” - The event is designed to bring together HR leaders, technology executives and business leaders from across the region.

The details: - Carmazzi has been ranked the world’s No. 1 thought leader in organizational culture for 2024, 2025 and 2026. - Carmazzi is also listed among the top 13 global leadership voices. - Carmazzi is the founder of DC Psychology, an organizational dynamics framework. - Carmazzi wrote the Amazon bestseller GAME ON: Reinventing Organizational Culture with Gamification and the book The Little AI Book of Organizational Culture Change. - Carmazzi also created an AI-powered HR metaverse and an educational game called Journey to The Future. - His keynote will focus on redefining the relationship between people and technology at work. - Carmazzi said AI will not take jobs, but failure to lead it could. - Carmazzi said the biggest challenge in the Gulf is using AI to become lazier instead of better. - Carmazzi said organizations often add AI to old work habits instead of building a real human-AI partnership. - Carmazzi said gamification is performance measurement made enjoyable, and can help low performers improve. - Carmazzi said future AI agents will not only execute tasks but also study and coach people. - The summit will run multiple tracks, including “Coding the Future of Work, One Employee at a Time” and “Building a Culture of Learning with AI Mastery.” - The agenda will cover agentic AI in HR, ethical AI governance, workforce analytics, intergenerational alignment, employee experience and leadership mindset. - More than 400 HR and IT leaders are expected to attend. - More than 30 HR solution providers and consultants will participate. - The attendee mix will include CHROs, CTOs and senior executives from banking, government, hospitality, healthcare and energy. - The summit has grown over more than a decade into a major regional meeting point for HR decision-makers and technology vendors. - The HR Tech Vanguard program is centered on developments expected to shape HR strategy over the next 12 months. - The program highlights agentic AI moving from task automation to systems that can act, decide and improve workforce outcomes in real time. - The program also points to a claim that nearly 70% of digital transformation projects fail because of culture and change alignment, not technology. - The event website is hrtechmena.com.

Between the lines: - The summit is positioning AI adoption as a leadership and culture problem, not just a technology purchase. - The focus on agentic AI suggests HR teams are being asked to prepare for systems that participate more actively in day-to-day management. - The heavy emphasis on execution signals that regional employers may be past the awareness stage and looking for operating models that work in practice. - Carmazzi’s opening role reinforces the event’s message that organizational culture will determine whether AI raises performance or just adds more software.

What's next: - The two-day summit will convene in Dubai on Sept. 9-10, 2026. - Attendees are expected to use the event to build partnerships, compare HR technology approaches and assess AI use cases for workforce planning. - The agenda is likely to shape HR conversations in the region over the coming year as more organizations test agentic AI and workforce analytics. - Registration information is available at hrtechmena.com.