AAIM Employers’ Association · Virtual Summit

Every HR event is about the function.
This one is about you.

HR’s work is changing fast. Spend two focused hours building the capabilities that grow more valuable with it: navigating change, thinking in business outcomes, communicating with influence, and using AI to create room for higher-value work.

Reserve Your Seat Explore the Sessions

Early-bird pricing: $149 for AAIM members · $199 for non-members

Thursday, October 15, 2026 | 1:00–3:00 PM CT | Virtual · Live

Why this summit exists

The work is changing.
Your value can grow with it.

HR professionals spend years mastering the work that keeps organizations running: recruiting, compliance, investigations, employee issues and everything urgent. AI is already changing how much of that work gets done—and what leaders will expect from HR next.

What becomes more valuable now is your ability to navigate change, connect people decisions to business outcomes, communicate with influence and use AI well.

Nobody scheduled time for you to build those capabilities. We did.

The N–E–X–T Path

Four capabilities. One path forward.

Steady yourself through change, connect your work to the business, communicate so leaders listen, then use AI to create capacity for what only you can do.

Session 1 of 4

Navigate Change

Steadiness Is Built, Not Born

Betsy Grzybinski · Founder, One Percent Today

Change will keep coming. Learn how to steady your response, widen your options and choose your next move before the moment chooses it for you.

Your next move

One thing you do the next time something knocks you off balance.

See what you’ll learn + meet Betsy

What you’ll learn

• See how your read on a situation affects your energy, choices and results.

• Use a simple practice to widen your options when pressure starts narrowing them.

About Betsy

Betsy is Director of People Operations at Lewis & Clark Capital and founder of One Percent Today. She works with leaders through mergers, leadership changes and fast growth, helping them turn small, intentional shifts into meaningful change.

Session 2 of 4

Elevate Your Strategy

Start Working on Outcomes, Not Output

Nikki L. Garry, MSA · Founder & Chief Evolution Officer, Resolve To Evolve

Hard work does not automatically translate into business value. Learn to connect what HR does to the outcomes senior leaders use to judge progress.

Your next move

One question you ask yourself before starting any project.

See what you’ll learn + meet Nikki

What you’ll learn

• See the financial information a CFO or CEO actually uses to judge how the business is performing.

• Identify one outcome in your own function that a senior leader would care about.

About Nikki

Nikki spent 14 years in corporate accounting and finance and six years teaching accounting as an adjunct professor. She now helps leaders strengthen their financial fluency and connect their work to business outcomes.

Session 3 of 4

Xpand Your Impact

Get Heard Where the Decisions Get Made

Steve Hughes · Founder, Hit Your Stride; author of Captivate

A strong idea can still die in the room if the message gets lost. Learn to translate HR work into the language different leaders use to make decisions.

Your next move

One change you make to your very next update with a senior leader.

See what you’ll learn + meet Steve

What you’ll learn

• Lead with the headline instead of the history, and talk business instead of HR.

• Adjust the same facts for a CFO, an operations leader and a CEO.

About Steve

Steve is the founder of Hit Your Stride and author of Captivate. A former ad agency owner, he helps professionals communicate complex ideas clearly and persuasively. His work has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio and in The Wall Street Journal.

Session 4 of 4

Transform Your Future

The Promotion Nobody Has to Approve

Lauren Patel · AAIM Employers’ Association

You cannot get to higher-value work while low-value work is still being done by hand. Learn to use AI to create capacity, strengthen your thinking and move better work forward.

Your next move

One task you stop doing by hand this month.

See what you’ll learn + meet Lauren

What you’ll learn

• Use AI to clear recurring tasks that continue eating your week.

• Pressure-test a decision and sharpen your case before taking it to leadership.

About Lauren

Lauren leads marketing, communications and AI strategy at AAIM and serves on its executive leadership team. She has built AI tools including Aaime Hart and trains HR teams and business leaders on AI adoption and how it is changing work.

Registration is open

Ready for what’s next?

Join us live on October 15 for two focused hours—and leave with four moves you can start putting to work immediately.

AAIM Member

$149

Non-Member

$199

Save $50 with early-bird pricing through October 1.

Reserve Your Seat

The experience

Not a webinar you leave running in another tab.

Two tightly produced hours. The pace stays up, the conversation stays open, and every speaker ends with something you can do.

Four focused sessions

Each speaker has 16–18 minutes to make the point and move the conversation forward.

Live polls and open chat

You participate throughout instead of waiting until the final five minutes.

One practical challenge from every speaker

Each session ends with a specific move you can take back to work.

One commitment before you leave

You finish by choosing what you will do differently—not simply what you found interesting.

Your host

Phil Brandt

Phil has built his career in HR, from Fortune 100 organizations to leading AAIM. Between sessions, he connects the four capabilities with candid stories about when he had to learn each one himself.

See the full 1:00–3:00 PM schedule

1:00 PM

Opening and first poll

Phil Brandt

1:15 PM

N: Navigate Change

Betsy Grzybinski

1:40 PM

E: Elevate Your Strategy

Nikki L. Garry

2:05 PM

X: Xpand Your Impact

Steve Hughes

2:30 PM

T: Transform Your Future

Lauren Patel

2:50 PM

Commitments and prizes

Phil Brandt

3:00 PM

See answers to common questions

Will I receive access to a recording?

Yes. Everyone who registers will receive access to the recording for 90 days following the live summit.

Can I register multiple members of my HR team?

Yes. Each person registers individually at the member or non-member rate—there is no separate group registration to set up.

To register several people at once, or if you have questions, contact AAIM at 314.754.0236 or register@aaimea.org.

What is the cancellation or substitution policy?

All registrations are firm, and substitutions are encouraged when the original registrant is unable to attend.

Cancel or reschedule more than 10 business days before the program and you receive full credit. Less than 10 business days, a processing fee applies. No-shows and day-of cancellations are not refunded.

For cancellations, reschedules or substitutions, contact AAIM at 314.754.0236 or register@aaimea.org. Full policy: aaimea.org/cancellation-policy.

Who HR NEXT is for

You don’t need a bigger title to start working at the next level.

HR NEXT is built for HR professionals at every career stage—from those establishing their voice to experienced leaders redefining where they create the most value.

HR coordinators · Generalists · Managers · Directors · Executives

If you’re ready to move beyond keeping up and become more intentional about what you contribute next, this summit is for you.

Reserve your seat

Leave with more than four pages of notes.

By the end of HR NEXT, you will have four specific moves you can put to work immediately:

One response to use when change knocks you off balance

One question to connect your work to a business outcome

One change to make in your next conversation with leadership

One task to stop doing by hand

Two focused hours can change what you do next—and what becomes possible after that.

HR NEXT Virtual Summit

Thursday, October 15, 2026

1:00–3:00 PM CT

Live virtual event

Early-bird pricing through October 1

AAIM Member

$149

Non-Member

$199

After October 1: $199 member · $249 non-member

Your NEXT Move

What’s NEXT Starts With You.

The work will keep changing. Give yourself two focused hours to build the capabilities that help you change with it—and decide what you’ll do next.

Thursday, October 15 · 1:00–3:00 PM CT · Live Virtual Summit

Early-bird pricing through October 1: $149 for AAIM members · $199 for non-members

Reserve Your Seat

🎟 Register for HR NEXT

Every HR event is about the function.
This one is about you.

The work is changing.
Your value can grow with it.