AGENDA
Alongside our plenary sessions, this year's event is powered by three focused streams running throughout the day:
Scale
Deliver
Power
Collect your badge on entry, then head up to the Riverside Room for a delicious breakfast and your first look at the Power Hub – your space to recharge, connect and explore what’s next in reward & benefits.
Fuel up for the day ahead while connecting with industry experts from Alight, Tusker, Standard Life, Bupa and Zellis – and try the Energise Matcha or Oxygen Bars for a fresh boost before the sessions begin!
Future-ready HR workshop: Powering your influence for what's next
Get access to a bonus session before the day officially kicks off and join our intimate breakfast workshop with HR Most Influential Hall of Famer and TEDx speaker, Perry Timms – while places remain.
In this interactive session, Perry brings research-led insight into the evolving role of HR and the future skills shaping the People Profession, turning it into practical direction for what comes next.
Together, we’ll focus on how you can strengthen your influence and create value in an environment defined by pace, pressure, and change. This workshop will explore:
- The individual and collective influence needed in a future-ready HR function.
- How today’s pressures and tensions can be converted into more resilient, adaptive models of HR practice and value creation.
- How advancing technologies, stronger data, and smarter systems can help HR move from reacting to change to actively shaping what’s next.
Through guided discussion and shared perspectives, you’ll leave with clear frameworks, practical insights, and new ways to apply influence – making this a high-value, hands-on start to the day.
Places are limited – secure yours early through registration to avoid missing out.
AI is already reshaping the workforce – not by replacing everyone, but by reducing headcount, increasing productivity, and radically raising the stakes for the people who remain.
As productivity rises and workforces become leaner, the remaining workforce doesn’t become cheaper – it becomes more valuable. In this session, Benifexer Gethin Nadin challenges a dangerous assumption: that organisations can bank the gains from AI without reinvesting in people. If you want AI to succeed in the workplace, investment in employees must accelerate, not stall.
Drawing on global research and real-world change, Gethin explores why AI is already delivering productivity gains of around 20% – and why reinvesting those gains into benefits and total reward is essential to making AI work. Because AI transformation isn’t a technology programme – it’s a people one.
From wellbeing and healthcare to pay transparency and employee experience, he’ll outline practical principles for rethinking benefits in an AI-shaped workforce – whether you’re operating locally or at global scale.
Join us for a focused look at how the Benifex platform is evolving – highlighting progress you can rely on, priorities that matter, and how we’re powering what’s coming next.
In this session, Benifexer Blake Pinard will share how our product direction is centred on building trust, strengthening reliability, and helping employees better understand and engage with the value of their rewards.
You’ll leave with a clear sense of how recent improvements are reducing friction for admins, improving data quality, and creating more predictable, dependable experiences – alongside how we’re making it easier for employees to see, understand, and act on the full value of their rewards.
Explore specific areas further with us at our 'Ask Me Anything' stations in the Power Hub during breaks.
Keep your energy up with refreshments and time to network while exploring the Power Hub.
Drop into partner pods to connect with industry experts from Alight, Tusker, Standard Life, Bupa and Zellis, recharge at the Matcha or Oxygen Bar, and visit our Ask Me Anything stations for expert insight from Benifexers on:
DEI
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Sarah Reynolds, Chief Marketing Officer
Broking, health, protection and pensions
- Rebecca Rann, Head of Health
- Chris Read, Head of Group Risk
- Andrew Barradell, Head of Workplace Savings
In this fireside chat, Michelle Jones (BT) joins Benifexer Alex Griffiths to explore how BT is energising its benefits strategy to better meet the needs of a diverse workforce. From clear communications, to platform evolution, and a deeper understanding of workforce profiles, this conversation will spotlight how strong local delivery can strengthen engagement and drive measurable outcomes.
Too many allowance programmes consume more admin time than they create employee value.
In this session, Angela Osborne (Arabelle Solutions) is joined by Alex Mifsud of leading global embedded finance provider, Weavr, to explore the past, present and future of allowances – from invoice submissions and payroll reconciliation to real-time, card-based flexibility.
Together, they’ll unpack what changes when you remove reimbursement delays, simplify governance, and rethink how control, compliance, and improved employee engagement and satisfaction can coexist. Drawing on Arabelle Solution’s first year implementing Benifex Wallet – alongside the wider market shift toward smarter payment infrastructure – the conversation will explore how allowances can move from operational burden to strategic asset.
If you’re spending more time managing allowances than demonstrating their impact, this session is for you.
When OneAdvanced set out to modernise an under-par, manual benefits offering, they didn’t stop at the UK. In under three months, they launched a flexible, digital benefits platform across the UK, Ireland, Australia and India – building scalable infrastructure for 2,000+ employees across multiple markets.
Join Mitch Turner, who led the rollout of OneAdvanced’s global benefits platform, and Benifexer Katie Goodwin, as they explore how to balance global consistency with local nuance, demonstrate ROI in both financial and human terms, and create benefits foundations that scale with international growth.
Nearly half of UK employees believe automatic enrolment means they’re saving enough for retirement – but Standard Life’s research shows the reality is often very different.
In this session, Centrica and Standard Life share how they're turning pensions from a passive benefit into an active, engaging experience – using personalised communications, empowering local teams, and clearer messaging to bring financial wellbeing to life, drive behavioural change, and help employees make better financial decisions.
Sustainable mobility has moved firmly into the mainstream but for Reward and Benefits leaders, the real opportunity goes far beyond simply offering access to EVs. It’s about how innovative, employee‑funded mobility benefits can drive financial wellbeing, deliver against ESG priorities, and strengthen the overall reward strategy.
Phil Gillespie, Head of Commercial Partnerships at Tusker, will explore how progressive employers are using salary sacrifice mobility schemes to remove cost and complexity barriers, broaden accessibility, and create tangible value for both employees and the organisation. From fixed‑cost certainty that supports financial wellbeing, to measurable Scope 3 impact and carbon reduction goals, this session will show how mobility can become a powerful lever within a modern benefits portfolio.
You’ll also hear real‑world insights from Jo Gibbs, from the Reward team at EDF, sharing first‑hand experience of implementing Tusker’s scheme at scale. Jo will reflect on the strategic decisions, lessons learned, and the outcomes achieved – offering practical insight into how sustainable transport can drive inclusion, impact, and innovation across a large and complex organisation.
Join us to discover how organisations like EDF are turning sustainable mobility into a true strategic advantage within their reward and benefits offering.
In this fireside chat, IKEA | Ingka Group share how they work with Alight and Benifex to build a unified global benefits foundation, while still meeting local regulatory, cultural, and employee needs. Andy Szymczyk will be joined by Frank Arrindell and Emil Danielsson to explore how connecting strategy, service, and technology can simplify complexity without sacrificing flexibility.
You’ll hear how IKEA | Ingka Group has used robust governance and controls to support multi-country compliance, how automation has replaced manual processes to improve accuracy and efficiency, and how more reliable data and insight have strengthened decision-making at scale. The discussion will also highlight the value of clear ownership and close alignment across IKEA | Ingka Group, Alight, and Benifex in enabling faster decisions and continuous evolution.
At its core, this session shows how IKEA | Ingka Group has put employee and employer experience first – making benefits easy to understand, access, and manage anywhere in the world – to deliver on its global “must-haves” and raise the bar for benefits worldwide.
Take a break over lunch and head back into the Power Hub to explore what’s next and stop by the Ask Me Anything stations to talk with Benifex experts about:
Marketplace & Discounts
- Lyndsey Shaw, VP of Partnerships
- Laura Noyce, Global Marketplace Partner Enablement Lead
- Sadie Longhurst, Global Marketplace Partner Operations Manager
Wellbeing
- Gethin Nadin, Chief Innovation Officer
What does total reward really mean in practice – and how do you bring it to life in a way employees truly understand and value?
In this fireside conversation, Ryan Hollas, Director of People Technology at Arm joins Adam Mason, Chief Strategy Officer at Benifex, to explore the evolution of their total reward strategy – from a traditionally cash-heavy approach to a more holistic model that includes equity, experience, and purpose.
From giving employees a stake in the company’s success through stock, to investing in time for volunteering and personal impact, this session unpacks how Arm is making reward more tangible, meaningful, and connected to business performance.
Together, we’ll explore how to shift employee mindset from short-term compensation to long-term value, improve how total reward is communicated, and design a strategy that reflects the realities of a modern, global workforce.
Drawing on an extraordinary career both on and off the pitch, Karen Carney shares powerful lessons on teamwork, adaptability, and sustaining success through change.
From elite footballer to broadcaster and Chair of the UK Government’s review into women’s football, Karen reflects on how high-performing teams are built on diversity, respect, innovation, and shared values – and why the ability to adapt and evolve is critical to long-term performance.
She also explores the challenge of stepping beyond a team environment, where identity and direction can be tested, and how recognising transferable skills such as collaboration, people management, and leadership helped her navigate change, step outside her comfort zone, and build momentum in the next chapter of her career.
Karen will also share insights from her Strictly journey, highlighting themes of teamwork, adaptability, and the power of challenging yourself in a new environment.
Packed with personal insight and illustrated through moments from her career, this keynote brings the Energise theme to life – showing how the power of teams, values, and adaptability can fuel performance, purpose, and progress in business and beyond.
End the day on a high at our rooftop drinks reception – relax with great conversation and sweeping views of the Thames.
