2026 EdTechX Summit Agenda

From Degrees to Demonstrated Capability: Defining Skills as the New Standard? 
As employers place less weight on traditional degrees, skills and capabilities are emerging as new signals of value in the labour market. With over 90% of UK employers reporting at least one AI-related skills gap and technical understanding increasingly prized over formal qualifications, organisations are redefining what counts as meaningful achievement and trust. This session examines what’s driving the shift, who gets to define and validate skills, and why data, benchmarking, and evidence are becoming the real currency of trust in the economy.

K-12 in the Age of Work Transformation: Preparing Students for Jobs That Don’t Yet Exist
As AI is rapidly reshaping the workplace, its effects are already reaching classrooms. Employers increasingly report shortages not just in technical skills, but in core capabilities such as critical thinking, communication, and adaptability, with 75% of organizations globally struggling to find talent with the right mix of these higher-order skills. This session explores how labour market shifts are influencing K-12 priorities, why transferable skills matter more than ever, and how unequal access to AI and digital infrastructure risks widening educational inequality.

Higher Education’s Reckoning: Reform, Consolidate or Perish
Higher Education globally is facing shrinking political support, volatile international student flows, and financial fragility. With 45% of UK universities forecasting deficits and the 'Big Four' destinations projected to lose 5% of their global market share by 2030, the sector is at a structural precipice. How can private and public institutions transition their value propositions to remain relevant and face off increasingly agile global competition over the next decade?

Evolving to the Next Type of Worker – from Knowledge to Wisdom Working
With AI widening access to knowledge, there is growing value placed on critical thinking, judgment, and wisdom - alongside rising fears of workflow automation. What does the future of learning look like, and how can organisations attract and leverage talent as a competitive advantage?

Rewiring the UK Skills System: Inside the New Post-16 Landscape
Post-16 education reforms are redefining apprenticeships, modular curricula, and skills bootcamps amidst persistent gaps in skills and training. Research indicates that 20% of the UK workforce (over 6 million people) could be significantly under-skilled for their jobs by 2030 if current training trends continue. This session examines how providers, platforms and learners navigate new policies and funding frameworks to deliver flexible, outcome-focused pathways.

Curriculum Personalisation: Hype or Long-term Structural Trend?
For decades, curricula have focused on standardisation. Now, ubiquitous access to AI enables students to personalise how they learn, challenging traditional curriculum models. In the US, the likes of The Learning Counsel are predicting a tipping point where 16 million students will be in alternative provision to traditional brick and mortar institutions. Are providers such as Alpha School, Think Global, Avenues, Stride, and Connections Academy signalling a rising trend -  or a niche alternative within K–12 education?

Human Capital in Flux: Workforce Behaviour and the End of the Career Ladder
AI-driven productivity, remote work, and fractional talent models are changing the foundations of career progression. With AI projected to automate 40% of entry-level tasks and the fractional workforce in leading economies expected to hit 50% by 2027, traditional entry-level pathways and mentorship are being eroded. What does this mean for workforce strategy and margins, and how are organisations rethinking talent pipelines in a more fluid labour market?

Global Perspectives: Scaling Education and Skills in a Fragmented World
As global interaction accelerates through partnerships, investment, and M&A, education and workforce companies are operating across increasingly complex markets. Hear from leaders operating in major regions as they share lessons learned on navigating this $7.3 trillion global industry and their predictions for the years ahead.

Capital Talks: Investing in the Next Phase of EdTech
Hear from growth capital and private equity investors on the current state of the investment market as the sector is maturing. What are investors seeing across existing and new portfolios, and where are opportunities - and risks - emerging?

Navigating Digital and AI Transformation: Building Defensibility Over the Next Five Years
With multiple transformation investments and rising system complexity, how are education and workforce companies building defensible business models? Organisations are now allocating a record ~15% of total revenue to digital initiatives; yet, with businesses now juggling a myriad of applications, this rising system complexity has become a strategic bottleneck that stalls ROI for over 80% of initiatives. Is the next wave of innovation providing tailwinds to generalists or can specialists create moats to protect their scale and margins.

Trust, Certification and Compliance: Where Do Human Capital, TICC and GRC Converge - or Collide?
In an increasingly polarised environment for trade and employer–employee relationships, trust and transparency are highly valued. Testing, assessment, certification and assurance play a pivotal role in human capital, competitiveness and ease of trade. This session explores where human capital strategies align with TICC and GRC frameworks - and where tensions and gaps are emerging.