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Transform Talent Thailand 2026 brought together some of the industry’s finest for a full day of candid insights, practical takeaways, and necessary wake-up calls on the future of work – unpacking how HR can lead through AI acceleration while keeping the human at the heart. Report by Priya Sunil.
What do you get when you bring together some of the industry's finest in a room, to spend a full day together? You get a front-row seat to the conversations shaping the future of work, a notebook full of "aha" moments, a few reality checks, and plenty of ideas to take back to the boardroom.
Across the day at Transform Talent Thailand 2026, on 28 May, one message stood out: AI may accelerate work, but people still provide the context, judgement, trust, and compassion that make transformation meaningful. –
Priya Sunil derives nine key learnings shared by our speakers throughout the day. Keep your notebook handy, and enjoy the read!
Learning #1: How to position HR in Thailand as a 'regional control tower' for business expansion
In our opening session, Chih-Hao Huang, Chief Human Resources Officer, SEA Region, Delta Electronics (Thailand) PCL reflected on HR leadership across Thailand, South Asia and Oceania, highlighting the importance of managing uncertainty, balancing global standards with local needs, and building practices that support business growth.
An early lesson from Huang's career in Thailand was the importance of recognising uncertainty – which is why he typically shows 70-75% confident of achieving a goal. Why that number, and not 90-95%, he was once asked. His response? "There are a lot of uncertainties and challenges in terms of business growth, so I don't have a very clear direction on a three-year or five-year strategy for my HR practices. So, I will need to overcome those challenges and uncertainties."
As he added, the response from senior leaders reinforced that promising 100% without considering uncertainty would be unrealistic.
A central theme was the idea of HR in Thailand acting as a regional "control tower" or hub. This means HR cannot focus only on one country. Instead, it must support multiple countries by considering both standardised regional practices and local requirements. The speaker described this as two key pillars: globalisation and localisation.
The first step in building HR foundations is compliance. Before establishing local legal entities, HR must understand each country’s labour law, tax law, social security, safety requirements, contracts, severance payments, retirement plans, union management, RBA standards and ISO needs.
The second step is standardisation. As the business grows, HR, budget and business expense processes need alignment across countries, especially when managers move between markets. Standardised practices also help teams access headquarters systems and knowledge more efficiently.
The third step is organisational transformation. As the business shifts from selling through distributors to providing one-stop solutions to key customers, HR must help employees develop new mindsets, capabilities and performance goals.
The lesson was that HR cannot simply design for one country and replicate the same approach everywhere.
This is where HR becomes a true business partner: helping the organisation scale without losing local relevance.
Learning #2: Why it's time to view spoken English as a business advantage
The following session focused on spoken English as a hidden cost and a measurable business advantage. As Will Polese, Vice President of Revenue
ELSA Corp., affirmed, communication should not be treated as a soft skill or an L&D checkbox. It has direct impact on revenue, customer satisfaction, collaboration and employee confidence.
Miscommunication, he noted, carries a huge global cost – adding that about US$2tn is lost across the world to miscommunication.
He connected this to high-stakes workplace moments: sales calls, HR conversations, supplier negotiations, performance discussions and executive presentations. In these situations, people need practice before the conversation happens – because when people lack confidence in English, they may stay silent, avoid speaking up or fail to communicate clearly
Therefore, he raised a point:
"Why not bring that level of practice, and those critical conversations to everybody across the organisation at any time?"
"That is something that AI enables you to do, so we believe everyone should practise [for] those critical moments in order to be prepared."
Addressing the audience, he added: "We've all seen the look of disappointment on someone's face when they've heard something you've said, and it's not what they were hoping to hear, right?"
The key point was not just language ability, but confidence. As Polese highlighted, employees may already "have English", but they may not feel ready to use it when it counts – and that is something he affirmed can be changed.
Learning #3: How to close the enterprise AI execution gap
Several sessions that followed explored why AI adoption is high at a personal level, but harder to scale within organisations. Many people already use AI in daily life to write, search, summarise or check emails. But enterprise AI requires more than individual enthusiasm.
Ruth Protpakorn, Country Manager, Workday (Thailand), described the difference as an "execution gap".
"The adoption for AI on the personal level is actually very high – we use it in our everyday life, all the time. But the question is, why is it that the [level of] adoption for AI in organisations or in enterprises is not the same?
The reason, she explained, is context. Public AI tools may know a lot about the world, but they do not automatically understand an organisation’s structure, permissions, workflows, policies or security rules. Without this context, enterprise AI projects can fall short.
First, they can be disconnected, with individual agents or tools built to solve only one narrow task rather than serving the wider organisation. Second, they may be misaligned with strategic outcomes. An AI agent might help one person, one team or one group, but still fail to support the organisation’s broader goals.
Protpakorn also pointed to fragmented data as a major challenge.
Many organisations still operate with multiple systems and data silos in the background. When data is fragmented, AI tools lack the context they need to work effectively, which limits the efficiency of the agents being used.
Another issue raised was the pace of change – that organisations are dealing not only with internal change, but also with macroeconomic shifts, political change, team changes and wider uncertainty. As a result, many employees are experiencing change fatigue.
Finally, the speaker said, personal productivity gains do not automatically translate into organisational productivity. AI may help individuals save time each day, but without the right framework, that time may not be used for higher-value or more strategic work. As such, she emphasised the need for organisations need to move from small individual gains to broader outcomes that unlock real value for the business.
She also stressed that AI should be grounded in business context. For Workday, this means combining people data, permissions, deterministic business rules and workflow context with AI capabilities. The goal, she said, is to move beyond simple search and information retrieval toward AI that can assist, solve, act, build and automate.
Examples included using AI agents in HR to support job description creation, CV ranking, interview scheduling and backfilling roles; in finance to support planning, modelling and scenario analysis, and in IT to connect data from multiple systems.
Learning #4: Why transparency is key in turning AI anxiety into impact
We can all likely agree on one thing about AI – that it tends to create anxiety when implemented without direction. Especially around jobs. Vibhore Kumar Director, Human Resources Western Digital Corporate, and Sundaram Iyer, Head of Banpu Academy, Banpu Public Company Limited, agreed that employees may feel excitement, fear, and uncertainty at the same time, as they may be excited about personal productivity gains, but worried about job displacement, unclear capability gaps, and whether AI outputs can be trusted.
For HR, they then discussed, the response should be transparency. Kumar explained: "I think we need to have a radical amount of transparency with what we are communicating with our larger audience, especially as HR folks. Transparency in the sense if you are implementing an AI, be very transparent in about which area are we implementing it, how it will be implemented, and how it is going to be effective, because until we really tell our people how it is going to affect them, they will always be on high alert."
To this effect, the speakers highlighted the importance of psychological safety, noting that employees need spaces where they can experiment, fail safely, learn quickly and build confidence with AI tools.
From a wider viewpoint, they shared, AI should not be treated as another HR initiative. To create real business impact, organisations need to start with business outcomes and then apply AI to solve specific problems. Personal productivity gains are useful, but the bigger challenge is translating them into enterprise value.
In environments such as manufacturing, energy, and technology, the discussion highlighted the importance of supporting both technical and non-technical employees. Non-technical employees may become more curious when AI is explained in simple language and linked to real use cases, rather than jargon-heavy programmes.
Looking ahead, Kumar and Iyer identified adaptability, learning agility, and AI literacy as critical skills for leaders today to possess.
Senior management also has a major role to play, not just as sponsors, but as "context champions" who provide direction, guardrails, and business context.
Learning #5: Understanding intent as the new "user interface" for employees
In the session that followed, Mark Chan, Regional Head of Strategic Accounts Asia, Darwinbox, took us through how Human Capital Management (HCM) technology is evolving from traditional systems of record into AI-native execution platforms.
Chan compared this shift to the automotive industry. Moving from on-premise systems to cloud was like moving from fossil-fuel cars to electric vehicles: faster and more efficient, but still operating on the same roads. Adding AI features, he said is similar to self-driving cars: useful, but still constrained by legacy infrastructure. The next step, the speaker continued, is more like air taxis – a fundamentally new way of operating.
A key idea was that "intent is the new UI". Instead of asking employees to navigate tabs, workflows, and complex systems, AI-native HCM should understand what the user wants to achieve and guide them through it.
This requires a context layer that can translate between the system of record, the user’s question and the organisation’s policies, history, compliance rules and business environment.
Chan described this as a "context" or "cortex" layer that sits above the system of record – wherein it does not replace the transactional core, but makes it usable by AI. This allows AI to understand policies, suggest configurations, clarify assumptions and help turn intent into actionable workflows.
The challenge here is no longer to run isolated AI experiments. It is to scale AI into real business use cases, Chan noted. "We need to challenge ourselves to think about how we move from experimentation to scale. How do we look at the true business case? How do we tie these from use cases to be a business use case, the business case, and so the HR function can be a direct partner to revenue growth?"
The core message was that organisations need to move beyond adding AI features to legacy systems and start rethinking the architecture of work itself.
The answer could lie in process intelligence, combining business process management, enterprise data integration and AI orchestration. Together, these allow organisations to move from simple AI use cases towards scalable, cross-functional workflows.
Learning #6: The 4 layers of productivity, shifting beyond headcount
Productivity was another major theme, covered by a panel featuring:
- Ploytabtim Yeetho, Country HR Lead, Thailand, Myanmar and Cambodia, Bayer
- Suwitha (Mimi) Takerngkiat, HR leader, Johnson & Johnson MedTech
- Suthaphong Eamphanich, Regional HR Business Partner, Jebsen and Jessen Group
- Moderator: Helen Snowball, Chief Human Resources Officer, Thai Union Group
Here, the speakers cautioned against measuring productivity only through headcount, revenue ratios or short-term output. They described productivity in four layers: clear priorities, efficient processes and systems, people capability, and a healthy culture. Without clear priorities, it was affirmed, employees may work hard on the wrong things.
Without good systems, they may waste time on paperwork, spreadsheets and manual tasks. Without capability, they may not be able to execute effectively.
And finally, without a healthy culture, productivity can turn into burnout, quiet quitting or disengagement.
The panel also challenged the assumption that adding headcount solves productivity problems. If a team has unclear priorities, poor processes or weak collaboration, hiring more people may simply create more meetings, emails and silos, they highlighted.
HR’s role is therefore shifting. Instead of only responding to headcount requests, HR needs to help the business understand root causes, redesign work, simplify processes and use technology to remove low-value tasks.
Line managers were highlighted as especially important. Sustainable productivity depends on managers who support wellbeing, coach people, create psychological safety and hold regular conversations – not only about tasks, but about how employees are feeling and what support they need.
Learning #7: How leaders can shift the way they lead amid disruptions
In a world driven by disruptions, how can leaders stay at the top of their game? Among many factors, it comes down to the skills they actively acquire to adapt. Akarin Phureesitr, Chief People Officer, Central Pattana raised the point that regardless of the specific disruption – AI, digital transformation, or changing workforce expectations, organisations need leaders who can adapt. He reinforced two big ideas throughout the session:
1. Leaders must shift how they lead: Most of us were raised in a directive style: telling, advising, solving problems for others. That worked in more predictable times. But today’s environment – and younger generations – demand a different balance: Less "I tell, you do", more asking powerful questions, listening deeply, and enabling people to think and act for themselves.
This "high ask, low tell" style, he said, unlocks the potential, creativity, and ownership of the team – and scales far beyond what any single leader can do alone.
2. Talent must be clearly defined, not just “high potential” by gut feel.
He defined talent around four core attributes (S.I.A.M.):
- S – Strategic & execution thinking: from vision down to practical execution
- I – Influencing: building trust and moving people beyond formal authority
- A – Achievement orientation: focus on outcomes, perseverance, accountability
- M – Self-awareness & humility: the “missing ingredient” that sustains performance and prevents burnout
The key is then to measure and develop these attributes intentionally (e.g., self-assessments, manager & team feedback, 360s) so leaders build both capability and self-awareness over time.
The big takeaway? In uncertain times, leadership is less about having all the answers and more about creating the conditions for others to find the answers – while being crystal clear on the kind of talent your business truly needs.
Learning #8: Why compassion should be seen as a leadership advantage
A session by Kriangkrai Yooyeun, Executive Vice President & People Director, B.Grimm, brought a different but closely connected perspective: compassion in leadership.
The leader reminded us that compassion should not be seen as soft, emotional, or weak. Instead, it can be a leadership advantage.
Referencing his organisation, he said: "We think that compassion is understanding people, and taking action to help them succeed. That is our meaning, not because it feels good to us, but actually it creates a better outcome for the people, for the team, and ultimately for the organisation."
To leaders who need a little push to add more compassion to their day, he offered a simple but powerful practice: ask one more question when facing a people issue.
For example, he elaborated, instead of asking only why an employee is underperforming, a leader could ask what obstacles may be preventing that person from performing. This changes the tone of the conversation and can lead to better solutions. After all, he stressed, compassionate leadership does not mean avoiding difficult conversations or lowering standards.
"One principle of mine is to be tough on the issue, but respectful to the person, because I think we can challenge the performance without attacking the dignity, and we can still hold employees accountable while we remain respectful."
Mindfulness was also presented as part of compassionate leadership. Even a 10-second pause before responding to a difficult email or conversation can help leaders choose a wiser response, he noted. "Listen a little longer, pause before you respond – and see how you feel. I believe compassion starts with our daily conversations with our people."
Learning #9: The benefits of keeping human accountability in AI decisions
The final discussion returned to one of the most important questions of the day: can we trust the machine?
Aleksander Højgaard, Director of Talent Acquisition, Minor Hotels and Sidchana (Cherry) Mahasupachai, Regional HR Director, Medtronic agreed that AI can be extremely useful in HR, especially in talent acquisition. However, as affirmed, AI should augment human judgement, not replace it.
The leaders cautioned against a process where AI writes the job description, candidates apply using AI, and AI then rejects them, highlighting that at that point, there may be very little human accountability left. The concern was not simply that AI might make mistakes, but that people may stop being able to explain decisions. As Højgaard put it: "If my manager, or a person who maybe is a CEO, asks why we rejected someone and I can't answer that question because I just blindly trusted the AI, there's a real concern."
This was one of the strongest messages from the session: AI can support decisions, but humans must remain accountable for them.
The session also explored the issue bias. When asked whether AI in HR could ever be completely fair and unbiased, one speaker said the answer was generally no, because AI is trained on data created by humans, and humans are biased. While the point was raised that AI may improve over time, both leaders agreed that HR cannot simply assume AI outputs are neutral.
This therefore makes AI literacy increasingly important – and here, the speakers said the challenge is no longer only about learning how to prompt AI. It is also about learning how to spot answers that sound convincing but may still be wrong, incomplete or biased.
To that point, they noted, HR teams need to be able to challenge AI outputs, not just accept them.
Governance was another major theme – with the speakers highlighting the need for guiding principles or an "AI compass" covering areas such as confidentiality, accountability, transparency, governance, and bias. Employees, they shared, would need to understand what information can and cannot be shared with AI tools, who owns the final decision, and how to manage risks such as privacy and PDPA-related concerns.
At the same time, the speakers warned that governance should not become so complicated that people avoid it. If AI policies are too legalistic or difficult to follow, employees may either stop using approved tools or find their own workarounds. The goal, they thus highlighted, should be to make safe AI use simple and practical.
The overall lesson
Across all sessions, one conclusion stood out: technology can improve efficiency, but people create trust, judgement, context and meaning.
AI will continue to change how organisations work. It will speed up processes, automate tasks, support decisions and reshape roles. The organisations that benefit most will be those that combine AI with strong leadership, clear governance, business context, transparent communication and genuine care for people.
For HR, this creates a major opportunity – to grow as a strategic partner in productivity, capability, culture, workforce transformation and business growth.
Human Resources Online would like to thank all speakers, moderators, panellists, and attendees for being valuable contributors to this event.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to our sponsors & partners for making this conference possible:
GOLD SPONSORS
Darwinbox
ELSA
Workday
EXHIBITOR
goFLUENT
EVENT PARTNER
Pigeonhole Live
Keen to attend our 2027 edition? Register your interest here!
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