Abhijit Bhaduri is a globally recognized voice in leadership development, culture building and talent strategy. With a career spanning Fortune 500 companies and Silicon Valley giants, Abhijit brings a rare blend of strategic insight and storytelling to every engagement.
As a former Partner at Microsoft, he led the redesign of Microsoft’s global learning strategy – enabling the company to gain a first-mover advantage during the launch of its AI offerings. His signature People Manager workshop led to dramatic improvements in leadership effectiveness with participants. As Wipro’s first Chief Learning Officer he led L&D and HR functions across PepsiCo, Colgate, and Tata Steel across the US, APAC and India. Today, he advises leading organizations and CEOs on how to future-proof their talent pipelines.
As a LinkedIn Top Voice with nearly a million followers, he brings unmatched visibility and influence. He recently coauthored a feature forthe Wall Street Journal and consulted with LinkedIn for the 2025 Workplace Learning Report. As an Adobe Think Tank Member, he has delivered keynotes at AdobeMAX and spoken about the future of creativity.
As the author of six books (Penguin & HarperCollins), his insights have been published by Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, The Economic Times, etc. He is part of the faculty for the University of Pennsylvania’s Executive Doctoral Program for Chief Learning Officers.
Sessions
Big ideas session
Wednesday, April 29, 9:00AM - 10:15AM
Using Behavioral Science to Redesign Talent Management for the AI Economy
AI is transforming how work gets done – but behavioral science explains why people decide whether to trust it, resist it, or disengage. Most AI strategies fail not because people lack skills, but because systems strip away ownership, judgement, and meaning.
In this session, Abhijit Bhaduri, former Microsoft Partner who headed global learning and development, challenges the belief that AI disruption is a skills problem. Instead, he reveals an identity crisis at work – where people feel interchangeable, over-measured, and disconnected from purpose.
Drawing on behavioral science and real-world examples, you’ll learn why “perfect” algorithms erode trust, why speed alone is the wrong goal for agentic AI, and how small, accountable teams can reclaim ownership in AI-augmented work.
This session isn’t about managing talent more efficiently. It’s about designing systems where humans feel indispensable.
After this session, you will be able to:
Reframe AI disruption as an identity challenge- not a skills gap- and understand why people disengage when work strips away ownership, judgement and meaning
Redesign talent systems to counter algorithm aversion, rebuild trust in AI tools and ensure humans remain decisively “in the loop” through intentional strategic friction
Shift HR’s role from policy enforcer to identity architect – empowering small teams to act as internal micro-brands that own outcomes, accountability, and pride in AI-enabled work
Abhijit's ideas driving the dialogue:
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