humAIn will return to Sydney on 13–14 October as a fully independent event with B&T as media partner.
It marks a new chapter for the conference that has become one of Australia’s leading forums on artificial intelligence for marketing, media and creative industries.
Now in its fourth year, humAIn brings together marketers, agency leaders, media executives, technologists, founders and creatives to explore the opportunities, challenges and implications of AI adoption. Tickets are on sale now at humain.au.
The 2026 program is built around a question becoming increasingly urgent for organisations navigating artificial intelligence: what remains irreducibly human when AI can generate content, write code, analyse information and perform an expanding range of cognitive and creative work?
“Three years ago, people came to humAIn to understand what AI could do,” said humAIn founder Cat McGinn. “Today, they’re grappling with a much harder challenge: how to lead organisations through it. Questions of judgement, creativity, trust, leadership and meaning are becoming more important, not less.”
“The world’s media, marketing and creative businesses are at a crossroads,” added Tom Fogden, editor of B&T. “It’s of vital importance that we have honest, full-throated discussions about AI and how it will affect our lives and livelihoods. We’re delighted to partner with humAIn to have such chats.”
Program
Day one will feature keynote presentations, panels, the return of the AI Upfronts — the lightning pitch session for AI startups with a marketing focused product — and the Great DebAIt, alongside humAIn’s signature Chatham House Rule roundtables. Day two will focus on practical implementation through hands-on workshops designed to help leaders and teams move from experimentation to adoption.
The first speakers announced for the 2026 program include former Google Creative Lab leader and AI consultant Tea Uglow, Springboards founder Pip Bingeman, James Caldwell, Australian head of go-to-market for ByteDance, and Kent Boswell from AI production house AICandy.
Independent by design
The move to an independent model reflects what humAIn’s organisers see as a broader shift in the industry’s relationship with AI — from curiosity and experimentation towards implementation, governance and organisational change.
“What we hear repeatedly is that people want somewhere they can speak openly about what’s working, what isn’t, and the questions they don’t yet have answers to,” McGinn said. “The Chatham House Rule roundtables have become one of the most valued parts of humAIn because they allow people to share experiences, lessons and challenges without every comment becoming a headline.”
The team
humAIn 2026 will be led by founder Cat McGinn alongside operations partner Belinda Cusack and head of partnerships Denise Fletcher, former Mumbrella colleagues reunited to build the event’s next chapter independently.
“Belinda, Denise and I share a belief that the best events don’t create audiences — they create communities of practice,” McGinn said. “humAIn has always been less about hype and more about bringing together people who are actively building, testing and navigating AI in their organisations. We’re excited to continue that work on our own terms.”
