The Future of Adult and Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI

The Future of Adult and Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI 2026

The Future of Adult and Lifelong Learning in the Age of AI brings together leaders from research, education, industry, government and technology to explore how people, organisations and communities can learn, work and thrive in an AI-enabled world. Hosted by The Open University as part of Milton Keynes Tech Week 2026, this in-person conference will connect emerging research and innovation with practical experience from across sectors.

Through keynote presentations, case studies, panel discussions, exhibitions and networking, the programme will examine how AI is reshaping adult and lifelong learning, skills, workforce development and organisational transformation. It will consider the capabilities and mindsets people need for the future, alongside the importance of adopting AI responsibly, ethically, inclusively and with a clear focus on human and social benefit.

The conference will be opened by Professor Ian Pickup, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience, and Professor Mark Brandon, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation. Keynote speakers include Tom Way, CEO of Hays UK & Ireland, who will share perspectives on the future of work, talent and skills, and AI and digital strategy consultant Emma Darcy, who will challenge assumptions about how education is preparing young people for an AI-enabled future. Professor John Domingue will also explore purposeful AI innovation, learning and impact at The Open University.

Delegates will have opportunities to discover AI innovations being developed across the University, contribute to cross-sector discussion and connect with others working to shape a responsible and inclusive AI-enabled future.

Click here to download the conference brochure.

Event details

Date:

14 October 2026

Time:

09:30 – 17:30

Location:

The Hub Theatre and Jennie Lee Building, Walton Hall, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA

Primary unit:

Knowledge Media Institute

Registration

Register for the Event:

Link to Eventbrite page (opens in a new tab)

Event chairs

John Domingue

Professor of Computer Science

John Domingue holds a position of Professor of Computer Science, at the Knowledge Media Institute (KMi), The Open University’s technology research and innovation centre. He also serves as the chair of the ESWC conference series. With a career including serving as KMi Director from 2015 to 2022, Prof. Domingue has contributed 250 refereed articles in fields such as semantics, AI, the Web, distributed ledgers, and eLearning.

Since the beginning of 2023, he has been at the forefront of examining the impact of Generative AI on higher education including a UKRI funded project (SAGE-RAI) with the Open Data Institute. John has also worked extensively on how distributed ledgers and blockchains can support academic and health credentialing in a decentralised fashion.

John has delivered numerous talks on his work, including appearances at the Royal Institution in 2018, TEDx, and featured in THE Campus on interdisciplinary research teams. In 2019, he was inducted as a Fellow of the British Blockchain Association, and in 2020, he became an Honorary Professor at Amity University.
To learn more about his work, visit kmi.open.ac.uk/people/domingue or follow him on X/Twitter: @johndmk or linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-domingue/.

Esther Spring

Digital & AI Confidence and Capability Lead

Esther Spring is passionate about how people, organisations and communities can learn, work and thrive in the age of AI. A recognised expert in digital transformation, AI capability and organisational development, she has worked across higher education, digital publishing and broadcasting to help people build the confidence and skills needed to embrace technological change. She champions responsible, inclusive and human-centred approaches to digital and AI adoption, supporting organisations to develop the capability, culture and leadership needed to innovate successfully.

To learn more or connect via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherspring/

Conference Opening

Mark Brandon

Professor Mark Brandon is Interim Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation) at The Open University, with responsibility for leading strategic initiatives such as the OU’s REF submissions, its approach to knowledge exchange, and its entrepreneurial expansion activities.

A polar oceanographer, Mark joined the OU as an environmental science lecturer in 2000 after completing his PhD at Cambridge and working in the British Antarctic Survey. He was promoted to Professor in 2017, awarded an MBE for services to polar science in 2021, and won the prestigious Polar Medal in 2024. Mark has also advised the BBC on major series such as Frozen Planet and Blue Planet II, and served as a Special Advisor to Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee.

Mark’s commitment to education stems from his upbringing in East London, and he remains passionate about the OU’s mission to widen access to learning.

Ian Pickup

Professor Ian Pickup, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Learning, Teaching and Student Experience at The Open University, is a passionate advocate for the role of universities in society. As a first-generation student, he deeply understands the transformative impact of higher education across learners’ life journeys. He holds a BA (with QTS) from the University of Warwick and a PhD in Education from the University of Roehampton. A National Teaching Fellow and Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Ian has made significant contributions to student experience in higher education through leadership, teaching, and international education initiatives.

Ian joined The OU in April 2023, following senior roles at the University of East London, SOAS University of London, University College Cork, and the University of Roehampton. His career spans education, sport, and charitable sectors, including external leadership roles such as trustee of LYR, a charity using rowing to transform lives, and advisory board member for Common Purpose London. His work continues to shape higher education policies, practitioner training, and student experience strategies.

To learn more about his work, visit Professor Ian Pickup – Open University Profile.

Emily Darlington

Emily Darlington is the MP for Milton Keynes Central and is a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee. She was previously the Deputy Leader of Milton Keynes City Council. Prior to her elected roles, she worked with an international development charity in Kenya, held senior roles in the university sector, public service innovation organisations and unions, and served as Special Advisor to the Department for Trade & Industry, and Special Advisor to the Chancellor of the Exchequer at HM Treasury.

Keynote speakers

Tom Way

Keynote focus

The Future Isn't Waiting- How AI is Redefining Skills, Careers and Learning

As artificial intelligence transforms the workplace at an unprecedented pace, the relationship between education and employment is being fundamentally redefined. In this keynote, Tom Way, CEO of Hays UK & Ireland, explores how businesses, educators and individuals must adapt to a future where learning is no longer a one-time event, but a lifelong necessity.

Drawing on Hays’ unique perspective at the intersection of talent, skills and workforce transformation, Tom examines how organisations are shifting from hiring for job titles to hiring for capabilities, why career paths are becoming increasingly fluid, and what this means for the future of workforce development. He will discuss the growing importance of adaptability, continuous learning and human-centred skills in an AI-enabled economy, and why stronger partnerships between employers and education providers will be critical to future success
This thought-provoking session challenges traditional assumptions about education and employment, offering practical insight into how we can build a more skilled, inclusive and resilient workforce for the future.

Join Tom as he explores what it will take to ensure that, in the age of AI, people don’t simply keep up with change, but lead it.

About Tom

Tom Way joined Hays in 2025 as CEO of Hays UK & Ireland, bringing more than 20 years of international recruitment and workforce solutions experience. He began his career specialising in Banking and Financial Services before leading Life Sciences business in San Francisco and subsequently across European markets. Throughout his career, Tom has held a number of senior leadership roles, building and leading high-performing teams across multiple regions and helping organisations navigate evolving talent and skills challenges. Today, as a member of Hays’ Global Executive Leadership Team, Tom plays a key role in shaping workforce strategy and supporting customers, colleagues and businesses across the UK&I. In 2026, he was named on Staffing Industry Analysts’ Staffing 100 Europe list, which recognises the European staffing leaders whose accomplishments and vision are helping shape the future of work.

Emma Darcy

Keynote focus

AI and young people: where are we getting it wrong?

Artificial intelligence is profoundly transforming the world that young people are entering, but is education evolving quickly enough to keep pace? This keynote explores how AI is reshaping expectations of learning, assessment, skills and employability across schools, colleges and universities.

Drawing on examples of innovative practice and real-world experiences from across the education sector, Emma will challenge assumptions about what young people need to thrive in an AI-enabled future. She will examine what is already working well, where barriers remain, and what a more relevant, responsive and future-focused education system could look like.

Central to the discussion is the role of student voice, not as an afterthought, but as a vital influence on how AI is understood, adopted and governed in education. The session will encourage educators, leaders and policymakers to consider whether we are genuinely preparing young people for the future, or continuing to preserve systems designed for the past.

About Emma

Emma Darcy is an AI and digital strategy consultant working with schools, trusts and education organisations across the UK and internationally. She previously led technology for learning at Denbigh High School in Luton for more than 13 years and played a key role in shaping digital strategy across Chiltern Learning Trust for over a decade, contributing to the Trust receiving the MAT Excellence Award for Digital Innovation in 2024. Emma’s work has been recognised through numerous national and international awards, including the Gold Pearson National Teaching Award for Digital Innovator of the Year and the Global EdTech Award for Most Impactful Senior Member of Staff. She is a trustee for Apps for Good, a founding member of The Digital Futures Group, and continues to support organisations with digital transformation, AI strategy and innovation. In 2026, Denbigh High School was shortlisted for Best Use of Technology at the TES Schools Awards, and Emma was named one of the Bett UK EdTech 10, recognising ten women internationally who are transforming the education technology landscape.

Professor Sir Anthony Seldon

Keynote focus

The revolution in Higher Education: why everyone aged 25-100 should be affiliated to a university for the greatest ride in life

AI is changing Higher Education more than anything in history. The conventional model is breaking down and needs a bold new vision.

About Professor

Sir Anthony Seldon is a leading authority on all matters relating to education, AI, Number 10 and Britain’s prime ministers. Since his first book on a prime minister, Churchill’s Indian Summer, he has written or edited more than 50 books, many of which are best-sellers, including definitive insider accounts of the last seven prime ministers. Sir Anthony served as honorary historian of Number 10 Downing Street, chair of the National Archives Trust, is a governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company, founder of The Museum of the Prime Minister and of AI in Education, originated The Times Education Commission and the IfG’s Commission on the Centre, and has interviewed most of the senior figures who have worked in Number 10 in the last fifty years. His most recent books are – The Path of Peace: Walking the Western Front Way (2022), Johnson at 10: The Inside Story (2023) and Truss at 10: How Not to Be Prime Minister (2024), Path of Light: Walking to Auschwitz (2025), The Brexit Effect (2026) and Sunak at 10: The Last Tory PM (2026).

For 20 years he was a transformative headmaster, first at Brighton College and then Wellington College, one of the country’s leading independent schools. From 2015 to 2020 he served as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Buckingham. In 2023 he was appointed Head of Epsom College for 18 months following the sudden loss of the Head. His foresight, vision and understanding of AI and its huge impact on education is renowned. He has now returned to Wellington College as the Founding Director of Wellington College Education to lead its development and evolution of global education, and to shape and refine what education should mean in the early mid-21st century.

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Max Rangeley

Keynote focus

The Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Education

AI is poised to revolutionise education, from how we learn, to how we apply that knowledge and the nature of ongoing education throughout our careers. But what will this mean for the average person, for academics, for managers, for students? This talk will delve in to the different ways in which AI will affect all of us and how we will learn in the age of AI, for better and for worse (but mostly for better).

About Max

Max Rangeley runs a think tank founded by a member of Parliament and has served on the boards of other think tanks in London and Brussels. He has put an emphasis on emerging technologies, including organising and moderating the artificial intelligence roundtable discussions in the European Parliament. He was recently lead editor of the academic volume The Artificial Intelligence Revolution – this brought together some of the finest minds in AI to write chapters, ranging from the most senior AI person at the United Nations, to AI luminaries like Stuart Russell and Yoshua Bengio, to senior political and military figures, from tech ministers to a former Chief of the Defence Staff.

Agenda

Agenda
Start	End	Location	Item	Who
09:00	09:30	Juniper & Medlar	Registration and coffee
09:30	10:30	Hub Theatre	Welcome and introduction	John Domingue (Prof of Computer Science OU), Esther Spring (Learning Lead Digital & Innovation), – Chair Opening – Ian Pickup (Pro Vice Chancellor Students, OU), Mark Brandon (PVC Research & Innovation, OU), Emily Darlington, MP (MP for Milton Keynes Central; Member, Science and Technology Select Committee)
10:30	11:00	Hub Theatre	The Future Isn't Waiting – How AI is Redefining Skills, Careers and Learning	Tom Way, CEO Hays UK & Irelancd
11:00	11:15	Hub Theatre	Short break
11:15	12:00	Hub Theater	Keynote – The Artificial Intelligence Revolution in Education	Max Rangeley
12:00	12:30	Hub Theater	Purposeful AI in Practice: Innovation, Learning and Impact at The Open University	Professor John Domingue
12:30	14:00	Jennie Lee Building	Networking lunch and exhibitors
14:00	14:30	Hub Theatre	Afternoon welcome: Beyond the Technology: Helping People Thrive in the Age of AI	Esther Spring
14:30	15:00	Hub Theatre	Panel discussion – Preparing for What's Next: AI, Skills and Lifelong Learning	Chair: Professor John Domingue Sophie Lloydd Peter Gill Emma Stace
15:00	15:15	Hub Theatre	Short break
15:15	16:00	Hub Theatre	Keynote – AI and young people: where are we getting it wrong?	Emma Darcy
16:00	16:45	Hub Theater	The revolution in Higher Education: why everyone aged 25-100 should be affiliated to a university for the greatest ride in life	Professor Sir Anthony Seldon
16:45	17:00	Hub Theater	Closing remarks	Professor John Domingue and Esther Spring
17:00	18:00	Hub Theatre	Networking and drinks

Panel

Sophie Lloyd

Sophie Lloyd is Head of Economic Development at Milton Keynes City Council, leading Invest Milton Keynes and the city’s work on innovation, smart cities, inward investment, sustainability and economic growth. She has extensive experience in place-based economic development, strategic policy and regional collaboration, helping to shape major growth and innovation initiatives across Milton Keynes and the wider Oxford-Cambridge region.

Peter Gill

AVP – Head of Public Sector at Infosys

Peter Gill leads Infosys’ UK public sector business, drawing on more than 35 years’ experience in IT, service delivery, sales and bids. He works with public sector organisations to transform services and has a longstanding interest in helping people develop transferable skills for a changing workplace.

Peter has supported Infosys’ social value work, collaborated with local councils on learning platforms covering future and AI skills, and helped young people prepare for employment. A former school governor, he also has a particular interest in the practical use of technology and AI in education.

Emma Stace

Emma Stace is Chief Digital and Information Officer at The Open University. A persistent, people-focused leader, she creates the trust and clarity teams need to test, learn and deliver meaningful outcomes. She believes change is built with people, not done to them, and is known for asking the occasional awkward question to keep everyone focused on what will actually be different.