HRSE (HR Summit & Expo) 2026

How it compares

In Dubai itself, the alternative is SHRM MENA Annual Conference & Expo in December. It expects more than 2,000 senior HR and business leaders, a smaller and more senior crowd than HRSE, and its 2026 program centers on a hands-on HR + AI Lab where leaders work through their own use cases. It fits an HR director who wants depth on AI and the SHRM network. HRSE fits teams that want the wider HR community in one place, including colleagues who can use the free exhibition without a conference pass.

HRSE KSA is the same organizer's show in Riyadh, with about 4,500 HR professionals and a program shaped by Saudisation and Saudi workforce strategy. Its exhibitors lean toward Saudi training providers, universities and recruitment firms. Vendors whose buyers sit in Saudi organizations reach more of them there than in Dubai.

Outside the region, CIPD Festival of Work in London is far bigger, with more than 12,500 attendees and 210 exhibitors, but its content follows UK practice and employment law. For employers and suppliers focused on the UAE and the wider GCC, HRSE is the event that brings that market's HR teams together.

HRSE is the right trip for HR leaders and practitioners working in the UAE, and for HR software, learning and benefits suppliers who want to meet Gulf HR teams across every level in two days.

Who exhibits

HR and payroll software is the largest group on the floor, led by Zoho, Keka, greytHR, Peoplestrong and Staffbase, several of them Indian platforms selling into Gulf employers. Learning and certification providers come next, from MIT Sloan Executive Education and FranklinCovey Middle East to Pearson, Kaplan Professional MENA and ICS Learn. Health insurer Daman and actuarial firm Lux Actuaries cover benefits, while Naukrigulf and ManpowerGroup Middle East represent recruitment. The mix tells a visitor this is a place to compare HR systems and training partners.

Last year's exhibitors

1. 

   Crowe

2. 

   Lux Actuaries

3. 

   Roundtrip – Emerging Travel Group

4. 

   Daman

5. 

   Frazer Jones

6. 

   Ghaf Benefits

This year's list is on its way. A HallBrief brief ranks every exhibitor against your goals and finds who to meet at each. Get a brief

HRSE (HR Summit & Expo) 2026

This year's main days move to Za'abeel Hall 6 at Dubai World Trade Centre, and the Future Workplace Awards move to Conrad Dubai, next to the certification workshops. Mo Gawdat, former chief business officer of Google X, and Stephen M.R. Covey give the keynotes, and nine in ten speakers on the premium stages are new to the show. AI-based matchmaking for 1:1 meetings is also new, and the show runs under the patronage of the Dubai Government Human Resources Department.

• The HR Leaders Conference is a closed-door room for senior HR leaders with conference passes, so suppliers reach CHROs at the awards dinner at Conrad Dubai on the first evening or through the organizer's 1:1 matchmaking.
• Workshops, the masterclass and the awards are at Conrad Dubai while the exhibition is at Za'abeel Hall 6, so plan the move between the two sites on the first day.
• Public-sector HR is well represented, with the Dubai Government Human Resources Department as patron and government HR leaders on the speaker list, which matters for suppliers selling to government entities.