16th Annual Engaging Business Forum

In today’s business and human rights context, global supply chains operate across increasingly divergent regulatory landscapes, geopolitical tensions, and shifting stakeholder expectations with more people on the move than ever before. Companies committed to responsible business practices face a fundamental challenge: how to sustain leadership in respecting human rights and upholding labor standards when the rules, norms, and enforcement mechanisms vary from one jurisdiction to the next?

This panel explores how leading companies are maintaining robust due diligence frameworks — leveraging new tools like AI and data analytics to identify risks at scale and collaborating across sectors while navigating global complexity and adapting to local contexts. Panelists will discuss practical approaches to responsible sourcing, the role of industry coalitions and multi-stakeholder partnerships, and what it takes to drive meaningful outcomes for people in an environment where stakeholder expectations are shifting.

AI is reshaping how people work — changing the nature of jobs, how talent is developed, how work is organized, and which roles evolve as a result. For millions around the world, this is not a future scenario — it’s happening now.

But this shift is not just a technology story. It’s a human rights story. How AI is designed, deployed, and governed will determine the degree to which it advances decent work.

This keynote explores how the business and human rights community can seize this moment — using AI as a tool to strengthen protections, improve working conditions, and drive economic growth that works for everyone. It will address at what’s needed from companies, governments, and international institutions to ensure that, as the world of work transforms, human rights remain at the center.

Every company now uses AI. But what does that mean for people’s rights?

AI systems are increasingly shaping decisions across supply chains and access to services, and questions of transparency, accountability, and meaningful human oversite are becoming central to how these systems are evaluated. At the same time, new regulations are raising the bar for what companies are expected to deliver.

This session features leaders representing business, policy, and civil society to explore what responsible AI governance looks like in practice — who is accountable, how to achieve meaningful oversight at scale, and what separates companies that translate commitment into measurable protections from those still maturing their approach. A candid conversation about accelerating the journey from commitments to outcomes.

From anonymous survey apps and digital grievance channels to AI-assisted risk identification and worker-initiated feedback tools, technology is reshaping how brands hear from workers across global supply chains when workers choose to participate. These tools offer new pathways to amplify the voices of works directly, at scale, and in ways that prioritize worker agency, consent, and control over their own data in ways that were not possible previously.

This practitioner panel pulls back the curtain on what’s actually happening on the ground — from the brands deploying these tools and the firms verifying their impact, to the workers these tools are meant to serve.

This high-level panel will bring together senior voices from business, the OECD, and the UN to explore how collective sharing of technology, data, best practices, and lessons learned can help better identify forced labor risks, strengthen supply chain transparency, and move from detection to action.

It will also examine how governments and international organizations can promote greater policy coherence, predictability, and legal certainty, while supporting practical and effective approaches to human rights due diligence.

The shift to a lower-carbon economy is well underway — but who benefits, and who gets left behind? An important consideration for climate strategies is the people most affected: workers whose jobs are changing, communities living near new infrastructure, and populations in the Global South bearing the cost of transition decisions made elsewhere.

In this discussion, presenters share real examples of putting people at the center of climate action — from supporting fair labor conditions in renewable energy supply chains, to community engagement around green projects, to protecting livelihoods during industry transitions. They’ll explore what works, what doesn’t, and what companies and policymakers need to do so that the shift to a green economy is fair, inclusive, and grounded in human rights.

The biggest lesson in the decades-long fight against forced labor is that there are no quick fixes. The same is true of technology. New innovations must be paired with multi-stakeholder collaborations, worker-centered design, and a willingness to share data across peer companies.

Practitioners share the real story: the hardest challenges, where AI and traceability tools delivered, and where progress is being made.

As human rights expectations rise — from regulators, investors, and civil society — companies face real questions about how to integrate social considerations into fast-moving commercial environments. How do you embed ethical sourcing into procurement processes? How does due diligence keep pace with speed to market?

This panel explores the practical challenges of aligning business operations with human rights commitments. Speakers will share frank perspectives on what companies are getting right, where gaps remain, and how they can move from reactive risk management to embedding human rights into everyday operations.

This closing panel will bring together key themes from the day’s discussions to examine what it takes to turn responsible business commitments into meaningful change. Reflecting on the opportunities and challenges explored — including human rights due diligence, supply chain transparency, technology, data, innovation, and stakeholder collaboration – the conversation will consider what enables companies to move from policies and commitments to effective implementation and measurable outcomes.

Bringing together leaders from business and intergovernmental institutions, the panel will also explore how stronger engagement between the UN system and the private sector can help bridge the gap between policy and practice, strengthen implementation, and advance responsible business conduct.