This important challenge takes center stage in the People, Capability, and the Workforce of Delivery track at the 2026 ISPE Annual Meeting & Expo, taking place 18–21 October 2026 in Washington, D.C., USA. The track explores how organizations can develop the skills, judgement, and organizational capabilities required to thrive in an increasingly complex, technology-enabled manufacturing environment.
Across pharmaceutical manufacturing, organizations face a common reality. AI-enabled tools, advanced automation, personalized medicine, and continuous manufacturing are creating demand for new skills while simultaneously widening existing talent gaps. The question is no longer whether the workforce will change, but how quickly organizations can adapt their workforce training strategies to keep pace.
Through practical case studies, workforce development frameworks, and real-world implementation stories, presenters throughout this track will share proven approaches for building resilient, agile, and future-ready teams.
Building the Workforce of Tomorrow Through Skills
One of the defining themes of this track is the shift from traditional job-based workforce models toward skills-based organizations. In the session “Workforce of Tomorrow – Skills Powered,” Kendrick Cox of Arcadis explores how organizations can create a skills-focused environment that improves workforce agility and enables better alignment between talent and business needs. As global workforce trends continue to evolve, companies are experiencing increasing demand for specialized expertise alongside growing competition for talent.
Rather than relying solely on traditional organizational structures, Arcadis is embracing a model that emphasizes capabilities and transferable skills. This approach allows organizations to dynamically connect talent with opportunities, access expertise globally, and respond more effectively to changing client and market demands. Beyond improving productivity, skills-based workforce models can help organizations attract, retain, and develop employees while supporting long-term growth. The session highlights an increasingly important industry lesson: workforce transformation is not simply about filling jobs. It is about understanding, developing, and deploying capabilities across the enterprise.
Creating Global Standards for Workforce Readiness
As biopharmaceutical manufacturing expands globally, workforce consistency becomes increasingly important. Barry Shortt, PhD, from the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training (NIBRT), presents “NIBRT Global Qualifications: Future-Ready Workforce.” The session introduces the NIBRT Global Qualifications (NGQs), a standardized certification framework designed to harmonize bioprocessing training across international markets.
By creating competency-based qualifications aligned with industry needs, NGQs help reduce variability in workforce capability, accelerate onboarding, and improve operational readiness. The presentation demonstrates how standardized training programs can support talent mobility, strengthen workforce pipelines, and create greater consistency across global manufacturing networks. As organizations continue to expand into new markets and technologies, scalable workforce development models such as the one developed by NIBRT are becoming increasingly valuable tools for supporting sustainable growth.
Developing Flexible and Cross-Trained Manufacturing Teams
The future workforce must be adaptable, versatile, and capable of operating across multiple environments. AstraZeneca's Allstream FlexAbility Workforce provides an example of how organizations are building operational resilience through structured cross-training programs. Angie Cornelius and Aliya Abramson will share how AstraZeneca created a deployable team capable of supporting both upstream and downstream manufacturing operations while maintaining GMP compliance and operational excellence. The session demonstrates how targeted competency frameworks, flexible deployment models, and integrated training strategies can help address workforce coverage challenges while improving throughput, right-first-time performance, and deviation management.
Similarly, Fluor Life Sciences explores innovative workforce development through “Advancing Pharma: Agile Modular Training Facility.” Their next-generation training environment combines hands-on learning, virtual reality experiences, and modular facility design to create realistic manufacturing simulations. By allowing employees to learn and practice in a risk-free environment, these facilities help accelerate skill development while supporting continuous learning and digital transformation.
Harnessing AI Without Losing Human Judgement
As AI adoption accelerates, one of the most important workforce questions becomes how humans and AI will work together. Several sessions explore this challenge from different perspectives.
In “Workforce-Centered AI for Faster Capital Delivery!”, Steven Chan of Gilead Sciences describes how AI is being used to accelerate feasibility assessments and capital project decision-making. By embedding AI within a structured GxP-compliant governance framework, Gilead has reduced evaluation timelines from weeks to a single day while enabling engineers to focus on higher-value work. Importantly, the presentation emphasizes that AI is not replacing expertise. Instead, it is helping organizations scale engineering judgement and make better-informed decisions more quickly.
That theme continues in “AI Transformation Starts with People,” where Bonnie Hatcher of Syner-G and Fred Connell of Becton, Dickinson, and Company examine AI transformation as a workforce challenge rather than a purely technological initiative. Drawing on real-world transformation experiences, the presenters offer practical guidance for preparing organizations for AI adoption, addressing employee concerns, developing new digital capabilities, and designing effective human-AI collaboration models. Their message is clear: successful AI implementation depends on people, processes, and culture as much as technology.
Why Fundamental Skills Still Matter
Even as digital tools become more sophisticated, many foundational skills remain indispensable. The session “Write Right: Essential Skills Digital Tools Can't Replace” reminds attendees that technology cannot compensate for poor requirements management. Presented by Melissa Balmer of Merck and Sarah Botham of CRB, the discussion focuses on user requirement specifications (URS) and the critical role they play throughout capital projects.
As AI and automation become more deeply embedded in project delivery, the quality of human-defined requirements becomes even more important. Organizations must ensure that employees maintain strong technical writing, documentation, critical thinking, and decision-making capabilities alongside digital competencies.
Likewise, sessions such as “Who Answers When the Inspector Asks?” and “Building Quality Culture in Cell Therapy” highlight the importance of accountability, inspection readiness, and quality-focused decision-making in increasingly complex manufacturing environments.
Building a Workforce Ready for the Future
The People, Capability, and Workforce of Delivery track reinforces a powerful industry insight: technology alone does not create transformation. Success depends on developing people who can effectively operate, oversee, improve, and lead complex systems.
From skills-based workforce planning and global training standards to cross-functional teams, AI-enabled decision support, quality culture development, and immersive learning environments, the sessions throughout this track offer practical guidance for organizations navigating the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing.
As the industry continues its rapid evolution, workforce development is becoming a strategic differentiator. Organizations that invest in capability building, leadership development, and human-centered innovation will be best positioned to deliver operational excellence, accelerate innovation, and ensure patients continue to receive the therapies they need.
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