NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Artificial intelligence is poised to change how leave management professionals handle work, experts said last week during the 2026 Disability Management Employer Coalition Annual Conference in Nashville, Tennessee. 

For those without a third-party administrator, the technology offers a new way to stay abreast of changing laws throughout the country, DMEC CEO Bryon Bass told HR Dive. 

Yet, even as AI transforms work, the employee needs to remain the central focus, Bass said. 

“We know that we need to keep the human in the loop. The question is: Where are there opportunities to utilize AI in a way to make an interaction from a human-to-human perspective even more effective and beneficial?” Bass said. 

At the same time, Julie Hocker, assistant secretary of labor for disability employment policy, told the more than 800 attendees at the conference that AI is not stealing jobs from workers with disabilities.

Instead, “AI is busting down barriers,” Hocker said. “AI and accessible technology is bringing to life and bringing to the desk and to the workplace more and more opportunities for people with and without disabilities to be able to really customize the way that they approach their work.”

For these and other stories, read on below for our full coverage of the conference.