Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of systems adaptability in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions in Uganda. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the study purpose, the authors used responses from 91 tertiary institutions following a cross-sectional survey design. Partial least structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data and done at an institutional level. Findings The results reveal that systems adaptability plays a full mediating role in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions as it accounts for 96.68% variance. Research limitations/implications Managing talented employees is not a snapshot process, yet the authors used a cross-sectional design. This paper is limited in this regard. Also, talent management in this paper is only explained by emotional intelligence and systems adaptability. Practical implications Talent management is explained by emotional intelligence and systems adaptability, which are metaphors of emotional intelligence and complex adaptive system theories. The authors also add to theory by establishing a fully mediating role of systems adaptability between emotional intelligence and talent management. Originality/value This paper establishes the mediating role of systems adaptability in the relationship between emotional intelligence and talent management in tertiary institutions.