08:30
Registration and welcome coffee at University College Dublin (UCD), O’Reilly Hall (Belfield, Dublin 4)
09:00 – 09:30
Welcome and opening remarks
- Friedemann Schulze-Fielitz, Director Business School Services, EFMD Global
- Anthony Brabazon, College Principal and Dean, UCD College of Business, IE
- Conference chairperson: Joe Peppard, Academic Director, UCD Smurfit Executive Development, IE
09:30 – 10:45
AI’s impact: Adjustment or upheaval?
A provocative panel discussion that confronts the widening gap between AI’s bold promises and organisational practice.
- Sean Blanchfield, CEO, Jentic and Member of Ireland’s AI Advisory Council, IE
- Kieran McCorry, National Technology Officer, Microsoft, IE
- Kathleen McQuone-Elliott, Global Head of AI Academy – Drug Development, Novartis, IE
- John Lonsdale, CEO, CeADAR, IE
Moderated by Joe Peppard, Academic Director, UCD Smurfit Executive Development, IE
10:45 – 11:15
Coffee break
11:15 – 13:00
UCD AI ecosystem breakout sessions
Join leading researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and creatives from across the UCD ecosystem as they showcase pioneering AI projects and explore what these innovations mean for organisations, leaders, and the future of executive development.
As part of this session, attendees will be assigned at least 2 sessions from a series of immersive showcases spanning UCD’s AI and innovation ecosystem. These sessions will expose participants to cutting-edge research, emerging technologies, and real-world applications of AI across healthcare, policy, culture, data analytics, and the creative industries.
Following each session, facilitated discussions will explore the implications for organisations, leadership, and executive development, helping attendees translate insights from these pioneering projects into their own contexts.
AI in Action: How Organisations Are Putting AI to Work
CeADAR is Ireland’s national centre for applied AI and data analytics, based at UCD. It works with organisations across multiple sectors to develop, test and deploy advanced AI solutions, helping translate research and emerging technologies into practical business applications.
In this session, Laura Plunkett will showcase examples of CeADAR’s collaborative work with industry, highlighting how AI is being applied across different sectors to solve real business problems. Drawing on a range of projects and use cases, she will bring to life some of the more distinctive applications of AI currently being developed with industry partners.
- Laura Plunkett, Programme Manager, CeADAR — Ireland’s National Centre for Applied AI, IE
Agentic AI at Work: Reimagining eCommerce with AI
NovaUCD is UCD’s hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation, supporting founders, researchers and high-growth ventures as they develop and scale new ideas. RunCommerce is a leading emerging AI start-up coming through the NovaUCD ecosystem.
RunCommerce is developing an AI-powered operating layer for eCommerce, using specialised AI agents to automate and improve activities such as product enrichment, categorisation, content creation, imagery and optimisation. During the session, RunCommerce will demonstrate its product live, giving participants a first-hand view of how agentic AI can transform the way eCommerce businesses operate and scale.
- Eamonn Grant, CEO, RunCommerce, NovaUCD, IE
AI at the Frontline: The Next Frontier of Healthcare
The UCD AI Healthcare Hub, led by Professor Patricia Maguire, brings together researchers, clinicians, data scientists and industry partners to apply AI to real-world healthcare challenges and accelerate promising innovations towards clinical use.
In this session, Professor Maguire will showcase how data, AI and interdisciplinary collaboration are being used to address complex clinical problems across the Irish and global healthcare system. She will draw on a range of applications, including her own technology currently being trialled in hospitals, to bring to life how AI can support new approaches to diagnosis, decision-making and patient care.
- Patricia Maguire, Professor and Director, UCD AI Healthcare Hub, UCD AI Healthcare Hub, IE
Predicting the Unpredictable: AI, Weather and Climate
The AIMSIR Centre – AI for Meteorological Services, Innovation and Research brings together UCD and Met Éireann expertise in AI, data science, meteorology and climate research to advance weather and climate services. Its work includes AI-driven forecasting, extreme-weather prediction and approaches that can strengthen early-warning systems and preparedness.
In this session, Professor Andrew Parnell, Director of AIMSIR and Met Éireann Professor of Data Science for Climate and Weather at UCD, will showcase how AI is transforming weather and climate forecasting. He will demonstrate how AI can use large-scale historical, satellite and sensor data to produce faster, more sophisticated forecasts and help organisations better anticipate weather and climate-related risks.
- Andrew Parnell, Professor of Data Science for Climate and Weather, UCD Met Éireann Centre for AI, Meteorological Services, Innovation and Research (AIMSIR), IE
Who Governs the Agents? Building Trust in the Age of AI
NovaUCD is UCD’s hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and commercialisation, supporting founders, researchers and high-growth ventures as they develop and scale new ideas. Disseqt AI is a leading emerging AI start-up coming through the NovaUCD ecosystem.
Disseqt AI is building an AI governance and assurance platform designed to help organisations deploy AI agents safely and responsibly. Its technology tests AI systems before deployment, challenges them to identify weaknesses, checks that they operate within organisational policies, and continues to monitor behaviour while maintaining an audit trail. Disseqt will introduce its business and approach, followed by an interactive Q&A, giving participants the opportunity to explore the challenges of governing AI agents at scale.
- Cyril Tracy, Cofounder & COO, Disseqt AI, IE
13:00 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:00
The verdict: How AI will impact the future of executive learning
A facilitated sense-making session to integrate the morning’s insights through guided discussion and AI-supported analysis.
- Sarah Healy, Former Chief Learning & Skills Officer, Udemy, IE
- Kevin Marshall, Head of Future Skilling, Microsoft Ireland, IE
- Sid Pednekar, Global Talent Director, Smollan Group, IE
Moderated by: Joe Peppard, Academic Director, UCD Smurfit Executive Development, IE
15:00 – 15:30
Coffee break
15:30 – 17:00
EiP – Excellence in Practice Award (EiP) winning case presentations
Participants will be introduced to the winning case presentations using the Pecha Kucha method (20 slides max for 20 seconds each), enabling them to choose which ones they want to
discuss in more detail in the discussion corners.
Category: Organisational Development
GOLD
Seco Tools & Hult Ashridge Executive Education
“Leading transformation from within – Enabling teams to lead transformation at Seco Tools”
SILVER
Sanofi & HEC Paris
“From vision to adoption: Putting leaders in the drivers’ seat of data & AI transformation”
Category: Talent Development
GOLD
Rio Tinto & AGSM, UNSW
“RioInspire: Accelerating Indigenous talent globally”
SILVER
Tiger Brands & Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
“Re-Imagine Tiger: Creating a pipeline of strategic leadership and cultural change”
Category: Leadership Development
SILVER
Helios Towers & Cranfield University
“Supercharging prosperity through connectivity”
SILVER
Standard Bank & Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS)
“Standard Bank retail executive programme: A journey of discovery, innovation and growth”
Category: Professional Development
GOLD
Novo Nordisk & IMD
“Building leadership and a Community of Practice to accelerate strategy”
SILVER
Tech Mahindra & INSEAD
“Velocity at Tech Mahindra: Turning sales capability into a multi-billion-dollar growth engine”
Category: Ecosystem Development
GOLD
Hixon Group & Keele University
“Co-creating digital capability: A university–industry partnership model”
SILVER
Bangkok Metropolitan Council (BMC) & Talat Phlu Metropolitan Police Station & Thammasat Business School
“Lifelong learning and future skills development system for Thailand’s silver economy: Talat Phlu”
17:00 – 17:15
Day wrap-up
18:00 – 21:00
Irish cultural night – J.R. Mahon’s public house and brewery
