The Dublin Leadership Summit 2026

The Dublin Leadership Summit Returns for 2026!

After the resounding success of previous years, we’re excited to announce the much-anticipated return of the Dublin Leadership Summit, proudly hosted by AAB and The Dublin Network.

This year, we’ve secured an esteemed panel of renowned Irish leaders in business and sport. Each is a recognised authority on leadership, ready to share their practical experiences and leave you invigorated with insights that inspire, influence, and drive transformation.

“Leadership, when mastered, is the catalyst for unprecedented success and innovation.”

Register your place. Mark your calendars. This is an event you do not want to miss.

A Candid Conversation on the Future of Family Businesses

BEYOND SUCCESSION: Family Business Focus

Hear from our Chief Growth Officer Lyn Calder, along with our family business specialists Feargal McCormack, Senior Partner & Head of Family Business, and Michael Aitken, AAB Wealth Partner, as they offer considerable expertise and contrasting perspectives from their work with family businesses at different levels of wealth.

In this first session Foundations: Why Family Business Succession Fails (and How to Fix It), they cover:

• Common misconceptions.
• Why important discussions in family businesses are often postponed.
• A roadmap to drive your family business forward.
  

Whether your goal is to preserve harmony, ensure continuity, or both, this candid discussion and family business webinar series will provide you with fresh insights to lay the right foundations for your future.

Catch up with our webinar on demand for exclusive insights from our family business experts on the misconceptions of family wealth, and more.

Catch up on demand

Dublin Leadership Summit 2025

The Dublin Leadership Summit Returns for 2025!

After the resounding success of previous years, we’re excited to announce the much-anticipated return of the Dublin Leadership Summit, proudly hosted by AAB and The Dublin Network.

This year, we’ve secured an esteemed panel of renowned Irish leaders in business, sport, science and innovation. Each, a recognised authority on leadership, ready to share their practical experiences and leave you invigorated with insights that inspire, influence, and drive transformation.

Register your place. Mark your calendars. This is an event you do not want to miss. 

Book your place today

The event will once again be hosted by the “guru of global philanthropy,” Kingsley Aikins, CEO of The Networking Institute. Kingsley is a renowned expert on the power of connection and building professional relationships, with a career spanning six countries and key roles in trade promotion, diaspora engagement, and philanthropy. A TEDx speaker and CBE awardee for his work on British-Irish relations, Kingsley has developed a methodology that teaches professionals how to build and leverage strong networks to thrive in business and life. Kingsley, with his colleague, Dr. Martin Russell, has established The Diaspora Institute, and they have worked with over 50 countries around the world, helping them establish diaspora engagement strategies. 

Find out more about our speakers and book your place today.

Take a look back at last year…

 

The Future of Hospitality: Leadership Insights on an Evolving Industry

Join us for an interactive panel session featuring influential leaders from across the hospitality ecosystem – from tech innovation to ethical sourcing to legal frameworks – as they explore how the industry is being reshaped at every level.

We’ll hear from Dan Brookman, CEO of Airship and Toggle, whose platforms have revolutionised how hospitality brands drive loyalty, personalisation, and commerce. With over 30 years of experience, from venue ownership to leading a 600% SaaS scale-up, Dan offers real-world insight into what it takes to build tech that truly supports operators.

Holly Kragiopoulos, Co-founder and CEO of B Corp certified North Star Coffee, brings a powerful perspective on sustainability and purpose-driven business. A licensed Q Grader and long-time advocate for ethical sourcing, Holly has built North Star into a respected B2B, B2C, and retail brand that proves values and growth can go hand in hand.

Felicity Tulloch, Partner and Head of the Leisure Team at Kuits Solicitors, completes the panel with her legal expertise. Recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ in Legal 500, Felicity has worked on some of the North’s most high-profile licensing matters. Her team is the only Tier 1-ranked leisure legal team in the Northwest. With over 15 years of experience helping shape Manchester’s night-time economy, she brings a critical lens on regulation, compliance, and the frameworks that underpin successful hospitality ventures.

This highly interactive session will feature live audience Q&A and open discussion – designed to inspire new thinking and collaboration across disciplines. Whether you’re an operator, tech founder, legal advisor, or brand strategist, this is your chance to connect with the minds shaping the future of hospitality from every angle.

Charity Finance Group Annual Conference 2025

We’re so excited to be hosting a session at the Charity Finance Group Annual Conference 2025 on the 26th June.

This is the CFG’s largest annual conference yet. This year features a brand new theme, ‘Strong Foundations, Lasting Impact’ and a jam-packed agenda with expert insights- this is one not to be missed!

In this full-day conference, we’ll be exploring the importance of financial excellence, sound management and governance that’s effective in building charities that are resilient and, most importantly, impactful charities.

Natalie Boyle, Audit Director and Jakub Rolinski, Audit Senior Manager, are part of the packed agenda. At 15:50-15:55, they’ll be hosting a session called ‘An Audit like no other– Resetting the bar for charities’. They’ll be providing you with insights that will give you the confidence to extract more value from the external audit process to enhance your interactions and drive greater value from the engagement.

We’d love to see you there!

BOOK YOUR PLACE HERE

ENGAGE Energiser: Power-Packed Leadership in a Day

ENGAGE Energiser is a one-day intensive programme brings together the core elements of AAB’s Management Development programme.

Dublin Leadership Summit 2024

The Dublin Leadership Summit Returns for 2024! After the resounding success of previous years, we’re excited to announce the much-anticipated return of the Dublin Leadership Summit, proudly hosted by AAB and The Dublin Network.

This year, we’ve secured an esteemed panel of renowned Irish leaders in business and sport. Each is a recognised authority on leadership, ready to share their practical experiences and leave you invigorated with insights that inspire, influence, and drive transformation.

Register your place. Mark your calendars. This is an event you do not want to miss.

 

Leadership, when mastered, is the catalyst for unprecedented success and innovation.

THE PANEL

Our host and MC for the event will be “guru of global philanthropy”…

Renowned expert networker and CEO of The Networking Institute, Kingsley Aikins, believes strongly in the power of networking and has developed a methodology that shows professional business people how to survive and thrive by building strong and diverse networks. Born and brought up in Dublin, Kingsley has had an extensive career of working in Trade Promotion, Philanthropy and Diaspora Engagement. Having lived and worked in six different countries, Kingsley became passionate about the importance of networking and his mission to this day is to teach networking skills that schools, colleges and companies simply do not. Kingsley has been published extensively for his insights and has spoken at events such as TEDx. He was awarded a CBE for his work on British Irish relations and is also involved in many other non-profit bodies.

CEO of Core Optimisation

Caroline Dunlea is the CEO of county Clare based company, Core Optimisation.  Caroline co-founded the award-winning digital growth and transformation agency in 2015, which supports digital transformation and digital performance growth for businesses within the Irish and UK markets.  With over 15 years of experience in the digital sector, Caroline’s visionary leadership and innovative strategies have gained her significant recognition and accolades. Notably, she was named finalist in the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year Emerging category in 2022 and won the Entrepreneur Award from the Dublin Tech Summit, Women in Tech, in 2019.

Caroline is the current Chairperson of the lobbying and representative body, Digital Business Ireland. She is a regular speaker and panellist at business, marketing and digital transformation events and leads Core Optimisation’s management of the ground-breaking Digital Transformation Programme “Digital that Delivers” for Failte Ireland.

Former VP of Paypal Ireland & Current Board Member of Ryanair

Louise Phelan is a highly experienced Strategic Advisor, having worked with leading global companies listed on international stock exchanges. She engages directly with CEOs and senior leadership teams, showcasing her global expertise through senior independent board memberships such as Ryanair. With a background as former CEO of Phelan Energy Group and Global Vice President at PayPal, Louise has demonstrated leadership in Fortune 500 companies. She is a member of the Irish Government’s Top-Level Appointments Committee and the President’s advisory group at Technological University Dublin. Louise’s achievements have been widely recognized, including being the first woman to receive the Sir Michael Smurfit Business Achievement Award. Her expertise lies in strategic planning, organisational design, commercial planning, innovation through change, operational excellence, and stakeholder engagement. Additionally, Louise invests in entrepreneurs and supports initiatives for female entrepreneurs.

Founder and Chairman of Ergo

Since co-founding Ergo over 30 years ago, John Purdy has steered the company through extraordinary growth, creating a €200m business with 750 employees, spinning off two companies (Fenergo and FlowForma) and acquiring five others (CDSoft, iSite, Micromail, Asystec and BoatyardX). First as CEO and now as Chairman, his leadership and vision have been invaluable to Ergo and the other businesses he advises. In 2024, he earned the prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year, Industry award. His contributions were also celebrated with the Tech Excellence Lifetime Achievement Award, recognising his significant and excellent contributions to technology.

A recognised voice in media and conferences, John is known for his candid insights and commitment to leveraging technology for business improvement and positive change.

CEO of Shamrock Rovers F.C

John Martin is the Chief Executive Officer of Shamrock Rovers F.C., a position he assumed in June 2023. His extensive background includes playing, coaching, and managing at League of Ireland level. Beyond his sports career, John has nearly two decades of experience in the corporate sector, having worked at Irish Life. During his time there, he was involved in various aspects of the organization, particularly focusing on large-scale strategic programs in his later years. Additionally, John serves as a Director of the Shamrock Rovers Community Trust, which aims to deliver CSR projects to the local community. He is also a representative on the European Club Association (ECA) Commercial & Innovation Working Group for the 2024-2027 UEFA cycle.

 

Take a look back at last year…

Death of the Appraisal – so what’s next?

Hear from our panel of experienced professionals about developing a culture of performance and development.

Too often Managers and their direct reports tell us that their appraisal system is not working. Somewhere along the line it has become an annual ‘tick box’ exercise that feels like a waste of time. Progressive organisations recognise that Performance Management has moved on, and there is a shift from only evaluating performance against annual objectives, towards an approach that includes enhancing employees’ skills through continuous conversations, feedback and focussed development.  Performance Management and Development done well can be the difference between an organisation’s success and failure – research consistently shows that those that do it well have higher retention, engagement, productivity and innovation.

So how do we bring this aspiration to life in our organisations? Our expert panel members appreciate that an effective process of Performance Management and Development is part of a wider conversation about culture and continuous improvement. Our panel will share their experience of innovative approaches to fostering a learning culture, where employees are focussed on delivery as well as development.  You’ll hear practical approaches to performance conversations that include dynamic, real-time feedback mechanisms, coaching to empower employees, and advance sustainable growth.  The panel will share strategies for setting meaningful goals and creating a supportive environment where employees are recognised and motivated to thrive and make a greater positive difference!

Book now

AI Unlocked: No-nonsense insights for business leaders

This event is aimed at: Business owners and leadership teams.

Leveraging technology for financial transformation

This event is aimed at: All businesses looking to revolutionise their finances and accounting systems.