The Future of Leadership Summit – APAC 2026 | IECL

27–28 October 2026 · Sydney & Virtual

The Future of
Leadership
Summit

APAC 2026

Institute of Executive Coaching & Leadership

Two-day summit from 9 am each day
Fullerton Hotel, 1 Martin Place, Sydney
+ Live-streamed globally via Zoom

Redefining leadership in an AI-shaped world.

Leadership is at an inflection point. As AI reshapes work, talent pipelines shift and new generations step into leadership, expectations of leaders are being rewritten in real time.

The IECL Future of Leadership Summit APAC 2026 is a two‑day, high‑level think tank for CEOs, CPOs and senior leaders from enterprise, ASX 500 organisations and government. Join us in Sydney, or virtually, to explore a new era where human capabilities, systemic thinking and AI-enabled work design come together, and every leader is equipped as a change agent.

Highlights

See the Summit in Action

Watch highlights from the IECL Leadership Summit 2024 - two days of keynotes, panels and workshops with Australia’s leading senior executives and coaches - to get a taste of the calibre and energy you can expect in 2026.

With thanks to our partners

PwC

Blackbridge

AIM

By 2027,
over 40%

of leadership roles will be fundamentally reshaped by AI and automation, yet most organisations don’t have a clear plan for the human capabilities their leaders will need next.

Secure Your Place

Why This Summit Matters

This isn’t a question of adding more content to existing programs. It’s about rethinking:

What leaders are actually for when AI can do much of the technical work
How leadership pipelines evolve as new generations and new roles emerge
Which human skills become non‑negotiable in your systems, not just your values

The Future of Leadership Summit APAC 2026 gives you the space, peers and frameworks to answer these questions, and to begin rewiring your leadership system for what’s coming.

THE ROOM

WHO YOU'LL BE IN THE ROOM WITH

This Summit is intentionally curated for senior decision-makers responsible for leadership at scale, including:

CEOs
Chief People Officers and Chief People & Culture Officers
Chief Human Resources Officers
Group Heads of Learning, Talent and Leadership

Attendees come from large enterprise, ASX 500 organisations and major government agencies. Numbers are capped to preserve the quality of dialogue, peer connection and co‑creation.

If you’re accountable for leadership capability, culture and the human side of AI-enabled transformation, this Summit is for you.

Your Outcomes

WHAT YOU'LL WALK AWAY WITH

Strategic clarity, practical frameworks and a network of peers at your level.

By the end of the two days, you will:

Reframe leadership for an AI-shaped future
Articulate what leadership is for in your organisation now, and which human skills must become core capabilities, not add‑ons.
See what systemic leadership uplift looks like
Understand how leading organisations are moving from isolated programs to integrated, organisation‑wide leadership ecosystems.
Clarify how coaching and coaching culture accelerate change
Explore how organisational coaching panels, internal coach capability and coach‑like leadership can lift performance and adaptability.
Leave with a first-cut leadership uplift roadmap
Capture a tailored set of next steps you can take back to your executive team, including where IECL can partner with you to deliver.

The Experience

A High-Level Think Tank, Not Just Another Conference

The IECL Leadership Summit 2026 is designed as a premium, high-trust environment where senior leaders think together, not just listen.

Across two full days you’ll experience:

Provocative keynotes and C‑suite panels to frame the big questions on AI, human capability, leadership pipelines and change.
Curated table conversations with peers who are wrestling with the same challenges you are.
Two rounds of focused breakout workshops on Day Two, each offering three streams so you can choose what’s most relevant.
Deliberate white space for networking, with extended breaks, hosted lunches and evening conversations to build enduring connections.

This is a Summit designed for senior leaders who want to shape the conversation, not sit on the sidelines.

Agenda & Speakers

Two Days, Carefully Sequenced

Stage One

Reframe

Challenge conventional assumptions about leadership, AI and human capability.

Stage Two

Reimagine

Explore new models for leadership pipelines, human skills, change capability and coaching culture.

Stage Three

Rewire

Translate these insights into a practical roadmap for your organisation.

The IECL Leadership Summit 2026 is designed as a two-day journey through these three stages, each building on the last to move you from insight to action.

Full Programme

Agenda Overview

Two days, carefully sequenced. The Future of Leadership Summit APAC 2026 moves senior leaders through a deliberate journey: Reframe the leadership challenges ahead, Reimagine the capabilities and systems organisations need, and Rewire leadership practice through practical commitments for 2030.

Arrival

From 8.15am

Arrival and Connection

Arrive early, connect with senior peers and begin contributing to the Summit conversation. Delegates will be invited to share the leadership tensions defining their year, creating the first live input into the Human Leadership Index conversation.

Opening

9.00am

Welcome to the Future of Leadership Summit

The Summit opens by setting the context for two days of evidence, dialogue and practical leadership. We will introduce the co-creation ethos of the program, connect in-room and online delegates through Slido, and frame the journey from insight to action.

MC / IECL

Research Launch

9.15am

The Human Leadership Index 2026

Be among the first to explore the Human Leadership Index 2026 — a new evidence base examining the state of human leadership across Australia and APAC. Caroline will surface the leadership risks, tensions and capabilities that matter most as organisations prepare for an AI-enabled future.

Caroline McAuliffe

Executive Panel

9.50am

CEO Reality Check

What leadership assumptions have you completely changed in the past three years? Senior executives share the assumptions they have had to rethink and the realities now shaping leadership at the highest levels of business, governance and organisational performance.

Mark Rigotti Additional panellists to be announced

Break

10.35am

Morning Tea

Continue the conversation with fellow delegates, speakers and partners.

Keynote

11.00am

Navigating Megatrends and Leading Emerging Generations

Australia's leading social researcher and futurist explores the demographic, technological and societal shifts reshaping organisations, workforces and leadership. Delegates will consider which megatrends are most likely to disrupt their organisations and what leaders must be ready for next.

Mark McCrindle

Interactive Lab

12.00pm

Leadership Insights Lab

This thought-provoking, interactive session invites delegates to make sense of the morning's research and leadership perspectives through conversation with peers. Guided by IECL facilitators, delegates will identify patterns, tensions and practical leverage points for leadership change.

IECL Facilitators

Lunch

1.15pm

Networking Lunch

Continue the conversation over lunch. Online delegates will have facilitated virtual networking options, while in-room delegates connect with peers, partners and speakers.

Partner Insight

2.10pm

Trusted Expertise in the Age of AI

Artificial intelligence is changing the way organisations work — but it is also increasing the importance of trusted human expertise. Drawing on PwC's research and organisational experience, this session explores how leaders can navigate AI while strengthening capability, judgement and performance.

Emma Hardy Chris Greenwood PwC

Executive Panel

3.00pm

The CEO–CPO Leadership Contract

What does the CEO need from the CPO — and what does the CPO need from the CEO — in an AI-enabled organisation? This executive conversation explores the changing partnership between enterprise leadership and people leadership.

Senior CEOs and CPOs to be announced

Break

3.40pm

Afternoon Tea

Refresh and reconnect before the closing keynote of Day One.

Keynote Experience

4.05pm

Orchestrating Change: What Leaders Can Learn from the Conductor's Podium

International conductor and leadership expert Dr Carlos del Cueto brings a distinctive lens to human performance, trust and collaboration. This keynote experience explores what leadership can learn from the conductor's podium about creating alignment, listening deeply and enabling collective excellence.

Dr Carlos del Cueto

Closing

4.35pm

Day One Reflection

We close Day One by drawing together key insights from the Human Leadership Index themes and previewing the practical leadership studios and action-focused work of Day Two.

MC / IECL

In-Person Only

4.45pm

Cocktail Reception

In-person delegates are invited to continue the conversation at the Day One cocktail reception.

Arrival

From 8.30am

Delegate Connection

Reconnect with peers and set your intention for Day Two as the Summit moves from insight into practical application.

Opening

9.00am

Day Two Welcome and Synthesis

The MC welcomes in-room and online delegates back, synthesises the themes emerging from Day One and explains how the Leadership Studios will help translate insight into capability, culture and action.

MC / IECL

Fireside Chat

9.10am

Leading Through Transformation

A practical executive conversation on leading transformation, building trust and sustaining performance through complexity. This session surfaces lessons learned from real leadership experience and sets up the applied work of the Leadership Studios.

Guest speaker to be announced

Leadership Studios

9.50am

Leadership Studios — Round One

Choose one of three practical studio sessions. Online delegates will join the featured studio streamed from the main plenary room.

Decision Rights in an AI-Enabled Organisation Redesigning Capability for 2030 Building a Coaching Culture that Improves Performance

Break

10.50am

Stream Changeover and Morning Tea

Refresh, connect and move to your second studio.

Leadership Studios

11.10am

Leadership Studios — Round Two

The three Leadership Studios are repeated so in-person delegates can attend two of the three options. Online delegates will join the featured studio streamed from the main plenary room.

Decision Rights in an AI-Enabled Organisation Redesigning Capability for 2030 Building a Coaching Culture that Improves Performance

Lunch

12.10pm

Networking Lunch

Continue the conversation with delegates, speakers and partners. Online delegates will have facilitated virtual networking options and a scheduled screen break.

Immersive Experience

1.15pm

Leadership in the Round: Redesigning Work, Talent and Culture

What must the executive team know, do and become to redesign work, talent and culture — and what is the CPO's unique role? Katharine McLennan leads an immersive experience designed to move leaders beyond insight and into purposeful change.

Katharine McLennan

Facilitated Experience

2.05pm

Leadership Exchange

From insight to action: what must your organisation stop, protect and invent to strengthen leadership for 2030? Working with IECL facilitators and fellow delegates, you will identify challenges, explore solutions and contribute commitments through Slido.

IECL Facilitators

Break

3.05pm

Afternoon Tea

A final pause before the closing synthesis and commitments.

Executive Panel

3.25pm

Leadership 2030: Stop. Protect. Invent.

Drawing on the Human Leadership Index and the insights generated across the two days, senior leaders respond to the question at the centre of the Summit: what must leaders stop doing, protect and invent for 2030?

Senior CEO, CPO and AI / transformation leaders to be announced

Closing

4.05pm

Ten Commitments for Leadership 2030

The Summit concludes by translating two days of learning into practical personal and organisational commitments. Delegates will help validate the Future of Leadership Summit 2026 Ten Commitments for Leadership 2030, which will be shared after the event.

IECL

4.25pm

Close of Summit

Guests depart.

Speakers

Thinkers & Practitioners Shaping the Future

We are bringing together a select group of thinkers and practitioners who are shaping the future of leadership, work and AI in our region.

Confirmed

Mark McCrindle

Social Researcher & Futurist, McCrindle Research

Opening the Summit with a data‑informed view of the forces reshaping leadership, work and human capability.

Coming Soon

Additional Speakers

Additional speakers, including senior CPOs, technology leaders and IECL experts, will be announced in the lead‑up to the Summit.

Why IECL

A Systemic, Human-Centred Lens on Leadership

The Institute of Executive Coaching & Leadership (IECL) has spent over 25 years working with corporate and government clients to lift leadership capability through organisational coaching, coach education and systemic leadership programs.

We believe:

Leadership is a system, not a series of events.
Human skills are the core capabilities of that system.
Coaching is one of the most powerful ways to embed those capabilities in everyday work.

The Summit is where this experience meets the lived realities of today’s CEOs and CPOs, to explore what the next era of leadership looks like, and how to build it intentionally.

Limited Tickets · 12–28 October

How to Attend

In Person

Individual Ticket

In-person attendance at the Fullerton Hotel, Sydney. Considered seat placement. Full catering over two days, 9 am – 5 pm.

Book Now

In Person · Group

Table of Ten

In-person table of ten at the Fullerton Hotel Sydney. Bring your team, leaders and clients. Full catering over two days, 9 am – 5 pm.

Book Now

Online

Virtual Attendance

Virtual attendance via Zoom for a superior event experience, live-streamed from Sydney with online facilitators, extra content, and networking opportunities.

Book Now

Summit Venue

The Fullerton Hotel, Sydney

1 Martin Place, Sydney NSW 2000

The Summit will also be live-streamed to a global audience. In-person tickets are strictly limited.

A 10% accommodation discount is available for Summit attendees at the Fullerton Hotel. Use promo code IECL when booking.

View Venue

Who Is IECL?

About IECL

The Institute of Executive Coaching and Leadership (IECL) are the pioneers of Organisational Coaching excellence. Since 1999, we have spearheaded the professionalisation of this unregulated industry, ensuring every leader and organisation can thrive and grow through world-class coaching.

Our focus is crystal clear: to cultivate confident, competent, and ethical organisational coaches and leaders. With a remarkable track record of working with individuals and organisations globally, IECL empowers professionals to reach new heights.

Voted #1 Coach Training Certification Globally 4 Years Running
Judged against 50+ leading coaching organisations by The Balance, New York. IECL's executive coaching certification programs were found to provide the best tools, best-in-class methodologies, and instant credibility with clients.

Client Testimonials

What Our Clients Say

IECL have been a true partner, supporting our business in the personal and professional development of our Executive Manager cohort. The team listen carefully, create solutions that suit our business, and are responsive and engaging when we need them.

Principal Business Partner

Insurance Sector

IECL took the time to understand each individual in our Senior Leadership Team, understand our group dynamics, and factor in our business landscape to create a holistic customized leadership development program that placed us in the driver's seat.

President – Pacific

Environmental Manufacturing

Executive coaching is an integral part of our global talent programs. We have partnered with IECL on multiple occasions — participants have consistently rated their coaching as key to helping make changes in their leadership.

Global Talent Management Lead

Property & Construction

Questions?

Event FAQ

If you need further help, contact IECL at [email protected]

Where is the venue? +

The Summit will be held at the Fullerton Hotel Sydney, 1 Martin Place, Sydney, Australia.

Are there accommodation discounts? +

Yes — a 10% accommodation discount is available for delegates. Use promo code IECL when booking at the Fullerton Hotel website.

Will session recordings be available? +

Yes. Registered attendees will be provided with access to recordings of all sessions after the Summit.

Are group registration discounts available? +

Yes — discounts are available for table/corporate registrations when you purchase IECL membership. More information on membership can be found at iecl.com.

Do I need to register on arrival? +

Yes, you will be required to register before the start of the Summit on both days. Please arrive 15 minutes early.

What platform will be used for virtual attendance? +

Zoom will be used. Instructions for virtual attendance will be sent to you 2 weeks prior to the Summit.

Can I switch from virtual to in-person (or vice versa)? +

Ticket type switches are allowed, subject to availability and applicable fees. Please contact [email protected] to request a change. In-person tickets may not be switched outside our refund policy, however you may send someone in your place.

Can I attend just one day? +

The Summit is designed as a two-day experience and one-day tickets are not available. You are welcome to send a team member in your place for the second day if necessary.

What is the refund policy? +

Our full cancellation and refund policy can be found at iecl.com/policies.

Are sponsorship or exhibitor opportunities available? +

Yes — please contact us at [email protected] to discuss sponsorship and exhibiting opportunities.

Online participation +

All plenary sessions are live-streamed via Zoom. During the Leadership Studios, online delegates will join the featured studio streamed from the main plenary room. Slido will be enabled throughout so online and in-room delegates can contribute questions, insights and commitments.

In-person inclusion +

In-person registration includes the Day One cocktail reception at The Fullerton Hotel Sydney. This reception is not streamed and is not included in the virtual registration.

Session recordings +

If only the main plenary and featured studio sessions are recorded, update the FAQ wording to avoid promising recordings of every concurrent breakout session.

Limited Tickets · 27–28 October 2026