CONNECT 26 | Connections That Count | Alumni Conference & Gala

Australia and New Zealand’s flagship INSEAD alumni event comes to Melbourne for learning, leadership and connections that count.
About this Event

CONNECT 26: Connections That Count

Australia and New Zealand’s flagship INSEAD alumni event comes to Melbourne for a full day of learning, leadership and connections that count.

Join INSEAD alumni from across Australia and New Zealand in Melbourne for CONNECT 26.

Across two days, alumni, INSEAD faculty, business leaders and invited guests will come together for practical learning, challenging ideas and meaningful connection.

Thursday begins with optional Melbourne activities, including a behind-the-scenes visit to Invetech’s Innovation & Manufacturing Centre, followed by informal Thirsty Thursday alumni drinks.

On Friday, return to the INSEAD experience with faculty masterclasses, interactive leadership sessions, business panels, career insight and extended opportunities to connect with alumni from across the region.

The day concludes with networking drinks followed by the CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner.

The Programme Is Now Confirmed

CONNECT 26 has been designed around the issues senior leaders, founders, directors and executives are navigating now: uncertainty, AI, high performance, careers, innovation, research commercialisation and Australia’s energy transition.

INSEAD Faculty Masterclass

What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?
Wojtek Materka, Faculty, INSEAD

What happens when the data is ambiguous, the odds are unknown and there is no obvious right answer?

This highly interactive masterclass explores leadership, trust and decision-making under uncertainty and what leaders draw on when experience, expertise and familiar frameworks are no longer enough.

INSEAD Faculty Masterclass

Human Capital in the Age of AI
Professor Phanish Puranam, INSEAD

Drawing on his work on human-centric organisations in the age of algorithms, Professor Puranam will explore how individuals and organisations can build the skills, motivation and organisational environments required to work effectively alongside AI.

Leadership, Business and Industry Sessions
Positivity as a Leadership Tool

Katherine Wilson and Stefan Fothe, Momentum Partners

An interactive leadership session exploring positivity as a practical leadership tool and how leaders can create momentum, headspace and constructive energy in organisations.

Commercialising Australian Research: From Breakthrough Ideas to Real-World Impact

Kate Taylor, Justin Fong, Justin Yeung, Leo Leng and Derick Gyabeng

Australia produces outstanding research. The harder challenge is translating it into scalable technologies, enduring businesses and meaningful real-world impact.

This discussion brings together perspectives spanning research strategy, healthcare, robotics, AI, engineering, energy and entrepreneurship to examine what it takes to move ideas from research to market.

The Energy Transition: What Will It Take to Make It Work?

Facilitated by Mudit Sharma

With:

Michael Dart Energy Consultant & Executive Coach, Luminous Consulting
Samuel Morillon Managing Director, Siemens Energy Australia & New Zealand
Kee Wong Non-Executive Director, Australian Energy Market Operator
Pamela Ameglio FTSE Director, EXIGE; Non-Executive Director, Infini Resources; President, Women in Nuclear Australia

Australia’s energy transition is one of the country’s largest industrial and engineering challenges in decades.

The panel will examine the barriers to delivery, global supply-chain constraints, domestic manufacturing capability, skills and management capacity — and what it will take to make the transition work.

Career Market Update

Bronwyn Fulton, Partner, Maritana Partners

A practical perspective on the executive and board market, drawing on Bronwyn’s experience advising organisations and senior leaders across Australia and internationally.

The Paradox Mindset: Skills, Teams and the Shifting Unit of Work

Peter Cumming and Catherine Andersen

This session will explore the paradox of two organisational approaches that each sound right in theory: organising your workforce around skills rather than roles, and investing in team cohesion. We ask why optimising for one can quietly undermine the other. We'll interrogate the shift toward agile, skills-based workforce models against decades of team dynamics research on what makes groups perform, research built almost entirely on stable team membership, which skills-based models structurally erode. From there, we'll develop the paradox mindset to hold both where possible and, when you genuinely can't, examine what you can learn to live with and choose with eyes open

Beyond the AI Hype: How Leaders Can Turn AI into Business Value

Michael Lowe and Rachana Mansinghka

Drawing on lived experience across continents, Michael Lowe and Rachana Mansinghka will explore what it takes to translate AI ambition into practical outcomes. The session will examine where leaders should focus, how to identify meaningful use cases, and the organisational capabilities needed to move beyond pilots and hype.

CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner

The CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner brings the alumni community together for an evening of dining, conversation and celebration.

The evening programme will include:

Can Australia Build the Next Global Tech Success Story?

Facilitated by Yvonne Januschka, with Kee Wong contributing his perspective as a technologist, entrepreneur, investor and experienced company director.

The evening will also include an update from Christophe Kowalczyk, President, INSEAD Alumni Association Australia & New Zealand.

Event Details
Thursday 10 September 2026

Optional Melbourne activities

A behind-the-scenes visit to Invetech’s Innovation & Manufacturing Centre will provide an opportunity to see how complex ideas are translated into scalable healthcare technologies across diagnostics, life sciences and cell and gene therapy.

Capacity for optional activities may be limited.

From 5:00 pm — Thirsty Thursday alumni drinks

An informal opportunity to reconnect with local, interstate and international alumni before the main conference.

Friday 11 September 2026

InterContinental Melbourne
495 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000

7:45 am–5:00 pm — CONNECT 26 Day Conference

Faculty learning, leadership workshops, business discussions, career insight, networking and lunch.

5:00–6:00 pm — Networking Drinks

Continue the day's conversations before the evening programme.

7:30–11:00 pm — CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner

Ticket Types and Pricing

Choose the experience that best suits you.

On the booking page make sure to have your Member promo code available to apply the pricing below for Financial Member prices.

Full Experience - Conference + Gala

Includes the full Friday Day Conference, catering, networking drinks and the CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner.

• Financial Member Early Bird: $375 (Earlybird has now closed)
• Financial Member price: $460
• General (Non Member) price: $585

Early-bird pricing is available for a limited number of tickets and only applies to the Full Experience ticket until sold out or the 31st July.

Day Conference

Includes the full conference program, morning tea, networking lunch and post-conference networking drinks.

• Financial Member price: $220
• General (Non Member) price: $320

Gala Dinner

Includes the CONNECT 26 Gala Dinner, dinner and drinks, keynote program and entertainment.

• Financial Member price: $270
• General (Non Member) price: $315

Financial Member Pricing

Current financial members of the INSEAD Alumni Association Australia & New Zealand will receive a dedicated booking link and promotional code to access member pricing.

Financial member pricing is available for a maximum of two tickets per current financial member. Membership eligibility may be verified.

Not currently a financial member? Join or renew through MyINSEAD before booking.

Note that ticket pricing is before Eventbrite fees and charges.

Travelling to Melbourne?

Limited additional discounts are available for eligible alumni travelling from interstate or overseas.

Please contact [email protected] before booking to request a travel discount code. Travel discounts are subject to availability and eligibility and cannot be applied retrospectively after a ticket has been purchased.

Optional Thursday Activities

Optional Thursday site visits and Thirsty Thursday alumni drinks can be selected as add-ons during registration. Some activities may have limited capacity.

Eventbrite booking fees apply at checkout.

Who Can Attend?

CONNECT 26 is publicly listed but is not a general public event.

Attendance is open to:

• INSEAD alumni;
• partners and family members of INSEAD alumni;
• colleagues, business associates and invited guests attending through an INSEAD alumnus or alumna; and
• approved members of the wider INSEAD community.

Guests will be asked to identify their associated INSEAD alumnus or alumna during registration. The INSEAD Alumni Association Australia & New Zealand reserves the right to confirm eligibility.

Day Agenda

🕑: 07:30 AM - 06:00 PM
FRI 11 SEP PROGRAM

Info: Conference Day Program is Subject to Change

🕑: 07:30 AM - 08:00 AM
Registration
🕑: 08:10 AM - 09:10 PM
Positivity as a Leadership Tool
Host: Katherine Wilson
🕑: 09:10 AM - 09:55 AM
Commercialising Australian Research: From breakthrough ideas... to real impact
Host: Kate Taylor
🕑: 10:25 AM - 11:55 AM
Masterclass: What Do You Do When You Don’t Know What to Do?
Host: Prof. Wojtek Materka
🕑: 11:55 AM - 12:50 PM
The energy transition - Australia's biggest engineering project in decades

Info: The energy transition - Australia's biggest engineering project in decades - What does it take to make it work? Mudit Sharma (Facilitator), Michael Dart, Samuel Morillon, Kee Wong, Pamela Ameglio

🕑: 01:30 PM - 01:45 PM
Career Market Update with Bronwyn Fulton
🕑: 01:45 PM - 03:00 PM
The Paradox Mindset: Skills, Teams and the Shifting Unit of Work
Host: Peter Cumming
🕑: 03:20 PM - 04:20 PM
Human Capital in the Age of AI
Host: Prof. Phanish Puranam
🕑: 04:20 PM - 05:00 PM
Beyond the AI Hype: How leaders can turn AI into business Value
Host: Michael Lowe
🕑: 05:00 PM - 06:00 PM
Networking Drinks
🕑: 07:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Gala Dinner
Host: Kee Wong

Info: Including a special fireside conversation, with experienced technologist, entrepreneur, investor and board director Kee Wong will draw on four decades working across technology, innovation and enterprise growth in Australia, Asia and the United States. Yvonne Januschka will guide the conversation while also bringing her own perspective from more than 25 years leading technology businesses and high-performing teams across the Asia-Pacific region.

Together, Kee and Yvonne will examine whether Australia has the conditions needed to create its next global technology success story and the decisions leaders must make to turn opportunity into enduring impact.

Gala Agenda

🕑: 07:00 PM - 11:00 PM
FRI 11 SEP GALA DINNER
10th THURS

🕑: 01:00 PM - 09:00 PM
THURS 10 SEP PROGRAM
Business Site Visit: Invetech

Info: Invetech Site Visit

Go behind the scenes at Invetech, where complex ideas are transformed into successful products. This guided site visit will explore how multidisciplinary teams combine product development, engineering, automation and advanced manufacturing to take life sciences and diagnostic technologies from initial concept through to market-ready production.

Attendees will gain insight into Invetech’s approach to innovation, solving complex technical challenges and delivering regulated products at scale. Learn more about Invetech https://www.invetechgroup.com/

🕑: 05:30 PM - 09:00 PM
Thirsty Thursday Drinks - Fleet Rooftop Bar

Info: 1 Queen St Melbourne 3000