DRUCKER FORUM VIENNA
MASTERCLASSES Series

 Vienna Hilton Plaza Hotel 1st Floor,  Schottenring 11, 1010 Vienna

WS 1: 13:45 – 16:30 CET
Why Leaders Must Accelerate Value Creation

 dasForum Operngasse 17-21, 11th Floor, 1010 Vienna

WS 2: 16:45 – 18:45 CET
The Wise Path: Ancient wisdom for the next era of leadership

 Vienna Business Agency Schmerlingplatz 3, 1010 Vienna

WS 3: 16:30 – 19:30 CET
Building and Leading Successful Ecosystems in Practice

 dasForum Operngasse 17-21, 11th Floor, 1010 Vienna

WS 4: 16:00 - 19:30 CET
Business Longevity Economics: Caring for the Geese Who Lay the Golden Eggs

 Maria Theresa Apartments, Hofburg Palace, Vienna

Conference chair Eduardo Braun convenes our 2025 gathering with preliminary comments from the Drucker Forum’s founder and distinguished guests. 

Chair
Eduardo P. Braun Leadership expert and consultant 

Speakers
Richard Straub Founder and President, Global Peter Drucker Forum
Rupert Sausgruber Rector of WU Vienna University of Economics and Business  
Takahito Tokita CEO, Fujitsu Limited (Video link)

The Global Peter Drucker Forum kicks off with a high-energy round of impassioned messages about how leadership must be exercised, recognized, or developed differently than it has been in the past. A senior executive panel reacts.

Chair
Monika Rosen Vice President, Austro-American-Society

Statements
Michele Zanini Cofounder, Management Lab
Eva Asselmann Professor of Differential & Personality Psychology, HMU Health and Medical University Potsdam
Howard Yu Professor of Management & Innovation, IMD

Panel
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. SHRM-SCP, President & CEO, SHRM
Enrique Rodriguez Head of  GTM Strategy EMEA, Palo Alto Networks 
Mike Carson Partner, McKinsey (London) and Founding Partner, Aberkyn

When the underlying conditions of the commercial environment change, everything about an enterprise must adapt—including its leadership. What are the major shifts disrupting things today? What time-worn models and styles of leadership do they make obsolete?

Chair
Stephan Balzer CEO Red Onion GmbH, Strategic Advisor, Curator 
Speakers
Julie Linn Teigland Global Vice Chair -Alliances & Ecosystems, EY 
Alfred Stern Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO, OMV AG
Stig Kirk Ørskov CEO, JP/Politiken Media Group

If anything defines the need for next-era leadership, it is the fact that organizations no longer have the luxury of just maintaining a well-oiled status quo. What new mindsets and capacities are needed in a time when business survival depends on rapid innovation and the operational reinvention must be constant?

Chair
Giuseppe Stigliano Entrepreneur, Manager, Adjunct Professor at internat. business schools; President, Spring Studios

Speakers
Christina Schulte-Kutsch Chief Human Resources Officer, Siemens Energy AG
Ike Nwankwo Chair, PMI Board of Directors & Project Management consultant
Thomas Sattelberger Former State Secretary for Research and Member of the German Bundestag; Author and Angel Investor
Bob Cowlard CEO of Haier Europe HVACS

Recent exponential increases in the capabilities and use cases of artificial intelligence force questions of what work will be left to people - and what capacities they must develop to do it well.

Chair
Julia Kirby Senior Editor, Harvard University Press

Speakers
Marcus du Sautoy Professor for the Public Understanding of Science and Professor of Mathematics, University of Oxford
Shin Shuda Global CEO & Senior Managing Partner, Uvance Wayfinders Global Consulting Group, Fujitsu
Arvind Balaji Managing Director, Lucas TVS Limited

One reason leadership needs a “next era” is that people increasingly turn away from work that is not inspiring and purposeful—and reject would-be leaders who aren’t clearly driven to bring purposeful strategies to life.

Chair
Edward Huizenga Professor of Strategy and Change, Maastricht University; Managing Partner Benthurst Consulting

Speakers
Rita McGrath Professor of strategy, Columbia Business School 
Eugene Nwoke General Manager, West Africa, Roche Pharmaceutical
Robin Vergeer CFO Randstad DACH region
Katharine Kirk Muff Head of LEGO Location-based Experiences, the LEGO Group

A peer-group discussion among senior human resources executives  kicks off with comments from HR thought leader Dave Ulrich and a select group of global CHROs.

Chair
Zabeen Hirji Executive Advisor; Former Chief Human Resources Officer, RBC; corporate and nonprofit director

Welcome   
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. SHRM-SCP, President and CEO, SHRM

Keynote
Dave Ulrich Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

Few would disagree that innovation is imperative in today’s globally competitive markets—or that leading for “exploration” is very different than leading for “exploitation.” Yet have large organizations really evolved? What standout innovators can the rest of us learn most from?

Chair
Alex Osterwalder Founder & CEO, Strategyzer; Visiting Professor IMD

Speakers
Howard Yu Professor of Management & Innovation, IMD
Clas Neumann Senior Vice President, SAP, heading the company’s Global Labs Network
Deborah Perry Piscione Chief Future Officer, Work3 Institute and Co-Author of “Employment is Dead”
Juergen Reiner Co-Head of Europe, Managing Partner, Uvance Wayfinders, Fujitsu

When it comes to making sure organizations deliver value, the buck doesn’t stop at the C-suite. It’s the board that assesses how well a CEO is advancing stakeholder interests—and doles out rewards or punishments accordingly. Yet problematic incentives, compromised relationships, and opaque workings undermine the ability of boards to deliver what society demands of them. Who needs to do what to reform the prevailing system?

Chair
Yves Doz Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management, INSEAD

Speakers
Isabelle Grosmaitre Founder & CEO, Goodness & Co
Silvia Angelo Executive Board Member, ÖBB-Infrastruktur AG 
Christoph Kletzer Professor of Law, Vice Dean International, King’s College London
Jean-Dominique Senard Chairman of the Board, Renault Group (Video link)

New research sheds light on guiding teams and organizations through eras when change never ceases. In this interactive session, the experts behind the study highlight their findings and invite interpretation—and additional insights—from participants. 

Chair
Janka Krings-Klebe Cofounder and Managing Partner, co-shift GmbH

Speakers
Bhuwan Agrawal Head for Central Europe Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)
Lenka Pincot PMP, PMI-ACP, PfMP, PMI-PBA, CAPM Chief of Staff to the CEO, Project Management Institute

Ask anyone in an organization—from top to bottom—if it has too much hierarchy or not enough, and you’ll find no one calling for more layers. Few companies go as far, however, as the ones featured here to flatten structures and distribute decision-making. Hear them reflect  on what has worked, what next moves they are planning, and what they would do differently if they had it all to do over again. 

Chair
Michele Zanini Cofounder, Management Lab

Speakers
Michael Lurie Chief Catalyst, Bayer
Michael Y. Lee Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD 
Kevin Nolan President & CEO, GE Appliances, a Haier Company
Karen Massey COO argenx; biopharmaceutical sector expert

Enterprises built for scale, consistency, and efficiency are less and less fit-for-purpose in global markets rocked by unforeseeable events. With dynamic complexity a fact of organizational life, next-era leaders must find better ways to reduce the uncertainties they can, and respond with agility to the uncertainties they can’t.

Chair
Stefan Wolfgang Pickl Chair for Operations Research, Universität der Bundeswehr München

Keynote:
John Kay Founding Dean, Said Business School, Oxford University

Speakers
Lenka Pincot PMP, PMI-ACP, PfMP, PMI-PBA, CAPM Chief of Staff to the CEO, Project Management Institute
Hans Rusinek Consultant, Researcher, award-winning Author & Speaker on the Future of Work, Lecturer University St. Gallen
Gordon Müller-Eschenbach McKinsey (Berlin) and Senior Leader Aberkyn

Let’s call it a “Mission 10x”: As societies, we need to drastically bring down the costs of health care while dramatically improving its quality. This interactive session explores how the world’s most human-centered service providers can be made more sustainable, more responsive to patients and the public, and better for working professionals. (Hint: some classic Druckerian principles apply.) 
This session is relevant to anyone providing or purchasing for health care, or shaping policy.

Chair
James Mountford Executive coach/consultant on health systems

In conversation with 
Martin Curley Professor of Innovation, Director, Digital Health Ecosystem, Maynooth University
Wendy Korthuis-Smith Executive Director, Virginia Mason Institute
Lothar H. Wieler Chair, Digital Global Public Health, Hasso-Plattner Institute, University of Potsdam

“Open Strategy”—it’s a promising approach to bring more perspectives to bear on an organization’s most consequential choices. Yes, there is risk involved, but if more people’s involvement means more creative vision and less implementation friction, it is risk worth taking. Here, a group with direct knowledge of early applications debates the merits and limitations.

Chair
Werner H. Hoffmann Head of Institute of Strategic Management, WU Vienna

Speakers
Michael Strebl Chairman of the Management Board, Wien Energie GmbH
Christian Stadler Professor in Strategic Management, Warwick Business School
Feryal Ahmadi Deputy CEO and COO, Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC)

The development of recent years that has blindsided leaders most has been the sudden, intense pressure to make public statements about controversial social issues—both personally and as the voice of a large, diverse organization. Is that pressure subsiding, or is next-era leadership unavoidably more political leadership?

Chair
Thomas Lange Managing Director, Achleitner Ventures

Speakers
Tom Tugendhat Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; Former UK Minister 
Xavier Huillard Chairman of the Board of Directors of VINCI
Antonella Mei-Pochtler Executive Vice Chair, Pochtler Industrieholding
Andreas Treichl Chairman of the Supervisory Board, ERSTE Foundation

This year’s essay contest asked students and young managers to riff on a classic idea of Charles Handy’s: that a big part of leading an enterprise is seeing when the time has come to jump from its first big growth curve to its second—and then bringing others to a point of making that mighty leap. Trade thoughts with the honorees in this highly interactive session.

Chair
Jyoti Guptara Storytelling expert; Managing Director Europe at momenta Group; Advisor, Peter Drucker Society Europe 

in conversation with
Drucker Challenge Finalists

19:30     Aperitif
20:00     Gala Dinner

Host   
Zoe Leuhusen-Straub Artist

Dinner Conversation
Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.  SHRM-SCP, President & CEO, SHRM 
with
Dave Ulrich Professor, Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

DRUCKER CHALLENGEAWARDS CEREMONY
MC
Richard Brem Senior Advisor Drucker Challenge Essay Contest ; Freelance journalist 

Intro
Kate Handy Head of a multidisciplinary clinic in London; daughter of Liz and Charles Handy

Bart Weetjens Zen priest and social entrepreneur

It’s always been the special province of senior leadership to decide what an organization must do to be sufficiently “socially responsible.” The answers have varied dramatically across the decades, for both corporations and NGOs. How should next-era leaders think about institutional impacts on the good of society?

Chair
Bernhard Straub CEO of Robert Bosch Stiftung

Speakers
Lisa Hehenberger Associate Professor at ESADE Bus. School; Founding Director of ESADE Center for Social Impact
Adrian Wooldridge Global Business Columnist at Bloomberg Opinion
Marie Ringler Leadership Group Member, Ashoka Europe Leader

Look at the polls or just listen to your kids—younger people advancing into positions of authority have different aspirations, assumptions, and skills than the cohorts who came before them. How is the talent being developed that will make or break organizations in the future?

Chair
Mark Kennedy Chief Clients/Markets Officer, Forvis Mazars Group

Speakers
Asheesh Advani President and CEO of JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide
Andrea Gerosa Chief thinker and founder of ThinkYoung, a think tank focused on young people 
Caroline Barth CHRO, Syngenta

Explore the critical challenge of navigating the modern business landscape, where organizations are caught between an increasing digital dependency and the pursuit of true digital excellence, while delivering on the promise of scalability and resilience.

Chair
Yoshi Takashige Senior Advisor, Ridgelinez Limited, a digital transformation consulting company, 100% owned by Fujitsu

Speaker
Jesper Bork Olsen Chief Security Officer EMEA North, Palo Alto Networks
Astrid Zöchling CIO of the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation

It’s hard to come out against increased investment in leadership development. What could be more crucial to the future fortunes of the organization? Yet it’s even harder to know what returns that spending is producing. Top talent developers are figuring out better ways.

Chair
Stefan Stern Journalist, author and Visiting Professor in management practice at Bayes Business School

Speakers
Alexander Alonso Chief Data & Analytics Officer at SHRM
Helen Bevan Professor of Practice in Health and Care Improvement at Warwick Business School; Expert on large scale change in health care
Tamara J. Erickson Leadership Advisor; top ranked management thinker, T50

Looking to make the world a better place? Chances are, you’re targeting a broad-based human problem, and to make headway you’ll need to collaborate across sectors. But public and private enterprise leaders don’t just have different accents—they often speak very different languages. 

Chair
Josée Touchette Executive Director, OECD

Speakers
Emily M. Dickens Chief of Staff, Head of Government Affairs, and Corporate Secretary, Society for Human Resources Management
Christopher Maclay  Mercy Corps‘ Program Director at the Jobtech Alliance, Kenya
Veit Dengler Member of the Austrian Parliament

The people who make up organizations are human beings, since time immemorial sensitized and attached to religious values and experiences. When executives recognize this, they can find deeply meaningful ways to uplift their teams—and themselves. 

Chair
Wolfgang Lassl Member of the Drucker Team and Managing Partner, Qwinnt Management Institute

in conversation with
Georg Kopetz Co-founder and member of the executive board at TTTech
Raymond Hofmann Gospel Minister and Management consultant 

The stakes have changed for new business founders—at least for those who aspire to high-impact entrepreneurship. How can startup leaders scale the strategic learning curve as fast as they want their businesses to scale their customer bases?

Chair
Carla Arellano Partner, InTandem Capital Partners

Speakers
Christian Lüdtke CEO, Bryck
Georg Kopetz Co-founder and member of the executive board at TTTech
Christian Mohr Managing Director and CCO at UnternehmerTUM

Part of what you owe your colleagues is a commitment to constantly improving your own performance: Drucker called it “managing oneself.” Research-based insights from psychology, neuroscience, and sociology can help take you to the next level, and deepen your positive impact.

Chair
Eduardo P. Braun Leadership expert, consultant and author

Speakers
Niren Chaudhary Former Chairman of Panera Brands. Non-profit & Philanthropy Leader
Annastiina Hintsa CEO of Hintsa Performance 
Eva Asselmann Professor of Differential and Personality Psychology at HMU Health and Medical University in Potsdam 

How can senior executives capitalize on emerging AI tools to do their own work better? And how necessary will that become to their effectiveness and abilities to lead?

Chair
Johan Roos Executive Director, Vienna Center for Management Innovation (VCMI); Presidential Advisor Hult Int. Business School 

in conversation with
Brian Solis Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow; Futurist and Digital Anthropologist
Deborah Perry Piscione Chief Future Officer, Work3 Institute and Co-Author of “Employment is Dead”

Drucker said it: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” In a next era of leadership, what does it take to shape an organization’s culture? Who needs to step up to that awesome responsibility?

Chair
Kirstan Marnane Leadership coach and consultant, Marnane Consulting Limited

Keynote
Amy Edmondson Professor of Leadership & Management, Harvard Business School

Speaker
Katy George Corporate Vice President, Microsoft
Laurent Choain Chief Culture & Partnership Officer, Forvis Mazars Group

Creating new value for customers increasingly demands building diverse and vibrant ecosystems of partners. Experienced leaders discuss how to spot potential areas for complementary capacities and coordinated strategies—and what it takes to turn them into reality.

Chair
Thomas Kirste Director at Bosch Management Consulting Innovation for Business & Digital Strategy

Speakers
Peter Williamson Professor of International Management at the University of Cambridge and Judge Business School 
Georg Stadlhofer Board Member, Drees & Sommer Austria
Thomas Alexander Baader SVP Marketing and Business Strategy - Partnering Strategy, Robert Bosch Powertools GmbH 
Barbara Wittmann Tech pioneer and founder of the Digital Wisdom Collective

Education remains structured around a “batch” model, with instructors bringing students through course content together as groups. Now, AI tools make truly individualized learning possible. The potential is astonishing, but barriers remain.

Chair
Alex Adamopoulos Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Emergn

in conversation with 
Curtis R. Carlson Professor of Practice, Northeastern University; Former CEO, SRI International
Sabine Bothe Global Head of People and Culture, Erste Group Bank

Many organizations are turning into mixtures of “knowledge workers,” both human and digital. As AI comes into its own as a value creator and contributor, what new demands does this place on leadership?

Chair
Esther Clark Contributor to Forbes, America Economia, WEF; Global Head of Communications at Inspired Education Group

Keynote
Rasmus Hougaard Founder and CEO of Potential Project

Speakers
Léa Peersman Founder of Lign, a pioneering AI-native Talent Intelligence System; Entrepreneurship Lecturer at Sciences Po
Sapthagiri Chapalapalli Head of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Europe
Elisabeth Geyer-Schall Head of RBI Group Core IT, Data & Platforms

Leaders don’t prove themselves by outperforming (or outwitting) the people around them. They are able to get big things accomplished because they attract others of talent and integrity, and energize and equip everyone to make progress. What does it take to recognize the strengths of others, and make it your business to keep them flourishing?

Chair
Oriane Kets De Vries Managing Director and Owner, KDVI 

Speakers
Mary Meaney Haynes Social Entrepreneur and Philanthropist
Claudio Fernández-Aráoz Executive Fellow for Executive Education, Harvard Business School
Matthias Daub Founder SCTY.AI - „serving society through technology“ and Philanthropist

Once you’ve already put in an impressive performance across a successful career, what do you do for an encore? For many experienced leaders, the answer is “play it again—this time with purpose.” In this highly interactive session, take a deep dive into understanding the keys to leveraging your ample expertise and social capital into initiatives with meaningful positive impact. 

Chair
Avivah Wittenberg-Cox Global expert on 21st century leadership, gender and generational balance, longevity and the future of work and careers

in conversation with 
Zabeen Hirji Executive Advisor; Former Chief Human Resources Officer, RBC; Corporate and Not-for-Profit Director

Charles and Elizabeth Handy Lecture

People thrive when they make progress in meaningful work. What happens to them psychologically, what happens to their relationships, and what happens to their life structure when that meaningful work ends at retirement? Delivering this year’s talk in the Charles and Elizabeth Handy Lecture Series is renowned management scholar Teresa Amabile, sharing her latest research into the retirement transitions of experienced knowledge workers—whose identities are often strongly defined by their work—and how they and their organizations can turn a potentially disruptive moment of transition into a mindful process of priority-discovery and life restructuring

Chair
Julia Kirby Senior Editor, Harvard University Press

Speaker
Teresa Amabile Professor of Business Administration, Emerita at HBS

Chair
Richard Straub Founder and President Global Peter Drucker Forum

Statements
Conferral of Honorary Fellowship
Rick Goings Chair of the Board of Trustees, Rollins College; Chairman Emeritus, Tupperware Brands

Moving towards the 20 th Forum
Johan Roos Exec. Director, Vienna Center for Management Innovation (VCMI); Presidential Advisor Hult Int. Business School

Topic 2026 – Looking Forward
Richard Straub Founder and President Global Peter Drucker Forum

Farewell
Eduardo P. Braun Leadership expert and consultant