Day 1: 5 October 2026
8:00 am - 8:30 am
REGISTRATION & COFFEE
8:30 am - 8:35 am
IQPC OPENING REMARKS
8:35 am - 8:45 am
CHAIRPERSON'S OPENING REMARKS
Thomas Schönholzer -
General Counsel,
Swiss Post
8:45 am - 8:50 am
LIVE POLLING
8:50 am - 9:35 am
PANEL DISCUSSION: SYMPHONY OF SUCCESS - HOW TO IDENTIFY AND CAPITALISE ON BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS THE GLOBE
Dr. Sven Klaiber -
General Counsel - Head of Legal & Compliance,
HELM AG
Lisa Lagerwall - General Counsel, Sweco
Krischan Schmitt - Head of Legal DACH, Uber
John Beckett - Chief Legal Officer, Caldic
9:35 am - 10:05 am
PRESENTATION: THE FALSE FINALE - WHAT YOUR SIGN-OFF DIDN'T COVER, AND WHY AI JUST MADE THE GAP BIGGER
Maximilian Millitzer -
Director, GRC Services,,
Mitratech
The moment you signed off on your compliance framework is the moment your accountability began, not the moment it was covered. The familiar instinct to "capture everything, just in case" feels safe at sign-off. It gets paid for later, in adoption, in trust, or both. AI is about to make that instinct far more dangerous: it strips away the effort that once naturally limited over-collection, while generating more output than any manual review can keep pace with.
• Trace a real GRC implementation where a decision that felt safe at sign-off cost the business dearly months later.
• Follow the pattern from a single overruled design choice to the much larger risk AI now poses.
• Land on the one fix that holds in both cases, rigor matched to actual risk, not maximised by default, and walk away with three specific questions to ask your own team this week.
Compliance isn't just a legal issue – cultural differences influence how policies are perceived and implemented, including factors like communication style and local expectations around rules, monitoring, and speaking up. Global businesses not only need to ensure that their policies meet local standards, but also that their regulations are understood and implemented across an intercultural workforce.
- Explores how local norms and cultural nuances shape how global policies are understood and implemented in different countries.
- Debate what happened when a "global" code of conduct collides with local expectations.
- Discuss best practices to ensure compliance with local regulations and laws on a global scale.
The legal technology landscape has never moved faster and the pressure to keep up has never been more real. Yet for many legal teams, the gap between adopting new tools and demonstrating genuine business impact remains stubbornly wide. As AI capabilities mature and the vendor market continues to evolve, the question is no longer whether to innovate, but how to ensure that innovation actually moves the needle. Join this discussion to explore how legal leaders are cutting through the noise, making smarter investment decisions, and translating technology into outcomes the business can see and feel.
• Determine and define successful smart legal tech adoption
• Explore how the GC role is shifting as AI reshapes what legal teams are expected to deliver
• Prove the value of technology investments to win the budget battle
11:55 am - 12:25 pm
PRESENTATION: NEVER MISS A CUE – A CASE STUDY IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT AND LEADING LEGAL WHEN THINGS GO WRONG
Andre Witt -
Chief Legal Officer,
Nikon SLM Solutions
When a crisis hits, the legal function is often thrust into a central leadership role under intense pressure and scrutiny, immediately turned to for advice and support. Signals can be missed, responses may falter, and coordination can break down – hence why it is important to recognise what effective legal leadership can look like in these moments. Hear from a peer as to how they dealt with crisis, and extract practical lessons about decision-making, communication, and recovery when the stakes are high and time is limited.
- Analyse a real-world scenario to understand how legal and compliance can react in a moment of crisis
- Identify critical decision points and what effective legal leadership looks like under pressure
- Draw lessons on crisis preparedness, cross-functional coordination, and post-incident recovery
12:25 pm - 1:25 pm
LUNCH
Today's businesses are navigating more countries, more regulation and more uncertainty than ever before. As rules fragment and costs rise, complexity has become one of the most decisive forces in global strategy, but in a rapidly changing environment, compliance can no longer be viewed as a box-ticking exercise. With legal and compliance leaders facing daily decisions on where to put their resources, robust compliance operations are a necessity that will enable them to anticipate regulatory developments, adapt quickly, and maintain consistency.
• Build agile compliance frameworks that support resilience and growth in an era of constant change
• Leverage the Global Business Complexity Index to navigate jurisdictional uncertainty with confidence
• Overcome geopolitical instability and cross-border risk by shifting from a reactive to a proactive approach
2:00 pm - 2:05 pm
LIVE POLLING
2:05 pm - 2:50 pm
PANEL DISCUSSION: FROM DISSONANCE TO HARMONY ACROSS JURISDICTIONS - MAKING DEFENSIBLE DECISIONS WHERE REGULATIONS COLLIDE
John Beckett -
Chief Legal Officer,
Caldic
Vincent Brugge - Managing Director & General Manager ICL Europe, ICL Group
Cecilia Aquino-Labre - Chief Counsel, McDermott International
Dirk Middelschulte - VP Global General Counsel Competition, Unilever
Thomas Schönholzer - General Counsel, Swiss Post
4:40 pm - 5:25 pm
OPEN TABLE: KEEPING TIME WITHOUT A METRONOME – NAVIGATING UNCERTAINTY AND CONSTANT CHANGE IN LEGAL LEADERSHIP
Thomas Schönholzer -
General Counsel,
Swiss Post
There are all sorts of changes that can impact a legal and compliance department, but none feel as concrete as in 2026, where new regulations, geopolitical tensions, and back-and-forth government decisions feel like the status quo. Tricky and overwhelming, change is nonetheless necessary for growth, and uncertainty can be a source of opportunity as well as challenge –with the right tools, the legal and compliance department can be its company's greatest asset during a transition or unstable period, forging fresh opportunity and innovation. Discuss all manners of change in this interactive discussion, and learn to harness its strength as a group.
What better way to discuss change than with a brand-new format for 2026, focused on circulating opinions? The Open Table will offer all delegates an opportunity to share their thoughts with the room. A set number will join the Open Table to begin with and respond in informal conversation to a prompt. Those 'outside' the table may step up to join if they have thoughts to share, allowing the conversation to evolve, widen, and be guided to fresh topics. Simply join when you are ready by pressing on the buzzer at your table – a sure way to both listen and be a part of the conversation!
