Introducing the inVOYAGE Masters 2025 programme
Redefining Leadership in the Experience Economy
In the fast-moving world of luxury incentives and events, staying ahead isn’t simply about keeping pace — it’s about evolving faster, thinking smarter, and leading with purpose. The inVOYAGE Masters programme was created for that very reason: to empower the leaders shaping the future of the MICE industry through high-level learning, thought leadership, and peer-to-peer collaboration (alongside our gold-standard, preference-based meetings and evening networking events).
Developed in partnership with King’s Business School, King’s College London, this new evolution of inVOYAGE blends MBA-style insight with networking excellence, bringing together an extraordinary community of industry decision-makers and academic thought leaders to explore what it means to lead in a new era of transformation.
This year’s content programme features a series of dynamic Masterclasses and panels led by distinguished King’s faculty — each designed to address the pressing challenges and opportunities defining our industry.
MASTERCLASSES
inVOYAGERS will have the chance to select their own journey through the Masters programme, with a comprehensive selection of topics and sessions that will help develop their thoughts and understanding around key challenges that are part of the events industry.
Alongside their 1:1 preference-based meetings and networking, the Masterclasses include:
Empathy Meets AI: The Human Advantage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Alexandra Budjanovcanin
Programme Director, Professional & Executive Education, King’s Business School
In a world increasingly shaped by technology, emotional intelligence remains the ultimate differentiator. Dr. Budjanovcanin explores how leaders can harness AI while preserving the human touch — balancing innovation with empathy to build trust, enhance wellbeing, and drive meaningful guest experiences.
Primed to Persuade: The Hidden Switch Behind Powerful Marketing Influence
Dr. Gillian Brooks
Associate Dean, Executive Education, King’s Business School
In this eye-opening session, Dr. Brooks unveils the psychology of priming — the subtle cues that shape perception and drive consumer behaviour. Attendees will discover how luxury brands can ethically harness influence to build deeper trust and resonance in an age of transparency.
Leading without Borders: Influence Strategies that Win in Global and Complex Markets
Dr. Robyn Klingler-Vidra
Vice Dean, Global Engagement, King’s Business School
Leadership today extends far beyond borders. Dr. Klingler-Vidra’s session explores how open innovation — from accelerators to venture collaborations — can drive strategic growth and creativity in global business environments.
High-Performing Behaviours that Inspire, Align and Deliver Results
Dr. Mladen Adamovic
Reader in Leadership & Global Management, King’s Business School
What makes a leader truly effective? This session dives into the evidence-based behaviours and values that build trust, energise teams, and sustain performance — offering a powerful framework for leadership that inspires excellence at every level.
Strategic Influence: How Visionary Leaders Think, Decide, and Shape the Future
Dr. Dana Minbaeva
Professor of Strategic Human Capital, King’s Business School
Leaders today face competing pressures — agility vs. stability, innovation vs. risk. Dr. Minbaeva’s session explores how visionary leaders navigate complexity, use both-and thinking to resolve tensions, and employ storytelling to align and inspire their organisations.
The Cross-Generational Leader: Empowering Boomers to Gen Z Through Adaptive Influence
Dr. Gillian Brooks
Associate Dean, Executive Education, King’s Business School
With five generations now coexisting in the workplace, leadership must adapt. Dr. Brooks returns to guide participants through the art of leading cross-generational teams — embracing diversity of thought, fostering collaboration, and driving performance through inclusive, empathetic leadership.
For more information on the Masterclasses and their speakers, click the button below.
PLENARIES
Together, with the Masterclasses, these sessions form the intellectual core of inVOYAGE Masters — a new era of event leadership and education. By merging academic excellence with real-world insight, Masters challenges delegates to think differently, lead with empathy and innovation, and future-proof their organisations for the decade ahead.
Session 1:
Leadership 2030
Navigating Influence, Innovation and Entrepreneurship
As technology, sustainability and geopolitics reshape the business landscape, what does it take to lead effectively into the next decade?
This session will examine the forces redefining luxury hospitality and events — from emerging technologies and AI-driven personalisation to the renewed centrality of sustainability and the complexities of global political fragmentation.
Professor Jonatan Pinkse, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Business at King’s Business School, leads the discussion. Recognised as one of the world’s top researchers on sustainable business and innovation, Professor Pinkse will share insights on how leaders can navigate disruption and turn sustainability from a challenge into a defining advantage.
Joining him for a dynamic panel are:
Dr. Gillian Brooks, Associate Dean and Executive MBA Programme Director at King’s Business School (Moderator)
Dr. Declan Woods, Professor of Leadership Practice at King’s Business School
Aekta Mahajan Patel, Global Head of Venture Capital, Department for International Trade and Executive Fellow at King’s
Juan Diego Du Bois, Customer Growth Associate at Google Customer Solutions
Together, they will explore how organisations can stay agile in a volatile global market, how innovation can thrive amidst regulation, and what leadership looks like for the next generation of hospitality and events professionals.
Session 2:
Power Across the Top
Architecting Executive Teams
In today’s climate-conscious economy, leadership isn’t just about vision — it’s about alignment and accountability. This session, led by Dr. Marc Lepere, Professor of Practice in Sustainability at King’s Business School, delves into how executive teams can turn climate risk into business opportunity.
Drawing on his experience as a sustainability innovator and entrepreneur, Dr. Lepere will reveal how climate and ESG pressures are evolving into tangible operational and financial risks — faster than most organisations realise. Leaders will explore how to safeguard long-term value while managing short-term performance demands, and how sustainability-led strategy can simultaneously enhance customer experience, cut costs and boost resilience.
Where Academia Meets Industry
inVOYAGE Masters isn’t just another leadership and networking event. By blending the academic depth of King’s Business School with the real-world perspective of the MICE industry, the programme is redefining professional development in our space. It’s where ideas are tested, networks are strengthened, and leaders are equipped to thrive in a future defined by change.
BE PART OF MASTERS IN 2026
We are proud to confirm that inVOYAGE Masters will be returning to London in November 2026.
Be part of the networking and leadership conference changing the events and incentives industry.
