With AI transforming how we work and businesses racing to stay ahead, one question matters more than ever: what makes a great leader? As BCD Meetings & Events prepares to bring ten senior leaders from the UK, US, Germany and Latin America to MASTERS by inVOYAGE this November, we caught up with the team to explore why they're investing in leadership development and why they believe people will remain the industry's greatest competitive advantage.

In an era dominated by AI, the organisations that outperform won’t simply be the ones investing in better technology, they’ll be the ones investing in better leaders.

Almost 40% of the skills people use at work today are expected to change by 2030, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2025 Future of Jobs Report. While the report identifies AI and big data among the fastest-growing skills that businesses need, it also points to analytical thinking, resilience, leadership, creativity and curiosity as critical capabilities for the future workforce.

So, as AI becomes a competitive necessity, leadership will remain a competitive advantage. And the evidence suggests organisations recognise it.

Leadership and social influence have seen the biggest increase in importance among the core skills identified by employers since the World Economic Forum's previous jobs report. Meanwhile, seven in 10 business leaders, surveyed by financial and professional services firm Deloitte in its Global Human Capital Trends study, said their primary competitive strategy over the next three years is to become “faster and more adaptable”.

But organisations don't become more adaptable just by investing in new technology. They need people who are willing to challenge established thinking and lead through uncertainty—that requires leaders to keep developing too.

Technology can make organisations more efficient, data can help us make better decisions. AI can help us work faster. But none of those things on their own inspires a team, develops future leaders or creates the relationships the meetings and events industry has always been built on.

Perhaps one of the most valuable things a leader can do now is put themselves in a room where they don't have all the answers.

“Investing in people isn’t a nice-to-have, it’s how we stay competitive. In this industry, our strongest differentiator is still the quality of our people and the strength of our leadership,” Ana Paula Hernandez, SVP, Managing Director, LATAM, BCD Meetings & Events.

Different perspectives

As the pace of change accelerates, experience alone becomes a less reliable guide to what comes next. Exposure to different organisations and perspectives can challenge assumptions that are harder to see from inside our own businesses.

Research from the Centre for Creative Leadership found that leadership development comes predominantly through challenging experiences and relationships with other people, rather than formal training alone. Leaders who remain curious are more likely to invite challenge and recognise when established ways of working need to change.

“When leaders put themselves in environments where they can learn from others, challenge their own thinking, and maybe even be a little uncomfortable, that's where growth happens,” Christine Erickson, SVP, Global Supplier Relations & Partner Network, BCD Meetings & Events.

People remain the differentiator

That ability to keep learning matters beyond the individual leader. The way leaders respond to change shapes how their teams respond to it too, and at a time when technology is reshaping work, organisations need people who are willing and able to adapt alongside it.

This is particularly important in the events industry, where technology can improve how we work but the value we create remains rooted in understanding people. As client expectations evolve, we need leaders who can look beyond established approaches and develop teams capable of doing the same.

Investment in leadership development is therefore an investment in the organisation itself. Its impact is seen in the decisions leaders make, the cultures they create and the people they develop to lead the industry next.

“The events industry is high-touch, fast-moving and deeply relationship-driven. Success depends not just on operational excellence, but on leaders who can inspire teams, manage complexity, and create confidence in times of change.” Sebastian Zemelka, Associate Director, Supplier Relations EMEA, BCD Meetings & Events.

The human touch

There is an interesting paradox in the current conversation about the future of work. The more capable our technology becomes, the more valuable distinctly human capabilities may become.

Curiosity. Judgement. Creativity. Empathy. The ability to inspire confidence and bring people together around a shared goal. Technology can add to those capabilities, but it cannot remove the need for them.

For leaders, that means development cannot stop when they reach a certain level of seniority. If anything, the need to keep learning becomes greater. The world around us is changing too quickly for experience alone to provide every answer.

The organisations that thrive will therefore be those that invest on both sides of the equation: in the technology that helps their people perform better, and in the people capable of using it with imagination, judgement and purpose.

Because competitive advantage will not come from simply having access to the same technology as everyone else. It will come from the people asking better questions about what to do with it, and the leaders willing to keep putting themselves in rooms where they might discover that they don’t have all the answers.

Five ways leaders can keep developing

Seek out people and perspectives beyond your usual circle and expose yourself to ideas that challenge how you think.
Experience remains valuable, but it shouldn't become a reason to rely on established ways of working. Ask what has changed and what your teams are seeing that you aren't.
Create time for peer learning and conversations that stretch your thinking.
Share what you learn, create opportunities for others and build teams that are confident enough to challenge established thinking.
Embrace the efficiency and insight AI can provide, while investing in judgement, creativity, empathy and the relationships that technology cannot replace.

As technology evolves, the organisations that will stand out are those investing just as heavily in their people. It's exactly why MASTERS by inVOYAGE brings together senior leaders from across luxury hospitality, events and experiences - to exchange ideas, challenge perspectives and build the relationships shaping what's next.

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