The 2025 EFMD Executive Development Conference brought together the executive education community in Stockholm to reflect on how leaders and institutions can build resilience, translate knowledge into action, and uphold human-centred leadership in an increasingly interconnected world.

Hosted by the Stockholm School of Economics, the event also honoured the Excellence in Practice Award winners and provided space to explore their achievements and insights in greater depth.

Opening reflections: Purpose in a polycrisis

The conference opened with remarks from Friedemann Schulze Fielitz, Director, Business School Services, EFMD Global, who set expectations for a rigorous, collegial exchange grounded in curiosity, attention, and constructive dialogue.

Katarina Hägg, CEO of the Stockholm School of Economics, underscored that organisations are increasingly sought for advice and guidance, and that educators must help society learn how to respond to ambiguity and volatility. Participants were encouraged to build their networks, to reflect deliberately, and to develop a personal roadmap for the months ahead.

Lars Strannegård, President of the Stockholm School of Economics, addressed the dual challenge of a post-truth environment and the epistemological implications of generative artificial intelligence. He distinguished between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence, calling for the deliberate cultivation of consciousness, sense making, emotional sensitivity, and embodiment, so that technology remains a servant rather than a master.

Drawing on Ingemar Hedenius, he argued that those best prepared for the future are free and at ease in an uncertain world. Emma Stenström chaired the session and invited participants to embody the conference ethos, ask, share, and listen with care.

Building capacity through knowledge: Interpreting a changing world

Torbjörn Becker, Director of the Stockholm Institute of Transition Economies, set out a clear case for knowledge as the cornerstone of resilience. Against a backdrop of war in the region and the spread of propaganda, he showed how fact-based analysis, regional networks, and cross-sector collaboration can move communities from knowledge to impact.

Examples included work with the Kyiv School of Economics and research-based policy responses that mobilise resources and counter disinformation. The message was practical and urgent: step outside the comfort zone, mobilise knowledge, and connect research to policy.

In facilitated discussions, delegates mapped how their organisations already build capacity beyond their walls and identified where they could go further. Themes included lifelong and sustainable projects rather than tick-box exercises, the power of stakeholder networks that span social organisations, industry and academia, and the importance of being proactive rather than reactive. Participants also named the challenge of maintaining networks over time, and the need to pair leadership mindsets with security awareness in politicised environments.

Lunch, art and leadership: Learning through different ways of knowing

Following a networking lunch, participants joined the SSE Art Initiative with Tinni Ernsjöö Rappe, Jenny Lantz and Emma Stenström. The campus collection and artist-designed spaces served as a living environment for reframing and perspective-taking.

The team shared research on how art supports complexity thinking, sensuous knowledge and critical reflection, and why art at the outset of a programme lowers the threshold for engagement, fosters openness and triggers memorable discussion. Participants worked with artworks to think about networking, presence and feedback, broadening their repertoire of thoughts and behaviours.

Organisational library: Cross-sector vantage points on risk and resilience

Representatives from Nordic organisations, including the Stockholm Water Institute, Handelsbanken, Einride, Sandvik, Scania, and Försvarsmakten, facilitated rich discussions on the realities of leading amid geopolitical and global risks. The subsequent plenary underscored that strong organisational cultures, enduring partnerships, and cultural relevance are vital anchors in uncertain times.

Speakers reflected on the balance between courage and caution, noting that effective leadership requires a willingness to experiment and the discernment to know when restraint is wiser. They emphasised the importance of creating environments where psychological safety allows failure to become a source of learning and innovation.

Across the discussions, participants identified a set of essential capabilities for contemporary leaders: emotional intelligence, attentive listening, empathy, adaptability to uncertainty, readiness to learn through experimentation, data-informed judgment, personal ownership, and local presence that strengthens networks and reinforces resilience during crises.

EiP Awards Ceremony

The Excellence in Practice Awards Ceremony brought the first day to a close, celebrating outstanding partnerships in executive education and recognising the creativity, commitment, and real-world impact achieved through collaborative learning initiatives.

• Axpo Group and University of St Gallen, Executive School, for a top-led leadership transformation that began with the Executive Board modelling the desired behaviours and expectations.
• BrightRock Life and Abundance at Work, for a learning initiative that used storytelling and the Needs-matched Way to entrench culture during change.
• Tata Group and London Business School for Blue Mint, equipping early career leaders with tools, psychological safety for experimentation, and reflective practice.
• Gerdau and Fundação Dom Cabral for B-EPIC, addressing youth opportunity and employer skills needs through an integrated programme.
• NatWest Group and IMD, for catalysing a future-oriented learning organisation, supported by an Experimentation Hub that fosters curiosity, collaboration, and data-informed decision-making.
• Credit Agricole Ukraine and KROK Business School, for resilience by design, maintaining leadership learning under air alerts and blackouts, and turning disruption into a live case on adaptive leadership and trust.
• Zain Group and IE Business School for a modular, fully online Master’s in Digital Transformation with large-scale participation and applied impact.
• Afreximbank, FCI, and Onsi Sawiris School of Business for a pan-African collaboration strengthening professional capacity and nurturing the next generation of trade finance leaders.
• Principals Academy Trust, Capitec Foundation and UCT Graduate School of Business, for empowering school principals as high-impact community leaders.
• Education and Training Foundation, ChangeSchool and King’s Business School, for a sector-wide movement that advanced systems thinking, positive leadership, and progression.

Cultural immersion and the art of noticing

The second day began in Sigtuna, Sweden’s first town, where participants considered how history and place inform leadership and decision-making. The visit provided an opportunity for reflection on continuity, context, and the relationship between time, culture, and judgement.

Building on this reflective start, Susanna Alexius and Pernilla Petrelius Karlberg of the Stockholm School of Economics led an experiential session on The Art of Noticing. Drawing on their extensive experience in executive education, they introduced methods designed to deepen self-awareness, enhance attention, and expand perspective.

Participants engaged in creative exercises such as writing poetry and producing artistic representations of managerial challenges, to explore how artistic expression can serve as a means of reflection and insight.

Excellence in Practice (EiP) Awards Trends

Jan Ginneberge, Senior Advisor Corporate Services at EFMD Global, presented the Excellence in Practice (EiP) Trends for 2025, offering an overview of the patterns emerging from this year’s award-winning cases. He highlighted a growing emphasis on long-term partnerships, evidence-based evaluation, and the measurement of both organisational and societal impact.

The analysis revealed that successful collaborations increasingly combine business performance with human and community development goals, reflecting a broader understanding of what meaningful impact entails. Participants were encouraged to consider how executive education initiatives can continue to align purpose with measurable outcomes while fostering genuine transformation.

The day continued with discussion corners with EiP winners and guided reflection on personal roadmaps for navigating the now, alongside further opportunities to network with the executive development community.

Closing remarks: Insight to sustained practice

The conference concluded with a shared sense of purpose and reflection. Discussions highlighted the importance of building capacity through knowledge and reaffirmed the value of human-centred leadership. Resilience emerged as a collective effort, grounded in trust, collaboration, and ongoing learning beyond the event.

We would like to thank our host, Stockholm School of Economics, all speakers, steering committee members, and participants for their time, insights, and energy, which made this event both engaging and memorable.

We are pleased to announce that the 2026 EFMD Executive Development Conference will take place on 7–8 October at the University College Dublin, Smurfit Graduate Business School. We look forward to continuing the conversation there and to welcoming colleagues for another inspiring gathering of our community!

For additional insights, announcements and perspectives, visit the conversation on EFMD Events.