At the 2025 IMI National Leadership Conference, a clear pattern emerged: leaders have never been short of insight, yet translating awareness into action remains a persistent challenge.
Covering geopolitics, technology, organisational culture and scaling, global thought leaders and senior leaders lead sessions that emphasised knowing what to do is only the first step, whereas impact requires disciplined execution, human-centred leadership and a willingness to navigate complexity and uncertainty.
From the post-American world of global trade to AI adoption in small businesses, from embedding values-driven culture to leading transformation at scale, the conference explored how leaders can close the gap between insight and execution in an era of disruption.
National Leadership Conference host Claire Brock welcoming attendees. Picture: Jason Clarke.
Bill Emmott: After the Fall: Leadership in a Post-American World
Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief of The Economist, opened the conference with a sobering look at the geopolitical realities reshaping business. His central premise was Europe—and Ireland in particular—can no longer rely on the US as a predictable partner. Decades of assumed transatlantic stability have given way to capricious tariffs, deglobalisation and protectionist policies under Trump-era America. This turbulence is compounded by rising great-power competition, regional conflicts and Europe’s own structural weaknesses in energy, technology and investment.
Yet Emmott emphasised that this disruption also opens opportunities. While the US may retreat into unilateralism, the broader global economy continues to expand, particularly in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Africa and Latin America. Diversification into these emerging markets, coupled with strengthened European competitiveness, can create strategic advantage. His key message for leaders: don’t treat America as the world; recognise new centres of opportunity, invest in resilience, and act decisively in an era of unpredictability.
Key Takeaway: Awareness of global volatility must translate into strategic diversification, scenario planning and investment choices that build resilience. Insight is knowing the map is changing; impact is redrawing your route before the storm hits.
Bill Emmott, former editor-in-chief at the Economist, at the National Leadership Conference. Picture: Jason Clarke.
CEO Panel: Turning Technological Insight into Organisational Impact
In a dynamic discussion moderated by Clare Brock, Jennifer Melia (Enterprise Ireland), Emma Redmond (OpenAI Ireland) and Joe Heneghan (Revolut Europe) explored what it takes to lead through disruption when the playbook itself keeps rewriting.
Emma Redmond set the scene by reframing the AI moment. While some liken it to the internet revolution, she argued it is far more foundational, akin to laying down the global “railroads” of capability. With over 700 million weekly users globally—including more than a million in Ireland—and free access for most, OpenAI’s technology has already reshaped the business landscape. Yet the challenge for leaders, she said, is not to become coders but to become AI-fluent, i.e. to ask sharper questions, integrate AI into processes and create permission for teams to test and learn. Her example of Lenahan’s Hardware on Capel Street using AI to automate stocktaking and free up time for customer focus illustrated how small experiments can produce immediate strategic returns.
Joe Heneghan pulled the lens back to scaling. At Revolut, growth is anything but linear: regulatory fragmentation, data compliance, and talent competition demand constant adjustment. The company’s 12,000 employees operate on quarterly review cycles driven by real-time data. Five top performers can outperform twenty average ones, he noted, which served as a reminder that execution quality, not headcount, determines scale.
Jennifer Melia grounded the conversation in Ireland’s wider innovation ecosystem. Ambition alone, she cautioned, is insufficient; insight must be converted into measurable action. That means building organisational capability, closing accountability loops, and embedding a transformation mindset that moves beyond pilot projects to sustained change.
Together, the panellists captured the paradox of European business: complexity slows progress but also rewards those who overcome it. Fragmented regulation, Heneghan argued, is a barrier only to those unwilling to engage. Leaders who design systems to navigate friction, rather than avoid it, can turn bureaucracy into an opportunity for differentiation.
Key Takeaway: Growth is messy, but complexity can be a strategic advantage. The leaders who translate technological and structural insight into disciplined execution can define Ireland’s next generation of success stories.
The CEO Panel, featuring Emma Redmond, Joe Heneghan and Jennifer Melia (L-R). Picture: Jason Clarke.
Gina London: the Language of Leadership
Gina London’s session highlighted that leadership is as much about human impact as it is about strategy. Drawing on her experience as a journalist and leadership consultant, she emphasised that leaders must move beyond awareness to consistently translate their values into action. Leadership is not only about town halls or polished communications—it is also demonstrated in everyday moments: walking down a corridor, connecting with teams, or being present in small but meaningful ways.
A recurring theme was imposter syndrome, which London noted affects around 80% of leaders, particularly in DEI contexts. She stressed that acknowledging self-doubt can foster empathy and connection with teams. Leaders must cultivate a growth mindset, linking intentions, values, and actions consistently, and focusing on a few deeply held values rather than transactional decision-making.
Communication was another core focus. London argued that words, body language, and vocal delivery form a “three-legged stool” of presence. Leaders must craft messages with clear intent, consider the audience, and use repetition strategically so ideas stick. Small actions and incremental “yeses” can have outsized impact, and every interaction—formal or informal—is an opportunity to influence culture. Examples ranged from multinational SLT meetings to localised cultural nuances, showing the importance of tailoring messaging and reinforcing alignment across teams.
Technology and AI were also framed as tools to enhance, not replace, human connection. Leaders should leverage technology to free time for strategy and relationship-building while maintaining the human touch in communications, coaching and decision-making.
Ultimately, London reinforced that leadership is about embedding values into everyday behaviours, ensuring clarity of purpose, and consistently connecting thought to action. Culture, she argued, “eats strategy for breakfast,” and the leaders who succeed are those who craft, communicate, and live their vision with intentionality at every level.
Key Takeaway: Leadership is not just about strategy or communication; it’s about embedding values into everyday actions. Small, consistent behaviours like how you show up in hallways or how you craft messages have an outsized impact on shaping culture and driving impact.
Gina London, journalist and leadership consultant, at the National Leadership Conference. Picture: Jason Clarke.
Dómhnal Slattery: Turning Vision into Scaled Impact
Dómhnal Slattery, founder and former CEO of Avolon and Chair of Vertical Aerospace, brought the conference’s theme to life with a firsthand account of building global businesses from scratch. In a fireside conversation with IMI Chief Executive Shane O’Sullivan, his central point was that ideas are plentiful, but leadership is measured by the ability to execute at scale.
Slattery shared his early lessons from multiple bankruptcies and working alongside Tony Ryan at GPA, highlighting that resilience and decisive action are forged in adversity. He emphasised the importance of “tribes” — teams bound by shared values — as both a cultural anchor and a mechanism for consistent decision-making. From the outset, he recruited a small, culturally aligned group of 6–7 people who would carry the company’s ethos forward, demonstrating that scaling isn’t just about headcount or revenue, but about embedding values into every operational decision.
Execution, he argued, also requires navigating complexity with discipline. From raising over a billion dollars in funding to planning an IPO across multiple stock exchanges, Slattery stressed the need to balance visionary ambitions with operational rigor. Regulatory hurdles, HR challenges and global market risks were not roadblocks to be avoided but signals demanding structured responses, be it whether partnering with research institutions in Ireland, embedding succession planning with organisational psychologists or aligning aviation innovation with emerging megacity transport needs.
Key Takeaway: For leaders, insight alone is insufficient. Impact comes from combining vision with cultural clarity, disciplined execution, and a willingness to confront complexity head-on. Slattery’s journey illustrates that the gap between awareness and execution can be closed, but only when leadership is intentional, values-driven and relentless in pursuit of scale.
Dómhnal Slattery, Chair of Vertical Aerospace, at the National Leadership Conference
Conclusion
The common thread across the morning was that leadership today demands more than vision or strategy; it requires deliberate action that connects insights to measurable impact.
Whether it’s Bill Emmott urging Irish leaders to diversify beyond traditional markets, Emma Redmond and Joe Heneghan showing how AI and data drive scale, or Gina London and Domnhall Slattery highlighting the human and cultural dimensions of leadership, success belongs to leaders who translate awareness into execution, who align values with action and who navigate complexity with both agility and purpose.
In a world where disruption is constant, the ability to act decisively, strategically and humanely might just be the defining leadership advantage.
