Friday 4 September 2026
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM | How Do GCs Influence Strategy When Geopolitics Rewrites the Rules?
General counsel have become the most critical strategic voices in the organisations. They are now expected to interpret geopolitical signals, anticipate cross-border disruptions, and advise on issues that are not purely legal but fundamentally commercial. This session explores how legal leaders can shape strategy when the rules are constantly being rewritten - and how they can help leadership teams navigate uncertainty with clarity and confidence.10:45 AM - 11:00 AM | Coffee and Networking Break
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM | Africa's ESG Compliance Shift: Overcoming the Barriers to Mandatory Reporting
As global investors, trading partners, and regulators raise expectations around transparency and sustainability, Africa-based companies are facing growing pressure to move from voluntary ESG disclosure to structured, mandatory reporting. This session examines the continent's emerging ESG compliance landscape and explores what it will take for businesses to overcome fragmented regulatory environments, limited data infrastructure, capacity constraints, while also positioning themselves to compete in a market where ESG performance increasingly shapes access to capital and global value chains.
11:45 AM - 12:30 PM | Generalists vs Specialists: How Do You Structure Your Legal Department for AI?
AI introduces a new set of legal questions - from decision-making to IP and cross-border risk. Business leaders expect Legal to guide responsible adoption and shape enterprise-wide AI strategy, but how do you build a legal team that is both adaptable and expert to keep pace with AI's evolution? This session explores how legal departments can structure themselves for an AI-driven future by balancing generalist breadth with specialist depth, positioning the legal department as a strategic enabler.12:30 PM - 1:15 PM | Networking Lunch
Roundtable Discussions
Join these highly interactive, participatory roundtable sessions for legal leaders to engage with peers in an intimate knowledge exchange that ensures highly relevant, actionable and time-efficient dialogue that drives value.
Roundtable 1
Roundtable 2
Roundtable 3
Roundtable 4
Roundtable 5
Roundtable 6
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM | Cost, Capability & Capacity: Striking the Balance Between Outsourcing and Insourcing
Striking the right balance between outsourcing and insourcing is no longer just a budgeting exercise - it's a capability and capacity challenge. The wrong mix can create bottlenecks, inflate costs, or leave the organisation exposed. This session explores how GCs can design a legal operating model that aligns costs, capability and capacity with the organisation's evolving needs.Fishbowl Sessions
Fishbowl Sessions are lively, interactive discussions led by a moderator and a few experts seated in the centre of the room - the fishbowl. One extra chair is always open for audience members to join the conversation. Anyone can step in, share their thoughts, and then leave to let someone else take their place. This creates a fast-paced, engaging exchange of ideas between experts and participants.
Fishbowl 1
Fishbowl 2
Fishbowl 3
Fishbowl 4
3:45 PM - 4:30 PM | The Leadership Pipeline: Designing Tomorrow's Legal Team Today
This session explores how to intentionally design a leadership pipeline that equips your legal team for the demands of tomorrow. It examines how to identify emerging talent, develop the capabilities the future will require, and build a culture where leadership is distributed, not concentrated. Rather than simply replacing roles, the focus is on shaping a function that can evolve, adapt, and thrive.
6:30 PM - 7:30 PM | Awards Networking Reception*
*Awards tickets require a separate registration, please contact awardsinfo@alm.com.
7:30 PM - 10:00 PM| Awards Ceremony*
*Awards tickets require a separate registration, please contact awardsinfo@alm.com.