Topic: AI in Executive Education: From teaching AI to future leaders to using AI in Institutional and Business Communications

The Swiss EACD chapter meets at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland, a leading institution known for its Executive MBA programs, to discuss with Chief Communications Officer Delia Fischer how AI is transforming the way IMD communicates with its community and the public. We will also learn how IMD is integrating AI into its curriculum and using it to train future business leaders.

Event agenda

16:15 Arrival at IMD main entrance/reception
16:30-16.50 Tour of the IMD campus
16.50-17.00 Welcome by Delia Fischer and Axel Schafmeister
17:00-17:30 IMD CCO Delia Fischer: How is AI changing the way Executive Education is promoted? Using AI in communications at IMD
17:30-18:00 IMD Prof. Heather Cairns-Lee: How to use AI for Business Communication
18:00-18:15 Q&A
18:15 -19.30 Networking Apero

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Event Location

International Institute for Management Development (IMD) Lausanne, Chem. de Bellerive 23, 1003 Lausanne

Event Registration

The event is open to EACD members and EACD friends.
Please note that space is limited; registration will be on a first-come, first-served basis, with priority given to members.

Participants will be required to present their ID upon entrance to the event.

Event Fees

Free

Speaker:

Heather Cairns-Lee Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication, IMD

Heather Cairns-Lee is Affiliate Professor of Leadership and Communication. Her award-winning research and teaching focus on sensemaking in leaders and organizations, collaboration, authentic and effective communication and the creation of diverse, caring and inclusive cultures.  She works to develop reflective and responsible leaders at all levels of organizations from early career to top teams. Cairns-Lee is an expert on Clean Language and its role in creating authentic communication. With her co-editors she has published a ground-breaking book on Clean Language Interviewing to provide insights into how language can be used most effectively to understand people’s lived and unique experience.

 

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Country Leads:

Axel Schafmeister, EACD Country Lead

Axel is Managing Director of Shepard Fox Communications, a global PR agency specialising in content creation and cross-border media relations. He has worked in corporate communications, PR, journalism, and advertising for 20 years. Prior to founding Shepard Fox Communications in 2008, he was Global PR Director & Corporate Spokesperson of the Adecco Group in Zurich. Before that he was Head of Global Media Relations & Corporate Spokesperson at Siemens AG in Munich for the mobile communications group. Axel has graduate degrees in Economics and Business from German and US universities, respectively. He has worked in the US, the UK, Germany and Switzerland. He was one of the founding members of the EACD in 2006 and has been a Regional Coordinator for Switzerland ever since.

Susan Kelly, EACD Country Lead

Susan Kelly is a communications leader with three decades of experience in global corporate communications – working in Switzerland, the UK and Australia. Throughout her career, she has developed deep expertise in building cultures and leading transformation, employee engagement and advocacy, communications for mergers, acquisitions and sustainability, and partnering with executive leaders on thought leadership and engagement. Susan has been on the EACD board since 2022. She is currently an independent communications consultant. Prior to this, she was Global Head of Communications for Syngenta Crop Protection, where she led a team around the world responsible for communications and engagement in more than 90 countries. She also held the position of Syngenta Group Head of Internal Communications, was a member of the Group’s DE&I Council, and the founder of an employee program based in Bangladesh. Previously, she was Group Head of Internal Communications for Invensys Plc.