The first IESE UK Summit in London analyzes trust and the ethical challenges of new leadership

As part of the school’s new series of international gatherings aimed at strengthening and our global community and keeping its members connected, the NatWest auditorium in London hosted the first IESE UK Summit. This gathering for our large number of active alumni in the United Kingdom was part of a wider initiative aimed at supporting and bolstering our regional communities of former students. The goal of such events, which followed similar initiatives in other major international IESE hubs, including Munich and New York, is to consolidate our local presence by allowing a forum for networking that also puts the stress on the value of cutting-edge business education. Our event in London brought together alumni, faculty members, and prominent business leaders to reflect on the evolution of leadership and analyze the importance of trust as a fundamental pillar for organizations as they seek to successfully navigate an environment marked by uncertainty and accelerated technological change.

Trusting the machine: delegation and managerial judgment in the age of AI

The main academic session opened the debate by posing a key question: can managers truly trust artificial intelligence to manage organizations? Far from offering simple answers, Prof. Sandra Sieber invited the audience to examine the relationship with AI from the perspective of delegation. As generative AI evolves from the role of a support assistant to that of an agent capable of executing actions, the question for leaders is not whether they should adopt it, but how they can determine which tasks to delegate, under what conditions, and with what degree of human supervision.
In a scenario where the technology can predict but lacks critical thinking, the ability of leaders to exercise sound judgment as they evaluate outcomes and design contingency plans is more indispensable than ever. Prof. Sieber stressed the importance of always having a backup plan, while reminding her audience that the choice of language models, control over technology vendors, and the capacity to react to system failures comes down to strictly general management decisions rather than merely technical ones.

Trusting oneself: resilience and the entrepreneurial path
Trusting one’s own instinct and the ability to adapt to change took center stage during an entrepreneurship roundtable moderated by Jane Barrett, Head of Product of Reuters. The panel featured three prominent alumni from the school: Edward Orr (MBA ’00), founder of Mr & Mrs Smith; Jonathan Lakin (GEMBA ’03), CEO of Intent HQ; and Sam Glasswell (MBA ’16), co-founder of Arbolus.
Sharing their respective journeys, the speakers agreed that entrepreneurial leadership demands an enormous capacity for learning through direct practice and experimentation. Likewise, they highlighted that crises, although complex, often help to refine and strengthen the core of a business, and that in dynamic environments, the speed to correct mistakes is much more decisive for success than the fear of failure itself.

Being trustworthy: responsibility and purpose as a compass
The gathering closed with a presentation by Eghosa Oriaikhi (GEMBA ’13) that connected directly with IESE’s mission. Her talk served to remind attendees that a leader’s effectiveness is ultimately measured by the person’s integrity and willingness to serve. In increasingly complex environments, being a leader who can generate trust demands deep self-discipline, a solid ethical foundation, and a commitment to building organizational structures oriented toward socially responsible decision-making.
The event, which concluded the following day with a schedule of social and cultural activities around the city of London, consolidates a new format for our international gatherings, while reaffirming the school’s commitment to continue providing value, cutting-edge education, and solid connections for our global network of alumni.