THE SUMMIT 2026

Governance at Altitude
Trust. Accountability. Uncertainty.
AI and the Future of Leadership

Wednesday, 25 November 2026
Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin
1.00pm – 5.00pm

Presented by Charities Institute Ireland in partnership with Marsh Ireland.

Leadership is changing. Accountability isn’t.

AI is changing how organisations work, communicate and make decisions. As the technology moves faster, the questions for leaders become more pressing.

Who do we trust? Who remains accountable? And how do we make good decisions when we cannot know exactly what comes next?

Governance at Altitude brings leaders from across Ireland’s charity, corporate and public sectors together to explore these questions, not as a technology debate, but as a leadership one.

Three Acts. One conversation.

Taking inspiration from the Royal Irish Academy of Music, this year’s Summit unfolds in three Acts: Trust. Accountability. Uncertainty.

Each Act begins with a focused 15 minute talk. The speaker then joins the panel, where Eileen Dunne opens their argument to discussion, challenge and debate.

Then the conversation moves forward. The next speaker introduces a new perspective, but the ideas and questions from the previous Act remain in play.

By Act Three, three distinct talks have become one evolving conversation about what leadership demands when trust is fragile, accountability is complex and uncertainty is unavoidable.

No speaker delivers a talk and disappears. Each listens, responds and contributes as the conversation builds.

Then comes the Coda: one final question from Eileen to all three speakers, drawing together the ideas, tensions and challenges of the afternoon.

Three Acts. Three perspectives. One conversation. 

ACT ONE — TRUST

AI, Philanthropy and the Future of Donor Relationships

Darren Richards
Global Fundraising and Marketing Director, Mercy Ships

What happens to trust when AI begins to sit between organisations and the people who support them?

Darren explores how AI is changing donor relationships, and what charity leaders should be thinking about now.

ACT TWO — ACCOUNTABILITY

Governance, Ethics and Leadership Responsibility

Ross McCulloch
Founder & Director, Third Sector Lab

Boards are increasingly making decisions about AI, technology and data they may not fully understand.

Ross examines the accountability gap this creates and what responsible leadership looks like when technology moves faster than governance.

ACT THREE — UNCERTAINTY

Risk, Resilience and the Future of Organisations

How do leaders make good decisions when the environment around them is changing faster than their ability to predict it?

Act Three explores risk, resilience and how organisations can prepare for what they cannot foresee.

Speaker to be announced shortly.

THE CODA

After three Acts, there is no fourth presentation.

Our moderator brings our speakers together one final time and poses a single question shaped by everything that has been said, challenged and debated.

One question for the panel. And one for the room to take away.

Opening the Summit

Peter Cosgrove
Managing Director, CareersPortal.ie & Chair, Charities Institute Ireland

Peter opens the afternoon by setting the leadership challenge at the heart of this year’s Summit.

MC and Moderator

Eileen Dunne
Broadcaster, journalist and former RTÉ News presenter

Eileen guides the afternoon, moderating each discussion and connecting the ideas as they develop across the three Acts.

Who should be in the room?

The Summit is for CEOs, Chairs, Board Members and senior leadership teams, alongside corporate leaders, governance professionals and public sector colleagues.

This is not a technical conference about AI.

It is a conversation about leadership, judgement and responsibility in a world increasingly shaped by it.

Governance at Altitude
AI can accelerate decisions. Leadership remains accountable for them.

Join us at the Royal Irish Academy of Music for an afternoon designed to leave you with better questions, stronger judgement and greater confidence in what comes next.

THE SUMMIT 2026 | GOVERNANCE AT ALTITUDE
25 November 2026 | Royal Irish Academy of Music, Dublin

Book your place