PURPOSE DAY 2026 - DRIVING TECHNOLOGY TO SHAPE MEANINGFUL FUTURES

The 2026 edition of Purpose Day, the only event in Italy entirely dedicated to the theme of Purpose, was held on Thursday, 1 October 2026 at 9.30 am at the prestigious Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan. For the second year in a row, the event was enriched by our collaboration with HEC Paris Business School and its Purpose Center, affirming its position as a major European event for the debate on Purpose.

Event speakers

AGENDA

9:30 am

Institutional Welcome by Vittorio Chiesa, President of POLIMI Graduate School of Management

9:40 am

The Promethean Gap and the Crisis of the Imagination: Utopias and Aspirations for Innovation by Mario Calderini, Full Professor of Management for Sustainability and Impact, Politecnico di Milano

9:50 am

Humans and AI – Towards a Flourishing Co-existence by Darren Rudkin, Founder and CEO of The Mind at Work

10:00 am

Leading with Purpose: The Patagonia Way to a Meaningful Future by Charles Conn, President of Patagonia

10:30 am

Human Agency in the Era of Exponential Technologies: Finding gold in the black mountains. An artist’s journey with Purpose, interview with Hermann Niebuhr, South African Artist and Pioneer of New Painting Techniques, conducted by Darren Rudkin, Founder and CEO of The Mind at Work

10:50 am

Human Agency in the Era of Exponential Technologies: Technology, Innovation and Progress by Roberto Mordacci, Vice Rector of Humanities and Social Sciences of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University

11:05 am

Human Agency in the Era of Exponential Technologies: Poll with the attendees

11:15 am

Coffee Break

11:45 am

AI and Human Advantage: a Conversation on the Future of Leadership, Work and Organizations, interview with Melissa Ferretti Peretti, Vice President and Country Manager of Google Italy, conducted by Raffaella Cagliano, Academic Director of POLIMI School of Management

12:10 am

Technology with Purpose for Business Transformation: The Laghum Economy – A New Brief for Human Innovation and a Healthy Planet by Stefan Krook, Serial Entrepreneur, Impact Investor and Practitioner in Residence of Stockholm School of Economics

12:25 am

Technology with Purpose for Business Transformation: Design is an act of love, interview and Q&A with Mauro Porcini, President and Chief Design Officer of Samsung, conducted by Roberto Verganti, Professor of Stockholm School of Economics, of Harvard Business School, and Co-founder of Leadin’Lab, Politecnico di Milano

12:50 am

Technology with Purpose for Business Transformation: Poll with the attendees

1:00 pm

Lunch

2:15 pm

Steering Change: Work, Management, and Innovation in the Age of AI by Marco Vergeat, President of ASFOR

2:25 pm

Navigating AI-driven Transformation: What the Data Tells Us by Josip Kotlar, Full Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business and Co-Scientific Director of the Purpose in Action Observatory of POLIMI School of Management and Chiara Pantalena, Lead Researcher of the Purpose in Action Observatory; Postdoctoral Researcher and Senior Strategy and Research Associate of Politecnico di Milano

2:40 pm

Purpose Beyond National Borders: a European Perspective by Rodolphe Durand, Academic Director of the Purpose Center of HEC Paris

2:50 pm

From Purpose to Organizational Architecture: the Challenge of Agentic Organizations by Rosario Sica, Member of the Board of Directors, with responsibility for Strategy, Innovation, and AI-driven activities of Adiacent SpA, a company within the SESA Group

3 pm

Purpose Through the Lens of Society: Expectations, Trust and Relevance by Andrea Fagnoni, Chief Client Officer of Ipsos Doxa and Co-Founder of the Civic Brands Observatory

3:10 pm

From Research to Impact: the Perspective of the Strategic Partner moderated by Josip Kotlar, Full Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business and Co-Scientific Director of the Purpose in Action Observatory of POLIMI School of Management and Rosario Sica, Member of the Board of Directors, with responsibility for Strategy, Innovation, and AI-driven activities of Adiacent SpA, a company within the SESA Group, with the participation of Paola Castellacci, CEO and Chairman of Adiacent SpA and Fabrizio Rotondi, Vice President and Country Manager Italy of Workday

3:20 pm

From Evidence to the Next Research Agenda by Josip Kotlar, Full Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business and Co-Scientific Director of the Purpose in Action Observatory of POLIMI School of Management

3:25 pm

Technologies That Shape Better Futures: Building and Sustaining Purpose in a World on Fire by Rebecca Henderson, John & Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard University

3:35 pm

Technologies That Shape Better Futures: The Human Vision Behind Technology by Mario Cucinella, Founder and Creative Director of MCA - Mario Cucinella Architects

3:50 pm

Technologies That Shape Better Futures. Walk the talk of Purpose: the Enabling Role of Technologies moderated by Veronica Chiodo, Co-Director of the Executive Master in Sustainability Management of POLIMI Graduate School of Management, with the participation of Federico Tonetti, President of RATP Dev Italy and Michael Custers, Chief Strategy Officer of SD Worx

4:05 pm

Technologies That Shape Better Futures: Poll with the attendees

4:10 pm

Leave Your Mark Award Ceremony by Federico Frattini, Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management

4:30 pm

Event Closing Session

Streaming

The central theme of Purpose Day 2026

Purpose is the strategic force that can guide technology towards a desirable future, one which is chosen rather than being endured. It’s not just about innovation, but about giving direction and meaning to progress: technology inspired by values, capable of stimulating individual creativity, fostering sustainable business models, and generating wellbeing for society. In an ever-shifting environment, Purpose becomes the engine that anticipates scenarios and transforms change into opportunity, generating tangible and positive impacts for people, businesses and communities. For this reason, the event's central theme was “Driving Technology to Shape Meaningful Futures.”

International speakers and leading voices

The 2026 edition brought to the stage internationally renowned figures, including business leaders, academics and creatives who offered diverse and complementary perspectives on the relationship between Purpose, technology and the future:

· Raffaella Cagliano, Academic Director of POLIMI School of Management

· Mario Calderini, Full Professor of Management for Sustainability and Impact, Politecnico di Milano

· Paola Castellacci, CEO and Chairman of Adiacent SpA

· Vittorio Chiesa, Chairman of POLIMI Graduate School of Management

· Veronica Chiodo, Co-Director of the Executive Master in Sustainability Management of POLIMI Graduate School of Management

· Charles Conn, President of Patagonia

· Mario Cucinella, Founder and Creative Director of MCA - Mario Cucinella Architects

· Michael Custers, Chief Strategy Officer of SD Worx

· Rodolphe Durand, Academic Director of the Purpose Center of HEC Paris

· Andrea Fagnoni, Chief Client Officer of Ipsos Doxa and Co-founder of the Civic Brands Observatory

· Melissa Ferretti Peretti, Vice President and Country Manager of Google Italy

· Federico Frattini, Dean of POLIMI Graduate School of Management

· Rebecca Henderson, John & Natty McArthur University Professor, Harvard University

· Josip Kotlar, Full Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Family Business and Co-Scientific Director of the Purpose in Action Observatory of POLIMI School of Management

· Stefan Krook, Serial Entrepreneur, Impact Investor and Practitioner in Residence of Stockholm School of Economics

· Roberto Mordacci, Vice Rector of Humanities and Social Sciences of Vita-Salute San Raffaele University

· Hermann Niebuhr, South African Artist and Pioneer of New Painting Techniques

· Chiara Pantalena, Lead Researcher of the Purpose in Action Observatory of POLIMI School of Management, Post Doctoral Researcher and Senior Strategy and Research Associate of Politecnico di Milano

· Mauro Porcini, President and Chief Design Officer of Samsung

· Fabrizio Rotondi, Vice President and Country Manager Italy of Workday

· Darren Rudkin, Founder and CEO of The Mind at Work

· Rosario Sica, Member of the Board of Directors, with responsibility for Strategy, Innovation, and AI-driven activities of Adiacent SpA, a company within the SESA Group

· Federico Tonetti, President of RATP Dev Italy

· Roberto Verganti, Professor of Stockholm School of Economics, of Harvard Business School, and Co-founder of Leadin’Lab, Politecnico di Milano

· Marco Vergeat, President of ASFOR and President and Senior Partner of the Summit Group

An event that continues to grow

In its past editions, Purpose Day has welcomed over 3,000 guests and brought global leaders to the stage such as Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsi, Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM, Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit Group, Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, Francesco Starace, former CEO of ENEL, Silvia Rovere, Chairwoman of Poste Italiane, Gary Lubner, former CEO of Belron, Laura Burdese, CEO of Bvlgari, and Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè, together with leading figures in the academic and institutional fields, including Ranjay Gulati of Harvard Business School, Alex Edmans of London Business School, Colin Mayer and Mary Johnstone-Louis of Oxford University, Maurizio Zollo of Imperial College, Sarah Kaplan of University of Toronto, and Sophie Bacq of IMD.

Past Editions

A date not to be missed

Purpose Day 2026 brought together different voices and perspectives to explore the role of Purpose in consciously guiding the technological transformations under way, thanks to the presence of high-profile speakers and an open debate on the challenges and opportunities that these evolutions bring.

Thank you for your keen interest. See you at Purpose Lab Rome!

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