Event Agenda | National Skills Council

Day 1: 16th September 2026

8:00-9:00	Registration & Coffee
9:00-9:30	Welcome Addresses Daniel Kjellsson - Director - General, Future Talent Council Dr Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando - Executive Chairman, National Skills Council Malta Hon. Dr. Byron Camilleri - Minister of Education and Sport
9:30-10:00	Global Outlook: National AI Strategies & Mapping the "Human Stack" Mark Patterson - Executive Director, Magnet at Toronto Metropolitan University and Co-Chair, Future Talent Council Centre for AI Futures
10:00-10:30	Global Outlook: Building 21st Centuries Skills for Future-Ready Workforce Systems El Iza Mohamedou - Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD
10:30-11:00	Networking Coffee Break
11:00-11:30	Global Outlook: The Generation the Strategy is Built For Neil Camenzuli - Masters in Teaching and Learning, University of Malta Rachel Deguara - Master of Education in Art, Institute for Education Yatharth Sardhara - Masters in Management, IDEA College Jacob Scerri - Marketing Trainee, BSc Business Management, Knights College Amy Ann Vella - Bachelor in Inclusive Education, MCAST Facilitator: Danielle Solar - Executive Director, Future Talent Council
11:30-12:15	Global Outlook: Beyond Units of Productivity: Human Flourishing, AI and the Future Company Luke McKeever - CEO, Thomas International Adrian Furnham - Professor, BI Norwegian Business School
12:15-12:45	Global Outlook: Who Gets to Design the Future? Reclaiming citizen agency in deciding what progress looks like and who it serves Monika Bielskyte - Founder, Protopia Futures and Former First Futurist-in-Residence 2025-2026, NIKE
12:45-13:00	From Insight to Action Key Takeaways + Guide to Breakout Session Daniel Kjellsson - Director-General, Future Talent Council
13:00-14:00	Networking Lunch
14:00-15:00	Breakout 1 - The New Employer–Employee Contract Room: Vassalli Hall Bringing employers and next-generation talent together to redefine careers, opportunity, and the future of work Danielle Solar - Executive Director, Future Talent Council Tim Ackerman - Managing Partner, WP Management Solutions AG Noel Debono - President, Malta Foundation for Human Resources Development (FHRD) and Head of Talent and Organisational Development, Chetcuti Cauchi Advocates Joanne Grima - CEO, The Institute for Education (IFE) Ediana Guillaumier - Senior Manager, People Consulting & Learning, EY
	Breakout 2 - Building 21st Centuries Skills for Future-Ready Workforce Systems Room: Grima Hall Tania Lennon - Executive Director, Strategic Talent Lab, IMD Mark Patterson - Executive Director, Magnet at Toronto Metropolitan University El Iza Mohamedou - Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD Ryan Mark Camilleri - CEO, ECI \| European College of Innovation Harini Annadanam - AI Product Lead, Mentimeter
	Breakout 3 - Who Gets to Design the Future? Room: David Bruce Hall Reclaiming citizen agency in deciding what progress looks like – and who it serves Monika Bielskyte - Founder of Protopia Futures Julian Philips - AI philosopher, author, and member of the Future Talent Council’s Impact Advisory Cabinet Ruth DeBrincat, Senior Director - Senior Director, Policy and Technical affairs, National Skills Council
15:15-16:15	Breakout 1 - AI Capability Frameworks Room: Vassalli Hall Increasing AI capability should not be viewed only through the lens of what machines can now do. It should also force a clearer definition of what humans contribute John Fischetti - Chair, Future Talent Council Centre for Education Transformation and Emeritus Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia Elena Magrini - Head of Global Research, Lightcast
	Breakout 2 - Beyond Units of Productivity: Human Flourishing, AI and the Future Company Room: Grima Hall Luke McKeever - CEO, Thomas Adrian Furnham - Professor, BI Norwegian Business School Matthew Costa - CEO, NDSF - Malta's Sovereign Wealth Fund Christina Lewis - Chief People Officer, C40 Cities
	Breakout 3 - Different Journeys, Shared Belongings Room: David Bruce Hall Taking stock of the forces shaping opportunity, participation, and prosperity around the world Nadia Abdilla - Equity Coordinator, Equity Office, University of Malta Harini Annadanam - Head of Product AI, Mentimeter Rachael Blackburn - Head of Culture, APS Bank Andrew Jones -President, Brunel University London Facilitator: Danielle Solar - Executive Director, Future Talent Council
16:30-17:00	Closing Keynote - Avoiding the Transformation Trap Measuring what we value rather than valuing what we measure John Fischetti Chair, Future Talent Council Centre for Education Transformation Emeritus Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia Co-author, The Future of Schooling in a GenAI World (Emerald Publishing)
17:00	Closing Remarks Daniel Kjellsson - Director-General, Future Talent Council Clayton Micallef Grimaud - Senior Director, National Skills Council

Day 2: 17th September 2026

8:00-9:00	Registration & Coffee
9:00-9:15	Welcome Back Daniel Kjellsson - Director-General, Future Talent Council Clayton Micallef Grimaud - Senior Director, National Skills Council Ruth DeBrincat - Senior Director, Policy and Technical affairs.
9:15-9:45	Leading in an Age of Pivotal Moments When the Future Refuses to Follow the Plan. The law of compounding consequence in an age of pivotal moments, and ever-changing circumstances Julian Phillips - Author, AI Philosopher & AI-Human Evangelist
9:45-10:30	Leading in an Age of Pivotal Moments - CHRO Voices: The New Rules of Talent Leadership Christina Lewis - Chief People Officer, C40 Cities *Annika Galea* - Cluster Director of HR, Hilton *Ramona Galea* - Head of People and Culture, Lufthansa Technik Malta Facilitator: Emir Cetinel- Senior Director, Future Talent Council
10:30-11:15	Leading in an Age of Pivotal Moments - From Policy to Practice: Achieving Impact at Scale Matthew Costa - CEO, NDSF - Malta's Sovereign Wealth Fund El Iza Mohamedou - Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD *Kenneth Brincat -* CEO, Malta Digital Innovation Authority *Gretchen Neisler -* Vice Provost for Global Affairs and Director of the Division of Global Engagement at University of Tennessee, Knoxville Facilitator: John Fischetti - Chair, Future Talent Council Centre for Education Transformation, Emeritus Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia and Co-author, The Future of Schooling in a GenAI World (Emerald Publishing)
11:15-11:45	Networking Coffee Break
11:45-12:45	Breakout 1 - Where Partnership Becomes Progress Room: Vassalli Hall Building stronger connections across sectors to expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and create shared progress Gretchen Neisler - Vice Provost for Global Engagement & International Affairs, University of Tennessee, Knoxville El Iza Mohamedou - Head of the OECD Centre for Skills, OECD Paul Preston - Chief Strategy Officer, Keyin College Facilitator: Emir Cetinel - Senior Director, Future Talent Council
	Breakout 2 - Future of Business Room: Grima Hall Participants become co-authors of Ideas For a Best Case Scenario – a collective "vision paper" shaped, edited and designed in real time during the session Risks are everywhere. Technology is advancing faster than our ability to fully understand its consequences. Geopolitics is being reshaped by the day. And too many people still lack meaningful access to progress and opportunity. The risks are real and well documented. But what if we asked a different question: what if it all turned out well? Or even better than we imagined? In this interactive Mentimeter workshop, we will deliberately move beyond worst-case thinking to collectively define a best-case scenario. If we got the major choices ahead of us right, what would the future of work, learning and society actually look like? And, more importantly: if we can describe the future we want, what can it tell us about the decisions we need to make today to move toward it? *Daniel Kjellsson (Sweden): Director-General, Future Talent Council John Fischetti (United States):* Chair, Future Talent Council Centre for Education Transformation, Emeritus Professor, University of Newcastle, Australia and Co-author, The Future of Schooling in a GenAI World (Emerald Publishing)
12:45-13:45	Networking Lunch
14:00-14:30	Closing Keynote - Stop Predicting the Future. Start Preparing for It Elena Magrini - Head of Global Research, Lightcast
14:30-15:00	Closing Remarks & Thank You Daniel Kjellsson - Director-General, Future Talent Council Clayton Micallef Grimaud - Senior Director, National Skills Council