AIME 2026 confirms headline keynote line up for Knowledge Program
- November 17, 2025
-
The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) has unveiled three keynote speakers for its 2026 Knowledge Monday program under the theme “Expertise Matters!”.
Knowledge Monday at AIME 2026, hosted by BEAM experience Founder El Kwang, will bring together more than 1,500 global event professionals for a full day of learning ahead of the two-day trade show. The 2026 theme is designed to spotlight the credibility, clarity and strategic influence of business events professionals, with a focus on the “art and science” of expertise from mindset and behaviour to resilience, reinvention and human connection.
Performance and leadership coach Dan Haesler, appearing thanks to Saxton Group, will open the program with a session centred on mindset, mental skills and leadership in high-performance environments. A trusted coach to elite sporting teams, Olympians and global organisations, Haesler says the real challenge is not a lack of expertise, but how it is communicated.
“Expertise matters time and again is lost in translation due to environments and delivery that dampen authentic engagement,” Haesler says. “My keynote is less about the expertise we share and more about the environment we create to share it.” He says delegates will leave with ‘a more nuanced approach to designing for authentic engagement’ a critical capability in today’s high-pressure business events landscape.
Behavioural Scientist and Futurist, Milo Wilkinson, presented in partnership with ICMI Speakers Bureau, will bring a neuroscience-led perspective on leadership, influence and performance in high-stakes settings.
“Expertise Matters aligns directly with the neuroscience behind intentional design, decision-making, and human connection,” Wilkinson says. “True expertise goes beyond logistics it requires understanding subconscious drivers of attention, trust, and engagement. By revealing the brain’s pattern recognition and threat-response systems, we can elevate events from functional gatherings to strategically engineered experiences that create measurable impact.” She adds that delegates will leave with ‘practical strategies to strengthen mental agility and a deeper understanding of their primal brain recognising that their expertise is grounded in science, not instinct.’
Rounding out the keynote line-up is Kristina Karlsson, Founder of kikki.K and Dream Life, whose entrepreneurial journey underscores the role of resilience and reinvention in building ‘purposeful expertise’.
“Expertise isn’t just what you know – it’s what you’ve lived,” says Karlsson. “I’ll be sharing what I learnt from building then losing a $650 million globally loved business and how that can help you, no matter where you are in life.” She adds, “You’ll walk away refreshed and inspired to dream big, with new practical tools to start using immediately in your own life.”
AIME Event Director Silke Calder says the trio exemplifies the 2026 theme. “Our keynote speakers each bring a unique lens on what true expertise means today. It’s about lived experiences, self-awareness and the ability to apply knowledge with purpose”, says Silke. “Knowledge Monday continues to be the heart of AIME’s learning experience, inspiring our community to connect, collaborate and lead with confidence.”
The AIME 2026 Knowledge Monday program is open to AIME Hosted Buyers and Exhibitors, with Visitor Buyers able to upgrade their tickets to attend. AIME 2026 will run from 9–11 February 2026 at MCEC and is expected to be the event’s biggest edition yet, featuring more than 4,500 attendees including 700 exhibitors, 700 hosted buyers and over 20,000 pre-scheduled appointments.
