Conference Highlights

Cleopatra Hammad
Global Product Training Manager, ABB
Cleopatra Hammad is a Global Product Training Manager at ABB, where she designs and delivers learning experiences for the global sales audience. She has previously worked as an instructional designer for universities across the UK, Europe, and Australia, developing online courses in areas such as digital marketing and programming. Cleopatra is currently pursuing a PhD in Educational Sciences at the University of Oulu in Finland, with a research focus on how collaboration is triggered in maker education environments. Her passion lies in connecting academic and corporate learning to make training more meaningful, collaborative, and relevant across sectors.
Tandem Talk
The Impact of Personal Learning Journeys on Resilience
DescriptionTandem Talk
The Impact of Personal Learning Journeys on Resilience
What inspires a lifelong commitment to learning? In this Tandem Talk, Kriti Thakur and Inge de Waard explore how unconventional learning paths, life’s turning points, and personal setbacks can lead to resilience and professional growth. Drawing from their own diverse careers - from researcher to activist to comedian - they reflect on the personal sparks, mentors, and challenges that shaped their journeys.
Through storytelling and audience interaction, this session invites participants to reflect on their own learning paths and discover the hidden drivers that have guided them through change and into education.

Inge de Waard
Learning Strategist and Connector, EIT InnoEnergy, Belgium
Inge de Waard is the learning strategist at EIT InnoEnergy, she is a longtime researcher, activist, award-winning learning innovator and (e)Learning coordinator. She developed multiple online & hybrid courses, co-designed AI tools, and embedded learning innovations. Inge coaches and co-creates international, blended curricula with engineers and teachers, and explores innovative learning formats. Her expertise is recognized by peers, resulting in additional co-authored papers, invited talks and keynotes in both academic and professional conferences, workshops and seminars. She recently founded the Power Elders initiative to spotlight role models who changed their lives at any age beyond 50. Most of all, she likes to connect with people and share stories.
Links

Kriti Thakur
Expert - Educational Design & Facilitation, Unternehmertum
Kriti is an entrepreneurship education expert, certified coach and a learning expert with 10+years of experience with Design Thinking, learning design, social entrepreneurship. Kriti is an expert in educational design and facilitation at UnternehmerTUM- Europe's leading start-up based out of Munich, Germany. She considers herself as a polymath, a professional with diverse passions, skills and expertise. Her prior experience ranges from qualifying as a lawyer, working as a pro-bono legal activist to Teach For India and Teach For Vietnam.
Workshop
Education Unchained - How to Unleash our Human Potential
DescriptionWorkshop
Education Unchained - How to Unleash our Human Potential
Education Unchained is more than just a concept – it is a movement challenging the fundamental structures of how we learn and work. Built on the belief that true learning doesn’t come from traditional training but from removing the limitations that hold people back, this project invites participants on a confrontational yet inspiring journey of transformation.
The Education Unchained Pre-Conference Workshop is the second stage of a three-part initiative. Following the “Journey,” where groups of participants (“Packs”) explore key questions and challenges in learning, innovation, and organizational culture, the workshop brings these reflections together. Participants will discuss findings, share ideas, and collaboratively explore how to unlock the full potential of students, teachers, and professionals.
This interactive session will surface the most powerful insights from the Education Unchained Journey, including how outdated education systems and work structures are limiting real learning and innovation - and what we can do instead. Participants will leave with new paradigms for boosting agile, organic, and disruptive innovation within their own contexts, and with a deeper understanding of what makes individuals and organizations truly valuable in an age of disruption and AI.

Jef Staes
Architect Learning and Innovative Organisations, Red Monkey Company, Belgium
Jef Staes (1956, Belgium) is an authority on learning processes, innovation and culture change. With decennia of professional experience (Engineering Digital Telephony, Training Manager & Corporate Learning Officer), he currently assists CEO’s and Managers to find a comprehensive answer to the changing dynamics of today’s world. He is a passionate & inspirational author, keynote speaker & concept creator. His striking metaphors and stories are guaranteed eye-openers and his thoughts on the future of business and education inspire many. Google 'Jef Staes' or 'Red Monkey' and you know where he stands for.
Links
Workshop
EdHack: A Participatory Design Sprint for Advancing Educator AI Literacy
DescriptionWorkshop
EdHack: A Participatory Design Sprint for Advancing Educator AI Literacy
This full-day workshop offers a hands-on design sprint where educators, technologists, and learning scientists collaborate to prototype AI-powered learning tools. Based on the Ed<>Hack model from MIT and Harvard, participants will explore functional AI literacy through live demos, team prototyping, and coaching by the SundAI Berlin community. Together, they’ll create tangible learning artifacts that reflect real educational challenges.
Agenda:
15 min: Welcome
45 min: Opening Talk: A Multidimensional Look at AI Literacy
15 min: Coffee Break
30 min: Live Tool Demos
15 min: Introducing the Grand Challenge
60 min: Lunch Break
120 min: Team-Based Prototyping / Collaborative work time with real-time coaching from SundAI Berlin
30 min: Showcase Prep
60 min: Grand Challenge Showcase / Presentation on the group AI design process
30 min: Closing Circle and Final reflection
Outcomes:
- Gain practical experience with generative AI tools and workflows
- Apply a multidimensional AI literacy framework (functional, critical, rhetorical)
- Prototype solutions with real-world relevance and present them for feedback
Audience:
Educators, learning designers, curriculum developers, edtech professionals, and education leaders from all sectors

Dan Be Kim
AI Fellow, Harvard Graduate School of Education
Dan Be Kim is a Learning Design Fellow and AI Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE). As a Learning Design Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dan Be co-designed an AI literacy tutorial for all incoming students, a mandatory requirement before starting any coursework. The module introduces what responsible and effective AI use looks like in higher education, explores the nuance between school-wide and course-specific AI policies, and features diverse faculty perspectives to highlight how expectations vary across disciplines. In her role as an AI Fellow, she is helping to onboard ~700 incoming students by equipping them with the skills needed to leverage AI responsibly in their academic work and professional pursuits. Most recently, she co-designed and taught AI Tools for Learning Design, a hands-on course on functional AI literacy at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences that welcomed students from Harvard, MIT, and educators from the Cambridge/Boston area. A startup enthusiast with a background in product management, she has built and launched several marketplaces, including a venture-backed PropTech startup in the Bay Area. As an educational technologist, she is an active member of both the UNESCO Global Science of Learning Alliance and the Global Science of Learning Education Network (GSoLEN) hosted at UC San Diego, where she advocates for the conscious design of educational technologies grounded in evidence-based Science of Learning principles.

Karen Vignare
Vice President, Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU)
Karen Vignare, Ph.D., currently serves as Vice Provost, the Center for Innovation in Learning and Student Success at University of Maryland University College (UMUC) leading the search and evaluation for next generation learning models. The Center for Innovation in Learning serves as the research and development arm of UMUC’s academic organization. Dr. Vignare is responsible for identifying innovations and collaboratively implementing with core teams at UMUC. Areas of experimentation will include adaptive learning, onboarding, prior learning, course design, analytics, e-resources, open educational resources, instructional design changes, competency based models. She has been active in online learning for over 15 years. Karen has published research on online learning in areas such as business models, serving special populations, open education, blended learning, corporate training and data organization. She has a Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University and a M.B.A from the University of Rochester’s William Simon School of Business.
How To
The Horror House of AI - What Makes AI So Scary?
DescriptionHow To
The Horror House of AI - What Makes AI So Scary?
Step into the "Horror House of AI" for a playful yet insightful look at why AI sparks fear - especially in education.
From job loss to ethical concerns, we’ll explore exaggerated headlines and real worries through short case studies. What fuels our anxiety: loss of control, misinformation, or uncertainty? This session invites laughter, reflection, and debate to unpack the FUDD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt, Disinformation) around AI, and aims to equip educators and decision-makers to face these fears with greater clarity and confidence.

Bert De Coutere
IP & Innovation Lead, Center for Creative Leadership , Belgium
Bert’s professional life is all about competent people. He thinks, publishes, consults, designs and sets up learning and development projects for corporations. His areas of expertise include technology enhanced learning, leadership development and innovation.
Bert has been active in the field of corporate learning and e-learning for the last 25 years, first as instructor and course designer, later as project manager, consultant and business development manager. He worked at IBM Learning Development Europe where he was responsible for commercial e-learning development projects across Europe, and the management of the learning innovation initiatives. Thirteen years ago he joined the Center for Creative Leadership where he is now part of the global innovation team.

Mélissa Lemaire
Consultant in Competencies Evaluation, Université de Montréal
Dr. Mélissa Lemaire holds a PhD in Educational Measurement and Evaluation from the Université de Montréal, completed in collaboration with HEC Montréal. She also holds an MBA from Université Laval and a Master’s degree in Educational Measurement and Evaluation from the Université de Montréal. Her research focuses on the impact of informal learning on the maintenance of professional competencies. She has extensive experience in program evaluation, impact studies, and the development of competency assessment tools. Dr. Lemaire also collaborates on multiple projects with various professional regulatory bodies across Quebec and Canada.
Learning Café
From Classroom to Cosmos: XR You Can Use
DescriptionLearning Café
From Classroom to Cosmos: XR You Can Use
Drop in, explore, and be inspired! This interactive Learning Café invites participants to discover and discuss real-world applications of Augmented and Virtual Reality in education, training, and professional development, in action. In a relaxed, World Café-style setting, You will:
Move between themed tables hosted by practitioners and developers. Try out immersive tools, hear what works and what doesn’t, and share your own ideas.
Whether you are new to XR or already experimenting, this is a practical, informal space for peer-to-peer exchange, hands-on demos, and future-facing conversation.
With topics ranging from training astronauts to hotel staff, the hosts of this Learning Café have a wealth of experience across multiple industries.

Matthew Day
Instructional Systems Designer, European Astronaut Centre, Germany
Matt has over 25 years experience in the training field across a range of industries, designing, developing and implementing Instructor Led, E-Learning and blended courses. Since 2012 Matt has been employed by Telespazio Germany as an Instructional Systems Designer, working at the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) in Cologne, Germany. Matt works in the Space Training Team, helping to train Astronauts in preparation for missions to the International Space Station (ISS), and also the ground crew who support their operations. He was instrumental in setting up a video production team at EAC and regularly produces instructional videos for use on ground and in space. Matt is also one of the trainers for the EAC Instructional Techniques Course, which is part of the certification process for Astronaut Instructors at EAC.
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Francesco Giacalone
Learning Innovation Technology Manager, IESE Business School
Francesco Giacalone drives innovation in executive education at IESE Business School, where he leads the design and implementation of next-generation learning experiences. His work focuses on applying AI and immersive technologies to enhance how leaders learn, collaborate, and make decisions in a rapidly evolving world. At the intersection of strategy, technology, and pedagogy, Francesco explores how AI can elevate—not replace—human judgment in learning.
Workshop
Developing Data Fluency for Improving Student Success
DescriptionWorkshop
Developing Data Fluency for Improving Student Success
This workshop is designed for post-secondary education professionals who seek to improve their data fluency, to support decision-making related to practices (including advising, coaching and the use of learning management applications and platforms) that fall under the broad category of student success services.
Through interactive exercises and real-world examples, attendees will learn what it takes to convert data into meaningful reports, for institutional improvement and improving student success. Special attention will be given to common challenges in educational data analysis and strategies for building sustainable data practices within institutional contexts.
This workshop is for institutional researchers, academic support professionals, student success professionals, program managers and faculty interested in developing a more sophisticated approach to using data for student success initiatives.

Ellen Wagner
Managing Partner, North Coast EduVisory LLC
Ellen Wagner is an accomplished learning technology professional with career experiences in academic, commercial, and non-profit organizations. She has worked as a tenured professor and university administrator, was a founding ed tech entrepreneur, a senior executive of publicly traded software companies, a journal editor, and a board member of a number of start-up ed tech companies. Her areas of expertise include ed tech, emerging tech, change management, instructional systems design and learning engineering, and digital learning (online and eLearning).
Links

Karen Vignare
Vice President, Association of Public Land-Grant Universities (APLU)
Karen Vignare, Ph.D., currently serves as Vice Provost, the Center for Innovation in Learning and Student Success at University of Maryland University College (UMUC) leading the search and evaluation for next generation learning models. The Center for Innovation in Learning serves as the research and development arm of UMUC’s academic organization. Dr. Vignare is responsible for identifying innovations and collaboratively implementing with core teams at UMUC. Areas of experimentation will include adaptive learning, onboarding, prior learning, course design, analytics, e-resources, open educational resources, instructional design changes, competency based models. She has been active in online learning for over 15 years. Karen has published research on online learning in areas such as business models, serving special populations, open education, blended learning, corporate training and data organization. She has a Ph.D. from Nova Southeastern University and a M.B.A from the University of Rochester’s William Simon School of Business.
Boardroom
From Learners to Leaders: Building Sustainable Learning & Work Ecosystems with Youth and Tech
DescriptionBoardroom
From Learners to Leaders: Building Sustainable Learning & Work Ecosystems with Youth and Tech
This session explores how to build inclusive, tech-enabled ecosystems that empower youth to lead in the intelligent age.
With rising demand for AI and green skills, we’ll discuss how to co-create sustainable learning and work systems where young people are not just participants, but co-designers of a just, human-centred future.

Ali Alam
Co-Founder- Venture Builder & Partner, Operations School
Ali Alam — a founder-turned-venture-builder and investor on a mission to make innovation human-centric, impact-driven, and radically inclusive. With experience building award-winning university-based incubators, designing startup acceleration programs with 21st-century skills needed to thrive in volatility and advising venture funds deploying capital in human growth. Ali has worked across Africa, Europe, and emerging markets to create sustainable learning & innovation ecosystems.

Margarita Ghulam
HR Development & Integration Expert, Urban Brussels, Belgium
As an HR Development Expert at urban.brussels, I lead key HR initiatives: Training, Competence Management, Integration, Performance Management, and HR Digitalisation; within the public service that is shaping the territorial development of the Brussels capital region. With a background in labour sociology, Belgian social law, and sustainable AI, I am passionate to shape the future of work by integrating human-centered innovation into public sector transformation, building future-proof learning ecosystems that empower both people and cities. My mission is to enhance AI literacy, promote responsible innovation, and align HR practices with technological change; while also strengthening overall workforce capabilities, including managerial and strategic competences.
Learning Café
Data-Informed, Not Data-Driven: Reframing L&D Metrics for Human and Business Impact
DescriptionLearning Café
Data-Informed, Not Data-Driven: Reframing L&D Metrics for Human and Business Impact
As AI and analytics reshape the learning landscape, L&D teams face increasing pressure to demonstrate impact, often with metrics that fall short. In this interactive roundtable, we’ll challenge the “data-driven” mindset and explore a more balanced approach that blends analytics with judgment, centering on both business outcomes and learner agency.
Through small-group discussion and real-world case examples, we’ll unpack what it means to be data-informed, using metrics as tools for insight, not just accountability. Walk away with a practical impact model, fresh language to influence stakeholders, and strategies to measure what truly matters.

Tracie Cantu
Chief Learning Strategist, Your CLO
Tracie Cantu is Chief Learning Strategist at Your CLO and a recognized authority in learning operations and technology. With two decades of experience leading L&D transformation at organizations such as Meta, Atlassian, and Whole Foods Market, she helps companies modernize their learning functions, scale their impact, and align with business priorities. Tracie brings a sharp focus on strategy, systems, and execution. She helps L&D teams scale their impact, deliver business value, and operate like a strategic business function.