The Leadership Series - Leading in Digital Transformation - 23rd May 2018

The world continues to be transformed by digital change and this is no different for senior executives and board directors. Our panel members for this discussion on Leading in Digital Transformation will offer unique insights into how digital transformation challenges business leaders. They will explore themes such as how companies and boards respond to the drivers of digital transformation.

Drawing on their experiences in sectors including technology, tourism and transport, the panellists will also discuss what capabilities and cultures are needed to lead a digital-ready business. The Leadership Series is exclusively for members and kindly sponsored by Mason Hayes & Curran.

Registration

Registration will take place from 5.55pm with the panel discussion beginning at 6.15pm sharp, followed by Q&A and refreshments.

This event is open to IoD members only and attendance is free of charge. Places will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

CPD: IoD events may be eligible for CPD, including Chartered Director CPD, please check with your relevant professional body.

Aisling Keegan is Vice President and General Manager for Dell EMC Ireland and is responsible for driving the company’s commercial business on the island of Ireland. This involves delivering a wide range of services, solutions and products to a diverse group of customers in the public and private sector.

Aisling is also a member of the Ireland Leadership Forum, a group which provides strategic direction and governance to Dell EMC’s sites in Cork, Limerick and Dublin. Dell EMC’s Irish operations span sales, services, operations, IT, manufacturing, finance and solutions development.

Aisling joined Dell EMC in 2000 and during her seventeen year tenure with the company has held a number of key leadership positions across the small, medium and large enterprise customer segments. For the last five years, Aisling has served as executive director and general manager, Private Large Commercial Business, Dell UK.

Prior to Dell EMC, Aisling held leadership roles at Waterfront Realty and Verizon Wireless in New York City where she led their CSMB/Retail division.

Aisling is well respected in the industry, and was named finalist for Business Woman of the Year in 2011 and 2017 by the WMB network and in 2014, WXN named her one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Ireland. She currently serves as Chair for The Board of Technology Ireland, a National Council Member of Ibec and also serves as a Board Director for Dell Products, Ireland.

Niall Gibbons was appointed Chief Executive of Tourism Ireland in June 2009. Since his appointment, Niall has overseen the marketing of Ireland as a tourism destination across the world, leading a team of 150 staff in 23 markets. 2016 was the best year ever for tourism to the island of Ireland, surpassing previous records, with about 10.5 million visitors. The World Economic Forum has ranked Ireland 5th in the world (out of 140 countries) for tourism marketing and branding effectiveness.

Niall has spearheaded Tourism Ireland’s development in the digital area, with the launch of the global website Ireland.com, and has overseen the organisation’s emergence as a leader in digital marketing and social media. Today, Tourism Ireland ranks fourth in the world among tourism boards on Facebook, with over 3.8 million active fans and over 760 million global connections, fourth in the world on Twitter and third on YouTube. He has also led the expansion of Irish tourism into the new, fast-growing tourism markets of the future, such as India and China. He led the development of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative, which has brought tourism to the heart of St Patrick’s Day celebrations across the world. In the area of screen tourism, he has developed ground-breaking partnerships with LucasFilm and HBO, which have allowed Tourism Ireland to leverage the global phenomena that are Star Wars and Game of Thrones to showcase the island of Ireland, in a new way, to hundreds of millions of fans across the world.

Tourism Ireland has special responsibility for helping Northern Ireland to realise its tourism potential and Niall has spearheaded major global marketing initiatives for Northern Ireland, around the globe. He works tirelessly across jurisdictions to foster North-South and cross-community relationships.

Jack MacGowan joined the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) in 2005 from Tesco plc. He held the role of Chief Commercial Officer with responsibility for all commercial operations in Ireland including retail, car parks, marketing and property concessions. In August 2011, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Aer Rianta International, with responsibility for all retail activities globally.

Prior to joining DAA in 2005, Jack worked with Tesco, first as Head of Marketing for Tesco Ireland and later as Non-Food Marketing Director in the UK. Jack’s other career roles include general management positions at Diageo and serving with consultants, McKinsey & Company. He holds an MBA from Wharton University. He is married with two children.

Kevin Rafter is Professor of Political Communication at Dublin City University and an experienced non-executive director. A former political journalist he is a leading authority on topics related to media and politics. His independent external perspective has been acknowledged by invitations from a leading financial institution to represent the ‘customer voice’ in its independent mortgage tracker appeals process, from the government to chair an independent review of the Civil Service and through his membership of the disciplinary tribunal for solicitors. Kevin is a non-executive director at Dublin Bus and Oxfam Ireland. He has a BA (Mod) and MLitt in economics and an MA and PhD in political science, and recently completed a diploma in corporate law and governance.

Mason Hayes & Curran is a business law firm with 80 partners. The expertise of the firm is rooted in unrivalled industry knowledge, so advice is always set in its commercial context.

The Corporate Governance and Compliance team at Mason Hayes & Curran provides an integrated and extensive range of governance, administration and compliance services for Irish and overseas clients. The team includes corporate lawyers who are available to provide clients with advice on a range of governance and structuring matters, from advising on the duties of directors to assisting in implementing complex group reorganisations.

To find out more visit www.mhc.ie @MHCLawyers