By any measure, the Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event or AIME, as the industry affectionately knows it, has never been shy about grand ambitions. Yet for 2026, the team seems intent on outdoing even themselves. The program for next year’s Knowledge Monday, unveiled this week, reads less like a conference warm-up and more like a concerted campaign to future-proof the business events sector.
Opening on Monday, 9 February at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC), the 2026 edition leans into a theme that feels tailor-made for a world grappling with rapid change: Expertise Matters! It is a rallying cry recognising the authority, adaptability and sheer strategic horsepower that event professionals bring to the table often without fanfare, and usually under pressure.
Curated in partnership with BEAMexperience Founder El Kwang and informed by a cross-regional advisory committee of respected APAC leaders, the expanded program carries the unmistakable polish of an industry that knows its value and intends to double down on it.
A curriculum designed for the times
The scale alone is noteworthy. Delegates will be able to choose from 22 breakout sessions across two 60-minute streams, a veritable buffet of contemporary thinking for professionals who are expected to be equal parts strategist, diplomat, technologist and creative. Each session falls within one of five core content pillars: Business Strategy & Leadership; Event Management & Experience Design; Technology, AI & Data; Humanity, Talent & Skills Development; and Sustainability & Legacy.
The topics range from the exhilaratingly technical to the profoundly human. Expect explorations of AI-enabled work environments, new-era leadership expectations, neuroscience-driven engagement tactics, purpose-led event architecture, and the perennial challenge of turning creativity into commercial advantage. If there’s a unifying thread, it is that mastery of events now depends on a stronger, more agile intellectual toolkit than ever before.
More than 30 speakers and content partners will take the reins throughout the day. Familiar industry names such as Anna Glynn, Dr Danny Davis, Jess Turnbull, George Hawwa, Ian Jones, Andy Sharpe, Winitha Bonney OAM, Stephanie Tranquille, Dave Chauhan and Anna Patterson lead the line-up. Trusted organisations, including SITE ANZ, PCMA APAC, AIPC, AuSAE, EarthCheck, ICCA APAC and IAPCO, round out the faculty.
Setting the tone: three heavyweight keynote sessions
Before delegates disperse into their breakout streams, they will be guided by three keynote speakers whose collective expertise spans neuro-behavioural science, elite performance, human motivation and lived resilience.
Dan Haesler, Performance and Leadership Coach (presented by Saxton Group), will unpack the subtle forces that influence how people show up professionally and how leaders can architect environments that encourage genuine engagement rather than performative participation.
Milo Wilkinson, Behavioural Scientist and Futurist (presented by ICMI Speakers Bureau), will take attendees inside the brain’s hidden decision-making machinery. Her session promises a sharp, almost forensic look at trust, attention and the subconscious influences shaping how audiences respond to event experiences.
Meanwhile, Kristina Karlsson, Founder of kikki. K and Dream Life will offer a characteristically candid reflection on reinvention, purpose and the hard-won nature of expertise. For an industry that has weathered shocks, pivots and reinventions of its own, her perspective is expected to strike a particularly resonant chord.
AIME positions Knowledge Monday as the anchor of the week
For AIME Event Director Silke Calder, the 2026 Knowledge Monday program represents a continuation of deliberate growth — not merely in scale, but in intellectual heft.
“We are thrilled to welcome an extraordinary group of keynote presenters and breakout speakers who bring deep expertise, fresh ideas and real-world experience to the program,” Calder says.
“Their collective insights will challenge, uplift and equip our community with practical tools to lead with confidence and clarity in the year ahead.”
Calder notes that the program reflects extensive collaboration between the advisory committee and BEAMexperience, praising the alignment that shaped the final curriculum. “Congratulations to El Kwang and the Content Advisory Committee, who have curated an inspiring and highly relevant lineup that encourages delegates to think boldly, act with purpose and harness the power of their expertise.”
Ideas continue to flow across the show floor.
Knowledge Monday may set the intellectual groundwork, but the discussion hardly stops there. On 10 and 11 February, the Ideas Academy, presented by Spice, returns as a lively space for rapid-fire conversations, industry provocations and the exchange of best practice — a sort of roaming think-tank in the middle of the show floor.
The 2026 program is open to AIME Hosted Buyers and Exhibitors, with Visitor Buyers able to upgrade their passes to gain access to the day’s workshops and keynote sessions.
AIME 2026 heads for a record edition
AIME organisers are forecasting the event’s biggest edition yet, with more than 4,500 attendees, 700 exhibitors, 700 hosted buyers and upwards of 20,000 pre-scheduled appointments expected across the three-day showcase.
The event returns to MCEC from 9–11 February 2026, continuing to cement Melbourne’s reputation as one of the region’s premier meetings and incentives destinations.
For complete program details, visit https://aime.com.au/program.
by Prae Lee
Read time: 4 minutes.
About the Writer
You can tell a lot about a person by how they handle a busy Bangkok morning. Prae Lee doesn’t rush; she glides through it. There’s a calm certainty about her, the sort that comes from knowing where you come from and where you’re going.
Educated at Chulalongkorn University, she took her business degree with the quiet pride of someone who believes in doing things correctly. Her travels for further study in Singapore and Australia didn’t change her; they polished what was already there: curiosity, discipline, and grace.
She returned to her family business in Bangkok, breathing a little modern life into it. She handled social media with the intuition of someone who listens and sells with the gentle persistence the Thais do so well.
Prae doesn’t make a fuss, but everything she touches shines brighter.
Now part of the Global Travel Media family, Prae brings authenticity and quiet confidence to her writing, drawing from a life steeped in culture, travel, and connection.
