The recent Dublin Leadership Summit 2025 brought together leaders from business, sport and science to share lessons in resilience, growth and adaptation.
In just four years, the Dublin Leadership Summit 2025 has become a fixture on Ireland’s business calendar, drawing the business community together for an impressive speaker line-up and unmatched networking opportunities.
From the shrinking of networks post-Covid to the future of Irish sport and the wealth transfer reshaping society, the event offered practical insights for business leaders navigating turbulent times.
“Networks matter, paranoia keeps you sharp, opportunity comes from saying yes and the future belongs to those who are prepared for change”
-
Adaptability is the new survival skill
Kingsley Aikins, CEO of The Networking Institute, reminded the audience that the volatility experienced in recent years is now the norm. Drawing on Darwin, he argued that survival depends not on strength or intelligence but on the ability to adapt.
He went on to highlight how the hidden cost of the pandemic has been the contraction of our networks. Smaller networks mean fewer opportunities, less serendipity, weaker loyalty and a diluted sense of culture.
For Aikins, effective networking has evolved far beyond the “business card Olympics” of the past. Instead, leaders should intentionally build four types of networks; personal, operational, strategic and online, to open doors and create opportunities.
-
Bread, paranoia and resilience
Michael McCambridge, managing director of McCambridge’s Bread, spoke of guiding a family business of 80 years. Taking over at 28 after a family tragedy, McCambridge has learned to balance heritage with reinvention.
The company, once diversified across food products including ice cream, sharpened its focus on Irish soda bread. With the wellness movement driving the focus on healthy eating, McCambridge points out that Ireland’s native breads are healthy food choices naturally. This category proved resilient during Covid and even attracted Amazon’s attention for its bread kits.
McCambridge lives by Andy Grove’s famous dictum: “Only the paranoid survive.” For him, vigilance and preparedness are essential traits for any leader in a competitive market.
-
Scaling lessons from oncology
Orlaith Ryan, co-founder and CTO of Shorla Oncology, shared her experience of building a pharmaceutical company from its base in Clonmel, Tipperary, to international markets.
She urged founders to start early with fundraising, highlighting how “it takes longer than you think”, and stressed that investors will track every metric. Networking, including the support of the Irish diaspora, has been crucial in attracting capital.
Ryan praised Enterprise Ireland’s backing and emphasised that, despite turbulence and tariff concerns, Irish pharma retains global credibility.
Her top scaling lesson is one that resonates in current times. “Expect the unexpected”, Ryan says. Knowing what your goal is key, but your marketing and business plan may need to adapt many times.
-
The power of saying yes
Caroline Keeling, former CEO of Keelings and now a board member of Ibec, Enterprise Ireland and Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, described her career as shaped by curiosity and opportunity.
“I can’t say no,” she admitted. By her own admission, this is a trait that has led to extra work but also to doors opening to new opportunities.
Keeling reflected on the privilege of choice she had as a child. While her brothers were expected to enter the family business, she had freedom to explore other paths before joining the firm.
Setting up CBA Ventures in 2025, Keeling now invests in digital health, nutritional health and climate solutions, backing visionary founders with both capital and mentoring.
Looking ahead, she is watching the generational wealth transfer with interest, noting that women will be among the key beneficiaries this time. “That shift will change things,” she said.
-
Building the future of Irish sport
Ciara McCormack, CEO and co-owner of Treaty United FC, is breaking new ground as the first woman to lead a League of Ireland men’s and women’s club.
McCormack grew up in Canada with Irish parents and went on to play professionally in five different countries. In 2003, she made history alongside her American teammate as one of the first North American women to reach a Champions League final with Fortuna Hjorring in Denmark. Beyond the pitch, she’s become a powerful voice for athletes, speaking at two Canadian Parliamentary Hearings in 2022/23 and earning recognition as a global leader in the safe sport movement.
Today, she sees Irish soccer at a tipping point. Bigger businesses are starting to invest, but the sport needs leaders who can both seize the opportunity and communicate its value.
Her call to action is clear: for the government to recognise the economic and social importance of Irish sport. The mission is to ensure that girls enjoy the same professional pathways as boys if they wish to make a career in soccer.
For McCormack, leadership in sport is no different to leadership in business: it is about building pathways, creating opportunity and investing in people.
Key takeaway
Although it can be trite to claim “change is the new normal”, the pace of the volatility experienced over the last few years lends a lot of truth to the statement.
The Dublin Leadership Summit 2025 underscored how leadership is the battleground on which the future will be won or lost.
Whether in family business, pharma, agriculture or sport, the leaders’ message was consistent: networks matter, paranoia keeps you sharp, opportunity comes from saying yes and the future belongs to those who are prepared for change.
-
Bank of Ireland is welcoming new customers every day – funding investments, working capital and expansions across multiple sectors. To learn more, click here
-
For support in challenging times, click here
-
Listen to the ThinkBusiness Podcast for business insights and inspiration. All episodes are here. You can also listen to the Podcast on:
-
Spotify
-
SoundCloud
-
Apple
