Eliza Filby to Open IBTM World 2026 with Keynote on People, Change and Connection

IBTM World will open its 2026 edition with a keynote focused less on the mechanics of change than on the people living through it. Historian, author and speaker Dr Eliza Filby will take to the Main Stage on 17 November at 09:00 to explore how geopolitical and economic uncertainty, artificial intelligence, demographic change and evolving generational expectations are reshaping behaviour and human connection.

Under the title Now and Next: Understanding People in a Changing World, Filby will examine what today’s social, economic and technological disruption can reveal about the audiences of tomorrow, giving the Barcelona gathering a perspective that extends beyond the immediate challenges facing the events industry.

Her work spans generational change, AI and the future of work, longevity, family wealth and changing consumer behaviour. She is the author of three books, including Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad, which examines the way family wealth and inheritance are influencing opportunity and the experience of adulthood.

Filby is also founder of All Relative, working with organisations navigating major shifts in work, wealth and society. Her clients and collaborators have included Google, PwC, UBS, Pictet and Aviva. She holds a PhD in contemporary history from the University of Warwick, has taught at King’s College London and Renmin University in Beijing, and has lectured internationally, including at Harvard Law School. She also writes a fortnightly money column for The Times.

For IBTM World Exhibition Director Claudia Hall, bringing Filby into the opening slot reflects the need to place the sector’s current transformation within a wider social context.

“We’re delighted to welcome Dr Eliza Filby to IBTM World as our opening keynote speaker. Dr Eliza has a fantastic ability to make sense of the big changes happening in society and explain what they mean for people and businesses. At a time when our industry is adapting to rapid technological change and shifting expectations, her perspective will give our audience a chance to step back and look at the bigger picture.”

Filby’s own perspective brings the discussion back to one of the fundamental propositions of live events: that technological change can also increase the value placed on physical encounters.

“As technology becomes more embedded in our lives, the value of bringing people together will only grow. Events create something profoundly human: the chance to meet, exchange ideas, build trust and belong. I’m delighted to be opening IBTM World and exploring what human connection will mean for the generations coming next.”

Beyond the opening keynote

The wider IBTM Main Stage programme will extend the discussion into questions of execution, experience and human behaviour.

Lieutenant Colonel James Shaw LVO will draw on his experience in planning and delivering Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral, one of the most-watched events in history, to examine the pressures involved in delivering when failure is not an option and the lessons that can be applied to business and events.

The programme will also turn to this year’s IBTM Trends Report, Disruption to Belonging in the New World of Experience. Megan Henshall, Head of Partnership Strategy, Workplace Experience at Google, will join Al Turner, Managing Director of Eight PR and Marketing, to explore how experiences can help people navigate disruption and create meaningful connections amid developments in AI, global economies and changing populations.

Therapist and DJ Hesta Prynn will offer a more experiential perspective, examining how music can help people feel more confident and prepared before important moments.

The speaker programme will sit alongside the broader IBTM World marketplace, with more than 12,000 event professionals and 2,500 exhibitors expected in Barcelona for three days of meetings, knowledge sharing and business connections. The 2026 edition will bring together global brands and senior event professionals with event technology and services providers, creative and experiential partners, emerging innovators and hospitality brands.

With Filby opening the programme by asking what current disruption tells us about the people and audiences coming next, IBTM World is positioning its Main Stage around a question that runs through much of the sector’s current conversation: how should an industry built on bringing people together respond as the expectations, technologies and societies around it change?
 

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