By Sarah Wilson, Group Operations Executive
Pathway to Board returns this autumn with a new conversation built around the two issues keeping leadership teams up at night, AI and succession planning. If you came along last time, you already know the format. If you didn't, here is your second chance to get in the room with people who have actually done this at board level and are willing to talk about it honestly.
Pathway to Board is our recurring event series for business leaders who want straight talk from people who have sat in the boardroom and made the calls. This time round, the panel is made up of experienced board level leaders sharing their own journeys and what future proofing a business really looks like once the strategy documents are put away and the hard decisions start.
The focus for this edition is AI and succession planning, two topics that almost every leadership team is wrestling with right now but rarely gets to discuss openly outside their own four walls. Expect honest, unfiltered opinions rather than rehearsed corporate lines.
As before, the evening starts with drinks, food and networking with other like minded business leaders before everyone takes a seat for the panel discussion.
Every business we work with is asking some version of the same question. How do we use AI without losing what makes us good at what we do, and who is actually going to run this business in five or ten years' time.
Those two questions rarely get discussed in the same room, let alone by people who have lived through the decisions themselves. That is exactly the gap Pathway to Board is designed to fill. Our panel will share what future proofing has meant for their own businesses, where they got it right, where they didn't, and what they would do differently if they were starting again today.
After the demand we saw last time, we have added a second date so more people can join us. Choose whichever city works best for you.
Sheffield
Wednesday 7th October 2026
The Victoria, Sheffield
From 5:30pm
Leeds
Thursday 22nd October 2026
The Chapter Hall, Leeds
From 5:30pm
The format stays deliberately relaxed, the same one that worked so well last time.
Grab a drink, get some food, talk to the other business leaders in the room, then settle in for the panel discussion. There is plenty of time built in afterwards for you to ask what you actually want to know, not just what fits neatly into a Q&A slot.
This isn't a set of polished keynote speeches. Our panel of board level leaders will talk openly about their own journey, including the parts that didn't go to plan. If you want real answers on how boards are actually approaching AI adoption and succession planning, rather than theory, this is where you will get them.
Spaces at both events are limited and we would love to welcome you back, or meet you for the first time if this is your first Pathway to Board event.
To book your place, simply reply and let Sarah know whether you would like Sheffield or Leeds, or email her directly at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and she will get you booked on.
And if there is someone in your network who would get something out of this, feel free to pass this on. The more perspectives in the room, the better the conversation.
Future proofing a business isn't something you solve with one meeting or one policy document. It's an ongoing conversation, and Pathway to Board exists to give business leaders a proper space to have it. Join us in Sheffield or Leeds this October to hear how other leaders are approaching AI and succession planning, and to be part of the discussion yourself.
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