The event was supported by leading companies, including Timestamp, Konica Minolta, Salesforce, Contisystems and 360 Solutions, reinforcing the link between academia and the business community.
The opening session featured the Dean of Católica Porto Business School, João Pinto, and the Chairman of the Board of Fundação de Serralves, Manuel Ferreira da Silva, who highlighted the importance of creating spaces for dialogue around the major trends shaping the future of organisations.
The keynote speaker was Professor at IMD Lausanne, Amit Joshi, a specialist in artificial intelligence and strategy, who addressed the topic “AI agents, geopolitics and impact”. In his intervention, he explored the evolution of commerce agents, presented real cases of success and failure, and analysed the shift from the SEO era to the GEO era, a context in which part of the decision-making process becomes less visible to organisations. He also highlighted implications for leadership, particularly regarding the integration of artificial intelligence into organisational structures, performance measurement, resource allocation and legal considerations.
The roundtable that followed provided an opportunity for applied discussion on the challenges organisations face in this changing landscape. Moderated by the Head of Public and Healthcare at Google Cloud, Luís João, it included contributions from Amit Joshi, the CEO of Contisystems, Duarte Conceição, the Head of AI Unit at Timestamp, Paulo Pereira, and the Principal Solutions Architect at Salesforce, Tiago Esteves.
According to João Pinto, “this first edition stood out for the quality and relevance of the discussions, as well as for the strong engagement of participants. In a context of accelerating artificial intelligence and transforming business models, the aim is for this conference to establish itself as a reference in Porto.”
Amit Joshi’s presence also reinforces the link to the School’s programme portfolio, as he is a guest lecturer on the Postgraduate Programme in Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence, co-directed by the Industry Fellow at Católica Porto Business School and Managing Director of 360 Solutions, João Vieira, and the Professor at Católica Porto Business School and Board Member of Rangel Logistics Solutions, Luís Marques.
The Porto Digital & AI Summit thus emerges as a new platform for reflection and exchange on the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of business.
