AIME 2026 Knowledge Monday Keynote Speakers: “Expertise Matters!”

Knowledge Monday

The Asia Pacific Incentives and Meetings Event (AIME) has announced three powerhouse keynote speakers for its highly anticipated 2026 Knowledge Monday program, opening the event at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) on Monday 9 February 2026. The program theme, “Expertise Matters!”, celebrates the credibility, insight, and strategic influence of professionals across the business events sector.

Meet the Voices of Expertise

AIME 2026 Knowledge Monday will feature three distinguished speakers who will explore expertise from multiple angles — leadership, behavioural science, resilience, reinvention, and human connection. Each brings a unique perspective designed to elevate attendees’ understanding of what it means to lead and thrive in complex professional environments.

Dan Haesler – Performance and Leadership Coach

Dan Haesler, a performance and leadership coach for elite sporting teams, Olympians, and global organisations, will share his insights on mindset, mental skills, and leadership. Haesler focuses on creating environments where expertise can be fully expressed and appreciated.

“Expertise matters – however, time and again it’s lost in translation due to environments and delivery that dampen authentic engagement,” Haesler says. Delegates will gain practical strategies for designing experiences that foster meaningful engagement and maximise the impact of shared knowledge.

Milo Wilkinson – Behavioural Scientist & Futurist

Milo Wilkinson

Milo Wilkinson, with seven degrees spanning neuroscience, psychology, and criminal sciences, will decode the human mind to reveal how expertise can be applied in high-pressure environments. Her keynote explores attention, trust, decision-making, and the subconscious drivers of human behaviour.

“True expertise goes beyond logistics — it requires understanding subconscious drivers of attention, trust, and engagement,” Wilkinson explains. Attendees will leave equipped with tools to strengthen mental agility and create strategically engineered experiences that deliver measurable outcomes.

Kristina Karlsson – Entrepreneur and Author

Kristina Karlsson, founder of kikki.K and Dream Life, will share her journey of resilience and reinvention, offering lessons from building a $650 million global brand and starting anew. Her session emphasises the power of lived experience and practical application of expertise.

“You’ll walk away refreshed and inspired to dream big, with new practical tools to start using immediately in your own life,” Karlsson says, highlighting how expertise is as much about what you have lived as what you know.

Shaping the Future of Business Events Learning

BEAMexperience Founder El Kwang

Hosted by BEAMexperience Founder El Kwang, Knowledge Monday is expected to draw more than 1,500 global event professionals. The program sets the tone for AIME 2026, Australia’s premier business events trade show, with over 4,500 attendees, 700 exhibitors, 700 hosted buyers, and more than 20,000 pre-scheduled appointments across three days.

AIME Event Director Silke Calder says the keynote lineup exemplifies the program’s theme: “Our keynote speakers each bring a unique lens on what true expertise means today — it’s about lived experience, self-awareness, and the ability to apply knowledge with purpose.”

AIME 2026
https://aime.com.au

Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
https://www.mcec.com.au

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