Programme

Financial communications has changed dramatically over the past decade. What was once defined by relationships with financial journalists and a focus on quarterly results has evolved into a discipline that demands digital fluency, cross-functional collaboration, regulatory awareness, and the ability to engage a wide range of stakeholders under constant scrutiny.

In this fireside chat, Sandpiper Financial’s Kainoa Blaisdell (Lead Sandpiper Financial, Asia Pacific) and Justin Teh (Deputy Lead Sandpiper Financial, Asia) will reflect on how the role of the financial communications strategist has shifted in the era of digital and AI, and why success today means going beyond the numbers. Drawing on experience advising on some of Asia Pacific’s most prominent and complex transactions, they will explore the softer side of this high-stakes work - aligning investors, employees, regulators, and media - and share lessons learned about building trust, managing crises, and shaping narratives that achieve long-term business goals.

As generative AI reshapes how people find and trust information, brand visibility can no longer be bought but must be earned. This session will explore how AI-powered search engines prioritise authoritative content and third-party validation, why earned media now drives up to 90% of brand visibility, and how Edelman’s Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) approach helps brands strengthen reputation, increase discoverability, and take control of their presence in AI-driven search.

Join Daphne Goh, Zi Siang Ng, and moderator Delicia Tan for a presentation and panel discussion on the new playbook for building trust, navigating narrative risk, and protecting reputation in the era of LLMs. Discover actionable strategies to boost your brand’s “share of answers”, leverage authoritative content, and take control of your visibility in AI-generated search results.

Sustainability has quietly slipped from boardroom buzzword to corporate afterthought or 'no thought'.  And we're all complicit in letting it happen.

In a provocative examination of our industry's relationship with environmental messaging, this keynote confronts a reality many PR professionals are reluctant to acknowledge: sustainability communication has lost its edge, its urgency, and arguably, its audience.

While climate change accelerates and environmental challenges intensify, corporate sustainability communication has paradoxically entered a period of dangerous dormancy. This isn't just a missed opportunity, it's a professional crisis that demands intervention.

This keynote will argue that PR professionals must become sustainability communication insurgents, rejecting safe, sanitized messaging in favor of honest, urgent, and yes, sometimes uncomfortable conversations about our collective environmental future.