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BOARD names first speakers for Monaco forum as Europe turns to private enterprise to close the gap

LONDON, 17 September 2026: BOARD, a new forum for European private enterprise, has named the first speakers for its launch at the Grimaldi Forum, Monaco, from 22 to 24 March 2027, and published its preliminary programme. More than 200 European CEOs have already confirmed their attendance.

The announcement comes in the same week that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her State of the Union address to argue that Europe must create the conditions for its companies to attract investment and grow, and that it needs a banking system built for growth rather than stability alone.

BOARD starts from the same diagnosis and focuses on the companies themselves. Europe sits between the United States and China at a time when the terms of trade, technology and security are being rewritten. In the areas that will shape its prosperity for decades, energy, AI and computing capacity, defence and capital, it relies too heavily on others. Higher energy and borrowing costs are feeding through to businesses across the continent, and too many of Europe's strongest growth companies still cross the Atlantic to raise capital and scale. Policy can improve the conditions. It cannot build the companies.

Rohan Marwaha, Founder and CEO of BOARD, said: "Over the past year I have spoken with CEOs across Europe, and one point comes up more than any other. Europe is renting its future rather than building it. We rely on others for our energy, our computing power and much of the capital our best companies need to grow, and the cost of that dependence is now showing on balance sheets. Better policy will help, but it will not close the gap on its own. That falls to private enterprise, and private companies need far better access to capital, to experienced boards and to one another. That is what we are building BOARD to provide."

Europe's best-known business gathering, Davos, has become a meeting place for the chief executives of listed companies and heads of state. The private companies that create much of Europe's employment and growth have had no equivalent forum of their own.

"Private companies create a large share of Europe's jobs, yet the private enterprise agenda has no real place in the conversations meant to shape Europe's future," said Marwaha. "The CEOs running these businesses, the investors backing them and the directors on their boards need somewhere to meet and talk openly about the decisions in front of them. Monaco in March is where that starts."

The first confirmed speakers are:

• Jean-Dominique Sénard, Chairman, Renault Group
• Pierre-Antoine Vacheron, Chief Executive Officer, Worldline
• James Caan CBE, Founder and Chairman, Hamilton Bradshaw
• Mike Jatania, Co-founder, Aurea Group, and Executive Chairman and CEO, The Body Shop
• Alexandre Mars, Founder and CEO, blisce/
• Fred de Gombert, Co-founder and President, Akeneo
• Olga Megorskaya, Founder and CEO, Toloka
• Steffan Peyer, Managing Director, Summit Partners
• Tim Kohn, Technologist-in-Residence, Summit Partners, and one of Amazon's first 20 software developers

The preliminary programme runs across three days and five content pillars: Investment, M&A and Raising Capital; AI and Technology; Risk, Security and Resilience; Governance, Accountability and Board Dynamics; and Strategy, Leadership and Human Capital. It includes more than 90 sessions, over 40 roundtables and more than 150 speakers, with no session longer than 35 minutes. A one-to-one meetings programme, pairing CEOs with fellow CEOs, investors and Non Executive Directors, is scheduled before delegates arrive.

BOARD is built for growth-stage private companies, typically with revenues of €10 million to €500 million, and the capital and counsel behind them. More than 500 CEOs are expected by March, among more than 2,000 delegates: the CEOs building ambitious companies, the directors guiding them, the investors backing them and the partners helping turn strategy into execution.

The programme is shaped by BOARD's research with 193 European CEOs and board directors, who judged the boardroom challenges they face to be 70 per cent shared across industries and 30 per cent sector-specific. Capital allocation, M&A, AI, cyber security, compliance and succession recur regardless of sector, which is why BOARD is designed as a cross-industry forum.

BOARD is one of around 100 events supported by the Monaco Tourist and Convention Authority. Registration is open at boardsummits.com/register and the preliminary agenda is available at boardsummits.com/content/agenda.