June 18 @ 10:00 – 13:00
Registration and welcome coffee from 09.30 | Lunch & networking 13:00
Venue: Radisson RED, Unity Centre, ul. Lubomirskiego 16, Kraków
Cost: Participation is free of charge
Language: The conference will be conducted in Polish
The technology, business services, R&D and engineering sector in Kraków employs 120,000 people and contributes €7 billion in annual economic activity. That is not a minor footnote to Kraków’s story – it is the story. And yet the way it is told, understood and acted upon by the institutions that shape this city’s future is still catching up.
This is a gap ASPIRE seeks to close.
On Thursday 18 June, in partnership with the Małopolska Marshal’s Office, we are bringing together sector leaders, institutional partners and policymakers for a focused conversation about where Kraków’s GBS sector has come from, where it is going, and – critically – how it is being perceived.
WHY THIS CONVERSATION MATTERS NOW
The sector faces a persistent challenge: the public narrative around AI, automation and job displacement has taken hold in ways that are not always grounded in what is actually happening. The consequence is real – fear shapes behaviour, including attrition and talent decisions, even when the underlying picture is more positive.
One of ASPIRE’s goals has been to bring more clarity to that narrative, in the interests of our members and of the broader ecosystem. This conference – which will be attended by media – is one of the moments where that clarity can be asserted publicly and with authority.
It is also, in the plainest sense, Kraków 2.0 in practice: not a city promoting itself more loudly, but one beginning to organise its capabilities more seriously, with institutional partners who share that ambition.
AGENDA
09:30 – 10:00 – Registration and welcome coffee
10:00 – 10:15 – Opening
- Witold Kozłowski – Deputy-Marshal of the Małopolska Voivodeship
10:15 – 11:30 – Panel 1 – Global services, Małopolska DNA: the evolution of the GBS sector in the region | How did Kraków and Małopolska become one of Europe’s leading GBS hubs – and what does the next phase of that development look like?
- Marcio Costa – Business Operations Director, IAG GBS
- Patrycja Bajorska – Site Director, Krakow and Katowice, GlobalLogic
- Grzegorz Iwan – Director of Customer Service, Cisco
- Michał Piątkowski – CEO, MOTIFE
- Dr Piotr Kopyciński – Director of the Małopolska School of Public Administration at the Kraków University of Economics
11:30 – 11:50 – Case study – AI, Cloud and Małopolska Talents at IBM Software Lab Poland
- Krzysztof Kuśnierz – IBM Programme Director; Manager, Kraków Software Lab, IBM Polska
11:50 – 12:00 – Coffee break
12:00 – 13:00 – Panel 2 – Truth, half-truth, manipulation: how to read the news in a world of fake news | In a media environment where, too often, GBS and technology have been reduced to a headline about job losses, this is a conversation about how to read that landscape accurately, how to counter distortion, and what it means for the sector’s standing and talent pipeline.
- Andrew Hallam – General Secretary, ASPIRE
- Michał Marek – Head of the External Threat Analysis Team, NASK
- Agnieszka Walecka-Rynduch – Deputy Director for Education, Institute of Journalism, Media and Social Communication, Department of New Media, Jagiellonian University
- Kamil Wszołek – Journalist, Radio Kraków; Digital EU Ambassador
- Adam Biernat – Director, Grodzki Urząd Pracy
13:00 – 13:30 – Lunch and networking
Both panels will be moderated by Zbigniew Bartuś – Economic Journalist of the Year, and Grabski Award laureate.
REGISTER
Please complete this form to register for the event.
Participation is free. The meeting will be conducted in Polish.
There is also an option to participate online. Please mark as appropriate.
