The conference was opened by László Palkovics, the government commissioner responsible for artificial intelligence, with an unconventional welcome address: he spoke about the relationship between artificial intelligence and corporate competitiveness in a video message delivered via an AI-generated avatar. Following this, Tamás Fehérváry, CEO of the Hungarian Economic Development Agency, spoke about global trends affecting Hungarian small and medium-sized enterprises and the benefits of digitalization. In his presentation, he introduced the advisory programs operating under the MGFÜ, specifically the program components of the priority project GINOP PLUSZ-1.1.1-22-2022-00001, “Providing Targeted Business Development Services for Micro, Small, and Medium-Sized Enterprises,” which support the development of SMEs. He was followed on stage by Gergő Mészáros, an information security expert at One Solutions, who drew attention to security awareness in the AI era, specifically the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence.

Richárd Szabados, State Secretary for SME Development, Technology, and the Defense Industry at the Ministry of National Economy, also spoke at the conference, presenting the competitiveness of Hungarian SMEs from a government perspective. In his speech, he emphasized that the key to corporate growth lies in continuous innovation and R&D, digitalization, and close collaboration.

Following this, Zoltán Krausz, a business development mentor, gave a presentation on the principles of optimal leadership. Other speakers included Dr. Imre Béres, attorney and tax expert; Tamás Dankó, attorney; and Péter Nyisztor, Managing Director of the Medium-Sized Enterprises Division at MBH Bank Nyrt.

Several roundtable discussions on various topics were organized during the conference. With the participation of Dr. Gergely Balla, Chief Business Development Officer of the Hungarian Economic Development Agency, participants learned more about succession planning solutions applied in practice. The topic of the second roundtable discussion was the sale and acquisition of companies in practice, but during the afternoon, the challenges facing family businesses, the advantages of the digital age, artificial intelligence, and next-generation businesses were also discussed.

To conclude the meeting, Miklós Szűcs, lead trainer at Actionlab, and László Rafael, consultant at Actionlab, held a workshop titled “Decision Control: Leadership Decisions in an Uncertain Environment,” during which participants experienced the mechanics of conscious decision-making through the logic of poker.