Family Business Summit – 1st Edition, 28-29 October 2026

Highlighting the pivotal role of family enterprises in transforming legacy into long-term value, strengthening institutional resilience, and empowering future generations through effective governance and structured succession, while reinforcing their role as pillars of economic prosperity and sustainable growth.

A perspective on the role of family enterprises in advancing national economic priorities, strengthening private-sector growth, and enhancing regional and global competitiveness.

As Abu Dhabi accelerates economic diversification and private-sector development, this address will explore how established family businesses can contribute to a more competitive, innovative, and globally connected economy while creating sustainable value for future generations.

A flagship discussion on how Abu Dhabi is creating an ecosystem where family enterprises and long-term capital can grow, invest, and expand globally. The session will explore how stronger governance, access to capital, banking partnerships, technology and data-driven decision-making are helping family groups modernise their businesses, pursue new opportunities, and manage increasingly complex portfolios, while reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s position as a destination for multigenerational wealth and investment.

A focused conversation on how family businesses can strengthen governance, structure ownership, and plan for succession and intergenerational transfer as they grow across generations. The session will also bring a regulatory perspective on the frameworks that can help families preserve wealth, manage complexity, and build resilient structures for long-term growth, while supporting Abu Dhabi’s wider ambition to strengthen its position as a leading hub for family offices and multigenerational capital.

The conversation will focus on what it takes to guide a large family enterprise operating across multiple markets, sectors, and thousands of employees. It will explore diversification, institutional growth, staying relevant through change, and the discipline required to build and sustain one of the Middle East’s most influential business groups.

To be Honored by

A focused conversation on why water security and climate resilience are becoming critical long-term investment priorities. The session will explore how scalable solutions in water access, infrastructure, efficiency, and adaptation can create both durable financial value and meaningful social impact.

Diversification is no longer enough; reinvention is the next frontier. This session will focus on real family business case studies, exploring how leading family enterprises are creating new growth through acquisitions, franchise agreements, licensing, strategic partnerships, and international expansion. The discussion will examine what it takes to transform traditional businesses into globally connected brands while protecting legacy, identity, and long-term family control.

Mishal Kanoo, Chairman - UAE & OMAN, The Kanoo Group (UAE)

Ali Al Gebely, Chairman, Al Gebely Holding (AGH)

A conversation on forging an independent path beyond the family enterprise and turning personal passion into a platform with wider cultural and social impact. The session will explore the journey from entrepreneurship into the arts, how cultural initiatives can create new forms of legacy, and why art is increasingly relevant to family businesses not only as an alternative asset, but also as a way to support creativity, identity and long-term societal value.

As family enterprises grow across markets, sectors, and thousands of employees, the challenge is no longer simply expansion — it is preserving speed, accountability, and entrepreneurial instinct at scale. This discussion will explore how family-owned groups professionalise leadership, empower experienced executives, strengthen operating discipline, and maintain the agility that helped build the business in the first place.

A discussion on how women are taking on more influential roles across family enterprise governance, investments, leadership, ownership, and strategic decision-making.

Dr. Basma AlZamil, Senior Advisor, Family Business Governance, Lansberg Gersick Advisors – LGA, AlZamil Family

A high-impact discussion on how family businesses prepare for IPOs, partial exits, strategic investors, or full sales while protecting long-term identity and control. The session will examine post-liquidity governance, shareholder alignment, emotional decision-making, and how families transition from operating business owners to asset owners.

A practical and forward-looking discussion on how family offices, family enterprises, and high-net-worth families are preserving and growing wealth in a changing global environment. The session will explore how private banking solutions—including wealth planning, credit, liquidity management, custody, and global access—are being integrated with investment strategies across public and private markets. Speakers will examine where family capital is moving in 2026 amid shifting interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and evolving opportunities in real estate, alternatives, tokenisation, and global diversification, while balancing capital preservation with long-term growth.

A practical discussion on how family enterprises professionalise decision-making through stronger family office structures, governance, controls, reporting, advisors, and leadership roles. The session will also explore the human side of continuity, including succession expectations, family dynamics, next-generation readiness, and how family principals balance legacy with institutional resilience.

Ahmed Aboud, CFO, Ghassan Aboud Holding (UAE)

Few decisions shape the future of a family enterprise more than selecting its next leader. This conversation explores how families balance merit, capability, values, stewardship, and long-term vision when choosing future leaders, while navigating family expectations, trust, and difficult conversations.

Growth today extends far beyond expanding the family’s existing business. This conversation explores how next-generation leaders can build new ventures within the family group, acquire businesses, form strategic partnerships, invest in startups, franchise successful concepts or enter new international markets. It will examine how successors can create new growth engines that complement the core business, gain family support and avoid competing with or distracting from the group’s existing priorities.

The transition into a family enterprise rarely follows a perfect path. This candid conversation explores the mistakes next-generation leaders commonly make, from trying to change too much too quickly and underestimating internal relationships to avoiding difficult conversations, assuming authority and failing to build trust. It will examine how successors can learn from setbacks, repair relationships and turn early mistakes into stronger leadership.