Purpose Day 2025: Inspiring Real Change Beyond Disillusion

The new edition of Purpose Day, the only event in Italy entirely dedicated to the theme of Purpose, will be held on Thursday 16 October 2025 at 9.30 am at the prestigious Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan.

The central theme of Purpose Day 2025 is “Inspiring Real Change Beyond Disillusion”: how Purpose can overcome ideological narratives and some recent scepticism to generate a concrete and transformative approach in people and organisations, capable of producing sustainable competitive advantages for companies and contributing to the improvement of our society.

From this year, in fact, Purpose Day is becoming a European event thanks to the prestigious collaboration with the HEC Paris Business School, and in particular its Purpose Center, directed by Prof. Rodolphe Durand.

Purpose Day 2025: three perspectives on Purpose

The day of October 16 will unfold through three fundamental perspectives:

• The link between Purpose and people, to understand the mechanisms by which we can generate a higher level of engagement, motivation and satisfaction of our companies’ human capital.
• The relationship between Purpose and technology, central to the current debate on the role of Artificial Intelligence and its implications for people’s work and identities.
• The role that Purpose can play in guiding organisations towards models of integral sustainability that go beyond ideologies and opportunistic approaches.

The previous editions of Purpose Day, which recorded over 1,000 guests, saw the participation of prominent personalities such as Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsi, Ginni Rometty, former CEO of IBM, and Italian leaders such as Silvia Rovere, Chairwoman of Poste Italiane, Cristina Scocchia , CEO of illycaffè, and Maximo Ibarra, CEO of Engineering, as well as internationally renowned academics who enriched the debate, including Ranjay Gulati of Harvard Business School, Alex Edmans of London Business School, Colin Mayer and Mary Johnstone-Louis of Oxford University, Maurizio Zollo of Imperial College and Sarah Kaplan of Toronto University.

World-class speakers for the 2025 edition

The 2025 edition promises to be even more prestigious, with the participation of high-profile speakers, including:

Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, Francesco Starace, former CEO of ENEL, Rodolphe Durand, Academic Director of the S&O Institute Purpose Center at HEC Paris, Mirja Cartia D’Asero, CEO of Gruppo 24 Ore, Darren Rudkin, founder and CEO of The Mind at Work, Gary Lubner, former CEO of Belron, Laura Burdese, Bvlgari Deputy CEO, and academics Sophie Bacq, Professor of Social Entrepreneurship at IMD and Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance at London Business School. Among the POLIMI Graduate School of Management professors, in addition to our President, Vittorio Chiesa, and Dean, Federico Frattini, also speaking will be Josip Kotlar, Full Professor and Scientific Director of the Purpose in Action Observatory at Politecnico di Milano, Mario Calderini, Full Professor of Social Innovation at Politecnico di Milano, Luciano Traquandi, Scientific Co-Director of the SPEM Spirituality and Management Executive Programme at POLIMI GSoM and Professor of Corporate Psychosociology at LIUC, Irene Bengo, Associate Professor of Sustainability and Social Innovation at Politecnico di Milano, and Roberto Verganti, Co-founder of Leadin’Lab, the Leadership, Design and Innovation laboratory of the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano and professor of Leadership and Innovation at the Stockholm School of Economics.

A date not to be missed

Purpose Day 2025 will be a unique opportunity to discuss the challenges and opportunities of Purpose, through the experience of visionary leaders and the innovative approach of globally renowned academic companies and institutions.

Do not miss this event, which aims to redefine the future of Purpose.