Makassar Leadership Summit to Feature Jusuf Kalla, Ministers, and CEOs as Speakers
Makassar — The Makassar Leadership Summit (MLS) 2026 will feature several prominent figures, including Indonesia’s 10th and 12th Vice President Jusuf Kalla, Minister of Manpower Yassierli, and various Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) as speakers for the major event.
They will join national leaders, business players, practitioners, professionals, and communities to discuss changing leadership patterns amidst technological developments, work dynamics, and business uncertainty.
The Chairperson of the MLS 202\026 Committee and Founder of Insight Indonesia, Fauziah Zulfitri, told reporters in Makassar on Thursday that leadership today can no longer be defined merely as the ability to direct an organisation or make decisions.
Carrying the theme ‘The Future of Leadership Starts Here’, the event is scheduled to take place on 8 October 2026 in Makassar. The summit is organised by the Human Resource Management Association (PMSM), the Indonesian Competency National Movement (GNIK), and the Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo).
Fauziah stated that MLS 2026 is designed as a cross-sectoral dialogue space to discuss leadership in facing change, maintaining human focus amidst performance pressures, building resilience, and preparing organisations for the era of artificial intelligence.
The series of activities will open with a keynote speech by H.M. Jusuf Kalla titled ‘Leading from the East’, which explores leadership experiences rooted in Eastern Indonesia, including the courage to take responsibility, build trust, make decisions, and resolve real-world problems.
Following this, the Minister of Manpower, Yassierli, is scheduled to present on the theme ‘Transforming Bureaucracy for Faster and Impactful Labour Policies’, discussing bureaucratic transformation to become more adaptive, responsive, collaborative, and result-oriented.
Several panels will also discuss inclusive and sustainable leadership, as well as ‘Human Centered Leadership’, which addresses issues of empathy, authenticity, trust, and the relationship between employee experience and performance.
In the organisational transformation session, MLS will feature Irfan Setiaputra, Tommy Watimena, and Neneng Goenadi in a panel titled ‘Transformational Leadership: Challenging the Status Quo to Drive Meaningful Change’. This panel will discuss how leaders confront the status quo and resistance, make difficult decisions, and ensure that change produces meaningful impact.
The agenda will continue with discussions on ‘Resilience Leadership: Turning Challenges into Growth’ and ‘AI Ready Leadership: Where to Start?’.
The Deputy Director of GNIK for the South Sulawesi area, Hasnaeni Asri, noted that organisational change is determined not only by strategy and technology but also by the quality of the people executing them.
‘We are in a phase where organisations do not just need leaders who can achieve targets, but leaders who are capable of reading change and motivating people to face it together,’ she said.
According to Hasmeeni, cross-sector forums such as the MLS are vital for the leadership ecosystem in South Sulawesi as they bring together perspectives from various industries and backgrounds.