START GLOBAL @ REI
From Idea to International Business
START GLOBAL @ REI is an international event series of the REI School of Leadership & Entrepreneurship, connecting students, doctoral candidates and faculty members with academics, entrepreneurs and business leaders from around the world.
The series explores how global change creates new opportunities, how ideas become value, and how entrepreneurs and leaders build, execute and adapt in an increasingly complex international environment.
13 OCTOBER
START GLOBAL @ REI
Tuesday, 13 October 2026 | 17:30 | 1202
Universities in the Era of Agentic AI: Challenges and Opportunities
Professor Kirk Chang
University of East London, United Kingdom
AI is no longer just answering questions; it is starting to plan, decide and act on its own. What does that mean for how you learn, how you are assessed, and what skills will still set you apart?
Professor Chang will look at both sides. On one side are take-home essays losing their meaning, the risk of letting AI do the thinking for us, and a growing gap between those with access to the best tools and those without. On the other is the possibility of a personal, always-available learning coach for every student, and professors freed from administrative tasks to focus more on mentoring and research.
Professor Chang teaches business and management at the University of East London’s Royal Docks School of Business and Law and has been ranked among the top 3% of scholars worldwide in human resource management and technology innovation. Over three decades, he has published extensively on how technology can bring out the best in people and organizations, including research on AI in hiring and women’s digital entrepreneurship.
When an AI agent can do most of the work, what is left that only you can bring?
Focus: Agentic AI · Future Skills · Higher Education · Leadership
15 OCTOBER
START GLOBAL @ REI
Thursday, 15 October 2026 | 16:00 | B102 – Sala Zbor
Economics of Entrepreneurship: Past, Present, and Future
Professor Peter G. Klein
Baylor University, United States
What makes an entrepreneur? Where do opportunities come from? And how does entrepreneurship contribute to innovation, economic change and value creation?
Professor Peter G. Klein explores the evolution of entrepreneurial thinking and the role of entrepreneurs in the economy, connecting foundational ideas in the economics of entrepreneurship with the challenges facing entrepreneurs today.
The session invites participants to look beyond entrepreneurship simply as “starting a company” and to explore how entrepreneurial thinking helps individuals recognize opportunities, make decisions under uncertainty, organize resources and create value.
Focus: Entrepreneurship · Innovation · Opportunity · Value Creation · Entrepreneurial Thinking
21 OCTOBER
START GLOBAL @ REI
Wednesday, 21 October 2026 | 17:30 | 2203
How do you turn an idea into a business that actually works?
Three international professionals share what it takes to build, execute and adapt – from creating a business unit from zero, to turning strategy into results, to leading successfully through change and uncertainty.
- Damon Stelting
Building a Business Unit from Zero: Strategy, Sales and Leadership in Banking
A US commercial banker who has built banking divisions from the ground up, including one that broke even in its first year and helped grow the bank from $122 million to over $200 million in assets. He also referees college basketball, so he knows about making fast decisions under pressure.
The question: How do you turn an opportunity into a functioning business?
- Tamara Stelting
From Vision to Execution: Why Great Strategies Fail — and How to Make Them Work
A former Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer who now helps investment firms turn strategy into results. Her career began in sports medicine before she moved into product management and then the executive team.
The question: How do you turn a good strategy into measurable results?
- Brook Redd
Leading Change: How to Deal with Change and Uncertainty Successfully
The question: How do you keep people and organizations moving forward when circumstances change?
Focus: Strategy · Leadership · Sales · Execution · Change Management