Shaping Adelaide's Next Decade: Why Strategic Thinking Matters Now
What could Adelaide become by 2036, and what decisions need to be made now to shape that future?
The next decade is unlikely to resemble the last. Artificial intelligence, geopolitical realignment, workforce transformation, the energy transition, and shifting global markets are already changing the environment in which Adelaide businesses operate.
For leaders, the implications extend well beyond individual sectors. They touch investment, capability, innovation and Adelaide's capacity to compete in an increasingly complex global economy.
The challenge is not simply to respond to change as it occurs. It is to look further ahead, test the assumptions underpinning today’s decisions and consider how different possibilities could shape the choices facing organisations — and the city as a whole.
This is the premise of AEDA Leaders Forum 2026: Shaping Adelaide’s next decade, taking place on Thursday 12 November at Adelaide Festival Centre.
A shared view of what comes next
Adelaide's future will not be shaped by any one organisation or sector. The decisions made across business, government, industry, and education will collectively influence the city's capacity to attract investment, develop capability, support growth, and remain competitive.
The Forum will bring leaders together to actively examine the forces reshaping Adelaide, explore different possible futures and consider their implications for the decisions being made today.
Rather than attempting to predict a single outcome, the Forum will use strategic foresight to help participants understand what is changing, challenge established assumptions and consider how Adelaide can be well better prepared for what comes next.
Bringing new perspectives together
Keynote: Dexter Docherty
Facilitator: Professor Ariella Helfgott
The Forum's keynote speaker, Dexter Docherty, is a foresight expert specialising in geosecurity, geofinance and technology futures. His work has included scenario processes with senior government officials from around the world and he was the lead author of the OECD's Strategic Foresight Toolkit for Resilient Public Policy. Dexter also co-authored and designed OECD foresight work exploring AI, gold and global markets, geoengineering and the futures of multilateralism.
Professor Ariella Helfgott, Director, SA Futures Agency | Professor of Foresight, Adelaide University will facilitate the Forum. With more than two decades of experience, Ariella has worked with governments, boards and global organisations to navigate uncertainty, make strategic decisions and explore alternative futures.
Their combined international and local perspectives will help frame a participatory discussion that moves beyond forecasting to consider what different futures could mean for Adelaide – and what leaders can do now in response.
A conversation with implications beyond the day
Strategic foresight does not seek to provide a definitive answer to what Adelaide will look like in 2036. Its value lies in creating a more rigorous basis for decision-making: understanding what is changing, testing assumptions, and considering the implications of different possibilities.
For leaders, that means stepping beyond the immediate pressures of the business and looking at the bigger picture alongside people who are shaping Adelaide from different perspectives. The conversation may challenge assumptions about where growth will come from, what capabilities will matter, where investment should be directed, and how the city can remain competitive as the global environment changes.
AEDA Leaders Forum 2026 is an opportunity to contribute to that shared outlook and consider what Adelaide needs to become over the next decade, and what it will take to get there.