"The whole world admires you, we need you much more than ever before. Thanks to a sense of political and social solidarity, Polish GDP has tripled since liberation from the Soviet Union's influence. The Polish economy ranks sixth in the EU. Many countries would like to follow the same route and be like Poland. You can be the leader of Europe and take it to a completely different place”
Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States
Almost 1500 unique guests representing global business, national and local authorities, sector stakeholders and partners were present at this year’s edition of ABSL Summit. Media gathered in Warsaw to be part of the 10th edition of ABSL Summit “The New Next” included representatives from leading newspapers and magazines such as Forbes, Business Insider, Puls Biznesu, Rzeczpospolita, TVP, TVN, TOK FM.
This year’s agenda featured plenary sessions, break out streams, insightful presentations and case studies, Oxford style debate. Speakers and panelists were discussing global trends and pointed out to the most important challenges for business in a fast-changing world.
Through workshop sessions with local and global leaders, presentations, insightful reports and expert analyzes, panelists defined future growth opportunities and challenges associated with building a competitive economy and an attractive business environment for new investments in Central Europe and in Poland. Lots of discussions and inspirations included agile talents, technology influencing sector in a positive way and development of the cities’ competitiveness.
And last but not least – keynote speaker – incredible speech and interview with Bill Clinton, 42nd President of the United States, with his more than inspiring thoughts on Polish economic development and future growth.
Summit Facts

2 days
of knowledge sharing and networking

1460
business leaders, experts and representatives of central and local government

50
panel discussions, inspiring case studies and insightful presentations

Top media
outlets including TOK FM, Rzeczpospolita, Puls Biznesu, Forbes, Business Insider

Global trends
new ideas, game changing technologies and the future of business

118 speakers
44% of all speakers were woman
ABSL Start-Up Challenge
- Final of the fourth edition of ABSL Start‑Up Challenge
- 101 start-ups applications
- 18 ABSL Start-Up Challenge finalists
The fourth edition of the ABSL Start-Up Challenge was held this year. It was unique in terms of the number of participating start-ups - there were 18 of entries from abroad among all 101 participants. This year's edition attracted young talents from Finland and the USA.
Young entrepreneurs presented their solutions in selected categories, such as FINTECH, HR TECH, ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION, and SALES & MARKETING TECH.
Each vertical picked out its winner, who then got the opportunity to present themselves at the ASBL Summit, with the special guest and main speaker, the 42nd President of the United States Bill Clinton.
The winner of the ABSL Start-Up Challenge 2019 was Symmetrical.ai. Polish-British fintech, finalist of the HR Tech vertical. Their project is based on providing financial benefits for employees.
The main prize for Symmetrical.ai is an invitation to participate in the Polish Tech Day event taking place in London. In addition, the start-up receives six months of support from ABSL and from Rebels Valley in establishing business relationships with ABSL members.
New ABSL report is now live!
The tenth edition of the most prestigious ABSL publication, which comprehensively describes the business services sector in Poland.
Summary
More Summit Videos

Rowena Everson
CEO Standard Chartered Global Business Services Poland
Cyrus Akrami
Head of EMEA Marketing Workplace by Facebook
Rebecca Henderson
CEO of Randstad Sourceright Executive Board Member of Randstad
Melissa Hathaway
Leading expert in cyberspace policy and cybersecurity
Tony Saldanha
President Transformant
Guzmán de Yarza Blache
EMEA Head of Workplace Strategy JLL
Karolina Adamczyk
Senior Finance Manager, Intelligent Automation Delivery HP
Meredith Trąbińska
Senior Finance Manager, Intelligent Automation Risk & Compliance HP
Justyna Piwowarczyk
Global Business Service Director Smith & Nephew