Tuesday, November 17, 2026
8:30 AM-9:00 AM
Welcome coffee and registration
9:00 AM-9:05 AM
GCR opening remarks
9:05 AM-9:15 AM
Chairs’ opening remarks
Blair West Matthews
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Jenine Hulsmann
Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
9:15 AM-9:45 AM
Morning fireside chat/keynote address
9:45 AM-10:45 AM
The next wave of antitrust scrutiny: AI partnerships and talent concerns
- How do AI partnerships beyond chatbots, including chips and infrastructure, affect competition?
- Do minority investments and access to key AI inputs raise antitrust concerns?
- Are AI acqui‑hires and talent concentration attracting greater scrutiny?
- What do early global enforcement signals suggest for AI‑related deals?
Juliette Caminade
Principal, Analysis Group
Gabrielle Kohlmeier
Limited Partner, Advisory, How Women Invest
10:45 AM-11:15 AM
Networking break
11:15 AM-12:15 PM
Foreign investment, antitrust & shifting dynamics in major deals
- How does merger control overlap with FDI screening in high‑profile cross‑border deals?
- Trends of national-security-linked deals and areas to watch going forward
- To what extent do “national champions” and industrial‑policy goals shape FDI outcomes?
- Competition, national security and geopolitical factors converging in modern dealmaking
Mary Lehner
Partner, Freshfields
Katrina Rouse
Partner, Axinn
Elyssa Wenzel
Director and Senior Counsel, Antitrust & Competition Law, RTX
Julia Potter
Partner, Blakes
12:15 PM-12:45 PM
Afternoon fireside chat
Juliette Enser
Executive Director for Competition Enforcement and Markets, Competition Market, Competition and Markets Authority
12:45 PM-1:45 PM
Networking lunch
1:45 PM-2:45 PM
Regulation vs litigation: the future of AI enforcement
- The DMA/DMCC’s ex ante approach contrasted with the US’s litigation‑driven model
- Where does regulatory divergence expose emerging gaps in AI governance?
- How do AI agents and agentic behaviours, including self‑preferencing and access to compute or platforms, test existing enforcement tools?
- What do algorithmic pricing cases and rapid adoption of sector‑specific AI signal about future scrutiny and market power?
Jenine Hulsmann
Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Barbara Blank
Director & Associate General Counsel, Competition & Regulatory, Meta
Emma Mittelstaedt
Associate Director for Healthcare, Bureau of Competition, Federal Trade Commission
Alyse Stach
Partner, BakerHostetler
2:45 PM-3:30 PM
Roundtable discussions
Participants will exchange ideas, best practices and experiences through informal, interactive small‑group discussions on topics set by the facilitators. The roundtables and key takeaways will be Chatham House.
3:30 PM-3:45 PM
Key takeaways from roundtable discussions
Each facilitator will share one key takeaway from their roundtable with the audience.
3:45 PM-4:15 PM
Networking break
4:15 PM-5:15 PM
Mergers under pressure: scrutiny, settlements & shifting efficiencies
- Are industries with major announced deals, like the media sector, prompting agencies to revisit established theories of harm?
- Healthcare mergers facing intensified scrutiny
- The impact of a resurgence of US consent decrees and settlements, including new attention to the Tunney Act
- Shifting expectations around merger efficiencies and deal rationales
Blair West Matthews
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Lona Fowdur
Founding Partner, Econic Partners
Karen Hunt
Deputy Assistant Director, Mergers IV Division, Federal Trade Commission
5:15 PM-5:25 PM
Chairs' closing remarks
Blair West Matthews
Partner, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
Jenine Hulsmann
Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
5:25 PM-5:30 PM
GCR closing remarks
5:30 PM-7:30 PM
Closing Soiree
