- Global Event: Web Summit 2026 takes place November 9–12 in Lisbon, Portugal.
- Featured Speaker: Stavros Gadinis, George R. Johnson Professor of Law at UC Berkeley School of Law.
- First Panel: November 10 at 2:25 PM on the Future of Work Summit Stage, focusing on corporate liability for autonomous AI systems.
- Second Panel: November 11 at 2:20 PM on the Policy Summit Stage, covering emerging systemic risks in non-bank financial intermediation.
- Context: The appearances align with the international rollout of his book, Corporate Ordering: How Corporations Navigate Social Conflict, published by Cambridge University Press.
UC Berkeley School of Law professor Stavros Gadinis will speak on two panels at Web Summit 2026, scheduled for November 9–12 in Lisbon, Portugal. The discussions will center on corporate liability for autonomous artificial intelligence systems and emerging risks within non-bank financial intermediation, bringing the academic’s research on corporate governance and financial regulation to an international stage.
Gadinis, who holds the George R. Johnson Professorship of Law and serves as Academic Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Law and Business, will join experts across the legal, economic, and corporate sectors to examine how organizations must build oversight and accountability frameworks to navigate unregulated technological and market risks.
The panels follow the release of his book, Corporate Ordering: How Corporations Navigate Social Conflict, published by Cambridge University Press. The work examines how corporations establish internal rules to address emerging challenges—such as AI deployment, gig-economy safety, and climate risk—while lawmakers and regulatory authorities are still debating policy solutions.
Internal Corporate Rulemaking and Governance
In Corporate Ordering, Gadinis explores how internal board decisions ripple out to affect workers, consumers, and communities. The study demonstrates that corporations frequently must set operational standards and compliance procedures long before governments establish binding regulatory frameworks.
According to the book’s thesis, these private ordering decisions create tangible real-world impacts and frequently serve as benchmarks for eventual public legislation.
Relying on empirical interviews and Delaware corporate law analysis, the book evaluates case studies involving ride-hailing platforms, climate governance, and enterprise AI deployment. The research tracks how corporate governance systems translate broad social friction into actionable internal policies.
Gadinis notes that enterprise leadership cannot afford to wait for legislative consensus before deploying AI or mitigating operational risk. However, he emphasizes that acting ahead of regulation carries substantial fiduciary responsibility.
“Companies cannot wait for lawmakers to resolve every question before deciding how to deploy AI or respond to an emerging risk,” Gadinis noted. He stresses that corporate boards must understand how decisions are reached, which stakeholder concerns were weighed, and whether internal safeguards prove effective in practice.
The researcher links this operational reality to the need for strict corporate accountability regarding the governance architectures companies adopt.
Panel Focuses on Liability for Autonomous AI
Gadinis’s first Web Summit session will take place on Tuesday, November 10, at 2:25 PM on the Future of Work Summit Stage. Titled “Who takes the fall for autonomous AI?”, the panel addresses corporate legal exposure when autonomous AI systems make high-stakes decisions.
The professor will share the stage with Maike Kauffmann, Co-Director of the non-profit organization Purpose, and Sam Kidd, CEO of legal tech firm LawVu.
The panel will evaluate which responsibilities remain anchored to corporate boards when management delegates decision-making authority to autonomous algorithms. Agenda topics include human-in-the-loop oversight, contractual liability safeguards, and the internal compliance systems required to manage AI risks.
The discussion connects directly to the research in Gadinis’s book on how private enterprises institute internal controls to navigate tech applications lacking definitive regulatory precedent.
Non-Bank Financial Regulation in the Spotlight
On Wednesday, November 11, at 2:20 PM, Gadinis will take the Policy Summit Stage for a session titled “Governing the shadows: Emerging risks in non-bank finance.”
He will co-panel with Daniela Gabor, Professor of Economics at SOAS University of London, in a conversation moderated by Anita Hawser, Europe Editor at The Banker.
The panel will evaluate oversight challenges and systemic vulnerabilities associated with credit intermediation occurring outside the traditional commercial banking system. The discussion builds upon Gadinis’s broader body of academic work analyzing international financial regulation and administrative law.
Book Tour and International Speaking Engagements
Beyond Web Summit 2026, the international launch of Corporate Ordering: How Corporations Navigate Social Conflict includes academic presentations at Duke, Columbia, and Harvard Law Schools, as well as executive forums in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Gadinis frequently comments on corporate governance and litigation trends for major business outlets including CNBC, Bloomberg, and Forbes. In September 2026, he authored an opinion piece for Fortune advocating for stronger corporate governance frameworks to ensure AI safety.
Corporate Ordering is available through Cambridge University Press and major book retailers, with additional research details published at corporate-ordering.com.
Through his two panels at Web Summit 2026, Gadinis brings academic rigor to critical debates surrounding corporate AI liability and shadow banking oversight, reflecting his core research focus: how private institutions govern social and technological conflict in the absence of formal state regulation.
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