BA Conference Europe 2025 was a resounding success, from the welcome by IIBA UK Chapter President Christina Tan to the conference close by Assist's Chris Martin.

Over 550 delegates attended talks by over 100 expert speakers, across six subject tracks. They helped themselves to brilliant badges, temporary tattoos, sweets, and freebies, and took part in quizzes and games at the stalls run by organisations including IIBA UK, YBA, AssistKD and more. 

In her opening keynote ‘Unlocking AI’s potential for Business Analysis,’ AI advocate and motivational speaker Julie Holmes urged BAs to embrace AI whilst recognising its limitations. 

There were cheers in the audience when Mark Cross was announced as the winner of the BA of the Year Award for his work promoting cybersecurity for BAs globally, or his thought leadership and for his support for the neurodiverse community (see Mark’s Winners Interview here).

There was no chance of a post-lunch slump on Day 1 thanks to magician and TV personality Ben Hanlin, who energised the room with his inspiring keynote ‘How to Create Engagement and Connection with Anyone’. 

Delegates attending the (in)famous BA Party at the end of Day 1 (sponsored by YBA, IIBA UK, AssistKD and IRM UK) enjoyed Karaoke and informal networking.

Day 2 started energetically (for some) thanks to the Chatty Snappy Run, organised by Mike Williams. There was a lunchtime session from BCS on the BA Diploma, and an inspiring talk from Ryan Preece, representative of the chosen charity of the conference, The King’s Trust.

Assist's Debra Paul (referred to by an unnamed delegate as ‘The Beyonce of Business Analysis’) got everyone thinking about the customer journey with her keynote ‘Putting the Service into Service Design.’ Mark Cross, fresh from his BAOTY success, was part of a Panel Session ‘Cybersecurity Beyond IT’ also featuring fellow cybersecurity experts Bindu Channaveerappa, Andrea Isoni and Sarah McGuinness.

In his keynote on Day Two, Fabricio Laguna had everyone throwing ping pong balls at each other, enjoyed far too much by a roomful of BAs who became kids again, just for five minutes.

Delegates attending Day Three of the conference had a choice of in-depth full day and part day workshops on a wide choice of topics including: backlogs, coaching mastery, infographics, and visualisation tools, BPMN for businesses process, and effective negotiation.

Thanks to IRM UK for organising another BA Conference Europe to remember. The many smiles and positive comments from delegates throughout the three days said it all.