South American Business Forum SABF 2026

What is our conference about?

Each year, SABF delves into new topics that not only enrich the experience of our participants but also foster passionate debates and deep learning about issues of international relevance. This year, we will explore the theme 'Between Life and Oblivion', an approach that challenges our perspectives and opens the door to new ideas. Through three subtopics, we invite you to discover and delve into these ideas that could change the course of the future.

Are you ready to experience SABF?

This event goes beyond being just a conference; it’s a unique experience that invites you to actively engage in a vibrant dialogue. SABF provides a dynamic space where every student can participate, share, and connect. Here, your voice matters, and the opportunities to interact with internationally renowned speakers are invaluable. Moreover, you’ll forge friendships that will last a lifetime. Join us and discover how your ideas can make a difference in an environment where learning happens in every conversation!

Conference Structure

July 31st

The first day may be the most traditional day of the conference, highlighted by the presentation of the speakers. We begin with an introduction to the topics, followed by interventions from the specialists selected for the event. Each one of them brings a new perspective on the conference themes, as well as a repertoire of knowledge and personal teachings. Between the various presentations, there will be breaks where you will have the opportunity to converse and exchange ideas, both with the speakers and with other participants. It is an extensive day that truly sets the atmosphere for the whole event, laying the foundations for dialogue and reflection.

August 1st

On the second day, participants take center stage through a series of activities that build on the annual topics. They will rotate through different dynamics throughout the day, from working in small groups to expressing their views in a collective debate. These sessions foster mutual understanding, allowing them giving them the opportunity to exchange ideas, reflections from the previous day, and life experiences. Each interaction opens the door to new connections and perspectives.

August 2nd 

The third and final day is designed to strengthen bonds and create memories that will last a lifetime. You’ll have the opportunity to connect more deeply with the other participants and the organizing team, taking part in engaging activities that encourage personal and cultural exchange. Final speeches and presentations will allow yougive you the opportunity to reflect on the knowledge gained as well as unleash shared sentiments of the conference. This closing day is a tribute to everything we've learned and a celebration of cultural diversity that cultivates our bonds.

2026 EDITION: Designed to Desire

What are the topics of the conference?

"Designed to Desire"

We live in a world where what we desire is increasingly calculated. Algorithms, data, and studies of our behavior shape what we see, what we want, and how we consume, often appealing to emotion more than reason. In an environment saturated with stimuli and recommendations, desire doesn’t appear only as a personal impulse: it can also be pushed, accelerated, or steered by systems designed to capture attention and turn it into action.

This theme invites us to examine that mechanism from the inside: as people who consume, but also as people who can understand how these experiences are built and what effects they have on our decisions. Understanding this system can give us back a margin of agency and responsibility, not only to choose more thoughtfully, but also to ask ourselves how we want to influence others when we’re the ones designing products, messages, or experiences. What changes when we stop seeing ourselves only as consumers and start seeing ourselves as interpreters, and even designers, of the forces that shape our choices?

Subtopics

The following texts delve into the main ideas of each of the subtopics of this edition.

Forging the Key

How do we create? Creating doesn’t mean starting from scratch, but rather looking closely at what surrounds us and daring to reinterpret it. It isn’t magic, nor a talent reserved for a select few: it’s a way of connecting with the world. Creation is fueled by what we consume, but not just in any way. Passive consumption turns us into spectators who accept without questioning; instead, active consumption turns us into architects: we interpret, take apart, and rebuild what we see until it carries a meaning of our own.

However, this process isn’t just external; creating is also an intimate act. In an environment that pushes us to desire the same things as everyone else, creation can become a tool for building identity. Facing a blank page, the uncomfortable question arises: What do I have to offer? And if I fail? But if creating is, at its core, a matter of trial and error, why do we feel that failure disqualifies us? What would success look like if we viewed it with perspective? And what if the key wasn’t fitting in, but daring us to forge our own path?

Redefining Consumption

Overconsumption is defined as the excessive use of resources, goods and services, therefore leading to environmental, social and psychological effects. According to global trends, it´s at the highest it's ever been, however the global standard of living is on the rise. This poses the question: Should we change? If the answer is yes, then: What must we change?  

During the past decades multiple initiatives for change have been at work, in an attempt to decrease overconsumption's negative sideffects. Some of these initiatives may be governmental policies, a mindset shift towards consumption, in the form of technological innovation or even a change in business practices. Seeing as these initiatives could have such a meaningful impact on people's lives, it seems imperative to critically assess them. How efficient is an initiative in achieving its objective? What is the ethics behind an initiative? What will be the repercussions, positive and negative, of implementing an initiative? Is it feasible to integrate an  initiative into a business or community?

Going back to the beginning: Should we change? If so, then what must change? The answer to this question isn´t simple, but analyzing past and current initiatives, understanding our past successes and failures,  may be the right place to start looking into the future.

The Gilded Cage

Digital consumption today feels comfortable, shiny, and full of promises: everything is within reach, everything is immediate, everything seems designed to soothe us. But that’s why it’s worth asking what kind of relationship we’re building with a world that doesn’t just offer options, but also learns about us in order to keep us inside. When is that comfort a real resource, and when does it become an automatic reflex that helps us avoid boredom, discomfort, or emptiness?

“The Gilded Cage” doesn’t set out to condemn technology or consumption, but to look more closely at what they do to us. If rewards are constant and novelty feels endless, how are our expectations of connection and well-being being reshaped? And when what we see is personalized until it becomes a mirror, what shifts in the way we think, relate, and compare ourselves?

If this shine is also a cage, what personal, social, and design methods do we need so that what’s appealing doesn’t end up deciding for us?