The Future Ready Innovation Tour of Ohio is a five-day, seven-stop tour from Cleveland to Cincinnati designed to share the findings from IRI’s Future R&D Capabilities Study and launch the next phase of the work.
At a time when manufacturers are navigating rapid technological change, workforce shifts and increasing global competition, the ability to build future-ready innovation teams has become a critical business priority. Companies are under pressure to move faster, adopt AI responsibly and translate innovation into measurable impact.
The tour responds to this moment by bringing industry leaders together to identify which capabilities matter most, how they show up in different company contexts and what it will take to develop them at scale.
Through workshops with leading manufacturers, higher education partners and innovation stakeholders, IRI will explore how companies can build the skills, structures and capabilities future R&D leaders will need to compete in an AI-enabled, globally connected and increasingly uncertain world.
Ohio offers a powerful cross-section of the U.S. manufacturing innovation ecosystem, with leading companies, research institutions and regional partners contributing to the future of R&D. By convening voices from industry, higher education and the broader innovation ecosystem, the tour will help translate research into practical action.
Select the event you would like to attend:
Future-Ready R&D Workshop: Building the Capabilities Tomorrow’s Teams Need
Presented by Growth Signals and hosted by Energizer in partnership with IRI
Put future-focused concepts into practice with Growth Signals’ AI-Native Stage-Gate Workshop. For more than forty years, the Stage-Gate process has been the dominant framework for moving new products from idea to launch. It was built for a world in which evidence was scarce, expensive, and time-consuming to gather. Today, AI is fundamentally changing those assumptions. When research, voice-of-customer synthesis, competitive analysis, and financial modeling can be completed in hours at minimal cost, the challenge shifts from generating information to making effective decisions.
While many organizations are simply adding AI tools to existing processes and achieving only incremental improvements, this workshop explores a different path: redesigning innovation processes from the ground up with AI at the center. Drawing on Dr. Robert Cooper’s recent work on Stage-Gate Agentic and lessons from early adopters, participants will learn what an AI-native Stage-Gate process looks like—including compressed stages, AI-prepared deliverables, continuous evidence streams, and human decision-makers focused on strategy and risk. Attendees will leave with practical ideas and first steps for applying these concepts within their own organizations.
- Monday, August 17, 12:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
- Energizer Holdings
- 25225 Detroit Rd, Westlake, OH 44145
- Registration is open to manufacturers only. Registrations are subject to approval pending non-competitor status.
Future R&D Capabilities Study Unveiling: Findings, Discussion and Networking Reception
Presented by EY in partnership with IRI
Be the first to see the results if IRI’s Future R&D Capabilities study! We’ll start with a tour of the EY – Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub. Designed to help organizations navigate disruption and drive growth, EY Nottingham Spirk brings together strategy, innovation, engineering and commercialization under one roof. The hub provides an end-to-end environment for identifying new opportunities, developing solutions and scaling innovation with speed and confidence. Next we’ll take a deep dive into the findings of IRI’s Future R&D Capabilities Study – including the key attributes of a next gen R&D organization, the top capabilities that R&D teams will need to build to be competitive, and thought-provoking scenarios of what future AI-integrated R&D teams will look like. We’re planning for a lively discussion, followed by a networking reception.
- Tuesday, August 18, 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
- EY – Nottingham Spirk Innovation Hub
- 2200 Overlook Rd, Cleveland, OH 44106
Future-Ready R&D Workshop: Building the Capabilities Tomorrow’s Teams Need
Presented by Growth Signals and the University of Cincinnati in partnership with IRI
This three-part session is designed to help you and your team take practical steps toward preparing for the future of R&D.
The journey begins with an in-depth look at Phase One of IRI’s Future R&D Capabilities Study. Explore the defining attributes of next-generation R&D organizations, the critical capabilities teams will need to build to remain competitive, and thought-provoking scenarios that illustrate what AI-integrated R&D organizations may look like in the years ahead.
Next, get an up-close look at the future of research and collaboration during a visit to the University of Cincinnati’s Digital Futures Labs, where cutting-edge technologies and interdisciplinary approaches are shaping the next era of innovation.
Finally, put future-focused concepts into practice with Growth Signals’ AI-Native Stage-Gate Workshop. For more than forty years, the Stage-Gate process has been the dominant framework for moving new products from idea to launch. It was built for a world in which evidence was scarce, expensive, and time-consuming to gather. Today, AI is fundamentally changing those assumptions. When research, voice-of-customer synthesis, competitive analysis, and financial modeling can be completed in hours at minimal cost, the challenge shifts from generating information to making effective decisions.
While many organizations are simply adding AI tools to existing processes and achieving only incremental improvements, this workshop explores a different path: redesigning innovation processes from the ground up with AI at the center. Drawing on Dr. Robert Cooper’s recent work on Stage-Gate Agentic and lessons from early adopters, participants will learn what an AI-native Stage-Gate process looks like—including compressed stages, AI-prepared deliverables, continuous evidence streams, and human decision-makers focused on strategy and risk. Attendees will leave with practical ideas and first steps for applying these concepts within their own organizations.
- Thursday, August 20, 3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
- University of Cincinnati
- Digital Futures Building, 3080 Exploration Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45206
Innovation After Hours
Presented by Narratize in Partnership with IRI
Innovation After Hours is an invitation-only evening for innovation, R&D, product, and technology leaders attending IRI’s Future Ready Workforce Innovation Tour.
This reception invites guests into The Institute for Remembered Futures—an immersive experience built around one central idea: What conversations shaping the future are too important to be forgotten?
Throughout the evening, you’ll connect with fellow innovation leaders through thoughtfully curated conversations while enjoying exceptional food, drinks, and hospitality in a relaxed setting.
Following the event, Narratize will capture the themes and insights from the evening in an Executive Working Draft shared with attendees, creating a lasting record of the ideas that emerged.
Space is limited, and attendance is by invitation.
- Thursday, August 20, 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
- Via Vite, Cincinnati
The tour includes engagement with IRI member companies along with sponsor-supported sessions hosted with EY, the University of Cincinnati and Growth Signals. Together, these organizations will help create the conversations, site visits and workshops needed to move the study from research into practical recommendations.
| Date | Tour Stop | Who can attend? |
| Monday, August 17 | Tour of Energizer R&D Center Future-Ready R&D Workshop: Building the Capabilities Tomorrow’s Teams Need | Invitation only Open to IRI members and guests – Space is limited |
| Tuesday, August 18 | Tour of Lubrizol R&D Center Future R&D Capabilities Unveiling: Findings, Discussion and Networking Reception – Hosted by EY Nottingham Spirk | Invitation only Open to all in the manufacturing innovation ecosystem |
| Wednesday, August 19 | Travel day | |
| Thursday, August 20 | Tour of Michelman R&D Center and IRI Board of Advisors Meeting Future-Ready R&D Workshop: Building the Capabilities Tomorrow’s Teams Need – Hosted by University of Cincinnati and Growth Signals Innovation After Hours – Hosted by Narrratize | IRI Board of Advisors members only Open to all in the manufacturing innovation ecosystem Open to IRI members and guests – Space is limited |
| Friday, August 21 | Tour of Kao R&D Center | Invitation only |
Thank you to our partners:
