Innovating The Future 2026

Future-Ready Innovation and Beyond

From December 2–3 in Orlando, FL, IRI’s Innovating the Future event will look beyond the traditional boundaries of innovation and into a world of AI-augmented R&D and interconnected innovation networks where linear, siloed models are giving way to adaptive systems that leverage breakthrough technologies to translate discovery and development into scalable business value faster and more effectively.

We will focus on what these shifts mean for you and how to position your processes, strategies, and teams to capitalize on the edge of what’s beyond. The event will offer you opportunities to explore best practices, discuss key takeaways, pressure-test ideas, and reflect on what you can do in your own context. You’ll leave with fresh perspectives, stronger peer insights, and practical steps to help move your innovation strategy forward.

What to Expect at Innovating the Future:

• Explore how to build, staff, and upskill teams for an AI-enabled future where human judgment, creativity, and leadership remain essential.
• Identify new value chain opportunities by exploring partnerships, capabilities, and collaborations beyond traditional industry boundaries.
• Build resilient innovation strategies that can adapt to geopolitical uncertainty, policy changes, and shifting market conditions.
• Refine your sustainability strategy by connecting innovation priorities with evolving expectations and measurable business value.
• Collaborate with peers to assess future disruptions and develop practical response plans with greater speed and confidence.

Innovation leaders are facing constant change, from global uncertainty and regulatory pressure to AI-driven transformation and evolving value chains. Innovating the Future gives you the space to learn from leaders who are already adapting, testing new approaches, and shaping what comes next. This action-oriented event combines expert perspectives with facilitated peer discussion to help you respond to disruption, prepare your workforce for an AI-enabled future, connect sustainability to innovation strategy, and uncover new opportunities across the value chain. You’ll leave with sharper insights, practical takeaways, and a clearer path for moving ideas into action.

What You Will Gain

Build Relationships: Connect with subject matter experts, industry leaders, and fellow innovators during formal and informal networking time.

Get Cutting-Edge Insights: Straight from the experts, get a combination of high-level perspective and practical action items you can apply to your organization.

Get Practical with AI: Start preparing now for the changes that AI will bring to the way we work.

Get Prepared: Develop practical steps to prepare for the future and gain confidence in your ability to prepare for the unexpected.

Collaborate: Find your next partner, big idea, or solution to a challenge during collaborative sessions.

Meet the Experts: Rub elbows with keynotes and other top innovators during facilitated sessions.

Gain Action Steps for Sustainability: Hear how leading organizations are preparing for the next level of sustainability needs.

Future Workforce: Determine the structures that you need now to develop the workforce that you will need in the future.

Wednesday, December 2

2:30 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Pre-Conference Workshop

Put future-focused concepts into practice with this highly interactive 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.

Stage-Gate® is a registered trademark of Stage-Gate Inc. (www.stage-gate.com)

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Explain why the economics that justified long, multi-stage NPD processes are eroding as AI agents collapse the time and cost of generating decision-grade evidence.
• Distinguish “bolt-on” AI tool adoption from an AI-native process redesign, and locate their organization on that maturity curve.
• Describe the core elements of an AI-native stage gate: compressed and merged stages, agent-built business cases, dynamic (continuous) gating, and evidence-scored gate decisions.
• Define how human roles change — project teams as orchestrators of AI agents, and gatekeepers focused on strategic fit, risk appetite, and portfolio balance rather than auditing homework.
• Map their own stage-gate process — stages, gates, cycle times, and evidence bottlenecks — and identify which stage or gate is the best candidate for an AI-native pilot, with the front end of innovation as the highest-leverage starting point.
• Evaluate what agent-built, gate-ready evidence looks like in practice, having directed a live Growth Signals build during the session.
• Leave with a drafted 90-day pilot plan — chosen gate, baseline metrics, and first steps — ready to socialize inside their organization without disrupting projects already in flight.

Audience

This workshop is designed for R&D and innovation leaders in organizations that run a stage-gate or phase-gate new product development process — across manufacturing, CPG, chemicals, food and beverage, industrials, life sciences, and similar sectors. Ideal attendees include CTOs and VPs of R&D or Innovation, gatekeepers and portfolio managers, NPD process owners, and product, marketing, and technical leaders involved in project and portfolio decisions. Because the session is built around applying the material to your own process, attendees get the most value when they arrive familiar with their organization’s current stage-gate structure; teams attending together can work the exercises on a shared process.

Facilitator: Sean Ammirati, CEO & Co-Founder, Growth Signals

6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. Welcome Reception

Thursday, December 3

7:30 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. Breakfast

8:15 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. Welcome and Opening Remarks

8:30 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. Rewiring Innovation: Where AI, Science, and Business Growth Converge

Opening Keynote: David S. Bem, Ph.D., Senior VP, Science and Technology and CTO, PPG

When AI becomes an integral part of the R&D workflow, from hypothesis generation and experiment design to decision-making and scale-up, organizations can accelerate innovation cycles, reduce time-to-market, and make more informed, data-driven investments that directly translate to competitive advantage and measurable business outcomes.

9:15 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. Beyond Discovery and Development: Converting Science into Market-Shaping Advantage

In this facilitated session, think through the process of turning each R&D portfolio into a clear advantage thesis and identifying the “translation mechanisms” that make it real.

10:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Networking Break

10:30 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Mission Driven Innovation, Going Beyond Agile, Getting People out of Fear Mode

Speaker: Dr. Anita Friis Sommer, COO, Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center

To move R&D teams from risk-avoidance to responsible speed, leaders must set clear direction, remove friction, and foster an environment where teams can drive innovation forward with confidence.

11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Beyond Linear Pipelines: Building Intelligent, Dynamic Systems that Learn and Adapt in Real Time

Facilitator: Dr. Anita Friis Sommer, COO, Novo Nordisk Foundation CO2 Research Center

In this facilitated session, using a systems lens, consider how you can center your innovation workflow around feedback loops, so the system improves with every cycle.

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Networking Lunch

1:15 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. Future-Proofing Innovation Talent: Preparing the Workforce for What’s Next

Examine how AI and human-machine collaboration are changing the skills required for innovation success and what leaders must do today to build a future-ready workforce.

2:00 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Beyond Roles: The R&D Organization of the Future

Explore the critical skillsets that innovators need for success in an era of AI, geopolitical uncertainty, and accelerating disruption. In this facilitated session, discuss how you can activate the globally distributed, tech-enabled R&D function of the future, focusing on how to nurture a collaborate culture and cross-functional integration that favors agility, speed, and adaptability.

2:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. Networking Break

3:15 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. From Collaboration to Co-Intelligence: Building Smarter Partnerships with AI-Driven Insights and Connectivity

Panel Discussion: Adam Klich, Director, Federal Innovation Programs, RTI International, and Aaron P. Stebner, Ph.D., Chair in Manufacturing, Georgia Institute of Technology

Learn how organizations are operationalizing partner strategy using data and AI to create powerful new synergies and drive significant mutual gains.

4:00 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Beyond Partnerships: Orchestrating Internal Alignment and Ecosystem-Driven Innovation

Facilitator: Katie Trauth Taylor, CEO and Founder, Narratize

In this facilitated session, reflect on the ways these transformative developments in R&D influence how your teams work together and engage with external partners, and what they mean for productivity, knowledge sharing, and collaborative performance.

4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. Recap and Closing Remarks

5:15 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. Closing Reception

Friday, December 4

CTO (or equivalent) Forum 2026: See CTO Forum tab above for details.

Group Rate Information

Conrad Orlando

Book before Monday, November 9, 2026

Innovating the Future

$399.00/night

To make your reservations online, please click below and continue to book your room or call (407) 387 – 2000 and reference the 2026 NAM/IRI room block.

To make the most of your experience, take advantage of our exclusive group rate at the Conrad Orlando, where a block of rooms has been reserved for $399.00 per night. To make reservations online, please click on the reservation link above, and the group rate will automatically be applied or call the hotel directly.

The group rate reservation cut-off date is November 9, 2026. However, availability is not guaranteed once the room block is filled, which may occur before this date.

Partnership Opportunities with the IRI Innovating the Future

If you are interested in partnering with us, please fill out the form below or email Anna Chongpinitchai at AChongpinitchai@iriweb.org.

Friday, December 4, 8:00 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Designed exclusively for senior technology leaders, the CTO Forum offers a candid, collaborative space to tackle the toughest challenges of leading innovation in uncertain times. Join fellow CTOs to exchange strategies, test ideas, and explore bold solutions that shape the future of your organization.

IRI members can use the complimentary registrations included with their annual membership benefits for eligible events. View the Company Comp Code list to find your organization’s registration code and redeem your membership benefit.

When registering, be sure to use your company email address and enter the listed code to apply your membership benefit.