KEYNOTE & GENERAL SESSION SPEAKERS
Tuesday, October 6, 2026
Opening Keynote: Leading Relationships
Speaker: Steve McClatchy
If you are in business today you are in the business of relationships. The skills of communicating effectively, working with diverse multi-generational teams, setting expectations, giving and receiving feedback, gaining commitment, resolving conflict, and getting others to follow through can be the most important skills you will ever develop as an emerging leader. In this presentation you will learn the keys to success in each of these areas and how to build relationships strong enough to handle the pressures and tensions inherent in building a fast paced, high-performance team. This presentation is guaranteed to change the way you work, interact, communicate, solve problems, and accomplish work through others.
About Steve: Steve McClatchy is a keynote speaker and author of the award-winning New York Times Bestseller Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress & Lead by Example. Decide has enjoyed global success and has been translated into 11 languages including Chinese, Russian, Japanese, and Spanish. In every speech Steve weaves insight, interaction, and actionable content with humor, inspiration, and motivation. For over 20 years Steve has worked with the most prominent organizations in the world including Google, Under Armour, Disney, John Deere, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Accenture, HP, Merck, Wells Fargo, Campbell’s Soup, and many teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB. He speaks frequently at Harvard, Wharton, and Chicago Booth. He has appeared on CNBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, WSJ TV, and NBC’s The Today Show and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, WebMD, Oprah Magazine, Entrepreneur, and Investor’s Business Daily. His new book Leading Relationships hit #2 on the USA Today National Bestseller List and is also a Publisher’s Weekly and Associated Press Bestseller! Steve’s passion is for continuous improvement and believes that when we stop growing, learning, gaining experience, and achieving goals, we stop living.
General Session: Understanding Disruption: Leadership in the Age of Generative AI
Speaker: Aaron Proietti
As technological change accelerates and systemic shocks stack faster than institutions can absorb them, the role of the leader is being redefined. In this keynote, Aaron Proietti draws on history, systems thinking, and live demonstrations of generative AI to examine why smarter tools do not automatically make organizations safer or more in control. Participants will leave with a framework for distinguishing gradual systemic shifts from abrupt systemic shocks, a clearer understanding of how brittle complexity forms inside modern organizations, and practical ways to position AI as co-intelligence rather than an answer box. The session invites leaders to move beyond reactive adaptation toward deliberate design in a world where responsibility increases as intelligence scales.
About Aaron: Aaron Proietti is the founder of Today’s Innovator and a former Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Customer Advocate at Transamerica. He works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and systems thinking, helping leaders apply emerging technology to real decisions in complex environments. Aaron blends strategic frameworks with live AI demonstrations, revealing how generative AI can deepen analysis, sharpen synthesis, and expand perspective when human judgment remains central. In addition to keynote talks, he regularly leads executive sessions and focused strategic conversations where teams work through the practical implications of AI in their own contexts.
Wednesday, October 7, 2026
Keynote Session: AI & the Future of Everything
Speaker: Dan Chuparkoff
Adapting to an AI-powered future may be today’s most urgent challenge. But teams are divided. Some are excited about "AI-powered everything" and overlooking the pitfalls. Others are unsure or anxious about the disruption AI could bring—and don’t know where to begin. Dan brings 30 years of experience leading some of the most advanced, future-focused teams in the world—including at Google, McKinsey, and Atlassian. He’s built teams that served billions of users. Long ago, he realized this: The speed at which you grasp and adopt new technology will determine your success. With AI, this is truer than ever.
Today, Dan helps teams to make sense of AI. It’s not just a new search engine or a new chat interface, it’s about to become as integrated into our lives as copy & paste. Dan breaks down what AI is good at, and what it’s not. He’ll show you how it’s evolving, and how to pair its capabilities with the power of human expertise. Audiences walk away with practical strategies to leverage AI and other emerging technologies—unlocking new levels of performance, creativity, and a competitive edge. Dan will show your audience how to harness the power of AI to boldly reimagine the future of fluid power.
About Dan: Dan Chuparkoff is a trailblazer with over 30 years of experience driving innovation at Google, McKinsey, and more. People call him the practical and understandable Technology-speaker. His superpower is making complex things simple and useful. He has captivated audiences everywhere from the Fortune 100 to South-by-Southwest. Dan isn’t just a keynote speaker – he’s a technology executive with three decades of hands-on, technology-transformation experience. He will ignite your imagination and give you the tools you need for success & growth in the AI-FUTURE OF WORK.
Keynote Session: Beyond the Prompt - Practical Ways to use ChatGPT for Sales &
MarketingSpeaker: Jena DunhamThis session focuses on practical ways to use ChatGPT for sales and marketing – everything from how to make messaging convert, how to create a sales strategy that is in coordination with your marketing team, and how to interpret data and budgets and reporting so that you're pulling all the right levers when it comes to optimizing those campaigns. Intentionally ChatGPT focused, this session is approachable even for non-marketers and it's designed so attendees go home with actionable steps they can use right away.
About Jena: Jena is an Atlanta-based B2B marketer who loves diving into brand strategy and fine-tuning agency operations. She currently serves as the Vice President of Marketing & Creative Services for Etherio, an internationally ranked association management and strategic meeting planning company. Her strength is crafting and executing plans that boost brand growth and streamline processes for better efficiency and results. She was an early adopter of AI, and her goal is to leverage human creativity and available technologies to make her clients sound good and look good, with a pinch of healthy ROI. She has sailed around volcanic rocks in the Aegean Sea, played golf at the Old Course in St. Andrews, picnicked with a sunset view over the Grand Canyon, attended a bullfight in Seville, and had a monkey encounter on the Rock of Gibraltar. Professional motto: "All forward motion counts."
Closing Keynote: Navigating into 2027 
Speaker: Connor Lokar
Conor will discuss business cycle conditions and what we can expect for 2027 (and beyond) and if inflation will continue to increase through 2027. Not all markets and businesses are interest-rate sensitive. We will be looking at different relevant markets with an eye toward gauging how much of a headwind rising interest rates will present. Earlier-turning segments of the economy will need to know how soon they will likely experience business cycle degradation and to what extent. The presentation will cover markets specific to the audience along with ITR Economics’ outlook through 2027 for inflation, interest rates, downside risks, upside potential, and ITR Economics’ extended outlook for the 2030s where appropriate.
About Connor: Connor Lokar, senior forecaster at ITR Economics, is known for delivering authoritative, accurate, and engaging economic insights with humor and clarity. Since 2014, he has captivated audiences across North America with keynotes, workshops, and webinars that are both practical and actionable. As a trusted advisor, Connor consults with companies of all sizes to align strategy with custom forecasts, particularly specializing in construction and industrial markets. His expertise has been featured in outlets such as AMT Online, NTD, and The Epoch Times.
