2026 Annual Conference Executive Summit

Doug Barton
Director, UWEBC
Doug Barton, who leads one of the nation’s foremost university–industry partnerships, engaging more than 80 companies, opens the Summit and frames the afternoon ahead. Doors open at 12:30 for arrival and networking.

Mike Bechtel
Former Chief Futurist, Deloitte Consulting LLP; Professor, University of Notre Dame; SXSW Featured Speaker

Breadth Is the New Depth: Why the Future Favors Learn-It-Alls Over Know-It-Alls
For generations, the surest career advice was to know more than the next person. Then AI stopped automating tasks and started automating expertise — outperforming specialists at analysis we long assumed was safely human. Mike Bechtel, a fixture on the SXSW stage, opens the Summit with the question that follows: if machines hold the deep knowledge, what’s left for us? His answer, drawn from his featured SXSW talk: the advantage has shifted from know-it-alls to learn-it-alls — from what your people know to how quickly they can learn, connect, and apply across domains.

Tracing patterns from a career spent studying what’s new and next, Bechtel makes the case that breadth is the new depth: GPS was born when astrophysicists compared notes with radio engineers, and tomorrow’s breakthroughs will come from the same engineered collisions between fields. He’ll challenge executives to raise their organizations above AI’s rising water line — cultivating curiosity as a discipline, rewarding range alongside expertise, and using AI to clear routine work so people can do the connecting only humans do. It’s the ideal opening for an afternoon about learning your way forward.

Dr. Tony McDonald
Associate Professor, UW–Madison; Director, Human Factors and Machine Learning Lab; the HEART Initiative

Workshop — Human Readiness for AI: A Playbook for Sustainable Adoption
We measure the technology-readiness of our systems with rigor — but how ready are your people for the systems? Dr. Tony McDonald works at the intersection of human factors and machine learning, and he arrives from the HEART Initiative (Human-systems Engineering for Adaptive, Real-World, & Translational Applications) — the cross-college UW–Madison collaborative whose tagline says it plainly: engineering systems for people. Fresh from HEART’s industry roadshow across Wisconsin, McDonald brings executives a practical playbook for assessing whether an organization — and its people — are ready for AI and automation.

This is a working session, not a speech. McDonald will put the human-readiness playbook in your hands and run an interactive tabletop exercise: you’ll work a real technology-adoption scenario, assess it for human readiness, and surface the risks that technology-readiness reviews miss. You’ll leave with a systematic way to evaluate whether your next AI or automation investment is ready for your people — and your people for it — grounded in research that spans healthcare, transportation safety, and the factory floor.

Jody McDonough & Sara Gilbertson Ley
VP of IT & Chief Information Officer; Lead, Elevate Program — Sub‑Zero Group, Inc.

Elevate: Human-Centered Enablement at Sub-Zero Group
Big ideas about learning, AI, and human-ready systems only matter if they work on the ground — and few Wisconsin companies bring them to ground like Sub-Zero Group. Jody McDonough, 2024 Wisconsin CIO ORBIE Award winner, and Sara Gilbertson Ley, who leads the company’s Elevate program, take executives inside how the Madison-based maker of Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances is pursuing digital transformation the way it builds its products: around people.

Elevate is Sub-Zero’s program of human-centered enablement — equipping people across the organization to adopt new capabilities, work differently, and drive toward organizational goals rather than treating transformation as a technology rollout. McDonough and Gilbertson Ley will share what’s worked, what hasn’t, and what other leaders can borrow — a fitting close to an afternoon about learning our way forward, told by a company doing exactly that.

Monday, October 5, 2026 | 5:30–7:30 PM | Monona Terrace, Madison, WI

The conversation continues at sunset

Summit attendees are welcome at the UWEBC Executive Reception — an invitation-only evening bringing together senior leaders, conference speakers, Advisory Board members, and UW–Madison leadership in the Monona Terrace’s Community Terrace space, with hors d’oeuvres, refreshments, and panoramic views of Lake Monona and downtown Madison.

Expect meaningful networking, executive-level insight, and an early look at the themes of Tuesday’s keynotes — the ideal way to set the tone for the conference ahead.

Shaping an AI-Driven Future: A Conversation with UW–Madison Deans

UW–Madison leaders helping shape the university’s future in AI will come together for a timely, cross-campus conversation exploring what’s ahead for research, teaching, innovation, and industry engagement in the age of AI.

Moderated by Adrienne Hartman, chair of the UWEBC Advisory Board and Executive Vice President, Marketing, J.J. Keller & Associates, Inc., alongside award-winning journalist and longtime Wisconsin broadcaster John Stofflet, the conversation will bring perspectives from across UW–Madison to the questions that matter to UWEBC members and Wisconsin business leaders.

Expect an engaging, close-to-home discussion — followed by the chance to continue the conversation with fellow members and university leaders over hors d’oeuvres and a Lake Monona sunset.