8:00 AM – 9:00 AM

Registration, breakfast, sponsor exhibits, networking

9:00 AM – 9:50 AM

Demo Pit Pitches

The Phorum “Top Pitch Demo Pit” features the region’s foremost emerging companies providing cutting-edge innovation. The Top Pitch Demo Pit was created to allow new and developing enterprises to connect with C-level executives and decision-makers attending the Phorum Technology Conference. Each participant will have 4 minutes to present their company to a panel of judges and the Phorum audience. They will also have space on the conference floor to showcase their technology throughout the day.

At the end of the conference, one presenting company will be named “Best in Show” and receive automatic entry to pitch at the PACT Mid-Atlantic Capital Conference. Since our inaugural event, past participants have raised more than $350M in capital, with three completing exits to strategic acquirers.

• Judges
  • Bharat Santhanam, Growth Equity Investor, New Spring Capital
  • Nicole Ilicic, Investor, Mission OG
  • Frank Shultz, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, United Effects Ventures
  • Shawn Hoyer, Managing Director, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
  • Laura Plunkett, Vice President – Startup Engagement, Comcast LIFT Labs
    
• Top Pitch Demo Pit Presenting Companies:
• • AIX Global Innovations
  • BleedIO
  • Dunya Analytics
  • myNextory
  • Ready Recruit
  • Truthifi

Powered by: TiE
Sponsored by: Osage Venture Partners, Bank of America, Fairmont Partners, Myers Holum, United Effects Ventures

9:55 AM – 10:30 AM

The paradox of AI Governance vs Capability Development: As AI adoption accelerates, enterprises face a growing paradox: how to move quickly in building AI capabilities while establishing governance frameworks that are responsible, adaptable, and future-proof. This session brings together leaders working at the intersection of AI governance, policy, and applied enterprise technology to explore how these tensions are likely to play out over the next several years. Panelists will offer forward-looking perspectives on regulation, risk, organizational readiness, and the evolving role of governance in enabling innovation.

• Moderated by: Tempest Carter, Director of Strategic Technology Initiatives, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department
• Panelist: Mariia Sidulova, Senior GenAI Data Scientist, Medtronic
• Panelist: Tim Dodd, Chairperson, AI Innovation Network Philadelphia
• Panelist: Melissa A. Scott, Chief Information Officer, Office of Innovation & Technology City of Philadelphia

10:45 AM – 11:25 AM

Behavioral, Cultural Aspects, The Future of the Workforce AI Adoption: While AI promises efficiency and productivity gains, leaders must also address workforce concerns about job security, trust, and long-term growth opportunities. This session will explore the behavioral and cultural dimensions of bringing AI into organizations, highlighting strategies for building confidence, driving adoption, and balancing efficiency with innovation. Speakers may include behavioral scientists, psychologists, and enterprise leaders who understand the human dynamics of technological change. We’ll also examine how different classes of organizations like tech companies, hyperscalers, enterprise enablers (like Boomi, SAP, Salesforce), and digital natives reinventing themselves, are approaching adoption and cultural transformation. 

• Moderated by: Scott Synder, Senior Fellow of The Wharton School and Author of Your AI Life
• Panelist: Daniel Rock, Assistant Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions, The Wharton School
• Panelist: Francesca Molinari, Chief People Officer, Boomi
• Panelist: Tim White, Chief Digital & Technology Officer, GSK

11:25 AM – 12:00 PM

AI, Data Centers, Chips & The Grid: The rapid growth of AI is raising big questions about energy demand, sustainability, and grid stability. From data centers to everyday enterprise use, how are AI systems impacting our environment and energy infrastructure? This session will explore the challenges of balancing innovation with responsibility, from potential brownouts to large-scale acquisitions such as Microsoft’s purchase of Three Mile Island (TMI). Industry and policy leaders will discuss what this means for Pennsylvania’s energy landscape, the role of renewable and nuclear power, and how enterprises can prepare for an AI-driven future that is both powerful and sustainable.

• Moderated by: Adam Walters, Senior Energy Advisor, PA Deptartment of Community & Economic Development
• Panelist: Benjamin Kirshner, Chief Transformation Officer, PA Office of Transformation and Opportunity
• Panelist: Tim Horger, Sr. Director of Forward Market Operations, PJM

12:00 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunch Service

12:15 PM – 1:00 PM

Lunch Breakout Workshops: 

Accelerating Enterprise Innovation Through a More Connected Tech Ecosystem:
Room 18D

(Limited Seating: First Come, First Serve) 

Business leaders attending Phorum are already primed for innovation, arriving with a shared focus on AI and how to prepare their organizations for this era of transformation.

Philadelphia’s enterprise tech community holds an extraordinary concentration of expertise – from world‑class category leaders delivering transformative solutions today, to AI‑first founders ready to scale, to practitioners who specialize in the organizational change required to meet this moment. The question is how to better connect the businesses that can benefit from them most with builders and talent in our own backyard.

Our goal: to identify and remove the friction that slows innovation in the Philly community – so you can accelerate your own business growth, surface and validate high‑signal solutions, and create a sustainable flywheel to elevate the regional tech economy.

Building on recent Brookings research emphasizing Enterprise Tech as the top priority for Philadelphia, and growing momentum across Philadelphia’s tech ecosystem, this workshop shifts the conversation from ideas to action.

This interactive session invites you to dive into your specific business priorities and explore new models for cooperation. Your input will directly shape programming and curation for The Enterprise Lab, designed to deepen the connections between business innovators and enterprise tech builders across the region, as part of the community-wide Philly Tech & AI Alliance.

Facilitated by:

• Rick Nucci, Co-Founder, Guru
• Marek Gootman, Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
• Bonnie Ravina, Founder, The Enterprise Lab

From Tech Shifts to Next Steps
Room 18E 

(Limited Seating: First Come, First Serve) 

Phorum 2026 spotlights the forces reshaping the enterprise and the leadership choices required to respond. This lunch workshop is the practical companion to that conversation. Bring a real initiative, decision, or bottleneck you want to move forward.

This guided, interactive session gives leaders time to work through a real challenge or opportunity they are facing now or want to explore. We will share what we are seeing in client work across different stages of AI readiness, from early exploration to scaling responsibly. Participants will use a trusted framework to clarify the opportunity, learn from peer discussion, and identify practical next steps to carry forward.

This session is ideal for:

• Senior leaders (C-suite, SVP/VP) and enterprise technologists
• Sponsors of cross-functional work across business, technology, data, and governance
• Teams seeking a structured way to move from intent to action, with peer perspective and practical insight

The session will be led by Mike Gadsby, Co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, alongside Brady Halligan, Senior AI Strategist at O3XO. O3XO will also produce and host 1682: Business of Innovation, an AI and innovation conference taking place at the Barnes Foundation on October 7th. Grab early bird tickets at https://www.1682conference.com/ 

Facilitated by: O3XO

Technology Executive Roundtable: What Are You Waiting For? (Invite Only)

As AI capabilities accelerate, many enterprises find themselves caught between urgency and hesitation. Security concerns, capital allocation, organizational readiness, and vendor noise all contribute to delayed action. This closed door executive roundtable is designed to surface what leaders are truly waiting for, how they’re making decisions today, and what the real costs of delay may be.

Through guided peer discussion, participants will examine how they are prioritizing AI investments, where waiting is strategic versus risky, and how they are navigating build-vs-buy decisions without locking into the wrong path too early. The goal is not consensus, but clarity. Leaders will leave with sharper signals for action and a clearer definition of what success should look like in the near and mid-term.

1:10 PM – 1:55 PM

Keynote Session – How AI Is Changing The Way We Build, and What We Build At Vanguard

AI is no longer an experimental layer added onto existing systems. It is fundamentally reshaping how enterprises design, develop, and deliver products. In our keynote session, Mike Carr will explore how Vanguard is evolving its product development approach in an AI-driven era, and shifting not only the tools teams use, but the mindset behind how solutions are conceived, built, and scaled.

Drawing from real-world experience inside one of the world’s leading investment management firms, Mike will examine the progression from early AI experimentation to the emergence of agents at scale. He will discuss where enterprise AI stands today, how intelligent systems are beginning to influence workflows and decision-making, and what organizations must rethink as these capabilities mature. From operational transformation to customer experience and internal collaboration, this session will provide a candid look at what it takes to build responsibly and ambitiously in an AI-powered enterprise. 

Sponsored By Vanguard 

 Mike Carr, Chief Technology Officer, Vanguard

2:00 PM – 2:35 PM

Creative Destruction – Differentiation in the Age of AI Commoditization: As AI capabilities rapidly level the playing field, the competitive edge that once came from technology alone is disappearing. When every organization has access to similar models, tools, and infrastructure, true differentiation becomes harder and far more strategic.

In this session, leaders at the forefront of enterprise transformation will explore how companies can stand out when AI becomes a commodity. We’ll examine which forms of innovation still create meaningful advantages, from proprietary data and domain expertise to unique workflows, organizational design, and cultural readiness. Panelists will discuss the forces of “creative destruction” reshaping industries, the new strategic moats that matter, and how enterprises can avoid becoming indistinguishable as AI accelerates change.

Sponsored By QualiZeal

• Moderated by: Allie Carey, Chief Strategy Officer, SEI
• Panelist: Faruk Capan, CEO, EVERSANA INTOUCH & CIO, EVERSANA
• Panelist: Kalyan Konda, Co-Founder, Executive Director & CEO, QualiZeal, Inc.
• Panelist: Chris DeGonia, Sr. Director of Quality, iCIMS

2:50 PM – 3:25 PM

The Technologies That Could Change AI: AI’s future will be shaped not only by software, but by the physical technologies, infrastructure, and organizational systems that support it. From advanced materials and next-generation hardware to energy, manufacturing, and enterprise operations, innovation across the full stack is redefining what AI can achieve in the real world. This session brings together technologists, strategists, and business leaders to explore how these emerging capabilities intersect with human systems like culture, workflows, and decision-making. They’ll discuss what enterprises must do to adapt, integrate, and lead through this next phase of transformation.

• Moderated by: Vanessa Chan, Vice-Dean, University of Penn Engineering
• Panelist: Denise Holt, Founder & CEO, AIX Global Innovations
• Panelist: Antonia Dean, Partner, Black Ops VC

3:25 PM – 4:00 PM

Digital Phorum Podcast Wrap Up

• Moderated by: Michael Bachman & Peter Coffee

 

4:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Networking Reception

Mingle with fellow Phorum attendees, panel speakers, and event sponsors during this open-bar reception to close the day. 

Sponsored by: Fox Rothschild