October 7-8, 2026
Marriott Downtown, Knoxville
Where business leaders and academics come together to shape the future of work with AI.
Keynotes & Featured Speakers
World-Class Voices.
Practical Insights.
The Haslam AInnovation Summit brings together leading researchers, industry executives, and innovators who are actively shaping how AI is applied in business.
Dr. Denise Koessler Gosnell is a computer scientist, technology executive, and builder who has spent her career turning hard technical problems into transformational products, from uncovering a $20M Medicare fraud case with a graph database to managing a nine-figure AWS cloud service used by Fortune 100 companies worldwide. A Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee, she pioneered “social fingerprinting,” founded Systers (UT’s women-in-EECS organization spotlighted by Sheryl Sandberg nationally), and authored two books including the O’Reilly classic The Practitioner’s Guide to Graph Data. Today she leads Data Driven Intuition, an AI education venture. She is a University of Tennessee 40 Under 40 awardee, Class of 2026.
Shameek is a Partner, Head of Ara Energy, leading the firm’s strategy to acquire, optimize and decarbonize conventional energy assets. This strategy focuses on thermal power generation, biofuels production, and the transportation and distribution of retail energy fuels. Shameek has over 30 years of experience in the energy sector and prior to Ara Shameek served as the CEO of Pilot Flying J, the largest operator of truck stops and supplier of transportation fuels in the US. During his time at Pilot the company became the largest seller of renewable fuels to the transportation industry at 1.5 Bn gallons a year and developed a nationwide network of DC fast chargers in partnership with GM to promote EV integration.
Before his tenure at Pilot, Shameek served as Chief Investment Officer at Castleton Commodities and Mercuria Energy Group. Shameek also spent time at Goldman Sachs, where, he was Co-Head of Global Commodities Principal Investing, and Constellation Energy, where he was part of the executive leadership team. He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Vanderbilt University, and spends some of his time teaching Finance and Climate Change at the University of Tennessee.
Soon To Be Announced
Opening Keynote – Day Two
Andrew McAfee (@amcafee) studies how technological progress changes the world. He is a Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management, co-founder and co-director of MIT’s Initiative on the Digital Economy, the inaugural Visiting Fellow in Google’s Technology and Society group, and cofounder of the AI startup Workhelix. His most recent book is The Geek Way. His previous books include More from Less and, with Erik Brynjolfsson, The Second Machine Age. He and Brynjolfsson are the only people named to both the Thinkers50 list of the world’s top management thinkers and the Politico 50 group of people transforming American politics.
McAfee was educated at MIT and Harvard and lives in Cambridge Massachusetts.
AInnovation Summit
Dean’s Message
We are living through one of the most consequential shifts in the history of business — artificial intelligence is reshaping how work happens across every industry, function, and level of organizations. That’s exactly why we’re launching the inaugural AInnovation Summit in October 2026.
The Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, has a unique role to play in this moment: bringing together the brightest minds from industry and academia to have honest, forward-looking conversations and create real-world insight sharing and meaningful collaboration about what AI means both for business and the next generation of leaders.
Not a typical academic conference, the summit is an intentionally curated, invitation-only gathering of 150 executives, thought-leaders, and decision-makers, and it is a key first step towards the founding of an AI Center of Excellence in UT Haslam designed to continue in the future.
Not a typical AI Conference
The Haslam AInnovation Summit brings together corporate leaders, academic researchers, and industry practitioners for two days of focused collaboration on how generative AI is reshaping business. Through keynote addresses, breakout tracks, working sessions, and structured networking, attendees will leave with practical frameworks, new partnerships, and a shared agenda for what comes next.
This event is designed as the beginning of a long-term working relationship between the Haslam College of Business and its corporate and academic partners, not just a two-day event.
Why Attend?
What You’ll Gain
Learn from Top Experts
Hear directly from industry leaders and academic researchers at the forefront of AI in business. This is not just about theory, but practical applications you can put to work immediately.
Build Lasting Partnerships
Connect with executives, practitioners, and fellow academics across six focused tracks. These aren’t just conference contacts. They’re the beginning of working relationships.
Leave with a Shared Agenda
Walk away with practical frameworks, collaborative commitments, and a clear picture of where AI in business is heading and how your organization fits into that future.
AINnovation Summit
Agenda
Due to fast changing nature of this field, we are leaving our Emerging Topics on AI sessions flexible for now and will work with our subject matter experts and corporate participants to develop content.
Day 1 – Wednesday, Oct 7, 2026
7:30 a.m.
Breakfast – Informal
8:00 a.m.
Welcome
8:30 a.m.
Opening Keynote – Denise Gosnell
9:30 a.m.
BREAK / Demo Grounds
10:00 a.m.
Emerging Topics on AI – Session 1
11:15 a.m.
Emerging Topics on AI – Session 2
12:15 p.m.
Lunch / Demo Grounds
1:15 p.m.
Emerging Topics on AI – Session 3
2:30 p.m.
Emerging Topics on AI – Session 4
3:45-5:15 p.m.
Closing Keynote – Shameek Konar
6:15 p.m.
Evening Networking Event
Day 2 – Thursday, Oct 8, 2026
6:30 a.m.
Breakfast – Informal
8:00 a.m.
Welcome – Day 2
8:30 a.m.
Opening Keynote – Ethan Mollick
9:30 a.m.
BREAK
9:45 a.m.
Emerging Topics on AI – Session 5
10:45 a.m.
Lunch
12:00 p.m.
Closing Keynote – Andrew McAfee
1:00-1:30 p.m.
General Session – Conference Close
Attendance
Interested in Attending?
The Haslam AInnovation Summit is an invitation-only event. If you’re interested in participating, submit the interest form and we will contact you when an invitation is available.
- Two full days of focused, collaborative programming
- Access to all six forward-looking and practitioner-led tracks
- Structured networking with executives and researchers
- Keynote and general session programming
- Meals and networking receptions included
Express Your Interest
This form collects your contact information for outreach purposes only. Formal registration details will be sent separately to confirmed invitees.
