New at the 2026 AI Agent & Copilot Summit, running March 17-19 at the Torrey Pines Hilton in San Diego, are the “Industry Accelerator” main stage sessions. These sessions will feature business & technology leaders defining why and how they have applied AI to reimagine how work gets done across their businesses and markets.
Each Industry Accelerator session will be a 10-15-minute main stage use case that defines how executives learn to recognize opportunities to use AI in business and the impact it has on workflow and process. Finally, it will close with the outcomes the AI initiative has had on the business, whether it is reducing costs, boosting profit, freeing key resources, or adding other strategic value.
Each of the sessions will follow a “fireside chat” format featuring an AI Agent & Copilot host and the Industry Accelerator guest. Within the sessions, the executive will answer a few questions to contextualize what they have done in their AI adoptions and implementations:
- Question 1: What business goals did you have in mind and how did you recognize the opportunity to use AI in reaching them?
- Question 2: Based on that scenario, what impact did this approach have on workflow and processes?
- Question 3: Bringing this all together, can you explain what outcomes this initiative has had on the business, and how you see this accelerating your role in your industry?
Wednesday, March 18
Time: 9:30
The first Industry Accelerator session will explore how one of the largest nuts & bolts hardware companies on the planet is reimagining business with AI, along with a CIO discussion on the importance of adapting to the new AI reality.
Time: 10:45
Fuel distribution company, Vinters Distributors, will define how they have created an AI-powered CRM strategy that automates pricing, scheduling, and billing, while CIO S. David Brown explains how National Power is moving beyond AI projects to AI operational execution.
Time: 11:45
Irrigation and infrastructure equipment manufacturing company and innovation leader since 1995, Lindsay Corporation, will join Michelle and Zach as they define how Lindsay introduced AI safely, encouraged adoption, and built trust across departments while improving efficiency in ERP, shipping, and planning processes to accelerate their category.
Thursday, March 19
Time: 10:30
A PhD student in Bioinformatics at Georgia Tech, specializing in AI-driven drug discovery, will explain how multi-agent systems, generative models, and integrated scientific tools accelerate therapeutic innovation.
Time: 10:40
A CIO from the largest horticultural grower in North America will define how their IT team partnered with executive leadership to align business process changes with enabling technology, such as a Fabric/Power BI analytics platform that can support major company objectives, displaying supply chain data to retail partners, and integrating machine learning models to optimize store‑level inventory.
Time: 10:50
Explore how a steel manufacturer is using Copilot to digitize capabilities, planning, quoting, and scheduling with a focus on how to customize Copilot for the right channels (Teams, Outlook, M365), and leverage advanced Copilot Studio features.
How AI Is Shaping Future Work
The 2026 Industry Accelerator Main Stage Sessions demonstrate real-world AI business transformations from leaders who are not just experimenting with AI but operationalizing it. Their stories illustrate how businesses, no matter the industry, are redefining workflows, elevating decision-making, and unlocking new value with the insights now obtainable from AI. Attendees can expect to walk away from these sessions with practical insights, strategic advantages, and a clear understanding of how AI is shaping the future of ALL work.
AI Agent & Copilot Summit is an AI-first event to define opportunities, impact, and outcomes with Microsoft Copilot and agents. Building on its 2025 success, the 2026 event takes place March 17-19 in San Diego. Get more details.
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