Senior Executive Summit

Program Overview
The 2026 Senior Executive Summit is designed for leaders operating at the highest levels of business and decision-making. Across four sessions, participants will explore how AI is reshaping the enterprise, where the most meaningful opportunities for value creation lie, how leadership presence influences trust and impact, and what it takes to lead with sound judgment in a rapidly changing environment. Together, the sessions offer a strategic mix of enterprise perspective, innovation, executive presence and high-level reflection designed to help leaders think more broadly, lead more effectively and navigate what comes next.

June 3 | 12:00 – 3:15 pm ET

Implementing AI: A Systems Perspective
Rob Siegel, Lecturer in Management, Stanford GSB

As companies aggressively deploy AI tools and solutions, leaders must take a systems-wide view of how AI reshapes work, decision-making, talent and organizational design. This session explores the cross-pressures facing today’s business leaders as they implement AI at scale, including how organizations are restructuring, where adoption efforts are gaining traction, where they are getting stuck and what it takes to align technology, teams and operating models for real impact.

The AI Opportunity: Building Great Products, Services and Solutions
Michael Lepech, Professor & Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University

Most AI offerings will not fall short because the technology is weak. They will fall short because leaders chase novelty instead of designing for real customer need and business value. This session explores how to identify the right opportunities for AI and apply practical frameworks to create and launch products, services and solutions that matter. It will also examine the organizational and workflow changes required to turn the growing AI opportunity into long-term cost savings, greater profitability and stronger business performance. Real-life case studies, interactive discussion and problem-solving will bring these ideas into practice.

June 4 | 12:00 – 3:15 pm ET

Critical Moments: Executive Presence Under Pressure
Melissa Jones Briggs, Lecturer in Organizational Behavior, Stanford GSB

In high-stakes moments, how leaders show up shapes how they are heard, trusted and followed. Drawing from acting, improvisation and social psychology, this interactive session explores how voice, body language and mindset shape leadership presence. Acting with power requires alignment between how leaders see themselves and how others experience them. Participants will examine how to calibrate authority, approachability and trust for greater impact when the stakes are high.

Closing Conversation
In this closing conversation, Tracy Pitcher, President and CEO of The WICT Network, will interview Yvette Kanouff, Partner at JC2 Ventures and Emmy Award-winning technology pioneer, on what leadership looks like from a broader vantage point. With experience spanning public company boards, technology investing and senior operating roles, Yvette brings a rare perspective on how leaders are assessed, where organizations are under pressure and what it takes to lead with credibility, judgment and long-term vision in a business landscape being reshaped in real time.