Executives from Texas Instruments, Nvidia, AT&T, Lockheed Martin and more than a dozen other companies will speak later this year at a new Southern Methodist University conference focused on how organizations are managing innovation. 

The Chief Innovation Officer Summit, presented by the Lyle School of Engineering’s Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, is set for Friday, Dec. 11. Applications for registration are now available.

“The pace of technological change has fundamentally altered how organizations compete,” SMU Lyle Interim Dean Dinesh Rajan said in a statement announcing the event. “Innovation can no longer be viewed as a departmental activity. It must be integrated into enterprise strategy and led from the highest levels of an organization.”

Why now, and why here

The chief innovation officer role, or CInO, is distinct from that of a chief information officer. Summit organizers describe the role as one of the fastest-evolving in executive leadership. Where CInOs were typically concentrated in tech companies, the role is now cropping up in healthcare, manufacturing and other industries.

Lea Worth, program development and events manager at the SMU Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, said she wouldn’t be surprised to see more chief technology officers and chief AI officers adopt the title.

Texas is a “fitting backdrop” for the summit, said organizers, citing investments in AI, data centers, semiconductors and venture-backed startups. They also pointed to Dallas-Fort Worth’s status as a center for corporate headquarters and tech investments.

“Engineering has always been about solving difficult problems,” Worth said. “Today, the challenge is no longer just inventing new technologies; it is leading organizations that can continually innovate. That requires new leadership capabilities, new organizational models and stronger collaboration between industry, universities and entrepreneurs.”

Event details

The agenda covers an array of topics, including AI-enabled innovation, corporate innovation operating models, innovation ecosystems, and the evolving challenges and opportunities facing innovation executives. The summit also will include a showcase of SMU Lyle’s research and innovation work.

The event will run from 8 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Along with traditional panel discussions and breakout sessions, the agenda includes closed-door boardroom sessions limited to 12 executives and interactive brainstorming sessions.

Summit attendees will serve as final judges for SMU’s student awards for innovation leadership. Finalists, who are students at all levels, will present posters on how they led an innovative project or team. Attendees will vote during the evening reception to choose the winners.

Organizers said they plan to make it an annual event focused on how organizations lead innovation.

“Through this summit, SMU is creating a forum where leaders from industry and academia can exchange ideas, build partnerships and help define what innovation leadership looks like for the next decade,” Rajan said.

The speaker lineup

The summit agenda includes more than two dozen speakers. The enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs scheduled to speak are:

• • Ahmad Bahai, CTO, Texas Instruments
  • Joe Constantine, CTO, Ericsson Americas
  • Dalia Powers, CTO and executive vice president engineering, FINRA
  • Amer Battikhi, executive vice president of digital and data, Jacobs
  • Jaime Mineart, CTO, Caterpillar
  • John Josephakis, global vice president of supercomputing, Nvidia
  • Suzanne Huelster, chief engineer and vice president, enterprise technology, Lockheed Martin
  • Yigal Elbaz, senior vice president and network CTO, AT&T
  • Maria Teresa Lensing, global vice president for CIO advisory, Gartner
  • Anaf Durrani, CTO, Ford Pro
  • Drew Blackard, senior vice president of mobile product development, Samsung Electronics
  • Romelia Flores, distinguished engineer and master inventor, IBM
  • Charan Lota, group vice president, Toyota North America
  • Dave Copps, CEO, Worlds
  • Trey Bowles, serial entrepreneur and investor, SMU Impact Lab
  • Brenda Stoner, co-founder and CEO, ByteTrail

• • Calvin Carter, CEO, Matic

Additional speakers include leaders from partnering organizations, SMU, NASA and other institutions.

Dallas Innovates is a media partner for the Chief Innovation Officer Summit.