AI Rising 2026

AI Rising 2026 returns to Columbus, Ohio, on 19–20 October 2026 as a two-day, business-focused conference built around a single premise: getting past AI hype and into real deployment. The organisers position it as their flagship event, gathering practitioners, business leaders and technologists who are actually putting AI to work inside their organisations rather than running perpetual pilots. The format separates the two days cleanly — day one is hands-on workshops to build practical skills, day two delivers keynote and conference sessions from people implementing AI in production.

The announced keynote, "AI Rising. For Keeps. — The Next Five Years Belong to Operational AI," argues that durable advantage will accrue not to firms that simply use AI but to those that make it reliable, accountable and indispensable in real work — the shift from copilots to coworkers. Returning keynote speaker Ryan Frederick, an AI advisor and investor and principal at Transform Labs, is billed as one of the previous edition's most discussed voices. Sessions favour real-world applications, panels and depth over broad tours, with sales pitches discouraged. The event is held at The Ohio Union on the Ohio State University campus, with an accompanying Showcase of interactive, try-it-yourself demos. The full agenda is announced over the summer. It is a strong pick for leaders evaluating AI adoption, change strategy and operational AI in the US Midwest.