{"id":460389,"date":"2026-10-08T19:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T19:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/460389\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T19:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T19:12:17","slug":"smu-plans-first-chief-innovation-officer-summit-dec-11","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/460389\/","title":{"rendered":"SMU Plans First Chief Innovation Officer Summit Dec. 11"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Headshots<\/p>\n

The Chief Innovation Officer Summit is set for Dec. 11. [Image: SMU, DI Studio]<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Chief Innovation Officer Summit, presented by the Lyle School of Engineering\u2019s Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, is set for Friday, Dec. 11. Applications for registration are now available<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pace of technological change has fundamentally altered how organizations compete,\u201d SMU Lyle Interim Dean Dinesh Rajan said in a statement announcing the event. \u201cInnovation 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why now, and why here<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Lea Worth, program development and events manager at the SMU Hart Center for Engineering Leadership, said she wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see more chief technology officers and chief AI officers adopt the title.<\/p>\n

Texas is a \u201cfitting backdrop\u201d for the summit, said organizers, citing investments in AI, data centers, semiconductors and venture-backed startups. They also pointed to Dallas-Fort Worth\u2019s status as a center for corporate headquarters and tech investments.<\/p>\n

\u201cEngineering has always been about solving difficult problems,\u201d Worth said. \u201cToday, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Event details<\/p>\n

The agenda<\/a> 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\u2019s research and innovation work.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Summit attendees will serve as final judges for SMU\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Organizers said they plan to make it an annual event focused on how organizations lead innovation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough 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,\u201d Rajan said.<\/p>\n

The speaker lineup<\/p>\n

The summit agenda includes more than two dozen speakers. The enterprise leaders and entrepreneurs scheduled to speak are:<\/p>\n

Ahmad Bahai, CTO, Texas Instruments
\nJoe Constantine, CTO, Ericsson Americas
\nDalia Powers, CTO and executive vice president engineering, FINRA
\nAmer Battikhi, executive vice president of digital and data, Jacobs
\nJaime Mineart, CTO, Caterpillar
\nJohn Josephakis, global vice president of supercomputing, Nvidia
\nSuzanne Huelster, chief engineer and vice president, enterprise technology, Lockheed Martin
\nYigal Elbaz, senior vice president and network CTO, AT&T
\nMaria Teresa Lensing, global vice president for CIO advisory, Gartner
\nAnaf Durrani, CTO, Ford Pro
\nDrew Blackard, senior vice president of mobile product development, Samsung Electronics
\nRomelia Flores, distinguished engineer and master inventor, IBM
\nCharan Lota, group vice president, Toyota North America
\nDave Copps, CEO, Worlds
\nTrey Bowles, serial entrepreneur and investor, SMU Impact Lab
\nBrenda Stoner, co-founder and CEO, ByteTrail<\/p>\n

Calvin Carter, CEO, Matic<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Additional speakers include leaders from partnering organizations, SMU, NASA and other institutions.<\/p>\n

Dallas Innovates is a media partner for the Chief Innovation Officer Summit.<\/p>\n

\tR E A D\u00a0\u00a0 N E X T\t<\/p>\n

\t\"Josh<\/a><\/p>\n

The MassChallenge-run SMU Cox FinTech Accelerator will select up to 15 fintech startups for the annual program. The accelerator opened applications Oct. 6 and will accept them through Nov. 19.<\/p>\n

\t\"Ariel<\/a><\/p>\n

The five-year MacArthur Fellowship recognizes Ron\u2019s research on how Northern agriculture shaped economic growth and federal power in 19th-century America.<\/p>\n

\t\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the money to SMU researcher Saeed Salehi for development of what is thought to be the world\u2019s first synthetic mine inside an advanced drilling and sensing test facility.<\/p>\n

\t\"Texas<\/a><\/p>\n

Cost savings, a new business court and friendlier laws in Texas are driving a shift away from Delaware \u2014 and North Texas stands to benefit.<\/p>\n

\t\"Taiwan<\/a><\/p>\n

Taiwan Expo USA 2026 brings business, government and technology leaders together to explore the partnerships driving AI, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, energy and resilient supply chains.<\/p>\n

\t\"Nikki<\/a><\/p>\n

Nikki Kresse most recently served as chief experience and people officer at senior living operator Lifespace Communities. Her hiring is at least the eighth executive appointment or promotion Dallas-based Stream Data Centers has announced since Apollo took majority control in August 2025.<\/p>\n

\t\"Sam<\/a><\/p>\n

Sam Hall brings more than 20 years of experience to the Dallas-based online care services platform.<\/p>\n

\t\"collage<\/a><\/p>\n

The program equips social entrepreneurs with tools to improve education, income and health across North Texas. Since its founding in 2013, the Social Innovation Accelerator has helped 113 local innovators through mentoring, coaching and seed funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chief Innovation Officer Summit is set for Dec. 11. [Image: SMU, DI Studio] Executives from Texas Instruments,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":460390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[6861,157450,39377,102,104,103,31475,157451,157452,33639,157453,4020,124136,18024,15750,157454,13263,157455,157456,31498],"class_list":["post-460389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-att","tag-byte-trail","tag-caterpillar","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dave-copps","tag-dinesh-rajan","tag-hart-center-for-engineering-leadership","tag-jacobs","tag-lea-worth","tag-lockheed-martin","tag-matic","tag-nvidia","tag-smu","tag-smu-lyle-school-of-engineering","tag-texas-instruments","tag-toyota-north-america","tag-trey-bowles","tag-worlds"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/460390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}