Substantive discussions focused on answers
The dynamic format moves between keynotes, open debate, and boardroom-style strategy sessions—prioritizing decision making and actionable solutions.
Skip to main content.
Experience
A strategic retreat designed for outcomes, not optics
Say what needs to be said, away from the cameras
No press. No spectators. No soundbites for shareholders. Set in Napa Valley vineyards, Nova Future Summit creates privacy for moonshot thinking and candid conversations on the strategic opportunities ahead.
Compact 48-hour agenda:
- Day 0 September 28
Kicks off late afternoon, with the first Keynote Salon and a Sunset Welcome Dinner. - Day 1 September 29
Blends seminal keynotes with high-level talks, followed by a Gala Reception and Dinner. - Day 2 September 30
Crescendoes with a busy morning of Boardrooms and Keynote Discussions, followed by a networking lunch and powerful send-off.
-
Keynote Salons
These hard-hitting talks are a focal point for all delegates—thinking big about where our world is heading and what’s needed to get there faster. Designed to catalyse debate and shape the summit’s wider conversations. -
Keynote Discussions
No scripted answers. No monologues. Just passionate, unfiltered debate with the audience. Following each keynote salon, these sessions will open up the floor to give you the chance to dig deeper and be part of the discussion. -
Boardrooms
All about bold strategizing with actionable outcomes, these smaller group discussions will focus on crucial topics—from AI, data and sovereignty to 6G, infrastructure and robotics. Multiple boardrooms will run simultaneously—see below for more details. -
Roundtables
Attended by up to 25 people, these RSVP sessions encourage delegates to get involved in curated discussions. Ideal for brainstorming, making your ideas heard and identifying strategic synergies with other attendees. -
Private Meetings
Invitees are welcome to arrange meetings at an array of spaces across the venue—including hospitality suites and other open networking areas.
Full Agenda
-
-
Begin your Nova experience with a casual sunset dinner set against the backdrop of Napa Valley. This relaxed evening provides the perfect setting for first impressions to be made and meaningful early conversations to begin.
-
Start your first full day at the Nova Future Summit with a Napa-flavored networking breakfast. This welcoming setting provides the perfect opportunity to reconnect with familiar faces, meet new peers, and ease into the day’s inspirational conversations and content.
-
-
-
As frontier AI models race toward greater capability, autonomy, and commercial influence, fundamental questions are emerging around scalability, control, safety, and long-term competitive advantage. This boardroom will bring together the leaders shaping the foundation model ecosystem to debate whether the current trajectory of AI development is sustainable, who ultimately captures value, and what the next phase of frontier intelligence looks like.
Potential topics to be covered
- Is scaling reaching diminishing returns?
- Reinforcement learning and reasoning breakthroughs
- The real moat: compute, data, distribution, regulation, or talent
- Open vs closed model ecosystems
- Enterprise adoption dynamics across OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, and emerging challengers
- AI safety, governance, and geopolitical implications
- Defence and national security alignment with frontier AI providers
-
As operators continue to seek monetisation from 5G while preparing for the next generation of infrastructure, questions remain around what 6G will ultimately enable, who will fund it, and whether the market dynamics have fundamentally shifted. This session will explore the future role of terrestrial networks in an increasingly hybrid connectivity landscape shaped by AI, satellite, edge compute, and geopolitical fragmentation.
Potential topics
- Monetisation pathways beyond 5G
- AI-native and software-defined network architectures
- Direct-to-device satellite and non-terrestrial competition
- Rural connectivity economics
- Vendor fragmentation and geopolitical market access
- The future role of telecom operators in intelligent infrastructure
- Sovereignty and resilience in next-generation networks
-
In an era of autonomous systems, synthetic identities, and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats, security is no longer simply a technology issue—it is a question of operational continuity, national resilience, and trust. This boardroom will examine how organisations are adapting to AI-driven threats while balancing openness, productivity, and sovereignty in a rapidly evolving risk landscape.
Potential topics
- Shadow AI and unsanctioned enterprise systems
- Deepfake fraud and synthetic identity threats
- AI-enabled cyber warfare and autonomous attacks
- Ransomware response and resilience strategies
- Phishing-resistant identity and access models
- Sovereign infrastructure and digital independence
- Public-private collaboration on cyber defence
-
Recharge with a networking lunch designed to bring everyone together. Continue meaningful discussions, exchange ideas, and build connections in a relaxed and engaging atmosphere at the heart of the summit.
-
-
The role of the CTO is rapidly evolving as AI reshapes software development, infrastructure management, and engineering operations. This boardroom explores what technology leadership looks like in a world increasingly defined by automation, agentic systems, and accelerated development cycles.
Potential topics
- Agentic coding and autonomous engineering
- Software quality, governance, and maintainability
- The future engineering workforce
- Platform consolidation vs fragmentation
- AI-native infrastructure and development environments
- Technical debt in the age of AI-generated software
- Leadership and organisational models for AI-first engineering
-
As enterprises move from experimentation to deployment, the conversation around AI is shifting from hype to measurable value creation. This boardroom convenes enterprise leaders navigating the realities of implementation at scale, including productivity, workforce transformation, governance, and the future of enterprise software itself.
Potential topics
- AI applications delivering measurable ROI today
- Agentic workflows and operational transformation
- The evolution of enterprise SaaS models
- Shadow AI and workforce behaviour
- Productivity gains: hype vs reality
- AI governance and risk frameworks
- Enterprise adoption barriers and organisational readiness
-
As organisations scale AI initiatives, data quality, governance, and architecture remain among the biggest constraints to meaningful adoption. This discussion will explore how enterprises are rethinking their data strategies, infrastructure stacks, and operational models to support the next generation of AI deployment.
Potential topics
- Data readiness for AI at scale
- Enterprise data fragmentation and governance
- Lakehouse vs warehouse architectures
- Real-time data and AI integration
- Enterprise AI platforms and orchestration
- Data monetisation opportunities
- Competitive dynamics across Databricks, Snowflake, Microsoft, and emerging players
-
The AI boom is creating unprecedented demand for compute, energy, memory, and connectivity infrastructure. This boardroom will focus on the economic and operational realities underpinning the AI ecosystem, from hyperscale investment and semiconductor supply chains to data centre financing and inference economics.
Potential topics
- AI compute demand and capital intensity
- Neocloud sustainability and financing models
- Semiconductor and memory constraints
- Inference economics and optimisation
- Data centre power and energy challenges
- Sovereign compute and infrastructure strategies
- The future competitive landscape beyond NVIDIA dominance
-
Quantum computing continues to attract significant investment and strategic attention, despite uncertainty around timelines and practical commercialisation. This boardroom will explore whether the industry is approaching a genuine inflection point and what quantum’s eventual impact could mean for industries, infrastructure, and global competitiveness.
Potential topics
- Timelines for commercial viability
- Quantum advantage and practical use cases
- Quantum’s impact on cybersecurity and encryption
- Infrastructure and energy requirements
- Public and private investment trends
- Quantum and AI convergence
- Geopolitical competition in quantum leadership
-
Robotics is entering a new era driven by advances in AI, autonomy, and foundation models. As humanoid systems and autonomous mobility move from experimentation toward commercial deployment, this boardroom will examine the economic viability, infrastructure requirements, and geopolitical dynamics shaping the future of robotics.
Potential topics
- Humanoid robotics deployment and economics
- Robotics foundation models
- Industrial and enterprise automation
- China vs Western robotics competitiveness
- Autonomous vehicles and robotaxi economics
- Physical AI and edge intelligence
- Infrastructure and compute requirements for robotics at scale
-
-
-
-
Join us for an exclusive evening reception and dinner — a standout moment at the summit, bringing all delegates together for a memorable night of networking, dining, and celebration.
-
Start your final day with the networking breakfast, offering a welcoming space to reconnect, exchange ideas, and set the tone for the day ahead.
-
-
As AI moves from experimentation into enterprise-wide transformation, leaders are reassessing everything from workforce structures and software pricing to consulting models and operating strategies. This boardroom will examine how AI is reshaping the enterprise landscape and where the next wave of large-scale value creation will emerge.
Potential topics
- CEO and board priorities around AI
- The future of enterprise software pricing
- AI-native consulting and services models
- Organisational redesign in the AI era
- Workforce transformation and productivity
- Emerging high-growth AI use cases
- Long-term enterprise value creation and disruption
-
As AI becomes embedded across enterprise operations, the Chief AI Officer role is emerging as a critical bridge between technology, business strategy, governance, and transformation. This session explores how organisations are structuring AI leadership and what enterprise AI operating models may look like long term.
Potential topics
- The evolution of the Chief AI Officer role
- AI governance and organisational accountability
- Shadow AI and workforce enablement
- AI operating models within enterprises
- Measuring value from AI initiatives
- Enterprise-wide adoption strategies
- The future of SaaS and AI-native business models
-
AI is rapidly reshaping how consumers discover information, interact with platforms, create content, and engage with digital services. This boardroom explores the future consumer landscape as AI assistants, multimodal interfaces, and synthetic media redefine attention, trust, and platform power.
Potential topics
- The future of AI assistants and consumer interfaces
- Platform competition across Apple, Google, OpenAI, and Meta
- AI’s impact on media, publishing, and content economics
- Consumer trust and public perception of AI
- Personalised agents and digital identity
- The future of search and discovery
- Monetisation models in AI-driven consumer ecosystems
-
-
-
Join us for a relaxed networking lunch, offering a final opportunity to connect, reflect, and continue conversations with peers across the Nova community. The afternoon transitions into the Closing Reception, where we bring the summit to a close, celebrating key moments and connections while looking ahead to what’s next.