2026 Agenda

All times, sessions, speakers, and panels are subject to change.

Wednesday, November 18

10AM

Registration Opens

NOON		Conference Welcome and Luncheon
		Steve Buri — President, Discovery Institute Cole Smead — CEO and Portfolio Manager, Smead Capital Management
		Reality Check: A Roadmap to COSM 2026
		Jay Richards — Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute and Director, DeVos Center at Heritage Foundation
		Reality Check: Beyond Chips
		George Gilder — Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

1PM		Building the Future of Semiconductor Manufacturing
		Ken MacWilliams – President, Multibeam Corporation

1:30

Networking Break

2PM		Moore’s Law
		Is It the End, or Is It Just Beginning?
		Pat Gelsinger – Former CEO, Intel Fireside Chat with George Gilder and Bret Swanson – Director, Heritage Foundation

2:45

Break

		Panel Discussion
3PM		The Silicon Miracle
		Arizona as the Epicenter of Chip Innovation
		Moderator: Jonathan Keyser — Managing Partner, Keyser Commercial Real Estate David Kim — Head of Legal and Compliance, ASML David McCann — Senior VP, Chief of Staff, Business Unit, Amkor Technology

4PM		The Capex Conundrum
		AI Data Centers and Distributive AI
		Andrew Mayne — Founder, Interdimensional AI; Researcher; Prompt Engineer, OpenAI

4:30		Reaction to the Proceedings
		Bob Metcalfe — Inventor of Ethernet and Turing Award Winner (2022) George Gilder — Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

5PM

Break

		With Thanks to GPEC and Visit Phoenix
6PM		Hosted Reception
		Christine Mackay – President & CEO, Greater Phoenix Economic Council Ron Price – President & CEO, Visit Phoenix

		Keynote Dinner with thanks to Smead Capital Management
7PM		Takeoff, Glide Path, or Stall?
		Where is the U.S. Economy Headed
		Moderator:  John Tamny — President, Parkview Institute and Editor, RealClearMarkets Steve Forbes — Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, Forbes Magazine David Bahnsen — Founder and Chief Investment Officer, The Bahnsen Group George Gilder — Co-Founder and Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

9PM

Adjournment

Thursday, November 19

7:30

Breakfast (Provided)

9AM		Foretelling the Future
		AI Boom or Bust?
		Josh Achiam — Former Chief Futurist, OpenAI Fireside Chat with Andrew Mayne

9:45		AI and the Venture Landscape
		Matt McIlwain — Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group

10:30

Networking Break

11AM		What Makes a Mind?
		Brains, Machines, and Artificial Intelligence
		Moderator:  Walter Myers – Principal Engineering Manager, Microsoft Gaurav Suri — Visiting Scientist, Stanford University and Author, The Emergent Mind Jay Richards — Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute and Director, DeVos Center

		Keynote Luncheon and Fireside Chat
NOON		AI, Microsoft, and Human Flourishing
		Taylor Black — Director of AI and Venture Ecosystems, Microsoft

1:15

Networking Break

1:30		The Waymo Way
		Leading the Valley’s Autonomous Future
		David Margines — Product Management Director, Waymo Fireside Chat with Bryan Mistele – CEO, INRIX

2:15		To Serve Man: The Robotics Revolution
		Touraj Parang — President & CEO, Serve Robotics Jonathan Hurst — Co-founder and Chief Robot Officer, Agility Robotics

3:15

Networking Break

		Panel Discussion
3:45		The North American Fortress
		Powering U.S. Competitiveness
		Cole Smead — CEO and Portfolio Manager, Smead Capital Management

4:30		Adapt and Compete
		The Return of Vocational Education
		Keri Ingraham – Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute and Program Director, American Center for Transforming Education

5PM

Adjournment – Dinner on Your Own (Enjoy Scottsdale!)

Friday, Nov 20

8AM

Friday Breakfast (Provided)

9AM		Non-Computable You
		Is Human Creativity Irreplaceable?
		Moderator:  Jay Richards – VP of Social and Domestic Policy, Heritage Foundation Robert Marks – Director, Bradley for Natural and Artificial Intelligence Casey Luskin – Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute Nate Jacobson – Director of Media and Brand, Discovery Institute

10AM		Medical Innovations for Mental and Physical Wellbeing
		Richard Cartledge – Thoracic Surgeon and Inventor Robert Cucin – Entrepreneur and CEO, Biosculpture Technologies

10:30

Break

11AM		AI, Intellectual Property, and the Knowledge Economy
		Thomas Lehrman — Managing Partner, Teamworthy Ventures

11:45		Reflections
		Carver Mead — Professor Emeritus of Engineering and Applied Science at the California Institute of Technology, Kyoto Prize Winner (2022) Introduction by George Gilder

11:55		Adjournment
		George Gilder