The 2026 Future of AI & Technology Forum
Make smarter AI decisions for your firm in one day
This year’s program will bring attendees inside the workflows, governance choices, talent questions, and economic trade‑offs shaping AI adoption across the industry. You will hear directly from practitioners who are building AI into their firms and making tough, real decisions along the way.
Through expert discussions, peer conversations, and interactive sessions, this forum will help you cut through the noise and better understand what AI means for your organization.
Check out Thomson Reuters Institute’s 2026 AI in Professional Services Report and Future of Professionals 2026 Report ahead of the program.
#TRIAI26
What you will gain
- Where AI is driving measurable ROI, and where investment is failing to deliver meaningful value within firms today.
- The biggest risks and blind spots leaders are still getting wrong, from operational gaps to governance and client trust.
- How leading firms are structuring AI governance, oversight, and accountability as adoption moves beyond experimentation.
- What clients now expect from AI-enabled firms, including how they evaluate quality, transparency, and pricing.
Recommended for
- C-level strategy & decision makers
- Managing partners & principals
- Managers & directors
- Tech & AI professionals
Faculty
Nilay Patel
Eric Berg
Coskun Cavusoglu
Speakers
Nilay Patel
Eric Berg
Coskun Cavusoglu
Brooke Daniels
Bryce Engelland
Seth Gastwirth
Thom Hutchison
Johanna Kalb
Ray Meiring
Jody Padar
Kate Schmidt
Frank Spadafino
Ryan Sulkin
Jennifer Reeves
Agenda
(all times local)
September 17, 2026
Breakfast & registration
Opening remarks & AI in Professional Services Report presentation
We’ll open the forum with a concise look at the latest data and research from Thomson Reuters Institute on AI adoption across legal and professional services. This brief grounding session is designed to establish a shared baseline before shifting into deeper discussion and debate for the day ahead.
Presenters:
Separating signal from noise: The state of AI and emerging technology
As AI moves from novelty to embedded capability, leaders face a new challenge: determining which technological shifts will meaningfully reshape client value, operating models, and risk—and which will fade as short‑term hype. This session takes a forward‑looking view of the AI and emerging technology landscape, examining how regulation, platform consolidation, client expectations, and cross‑functional impacts are shaping the next phase of adoption. Panelists will explore how firms are balancing innovation with accountability, where leaders still see unresolved risk, and what strategic questions firms should be asking now to stay ahead of both market and client demands.
Moderator:
Panelists:
Break
Gamifying your AI strategy: From experimentation to measurable impact
Turning AI enthusiasm into measurable results remains one of the most persistent challenges facing firms. In this interactive, hands‑on session, participants will work through realistic professional services scenarios to estimate time saved, value created, and risk introduced through different AI use cases. Facilitator(s) will guide teams as they pressure‑test where automation, agents, and AI‑powered assistants genuinely enhance performance, deciding where human judgment must remain firmly in the loop. Through team-based challenges and rapid debriefs, participants will walk away with a sharper sense of the most efficient AI utilization tactics. Expect team challenges and a bit of friendly competition as you discern a quantifiable outlook on the role of AI in real client work and internal operations.
Facilitator:
Networking Lunch
Through the client lens: What clients value in an AI-enabled market
In this candid fireside conversation, our facilitator will sit down with two clients of legal and professional services firms to hear directly how buyers are evaluating AI‑enabled services today. As firms invest heavily in new tools and automation, this session offers a rare look at what clients actually value, expect, and are willing to pay for. The discussion will focus on how clients assess quality, risk, transparency, and trust in an AI‑augmented environment, highlighting what has strengthened client relationships, what has fallen flat, and what will increasingly differentiate firms as AI becomes table stakes.
Facilitator:
Panelists:
Break
Keynote presentation
Presenter:
Break
Inside the stack: Audience questions on shaping the next phase
To close the content portion of the day, we’ll turn the floor over to the room. Throughout the forum, attendees will have the opportunity to submit pointed, real‑world questions about AI, emerging technology, and professional services, from operating models and client demands to talent, ethics, and vendor strategy. In this moderated fishbowl format, a rotating group of participants will respond to questions live, creating an unscripted dialogue that surfaces practical lessons, divergent perspectives, and unresolved tensions. The goal is not consensus, but clarity: a chance to pressure‑test ideas and assumptions in an open, intellectually honest exchange shaped directly by those in the room.
Moderator:
Participants:
Closing remarks & reception
Please join us for cocktails and light bites as we bring the day’s conversations to a close.
Loft on Lake
Fulton Market - West Loop, Chicago
Hotel Accommodations
For your convenience, we’ve compiled a list of recommended hotels and rental stays near Loft on Lake, with a variety of options in the West Loop and Fulton Market area. Please note that accommodations are not included in the registration fee and will need to be arranged individually by each attendee. You can view the full list here: loftonlake.com/hotels.
Getting Here & Parking
Free street parking is available around the venue. A public parking garage is also located just behind the venue at Ada Street and Fulton Street. If you’re taking public transportation, the #9 Ashland bus and the Green and Pink Line trains are just a short walk away at Lake Street and Ashland Avenue.
Registration Deadline: Friday, September 4.
Sponsors
Interested in partnering with us?
Get in touch today to learn more about available sponsorship opportunities
