Day One
Agenda

Biotechnology is following the same exponential trajectory as the digital revolution, but with even greater economic potential. Learn why biology is becoming the next foundational platform technology and how it will transform every major industry, from manufacturing and agriculture to computing and materials. Gain the frameworks needed to identify the highest-potential opportunities emerging from this shift.

The wider world is finally realizing that superhuman AI will likely arrive by the end of the 2020s. Now that we have more clarity about the roadmap to artificial general intelligence, it’s time to unite inspiring visions with concrete plans for harnessing AGI in the life sciences. So how, practically, will this transform medicine and human health? Discover key emerging technologies that will harness AGI to revolutionize patient care and personal wellness over the coming decade—from robotic surgeons to wearable smart sensors, printable organs, and brain-computer interfaces. Learn how advanced biosimulation will unlock breakthrough cures and untangle the mysteries of aging. And see how all this convergent exponential progress will propel humanity toward longevity escape velocity in the 2030s. Yet computation alone cannot solve biology or defeat major diseases. We’ll explore how innovators in wet-lab science, clinical care, policymaking, law, ethics, and investing also have crucial roles to play over these pivotal years to achieve the healthy, flourishing future every person deserves.

A landmark analysis of 1 million samples has revealed Obelisks - an entirely new form of life within the human microbiome. This 2024 discovery is already creating massive opportunities in personalized medicine, diagnostics, and therapeutic development. Learn why leading investors are betting billions on microbiome technologies and how this newly discovered biological frontier will reshape healthcare and beyond. Get insider insights into which applications are ready for commercialization and how to position your ventures to capture value from this breakthrough. Those who understand the implications of this discovery early will help shape what could become a multi-hundred billion dollar market.

Join host Robert Suarez for a provocative exploration of how nature’s 3.8 billion years of R&D is revolutionizing business and technology. This fastpaced talk show brings together visionaries who are translating biological principles into competitive advantages across seemingly unrelated industries. Through five captivating segments, discover how organizations are gaining strategic edges by adopting nature’s time-tested approaches:

Critical minerals drive our modern world—powering everything from smartphones to satellites, EV batteries to medical devices. But our current extraction methods are environmentally devastating and geopolitically fraught. Discover how biology offers innovative approaches to mineral extraction and processing that could transform supply chains and reduce environmental impact. Learn how these biological solutions might offer strategic advantages in an increasingly resource-constrained world where critical minerals drive trade wars and geopolitical tensions.

Every major computing breakthrough—from Turing machines to neural networks, swarm intelligence to evolutionary algorithms—was inspired by biology. Yet we’ve only scratched the surface of nature’s computational wisdom. Explore how deeper biological principles like thermal regulation, self-renewal, low-energy processing, and self-organization could drive the next wave of computing innovation. See how these approaches could overcome current limitations in energy consumption, heat management, and system resilience that challenge today’s computing paradigms.

As climate change accelerates, coastal areas face unprecedented challenges from rising seas, intensifying storms, and ecosystem degradation. Learn how coral reefs—nature’s coastal defenders—have evolved sophisticated systems to thrive amid constant change and how these principles can inform resilient infrastructure design. Discover how hybrid solutions combining biological elements with engineered components are outperforming traditional seawalls and breakwaters while restoring marine ecosystems. See how leaders are applying principles of redundancy, decentralization, and adaptive response from marine systems in their organizations. Beyond shorelines, learn how these same resilience principles can transform how we design supply chains, organizations, and communities to adapt and thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world.

After centuries of mechanical, centralized manufacturing that has degraded environments and communities, biomanufacturing offers a return to production aligned with natural principles. See how major companies are using bacteria, yeast, and algae to produce materials, chemicals, and fuels with reduced carbon footprints and superior performance. Learn how these approaches enable local, responsive production that adapts to changing conditions and variable feedstocks—creating strategic advantages in an era of supply chain disruption and environmental constraints.

The answers to our most pressing challenges often already exist in natural systems. Explore how biomimicry provides a framework for innovation by asking: “How has nature solved this?” Discover how organizations are applying biological principles to physical structures, processes, and ecosystems to create breakthrough solutions. Learn practical approaches to “asking nature” for inspiration that can drive efficiency, performance, and organizational design in ways traditional innovation methods cannot match. For investors and entrepreneurs, this session reveals where bioinformed approaches are creating immediate strategic advantages while positioning for long-term transformation. You’ll gain practical frameworks for evaluating bio-inspired opportunities in your industry and identifying areas where nature’s wisdom can provide a competitive edge.

The purpose of this workshop is to demonstrate how the application of nature’s deepest patterns, principles and strategies can be applied to innovation. By learning from the planet’s oldest innovation tools we might successfully borrow those best practices to radically transform innovation in our organizations and society today. This process of learning from nature’s wisdom is called Biomimicry, and its application ranges widely from product design to the design of whole cities. We will review the key principles of Biomimicry, share real-world examples of how the practice has been applied, and conduct an exercise to apply the process together.