Create the future

21st of May | Copenhagen

Together, we accelerate transitions with technology.

Event

Create the Future CPH: Leading innovation in a world of constant disruption

Create the Future brings together leaders and experts to explore how organizations navigate constant disruption and turn innovation into action. This exclusive edition focuses on leading through uncertainty, from emerging technologies to ecosystem collaboration and sustainability as a core business driver. The program includes sharp keynotes, in-depth expert sessions and concludes with drinks.

21st of may, 2026 | Invite only

Copenhagen

Making an impact together

Program

– 14.00: Walk-in & Welcome and start
– 14:30: Opening Keynote
– 14.45 – 15.45: Expert sessions round 1
– 16.00 – 17.00: Expert sessions round 2
– 17.15 – 18.00: Main program
– 18.00: Networking drinks

Inspirational speakers

Meet visionary experts and pioneers sharing their insights and experiences to accelerate the transition with technology. Get inspired by innovative ideas and forward-thinking solutions.

Networking with changemakers

Expand your network and connect with like-minded innovators and decision makers. Together, we can shape the sustainable future.

Expert sessions

Delve deeper into crucial topics during interactive sessions led by leading experts. Discover opportunities and work together on concrete solutions.

Together, we accelerate transitions with technology

Actively contribute to tomorrow's solutions and make an impact in technological and societal transitions. Your contribution makes the difference.

Click on the session for more information

Choose the expert sessions that fit your challenge

Playing the Ecosystems Game

with Arno Nijhof (Director Tech Discovery nlmtd)

Gain insights into the forces that shape an innovation ecosystem and discover the dynamics that determine whether emerging technologies truly create impact. Learn from our cases of ecosystem development and experience The Ecosystem Game, a case-based, interactive game that helps you uncover key agents, domains and value streams in a fun and insightful way. This session will show how strong ecosystems accelerate emerging technologies, and what this means for collaboration, roles and value creation in the future of work.

Man & Machine: from market scan to action plan

with Arno Nijhof (Director Tech Discovery nlmtd)

In this working session, we’ll share insights from Tech Discovery research and real-world cases across industries already deploying robotics, AI, and adjacent technologies. Rather than focusing on theory, we’ll explore how businesses are approaching the future of work today-what’s moving from pilot to operations, where value is being captured, and where challenges remain.

Together, we’ll examine key questions: What do organizations expect in the next year? And in the next five? Which changes need to start now? And where should the primary focus sit-on technology, or on the human side of transformation?

Experiencing the Future of Work

With Vanessa Flink (Managing director of State of Tomorrow)

An interactive session showcasing how future scenarios help organizations visualize the impact of technology and changing work models. By using existing, carefully crafted scenarios, participants will experience what this means for their organization, people, and strategy, and the choices needed today to remain relevant.

Venture Clienting

with Mads Hebbelstrup (Ex-Senior Investments and Venture Clienting Partner at Maersk Growth)

Venture clienting and client venturing are no longer experimental tools – they are strategic levers. In this one‑hour roundtable, we’ll explore the strategic “why,” demystify the “how,” and share practical steps to launch a venture clienting approach that fits your organization’s ambition and operating reality. Expect real examples, candid dialogue, and actionable insights you can bring back to your teams the next day.

If innovation needs to move faster, this is the conversation you don’t want to miss.

Stop talking, start making - From hype to habit

with Ocean Conijn (Bit)

AI has become the boardroom’s favorite buzzword. Yet most organizations keep getting stuck in isolated pilots and experiments — without real impact on the processes that matter.
The missing ingredient isn’t more strategy. It’s making something. Because nothing cuts through the deliberation faster than a working demo that shows what’s actually possible.
At Create the Future Copenhagen, Bit joins nlmtd Denmark to shift the conversation from talking about AI to building with it. Real use cases, concrete tools, and hands-on sessions designed to get you from “we should do something” to something you can put in front of your stakeholders — fast.
If you’re ready to move beyond the hype and start showing results, this is the room to be in.

Humanising Innovation

We have learned how to build the systems, structures, and processes that drive innovation. But somehwhere along the way people inside them stops thriving. This session explores what is missing, and what leadership looks like when human flourishing becomes as central to innovation as output.

Licence to operate: When Sustainability Is non-negotiable.

with Sabrina Tekle Jensen (Head of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation at Copenhagen Airports) and Astrid Birk Nicolajsen (PHD Danish Technical University)

As economic and geopolitical uncertainty intensifies, many organizations has a focus on resilience, cost, and short-term performance— this creates a tension between long term sustainability targets and shot term business results. This roundtable brings together senior sustainability leaders to address this challenge head-on. What does it take to anchor sustainability a non-negotiable part of core business strategy? How do you establish clear ownership, align incentives, and ensure it actively shapes commercial decisions, partnerships, and innovation agendas?
Join us for a candid exchange on how leading organizations are turning sustainability into a business-critical capability—and sustaining momentum when it is under the greatest pressure.

Calibrate your leadership skills to navigate complexity and constant change

Innovation leadership is not about managing projects – it’s about leading inside a crucible of pressure, politics and constant uncertainty, while ensuring psychological safety for your team to unluck performance. The nervous system is the invisible engine of performance – when it’s regulated, you unlock sharper focus, clearer decisions, and the creativity needed to lead boldly. But when stress pushes you into survival mode, everything narrows: your thinking, your energy, and your ability to navigate uncertainty or drive meaningful innovation. Through practical exercises and honest peer conversations, you’ll discover what strong innovation leaders actually do differently – and how to apply it immediately.

How AI captures human expertise before it disappears

with Max van Rest & Alon Efrati (Bit)

As experienced professionals retire, organizations risk losing decades of critical field knowledge. In this session, we showcase how speech-to-knowledge AI transforms everyday conversations into structured, reusable expertise. Based on a real industrial case, we demonstrate how mechanics simply speak while working, and AI turns this into a living knowledge base for future generations. Participants learn how emerging technologies can preserve expertise, accelerate onboarding, and radically shorten learning curves. A concrete example of how AI reshapes learning, knowledge transfer, and workforce continuity.

Where Innovation Meets Reality: The Challenge of Commercial Validation

Commercial validation is where promising ideas meet the real world – and many fail, not because they don’t work, but because customers won’t pay, adopt, or switch. Uncertainty compounds across pricing, timing, buyer behavior, and perceived value, especially before a finished product exists. Limited trust with new potential customers and fear of disrupting relationships with existing customers further complicate the validation process. Methods such as customer discovery, willingness-to-pay testing, and pretotyping help test key assumptions – illustrated through real-life cases from physical (non-digital) products.

Location: Bragesgade 8B 2200 Copenhagen