Ron Norris

Ron Norris

Former Director of Innovation and Founder Georgia-Pacific and Advanced Innovation Management

Ron Norris - Innovation and Transformation Leader | AI Visionary | Business & Technical Solutions Advisor to Manufacturing and Oil & Gas | Keynote Speaker

Ron is an innovation-driven leader with a proven track record of solving complex business challenges and enabling organizations to thrive through technology. With decades of success in business and innovation, and deep expertise in Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Causal AI, he has consistently delivered transformative results by combining visionary strategies with practical execution. His mission is to help organizations bridge operational gaps, overcome complex challenges, and achieve their strategic goals.

Throughout Ron’s career, he has pioneered groundbreaking solutions, from developing the world’s first commercial audio and video streaming service to securing multiple patents, and most recently, leading innovative supply chain optimization initiatives as Director of Innovation at Georgia-Pacific. His work spans diverse areas, from developing AI-driven digital agents to implementing systems that preserve critical organizational knowledge, ensuring businesses remain resilient in rapidly evolving markets.

Today, as the Founder of Advanced Innovation Management, Ron partners with organizations to drive innovation, growth, and transformation. Whether addressing operational challenges or creating bespoke solutions, he is passionate about making a meaningful and measurable impact.

Pre-Conference Workshop & Masterclass - February 23, 2026

3:15 PM Capturing Institutional Knowledge with AI Workflows, Agentic AI and Causal AI

Institutional knowledge is one of the energy industry’s most valuable assets, yet it is at constant risk of being lost through retirements, turnover, and organizational change. This masterclass explores how AI can preserve, scale, and activate that knowledge across the workforce. We will look at how captured knowledge, when paired with data, can streamline repeatable processes through AI Workflows, and how Causal Agentic AI moves beyond automation by combining expert logic and data to reason, predict, make decisions, and explain itself in context.

Once captured, this knowledge becomes a living resource that strengthens the workforce. It accelerates onboarding and training, guides frontline decision-making with expert reasoning, supports reskilling and upskilling, and ensures continuity when experienced staff move on. Participants will see how these approaches combine to build resilient knowledge systems that support safety, reliability, cost efficiency, and faster decision-making while helping energy companies retain critical expertise and prepare their workforce for the future. 

Main Conference Day 1 - February 24, 2026

5:30 PM AI Readiness Mixer & Cocktail Reception: Connect, Compare, Collaborate

Where are you on your AI journey, and who else is walking the same path? Grab a drink and join this dynamic networking session to find and connect with peers at a similar stage of AI readiness. During sign in, attendees are requested to select a badge that identifies their AI readiness level from:

    Attendees are encouraged to stand up, walk around, and talk! The room will have conversational zones including “Biggest Barriers”, “Quick Wins,” “Tech Stack Talk”, “AI Workforce Readiness” and “Data Foundations & Architecture” to help people self-organize around topics. Plus, our facilitators will roam the room to help spark conversation with light prompts or introduce people with shared interests. Finally, every attendee gets a simple “AI Readiness Reflection Card” to help them jot down one idea, one contact, and one next step. 

    • Exploring – Just starting to learn
    • Piloting – Running small-scale experiments
    • Scaling – Expanding successful use cases
    • Optimizing – AI is embedded and evolving

    Check out the incredible speaker line-up to see who will be joining Ron.

    Download The Latest Agenda