WELCOME
The AI Summit Brainport 2026 will explore this year’s critical question:
“AI at work. Use it or lose it?” How are humans and AI to cooperate effectively? What tasks will or should remain the domain of humans? How will cooperating with AI affect humans? What happens if you choose not to use AI? Can you still make that choice? And how do we prepare organizations and people for the changes that AI tools are and will be forcing?
The AI Summit Brainport 2026 will take place on Thursday, November 12, at the Evoluon in Eindhoven.
Expect inspiring sessions with leading experts who will tackle precisely these questions – on cooperation, the boundaries of human work, and preparation for change – grounded in human-technology interaction, change management, ethics, security, and responsible deployment, with practical insights for applying AI safely and effectively across industries.
Curious about the energy, insights, and collaboration that define the summit? Check out the aftermovie from last year’s edition (below) and stay informed of what’s ahead in 2026.
Days until the AI Summit Brainport 2026
Timetable 2026
Morning Program
|
09:00 |
Walk in with tea/coffee |
|
10:00 |
Welcome and opening |
|
10:15 |
Keynote Josette Gevers |
|
10:45 |
Interactive session |
|
11:15 |
Coffee break and Expo |
|
11:45 |
Morning Track programs |
Afternoon Program
|
13:00 |
Lunch break and Expo |
|
14:15 |
Afternoon Track programs |
|
16:00 |
Central closing |
|
16:15 |
Expo, networking and drinks |
Josette Gevers - Keynote speaker
Full Professor at Team Effectiveness and Workplace Collaboration and Vice-Dean of the Department of Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences at Eindhoven University of Technology
The Perks and Perils of AI Teammates
“AI at work. Use it or lose it?”
As AI becomes embedded in everyday work, that question suddenly feels very real. With generative AI by our side, we now have a teammate who never sleeps, never complains, and always has an answer. Sounds perfect… or does it?
AI can drastically boost productivity, accelerate decision-making, and transform the way we work. But as we increasingly rely on AI, important questions emerge. What happens to expertise, creativity, and collaboration when AI always has an answer ready? Are we becoming more productive, or merely more dependent? And in a world where everyone uses AI, can one still afford not to?
In The Perks and Perils of AI Teammates, Prof. Josette Gevers explores the social dilemma of productivity in the age of AI. While ever-helpful artificial teammates promise faster, smarter, and more efficient work, they may simultaneously erode the very human qualities that drive long-term corporate success.
The central question, therefore, is not whether humans and AI will work together, but how. How do we design effective human-AI collaboration? Which tasks should remain exclusively human? And how can organizations prepare people for a future in which AI is no longer just a tool, but a teammate?
Because that future is already here.
The audience in control
Interactive session
In this interactive plenary session, two experts take the stage to explore the questions that matter most to the audience. Participants vote live on the topics and questions they want addressed, shaping the conversation in real time. Attendees in the main hall and those following the plenary session in the Restaurant (Next) or Jupiter can participate equally, ensuring every voice can help steer the discussion.
Saskia Lensink PhD
Strategic Lead GPT-NL
Saskia Lensink PhD
Saskia Lensink is an expert in the field of language and speech technology and earned her PhD in linguistics from Leiden University. At TNO, she leads the development of GPT-NL, the Dutch initiative for a sovereign and lawfully developed language model. She is also involved in various European projects focused on the development of sovereign European language models.
Saskia is a sought-after speaker on digital sovereignty and the concrete steps GPT-NL is taking in this area, and she regularly shares her insights on the opportunities and challenges of developing technology for and by Europe.
Sander Kok
Founding - Talking To Machines
Sander Kok - Tatoma (Talking To Machines)
Sander Kok studied Industrial Engineering at TU/e and has spent his career where technology meets adoption: at NXP in semiconductors, at WPP in marketing and media, and at GoodHabitz in online learning. He's the founder of Tatoma (Talking To Machines), a firm built entirely around bridging that gap: from what the technology can do to what people actually do with it. Tatoma partners with organisations across the Netherlands and Denmark to drive AI transformation.
Sander's thesis: AI is in everyone's hands by now. The best part is still ahead: deciding what for.
In just a few years generative AI has become part of how we do things at home and at work, faster than any technology before it. What happens next is the more interesting part: we start deciding deliberately where to use it and where not to. That makes this one of the most creative periods to be working in.
