Objectives
Every participant should walk away with:
- New tools, techniques and working habits for rapid experimentation
- A lived sense of how much can be achieved in a focused three hour window with a small, committed team
- Concrete ideas and artefacts – from pitches to prototype concepts – that can be refined further back in their own organisations
- The confidence that “vibe coding” and AI enabled building are not out of reach, but within the grasp of small, motivated teams
If Sunday afternoon is about why, and Monday morning about how, This session is where we roll up sleeves and do the work.
This sprint is designed as an ode to the doers – the frontline leaders, programmers, designers, operators and digital natives who are tasked with fulfilling the strategies that come from the boardroom, and who so often create the first sparks of new ideas. That said, it’s also very much open to any executives who want to sit shoulder to shoulder with their builders and experience the pace and possibility of real innovation actualisation.
The clock effectively starts at the end of the morning session. Those continuing into the sprint will be assigned to their sprint teams – consciously built to deliver diversity of organisation type, role, region, skillset, and experience. Teams can use lunch to get to know their assigned teammates and starting to trade perspectives, understand skillsets, and ready themselves as a team.
After lunch, we reconvene briefly in the main room to frame the challenge and set expectations. Each team will be assigned a different high level concept/opportunity to help kick of their ideation. From there the starters gun fires, and each group will have three hours of time to work through an innovation “sprint” effort.
The brief is simple but demanding: apply the morning’s learnings to a real opportunity or friction, and by the end of the session produce at least a clear pitch or business case for a solution, and perhaps even an early prototype or build that demonstrates the idea. Groups can use whatever tools they choose – from “analog” sticky notes to agentic AI. LLM’s, low code platforms, and vibe coding. Exploit the tools you know, understand the tools others swear by.
The emphasis is not on polished perfection, but on thoughtful framing, creative use of tools and honest exploration of what might be possible if you just start.
You will not be left to figure it all out alone. Throughout the sprint a small group of enablement mentors and coaches will circulate the room. They are there to be called on – to challenge assumptions, suggest different approaches, unblock stuck teams and share patterns they have seen work elsewhere. At times they may pause the room to highlight a strong move one team is making, or to flag a common misstep they are seeing across multiple tables, so everyone can learn in real time.
As the clock ticks to zero, we come back together for a showcase in the main room. Each group will have a short slot to stand up, share the essence of their sprint output and answer a couple of quick questions. Earlier session attendees are welcome to come back to hear the fruits of the afternoon’s efforts, while a select panel of “AI Forward” industry judges will offer fast feedback and observations, and will ultimately select one team as the sprint winner.
