Industry Exchange Series: Building a Tech and AI Adoption Roadmap

Event Description

Join Conexus Indiana and Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. at Fort Wayne Metals for our second Industry Exchange Workshop on May 21, 2026 from 9AM-1PM.

A tour to see technology adoption in action is available from 1PM-2PM after the workshop.

(Note: Closed toe shoes required for tour)

Doors Open at 8:30AM for Registration and Networking

Light breakfast and lunch will be served.

About the Event

Most manufacturing and logistics companies know they should be investing in digital tools, automation, and AI. What’s harder is knowing where to start and how to build a sensible roadmap, especially for businesses with limited time, tight margins, and a stretched workforce.

 

Conexus has designed a one-day workshop for Indiana’s small and mid-sized advanced manufacturing and logistics companies that want practical, repeatable strategies and a structured approach to evaluating, prioritizing, and sequencing technology adoption projects.

 

Informed by what real, Indiana AML companies have actually tried—what worked, what slowed them down, and what they wish they would’ve known before they started—this workshop will focus on how to thoughtfully build a tech adoption roadmap and how to define your first (or next) tech adoption project.

 

Leave with what you need to more quickly move from ideas to action without chasing shiny tools or getting stuck in never-ending pilots.

 

Interested but not able to attend in Fort Wayne? Stay tuned for information on future workshops.

 

What You’ll Learn

 

You’ll work through proven, peer-informed methods to:

• Anchor technology decisions, including emerging tools like AI, to business outcomes, not tools
• Build credible ROI and total cost cases that leaders can act on
• Design pilots that are ready to scale, not just demonstrate
• Place people at the center of adoption

You’ll learn from peers, use practical templates, and leave with a playbook you can reuse across future projects. You’ll also have dedicated time to connect with peers navigating similar challenges and hear directly from a panel of Indiana AML leaders who will share their tech adoption journeys.

 

Who Should Attend

 

This workshop is designed for small and mid-sized Indiana AML companies, including leaders involved in:

• Operations or continuous improvement
• IT/OT or automation decision-making
• Engineering or plant leadership

No matter where you are in your tech adoption journey, this session is built to meet you there.

Agenda Topics

This workshop will have 3 main topics

8:30 - 9AM: Registration and Light Breakfast

9 - 9:15AM: Welcome and Introductions

9:15AM - 12:15PM: Workshop Content

Topic 1: People Focused Adoption (Strategy, Culture and "Why")

Topic 2: Value Realization (ROI, TCO and Business Case Design)

Topic 3: Scale with Discipline (Pilot, Project and Roadmap design)

12:15 - 1PM: Lunch and Networking

1PM: Technology Adoption Tour of Fort Wayne Metals

Admission

Free; registration required