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  • Annual Conference 2026

Annual Conference 2026

Designing the for the Unknown

September 30 - October 1st, 2026

The 2026 ODC Annual Conference will be held fully on-line, spread out over two consecutive days: September 30 and October 1. It is co-organized by Özgecan Koçak (Emory University) and Jeroen van Bree (Berenschot & University of Amsterdam). The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Designing for the Unknown’. The unprecedented turbulence that organizations are currently faced with means we have to design for an unknown future. Our hope is that this conference will be a forum for exchange about this pressing issue between academics, practitioners, and executives. On the first day of the conference, we want to explore several developments that are bringing change and uncertainty to organizations, such as the rise of GenAI, geopolitical turbulence, and climate change. On the second day, we want to explore what innovations the field of organization design can bring to address these challenges.

Register now

Co-organizers


Özgecan Koçak

Emory University


Jeroen van Bree

Berenschot & University of Amsterdam

Day 1: Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Keynote


Joel Podolny

Honor Education, former Apple and Yale

Designing for the unknown

Working groups

WG1


Henk Volberda

University of Amsterdam

A discussion about geopolitical turbulence and the impact on business, based on the Global Risks Report of the World Economic Forum.

WG2


John Joseph

UC Irvine

GenAI and the Dissolution of Organizational Boundaries.

WG3

Working group on organizational responses to climate change: to be announced.

Panel discussion


Defining the unknown

Moderated by Phanish Puranam (INSEAD)

Panelists:

  • Henk Volberda
  • John Joseph
  • [to be announced]

Day 2: Thursday, October 1, 2026

Keynote


Melissa Valentine

Stanford

AI-Powered Organizations: Redefining the Future of Work

Working groups

WG1


Amy Kates

Former Accenture, Kates Kesler

Maverick Organizations of the Future: a guided discussion to explore how changes in technology, global trade, and demographics should start changing how we think about complex organizational systems.

WG2


Anissa Oukhiar

Turner & Townsend


Chengwei Liu

Imperial College London

Best of both worlds: a practitioner – academic conversation about how we can engage human expertise to balance the shortcomings of AI.

WG3


Sameer Srivastava

UC Berkeley

Redesigning Structure and Culture for GenAI-Enabled Organizations: an exploration of the organizational design implications of the shift to GenAI through a blend of academic research and applied insights, with participation of Gaveal Fan (UC Berkeley) and Yankai Wang (Stanford University).

Panel discussion


Designing for the unknown

Moderated by Martin Gonzalez (Google DeepMind)

Panelists:

  • Amy Kates
  • Anissa Oukhiar and/or Chengwei Liu
  • Sameer Srivastava

Join us

Membership in the community is open to any individual, firm, organization or institution with an interest in advancing the knowledge and practice of organization design and who wish to support and enhance ODC's mission.

Apply

Contact us

Organizational Design Community
Co/Aarhus University, Aarhus BSS, ICOA, Aarhus BSS, Building 1831,
Universitetsbyen 61
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Denmark

info@orgdesigncomm.com

CVR: 33843615

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