Senior Executive Conference
AI-Driven Discovery & Innovation
October 11–13, 2026
Half Moon Bay, CA | The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay
Senior Executive Conference
AI-Driven Discovery & Innovation
October 11–13, 2026
Half Moon Bay, CA
The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay
Senior leaders from across the ALDA community will come together in Half Moon Bay, CA, for the 2026 Fall Senior Executive Conference, one of the association’s cornerstone opportunities for peer engagement and strategic insight.
Our sessions this fall will focus on AI-Driven Discovery & Innovation. The program will explore how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way science is conceived, tested, validated, and translated, with a particular focus on what these changes mean for ALDA member companies that enable this discovery and development.
A central question will be how AI expands scientific demand and reshapes the wet lab, data, automation, and validation needs required to turn computational insight into real-world discovery. The agenda will bring together leaders from AI, pharma, research, and the ALDA member community to examine where the practical opportunities and business implications are likely to emerge in the years ahead.
In addition to the program, the conference provides a trusted space for meaningful conversations with fellow leaders from across ALDA’s membership.
ALDA’s semi-annual conferences are for C-suite and full-time senior executive employees of ALDA member companies, directly involved in the daily strategic management of their organizations. Please view the Attendance Guidelines for more details.
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
All times are PT.
Sunday, October 11
4–6 p.m. | Registration
6–9:15 p.m. | Welcome reception, dinner, and opening keynote with:
Nikki Haley
Walter P. Stern Chair at the Hudson Institute; US Ambassador to the United Nations (2017-2019); Governor of South Carolina (2011-2017)
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will open the conference with a wide-ranging conversation on global affairs, American leadership, economic competitiveness, and the geopolitical forces shaping business and innovation.
Drawing on her experience in state, national, and international leadership, Ambassador Haley will offer ALDA executives perspective on navigating uncertainty, responding to global change, and leading organizations through an increasingly complex environment.
Monday, October 12
9 a.m.–4:15 p.m. | Welcoming remarks followed by AI-Driven Discovery & Innovation programming.
Speaker:
Eric Kauderer-Abrams
Head of Life Sciences
Anthropic
Frontier AI and the Next Demand Curve for Life Science Tools
Frontier AI is advancing rapidly, with increasingly capable models beginning to reshape how scientists reason, design experiments, analyze data, and pursue new discoveries. Eric Kauderer-Abrams will provide a forward-looking perspective on where AI capabilities are headed and what their evolution could mean for the life sciences.
The session will explore how AI may change the pace, scale, and nature of scientific research, creating new workflows, new experiments, and potentially new sources of demand for analytical instruments, life science tools, and diagnostics. It will also frame the opportunities and questions these advances present for the companies that enable scientific discovery.
10:15–11 a.m. | Break
Speakers:
James Love, PhD
VP, Life Science
Lila Sciences
Ali Madani, PhD
Co-founder & CEO
Profluent
From Hypothesis to Experiment: AI’s New Discovery Loop
AI is moving beyond analyzing scientific data to actively generating hypotheses, designing biological systems, and determining which experiments to pursue next. Ali Madani and James Love will explore the emergence of a new discovery model in which generative AI and experimentation operate as an increasingly continuous learning loop.
The session will examine how AI can dramatically expand the number of scientific ideas researchers can generate, prioritize, and test, while compressing the cycle from hypothesis to experimental result. The discussion will focus on how these approaches are changing the logic and pace of discovery itself, setting the stage for a new generation of AI-directed science.
12–1:30 p.m. | Lunch
1:30–2 p.m. | Annual Business Meeting
Speakers:
Hana El-Samad, PhD
SVP and Director, Institute of Computation
Altos Labs
Slavé Petrovski, PhD
VP, Centre for Genomics Research
AstraZeneca
From Biological Data to Discovery: How AI Is Reshaping Disease Understanding and Drug Development
The growing scale and complexity of biological data are creating new opportunities to understand disease, identify therapeutic targets, and uncover previously hidden relationships across human biology. Slavé Petrovski and Hana El-Samad will discuss how AI is being applied at the intersection of biological data, disease understanding, and therapeutic discovery.
Drawing on perspectives from both biopharma and cutting-edge biological research, the session will explore how AI can help researchers interpret complex datasets, generate new biological insights, and make better decisions throughout the discovery process. It will also examine how these capabilities may influence the types, quantity, and quality of data scientists need to generate in the laboratory.
3–3:15 p.m. | Break
Speaker:
Stacie Calad-Thomson, PhD
Global Business Development Lead, Pharma Labs and Manufacturing
NVIDIA
The AI-Native Laboratory: Agents, Automation, Robotics, and Digital Twins
As AI begins to determine not only what scientists should test but also how experiments are executed, the physical laboratory is poised for significant change. AI agents, laboratory automation, robotics, simulation, and digital twins are creating the foundation for more connected and increasingly autonomous scientific environments.
Stacie Calad-Thomson will explore how these technologies may transform the execution, monitoring, and optimization of experiments and the infrastructure required to support them. The session will focus specifically on what the emergence of the AI-enabled laboratory could mean for instrument manufacturers, automation providers, laboratory technology companies, and the broader scientific tools ecosystem.
4:15 p.m. | End of Monday programming.
5:30–9 p.m. | Reception and Dinner
Begin the evening with a reception on the Ocean Lawn, then move inside for dinner. Connect with fellow senior executives in a relaxed setting and continue the peer-to-peer conversations that are central to the ALDA community.
Tuesday, October 13
8–9:15 a.m. | Closing keynote speaker:
Eric Topol, MD
EVP, Scripps Research; Founder and Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute; Chair, Department of Translational Medicine
AI and the Future of Discovery
Dr. Eric Topol will close the conference with a forward-looking examination of how artificial intelligence is transforming medicine and biomedical discovery. He will explore the convergence of AI, genomics, digital health, and increasingly individualized healthcare, along with the opportunities and challenges involved in translating computational advances into meaningful improvements for patients.
His perspective will help connect the conference’s discussions to the future of diagnostics, clinical validation, scientific workflows, and the technologies required to enable the next generation of medicine.
9:15 a.m. | Adjournment
REGISTRATION FEES
We’re pleased to keep registration rates unchanged from previous years.
First attendee from your company:
$2,795
Additional attendees from your company:
$2,295
CANCELLATION & OTHER POLICIES
Registration Cancellation Policy: No refunds of meeting registration fees will be made for registration cancellations after Wednesday, September 30, 2026. If you must cancel, please remember that you are also responsible for canceling your hotel reservations.
Registration Payment: Conference registration fees must be paid in full prior to the conference.
Spouse/Partner Attendance: We encourage attendees to bring their spouses/partners to our conferences to enjoy the social aspects of the event. Spouses are welcome to attend the two receptions and dinners, and the Tuesday morning closing keynote speaker. To assist with planning and accurate headcounts, spouses must be registered by Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Spouse registrations received after September 1 will include a fee of $150 per evening event. (Please register your spouse with attendee registration.)
Please note that attendees’ agreement to abide by our Code of Conduct and our conference Attendance Guidelines is mandatory.
LOCATION & HOTEL INFORMATION
Half Moon Bay, California, US
The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay
1 Miramontes Point Rd
Half Moon Bay, CA 94019
Main Hotel Phone: (650) 712-7000
On a bluff overlooking the ocean, just 20 miles from San Francisco International Airport, The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay celebrates its surroundings with an experience rooted in rich natural resources and beauty. The property offers sweeping coastal views, scenic walking paths, and a relaxed setting to enjoy the Northern California coastline.
Hotel Accommodations:
ATTENDEES MUST MAKE THEIR OWN HOTEL RESERVATIONS.
ALDA’s room block at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is currently sold out, but we will have a few more rooms available for Saturday and Sunday on the link shortly. We will share more information once the rooms are added. Unfortunately, we still do not have any rooms for Monday night, October 12. If you have not yet reserved a room and would like to be placed on a waitlist for the Ritz-Carlton, please email Carol Starke or call her at 703.282.0902 before making other arrangements. We will try to assist attendees with nearby lodging options and will notify participants if additional rooms become available at the Ritz-Carlton.
We will continue to post updates here as additional information becomes available. Thank you for your understanding.
Room reservations are available through Friday, September 18, or until our block sells out. The hotel reservation link will be included in your conference registration confirmation email from info@thealda.org.
Note: There may be penalties for rooms vacated prior to the scheduled departure date, and “no-show” reservations will be billed to your account for the full dates of the reservation.
FAQs
What can I expect?
As the cornerstone events of the ALDA community, our Senior Executive Conferences offer valuable opportunities to build meaningful connections, gain strategic insights on emerging trends, and exchange perspectives with industry-leading peers. With no exhibitors, sponsors, or analysts in attendance, the conferences provide a unique environment for open conversation among senior executives.
When is the conference?
The conference begins on Sunday, October 11, at 6 p.m. with a welcome reception, followed by a guest speaker and dinner. We conclude with a keynote speaker on Tuesday, October 13, around 9:15 a.m.
Who should attend?
C-suite and full-time senior executive employees of ALDA member companies, directly involved in the daily strategic management of their organizations. Spouses are also welcome to attend the Sunday and Monday dinners and the closing session on October 13.
Please read more information in ALDA’s Attendance Guidelines.
**This conference is for ALDA members only. If you are interested in attending and are not a member, please contact ALDA staff regarding membership and the necessary next steps.
What is the cost to attend?
- First attendee from your company: $2,795
- Each additional attendee: $2,295
Where can I stay?
Attendees must make their own hotel reservations. ALDA’s room block at The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay is currently sold out. Please see more details in the Hotel Accommodations section above.
How do I register?
- Sign in to the website with your username and password. If you’re a member, you can reset your password here if needed. Or please contact us for assistance signing in.
- To register only yourself, select “Add Me.” Click “Save/Continue” to proceed through registration.
- Group registration: to register more than one person from your company and use one payment method for all registrants, use “Add Someone Else” to search for records in our system. If any registrant is not in our system, you can add them. Once all registrants are added, click “Save/Continue” to proceed through registration.
I have more questions – who can I contact?
Please email Carol Starke or call her at (703) 282-0902 with any questions.