The Road Ahead – Scaling Innovation in an Evolving Landscape
2026-09-17 07:30 - 11:45 (America/New_York) | FORVIA North America, 2800 High Meadow Circle, Auburn Hills, MI, 48326, United States
Hosted and held in partnership with:

The Road Ahead with FORVIA convenes senior leaders from FORVIA and the VC mobility community to examine how the global supplier is investing in emerging technologies to move them from innovation to scale, and how capital, partnerships, and transactions shape that journey.
Agenda
7:30 a.m. — Registration, Breakfast & Startup + Capital Showcase
8:30 a.m. — Welcome Remarks
Adam Bernard
SAA President and Founder of AutoPerspectives

Francois Tardif
EVP, FORVIA North America

8:45 a.m. — Panel 1 — Identifying and Investing in Automotive Innovation
From Prototype to Platform: How Industrial Technologies Are Funded and Scaled
Moderator:
Jamie Butters
Founder of Butters Bureau and host of Autotown

Panelists:

Colleen Haley
President, Seating North America, FORVIA

Andrew Bates
Vice President, Automated Driving, FORVIA HELLA

Ben Cohen
Vice President, HELLA Ventures

Chad Durkee
Technology Scouting Director, North America, Faurecia

9:45 a.m. — Refreshment & Networking Break
10:00 a.m. — Fireside Chat — M&A, Investments, Exits and Scale
This session covers evolving buyer and investor dynamics, technology investment criteria, common industrial M&A pitfalls, and how early capital decisions shape eventual exits.
Moderator: Jamie Butters, Founder of Butters Bureau and host of Autotown
Panelists:

Chris Stallman
Fontinalis – Early-stage Venture Capital Investor

Nancy Philippart
General Partner and Co-Founder, BELLE Funds

TBD, Private Equity Fund Investor

10:50 a.m. — Financing the Industrial Technology Lifecycle
A conversation with the startups and manufacturing innovations that FORVIA is investing in.
Moderator:
Tom Kelly
CEO of Automation Alley

Panelists:

Kevin Mull
Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Bedrock Detroit

Maxwell Reeder
Account Executive, Inbolt

TBD, Regional Startup

11:30 a.m. — Closing Remarks
Free for SAA members and media; $49 for non-members

10th Annual Materials Innovations Summit
2026-11-11 08:00 - 11:30 | Munro & Associates, 1140 Centre Road, Auburn Hills, MI, 48326, United States
Mark your calendars.
More information to come.
