In this full-length video of our Xeclerator Community conversation, Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr challenge the conventional wisdom that innovation begins with brainstorming ideas. Drawing from their book Innovating Emergent Futures, they outline a more grounded approach that begins with deep participation, experimentation, and disruption of habitual thinking. Their framework, Engage, Disclose, Deviate, Co-Emerge, offers a practical method for innovators to develop novel solutions within complex systems.

Artist Sougwen Chung and other AI collaborators demonstrate that the most powerful innovations emerge not from automating human creativity away, but from fostering dynamic partnerships where humans and machines improvise together—a principle that industrial leaders can apply to unlock breakthrough thinking in manufacturing and design.

The Industrial Metaverse represents an integrated, immersive digital ecosystem combining advanced simulation, real-time data, AI-driven automation, and digital twins, significantly enhancing manufacturing, infrastructure, and technology sectors. Key insights from leading organizations (BCG, MIT Technology Review, Capgemini, and S&P Global) highlight measurable improvements in efficiency, quality, sustainability, and resilience. Effective adoption demands systemic integration, governance, open standards, and strategic ecosystem partnerships. This digital transformation is already underway, delivering tangible ROI and reshaping enterprise strategies for the future.

The European Accessibility Act (EAA), coming into force on June 28, 2025, will require companies selling products and services in the EU to meet strict accessibility standards. This includes not only consumer tech like smartphones and e-commerce sites, but also impacts manufacturers and B2B software providers whose products support consumer-facing services. Non-compliance risks fines, product bans, and reputational damage. But beyond regulation, the EAA is a chance to drive innovation, improve user experience, and expand access for over 135 million EU citizens with disabilities—making inclusive design a business imperative.

In this conversation, Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr challenge the conventional wisdom that innovation begins with brainstorming ideas. Drawing from their book Innovating Emergent Futures, they outline a more grounded approach that begins with deep participation, experimentation, and disruption of habitual thinking. Their framework, Engage, Disclose, Deviate, Co-Emerge, offers a practical method for innovators to develop novel solutions within complex systems.

Despite their remarkable capabilities, today’s AI systems still falter at interpreting clocks and calendars—a surprising blind spot revealed by the new "Lost in Time" study. Researchers tested advanced multimodal models using a dataset called DateTimeReasoning and found that even top performers like Gemini-2.0 and GPT-based models struggle with visual layouts, math, and logic involved in time-based tasks. The study highlights how essential yet challenging temporal reasoning is for real-world AI applications—and how better training and datasets could help machines finally make sense of time.

Digital twins are rapidly evolving into real-time intelligence platforms at the center of industrial transformation. New research from WEF, TCS, and Deloitte shows how their integration with AI and automation is enabling anticipatory operations, increased efficiency, and strategic agility. As technologies converge, digital twins are becoming essential infrastructure for competitive, adaptive manufacturing.

The Xcelerator Community team has analyzed Mary Meeker’s voluminous 340 page report on Artificial Intelligence, and highlighted ten transformative trends poised to redefine manufacturing and industrial innovation. These include the rapid evolution of AI from assistive tools to autonomous agents, a surge in AI infrastructure investment, and the emergence of AI-driven productivity and decision-making. Meeker recommends that manufacturing leaders must strategically adopt AI to harness its full potential, transforming not just operations but entire business models.