About The Event

TRANSFORM is ZEDEDA's flagship edge intelligence event focused on the operational realities of building, deploying, securing, and scaling AI at the distributed edge.

Hosted in Houston, the center of global energy innovation, TRANSFORM 2026 brings together the practitioners, architects, operators, and ecosystem leaders solving these challenges in production.

Thank You To Our Sponsors

Event Details

DATE:
September 15, 2026

VENUE:
The Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston
1600 W Loop S Houston, TX 77027

(SPECIAL DISCOUNTED RATE BELOW)

Venue parking information : Valet parking $24 per day, $60 overnight

Agenda

  • 8:00am: Registration and breakfast
  • 9:00am: Welcome remarks (Said Ouissal, CEO and Founder, ZEDEDA)
  • 9:20am: Fireside chat: Emerson in Conversation (Claudio Fayad, CTO, Aspen Technology, Emerson and Said Ouissal, CEO and Founder, ZEDEDA)
  • 9:40am: Fireside chat: How the Toyota Way Drives Product and Process Quality Improvements at the Edge (Alex Meredith, Senior Engineer & Product Owner, Toyota Motor North America and Padraig Stapleton, SVP & CTO, ZEDEDA)
  • 10:00am: Break
  • 10:20am: Sponsor session: HP - The Next Wave of Edge AI (Luke Nicholls, Product Manager, Edge AI Platform, HP)
  • 10:30am: AI at the Edge: Ready or Not? (Brian Chambers, Founder, Edge Monsters)
  • 11:00am: Panel: Data Has Gravity: Why Industrial AI Has to Meet the Machines (Chris Monchinski, CTO, InflexionPoint and Colin Crockett, Industrial IoT Engineer, Toyota Motor North America and Erik Nordmark, Co-Founder and Chief Architect, ZEDEDA)
  • 11:45am: Lunch
  • 1:00pm: Scaling Edge AI Requires Intelligent Edge-to-Cloud Data Movement (Jonathan Kader, VP Product & Analytics, Quvia)
  • 1:30pm: Sponsor session: Tommy Toles, Global Account Manager, Lenovo
  • 1:40pm: Streamline Innovations: Living on the Edge: Cybersecurity for OT Infrastructure at Scale (Peter Photos, CTO, Streamline Innovations) 
  • 2:10pm: Break
  • 2:30pm: Sponsor session: Intel - Building the Foundation for Autonomous Factories (Todd Matsler - Sr. Director/GM, Manufacturing Segment, Intel)
  • 2:40pm: Building the Future-Ready Edge for Energy Operations (Garud Sridhar, Head of Product, Agora™ edge AI, SLB)
  • 3:10pm: Break
  • 3:25pm: The "Last Mile" of Edge AI (Puneet Shetty, SVP of Product & Field Engineering, Celona)
  • 3:55pm: AI Everywhere: The Infrastructure Considerations Facing Industry as AI Workloads Move from a Distant Data Center to Your Workplace (Martin Renkis, CEO, Modular, Submer Group)
  • 4:25pm: Closing remarks (Said Ouissal, CEO and Founder, ZEDEDA)
  • 4:30pm: Networking reception
  • 6:00pm: Event concludes

*Agenda subject to change.

Featured Speakers

Join the leaders building and operating edge intelligence in the real world.

Claudio Fayad
CTO, Aspen Technology
Emerson

Alexander Meredith
Senior Engineer and Product Owner
Toyota Motor North America

Colin Crockett
Industrial Digitization Engineer & Technical Product Owner
Toyota Motor North America

Jonathan Kader
VP, Product & Analytics
Quvia

Garud B Sridhar
Head of Product, Agora Edge AI
SLB 

Brian Chambers
Founder
Edge Monsters

Peter Photos
Chief Technology Officer
Streamline Innovations

Chris Monchinski
Chief Technology Officer
InflexionPoint LLC

Martin Renkis

CEO, Modular
Submer Group


Puneet Shetty

SVP of Product & Field Engineering
Celona


Luke Nicholls

Product Manager
Edge AI Platform
HP


Todd Matsler

Sr. Director/GM – Manufacturing Segment
Intel

Tommy Toles
Global Account Manager
Lenovo

Said Ouissal
Founder & CEO
ZEDEDA

Padraig Stapleton
SVP and Chief Technology Officer
ZEDEDA

Erik Nordmark
Co-founder and Chief Architect
ZEDEDA

Additional speakers to be announced

Registration Has Closed

Accommodations

Please note that rooms will most likely sell out before the room block close dates listed below. We encourage you to book early to secure a room at the conference rate.

 

Houston Marriott Uptown by the Galleria

Book with this link HERE 

Last Day to Book : Tuesday, September 01, 2026

Dates with Availability
September 14-16, 2026 

Discounted Room Rates Start From: Standard King Room $209 per night (plus taxes and fees)

Taxes: Hotel’s room rates are subject to applicable state and local taxes (currently 17.052%) in effect at the time of check-out.

Rate Includes: Complimentary Wi-Fi in guest rooms, gym access, business center 

Parking rate:

Self-parking rate discounted at $25/night 

Valet parking rate discounted at $35/night 

Room Block Closes: September 1, 2026 at 11:59PM CDT
(Please note, the rate is valid until the cut-off date or the room block is full)

Hotel Rating: ★★★★ | Hotel Website

Hotel Address
1750 W Loop S, 

Houston, TX 77027

Distance to Venue
0.2 mile / 4 minute walk

Cancellation Policy
48 Hours in Advance, Late Cancellation Fee is One Night’s Room & Tax

Early Departure Fee
One Night’s Room and Tax

No-Show Fee
One Night’s Room and Tax

The Post Oak Hotel

Book with this link HERE 

Last Day to Book : August 15th, 2026

Dates with Availability
September 14-16, 2026 

Discounted Room Rates Start From: Standard Luxury King Room $459 per night (plus taxes and fees)

Taxes: Hotel’s room rates are subject to applicable state and local taxes (currently 17.052%) in effect at the time of check-out.

Rate Includes: Complimentary Wi-Fi in guest rooms, gym access, business center 

Parking rate:

Valet parking rate overnight at $60/night 

Room Block Closes: August 15th, 2026
(Please note, the rate is valid until the cut-off date or the room block is full)

Hotel Rating: ★★★★★ | Hotel Website

Hotel Address
1600 W Loop S, 

Houston, TX 77027

Distance to Venue
Downstairs

Cancellation Policy
48 Hours in Advance, Late Cancellation Fee is One Night’s Room & Tax

Early Departure Fee
One Night’s Room and Tax

No-Show Fee
Full Charge



Privacy Policy

At ZEDEDA, we are committed to safeguarding your privacy. Sensitive speaker information will only be accessible to event organizers and program committee members who adhere to the highest confidentiality standards. Rest assured that your information will never be sold or shared beyond these parties.

Speaker’s personal information, including name, company, job title, biography, and photo, will appear on the public schedule. For information on our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, please review our Privacy Policy.

Please contact [email protected]  directly for any questions or issues. 

QUESTIONS?

Question about submitting a proposal? Contact us at [email protected]