One day that rethought everything we accept as true about AI, UX, and innovation.

The Innovation Conference That Explored AI, UX, and Technology Across Past, Present, and What Comes Next

Less hype. More signal. Real impact on how we work, think, and build in an AI-driven world

The Dialogue That Brought Us Together.

May 21, 2026 | Institute of Design at Illinois Tech

Chicago came together for one full day of candid conversations on AI, innovation, and leadership. A sold out room of innovators, leaders, designers, researchers, and technologists, all in one place

🗓️ Thursday, May 21st, 2026 | 🕐 9 AM - 5 PM

📍Institute of Design at Illinois Tech
3137 S Federal St, Chicago, IL 60616

The Idea Continues.

Nivan Was Never Just One Day

It began as a room full of people who believe innovation deserves more signal and less hype. That belief did not end when the day did. The Nivan Manifesto is a living statement of what we stand for across Tech, AI, UX, and Design, and it grows sharper with every voice that joins. Add your name and help carry it forward.

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What one day made possible

19 Speakers

11 Industries

15 Partners

1 Unforgettable Day

Every great day needs a powerful start

Back to the Future: Where Eras Converge

Nivan opened with a keynote that bridged where innovation has been and where it is going next.

Morning: The Past

The ideas, missteps, and breakthroughs that laid the foundation for how we innovate today.

• Opening keynote on what the industry got right, wrong, and what still matters
• Creative Duel: Scale vs. Craft
• Innovation Portal: Tools and patterns that shaped the field
• Discussions around the foundational decisions that defined how we build today

Midday: The Present

Current decisions that shape products, platforms, and human experience.

• Lightning talk on decisions shaping today's product ecosystems
• Creative Duel: Human Judgment vs. AI Assistance
• Innovation Portal: Real-time product and design decisions
• Interactive workshop on identifying meaningful signals in complex systems

Afternoon: The Future

Where innovation, design, and intelligence are headed next.

• Lightning talk on what we're designing toward in an AI-driven world
• Creative Duel: Personalization vs. Privacy
• Innovation Portal: The future of cities, healthcare, and AI systems
• Conversations on building meaningful breakthroughs and long-term innovation strategy

Inside the Nivan Experience

Creative Duel

Two opposing perspectives on real tensions in design and AI, head to head.

Innovation Portals

Condensed insights that cut through the noise and get straight to what matters.

Time Capsule

Capture what you believe right now and revisit it when the next shift arrives.

Message to Future

Attendees wrote a note to their future selves. We will transform and deliver each one back when the next shift arrives.

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Our Sponsors & Partners

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See Nivan Come to Life

Follow us on Instagram at @nivan.live for exclusive updates.

What your solution creates is not a bill. It's a life raft.

Nick Allen opened Nivan 2026 with stories from years in healthcare design, where users aren't a funnel. They're sick, in pain, afraid, sometimes dying. His call to designers was clear, get in the trenches, stand shoulder to shoulder with the people who will use what you build, and design for the service, not the sale.

More than one person in the room said his talk nearly brought them to tears.

That is the kind of room Nivan is building.

#NivanLive #Nivan2026 #InnovatingAcrossTime #AI #UX #Tech

Big ideas.
Bold conversations.
Unexpected connections.
Future-defining moments.

Nivan was never just about a single day.

It was about bringing together the people shaping what comes next.

And if this year was any indication…

We’re just getting started. ⚡

#Nivan2026 #nivanlive #InnovationAcrossTime #AI

🦄 Five days on from Nivan 2026, we have been listening to what people told us.

Not the polite conference feedback. The honest things, said in hallways and over coffee. A few themes came up again and again.

Humanity in the middle of AI. Attendees felt Nivan talked about this moment honestly, with empathy and intention, instead of fear or hype.

Community and connection. This was the strongest signature of the day. People stayed after sessions, speakers became participants, strangers became collaborators. The room felt different from a normal conference.

Less hype, more honesty. Real struggles, operational truth, strategic clarity. That is what earned the room’s trust.

Cross industry depth. Amazon, Netflix, Microsoft, United Airlines, Digitas, and the City of Chicago in honest dialogue made it feel like a real ecosystem conversation, broader than any one field.

The debates landed. Personalization vs. Privacy, Scale vs Craft and Human Judgment vs AI Assistance were among the most referenced themes afterward.

This is the Nivan we set out to build. Now we know what it can become.

Speaker highlights are next. We are spotlighting the voices that made the room think differently, one at a time.

Thank you to everyone who made the room what it was. 💜

#Nivan2026 #NivanLive #AI #UX #Innovation

It begins tomorrow.
The official Nivan 2026 recap starts rolling out this week. Photos, videos, and reels from the day it all came together.
If you were there, get ready to relive it. If you missed it, this is your way in.
Follow along and tag yourself when you spot the moments.
#NivanLive #Nivan2026

Voices of Nivan presents: The Nivan Mic.

Real conversations with innovators, builders, and leaders.

Aarav Jhaveri sits down with Bob Nesbitt, Former Director of Portfolio Strategy at AbbVie, to talk about what made Nivan different. #nivan2026 #nivanlive

nivan.live

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