Our 2025 Agenda

This year’s ACS' annual CTO Networking Dinner will be held on September 16th prior to the CIEX Summit on September 17&18. The CTO Networking dinner is an invite-only event providing a neutral and engaging environment where CTOs and senior executives connect and discuss the latest trends and insights. The dinner will emphasize fostering meaningful connections and discussions on topics relevant to business operations and innovation.

• The future of chemistry is now: The convergence of generative AI, quantum computing, and robotics is transforming the chemical industry—enabling faster innovation, smarter manufacturing, and more sustainable solutions
• Real-world applications: From AI-discovered polymers to biodegradable shampoo formulations and predictive sales tools, Syensqo is already unlocking tangible value with secure, in-house AI platforms like SyGPT and SyGrow
• Democratization of knowledge and innovation: Generative AI has the potential to make expert-level insights universally accessible, creating both opportunities and urgency for engineers and scientists to embrace this shift
• A call to action for the industry: By combining human ingenuity with AI's potential, chemical engineers can solve major industrial and environmental challenges—starting today, not decades from now

• Developing end-to-end High Throughput Research (HTR) strategies to accelerate innovation and enable the development of next generation materials
• Showcasing how these unique HTR workflows have delivered a 10-1,000x increase in experimental productivity, accelerated the discovery to commercialization process by more than 2x and increased hit rates by 4x
• Combining HTR and digital tools like machine learning, AI, data science and molecular modelling to improve Dows ability to tackle complex problems in research areas such as catalyst discovery, formulation, and application testing
• Demonstrating the versatility of these advanced capabilities for the development of new products with improved performance and sustainability for many applications across industries including packaging, infrastructure, consumer and mobility

• Overcoming the gap between AI aspirations and measurable real-world impact
• Applying AI technologies to scientific and technical workflows while overcoming headwinds unique to scientific R&D
• Building a science – smart AI strategy addressing data, technology and expertise to accelerate progress and achieve better outcomes
• Demonstrating successful examples and showcasing the impact of how the right strategy and partners achieve more accurate predictive models, more efficient processes, and a stronger innovation pipeline

• 3M Introduction and Innovation Model
• Amplifying R&D with “digital” – what’s working
• Digital R&D Transformation --inherent challenges
• Looking forward – the promise of “AI” in R&D

• Critical factors when evaluating a partner for digitalization: the technical nod of approval
• Fostering a culture of accountability and continuous improvement
• The importance of the customer experience team and its impact on implementation
• Building scientists' trust and upskilling your laboratory workforce

• Creating a circular and profitable carbon economy that meets market demand while creating efficiency in existing processes
• Transforming waste into valuable recycled carbon ethanol for a range of downstream derivatives
• Highlighting the impact of LanzaTech´s ethanol in the aviation industry: LanzaTech´s ethanol – which qualifies as a recycled carbon fuel - unlocks great value in terms of SAF certificates under the right legislation, such as the UK SAF Mandate
• Making progress and thriving at the intersection of novel technology, innovative financing and forward-looking policy

• Avoiding emissions
• Enabling energy transitions
• Reducing resource consumption
• Ensuring safe and sustainable by design

• Showcasing how sustainability is both a strategic imperative and business growth driver
• Enhancing customer value creation through supply chain collaboration
• Ensuring strategic sourcing and driving operational excellence
• Spotlighting PPG´s award-winning solution for automative customers: enhancing corrosion protection whilst significantly reducing energy and material requirements

• Establishing a clear mindset change on how we create a collaborative cross-functional working culture where we push problem ownership to the lowest level possible
• Moving from a structured approach to a three-pronged approach to effectively drive innovation
• Showcasing examples of large-scale enterprise transformation
• Spotlighting the Trinseo innovation story - how we are developing large scale pilots (KT quantities) of high-quality recycled PC, ABS and MMA.

In this interactive session, delegates will choose a roundtable to join. The roundtable will begin with a short and informal introduction by the roundtable host, followed by a facilitated discussion between all participants at the table. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into your chosen topic, and meet, network with, and exchange ideas with likeminded participants.

In this interactive session, delegates will choose a roundtable to join. The roundtable will begin with a short and informal introduction by the roundtable host, followed by a facilitated discussion between all participants at the table. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into your chosen topic, and meet, network with, and exchange ideas with likeminded participants.

In this interactive session, delegates will choose a roundtable to join. The roundtable will begin with a short and informal introduction by the roundtable host, followed by a facilitated discussion between all participants at the table. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into your chosen topic, and meet, network with, and exchange ideas with likeminded participants.

In this interactive session, delegates will choose a roundtable to join. The roundtable will begin with a short and informal introduction by the roundtable host, followed by a facilitated discussion between all participants at the table. This is an opportunity to delve deeper into your chosen topic, and meet, network with, and exchange ideas with likeminded participants.

• Unlocking capital for technology-led decarbonization: strategies for securing investment in long-horizon innovations, leveraging IRA incentives, public-private partnerships and venture collaborations to de-risk scale-up of clean technologies
• Embedding sustainability in R&D strategy: redesigning R&D priorities to align with emissions goals, product circularity and lifecycle impact – and overcoming organizational inertia to accelerate cultural and operational change
• Scaling innovations across complex operations and integrating into legacy infrastructure while managing risk, reliability and ROI
• Navigating regulatory complexity with flexibility, engagement and anticipation
• Enabling strategic collaboration models and technology partnerships, and building innovation ecosystems that accelerate deployment at scale

• Beyond emission reduction to readily available circular feedstock: enabling the energy transition with carbon capture and utilization as a key innovation growth area.
• Evonik Case Study - CO2 Conversion: Project Rheticus is a novel platform for production of specialty chemical starting materials C6 and higher via fermentation of CO2 and H2.
• Securing the raw materials needed for CO2 Conversion will also require innovation: Evonik is currently at pilot scale for green hydrogen production using AEM (Anion Exchange Membrane), as well as participating in research in CO2 capture technology.
• Engaging with emerging technologies and building an active ecosystem platform for collaboration: the partnership imperative at all stages of the value chain to drive CO2 circularity forward

• Decarbonizing processes and enabling sustainability through product innovation
• Understanding emissions and setting ambitious goals to force divergent thinking
• Defining a scope and screening criteria to navigate technology options
• Building a framework to ensure completeness and provide a simple guide for future opportunities

• Building modes with high-quality data to help choose the right reaction conditions to maximise yield and minimise waste
• Utilising reaction networks to use alternative feedstock or produce higher-value chemicals
• Finding new trends, researchers and potential collaborators in innovations for sustainability and green chemistry

• Understanding the importance of life cycle thinking in innovation and how it can help identify potential risks before they become issues
• Exploring how tools such as Life Cycle Analysis and a Sustainable Solutions Criteria can help strength innovation portfolios
• Highlighting the benefits of creating sustainable solutions, not just for the environment, but also for long-term business growth and stability
• Demonstrating the application of these tools with case-studies that showcase their role in achieving optimal outcomes

• How scalable and circular biomolecular platforms are now providing solutions that outcompete on performance, economics, and convenience.
• How vertical integration and technology breakthroughs are making these innovations possible at scale. 
• Real-world case studies: Unlocking commercial success in water, agriculture and material science applications. 
• Commercial partnership model that enables alignment.

• Breaking the scale barrier – tackling infrastructure and CapEx challenges with public-private pilot plants and modular, scalable production technology
• Competing with petro on price - offsetting cost gaps through green subsidies, carbon pricing, and early partnerships
• Building trust, not just tech: overcoming customer conservatism with certification standards, performance validation, and collaboration with industry incumbents
• Financing the future, not just the now: closing funding gaps with mission-aligned investors, milestone-based government grants, and storytelling that connects ESG goals to ROI

• Building in elasticity, flexibility and resilience - adapting and responding to changing market conditions and demands in real-time while maintaining long term innovation pipelines and securing a significant competitive advantage
• Employing diverse innovation strategies - building ecosystems for partnering, and leveraging open innovation and dynamic customer interfacing to accelerate time to market
• Leveraging AI and data science to accelerate innovation – uncovering insights, optimizing processes and driving decision-making
• Balancing the innovation portfolio (core, adjacent and transformational) across the horizons of innovation – managing portfolio selectivity, priority, business alignment and value

• Developing business models to accelerate innovation and transform the industry
• Rapid adoption of digitalization tools to improve and optimize our manufacturing processes
• Co-innovation with our customers to develop novel solutions for them
• Scouting for new technologies to commercialize in our assets