THE APEX TIMES
Fast Company’s Innovation Festival returns to New York in September, touting Nike executives among featured leaders
The four-day Fast Company Innovation Festival, presented by Capital One Business, is set for September 14-17, 2026, with a program mixing entertainment personalities and business executives from brands including Nike, Spotify, ESPN, and J.Crew.
Fast Company said its Innovation Festival will return to New York for four days in September 2026, bringing together high-profile celebrities and corporate leaders for talks and programming around technology, business strategy, and creative culture.
The event, presented by Capital One Business, is scheduled for September 14 through September 17, 2026. Fast Company also said tickets are on sale, but the announcement did not lay out a full agenda, panel schedule, or venue details in the information provided.
The lineup publicized for the 2026 festival includes entertainment figures such as Selena Gomez, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Leslie Odom Jr., and Elizabeth Banks, alongside business and media leaders including Bill Ackman and Russell Wilson. The announcement also lists executives from a range of companies, including Nike.
In the consumer and media ecosystem, the festival’s mix reflects Fast Company’s long-running focus on innovation as both a business discipline and a cultural force. Bringing together leaders from athletics, apparel, audio and streaming, sports media, and technology-heavy infrastructure firms also indicates the brand’s intent to frame innovation broadly, not just as software or manufacturing.
For Nike, being named among the participating companies points to continued emphasis on how product creation, digital experiences, and brand storytelling intersect. The festival format described in the announcement suggests Nike executives will be part of a broader conversation rather than a single product launch, but the post did not specify which Nike leaders are attending or what topics they will cover.
The publicized roster also spans other consumer-facing brands and platforms, with the announcement naming companies including, Spotify, and ESPN, as well as CoreWeave, a firm associated with compute and artificial intelligence infrastructure. While the announcement’s framing ties these organizations to a single event, it did not provide details on whether the sessions will be thematically organized by industry or by cross-cutting technology and leadership themes.
As with many conference announcements, key specifics are not disclosed in the information provided. The post did not provide a detailed program, speakers list for each day, panel titles, or any direct commercial outcomes tied to participation, and it did not clarify whether Nike’s involvement includes speaking roles, fireside chats, executive interviews, or other kinds of on-stage participation.
What to watch next is the festival’s full programming release. In particular, attendees will likely look for the day-by-day agenda, the names and roles of the participating Nike executives, and any sessions that connect corporate innovation priorities to concrete initiatives in areas such as digital engagement, product and design processes, or the use of data and technology across consumer experiences.
Why It Matters
- The event’s cross-industry mix highlights how innovation programming increasingly blends entertainment, branding, and technology leadership.
- Nike’s inclusion suggests the company expects its innovation narrative to resonate in a forum that emphasizes strategy and execution rather than only product marketing.
- For media and consumer brands, a major platform like this can help shape public perceptions of leadership priorities and technology adoption paths.
Key Facts
- Fast Company said its 2026 Innovation Festival will be held in New York from September 14 to September 17, 2026.
- Capital One Business is the presenting sponsor, according to the announcement.
- The festival’s publicly listed lineup includes celebrities such as Selena Gomez, Martha Stewart, Tyra Banks, Leslie Odom Jr., and Elizabeth Banks.
- Business leaders Bill Ackman and Russell Wilson were also listed among the featured names.
- Executives from multiple companies were named, including Nike,, Spotify, ESPN, and CoreWeave.
- Fast Company stated that tickets are on sale, but the announcement did not provide a full agenda or venue details in the information provided.
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