Funding for AI Adoption and the Tools Defining 2026

AI tooling is moving faster than budgets can keep up. This session shows you two things: the funding and support available to help your company adopt and commercialize AI, and a clear-eyed look at the open-source tools putting studio-grade capability within reach without per-seat subscriptions.

Part 1 — Funding & Business Support (30 min)

What the program is, who it serves, and how it helps IDM and digital-industry companies adopt and commercialize AI. We’ll cover what support is available, what participation looks like, and how to engage, so you leave knowing your next concrete step.

Part 2 — The State of AI in 2026 for IDM (60 min)

A practical deep dive, split into the two areas that matter to a working studio:

Back office & productivity

• Desktop “co-worker” assistants: a new class of AI software that sits on your desktop and takes on real work alongside your team. Where they fit for production admin: script breakdowns, scheduling, brainstorming, and email triage.
• The open Agent Skills standard (SKILL.md): write a workflow once, run it across tools. Why portability means no vendor lock-in.

Production | Open-source projects to watch

A tour of the open-source projects reaching production quality across:

• 3D asset generation
• World generation
• Video generation
• Character animation from a single image
• Gaussian splat–to–mesh conversion
• Production tooling

The specific tools and projects — and live looks at what they can do — will be revealed at the session.

What you’ll walk away with

• A clear picture of the funding and support available to act on AI now.
• The open Agent Skills standard means your workflows stay portable across tools.
• Open-source options that deliver real capability without per-seat costs.

Agenda

• 5:30 PM – Doors Open
• 6:00 PM – Event Begins
• 8:00 PM – Event Concludes