Astar Growth Summit 2026
This is not another event!
Learn, apply, and watch it work.
A curated virtual learning experience for growth leaders, combining Strategyzer’s proven methodologies with global and regional expertise. Practical sessions turn innovation thinking into tools, approaches, and ideas leaders can apply in their organizations.
Bringing together a focused community of growth leaders and innovation practitioners, the experience is designed for meaningful learning, exchange, and connection. Fully virtual, it welcomes participants from across the region and beyond to explore new perspectives and turn ideas into action.
05 – 14 October 2026
15+ Online Sessions · 6 Days over 2 Weeks
7:00–09:30 PM KSA
Knowledge partner: Strategyzer
The Summit Starts in
05 – 14 October 2026, 7:00–09:30 PM KSA
How do you create real business value through innovation? And build a culture that keeps it going?
The Growth Summit is where experts who wrote the growth method, teach it to leaders who have to deliver growth.
Our mission is to move innovation in the region from one-off activities and events to a real management discipline, one that creates new growth systematically. To raise the bar for how innovation is understood and practiced here, and build a bridge between the world’s best thinking and organisations that are actually investing in growth and transformation.
The Experience
In PARTNERSHIP WITH Strategyzer
Built around globally proven innovation tools, methodologies, and practices.
Organized by Astar, bringing global insight into the regional context and turning the summit into an ongoing platform for innovation leaders.
Enriched by regional experts.
Global Insight
Global and regional thought leaders share proven methods, experiences and lessons.
Applied Practices
Work with practical frameworks, case examples and implementation-ready tools.
Moments by Design
Sessions are curated to challenge thinking and create practical takeaways that can be applied inside your organization.
Beyond the Summit
The ignition of Astar Innovation community. Connect with a curated network of innovation, transformation, and growth experts.
Innovation is rarely held back by a lack of ideas. The harder questions are what happens next.
The Astar growth Summit explores those questions through a multi-session learning experience bringing together global methodology, regional context and practical implementation.
Highlights
Strategyzer are the thought leaders of innovation.
Our knowledge partners have over 20 years of experience democratizing innovation. They invented tools such as:
The Business Model Canvas, Value Proposition Canvas, Test/Learning Cards and many more.
Their methodologies and frameworks have been used across the largest global organizations and the backbone of scalable and successful corporate innovation ecosystems.
#1
Most popular tools to learn innovation & entrepreneurship
200K+
Companies guided by Strategyzer frameworks
Top 10
Most cited book of all time (Financial Times)
178+
Countries where our proccesses help empower team
Why Attend
An open regional platform for leaders in innovation, growth and transformation.
The Executive Sponsor
CEOs, MDs, C-suite leaders who care about growth, competitiveness, strategic bets, and the return on innovation.
We spend on innovation but why can’t I see the return?
- How does innovation contribute to growth?
- Where should we place strategic bets?
- How do we measure value and return?
The Innovation Operator
Innovation heads, transformation directors, VPs of strategy who care about implementation, tools, portfolio management, delivery.
I own the mandate but I’m drowning. Too many ideas, no system to source, evaluate, move them.
- How do we build a real innovation system?
- How should portfolios be governed?
- How do we move initiatives into implementation?
The Business Builder
Founders, intrapreneurs, product and venture leads who care about new business models, pilots, customer value, the right foundations.
How to prove an idea actually works, from sourcing, to deciding which one earns the next stage, and knowing when to proceed, pivot, or kill.
- Which opportunities are worth pursuing?
- How do we test new business models?
- How do we build around genuine customer value?
The Speakers
Alexander Osterwalder
Founder & CEO · Strategyzer
Michael N. Wilkens
Executive Advisor · Strategyzer
Greg Bernarda
Founder · Upruption
Jonás Mosse
Program Director · Strategyzer
Tendayi Viki
Senior Partner· Strategyzer
Leonardo Varella-Cid
CEO & Co-Founder . InnovationCast
The Agenda
The agenda has been curated to create a cumulative “unforgettable” learning experience. Each week focuses on a specific persona. Both weeks cater to innovation managers. Each day is a combination of different mini-formats creating a variable tempo, and participants are carried throughout with beacon Emcees guiding them at every step.
Week 1 focuses on the Executive leadership Persona and cultivating the growth mindset, while week 2 focuses on the Innovation Practitioner Persona and transforming theory to practice
05 – 14 October 2026, 15+ Online Sessions · 6 Days over 2 Weeks
07:00 – 09:30 PM KSA time
Agenda – Day 1
Day 1
Monday, October 05, 2026
19:00
Why Six Nights and Not a Webinar: What You Walk Out With, and The Key Open Ended Growth Question
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Opening
19:15
The Dual Mindset and Business Model Innovation
Speaker: Alexander Osterwalder – CEO, Strategyzer
Keynote
20:15
Bridging the Global Perspective with the Regional Context
Speaker: Ghassan Al-Safi
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Fireside
20:30
Partner Note
Speaker: Dr. May Taibah – Vice Chairman of Community Jameel Saudi Foundation
PARTNER
20:45
Rethinking Business Growth: What an Investor Here Actually Funds
Speaker: Emad Kashgari
Host: Faisal Alqethami
Spotlight
21:10
Day 1 Closing Remarks
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
CLOSING NOTES
Agenda – Day 2
Day 2
Tuesday, October 06, 2026
19:00
Nightly Intro: Connecting the Journey and Introduce Tonight’s Voices
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Welcome
19:10
Revenue Resilience: Why the engine you are protecting is the One at Risk
Speaker: Michael N. Wilkins – Executive Advisor, Strategyzer
Keynote
20:10
Revenue Resilience: Local Case Study
Speaker: Lujain Nassif
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
FIRESIDE
20:25
Introducing the Breakout Rooms
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
BreakER
20:30
Networking Breakout Rooms
All attendees
Breakout SESSIONS
20:45
The Connection Between Entrepreneurship and Business Model Innovation
Speaker: Arwa Shafi – Managing Director, The Prosperity Institute (TPI)
Host: Dr. Hashim AlZain
Spotlight
21:10
Day 2 Closing Remarks
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
CLOSING NOTES
Agenda – Day 3
Day 3
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
19:00
Nightly Introduction
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Welcome
19:10
From Disruption to Upruption: Lifting the Whole Ecosystem
Speaker: Greg Bernarda – Founder, Upruption
Keynote
20:10
From An Ecosystem Idea to a Saudi Institution
Speaker: Motaz Hajaj
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Fireside
20:25
Connecting Innovation and Growth with Societal Impact
Speaker: Dr. Bandar Arab – Founder, Choralla Group
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami
Spotlight
20:50
Day 3 Closing Remarks
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Closing Notes
21:00
Ecosystem Deep-Dive with Keynote Speaker
Host: Greg Bernarda – Founder, Upruption
Exclusive: Executive Tier Access Only
Roundtable
Agenda – Day 4
Day 4
Monday, October 12, 2026
19:00
Nightly Introduction:
The MCs Connect the Journey and Introduce Tonight’s Voices
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Welcome
19:10
Testing Business Ideas For Evidence
Speaker: Jonas Mosse – Program Director, Strategyzer
Keynote
20:10
How Ideas Pivot Based on Testing: Relate to Local Case
Speaker: Eman Katouri
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
FIRESIDE
20:25
Building the Next Generation of Innovators
Speaker: Mohamed Milyani – Founder & CEO, Nqdoolet
Host: Faisal Alqethami
SPOTLIGHT
20:50
Day 4 Closing Notes For All Attendies
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Closing Notes
Agenda – Day 5
Day 5
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
19:00
Nightly Introduction
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Welcome
19:10
The Nine Faces of Transformation:
Enabling Organizational Change Through Buy-In
Speaker: Tendayi Viki – Senior Partner, Strategyzer
Keynote
20:10
Storytelling and Innovation
Speaker: Ahmed Basingab – Wadi Jeddeh
Hosts: Dr. Hashim AlZain
SPOTLIGHT
20:35
Segue Into The Breakout Rooms
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
BREAKER
20:40
Networking Breakout
All attendees
BREAKOUT
20:55
Day 5 Closing Remarks
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
CLOSING NOTES
21:00
Transformation Deep-Dive with Keynote Speaker
Host: Tendayi Viki – Senior Partner, Strategyzer
Exclusive: Executive Tier Access Only
ROUNDTABLE
Agenda – Day 6
Day 6
Wednesday, October 14, 2026
19:00
Nightly Introduction
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Welcome
19:10
Institutional Innovation: Making It Systematic
Speaker: Leonardo Varella-Cid – CEO & Co-Founder, InnovationCast
Keynote
20:00
From One Organization Making It Systematic to a Country Doing It
Speaker: Ibraheem Alsaab
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
Fireside
20:15
Creating an Innovation Ecosystem within a Large Organization
Speaker: Usamah Ahmed Jan – Partner, Hued
Host: Dr. Hashim AlZain
Spotlight
20:40
Summit Closing: Journey Recap, What You Built, and Key Takeaways
Hosts: Faisal Alqethami and Dr. Hashim AlZain
CLOSING Finale
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