Following the momentum of February’s Onwards Festival, a new chapter in Haugesund’s innovation journey is set to begin. On 11 June, a small number of leadership teams will gather at Gründerloftet and Vibrandsøy for Onwards Deep Dive – a day designed to sharpen strategy, strengthen leadership skills, and encourage new ways of thinking in the age of AI.
Where the festival opened broad conversations about the future, the Deep Dive is more focused: an opportunity for decision-makers to step back from daily pressures and engage in long thinking about what lies ahead.
An agenda shaped for leadership
Many organisations are placing AI high on their strategic agendas, but far fewer are building the leadership capabilities needed to use it well. The Deep Dive addresses this gap by combining insight into emerging technologies with a focus on the leadership mindset and organisational skills needed to turn potential into real value.
Maurice Conti will guide participants through the strategic dimensions of AI adoption. Bill O’Connor will share practical insights from his Innovation Genome Project, showing how real breakthroughs are deliberately built, not stumbled upon. Louise Opprud will introduce a neuroscience-based framework for redesigning work to meet tomorrow’s cognitive demands.
Beyond the noise
The day is structured to balance strategic input with time for longer conversations and deeper reflection. It begins at Gründerloftet in Haugesund, an environment rooted in entrepreneurial action, before moving by boat to Vibrandsøy, an island where slower rhythms and wide horizons create space for new thinking.
Onwards Deep Dive is deliberately intimate, designed for leadership groups who want not just to understand the tools of the future, but to lead with clarity, resilience, and imagination.
Towards Onwards 2026
The event is part of the broader Onwards initiative, which looks ahead to Onwards 2026 at Møllerfabrikken, a new hub for creativity, entrepreneurship, and cross-sector collaboration on Vibrandsøy.
Haugesund may be small, but it is increasingly positioning itself as a place where future-facing leadership and technological innovation quietly take root.
In June, Onwards Deep Dive will offer a rare opportunity: the space to think longer, look further, and lead better.
Participation
Participation is open to a limited number of leadership teams. For more information about the programme, pricing, or how to reserve a place, you are welcome to contact Marius Selsø Håkonsen at by email or call on +47 990 17000.
Programme overview
09:30 Welcome at Gründerloftet (Haugesund) – with Marius Selsø Håkonsen
10:00 The history and future of AI & Work – Maurice Conti, Bill O’Connor, and Louise Opprud
10:30 Toolset: AI strategy insights and hands-on session – Maurice Conti
12:00 Lunch, prepared by Finn Lothe (rett fra havet)
13:30 Skillset: Driving innovation in the AI age – Bill O’Connor
14:30 Departure by boat to Vibrandsøy
15:00 Mindset: Meeting tomorrow’s higher cognitive demands – Louise Opprud
16:00 Integration, Q&A session, and walking reflections on Vibrandsøy
17:00 Return to Haugesund by boat
Before we turn fully to what’s ahead, we take a moment to look around. Below is a glimpse of Møllerfabrikken as it stands today, quiet and raw, full of potential. These photos capture the space before renovations begin and mark the starting point for its transformation into a hub for creativity, entrepreneurship and collaboration on Vibrandsøy.
A new chapter is coming. This is where it begins.