Sessions

Economic and Policy Update 

The macro environment around us is constantly changing, often with significant ramifications. As we transition to a multipolar world, there are shifting global alliances and multiple conflict hot spots around the world, some of which have turned into full-out war. Not to mention tariffs, sanctions, trade embargoes and many other disruptive forces at work. All of this impacts your business – sometimes directly and sometimes indirectly. There are financial, operational, strategic, and social implications that business leaders and key decision makers in your industry must be aware of to successfully navigate the evolving landscape.

In this session, you’ll hear from Alex Chausovsky, the President of 3DM Consulting, who will deliver an insightful analysis of how these events will impact the economy and how they could affect the outlook for your business. He’ll explain the potential impact on supply chains, input prices, and labor market dynamics, among others. Most importantly, he’ll share what key leading indicators are telling us about the direction of the industry and offer practical and actionable advice for business leaders based on today’s geopolitical and macroeconomic forces, helping audience members plan for future operating conditions.

Attendees will walk away from the session with the following insights:

• An objective assessment of time-sensitive geopolitical and economic indicators such as conflict, business investment, inflation, interest rates, and tariffs
• Concrete advice on how to navigate the current macroeconomic climate and plan for the future, with a particular focus on tactical advice
• Risk management and flexible scenario planning strategies to help you make informed decisions in an uncertain world.
• Tools that leaders can leverage to be data-driven decision makers for their organizations

The Infinite Pivot: Leading the Authorized Channel Through What Comes Next

You already know AI is reshaping electronics. The harder question is what that means for the next decade — because AI is only one disruption in a stack of them. Humanoid robotics moving from demo to deployment. Edge AI shifting silicon into every endpoint. Defense electronics rebuilding at wartime pace. Energy transition rewriting the infrastructure for half the grid. Tariffs reshuffling sourcing overnight. Geopolitics fragmenting supply chains. A deepening talent crunch. Design cycles compressed by orders of magnitude as AI agents now read datasheets, score supplier risk, and place orders at machine speed.

This isn't a moment to manage. It's a permanent condition to lead through. Futurist Jim Carroll calls it the infinite pivot: the leadership mindset for an industry where the only constant is compound change, and where the authorized channel, built on trust, expertise, and relationships, faces both its greatest pressure and its greatest opportunity in 100 years.

Drawing on three decades of work with companies navigating exponential disruption, Jim gives ECIA executives a clear-eyed view of the trends rewriting the demand curve, the value chain, and the role of the channel itself - and a practical framework for the decisions ahead: what to bet on, what to abandon, how to position the authorized channel as the trust infrastructure for an AI-accelerated economy, and how to build organizations that pivot as a habit rather than a crisis response. Practical. Provocative. And built specifically for leaders who plan to own the next 100 years of the channel , not just defend the last.

Electronic Components Industry Analysis and Outlook 

In this session, Chief Analyst Dale Ford will provide a comprehensive overview of the latest ECIA research, offering a deep dive into the most recent market and industry trends. He will analyze the factors influencing these developments and assess the current health and resilience of the supply chain. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the forces shaping the industry, equipping them with the knowledge to make informed decisions in today’s dynamic market environment.

David Loftus, ECIA

David Loftus will give an update on the Association, industry projects, membership and more.

Mike Morton, TTI, Inc.

Join a distinguished panel of top CEOs from the electronic components industry for an engaging fireside chat exploring the global forces shaping our industry. This session will offer strategic insights and diverse executive perspectives on the challenges and opportunities presented by today’s rapidly evolving global landscape. Attendees will gain a high-level understanding of how industry leaders are responding to key trends in a conversation moderated by Mike Morton, CEO of TTI, Inc.

Eric O'Neill

Cybersecurity: Spies, Lies & Cybercrime: Protecting your data in a dark web economy. 

Dive headfirst into the battleground where foreign spies, deepfakes, and Dark Web criminals conspire to steal from you. Today’s adversaries are relentless and cunning. They’re exploiting every vulnerability, deploying an arsenal of generative AI bots and bandits. As we hurtle towards the future, cybertheft will take over $20 trillion USD from organizations just like yours. Join cybersecurity expert and legendary FBI spy hunter Eric O’Neill in this unexpected presentation. With fresh stories that read like a thriller, Eric teaches you to think like a spy catcher and win.

Objectives:

• Understand why cybercrime is the fastest growing business on earth
• Understand the connection between espionage and dark web cybercrime
• Learn counterintelligence techniques to protect yourself and your company from cybercrime
• Learn to think like a spy hunter

Curt Steinhorst

The electronics industry has always been a bet on what comes next, and right now that bet is harder to make than it's been in decades. The variables that shape a plan keep shifting faster than the plan can keep up, and leaders are being asked to set direction without a clear view of the road ahead.

This keynote is about leading well in exactly that environment. Drawing on a decade studying human attention and three years on the executive team of a frontier technology company, Curt Steinhorst looks at how leaders make sound decisions on incomplete information, keep a team aligned and committed through prolonged uncertainty, and hold focus when everything is competing for it.

Attendees leave with a clearer way to think about leading when the answers aren't yet available, and practical ways to give their people direction and confidence when the path forward is still taking shape.