From Forecasts to Foresight: CROSSDIVE 2026 to Examine India's Next Decade

BusinessWire India
Pune (Maharashtra) [India], August 24: Pune will host CROSSDIVE 2026, Global Foresight Summit, on 22-23 October, bringing together Indian and international foresight practitioners, business leaders, policymakers, researchers, technologists, designers and academics to examine the shifts likely to shape India and Indian businesses over the coming decade.
Organised by Pune-based Turian Labs, the two-day summit will focus on how organisations can look beyond conventional forecasts and prepare for a period of rapid technological, geopolitical, demographic and societal change. The programme will combine discussions with masterclasses, workshops and roundtables designed to introduce participants to the thinking and methods used in strategic foresight.
Registrations: www.crossdive.in
Industry / Group Registrations: firstconnect@crossdive.in
The summit comes at a time when long-term business decisions are becoming harder to base on historical patterns alone. Geopolitical developments can alter energy and commodity economics, export controls can affect supply chains, AI can change assumptions about skills and employment, while regulation, infrastructure and changing consumer behaviour can alter the trajectory of markets.
Looking Beyond the Forecast
Strategic foresight provides a systematic approach to understanding such uncertainty. Forecasting focuses on the most likely outcomes, while foresight explores a broader range of plausible developments.
Methods such as horizon scanning, signal and trend analysis, systems thinking and scenario planning allow organisations to explore multiple plausible futures and examine whether today's strategies would remain relevant under different conditions.
This approach is particularly relevant when several forces interact. A technology shift may affect jobs and skills; geopolitics may influence technology access and supply chains; demographic change may create new consumer needs; and urbanisation may simultaneously affect mobility, housing, resources and consumption.
The objective is therefore not to predict 2035 with greater precision, but to develop a wider view of what could emerge and make more informed choices today.
Connecting India's Future-thinking Ecosystem
Future-oriented thinking already takes many forms across India. Governments undertake long-term policy and infrastructure planning; businesses examine megatrends, emerging technologies and changing markets; while universities, research institutions and design communities explore how social, technological and economic change could unfold.
These efforts, however, often sit within different professional and disciplinary communities, from policy and corporate strategy to technology forecasting, consumer research, science and design. CROSSDIVE aims to create a shared platform where some of these communities can meet, compare approaches and bring different perspectives to questions about India's longer-term future.
CROSSDIVE has been conceived as a platform to help connect some of these conversations.
"CROSSDIVE is not about predicting the future. It is about becoming better at seeing possibilities before they become obvious," says Manoj Kothari, Founder & Chief Strategist, Turian Labs. "India already has several pockets of excellent future thinking. We want to connect these conversations across business, government, academia, technology and design and, importantly, examine global shifts through India's lens."
Four Conversations About India's Next Decade
The summit will examine the evolving expectations of Indian consumers through 2035, the impact of AI on knowledge and skills, the implications of geopolitical shifts for supply chains and access to technology, and the opportunities emerging from urbanisation, rising aspirations and longer working lives.
CROSSDIVE will approach these questions through four interconnected conversations.
* Defragmentation of the World will examine changing geopolitical alignments, technology sovereignty and global supply chains, and their implications for Indian businesses.
* Ageless Living will explore how longer lives could reshape careers, workplaces, healthcare, products and services.
* Beyond Intelligence will examine what happens to knowledge, skills, creativity and human agency as intelligent machines become increasingly ubiquitous.
* Expanding Aspirations will look at how urbanisation, mobility, resources and changing consumption could reshape India's growth, while identifying the priorities India should build towards over the next decade.
While these questions look towards 2035, many of the decisions they influence are being made today, from investments in capacity and technology to choices around talent, products, markets and supply chains.
Why This Matters for Indian Businesses
For small and medium enterprises in particular, the next major opportunity or disruption may originate outside their traditional industry.
An automotive supplier, engineering company, technology firm or consumer business could be affected by developments in geopolitics, materials, AI, demographics or changing consumer aspirations well before these shifts become clearly visible in conventional market data.
Strategic foresight can help business leaders broaden the range of factors they consider when making long-term decisions, identify emerging opportunities and uncertainties, and test current assumptions against alternative futures.
From Conversations to Practice
CROSSDIVE is structured as more than a series of conference talks. The programme will combine keynotes and panel discussions with foresight masterclasses, workshops and roundtables, including sessions around foresight fundamentals, speculative design, trend analysis, intergenerational thinking and the future of learning and work.
Participants are expected to include founders and CXOs, strategy and foresight leaders, policymakers, researchers, technologists, investors, designers, urbanists and academics. The intention is to expose participants not only to emerging signals and shifts, but also to new mental models, practical foresight frameworks and perspectives from sectors beyond their own.
The speaker line-up reflects this cross-disciplinary approach and includes practitioners from Australia's Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Business Finland, Aditya Birla Group, Venture Center, NIFT-VisioNxt, CSIR-NCL, Google, JioHotstar, Tech Mahindra and international foresight organisations, among others.
Pune provides a relevant setting for the summit, with its concentration of manufacturing and automotive industries, IT and technology businesses, startups, universities and research institutions.
For business leaders, CROSSDIVE presents a clear imperative for the decade ahead.
As India navigates the next decade of change, businesses and institutions must identify what to anticipate, build and prepare for today.
CROSSDIVE 2026
22-23 October 2026 | Pune
Registrations: www.crossdive.in
Industry / Group Registrations: firstconnect@crossdive.in
CROSSDIVE is organised by Turian Labs, a Pune-based strategic foresight and innovation consulting company with over a decade of experience helping global organisations understand emerging shifts in society, business and governance.
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