OpenWater is a curated community of 1,600+ experienced professionals — former executives, founders, operators, and leaders with 20+ years of experience.
Launched 2024. 1,600+ curated members today. Targeting 2,500+ by Summit.
Community Growth
Curation is our most defensible asset. Every OpenWater member goes through an application and review process. That’s why conversations go deeper, why the Give & Get produces real outcomes, and why 90%+ of new members join through referral from people they trust. The quality of the room is the product.
Co-founded a DTC skincare company. Advises CEOs and investors on go-to-market strategy, unit economics, and applied AI in consumer businesses.
Public company board director. Leads digital transformation for enterprise brands, integrating data, AI, and MarTech at scale.
Founded a consultancy partnering arts organizations with companies like Google Arts & Culture. Designs community-centered programs that drive engagement.
Teaches Data Visualization with AI at Stanford. Advises leaders on AI adoption, decision-making frameworks, and data product strategy.
Members hail from organizations including
Beacon is our AI-built member intelligence platform — purpose-made for corporate and investment partners to find and reach the exact talent they need: fractional leaders, advisors, board members, consultants, or full-time hires. The Summit opens the door. Beacon keeps it open.
Identify and request meetings with the right members ahead of time — so you walk in already scheduled with the people who matter to you.
Meet in person, in a room built for depth — not hoping to bump into the right person, but already sitting across from them.
Keep interacting with our members all year as an early Beacon partner — a trusted part of OpenWater’s extended community, long after the Summit ends.
A single day becomes a continuous relationship — built on trust, depth, and direct access to the most experienced talent in modern history.
Nearly 100 million Americans aged 50 to 75 — operators, executives, and founders who built the systems your teams still run on. They are healthier, more productive, and more professionally engaged than any prior generation at the same age. Many have 15–25 productive working years remaining.
30% of U.S. population
U.S. Census
remaining for most
“Wisdom is making a comeback in the workplace.”
Chip Conley — Founder, Modern Elder Academy · Author, Wisdom @ WorkNot legacy talent — foundational talent.
Led every major technology and business wave from the internet to AI.
They’ve navigated market crashes, platform shifts, and regulatory upheavals.
Nearly half of Gen Z workers now turn to ChatGPT instead of asking their manager a question. The generational AI divide is costing U.S. employers an estimated $56 billion in lost productivity annually.
During the fastest technological transition in history, this is the only generation that has navigated comparable shifts before.
“These are the people that have been there, done that. They can see around corners. Let’s utilize them in a way that helps bring up the rest of the company.”
Lissa MinkinVP People, NetGearChief People Officer, Wrapbook
“Here we are in a war for talent, yet many organizations are not proactively thinking about how to recruit, engage, develop, and retain this particular segment of talent.”
Eric WohlExecutive Partner, Gartner CHRO Solutions Practice · Former CHRO, National CineMedia"Experienced professionals can solve the wisdom gap created by AI."
Steve HatfieldFormer Global Leader, Deloitte Future of Work PracticeAs AI makes knowledge and execution abundant, decision quality becomes the constraint. The companies that retain and engage experienced judgment will adapt faster, make fewer costly errors, and build more resilient organizations. This is not a social cause. It is a competitive advantage.
The OpenWater Summit is a single-track, day-and-a-half gathering where members present their expertise — on stage, to each other and to corporate leaders sitting in the audience.
Not a conference.
A talent showcase.
No paid speakers. No passive audiences. Every keynote is member-led or community-sourced. Every session is an opportunity for an accomplished professional to demonstrate who they are, what they do, and how they think.
December 8 · 8:30 AM–5:00 PM — The Summit
December 8 · 5:00–7:00 PM — Community Celebration
The work, in the world. Members who've recently built, shipped, or led — sharing what worked, what broke, and what they'd do differently.
Experience, deployed for others. Advisors, fractional leaders, and board members on what it actually takes.
What you learn getting through it. The transitions, setbacks, and comebacks — the honest part most rooms leave out.
Most conferences optimize for content consumption. The OpenWater Summit optimizes for relationship density and economic activation.
The Summit compresses months of outreach into a single room. Every introduction is curated. Every conversation is intentional.
Senior leaders who shape how AI and technology get adopted at scale. Meet former CTOs, digital transformation leaders, and enterprise operators with direct experience running the implementations your teams are navigating now.
Trusted operators ready for portfolio support, advisory, board, and diligence roles. Meet functional leaders with deep operating experience across every stage of company growth.
You have a judgment gap on your team right now. This is where you close it. Meet experienced operators across functions — finance, technology, operations, marketing — ready to help your organization navigate AI-driven transformation.
Briefing packet with 5–10 members matched to your specific goals
Beacon access begins before the Summit for Founding and Strategic Access Partners — arrive knowing exactly who you want to meet
Pre-arranged meetings available once attendees are confirmed
Pre-arranged and ad hoc conversations throughout the day
Member-led working sessions — leave with a problem solved
Warm introductions within 48 hours
Debrief call within one week
Quarterly post-event matchmaking for Founding Access Partners
Search the full OpenWater network by expertise, industry, geography, and current priorities. Not a directory — a discovery engine. Beacon turns a two-day event into sustained access to the most experienced professionals in modern history. Earlier sponsors receive the longest access windows.
The Summit is designed to make the right conversations happen — intentionally. Every tier is built around curated access: thoughtful introductions, designed moments, and hands-on support to connect you with the talent that matters most. We don’t guarantee volume. We focus on making the right connections happen.
The highest level of hands-on support and priority access to the OpenWater community.
- Pre-event consultation to understand your goals — hiring, advisory, partnerships
- We actively identify and connect you with members aligned to your priorities
- Dedicated on-site host to connect you with the right people throughout the Summit
- Private dinner with select members and OpenWater leadership
- Main stage fireside chat — a moderated conversation positioning your perspective on the future of experienced talent
- The Multiplier Effect — your team defines the business challenge and your high-potential professionals work it alongside OpenWater members, presented live on the main stage
- 8 complimentary attendee passes
- Member profiles from key conversations
- Warm introductions to members you didn’t get to meet
- Strategy session with OpenWater team
- Premier branding across all Summit materials
Meaningful, guided access to the community — anchored by a Summit moment you own.
Each Strategic Access Partner hosts a named Summit moment:
- Cocktail Reception
- Women of OpenWater Breakfast
- Speed Networking
- AI in Action
- Pre-event alignment on your areas of interest
- We work with you to identify and connect you with relevant members
- On-site introductions from the OpenWater team
- Brief welcome remarks at your sponsored moment
- 4 complimentary attendee passes
- Member profiles from key interactions
- Direct introductions to continue conversations
- Logo on Summit materials and event signage
An entry point into the OpenWater ecosystem — build initial relationships and explore the network.
- Light pre-event input on your interests
- Organic introductions during the Summit
- 2 complimentary attendee passes
- Full access to programming and networking
- Member profiles from connections made
- Logo on Summit website and printed program
- Acknowledgment in community communications
The inaugural year
The best seat in the room
Founding sponsors shape how the market engages with experienced talent. This is the year to establish your presence — before the room gets bigger.
Two Founding Access partnerships available. Ten Strategic Access partnerships available.
Zoom with Seth PotterSeth Potter, Co-Founder
seth@openwater.group
The Team
OpenWater's founding team has built and sold AI companies, scaled editorial platforms, and advised global enterprises. Three founding team members were part of AI.Reverie, acquired by Meta.
4× exit founder · AI.Reverie (acq. by Meta) · Fmr SVP, NYT · AGD Labs
AI.Reverie (acq. by Meta) · Fmr MD, ICR · Synthesis AI
VP, NPS Loyalty Forum, Bain · eBay
AI.Reverie (acq. by Meta) · NYT · United Nations
Fujitsu · Sun Microsystems · Oracle · Intel
Advisory Council
Lissa Minkin — Chief People Officer, Wrapbook
Eric Wohl — Executive Partner, Gartner CHRO Solutions Practice
Steve Hatfield — Former Global Leader, Deloitte Future of Work Practice