John Rossant, a leading voice on global mobility and the forces transforming transportation, will deliver the opening keynote at the 2026 Fleet Forward Conference, convening Oct. 20-22 at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, Md.

Titled “Reading the Global Signals: What AI and Energy Transition Mean for Fleets Now,” Rossant will draw on developments across Europe, China, the Middle East, and other international markets to identify trends that could influence how U.S. fleets plan for the coming decade.

Rossant will demonstrate that AI is moving beyond a fleet management add-on to become the core operating layer of fleet decision-making — influencing routing, safety, maintenance, and liability — and that global momentum on electrification and hydrogen infrastructure isn't reversing regardless of near-term U.S. political shifts.

A Global Fleet Perspective

Rossant brings a global vantage point to the topic. He previously served as Europe editor for BusinessWeek, executive producer of the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, and architect of the 2010 e-G8 Forum at the request of the President of France.

He founded CoMotion, a global event and media platform covering the future of mobility, as well as the NewCities Foundation, and now leads mobility research and education at MIT.

Following the keynote, Rossant will join Linda Ellis, global fleet lead at UCB, and Fleet Forward Conference Chair Chris Brown for a conversation grounding his global predictions in the realities of running a fleet day-to-day, followed by audience Q&A. The full session runs 9-10 am on October 20.

"John Rossant has spent his career watching global shifts happen before anyone else sees them coming," said Chris Brown, conference chair of the Fleet Forward Conference. "We wanted to open this year's conference with that perspective — and then have a fleet manager’s on-the-ground perspective. Join us near our nation’s capitol for this fascinating conversation!”

About Fleet Forward Conference

For the first time, the Fleet Forward Conference will take place on the East Coast. FFC 2026 convenes Oct. 20–22 at Gaylord National Harbor in Maryland, nine miles south of Washington, D.C.

The conference brings together fleet, mobility, and technology leaders for three days of education, hands-on experiences, and networking focused on the future of fleet operations. This year’s theme is “Leading Fleets Through Transformation.”

The educational program is organized around six pillars: Mobility & Autonomy; Data Integration, AI & Predictive Intelligence; Global Strategy; Fleet Safety & Risk; Infrastructure & Energy; and People, Talent & Culture.

Registration is open now.