AI tools are arriving faster than most risk teams can absorb them. The knowledge that makes those tools useful still sits with experienced practitioners. Elevate 2026, Origami Risk user conference, in New Orleans offered a clear view of how those two pieces are coming together. The week explored its theme, Connected for What’s Next, in two related ways. Participants invested in a shared community that learns from each other, and they engaged with a platform that moves quickly enough to keep up with them. AI Is Moving Into the Workflows Clients Already Run Ryan Cantor’s product keynote filled the room, and attendees were still talking about the 96 slides he got through in 45 minutes. Behind the pace is a steady stream of releases. Over the last 18 months, the product and engineering team has shipped 300% more code. In July, that meant the Admin Portal, a drag-and-drop Workflow Builder, eight configurable AI workflow actions, and a Marketplace of partner connectors. In August, AI Concierge and Risk Assessment Intelligence followed, and AI Language Translation arrived in September. The placement of these releases is what makes them practical. The AI lives inside the processes clients already run, such as extracting data from uploaded documents, summarizing records, and matching incoming fields to the right elements in Origami. Teams can adopt it without rebuilding how they work. The What’s New and What’s Next sessions carried the detail. Product managers, product leaders, and PMMs walked through each release in depth. Attendees could see how each release fits the work they already do. Practitioner Judgment Is Still the Constant If AI shapes the work, practitioner judgment decides whether the result is worth using. Peer roundtables were the draw of the program for many, with consistently packed rooms and high-energy conversations. One attendee called them the best part of the week. Practitioners traded practical lessons on configuration, reporting, and the daily decisions that rarely make it into a product demo. The client showcases made the same case with specifics. Cook County, Valero, Henderson, MC Dean, Banner, and OMAG each showed how they use the platform. Attendees left with examples they could take back to their own teams. Community also formed after hours. On Tuesday evening, a marching band and dancers led attendees from the hotel to Generations Hall in a second line parade, where a brass band leads and the crowd that follows dances along, a tradition rooted in New Orleans’ social aid and pleasure clubs. Generations Hall, the venue at the end of the route, has three rooms that span generations of local music. On Wednesday evening, the Fillmore, a live music venue on Canal Street, offered two scenes at once: a rock cover band on the main stage and a jazz quartet in an intimate lounge. Both evenings gave people room to talk and build relationships over good food, with a New Orleans sense of celebration. One attendee put it simply: “The group outings were so much fun.” One Platform Connects the Work Clients who manage their own configurations now have a no-code Admin Portal, designed to reduce technical complexity and increase self-sufficiency. The drag-and-drop Workflow Builder lets teams set up automations and integrations, and the Marketplace connects Origami to the partners and tools clients already rely on. Together, these changes let one platform carry more of the work across risk, safety, and insurance. At Elevate, sessions walked through the Admin Portal in action for self-administered claims and incidents, policy, and integrated risk management, and a session showed the Marketplace and third-party integrations at work. Staying Close to the Platform Takes Presence Elevate is where the Origami Risk community comes together to learn, shape and connect for what’s next across insurable risk. Going forward, Elevate – which has previously occurred every 18 months – will take place on an annual basis. As the pace of innovation speeds up, our clients need more opportunities to learn about the product in depth from the team that builds it. The full-day hands-on training is built for that kind of learning. Interactive sessions pair expert instruction with real-world exercises, from beginners to advanced users, so attendees leave ready to apply what they learned. One attendee said that in just half a morning of training, they learned more than they had in ten months of working in the system. By the closing session, the focus had returned to the people in the room. Practitioners left connected to each other, to the platform, and to shared problems worth solving. We hope you’ll join us next year and keep the conversation going. Save the date for Elevate 2027 in Dallas, October 18 to 20. Registration opens in Q1 2027. Clients: Stay connected. Join the community of risk and insurance leaders shaping what’s next in The Square. Everyone else: See what’s next. Read the latest from Origami Risk in our news and press releases. Paul Tucker, Corporate Director of Risk Management at Omni Hotels & Resorts, a Origami Risk Client, welcomes you to Dallas next year.