12 rules for innovation, according to Innovation Festival Speakers

“Innovation” is everywhere—splashed across corporate memos, LinkedIn posts, and marketing strategies until it can feel more like a buzzword than a meaningful ambition. So what separates genuine breakthroughs from empty rhetoric? Ahead of Fast Company’s 12th annual Innovation Festival, we asked 12 of our speakers what the word means to them, what their number one rule is when it comes to innovation, and what attendees can expect from their sessions: What does innovation mean to you in 2026? “Innovation should make life better, not more complicated. In 2026, that means using technology to put trusted expertise at people’s fingertips, helping them understand what to do and when it matters. The best technology makes knowledge more useful and accessible without replacing the human judgment, taste, and experience behind it.” – Martha Stewart, Cofounder, Entrepreneur, and Author, Hint “Innovation means creating sustainable solutions for the next generations. Lakota values teach us to think about seven generations ahead. If the innovation doesn’t hold up for the people coming after us, it’s not really innovation and possibly just a trend.” – Sean Sherman, Founder and CEO, NATIFS and the S…