FCIF daily roundup: Highlights from day 3 at the Fast Company Innovation Festival

The 2024 Fast Company Innovation Festival proved once again to be the place where innovators come to break news. On Wednesday, day three of the festival, Lin-Manuel Miranda announced on stage that Grammy-winning songstress Lauryn Hill will headline Miranda’s new Warriors concept album. Meanwhile, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos offered a sneak peak at some streaming figures that will be released in a biannual engagement report, scheduled for release today. These types of unscripted moments have made the 10th annual festival both lively and entertaining thus far. And the third day of programming didn’t disappoint, with 40 sessions and receptions that focused on tech, sustainability, entrepreneurship, wellness, and creativity. Below are some highlights from Wednesday: ‘We should always reserve the right to get smart’ In the past decade-plus, Netflix has often taken a bold stand, saying it would “never” do things like original programming, advertising, or live sports, only to later reverse course. So what gives? Sarandos shared that the word “never” is a way to focus, both on what’s happening for sure and what doesn’t make sense at a given time.  But businesses aren’t religions, he added, and they should remain nimble and prepared for change. “I think we should always reserve the right to get smart.” Shaking up the programming, including going back on some of those “never” promises, will help the streaming giant remain competitive. And in an increasingly crowded market, Sarandos challenged competitors to release their viewership figures, as Netflix plans to do today. He teased a major data point from Thursday’s engagement report: Viewers spent a whopping 94 billion hours watching Netflix in the first six months of the year. “That’s a lot of time.”  Is Miranda returning to Broadway? It’s been nearly a decade since the Tony-winning musical Hamilton first debuted off-Broadway, and there’s understandably considerable interest about when its innovative creator will return to the Great White Way. Could Miranda charge back to Broadway with Warriors, the concept album due out in mid-October that he wrote with award-winning actor and playwright Eisa Davis?  While it was “really exciting” to write the album, which is a retelling of the 1979 film The Warriors, Miranda is taking things one step at a time—particularly because it’s a “tricky” story to adapt musically or for the stage. “The plan is just to release it and see how people respond.”  At the very least, Miranda hopes the album resonates with fans of the film, which tells the story of a street gang making their way through New York City to their Coney Island home. “It’s a movie we know really well and [the album is] a love letter to that movie,” Miranda told the audience. “If you’re a fan of the movie, you’re going to be so happy.” Taking a provocative stand With less than 50 days to go until the U.S. presidential election, the current political landscape has been a recurrent theme of the festival. Even though immigration reform is sorely needed, it shouldn’t be political. But world-renowned chef José Andrés says the mangled handling of immigration is a byproduct of a blue-red divide that is not actually serving the needs of Americans or the economy. “I go to blue states and red states in emergencies, and you know what I realized?” Andrés asked the audience. “In the worst moments of humanity, the best of humanity shows up, and you will see people in a kitchen helping feed fellow Americans, not because they’re Republicans or Democrats, but they’re Americans helping Americans, people helping people.” It’s likewise important to look beyond the “woke” wars that make headlines to what’s really happening inside of businesses, Elizabeth Gore, cofounder and president of Hello Alice, said during a panel discussion. “What you see on the news is not what you see on Main Street at all,” she told festivalgoers. Speeding up vs. slowing down The festival has highlighted how different innovators find inspiration—with some people invigorated by the latest technologies, while others prefer to slow down the pace.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, is very keen on artificial intelligence. In fact, he told festivalgoers that a collaborative AI tool—Copilot Pages, a new feature released by Microsoft earlier this week—has already become a part of his daily habit. “When innovation meets collaboration, the possibilities are boundless.”  While Nobel Laureate and biochemist Jennifer Doudna has been behind CRISPR, the groundbreaking gene-editing technology, her creativity really flows without technology. “I have always done my best thinking when I’m not sitting in the lab or at a desk, but when I’m frankly out in nature, or even just in my backyard pulling weeds in my garden,” she said. Similarly, Miranda said he’s often struck by ideas that won’t leave him alone while walking the dog, taking a shower, or dri