Detailed Agenda
11:00 am – 1:00 pm | Stone Arch Foyer | Registration
Sponsored By:
12:00 pm – 12:45 pm | Stone Arch Foyer | Lunch
Sponsored By:
12:45 pm – 1:00 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
HIRI Welcome: Dave King
Dave King
Executive Director | Home Improvement Research Institute
1:00 pm – 1:30 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
Macro and Housing Outlook
A comprehensive macroeconomic and housing outlook that will examine overall economic conditions, trends in housing demand, current supply-side challenges facing home builders, and the NAHB’s forecasts for single-family, multifamily, and remodeling housing sectors.
Keynote sponsored by
Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
Assistant Vice President for Forecasting and Analysis | National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
1:30 pm – 2:00 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
From Friction to Flow: How Technology – AI is Reshaping Home Improvement
As the home improvement industry evolves, technology is no longer a support function—it is a strategic driver shaping customer experience, workforce productivity, and enterprise growth. In this session, Rajiv Raghunathan, Vice President of Technology at Lowe’s, shares how leading retailers are leveraging modern platforms and AI to identify and eliminate friction across both customer and store associate journeys.
Drawing from real-world examples spanning DIY and Pro experiences, Rajiv will highlight how AI can act as a force multiplier—accelerating decision-making, improving operational efficiency, and delivering measurable business outcomes. He will also discuss why successful AI adoption starts with a clear business case, grounded in tangible value, before scaling solutions across the enterprise.
The session will explore the importance of building strong engineering foundations and empowering a technology workforce capable of solving for thousands of operational scenarios across a diverse, multi-generational customer base and associate population. Additionally, Rajiv will share perspectives on, avoiding vendor lock-in through competitive partnerships, and driving accountability to ensure sustained innovation and impact.
RAJIV RAGHUNATHAN
Vice President Technology | Lowe’s Companies, Inc.
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
The Evolving Home Improvement Project Journey
Take a deeper look at how homeowners are navigating today’s increasingly complex home improvement project journey from initial inspiration to project completion. This session explores what drives or delays major projects, how priorities are shifting, and how behaviors differ across DIY, DIFM, and the growing “Do-It-With-Me” approach. We’ll examine how homeowners make decisions, what triggers action, how they evaluate value, and how they shop along with the evolving role of pros, retailers, and brands in guiding those choices.
Stephen Giles
Senior Project Research Director | Home Improvment Research Institute
2:00 pm – 2:30 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
Headwinds & Tailwinds: An Economist Debate on the Future of Home Improvement
Gain a balanced perspective on the forces shaping the future of home improvement in this dynamic economist-led discussion. This session will explore how housing market conditions such as mobility and home turnover are influencing project demand, alongside the outlook for remodeling and repair. Panelists will also examine ongoing challenges around labor availability, material cost volatility, and the impact of financing and affordability on homeowners’ ability to fund projects. Join us for a thought-provoking debate on the headwinds and tailwinds defining the industry’s path forward.
Panelists
Ralph McLaughlin
Chief Economist | OpenBrand
Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington
Assistant Vice President for Forecasting and Analysis | National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)
Michael Zdinak
Economics Director, Consumer Markets
US Economics | Global Intelligence and Analytics
| S&P Global Market Intelligence
Moderator
Dave King
Executive Director | Home Improvement Research Institute
3:00 pm – 3:30 pm | Stone Arch Foyer | Networking Coffee Break
3:30 pm – 4:25 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
Pitchfest – A Home Improvement Innovation Showcase
Discover where home improvement is headed at HIRI’s inaugural Pitchfest, an innovation showcase spotlighting four promising startups. Judges selected these finalists to present their cutting-edge products and services to you at the summit. You will experience new ideas, emerging solutions, and the entrepreneurial vision driving the next wave of growth in home improvement. Join us for this high energy session where innovation meets opportunity.
Jennifer Castenson
Vice President of Ambassador & Industry Partner Programs | Buildxact
4:25 pm – 4:55 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
Meeting the New Home Improvement Customer: What’s Changed and What’s Next in Retail
83% of home improvement purchases are driven by maintenance, repair, or replacement. Which shouldn’t be surprising because the typical American home is now 44 years old. As such, the customer that shops in store or online has changed, and so have their expectations. This session draws on research and extensive merchandising experience to explore what today’s customer actually wants from their retail experiences. Grounded in data on both consumer and pro purchasing behavior, this is a practical session to learn how to meet the market expectations of today and anticipate the new ones of tomorrow.
Liza Amlani
Principal | Retail Strategy Group
4:55 pm – 5:30 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
HIRI Research Review & Closing Remarks
Get the latest insights on the state of the home improvement industry in this research-driven session featuring HIRI’s most recent findings. HIRI experts will highlight key takeaways from newly released studies, exploring the market forces shaping homeowner behavior, demand trends, and overall industry performance. Attendees will gain actionable, data-backed insights to support strategic planning, inform decision-making, and uncover growth opportunities. Join us to stay ahead of industry shifts with the trusted perspective of HIRI research.
Dave King
Executive Director | Home Improvement Research Institute
7:00 am – 12:00 pm | Stone Arch Foyer | Registration
Sponsored By:
7:00 am – 8:00 am | Cosmos Lounge | Breakfast
Sponsored By:
8:00 am – 8:35 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
Built to Last: How Media Shapes the Home Improvement Mindset from This Old House to TikTok
For nearly 50 years, This Old House has helped shape how audiences learn about homes, renovation, and craftsmanship. But the media landscape has changed dramatically. Attention is fragmented, audiences are more skeptical, and content is faster and more transactional than ever. What still works? This session explores how home improvement media shapes consumer expectations, trust, and decision-making across platforms — from legacy television to short-form social video — and what it takes to stay relevant, build loyalty, and stand out in a crowded market.
Kevin O’Conner
Host | This Old House
8:35 am – 9:05 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
Buyers Are Buying Problems: What That Means for the Home Improvement Industry
Based on original research of 833 U.S. homebuyers, this session explores how today’s buyers (averaging 40 years old and purchasing homes of similar age) are shaping the next wave of home improvement demand. Buyers are not just purchasing homes; they are taking on a set of unknowns: aging systems, potential failures, and future costs. Safety, reliability, and the risk of costly surprises increasingly drive decisions, yet buyers lack the tools to fully evaluate these factors during the home search.
This session highlights where buyer priorities diverge from industry assumptions, the gap between what buyers say they value and what they act on, and how uncertainty drives real demand for upgrades across core systems. Attendees will gain a clearer view of how the transition of buyers becoming homeowners fuels home improvement demand
Cynthia Adams
CEO & Co Founder | Pearl
9:05 am – 9:35 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
AI & 3D are Rewriting the Home Improvement Playbook: What Brands and Builders Need to Know Now
AI & 3D technology are no longer futuristic concepts in design and construction, they’ve already reshaped how brands and renovation firms operate, compete, and connect with today’s homeowners, as well as how homeowners make decisions about products and hire professionals for their homes. Liza Hausman, vice president of Industry Marketing at Houzz, will share insights from proprietary Houzz research, including the State of AI in Construction & Design and homeowner surveys, to reveal where AI and 3D adoption stands among design & construction firms today, its rapid acceleration, and what that means for the future of building, remodeling and design. The session will also explore the homeowner perspective, including how homeowners are using AI throughout their renovation journey and their evolving expectations for 3D visualization tools, giving professionals a strong path to differentiate their sales processes and gain a competitive advantage.
As AI and 3D transform both industry workflows and consumer behavior, this session will provide a clear view of how technology is redefining the renovation process and what builders, designers, manufacturers and marketers need to understand now to stand out in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Liza Hausman
Vice President of Industry Marketing | Houzz
9:35 am – 10:05 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
Financing the Home Improvement Ecosystem: How Consumers, Pros & Retailers Navigate Costs
Home improvement demand remains resilient—but homeowners are increasingly surprised by project costs, and that “expectations vs. reality” gap can derail conversion. In this session, David Smith (SVP, Home Specialty, Synchrony) shares what current consumer sentiment and shifting demographics mean for retailers and contractors, and how payment options influence decisions from initial research through purchase and installation.
Attendees will learn how consumers budget for repairs, replacements, and upgrades; where sticker shock appears in the journey; and practical ways to introduce financing earlier to build confidence and improve close rates. The session also covers how contractor quality, certification, and underwriting help reduce friction and increase trust—especially for higher-ticket projects.
David Smith
Senior Vice President | Synchrony Financial
10:05 am – 10:35 am | Stone Arch Foyer | Networking Coffee Break
10:35 am – 10:50 am | Stone Arch Foyer
Announcement of Pitchfest Winner
Jennifer Castenson
Vice President of Ambassador & Industry Partner Programs | Buildxact
10:50 am – 11:20 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
The Pro Channel in 2026: Needs, Pain Points, and Opportunities
This session dives into the realities shaping today’s jobsite, from labor shortages and retention challenges to the growing role of digital tools, data, and product innovation. Discover what’s driving contractor preferences, where the biggest pain points lie, and how improving product availability and efficiency can make all the difference. Don’t miss these insights to better connect with and support your pro customers.
Grant Farnsworth
President | The Farnsworth Group
11:20 am – 11:50 am | Stone Arch Ballroom
Insight at Machine Speed—Judgment at Human Scale
AI is changing how insights get built, tested and applied. Learn where Gen AI, synthetic personas and digital twins truly accelerate decisions—and where human research still matters most.”Insight at Machine Speed—Judgment at Human Scale
Chris Barnes
President | Escalent
11:50 am – 12:00 pm | Stone Arch Ballroom
HIRI Summit Final Thoughts
Dave King
Executive Director | Home Improvement Research Institute