The Professional Developers of Iowa (PDI) has announced that Katie Milton Jordan, founder and CEO of SimpleEDO.ai, will deliver a keynote and moderate a panel at the 2026 PDI Fall Conference, scheduled for September 23-25 in Burlington, Iowa. The conference theme, "Flowing at the Speed of Change: Economic Development, AI, and Community Readiness," underscores the pressing need for economic development professionals to grapple with the rapid transformations driven by artificial intelligence and other forces reshaping local economies.
Jordan's participation is particularly timely as communities across the nation confront the dual challenges of technological disruption and the imperative to foster sustainable growth. Her work focuses on helping mission-driven organizations move beyond mere AI experimentation and instead build governed workflows that support better decisions, stronger teams, and measurable outcomes. This approach is critical for economic development entities that often operate under real constraints of public oversight, limited budgets, and staffing shortages.
The conference agenda will address a range of topics, including downtown redevelopment, AI's impact on economic development, disaster preparedness, data-center growth, childcare solutions, and legislative updates. Jordan's sessions will place her in direct conversation with professionals who are grappling with the same fundamental questions: how to adopt new technologies without losing local judgment, institutional knowledge, or the human relationships that are essential to development work.
In her remarks, Jordan is expected to emphasize that the most significant AI conversations are not about software but about readiness—whether leaders have the systems, judgment, and shared language to turn change into community advantage. This perspective resonates with the conference's goal of equipping attendees with practical strategies for community readiness in an era of rapid change.
The event will be held in Burlington, Iowa, offering a venue for in-depth discussions and networking among Iowa's economic development professionals. More information about the conference can be found at pdiowa.com. To learn more about Jordan's work, visit katiemiltonjordan.com.
