A century ago, the biggest technological breakthrough most Americans experienced was a paved highway that promised adventure beyond the next horizon.
Route 66 changed the way people traveled. It connected communities, fueled exploration and turned the automobile into a symbol of freedom and possibility. Few could have imagined that 100 years later, cars would communicate with computers, engineers would make split-second decisions using live data, and artificial intelligence would become part of everyday life.
At first glance, Route 66 and Formula One racing appear to have little in common. Together, they tell one of the most compelling stories of technological progress over the past century. Few people have witnessed that evolution as closely as Kirk Dunsavage.
As the W. L. Gore & Associates keynote speaker for the 2026 Flagstaff Festival of Science, Dunsavage will take audiences behind the scenes of some of the world’s most advanced technologies while exploring a question that has consistently shaped every major breakthrough of the past century:
What happens when people never stop asking, “How can we make this better?”
During a career spanning nearly three decades at Intel Corporation and later with Williams Racing, one of Formula One’s most iconic teams, Dunsavage has worked at the intersection of automotive technology, healthcare, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity. His experience has placed him on the front lines of industries where innovation moves quickly and continuous improvement is part of everyday life.
When we began talking, I expected Formula One to dominate the conversation. It didn’t. As the discussion moved from racing to healthcare, artificial intelligence and even motorcycles, it became clear that Formula One was simply one chapter in a much larger story. Every example pointed back to the same idea: technology may accelerate progress, but people create it.
“I’ve always been curious about how things work,” Dunsavage said. “I love technology, and I love what you can do with it.” That curiosity has taken him places few people ever experience.
Imagine standing inside a Formula One garage just moments before a race begins. While thousands of fans focus on the driver, dozens of engineers are focused on something just as important. They monitor hundreds of streams of live data flowing from the car. Tire temperatures, wind direction, aerodynamics, fuel loads and track conditions are constantly changing. Every decision carries consequences measured in fractions of a second.
“The team that can take that data, analyze it, decide what to do with it, and make a change to the car is the team that’s going to win,” Dunsavage explained. The technology is extraordinary and the collaboration behind it is even more impressive. Software engineers, aerodynamic specialists, manufacturing experts, race strategists and data analysts work together toward one shared objective. Every race becomes another opportunity to learn, adapt and improve.
“Everybody knows what the goal is,” Dunsavage said. “There’s this continuous drive to get better and better, to learn from the last race, apply what you’ve learned and make changes for the next one.” One observation stayed with me long after our conversation ended. Although Dunsavage has worked in dramatically different industries, he doesn’t describe them as separate worlds. He sees the same principles at work in every one of them.
Before Formula One, he worked with software supporting CT scanners and other medical imaging technology. Better software helped physicians gather clearer diagnostic information while reducing radiation exposure for patients. The environment looked nothing like a Formula One garage, yet the process sounded remarkably familiar. Gather better information. Understand the problem. Test new ideas. Improve the outcome.
Artificial intelligence represents the next chapter in that same story. Many conversations about AI begin with fear or uncertainty. Dunsavage approaches the technology from a different perspective.
“Technology is a tool,” he said. “Somebody needs to tell it what to do, and somebody needs to know what to do with the results it gets back.” That perspective feels especially relevant today, when conversations about artificial intelligence often focus on what machines can do instead of what people should do. His optimism isn’t rooted in technology alone. It comes from believing people will continue doing what they have always done: adapt, innovate and discover better ways forward. Perhaps that’s why Dunsavage is such a fitting choice to open this year’s Flagstaff Festival of Science.
The Festival celebrates the centennial of Route 66, a highway that once represented the cutting edge of transportation and inspired people to explore what lay beyond the next horizon. One hundred years later, society stands at another crossroads. Artificial intelligence, advanced computing and emerging technologies are reshaping how people live, work and communicate.
Dunsavage won’t tell audiences exactly where that road leads. Instead, he’ll invite them to ask better questions about where it might take us next. His keynote promises more than stories from Formula One or a look inside one of the world’s most respected technology companies. It offers an opportunity to connect a century of innovation—from Route 66 to artificial intelligence—and discover why the most important technology has never been the machine itself. It has always been the people behind it.
One hundred years ago, Route 66 invited America to discover what waited beyond the next horizon. The next horizon isn’t somewhere in the distance. It’s already here.
The question is whether we’re curious enough to explore it.
Written By Katherine S. O’Donnell
