WORKSHOPS

Asilomar for the BrainMind and is a workshop-driven, interactive gathering. All participants are expected to contribute substantively in the co-creation of practical ethical decision-making tools across the innovation lifecycle. Workshops will run concurrently, and participants will be pre-assigned and notified of their selected workshop and any prep work needed ahead of time. Learn more about each workshop below:

Workshops Day 1 (March 30th, 2026)

NeuroTrust Index

World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council of Neurotechnology, Cognitive Futures Lab, Duke University

This workshop, led by the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Neurotechnology, builds on more than a year of work to develop an industry-facing rating system grounded in trust, transparency, privacy, and ethics. The session will gather feedback on the NeuroTrust Index, a proposed system designed to assess and benchmark governance and responsible practices in neurotechnology. Participants from across the ecosystem—including founders, policymakers, funders, clinicians, and end users—will collaborate to refine the criteria, metrics, and thresholds that underpin the Index. The objective is to establish a shared, transparent rating system that can inform investment, regulation, and innovation in brain–computer interfaces and neural data use. The outcome will be a publicly available rating system intended to strengthen trust and accountability across the neurotechnology landscape.

Leads

Nita Farahany, JD, PhD
Global Future Council on Neurotechnology, Uniform Law Commission, Duke

Tom Oxley, MD, PhD
Global Future Council on Neurotechnology, Synchron

Diligence Questions, Investor-Founder Agreement

BrainMind Investor Working Group #1

In this workshop, participants will explore ethical obligations of investors in neurotechnology, a draft set of pre-investment due-diligence questions, and a complementary term-sheet addendum designed to anchor neurotechnology investments in a clear set of ethical duties. The group will pressure-test these tools through real-world scenarios, identify gaps in how they surface issues like safety, agency, data use, and business-model alignment, and provide feedback to refine them into practical, investor-ready frameworks for more responsible neurotechnology funding.

Leads

Adam Caplan
Jumpspace Ventures

Samantha Tabone
XEIA Ventures

Partners

  • Masashi Kiyomine, Kicker Ventures

  • Frank Stegert, Global Asset Capital

Toolkit for Neuro-entrepreneurs: Ensuring Acceptable Use, Mitigating Misuse of Neurotechnologies

Ningen Neuroethics Co-Lab, IDUN Technologies

As neurotechnology regulation continues to evolve, ethically minded companies must navigate how their technologies and data are designed, deployed, and shared—particularly once they move into partnerships. In this workshop, participants will test-drive a neuroethics triage tool to guide decisions around ethical use, licensing, and collaboration. Through simulation exercises and structured feedback, participants will explore when specific neuroethics tools are most useful, how to apply them, and how complementary governance approaches can support responsible partnerships and regulatory readiness.

Leads

Karen Rommelfanger, PhD
Ningen Neurotethics Co-lab

Moritz Thielen, PhD
IDUN Technologies

Simon Bachmann
IDUN Technologies

External Stakeholder Engagement

American Brain Coalition

In this workshop, participants will explore the tools being developed for industry and research organizations. They will be introduced to a project designed to put readily available resources into the hands of product developers and research teams to launch, execute, and manage lived-experience engagement programs. This interactive half-day session includes testing the new (beta) Industry/Developer Resource Hub and providing feedback to shape a peer-support network for professionals to learn from one another and integrate this insight into their business models.

Leads

Jennifer French
Neurotech Network, iBCI-CC

Katie Sale
American Brain Coalition

Workshops Day 2 (March 31st, 2026)

Annual Industry Scorecard

Neurorights Foundation and Consumer Reports

Facilitated by Dr. Stephen Damianos, Executive Director of the Neurorights Foundation, and Benjamin Moskowitz, Vice President, Innovation Lab at Consumer Reports, this workshop will explore prototypes of tools designed to strengthen trust and safety in the fast-growing consumer neurotechnology industry. These solutions are designed to benefit both users and companies, empowering consumers with informed choice while enabling industry leaders to differentiate themselves through responsible innovation. Bringing together end users, developers, executives, neuroethicists, and experts in responsible innovation, the session will focus on co-creating practical tools and discussing pathways toward industry-wide adoption. Through structured feedback and collaborative exercises, participants will help shape approaches that can be implemented across diverse product types and business models, advancing a trustworthy and thriving neurotechnology ecosystem.

Leads

Stephen Damianos, PhD
The Neurorights Foundation

Benjamin Moskowitz
Consumer Reports

Values to Actions: Ethical use of Neural Data within Neurotechnology Companies

Motif Neurotech

This half-day interactive session will help participants develop practical ways to develop their own ethical stance on the use of neural data, translate these values into company policy, and operationalize them through company actions. Participants will grapple with data ownership and autonomy challenges through collaborative scenario exercises and leave with the tools to develop policies and processes that help ensure their values are maintained in the actions of their organization.

Leads

Jacob Robinson
Motif Neurotech

Landan Mintch
Motif Neurotech

Ethics and Reputation Risk Matrix

BrainMind Investor Working Group #2

This session will focus on a board-level neuroethics risk matrix created to guide ongoing oversight once an investment has been made. The matrix is designed to help board members identify emerging risks, track company alignment with ethical commitments, and support proactive governance across the lifecycle of neurotechnology development. Participants will review the draft matrix, explore how it can be integrated into regular board discussions, and provide input to ensure it becomes a practical, actionable framework for long-term stewardship of neurotechnologies.

Leads

Amy Kruse, PhD
Satori Neuro

Juan Enriquez, MBA
Excel Venture Management

Partners

  • Matthew Dworman, GFI Partners

  • Esther Dyson, Braingels

  • Tom Gruber, Braingels