Working in our own worlds, we forget why we started building what we’re building. Then something magical happens – people come together, ideas collide, and communities form.
The Northumbrian Water Innovation Festival 2025 was one of those moments. This year, we joined as a Gold Sponsor to the biggest innovation platform in the UK water industry. The festival brought together 3,000 innovators from 37 countries and 500 organisations across 45 sectors. But the real magic happened in the spaces between, where Game Changers ready to tackle the industry’s biggest challenges found each other.
Setting the stage for Vynnergy
The festival opened with an energising keynote from Nigel Watson, Angela MacOscar, and the entire NWG team. Their message was clear: the future belongs to those who can embrace regeneration for tomorrow’s communities. This theme echoed throughout the week, connecting every workshop, sprint, and conversation.
At our exhibition stand, we engaged in profound conversations with water industry leaders. These discussions centred on reimagining work and building total asset optimisation with Agentic Video Intelligence.
These meaningful conversations paired perfectly with our exciting LEGO giveaway. Drawing over 140 visitors to our stand across three days, it perfectly captured the festival’s spirit to build something meaningful together, piece by piece.
Sprints at the heart of innovation
The festival’s sprints were where theory met practice. These intensive, time-boxed workshops brought together diverse teams to rapidly solve complex challenges, with participants self-selecting based on their passions and expertise.
Key themes included infrastructure and carbon reduction, operational efficiency through modernised data capture, and partner-led innovation developing AI-powered solutions for pollution prevention and wastewater treatment. These workshops reinforced that innovation is teamwork, turning complex problems into actionable solutions that teams committed to pursue beyond the event.
Agentic AI & Video Clinic at your door
We also launched a Mobile AI Clinic to bring AI expertise directly to the sprint teams. The concept emerged from the observation that everyone feels they need AI in their business, but they’re not always sure what problems they’re trying to solve.
Working alongside industry leaders including Sensat, RPS Technologies, Jacobs, Stantec, Fujitsu, and Qualitest, our team donned Game Changer lab coats and offered consultations much like a doctor prescribing treatment, helping teams diagnose data, AI, and integration challenges.
Drawing from seven years of experience in Generative AI with 90% of top UK’s utilities, we demonstrated how video capture powered by AI can transform collaboration between Operations, Engineering, and Asset teams. This is particularly crucial as the industry moves through AMP8 and the required asset investments it demands.
Our consultations focused on critical issues like water quality monitoring and storm overflow management. We shared real-world examples where Northumbrian Water Group and other industry leaders have successfully applied Vyn on the field.
The Wats-On-Tap
We proudly sponsored the Wats-On-Tap pop-up pub because we fundamentally believe in the power of community and collaboration. Our strong partnership with Nigel Watson, who has been a keen supporter since the beginning, made this sponsorship a fitting tribute to his vision and commitment to bringing the industry together.
There’s a well-known truth in innovation that the best conversations that change the future often happen in relaxed environments over a drink. The space allowed brilliant minds to gather, ideas to flow freely, and new partnerships to form organically.
Beyond the festival: The Vynners Circle
The first day at the festival concluded perfectly at W.C. Newcastle, a restaurant with a fascinating origin story that aligned beautifully with the festival’s regeneration theme. Housed in a repurposed Victorian-era gentlemen’s public toilet built in 1898, it stands as a testament to imaginative urban renewal, breathing new life into forgotten pieces of local heritage.
The road ahead
The water industry faces unprecedented challenges, from climate change to aging infrastructure to evolving customer expectations. But the NWG Innovation Festival proved that innovation happens when people come together with shared purpose. It thrives in environments where collaboration is valued over competition, where diverse perspectives are welcomed, and where the focus remains firmly on solving real problems for real people.
Wondering how you can be ‘prescribed’ the right intelligence for your business? Explore our latest NWG Case Study and book a call with us today.
