TIME Reveals the Inaugural 2026 Trailblazers: Designing and Making the Future List
Presented in partnership with Autodesk, TIME will convene this year’s listmakers at a special event in Las Vegas on September 14. Today, TIME reveals the inaugural TIME Trailblazers: Designing and Making the Future list recognizing an exclusive group of architects, engineers, founders, technologists, and builders whose work is expanding what is possible across housing, infrastructure, climate…
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck Louisiana in August, causing devastating damage. In response, Saket Soni, the founder and executive director of Resilience Force, relocated to the state to support the recovery efforts. Soni's mentor, historian Vincent Harding, imparted a powerful lesson to him during their conversation: the nation is still being built, and Soni plays a role in shaping its future.
This philosophy serves as the cornerstone of Soni's advocacy, which centers around empowering and safeguarding the workers who rebuild after disasters. This mindset also forms the basis of the initiative TIME Trailblazers, which recognizes global leaders who are designing and constructing the future. Among the distinguished individuals featured on this inaugural list are Aicha Evans of Zoox, who envisions a future with safe and efficient robotaxis; Bjarke Ingels, the architect behind the U.S.'s largest urban climate adaptation project, The Dryline; Mike Schultz, a Paralympic gold medalist whose company, BioDapt, manufactures prosthetics for athletes; and Jason Ballard, CEO of Icon, who is developing 3D-printed homes to potentially address the housing crisis.
This world brims with opportunity, potential, and challenges yet to be addressed. It remains a place in progress, being actively built by these 14 trailblazing innovators.
Written by urgent.news from Time's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
