TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 returns to San Francisco this October with a heavy focus on interactive, expert-led roundtables covering AI, finance, and scaling strategies.
The planning for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is moving into its final week. as organizers prepare to welcome more than 10. 000 founders. investors. and tech leaders to Moscone West in San Francisco. From October 13-15. the event shifts focus from stage presentations to the grit of day-to-day operations through a series of interactive. deep-dive roundtables.
These sessions are designed to move past high-level industry chatter, inviting attendees to bring specific challenges to the table. Whether the topic is the mechanics of fundraising. the nuance of hiring. or the transition from pilot projects to scaled enterprise production. the goal is to provide practical perspectives. With the event seven days away. attendees can still save $100 on their passes. with an additional 50% discount available on second tickets.
Running across two dedicated spaces, the agenda reflects the current friction points in the tech landscape. Radha Basu of iMerit will address the complexities of physical AI and the edge cases inherent in autonomous systems. while Rajeev Singh of Smartsheet questions whether the current SaaS model is being dismantled by the rise of AI orchestration. The financial reality of the current market is also front and center. with Eléonore Crespo of Pigment and Sofia Fatakhova of Chime leading a discussion on the new. early-stage requirements for IPO-ready finance.
Some of the most pressing questions in the industry revolve around the gap between experimental technology and market reality. Conversations led by Logan Farrell of Rugged Robotics and Austin Yount of Brick & Mortar Ventures will tackle why robotics demos often struggle to translate into reliable. ROI-positive products. Similarly, Dr. Maha Achour of Kodamai and Pankaj Kedia of 2468 Ventures are set to examine why so many enterprise-grade agentic AI projects remain stalled in pilot mode.
The programming extends into the specialized needs of founders navigating rapid growth. Stephen Ward. former CISO. plans to dissect 12 critical mistakes that nearly derailed his own career. while Cassie Kozyrkov and the team at Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors will guide founders through the high-stakes decisions that follow a major liquidity event. Other sessions will feature insights from industry figures such as Dani London of Base10 Partners. Rob Biederman of Asymmetric Capital Partners. Cal Amir
of Introduction Lab. Jackson Feder of MetaProp. Srishti Chaudhary of Walmart eCommerce. Brian Butler of Questa Capital. Alex Li of MVP Ventures. Jack Hidary of SandboxAQ. Stacie Calad-Thomson of Nvidia. Kevin Hawkins of the New York Stock Exchange. Drew Boyles of El Segundo. Piotr Byrski of Molecule.one. Aditi Maliwal of Upfront Ventures. Marshall Egger of Spacemilk. Ankita Mehta of Databricks. Mercedes Bent and Vanessa Larco of Premise. Harrison Rolfes of PitchBook. Itamar Novick of Recursive
Ventures. Brian Sparkes of Silicon Valley Venture. Kevin Bai of Anthropic. Neil Sequeira of Defy.vc. James Joaquin of Obvious Ventures. Parul Singh of 645 Ventures. Naren Krishna of Balerion. Travis Skelly of Pruven Capital. Maryanne Alhallak and Anthea Guo of Lumeria. and Keith McAleer of UC Berkeley SCET.
This breadth of expertise underscores the evolving nature of the startup ecosystem. As the industry moves through these cycles, the roundtables aim to provide a forum for peer-to-peer connection. It is not just about listening to an expert; it is about debating the path forward with people navigating the same terrain. from the realities of the $100 billion AI entry fee to the nuances of forward-deployed engineering.
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