AI and Startup Roundtables at Disrupt 2026

TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is scheduled to bring founders, investors, operators, and technology leaders to Moscone West in San Francisco from October 13-15 for three days of discussions and ideas shaping the future of technology.

Attendees will have the opportunity to take part in interactive, deep-dive roundtables covering various industry challenges. These sessions offer practical perspectives on everything from fundraising and artificial intelligence to hiring, enterprise software, physical AI, and scaling a company.

Don’t miss the chance to spark meaningful connections in roundtables and throughout the event. Register now to save up to $100 on your pass and get a second pass at 50% off.

Explore the full roundtable agenda lineup

This year’s sessions run across two dedicated roundtable spaces throughout the event, focusing on core technological developments and market strategies.

Image Credits:Kimberly White/Getty Images for TechCrunch

Arm Wrestling Your Data: The Physical AI Challenge

Led by Radha Basu, Founder and CEO of iMerit.

Physical AI requires more than larger models. This session explores the data challenges behind robotics and autonomous systems, including edge cases, multimodal data, and building pipelines that can operate reliably in the real world.

Is SaaS Dead? AI Is Exposing What Enterprise Software Got Wrong

Led by Rajeev Singh, CEO of Smartsheet.

Artificial intelligence is exposing the fragmentation underneath traditional SaaS platforms. The discussion explores why orchestration, organizational context, and intelligence across workflows could define the next generation of enterprise software.

Can AI Take You Public? The New Playbook for IPO-Ready Finance

Led by Eléonore Crespo, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Pigment, and Sofia Fatakhova, Senior Vice President of Finance and Capital Markets at Chime.

IPO readiness starts earlier than it used to. This session covers how AI-enabled finance teams can automate, document, and build financial discipline before filing to go public.

Specialty Post-Training Data: Powering the Next Wave of AI

Led by Dani London, Investor at Base10 Partners.

As models improve, specialized data becomes an increasingly important differentiator. The session examines where valuable datasets originate, which applications need them most, and emerging businesses around this layer of the AI stack.

Join these sessions and more at Disrupt. Register now to save up to $100 on your pass and get a second pass at 50% off.

AI’s Next Frontier: Modernizing Legacy Industries

Led by Rob Biederman, Managing Partner at Asymmetric Capital Partners.

Some of artificial intelligence's biggest opportunities lie outside traditional tech sectors, examining how outdated workflows and underserved industries create room for startups.

The Science of Powerful Introductions: How to Be Remembered in an AI World

Led by Cal Amir, Keynote Speaker and Founder of Introduction Lab.

The session focuses on making initial meetings with investors or customers memorable and evaluating approaches that stand out.

Atoms vs. Bits: Physical AI for the Physical World

Led by Jackson Feder, VP of Investment at MetaProp.

Explores how artificial intelligence is moving from digital workflows into construction, property, infrastructure, and energy, requiring different approaches from traditional software.

Beyond the Demo: Building Physical AI That Actually Works

Led by Logan Farrell, Co-founder and CTO of Rugged Robotics, and Austin Yount, Partner at Brick & Mortar Ventures.

Discusses reliability, workflow integration, trust, and ROI to determine what physical AI needs to deliver before scaled customer adoption.

Beyond Inventory: The Commerce AI Playbook for the Intent Era

Led by Srishti Chaudhary, Senior Manager of Product at Walmart eCommerce.

Examines how commerce is shifting toward understanding user intent, agentic shopping, personalization, and large language models.

The Quantum Revolution: What Investors Need to Know

Speaker details to be announced.

Provides investors with a practical grounding in quantum computing, emerging opportunities, and key milestones.

Healthcare and Generative AI Adoption

Led by Brian Butler, Partner at Questa Capital.

Examines why healthcare adopted generative AI quickly compared to electronic health records, highlighting remaining barriers and value creation.

Beyond the Term Sheet: How to Architect a Great Fundraise

Led by Alex Li, Partner at MVP Ventures.

Focuses on choosing investors, securing introductions, managing competitive processes, and negotiating terms.

From Pilot to Production at Scale: Provable, Trusted Agentic AI for the Enterprise

Led by Dr. Maha Achour, Co-founder and CEO of Kodamai, and Pankaj Kedia, Founder and Managing Partner of 2468 Ventures.

Explores why many enterprise AI projects remain in pilot mode and what changes are needed to scale agentic systems into trusted production environments.

Critical Lessons for CISO Careers

Led by Stephen Ward, Founder and Managing Partner of Brightmind Partners.

Shares lessons from mistakes made during a CISO career, addressing risk management and organizational maturity.

What Comes After ChatGPT? AI for the Physical World

Led by Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ, and Stacie Calad-Thomson, Global BD Lead for Life Science Labs and Manufacturing at Nvidia.

Examines artificial intelligence grounded in physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics across healthcare, materials, energy, and industrial systems.

The Rise of SoCal Hard Tech

Explores why El Segundo has become a center for space, defense, and hard tech startups, attracting founders, capital, and talent.

The Founder Playbook

Led by Cassie Kozyrkov, Founder of Kozyr and former Chief Decision Scientist at Google.

Sponsored by Signify Business Cash World Elite Mastercard by Wells Fargo

Leads an interactive discussion about making better founder decisions, where artificial intelligence can assist, and where human judgment remains necessary.

Navigating Post-Funding and Liquidity Events

Led by Vishal Kumar and Tushar Kumar, Private Wealth Advisors and Co-founders of Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors.

When Frontier Models Are Not Enough: Scientific Discoveries

Led by Piotr Byrski, CEO and Co-founder of Molecule.one.

Explores autonomous experimentation and AI-driven discovery to assess how these systems could accelerate scientific progress.

How to Land Your First Institutional Check

Led by Aditi Maliwal, General Partner at Upfront Ventures.

Examines the decision-making process behind early institutional investments, founder signals, and narrative development.

Balancing Growth and the P&L

Led by Marshall Egger, Founder and COO of Spacemilk.

Explores forecasting, inventory, cash flow, and financial management to support company growth.

Agentic AI in the Enterprise: Separating Signal From Noise

Led by Ankita Mehta, Senior Product Manager at Databricks.

Discusses where companies find measurable value in agentic AI, why pilots stall, and how to evaluate infrastructure needs.

Open-Weight Models and the New AI Stack

Led by Mercedes Bent and Vanessa Larco, Co-founders and Managing Partners at Premise.

Examines trade-offs around cost, security, performance, and control when utilizing open-weight models for startups.

The $100 Billion Entry Fee: Can Anyone Still Compete in AI?

Led by Harrison Rolfes, Senior Research Analyst at PitchBook.

Analyzes market defensibility and capital concentration for founders and investors outside major AI laboratories.

VC Insights for Founders: How to Raise Your First VC Round

Led by Itamar Novick, Founder and General Partner at Recursive Ventures, and Brian Sparkes, CEO of Silicon Valley Venture Corp.

Forward-Deployed Engineers in Enterprise Software

Led by Kevin Bai, Member of Technical Staff at Anthropic.

Explores the commercial role of forward-deployed engineers bridging software engineering, product, and consulting to improve retention.

Doing More With Less: Raising Venture Capital in an AI-First World

Led by Neil Sequeira, Founder and Partner at Defy.vc.

Discusses overfunding, dilution, and investor alignment to help founders raise adequate capital without conflicting incentives.

Technology Cycles and Artificial Intelligence

Led by James Joaquin, Co-founder and Managing Director of Obvious Ventures.

Examines how artificial intelligence differs from previous technology cycles and how founders can operate during rapid innovation periods.

Autonomous Intelligence: Investing in Companies Redefining Work

Led by Parul Singh, Investment Partner at 645 Ventures.

Examines autonomous agents completing entire workflows and identifies potential categories for investment opportunities.

AI-Native Versus Enterprise Integration

Led by Naren Krishna, CEO and Co-founder of Balerion, and Travis Skelly, Partner at Pruven Capital.

Explores why intelligent agent layers may serve as near-term integration opportunities for Fortune 500 companies without replacing core record systems.

Berkeley Connect: Startup Ecosystems

Led by Maryanne Alhallak and Anthea Guo of Lumeria, along with Keith McAleer from UC Berkeley SCET.

Sponsored by UC Berkeley Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (SCET)

Examines UC Berkeley's approach to entrepreneurship and ways investors and entrepreneurs can participate.