You’re invited to a three-day gathering, October 27–29 in San Francisco, centered on real-world intelligence and product decisions. This lineup is officially locked and loaded and brings teams from Character.AI, Hugging Face, Runway, Wayve, Pinecone, Google Cloud, and more.
Register by September 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT to save up to $668 on your pass and secure front-row access to talks that matter for founders and investors. Sessions cover generative video, vector search, conversational systems, autonomy, and defense-grade work.
Expect practical tactics from builders who ship systems, not just ideas. You’ll get sessions that weave ethics and safety into product plans, plus networking that helps you move faster with partners and capital.
This compact, curated stage maps where platforms, models, and tooling are headed, so you leave with clear actions for your roadmap and investor conversations in one world that connects research and market reality.
Key Takeaways
- Attend October 27–29 in San Francisco for concentrated, hands-on AI talks.
- Register before September 26, 11:59 p.m. PT to save up to $668.
- Hear founders, CEOs, and researchers from leading companies and labs.
- Sessions blend ethics and safety with product and deployment tactics.
- Connect with investors and partners ready to fund and scale real work.
What’s happening at the AI Stage in San Francisco this October
From October 27–29, San Francisco hosts a tightly packed run of talks, firesides, panels, and roundtables focused on practical product work. You’ll find the stage serving up developer tools, autonomous mobility, creative systems, conversational builds, national security briefings, and funding playbooks.
Each day mixes morning technical deep dives with afternoon founder and investor playbooks. Plan your time to block sessions on the AI stack, vector search, vibe coding, mobility, and robotics.
You’ll get main-stage keynotes and smaller breakouts where you can ask direct questions and stress-test assumptions with operators. Expect to meet founders and investors who are actively deploying in the world and shipping features that matter.
Use this time to scout partners, talent, and pilots while taking advantage of San Francisco’s dense ecosystem to stack meetings and maximize every day. Leave with a prioritized list of next steps grounded in operator tactics, not just headlines.
The AI Stage is officially locked and loaded with powerhouses shaping the future
Leading company heads and chief scientists will take the mic to explain how they ship reliable products at scale.
You’ll hear CEO voices from Character.AI, Pinecone, Wayve, Apptronik, Waabi, and more. That mix puts founders and researchers on one stage alongside investors who are sizing market risk and timelines.
Sessions show how powerhouses shaping future markets tackle self-driving, vector search, creative media, agents, and defense tech. Speakers include technical leads from Hugging Face, Google Cloud, and DARPA who’ll discuss both breakthroughs and deployment limits.
Expect frank talk about go-to-market moves for founders at different stages. You’ll get notes on partnership trade-offs, funding appetite, and the operational gaps that separate demos from durable deployments.
By the end, you leave with concrete contacts and a short list of sessions that match your next build, hire, or raise — not just inspiration.
Step into the future: The full AI Stage agenda at TechCrunch Disrupt 2025
Scan a compact, curated program where founders and researchers reveal how they turn prototypes into products. You’ll get first look access to the next wave and next generation of work across model infra, autonomy, and creative media.
Across each day you can plan to hear Thomas Wolf on model stacks, Edo Liberty on vector search, and Kirill Skrygan on developer longevity. Creative media sessions feature Runway, Twelve Labs, Wonder Dynamics, and PocketFM, so you can see new workflows for ads, film, and generative video.
Co-founder CEO panels show how operators translate research into revenue and roadmaps. You’ll also find national security voices discussing where future artificial intelligence meets defense and investment signals for dual-use startups.
Use this guide to lock in talks that match your stage. Whether you’re building, hiring, or fundraising, these sessions help you land tactical takeaways you can use the same week. Scan the day lineup, pick must-attend moments, and meet investors and peers shaping future product bets.
Autonomous systems and mobility: From self-driving to delivery at scale
Autonomy and urban mobility take center stage with talks that connect lab breakthroughs to real road tests.
Wayve’s ceo Alex Kendall will explain how end-to-end learning trained on real-world data shifts timelines for self-driving viability. You’ll get a grounded view of what progress unlocks and what barriers remain, from data engine design to simulation and edge-case coverage.
Praveen Naga from Uber and Dave Ferguson of Nuro show how rides and delivery change when AI runs in the wild. They break down trade-offs in safety, cost, and reliability and explain how those choices shape product and ops decisions for founders.
Expect practical takeaways on centralized versus fleet-native approaches, where innovation fits in sensors or specialized models, and a checklist for data strategies, validation, and pilot design. You’ll leave this stage with clear signals on where to spend and where to wait as the future of autonomy unfolds on city streets.
AI beyond the screen: Robots, trucks, and the physical world
Hear how embodied systems are graduating from test rigs to real work in factories and on highways. Jeff Cardenas, ceo of Apptronik, and Raquel Urtasun, ceo of Waabi, map practical timelines for humanoid robots and autonomous trucks.
You’ll see what it takes to move pilots into production: supply chains, redundancy, service models, and reliability checks. Speakers explain the data and simulation stacks that power embodied intelligence and define what sufficient coverage means for real deployments.
Learn design patterns for handling failure modes when machines share space with people. Expect a clear discussion on centralized control versus on-device intelligence and how that trade-off affects latency, safety, and cost for your build.
Founders will get hiring and partnership advice from leaders pushing next generation robotics. Walk away with repeatable patterns for translating lab innovation into dependable field performance that customers trust.
Inside the AI stack: Models, platforms, and vector search
Thomas Wolf and Edo Liberty break down the core choices that define modern model stacks and retrieval systems.
You’ll get a plain-English map of platforms, model choices, and frameworks so you can move fast without locking yourself in.
Learn how vector search underpins the next wave of products, from retrieval-augmented generation to semantic search and personalization at scale.
Sessions cover how to design a data layer that supports evaluation, governance, and iteration across multiple model families.
Expect practical notes on where open-source wins and where proprietary tools still make sense for budget and roadmap planning.
Walk away with design patterns for latency, throughput, and retrieval quality that shape user experience and production reliability.
You’ll leave with a short checklist of platform trade-offs and integration tips from leaders shaping future artificial systems and founders building in the world.
Developer reality check: Tools that last, vibe coding, and the 10x debate
This session strips hype away and shows what coding with modern tools actually looks like day to day. Kirill Skrygan, CEO of JetBrains, leads a frank look at which features survive real product pressure and which are parlor tricks.
You’ll cut through claims and see which assistants truly improve developer work over the long haul. Panels show how to measure reliability, privacy, performance, and total cost before you lock your stack.
Guests debate vibe coding and whether it changes hiring plans for early startups. You’ll hear what founders need when building platforms and how to choose between buy and build decisions.
Expect pragmatic checklists for onboarding, setting policies, and metrics that track outcomes—not just lines of code. Leave this stage with day-one steps to evaluate tools and a clearer map for the next wave of productivity that can actually scale.
Creative AI takes center stage: From ads to films to generative video
Alejandro Matamala Ortiz and other creative leads show how generative video reshapes media workflows for ads, VFX, and long-form work.
You’ll see demos that moved from lab proofs to daily production. Speakers from Twelve Labs, Wonder Dynamics, and PocketFM explain how tools scale to millions of users in entertainment and education.
Panels cover design for different skill levels so creators and studios can adopt faster. Expect clear guidance on IP, licensing, and collaboration workflows that speed delivery without legal headaches.
Co-founder ceo guests and a ceo or two share hard data on engagement, retention, and creator economics. They map where innovation heads next: agents, multimodal editing, and real-time iteration that plug into your pipeline.
Leave with a tight shortlist of tools and tactics to lift production velocity. Whether you’re founders building a product or an in-house team, you’ll get concrete moves to elevate content and ship more with less.
Catch these sessions on the creative stage at techcrunch disrupt for practical takeaways you can use the same week.
Conversational AI and human connection
Panelists will show how lifelike digital personalities reshape trust and rapport between people and software. Karandeep Anand, ceo of Character.AI, explains how models of intelligence now mimic tone and memory to feel more natural.
Speakers from Tinder, Replika, and the Kinsey Institute explore the next wave of products and how each platform designs consent and transparency. Expect frank discussion on user trust and safety, with ethics and safety front and center.
You’ll learn what founders need to measure: latency, context retention, and safety interventions that protect users. Panels break down how to instrument systems so you can iterate without causing harm.
Sessions also cover how data is collected, evaluated, and governed to prevent model drift. That work matters when products aim to augment human connection across home and workplace.
Leave with a concise framework for shipping features that balance growth and responsibility. Walk away ready to build with long-term brand equity and clear signals for where to invest next.
National security and defense: AI’s high-stakes frontier
National security leaders and commercial founders share a candid view of what counts as mission-ready tech. You’ll hear Ethan Thornton, ceo of Mach Industries, describe how defense innovation velocity forces tight testing cycles.
Kathleen Fisher from DARPA and Justin Fanelli, CTO at the U.S. Department of Navy, explain decision loops, deterrence, and logistics that shape operational requirements. Sri Chandrasekar, managing partner at Point72, joins investors to outline funding models and procurement realities.
Sessions show dual-use pathways for startups and the compliance checks you must plan for. You’ll learn how export controls, IP, and certifications affect partnership choices and speed to field.
Walk away with concrete next steps: pilot designs, testing milestones, teaming agreements, and investor signals that let you pursue defense work without losing product momentum on the wider world stage techcrunch disrupt offers.
Building and funding in an AI-first world
Founders and funders will gather for focused sessions on capital, product, and measurable growth.
You’ll hear targeted panels like “Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know” and “Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise.”
Speakers show how to close a first series round, from pitch clarity to partner diligence and closing momentum.
Expect exploration of alternative capital—angels, family offices, and revenue-based options that keep you in control.
Sessions teach how to build an AI-first platform and data strategy that investors can underwrite at seed, A, and beyond.
Leaders from Google Cloud and seasoned investors explain metrics, narrative, and timing so you prepare long before you need a raise.
You’ll get practical templates and checkpoints to de-risk the next 18 months across product, revenue, and team.
Leave with a checklist that positions your innovation within market tailwinds and shows founders need to prove real-world traction.
The founder advantage: Hiring, productivity, and the future of work
Founders will hear practical frameworks for hiring, training, and team design that scale with product bets. Brendan Foody (CEO, Mercor) lays out how automation and smart tooling let you hire faster without losing quality.
You’ll get quick tactics to source, screen, and ramp talent using tools that cut repetitive tasks. Panels test whether vibe coding changes early hiring needs or whether deep specialists remain essential for hard problems.
Learn how to measure output when agents handle routine tasks. Collect the right data on performance, quality, and iteration speed so compensation and career paths stay grounded in facts.
Co-founder ceo voices like Aaron Levie show how leaders structure teams for next generation workflows. Leave this stage with policies, rituals, and tools that keep your team creative, resilient, and ready for what comes next.
Startup Battlefield and encore sessions you don’t want to miss
Catch the Startup Battlefield Final where five teams pitch for a $100,000 prize and live investor feedback. You’ll watch founders craft crisp narratives, metrics, and demos under pressure.
After the final, encore talks dive deep. Hear "Scaling Search and AI for Millions: Lessons from Reddit Search" about relevance, safety, and bias mitigation for users at scale.
Replay-friendly sessions like "AI Evaluation 101" show how to test models with automated, judge-based, and human-rated methods. You’ll leave with clear testing templates you can use the next day.
Headline guests—Elad Gil, Aaron Levie (ceo), and Kevin Rose—share blunt views on where the next wave and next generation of builders should place bets.
Panels cover agents, community-led products, alternative capital, and national security themes so you can match tactics to your stage and day plan. Walk away with a short list of talks to rewatch and actions to execute.
Last call to register: Secure your spot and savings for Disrupt 2025
Claim your spot for October 27–29 in San Francisco so you can join leaders, founders, and investors for three focused days of hands-on sessions and networking.
Register before September 26 at 11:59 p.m. PT to save up to $668 and lock your pass now. This is the last window to secure that offer and plan your time onsite.
You’ll get first look access to high-demand talks on mobility, models, creative media, conversational systems, and defense. Use those sessions to stack meetings, demos, and roundtables and make every day count.
Bookmark the stage techcrunch and stage techcrunch disrupt lineups so you can build a tight agenda. Leave disrupt 2025 with contacts, commitments, and a clear checklist you can execute the moment you’re back at work.