Conference News: Re:Inforce Reinvented; WEF heads South; Ai4 Shares its Event Plans
AWS re:Invents re:Inforce: AWS re:Inforce has been AWS’ cloud security learning event since 2019 offering “a deep dive into the latest approaches to security best practices and risk management using AWS services, features, and tools” The last edition was held a couple of months ago in Las Vegas. While the event has garnered a quality audience, it will not be held as a standalone conference in 2026 but instead it will join the program AWS re:Invent. Re:Invent will return to Vegas from 30 November– 4 December 4, 2026.
From Davos to Desert: The World Economic Forum plans to host its first global summit in South Africa in April 2027. This will be the first global summit in seven years after the COVID 19 pandemic forced the cancellations of most global events. During an interview in Davos last month, Chido Munyati, the WEF Head of Africa, told CNBC Africa that the summit will likely be held in either in Johannesburg or Cape Town. (The last WEF Africa meeting was held in Cape Town in 2019.) More information should be available on this gathering here within the next few months.
Submission Opportunity: Taking place from 23 – 24 September at Olympia London, Big Data LDN is self-described as “the UK’s leading data, analytics and AI conference & exhibition.” The agenda has more than 400 sessions across 13 theatres covering every aspect of data, AI & analytics. If you have a speaker/topic suggestion that aligns with one of their focus areas, submit the speaker info, talk synopsis and key takeaways within their online form before the 14 March deadline.
Conference Manager Q&A: Daniel Lackland is Senior Director of Content at Ai4 Conference. The event will take place in Las Vegas from 4 – 6 August 2026. We caught up with Daniel to find out what he and his team are doing to make it memorable for speakers and attendees.
Speaker Strategies: What about your next event excites you the most? This year at Ai4 2026 we will gather 12,000+ executives, engineers, researchers and press together to discuss AI use cases across every job function and industry vertical. I’m most excited about seeing the latest AI use cases in action. We began the show in 2018 and at the time it was only focused on AI in healthcare. Since then, the AI industry has boomed. AI is now being used in everything from supply chains to healthcare to defense.
Speaker Strategies: What differentiates Ai4 from other AI conferences? Our breadth, scale, and commitment to real world use cases sets us apart. We gather some of the brightest minds in AI and leading executives from 82 different job functions, industry verticals, or focus areas that will be presenting on specific use cases for their area of work. This means that everyone in attendance should be able to find highly relevant content specifically of interest to them. Also, we tend to ignore impractical “thought leadership” and focus on where presenters have actually found real world value with AI.
Speaker Strategies: What do you love most about your job? We have always been committed to the responsible adoption of AI technology. We even invite critics and pessimists to give talks at Ai4 – people that other AI events would never let on stage. I believe that we need to have open and honest dialogue about where this technology is heading. I love the fact that as an independent conference, we can do this.
Coming Up Next Week: Co-created by HLTH and CHIME, ViVE (22-26 February; Los Angeles) unites CIOs, CTOs, CMIOs, and other execs from health systems and payers looking to drive measurable transformation across digital health. From 23-26 February, retailers, brands and advertisers head to the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort for eTail Palm Springs. eTail’s 2026 theme is “Power Your Growth.” The Lake Nona Impact Forum (25-27 February) is an annual invitation-only that convenes a collection of the brightest minds from the health, wellness, and medical innovation ecosystem in the Lake Nona community near Orlando. Meanwhile in Tampa, S4x26 is a conference designed for IT security professionals working across a variety of sectors, including oil/gas, electric, water, manufacturing, and mining. S4x26 is held 26-26 February. And from 24-25 February, the 34th edition of National Association of Software and Service Companies/NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum is held in Mumbai, exploring the intersection of technology, innovation, and leadership.