Conference News: Semafor’s Visit to the Valley; AI Summit Reaches the Riviera; GovWare Seeking Speakers
Semafor Heads into the Valley: Semafor, the independent news media company founded in 2022, recently wrapped its World Economy Summit, which gathered more than 500 CEOs as well as other influential economic and business decision makers in DC. Coming off that event’s success, the editorial team announced that they will be hosting a new fall flagship event in the Bay Area focused on the impact of AI on the economy and the companies who are driving development of the technology. Silicon Valley & the World will happen in November 2026 and the programme will be shaped with help from an impressive advisory board including executives from across the mag seven, hot startup ecosystem and enterprise companies.
AI Series Reaches the Riviera: In 2027, the World AI Cannes Festival (WAICF) will sit alongside The AI Summit Series, one of the longest-running international B2B AI event series, with editions across London, New York, Las Vegas, Melbourne and Singapore. Both conferences are hosted by Informa which believes that bringing the two together will help to expand the reach and impact of the events, “and further deepen the relationship between Informa, which also owns and operates the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, with Cannes and the wider Alpes-Maritimes region.” The World AI Cannes Festival expects more than 10,000 participants and is held under four areas of focus: AI for Business, AI Governance; The Next AI Tech and Health AI Summit. Read here for more information on the events.
Submission Opportunity: Every fall, policymakers, cybersecurity industry leaders, practitioners, and solution providers from around the world meet in Singapore to learn about emerging risks and innovations at GovWare. This year’s event will return to the Sands Expo and Convention Centre from 13 – 15 October. The conference team is now seeking speakers for the programme which will be devloped around three themes: 1) Defending the Core: Strengthening resilience against evolving threats 2) Security Architecture: Designing secure, scalable, and future-ready systems and 3) Cyber, People & Power: Navigating the human, organisational, and borderless dimensions of cybersecurity. If you have a topic/speaker to suggest do so here before the deadline: 1 June.
Lunchtime Learning: Hosted by Artefact AI – a private equity-backed global consulting company dedicated to data transformation and artificial intelligence which is headquartered in Paris, the Adopt AI Summit was created to continue the conversations held at the AI Action Summit (led by Macron and gathering heads of state from around the world). Held at the Grand Palais across 7 stages, the 2026 event will again encourage the massive and responsible adoption of AI within Europe and around the world. In the meantime, check out the sessions from one of last year’s largest stages. Presenters include interviews with Philippe Aghion the 2025 winner of the Nobel Memorial prize in Economic Sciences; Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson, Celonis Cofounder & CEO Alexander Rinke; Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard and Scale AI CEO Julian Billot.
Coming Up Next Week: Web Summit Vancouver gathers the “people and companies writing the next chapter of global innovation” when it convenes 11-14 May at the Vancouver Convention Centre, featuring speakers from such companies as OpenAI, Colossal Biosciences, EA Sports, Roblox and Mattel. At SaaStr AI Conference (12-14 May; San Mateo), the future of B2B AI is up for discussion as this agenda includes tactical sessions from founders and operators who’ve deployed AI agents at scale. On 13 May, Axios’ 2nd annual Future of Health Summit is held in DC with CEOs set to discuss how they are redefining the high-stakes world of health care. Conference Board Change & Transformation Conference kicks off 14 May at the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge with talks from CTOs, CHROs, and other senior leaders responsible for enterprise-wide change. Finally, the NYSE hosts its flagship private meeting inviting C-suite tech leadership from NYSE-listed companies, startup CEOs and investors at the NYSE Tech Summit on 14 May in San Francisco.