Conference News: Agents Conference Loses the AI; Elevating Canada; Speak at RSA
Elevating NRTH: As Canadian non-profit Elevate expands beyond its flagship festival with a year-round focus on helping founders and industry leaders navigate technological change, it is rebranding as Nrth Festival. Co-Founder and CEO Lisa Zarzeczny revealed the new name live on stage during Elevate Festival’s opening night in September. “Elevate was created to lift Canadian innovation into view,” said Zarzeczny. “But visibility alone isn’t enough anymore. Nrth is about direction and expanding the role we can play for this community.” While Nrth Festival will remain the organization’s flagship annual event, 2027 will see more frequent events and hands-on programs to help business leaders understand and adopt new technologies.
Agentic Rebrand: Heading into its third year, AI Agent has officially rebranded to Agent Conference to differentiate from the volume of events with AI in the name. The 2027 event will be held 17-18 May 2027 at the New York Hilton Midtown. Agent Conference chair and founder Simon Chan shared, “We really want to focus on dialogue between enterprises and AI technologists, who are building AI frontier technologies.” What won’t change are the attendee demographics – made up of CTOs, CIOs, CAIOs and their teams – and the emphasis on how building autonomous AI sets the agenda for the agentic decade.
Submission Opportunity: RSA Conference (April 5 – 8, 2027; San Francisco) just opened its Call for Submissions which closes on Friday, 9 October (11:59 PM Pacific Time). RSA Conference 2027 is “looking for the strategic voices shaping where cybersecurity goes next.” If you have an idea to share submit, note that the average attendee has more than 10 years of cybersecurity experience. There are several tips and requirements to review before completing the online form which you may review here.
Lunchtime Learning: For 15 years, the Startup Grind Conference has brought founders, investors, and builders together in Silicon Valley around a “different way of building,” offering a “place where people give before they take, make friends instead of collecting contacts, and share what they have learned so others can move forward too.” To nurture this community year-round, Startup Grind publishes most sessions – essentially building a library of thought leadership and tactical how-to’s so entrepreneurs know how to build, transform product, disrupt in the age of AI, and understand when to sell.
Coming Up Next Week: Advertising Week NYC runs 5-8 October, exploring how advertising is being shaped by entertainment, technology, creators, music, sport, fashion and the cultural moments happening around us. Now in its 24th year, the Forbes Global CEO Conference – which convenes CEOs, thought leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to discuss key issues of global concern and to build new partnerships – will be held 7-8 October in Singapore. Under the theme Leading with Intelligence, the 13th Milken Institute Asia Summit (7-9 October) also takes place in Singapore and explores how technology, information, and human judgment can address the defining economic, geopolitical, demographic, and environmental challenges facing Asia and the world. Questions around how AI is reshaping power and decision making is the question Techonomy will ask 6 October in San Francisco. Techonomy promises its delegates “structured conversations, off-the-record sessions, and cross-sector collaboration.” At Conference Board People First: Talent for the Future (6-7 October), attendees will gather at the New York Marriott Brooklyn Bridge to hear senior leaders share how they are reshaping workforce strategies to thrive in an AI-enabled economy. Finally, AGENTIC North America kicks off 5 October, drawing AI builders and ML engineers to this DC area event.