Supply chains don’t get to fail quietly. This session goes inside the AI systems running distribution networks people depend on every day — from pharmaceuticals to food — where “it mostly works” isn’t good enough and downtime has a real cost. Explore what it actually takes to move AI from pilot to production when systems need to perform reliably at scale.

Atlanta wants to be the place where the next generation of AI companies gets built. But that requires giving founders what they need during the earliest and hardest days: capital, community, talent, customers, and people willing to bet on an idea before it’s proven. Hear what founders wish they’d known when starting out — and what Atlanta needs to deliver to become a destination for the next generation of AI entrepreneurs.

Students entering college today will graduate into jobs AI is already reshaping. Universities are responding by rethinking far more than the syllabus — classrooms, research, skills, and workforce pipelines are all changing at once. Explore what higher education should be preparing students for now and what it will take for institutions, employers, and communities to build the next generation of talent together.

AI is moving fast, and the people writing the rules for it are working just as quickly to make sure those rules can hold up as the technology changes. This conversation goes inside that balancing act: how do we encourage innovation while creating safeguards that actually work? Explore what practical AI governance requires and why getting it right will shape public trust in what comes next.

Can AI help make it more competitive to build things in America again? Companies are betting that automation, intelligence, and advanced manufacturing can change the economics of domestic production. This session takes a candid look at where that bet is paying off, where challenges remain, and what AI-powered manufacturing actually looks like on the factory floor.

The impressive demo is the easy part. Real transformation happens when AI reaches into the workflows, decisions, and roles that have operated the same way for years — and makes them better. This conversation examines what happens after the experimentation stage and what separates a company that has simply adopted AI from one that has actually been changed by it.

AI’s potential isn’t limited to the private sector. Foundations, nonprofits, and other mission-driven organizations are exploring how the technology can help them reach more people, make smarter decisions, and tackle persistent challenges in health, education, philanthropy, and community development. Discover how organizations are putting AI to work in service of people and communities — and what they’re learning along the way.

AI’s rapid growth requires enormous computing power — and the data centers providing it are changing communities, energy demand, and local economies. This session examines the tradeoffs behind that growth, from tax incentives and job creation to energy use, noise, emissions, zoning, and neighborhood impact. What should communities expect in return for hosting the infrastructure powering the AI economy, and what does responsible growth look like?

Atlanta has long been a global force in music, producing groundbreaking artists, shaping culture, and building a thriving industry. And today, AI is beginning to transform how music is created, produced, distributed, and experienced. Join us for this exclusive fireside chat to hear from Grammy Award-winning producer, songwriter, and entrepreneur Dallas Austin and Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens that explores the future of music in the age of AI.

Every operation has a bottleneck that’s hard to staff, hard to scale, or hard to make consistent — from the loading dock to the factory floor to the field. Those are exactly the places where physical AI and autonomous systems are beginning to prove their value. Explore what it takes to move autonomy from pilot to production and what changes when machines begin taking on some of the toughest jobs in an operation.

Every AI success story skips over a difficult middle: someone had to make the business case, build the technology, deploy it, and see what happened when real customers and employees began using it. This session explores what it takes to move AI from a whiteboard idea to something people experience every day — and how organizations turn promising technology into lasting change.

The AI workforce Atlanta needs five years from now is sitting in classrooms today. Schools, universities, nonprofits, and employers are already rethinking what it takes to prepare people for jobs that may not have existed just a few years ago. This session looks at how Atlanta can build a stronger AI talent pipeline — from the earliest classrooms through higher education and into the jobs of the next decade.

Healthcare is where AI has to earn real trust, and that trust is being built right now in scan rooms, clinical workflows, and care teams across the country. Go inside what it takes to create AI tools clinicians can rely on every day and what changes when the technology becomes a permanent part of how care is delivered. When the stakes are someone’s health, proof matters more than promise.

AI is transforming the energy equation from both sides. Data centers are driving unprecedented demand for power, while AI itself is helping researchers, manufacturers, and utilities rethink how energy is developed, delivered, and managed. Explore how we can meet the demands of the AI era while using AI to build smarter, more resilient energy systems.

Speed used to be a startup’s advantage. Now some of the world’s largest companies are trying to move at that same pace. Doing so requires new ways of working between the people building AI products and the people deploying them inside complex organizations. Explore what that partnership requires and how large enterprises can make speed and scale work together.

Atlanta has become a powerhouse for film, music, media, gaming, and entertainment — industries now confronting some of the biggest opportunities and questions created by AI. Explore how creators and media companies are putting AI to work, how creative roles and business models are changing, and what it will take for Atlanta to remain a leading creative hub as technology transforms how content is imagined, produced, and experienced.

Every new AI system can create new capabilities — and new vulnerabilities. The people defending our networks are racing to stay ahead as AI changes both the tools available to attackers and the defenses used to stop them. Explore where AI is changing the threat landscape fastest and what organizations need to do now to build security systems that can keep pace.