Conference Schedule
April 9, 2025
Smart AI Leadership Summit
8:30 – 9:30 AM
Registration & Breakfast
9:30 – 9:45 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
9:45 – 9:55 AM
Partner Spotlight
Timur Yarnall, Head of AI/ML Startups Business, Amazon Web Services
9:55 – 10:00 AM
Partner Spotlight
John Benetti, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank
10:00 – 10:45 AM
Panel: Security AI
Shravan Narayen, Partner, IVP
Dave Zilberman, General Partner, Norwest Venture Partners
Casber Wang, Partner, Sapphire Ventures
Bala Sathiamurthy, Former CISO, Atlassian & Nerdwallet
Dan Nguyen-Huu, Partner, Decibel VC
Moderator: Anna Sarnek, AWS
10:45 – 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 – 11:45 AM
Panel: Enterprise AI
Jake Flomenberg, Partner, Wing VC
Nikhil Sachdev, Managing Director, Insight Partners
Eugene Lee, Partner, OMERS Ventures
Arnav Sahu, Partner, Peak XV Partners
Simon Wu, Partner, Cathay Innovation
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
11:45 AM – 12:15 PM
Unlocking AI Potential
Anna Patterson, Founder, Ceramic.ai; Formerly VP of Google & Managing Partner of Gradient Ventures
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
12:15 – 1:15 PM
Lunch & Networking
1:15 – 2:00 PM
Panel: AI in Consumer Products & Services
Anna Barber, Partner, M13
Brandon Yahn, Partner, Convivialite Ventures
Vanessa Larco, Formerly Partner, NEA
Megh Gautam, Chief Product Officer, Crunchbase
Samantha Wu, Chief Marketing Officer, Eventbrite
Moderator: Ben Bergman, Senior Correspondent, Business Insider
2:00 – 2:45 PM
Panel: AI Agents
Aditi Maliwal, Partner, Upfront Ventures
Henry Yin, Co-Founder, AGI House
Eylul Kayin, Partner, Gradient Ventures
Tejas Manohar, Co-CEO, Hightouch
Tim Shi, Co-Founder, Cresta
James da Costa, Partner, Andreessen Horowitz
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
2:45 – 3:00 PM
Break
3:00 – 3:45 PM
Panel: Vertical AI & Deep Tech
Phil Boyer, Partner, Crosslink Capital
Alan Cohen, General Partner, DCVC
Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner, Eclipse
Kevin Novak, Managing Partner, Rackhouse VC
Meagen Eisenberg, Chief Marketing Officer, Samsara
Miloni Madan Presler, Partner, IVP
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
3:45 – 4:15 PM
Spotlight: The Fortune 500 Perspective
Sydney Sykes, NVIDIA VC Partnerships
Andrei Meganov, Head of GTM, Nebius AI
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
4:15 – 4:30 PM
Partner Spotlight
Simon Lee, Business Development, VESSL AI
4:30 – 4:40 PM
Partner Spotlight
David Yarbrough, Business Consultant, Sequoia
Cris Cafiero, Business Consultant, Sequoia
4:40 – 4:50 PM
Partner Spotlight
Kevin Novak, Managing Partner, Rackhouse Ventures
4:50 – 5:00 PM
Closing Remarks
5:00 PM
Cocktails & Reception
Conference Schedule
April 2, 2026
Smart AI
GTM Summit
12:30 PM
Check-In, Welcome & Networking
MC by Kevin Jiang, Founding Partner, Mangusta Capital
4 pm and after
MC by Josh Constine, Venture Partner, SignalFire
9:00 – 9:15 AM
Opening Address: Setting the Stage for AI Leadership
John Benetti, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)
9:00 – 9:15 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
Partner Keynote: SVB
Partner Keynote: Sequoia
MC: Anarghya Vardhana, Venture Partner, Maveron
9:00 – 9:15 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
Partner Keynote: SVB
Partner Keynote: Sequoia
MC: Anarghya Vardhana, Venture Partner, Maveron
1:05 – 1:20 PM
Opening Remarks: Why AI Now
Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
1:20 – 1:50 PM
Opening Fireside chat: The Future of AI Security & Scale
Snehal Antani, Co-Founder & CEO, Horizon3.ai
Ilya Kirnos, Founding Partner & CTO, SignalFire
2:00-2:40 PM
Panel: The New AI Investment Playbook
Lucas Swisher, General Partner, Coatue Management
Susana Rojas, Partner, Index Ventures
Kathleen Estreich, Partner, Pear VC
Ambar Bhattacharyya, Managing Partner, Maverick Ventures
Elizabeth Weil, Managing Director, Scribble Ventures
Andy McLoughlin, Managing Partner, Uncork Capital
Matt Vail, Head of VC Partnerships, OpenAI
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
3:20 – 3:50 PM
Fireside Chat: AI, Trust & the Future of the Enterprise
Jeetu Patel, President & Chief Product Officer, Cisco
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
4:50 – 5:20 PM
Panel: From Breakthroughs to Business: Scaling AI in the Real World
Dipti Borkar, VP & GM, Microsoft
Aparna Sinha, SVP of Product, Vercel
Sami Ghoche, Co-Founder & CEO, Forethought
Arpit Mittal, Partner, Threshold Ventures
Timur Yarnall, Director of AI Partners, Snowflake
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
4:00 – 4:50 PM
Smart AI 100 Startup Demos: Founders on the Frontier
Rishi Bhargav, Co-Founder, Descope
Karan Vaidya, Co-Founder, Composio
Soham Mazumdar, Co-Founder & CEO, Wisdom AI
Christopher Potts and Moritz Sudhof - Co-Founders of Bigspin AI
Mahi de Silva - Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Higgsfield AI
Sara Wyman - Founder & CEO of Stackpack
Allen Wang, Co-Founder & CEO, Ditto AI
Conor Brennan Burke, Founder & CEO, Hyperspell
Bill Sun, Founder - Generative Alpha
Lenjoy Lin, Co-founder, Genspark.ai
1:00 – 1:40 PM
The Billion-Dollar Blueprint: Patterns Behind the Fastest-Scaling AI Companies
Alexander Mashrabov, CEO & Co-founder, Higgsfield AI
Jake Stauch, Co-founder & CEO, Serval
Samir Menon, Founder & CEO, Dexterity Inc.
Dan O'Connell, CEO, Front
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
5:30 – 6:00 PM
Panel: Global AI Capital Flows (Where Big Tech and VC Are Betting Next)
Ganesh Bell, Managing Director, Insight Partners
Janelle Teng, Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Sara Choi, Partner, Wing VC
Thomas Jueng, Senior Managing Director, Samsung Ventures
Tushar Gupta, Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures
Clayton Petty, Partner, Gradient Ventures
Aidan Madigan-Curtis, Partner, Eclipse Capital
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
6:10 – 6:40 PM
Fireside Chat: The Next Wave of AI Infrastructure
Marc Boroditsky, Chief Revenue Officer, Nebius
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
6:40 – 7:20 PM
Smart AI 100 Awards & Group Photo
Grace Gong, Founder and CEO, Smart Venture Media
Jason Saltzman, Head of Insights, CB Insights
Presented by HubSpot, Snowflake, Morpheus, Vercel, SVB, Sequoia, Nebius, Wilson Sonsini, Auth0, Smart Venture Media
2:40 – 3:10 PM
Panel: Building the AI Dream Team (How to Recruit and Retain the Best Talent)
Advith Chelikani, Co-Founder, Pylon
Connor Heggie, Co-Founder, Unify
Deborah Hanus, Co-Founder & CEO, Sparrow
Dave Yarbrough, Business Consultant, Sequoia
Ivor Stratford, CEO, Morpheus
Meera Clark, Partner, Redpoint Ventures
Moderator: Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
4:50 – 5:00 PM
Smart AI 100 Interactive Games lead by 14.ai
Closing Remarks Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
4:50 – 5:00 PM
Closing Remarks
Grace Gong, Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
5:00 PM
Cocktail Reception & Speaker Dinner
(Invite Only)
Join top VCs, Fortune 500 execs, and visionary founders to explore how cutting-edge AI drives real-world impact.
Spring 2025
Summit
9 April 2025
Leadership
Leveraging the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Shape Tomorrow
Smart AI
Smart Venture Media AI Conference 2025
Co-CEO of Hightouch
Partner at Crosslink Capital
Partner at Convivialité
Co-Founder & CTO at AGI House
Partner at Eclipse Ventures
General Partner at DCVC
Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank
Head of AI/ML Startups BD at AWS
Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
Partner at Upfront Ventures
General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners
Founder of Ceramic.ai, Former VP at Google, Managing Partner & Founder of Gradient Ventures
Partner at IVP
Partner at OMERS Ventures
Partner at Gradient
Cyber Security Startup & VC Business Development at AWS
Managing Partner & Founder at Rackhouse Venture Capital
Partner at Wing Venture Capital
CISO of Atlassian
NVIDIA VC Partnerships
Chief Product Officer of Crunchbase
Chief Marketing Officer of Samsara
Co-Founder of Cresta
Business Development at VESSL AI
Chief Marketing Officer of Eventbrite
Formerly Partner at NEA
Partner at Cathay Innovation
Business Consultant at Sequoia
Business Consultant at Sequoia One
Partner at IVP
Senior Correspondent at Business Insider
Partner at Decibel VC
Partner at Peak XV Partners
Head of GTM at Nebius AI
TOP VOICES
Meet the Speakers
Venue
Ticket Price $1,300
SVB Experience Center
532 Market St
San Francisco, CA 94104
Who You’ll Meet
Get face-to-face with top-tier venture capitalists hunting for groundbreaking AI startups, Fortune 500 execs ready to invest and integrate new tech, and visionary founders who’ve successfully scaled AI solutions. Build relationships here that drive funding, partnerships, and strategic growth.
Why Attend?
Walk away with actionable strategies to accelerate your market expansion, insider knowledge on how Fortune 500 companies select AI partners, and real-world advice for navigating funding rounds from elite investors. One day here can unlock the connections and insights to scale your AI startup faster.
FOUNDER & CEO
Smart Venture Media
April's 2025 exclusive event brought together AI startups seeking strategic connections to accelerate market expansion. Attendees engaged directly with influential VCs, Fortune 500 decision-makers eager to adopt innovative AI solutions, and visionary founders who had successfully scaled groundbreaking technologies.
DIAMOND PARTNER
PLATINUM PARTNERS
GOLD PARTNERS
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SILVER PARTNERS
STRATEGIC PARTNERS
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Smart AI
Smart Venture Media AI Conference 2025
Leveraging the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Shape Tomorrow
Leadership
Leadership
Summit
9 April 2025
Join top VCs, Fortune 500 execs, and visionary founders to explore how cutting-edge AI drives real-world impact.
2025
Conference Schedule
April 9, 2025
Smart AI
Leadership Summit
8:30 AM
Registration & Breakfast
9:30 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks: Grace Gong (Smart Venture Media)
9:45 AM
Partner Spotlight: Timur Yarnall (Head of AI/ML Startups Business at Amazon Web Services)
9:55 AM
Partner Spotlight: John Benetti (Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank)
10:00 AM
Panel: Security AI
-
Shravan Narayen (Partner of IVP)
-
Dave Zilberman (General Partner of Norwest Venture Partners)
-
Casber Wang (Partner of Sapphire Ventures)
-
Bala Sathiamurthy (Former CISO of Atlassian & Nerdwallet)
-
Dan Nguyen-Huu (Partner at Decibel VC)
-
Moderator: Anna Sarnek (AWS)
10:45 AM
Break
11:00 AM
Panel: Enterprise AI
-
Jake Flomenberg (Partner of Wing VC)
-
Nikhil Sachdev (Managing Director of Insight Partners)
-
Eugene Lee (Partner of OMERS Ventures)
-
Arnav Sahu (Partner of Peak XV Partners)
-
Simon Wu (Partner at Cathay Innovation)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
11:45 AM
-
Unlocking AI Potential: Anna Patterson (Founder of Ceramic.ai, Formerly VP of Google & Managing Partner of Gradient Ventures)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
12:15 PM
Lunch & Networking
1:15 PM
Panel: AI in Consumer Products & Services
-
Anna Barber (Partner of M13)
-
Brandon Yahn (Partner of Convivialite Ventures)
-
Vanessa Larco (Formerly Partner at NEA)
-
Megh Gautam (Chief Product Officer of Crunchbase)
-
Samantha Wu (Chief Marketing Officer of Eventbrite)
-
Moderator: Ben Bergman (Senior Correspondent at Business Insider)
2:00 PM
Panel: AI Agents
-
Aditi Maliwal (Partner of Upfront Ventures)
-
Henry Yin (Co - founder of AGI house)
-
Eylul Kayin (Partner of Gradient Ventures)
-
Tejas Manohar (Co- CEO of Hightouch)
-
Tim Shi (Co-Founder of Cresta)
-
James da Costa (Partner of Andreessen Horowitz)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
2:45 PM
Break
3:00 PM
Panel: Vertical AI & Deep Tech
-
Phil Boyer (Partner of Crosslink Capital)
-
Alan Cohen (General Partner of DCVC)
-
Aidan Madigan-Curtis (Partner of Eclipse)
-
Kevin Novak (Managing Partner of Rackhouse VC)
-
Meagen Eisenberg (Chief Marketing Officer of Samsara)
-
Miloni Madan Presler (Partner at IVP)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
3:45 PM
Spotlight: The Fortune 500 Perspective
-
Sydney Sykes (NVIDIA VC Partnerships)
-
Andrei Meganov (Head of GTM at Nebius AI)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
4:15 PM
Partner Spotlight: Simon Lee (Business Development
of VESSL AI)
4:30 PM
Partner Spotlight: David Yarbrough and Cris Cafiero (Business Consultants at Sequoia )
4:40PM
Partner Spotlight: Kevin Novak (Managing Partner of Rackhouse Ventures)
4:50 PM
Closing Remarks
5:00 PM
Cocktails & Reception
9:55 AM
Keynote with Lane Bruno, Managing Director - Investor Coverage at Silicon Valley Bank
9:30 AM
Welcome & Opening Remarks
9:45 AM
Keynote with Timur Yarnall, Head of AI/ML Startups Business Development at Amazon Web Services
9:55 AM
Keynote with Lane Bruno, Managing Director - Investor Coverage at Silicon Valley Bank
10:00 AM
Panel: Security AI
10:45 AM
Break
11:00 AM
Panel: Enterprise AI
11:45 AM
The VC Perspective on AI Investment with Anna Patterson, Founder of Ceramic.ai
12:15 PM
Lunch & Networking
1:15 PM
Panel: AI in Consumer Products & Services
2:00 PM
Panel: AI Agents
Panel: AI Agents
2:45 PM
Break
Panel: AI Agents
Conference Schedule
8:30 AM — Registration & Breakfast
9:30 AM — Welcome & Opening Remarks: Grace Gong (Smart Venture Media)
9:45 AM — Partner Spotlight: Timur Yarnall (Head of AI/ML Startups Business at Amazon Web Services)
9:55 AM — Partner Spotlight: John Benetti (Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank)
10:00 AM — Panel: Security AI
-
Shravan Narayen (Partner of IVP)
-
Dave Zilberman (General Partner of Norwest Venture Partners)
-
Casber Wang (Partner of Sapphire Ventures)
-
Bala Sathiamurthy (Former CISO of Atlassian & Nerdwallet)
-
Dan Nguyen-Huu (Partner at Decibel VC)
-
Moderator: Anna Sarnek (Cyber BD at AWS)
10:45 AM — Break
11:00 AM — Panel: Enterprise AI
-
Jake Flomenberg (Partner of Wing VC)
-
Nikhil Sachdev (Managing Director of Insight Partners)
-
Eugene Lee (Partner of OMERS Ventures)
-
Arnav Sahu (Partner of Peak XV Partners)
-
Simon Wu (Partner at Cathay Innovation)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
11:45 AM — Unlocking AI Potential: Anna Patterson (Ceramic.ai, Formerly Google & Gradient Ventures)
Moderator: Grace Gong
12:15 PM — Lunch & Networking
1:15 PM — Panel: AI in Consumer Products
& Services
-
Anna Barber (Partner of M13)
-
Brandon Yahn (Partner Convivialite Ventures)
-
Vanessa Larco (Formerly Partner at NEA)
-
Megh Gautam (Chief Product Officer of Crunchbase)
-
Samantha Wu (Chief Marketing Officer of Eventbrite)
-
Moderator: Ben Bergman (Senior Correspondent at Business Insider)
2:00 PM — Panel: AI Agents
-
Aditi Maliwal (Partner of Upfront Ventures)
-
Henry Yin (Co-founder of AGI house)
-
Eylul Kayin (Partner of Gradient Ventures)
-
Tejas Manohar (Co-CEO of Hightouch)
-
Tim Shi (Co-Founder of Cresta)
-
James da Costa (Partner of Andreessen Horowitz)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
2:45 PM — Break
3:00 PM — Panel: Vertical AI & Deep Tech
-
Phil Boyer (Partner of Crosslink Capital)
-
Alan Cohen (General Partner of DCVC)
-
Aidan Madigan-Curtis (Partner of Eclipse)
-
Kevin Novak (Managing Partner of Rackhouse VC)
-
Meagen Eisenberg (Chief Marketing Officer of Samsara)
-
Miloni Madan Presler (Partner at IVP)
-
Moderator: Grace Gong
3:45 PM — The Fortune 500 Perspective
-
Sydney Sykes (NVIDIA VC Partnerships)
-
Andrei Meganov (Head of GTM at Nebius AI)
4:15 PM — Partner Spotlight: Simon Lee (Business Development of VESSL AI)
4:30 PM — Partner Spotlight: David Yarbrough and Cris Cafiero (Business Consultants at Sequoia )
4:40 PM — Partner Spotlight: Kevin Novak (Managing Partner of Rackhouse Ventures)
4:50 PM — Closing Remarks
5:00 PM — Cocktails & Reception
Diamond Partner
Platinum Partner
Gold Partner
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Silver Partner
Bronze Partners
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James da Costa
Partner at Andreessen Horowitz
Aditi Maliwal
Partner at Upfront Ventures
Dave Zilberman
General Partner at Norwest Venture Partners
Anna Patterson
Founder of Ceramic.ai, Former VP at Google, Managing Partner & Founder of Gradient Ventures
Shravan Narayen
Partner at IVP
Eugene Lee
Partner at OMERS Ventures
Eylul Kayin
Partner at Gradient
Anna Sarnek
Cyber Security Startup & VC Business Development at AWS
Co-CEO of Hightouch
Partner at Crosslink Capital
Brandon Yahn
Partner at Convivialité
Henry Yin
Co-Founder & CTO at AGI House
Partner at Eclipse Ventures
General Partner at DCVC
Managing Director at Silicon Valley Bank
Head of AI/ML Startups BD at AWS
Managing Partner & Founder at Rackhouse Venture Capital
Partner at Wing Venture Capital
CISO of Atlassian
NVIDIA VC Partnerships
Chief Product Officer of Crunchbase
Chief Marketing Officer of Samsara
Co-Founder of Cresta
Business Development at VESSL AI
Chief Marketing Officer of Eventbrite
Formerly Partner at NEA
Partner at Cathay Innovation
Business Consultant at Sequoia
Business Consultant at Sequoia One
Partner at IVP
Senior Correspondent at Business Insider
Partner at Decibel VC
Partner at Peak XV Partners
Head of GTM at Nebius AI
REBECCA C. BERRY EXPERIENCED RESULTS DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
2035