Conference Schedule
September 9, 2026
Smart AI Top 100 and Summit
12:30 – 1:00 PM
Check-In, Welcome & Networking
MC: Kevin Jiang, Founding Partner, Mangusta Capital
1:00 – 1:05 PM
Opening Address: Setting the Stage for AI Leadership
John Benetti, Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)
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
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
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
4:00 – 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, Co-Founder, Bigspin AI
Moritz Sudhof, Co-Founder, Bigspin AI
Mahi de Silva, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer, Higgsfield AI
Sara Wyman, Founder & CEO, 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
MC: Josh Constine, Venture Partner, SignalFire
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
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
7:20 – 7:50 PM
Smart AI 100 Interactive Games
Led by 14.ai. An evening of games, drinks, and connection to close out the summit.
7:20 PM
Speaker Dinner (Invite Only)
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 the top 100 easy stage AI companies, accompanied by a summit celebrating winners.
Fall 2025
and Summit
9 September 2025
100 List
Leveraging the Power of Artificial Intelligence to Shape Tomorrow
Smart AI
Smart Venture Media AI Summit 2025
Founder & CEO, Smart Venture Media
President & Chief Product Officer, Cisco
Chief Revenue Officer, Nebius
General Partner, Coatue Management
Managing Director, Insight Partners
Co-Founder & CEO, Horizon3.ai
Founding Partner & CTO, SignalFire
VP & GM, Microsoft
SVP of Product, Vercel
Partner, Pear VC
Managing Director, Scribble Ventures
Head of VC Partnerships, OpenAI
Partner, Index Ventures
Partner, Bessemer Venture Partners
Managing Partner, Uncork Capital
Director of AI Partners, Snowflake
Senior Managing Director, Samsung Ventures
Managing Director, Qualcomm Ventures
Partner, Gradient Ventures
Co-Founder, Pylon
Co-Founder, Unity
Co-Founder & CEO, Forethought
Partner, Threshold Ventures
Partner, Wing VC
Managing Partner, Maverick Ventures
Co-Founder, Descope
Co-Founder, Composio
Co-Founder & CEO, Wisdom AI
Co-Founder & Chief Scientist of BigSpin
Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Higgsfield AI
Founder & CEO, Ditto AI
Co-Founder, Genspark.ai
Founding Partner & CEO, Mangusta Capital
Managing Director, Silicon Valley Bank
Co-Founder & CEO, Sparrow
Business Consultant, Sequoia
Co-Founder, Morpheus
Venture Partner, SignalFire
Co-founder & CEO of BigSpin
Founder, Hyperspell
Head of Insights, CB Insights
Founder & CEO, Stackpack
Partner, Redpoint Ventures
Partner, Eclipse Ventures
Founder, Generative Alpha
TOP VOICES
Meet the Speakers
Venue
Ticket Price $1,250
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.
Companies | Industry | Industry | Country | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Bigspin AI | Business Intelligence | Internet Software & Services | United States | 2025 |
Ditto AI | Dating & Relationships | Internet Software & Services | United States | 2025 |
Sitch | Dating & Relationships | Internet Software & Services | United States | 2025 |
Companies | Industry | Founded |
|---|---|---|
Bigspin AI | Business Intelligence | 2025 |
Ditto AI | Dating & Relationships | 2025 |
Sitch | Dating & Relationships | 2025 |
2025
Top 100 AI Companies
APRIL 2025
Smart AI Leadership Summit
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.
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REBECCA C. BERRY EXPERIENCED RESULTS DRIVEN LEADERSHIP
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