FLIRT 2026 - Future Leaders in Responsible Technology

⌖ Brighton · Register to See Address

Hosted by South East Angels

Startup Roadshow Brighton brings early-stage founders and investors together in Brighton on 14 October 2026 for startup pitches and focused networking. Taking place from 6:00pm to 8:30pm GMT+1, this evening event is designed to connect promising founders from across Sussex with angel investors, venture capital investors, entrepreneurs and members of the wider regional startup ecosystem. The exact Brighton and Hove venue address will be shared with registered attendees. What to expect The centrepiece of the roadshow is a startup pitch competition, where selected early-stage companies will present their ideas to a judging panel of angel and VC investors. The investor judges are still to be confirmed, but the format gives founders an opportunity to put their businesses in front of people actively involved in funding and supporting early-stage technology ventures. Alongside the pitches, attendees will have time to build relevant connections across the Sussex startup community. The evening offers opportunities to: - Discover emerging startups and new business ideas - Meet founders, investors and fellow entrepreneurs - Gain visibility for an early-stage venture - Hear concise pitches assessed from an investor perspective - Develop relationships within the local funding ecosystem The event page particularly highlights founders seeking attention for their businesses and investors looking for potential opportunities in the FinTech sector. Founders who want to compete can apply to pitch at Startup Roadshow in advance. Who is behind the roadshow? The event is presented by South East Angels, an award-winning angel investor community operating one of the UK’s most active angel syndicates and currently investing more than £2 million each year into early-stage technology startups. It is hosted by Jake Fox. NatWest is also listed as an organiser. Through the NatWest Accelerator and its always-on Accelerator App community, the bank provides entrepreneurs with mentors, practical tools and access to a national network intended to help them develop the skills and confidence to scale.… Register for this event

Airtable

Sponsors: NatWest

⌖ Brighton

Hosted by HeyGen Brighton Community Free Coffee Meetups

Learn how to create your first AI avatar video with HeyGen at this free, informal coffee meetup for Brighton’s business and creative community. Hosted by HeyGen Ambassador Hasan Kai, the session takes place on Friday 16 October 2026, from 10:00–11:00 AM BST in Brighton. The venue has not yet been announced, so attendees should check the event page for location updates. Designed for local business owners, creators, marketers and anyone curious about AI video, the meetup will explore how HeyGen avatars work through practical examples. Attendees will receive help creating or planning an AI avatar video for social media or business use. No previous HeyGen experience is required. Existing users are also encouraged to bring their questions, ideas and examples to discuss. Alongside the hands-on guidance, there will be time for coffee and meeting other local people interested in AI, digital marketing and content creation. This is the first event from the HeyGen Brighton Community Free Coffee Meetups group. The meetup is listed as recurring every two weeks on Fridays until 6 April 2027. Register for this free meetup

⌖ Brighton · The Walrus Pub

Hosted by Brighton CTO

Brighton CTO’s fireside chat brings technology leaders together on 20 October 2026 to discuss the challenges of running a technology function in Brighton. A candid conversation about technology leadership Running a technology function involves decisions that extend well beyond code. This evening event offers a focused setting in which CTOs and other technology leaders can compare experiences, examine common leadership challenges and hear how peers approach the realities of managing a technical organisation. Hosted by Martyn F. for the Brighton CTO community, the event takes place from 6:30pm to 9:30pm BST on Tuesday 20 October 2026 at The Walrus Pub, 10 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AD. What to expect The event is presented as a fireside chat rather than a formal conference or hands-on workshop. Its central theme is the set of common challenges involved in running a technology function, with the conversation sitting at the intersection of: - Engineering leadership - Technology strategy and organisational responsibility - Chief Technology Officer roles - Leadership within technical teams and businesses No detailed agenda or guest-speaker line-up has been published, so attendees should expect a broad, discussion-led session rather than a tightly prescribed list of talks. That open format makes the evening especially relevant for people who want to explore practical leadership issues with others operating in similar roles. Who should attend? This meetup is aimed primarily at CTOs, engineering leaders and people responsible for technology functions. It may also be useful for senior technical professionals moving towards leadership responsibilities who want a clearer view of the challenges faced at organisational level. The focus is not on learning a particular programming language, AI platform or no-code tool. Instead, it is an opportunity to step back from day-to-day delivery and consider the wider responsibilities of technology leadership. The three-hour evening format provides room for a substantial conversation in an informal pub environment, making it well suited to thoughtful peer exchange within Brighton’s technology community. Places and any further event updates are managed through Meetup. Register for the Brighton CTO fireside chat.

⌖ Brighton · Ironworks Theatre

Hosted by Kanban Coaching Exchange

Lean Agile Brighton brings agile practitioners to Brighton for a single-track day exploring AI, continuous delivery, product flow and human-centred teamwork. Taking place on Wednesday 21 October 2026, from 9:00am to 5:30pm BST, this in-person conference features a hand-selected programme of industry experts. It is designed for agile practitioners, coaches, product and delivery professionals, technology leaders, and anyone interested in improving how teams collaborate and deliver value. Talks and themes The programme combines technical and organisational perspectives, examining how modern teams can make effective use of AI while strengthening the distinctly human capabilities behind resilient delivery: - Stuart Young, encouraging human skills in an AI world - Sarah Wells, keeping systems up to date in an ever-changing landscape - Nicola Sedgwick, why humility sits at the centre of team confidence - Thierry de Pauw, what Continuous Delivery is actually about - Sam Carpenter, using visual thinking to unlock collaboration and leadership - Nicolas Brown, using AI to scale product and flow expertise - Masha Gaganova, building a resilient career The single-track format means attendees share the same talks and ideas throughout the day, creating common ground for conversations about product flow, software delivery, leadership and team dynamics. Rather than splitting attention across parallel sessions, the event offers one focused programme spanning practical technology concerns and the interpersonal skills required to navigate change. Venue and community The conference is organised by the team behind the Brighton Lean Agile Meetup Group. It is a non-profit event celebrating the latest thinking in collaboration, delivery and technology, and has raised more than £50,000 for charity since it began in 2018. Ironworks Theatre is located at 30 Cheapside, Brighton, BN1 4GD, in the North Laine creative quarter. The venue is approximately five minutes’ walk from Brighton station and ten minutes from the seafront. Members of the Kanban Coaching Exchange can receive a 20% discount by using the code EXCHANGE20. Further conference information is available from Lean Agile Brighton. View the event and registration details

⌖ Glasgow · Glasgow University Union (GUU)

Explore AI’s hidden social, cultural and environmental impacts at this one-day symposium in Glasgow on 13 October 2026. Making the Invisible, Visible The Lovelace–Hodgkin Symposium 2026 asks what artificial intelligence reveals, what it conceals and who gets to shape its future. Taking place at Glasgow University Union on Ada Lovelace Day, the event will examine the assumptions, infrastructures and exclusions beneath AI, and connect technical systems to wider questions of fairness, representation and public participation. Rather than limiting the conversation to academics and technology specialists, the symposium welcomes anyone interested in technology, society, creativity, ethics or social justice. Its programme combines talks with participatory and creative formats, giving attendees multiple ways to investigate how AI affects people, communities and the stories told about them. What the day will explore Sessions and activities will consider: - The inner workings of large language models - Unintended consequences created by AI systems - Missing, invisible and misrepresented data - Surveillance, mapping and the relationship between technology and power - Environmental and cultural impacts of digital technologies - The voices and experiences included in, or excluded from, AI - Storytelling’s role in shaping understandings of history and technology - How the public can participate more meaningfully in emerging technologies The format extends beyond conventional presentations. Expect a creative, interactive mix of talks, workshops, games, artworks, film and group discussion. Throughout the day, participants will be encouraged to consider who benefits from AI, whose knowledge its systems reflect and how technology influences perceptions of ourselves, our communities and possible futures. Film screening and discussion The symposium will conclude with a screening of the LifeMosaic documentary Mapping & Monitoring in Indigenous Territories. A discussion with the film’s producer will follow, connecting the documentary to the day’s central themes of participation, knowledge, representation and power.… Register for this event

⌖ Berlin · Circuit

Hosted by Circuit Event Calendar

A women-only AI coworking day in Berlin for founders, engineers, researchers, product specialists and operators actively shipping AI products. Taking place on Tuesday 13 October 2026 from 09:30 to 17:30 (GMT+2) at Circuit, this 18th edition combines focused project work with a technical deep-dive and curated networking. Bring your laptop and monitor cable, work on something you intend to ship, and expect a high-signal environment with no sales pitches. The format - 09:30: Doors open and coworking begins - 12:30: Group lunch break and curated networking - 13:15: Technical talk with Hira Siddiqui, co-founder of Plurality Network - Afternoon: Further deep work, with the published agenda noting a wrap at 18:00 You don’t own your AI memory (yet) Hira Siddiqui draws on more than a decade of work across decentralised identity, web3 and AI to examine how tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini each retain separate versions of a user’s context. The session will cover: - Where AI context lives today and who controls it - What portable, user-owned AI memory looks like in practice - How to design AI products without locking in users’ data The event is particularly relevant to women working with sensitive data or anyone cautious about placing private context into an AI chat window. It takes place on Circuit’s third floor at Möckernstraße 120. Host approval is required. Applications are curated, so be prepared to explain what you are building. Request to join.