The Leeds Network: Tech Startups, Professionals & Investors Connect

⌖ New York

Hosted by Crescendo

Crescendo Live San Francisco 2026 brings together customer experience leaders for a full-day exploration of AI's real-world impact on CX operations. Taking place on May 21, 2026 (9:00 AM – 6:00 PM PST) in the heart of San Francisco's tech ecosystem, this operator-focused conference cuts through AI hype to showcase what's actually working in customer support, automation, and team design. What You'll Gain This isn't another vendor-heavy conference. Crescendo Live delivers practical insights from experienced CX operators who are successfully deploying AI in production environments. You'll get clear on the new CX standard — understanding how speed, consistency, and trust have fundamentally reset customer expectations and where many organizations quietly fall short. The event tackles critical questions facing CX leaders today: how to move AI from experimentation to execution without breaking customer trust, how to pair automation with human expertise for faster decisions, and how to build smarter teams that leverage AI while maintaining the judgment and empathy that define exceptional service. Speaker Lineup Hear from leaders at the forefront of AI-powered customer experience, including James Green (Chief Customer Officer, Squire), Hemant Taneja (CEO, General Catalyst), Morgan Donaldson (Chief Commercial Officer, CNTRL+), Jaqueline Andre (Sr. Director CS Production & Support, BentoBox), Chris Jocson (Chief Operating Officer, Good Eggs), and executives from TaskRabbit, POLYWOOD, and Crescendo itself. These practitioners share real stories, honest challenges, and proven strategies from teams facing the same operational pressures you navigate daily. Event Format The day blends main stage content with interactive breakout sessions and workshops. Morning sessions (10:00 AM – 12:00 PM) dive into foundational shifts in CX, followed by lunch and networking. Afternoon breakouts (1:30 – 2:30 PM) offer hands-on exploration of specific topics, with additional main stage content (2:30 – 4:30 PM) before an awards ceremony and cocktail reception that extends networking into the evening. Who Should Attend This conference is designed for CX leaders, customer support directors, automation strategists, and anyone responsible for delivering scalable, high-quality customer experiences. Whether you're evaluating AI tools, refining automation strategies, or redesigning team structures around AI capabilities, you'

⌖ São Paulo · Distrito Anhembi

AI Brasil Experience 2026 brings two days of practical artificial intelligence, immersive experiences and business networking to São Paulo on 28–29 October. Held at Distrito Anhembi in São Paulo, the conference is designed for people who want to move beyond AI hype and understand how the technology can create real value in business, careers and everyday life. It brings together leaders, companies, specialists, creators, startups and professionals who are actively navigating AI-driven change. What to expect The 2026 programme will combine main-stage content with demonstrations, practical learning and opportunities to meet others working across technology and business. Topics will explore the application of AI in: - Business strategy, leadership and innovation - Marketing, sales and productivity - Education and the future of work - Organisational transformation and competitiveness - Real-world markets and industries across Brazil Alongside talks and case studies, attendees can expect immersive environments created to help them test, experience and understand AI in practice. The event places particular emphasis on applicable knowledge, informed decisions and genuine use cases rather than abstract theory or whichever tool happens to be trending. Who should attend? AI Brasil Experience is aimed at entrepreneurs, executives, technology professionals, marketers, educators, innovation teams, creators and anyone seeking a clearer view of AI’s practical impact. It should also appeal to companies looking to build internal understanding and prepare teams for adoption. Networking is a central part of the format, connecting attendees with business owners, corporate leaders, specialists, startups and professionals undergoing their own AI transformation. The event describes itself not as a generic technology fair or a sequence of disconnected talks, but as a meeting point for content, community, business and transformation. The scale of the previous edition offers a sense of the wider experience: in 2025, the event reported more than 17,000 participants, 300 speakers, 180 talks, 100 exhibition stands and 60 startups. Previous stages have hosted figures from business, technology, education and public life, although those names do not represent confirmed speakers for 2026.… Register for this event

⌖ Barcelona

Mozilla Festival 2026 brings a three-day conference on AI, the open web and digital rights to Barcelona, Spain, from 28–30 October 2026. Why this event matters As artificial intelligence becomes more deeply embedded in online products and services, questions about who controls technology, and how it affects the people using it, are increasingly important. Mozilla Festival 2026 places AI, open-web principles and digital rights within the same conversation, making it a relevant event for anyone interested in the future of the internet. The conference’s stated focus spans three closely connected areas: - Artificial intelligence, including its growing role in the digital world - The open web, and the principles that keep the internet accessible and open - Digital rights, covering the relationship between people, technology and online power Bringing these themes together creates space to consider AI as more than a standalone technical development. The festival’s scope points towards the wider implications of intelligent systems for the web and for the rights of those who use it. Who should consider attending? Mozilla Festival 2026 will be particularly relevant to developers, technologists, AI practitioners, open-web advocates and people working in or exploring digital rights. It may also appeal to product builders, researchers, policymakers and community organisers whose work intersects with internet technology. No specific experience level is listed, so prospective attendees should consult the Mozilla Festival website as further programme information becomes available. The scraped listing does not yet provide details of speakers, individual sessions, workshops or networking activities, and a specific Barcelona venue has not been announced there. Event details - Dates: Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October 2026 - Location: Barcelona, Spain - Format: Three-day conference - Core themes: AI, the open web and digital rights… Register for this event

⌖ Madrid

API & AI Addicts Day is a one-day Madrid conference on 28 October 2026 for enthusiasts and professionals interested in APIs and artificial intelligence. APIs and AI in one focused event Taking place in Madrid, Spain, API & AI Addicts Day brings two closely connected areas of modern technology into the same room. The conference is designed for people who want to explore the relationship between APIs,the interfaces that allow software and services to communicate,and the rapidly evolving field of AI. As AI becomes embedded in more products and workflows, APIs play an important role in connecting models, applications, data and external services. By focusing on both subjects, this event offers attendees a dedicated setting in which to consider the technologies together rather than as separate disciplines. Who is it for? The conference brings together enthusiasts and professionals, making it relevant to anyone with an active interest in APIs or artificial intelligence. That may include software developers, technical practitioners, product builders and other technology professionals, as well as curious community members following developments across these fields. No specific experience level or prerequisites are stated on the event page. Likewise, detailed information about speakers and individual sessions has not yet been published, so prospective attendees should check the registration page for future programme updates. What to expect API & AI Addicts Day is presented as a one-day conference, giving participants a concentrated opportunity to engage with its dual focus. Its defining feature is the combination of API and AI communities: a useful meeting point for people interested in how intelligent capabilities connect with software products, platforms and wider technical systems. Key event details: - Date: 28 October 2026 - Location: Madrid, Spain - Format: One-day conference - Focus: APIs and artificial intelligence - Audience: Enthusiasts and professionals If APIs, AI or the overlap between them forms part of your work or interests, this Madrid conference offers a focused date for your 2026 calendar. Register or view the latest event details.

◎ Online

Hosted by AAC&U

AAC&U’s Conference on AI and Higher Education brings campus leaders together in Atlanta and online, 28–30 October 2026, to shape responsible AI strategy. Building a path forward for higher education Artificial intelligence is already reshaping teaching, learning, academic work and institutional operations. This three-day hybrid conference moves beyond isolated experimentation to examine how colleges and universities can develop coordinated, institution-wide approaches to AI. Through evidence-informed dialogue and cross-functional collaboration, participants will share emerging practices, investigate persistent challenges and consider how to implement AI without losing sight of human judgement, institutional values or academic missions. The focus is both practical and strategic: what institutions can do now, alongside the governance, policy and ethical questions they need to address for the longer term. Key areas of discussion include: - Responsible AI adoption and effective implementation across institutions - Academic integrity and curricular transformation - Evidence-informed classroom and curriculum practices - Ethical approaches to AI in research - AI-enhanced student support and services - Workforce preparation and the changing future of academic work - Operational innovation that improves effectiveness while protecting human judgement - Governance, policy, IT and professional-development requirements - Connecting work across academic and administrative divisions Who should attend? The conference is designed for the full campus ecosystem, including faculty, staff, presidents, provosts, academic leaders, student affairs professionals, IT specialists, librarians, researchers, administrators and institutional decision-makers. It will be particularly relevant to people responsible for turning local AI experiments into practical, ethical and sustainable institutional strategies. Attendees can expect a cross-functional conference format centred on dialogue, collaboration and the exchange of evidence-based practices. Rather than concentrating only on individual disciplines or classroom use, AAC&U places campus-wide transformation and governance at the centre of the programme. Participants are expected to leave with concrete tools, insights from other institutions and new professional connections that can support mission-aligned AI innovation.… Register for this event

⌖ Singapore · Singapore

Hosted by Liminal

Explore how Physical AI moves from simulation to real-world deployment at this AWS and Liminal demo day in Singapore. Taking place on Wednesday, 28 October 2026, from 1:30pm to 5:00pm GMT+8, the event brings together founders, builders and operators working at the intersection of AI and the physical world. Expect talks and live startup demonstrations focused on turning technical breakthroughs into scalable products. What to expect - Why Physical AI, why now: The technologies driving what could become the next major platform shift after generative AI - From simulation to deployment: What it takes to move intelligent systems beyond controlled environments and into production - Who builds what comes next: The qualities needed to tackle technically difficult, category-defining problems - Physical AI in action: Demonstrations from startups building at the frontier of the field The programme draws on Amazon Web Services’ experience supporting Physical AI workloads and Amazon’s deployment of more than one million robots. It also brings in Liminal’s perspective as a founders’ studio that co-builds companies with founders and entrepreneurial scientists. The event is hosted by Alex Lim, Joshua, Eunice Cheng and Ajay Taunk. Registration requires host approval, and the exact Singapore address is shared with approved attendees. Request to join the event