Web Summit: Tech

Silicon Valley. London. Shenzhen. Tech hubs are cropping up everywhere, taking over entire cities and creating the idea that if you're not in the centre of the action, you'll be left out entirely. Our panel is here to debate whether this is true, and to address the burning question; will these hubs continue to grow... or will they burst?

Guests: Bedy Yang, Managing Partner - 500 Startups; Yossi Vardi, Chairman - International Technologies; Adam Valkin, Managing Director - General Catalyst; Jess Kelly, Tech correspondent - NewsTalk

Artificial intelligence is being hailed and feared, sometimes in equal measure, as the ultimate game-changer. Onlookers wonder whether AI will deprive us of jobs, change how we run businesses or, on the flip side, fundamentally improve our quality of life. But is the reality that AI has actually been overhyped and is now severely under-delivering?

Guests: Greg Brockman, Co-founder & CTO - OpenAI; Nagraj Kashyap, Global Head - M12; Emily Orton, CMO - Darktrace; Jeremy Kahn, Senior Technology Reporter - Bloomberg

The issue of transparency in digital advertising is complicated. How can brands and advertisers be confident that ad spend is being used efficiently by various platforms and intermediaries? What role does regulation play in driving accountability in ad spend? Are new technologies, such as the blockchain, the solution to ensure full transparency? This session to provide answers to some of these questions.

Guests: Aaron Bell, AdRoll; Tim Cadogan, OpenX; Joe Lazauskas, Contently

What are the practical applications of AI you need to know about? And what are the large scale, earth-shifting implications of the technology? Gary Marcus tells us whether we should be excited or terrified.

Guest: Gary Marcus, Geometric Intelligence (acquired by Uber)

The interviewer is an ambitious 14-year-old entrepreneur and her subject is the COO and co-founder of Andela, which is setting out to grow tech talent in Africa. They'll discuss their insights into how to succeed as a woman in tech.

Guests: Taarini Kaur Dang, Million Champs; Christina Sass, Andela

A powerful societal movement is underway to ensure that women get their say and their seat at the table. But how do we ensure that this is a lasting change in which women found and lead global tech companies and receive the VC funding that has often eluded them?

Guests: Jager McConnell, Crunchbase; Jenny Lefcourt, Freestyle; Manon DeFelice, Inkwell; Melissa Cullens, Ellevest; Denise Hamilton, WatchHerWork; Kristen Bellstrom, Fortune

Imagine a claw crane swooping down to grasp toys in an arcade. Only the claw is considerably bigger and operating both autonomously and in concert with human employees. Roboticist George Babu's breakthrough company, Kindred, is developing these AI-powered machines. He'll show how deep learning can transform retail for the better and provide examples from Kindred's trials with the GAP.

Guests: George Babu, Kindred; Molly Wood, Marketplace Business News

Social and humanoid robots used to be relegated to C3PO and other Star Wars-style works of fiction. But machines that interact with humans will soon create life-changing user experiences. This panel will dive into several key drivers of robotics that are improving by leaps and bounds in 2018, including consistent and accurate voice and face recognition.

Guests: SoftBank Robotics US' Steve Carlin, Simon Fraser University's Angelica Lim, Ever AI's Doug Aley and NBC News' Jason Abbruzzese

After raising over $300 million dollars last year, Essential entered the handset market to mixed reviews. Their president, Niccolo De Masi, joins us to outline his vision for the company.

Guests: Niccolo De Masi, Essential; JP Mangalindan, Yahoo Finance

Wolfram Research's Stephen Wolfram and Tusk Holdings' Bradley Tusk tell us that the time has come for us to embrace the blockchain revolution.

Guests: Stephen Wolfram, Wolfram Research; Bradley Tusk, Tusk Holdings