We’re excited to hear from a great group of leading entrepreneurs, investors, and researchers at our next event in Seattle, Xconomy Intersect, coming up on Dec. 8. We’ve just released the agenda. Here are some highlights:
The high-level idea behind this event is to look for the intersections—between industries, disciplines, and cultures—yielding impactful innovations now and in the years to come.
One of the big trends we’ll explore is the increasing capabilities of computers to do human-like things—with language in particular—and how that may transform a huge range of human endeavors. Our opening keynote speaker is Xuedong Huang, Microsoft’s chief scientist of speech. He joined Microsoft Research in its earliest days and has been continually pushing forward speech recognition technology, leading the team that recently set a new accuracy mark for machine transcription. Wired included him on its 2016 list of “25 Geniuses Who Are Actually Making the Future Happen Now.”
Continuing on the theme, Kieran Snyder, co-founder and CEO of Textio, a Seattle startup that uses machine learning and natural language processing to improve the performance of help wanted ads and other recruiting communications, will discuss the future of human writing in the age of intelligent and creative machines with Greg Bear, the prolific Seattle-based hard sci-fi author. (We can ask him when his work will start appearing in the “current events” section of bookstores.)
Related reading: Textio’s Learning Machine Offers Opportunities to Improve HR Writing
We’ve got a pair of all-star investor-entrepreneur chats lined up: Hans Tung, managing director of GGV Capital, will talk about building disruptive mobile commerce companies with OfferUp co-founder and CEO Nick Huzar, as well as Peter Wilson, OfferUp’s recently hired engineering vice president, who has been in similar roles at the Seattle outposts of Google and Facebook.
Related reading: OfferUp Raises $119M to Pursue Faster Growth in Local Marketplaces
Matt McIlwain of Madrona Venture Group will explore the intersections of healthcare and IT—a growing area of focus for Seattle’s innovation industry—with Rajeev Singh, CEO of Accolade, which provides a healthcare concierge service that combines high-touch human intelligence with machine learning and a trove of healthcare data.
Related reading: ACA or Not, Accolade Sees Growing Demand For Healthcare Innovation
For many people in Seattle, the years ahead suddenly look dramatically different from what was expected a week ago. But innovation marches on. We’ll discuss what the future may look like under a Trump Administration with Margaret O’Mara, a history professor focusing on politics and innovation, and Kirk Washington, a longtime Pacific Northwest cleantech investor.
No one yet knows how a Trump Administration will treat America’s public scientific and research enterprise—a key underpinning of the innovation economy. Whatever happens, institutions such as University of Washington and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will remain important sources of new technologies and business practices to seed startups and established companies in a wide range of industries. We’ll explore this essential interface with our panel on modern approaches to technology transfer, featuring UW vice president for innovation strategy Vikram Jandhyala, PNNL director of innovation impact Rosemarie Truman, and Paul Levins, executive vice president and global head of partnerships at Xinova (formerly known as the Invention Development Fund).
Related reading: Washington Scientists Forge Ahead Amid Uncertainty; With CoMotion Labs, UW Casts Wider Net For Innovation and Startups
We’ll also hear a series of “fast pitches” from startups and researchers taking new technology-enabled approaches to agriculture, forestry, and other legacy Northwest industries, including Drone Seed and Beta Hatch.
Related reading: Seattle Startup Beta Hatch Wants Bugs to Be the Future of Farming
And we’ve built in ample time for networking and audience questions to make sure you get the most out our expert speakers and fellow attendees.
We invite you to review the agenda and register. If you do so before Thanksgiving, you’ll save $50 off of our regular admission price. A limited number of discount tickets for startups and students are also available.
