Are you ready for the storm? Not that storm, this storm:
Robo Madness 2018 is just over a month away. It’s Xconomy’s annual gathering of robotics and artificial intelligence leaders from Boston and beyond, and it’s all happening on the afternoon of April 12 at iRobot headquarters in Bedford, MA. This year’s theme is homecoming—robotics and A.I. technologies seeping into our homes, lives, and businesses.
Today, we’re pleased to announce the agenda for the conference. Here are a few highlights, with more updates to come:
—Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (which runs CES, formerly known as The International Consumer Electronics Show, in Las Vegas), will talk about the rise of robotics and A.I. in consumer tech.
—Colin Angle, CEO of iRobot, will discuss the latest advances in robotics and connected devices for the home.
—Rana el Kaliouby, CEO of Affectiva, will talk about new work on “emotion A.I.” in the automotive industry.
—We’ll dive into investing strategies and what’s coming next in A.I. and robotics startups, with a lead panel featuring Daniel Patt, CEO of Vecna Robotics; Bilal Zuberi, partner at Lux Capital; and Vivjan Myrto, founder of Hyperplane Venture Capital.
—Perhaps you’ve heard of self-driving cars. We’ve put together a stellar panel to cover the latest developments, featuring Shakeel Avadhany, CEO of ClearMotion; Ryan Chin, CEO of Optimus Ride; and Glen De Vos, CTO of Aptiv (which recently acquired NuTonomy).
—Another booming sector is robotic systems for logistics and retail. Tom Ryden, head of MassRobotics, will lead a riveting discussion featuring Jerome Dubois, co-founder of 6 River Systems; Mary Ellen Sparrow, CEO of NextShift Robotics; Bruce Welty, chairman of Locus Robotics; and Lael Odhner, co-founder of RightHand Robotics.
—We’ll have spotlight talks from Hasier Larrea, CEO of Ori, and Christopher Micali, co-founder of Sense, on different aspects of robotics and A.I. technologies being applied to smart homes.
—We are also organizing a special panel of iRobot alumni who have gone on to found their own startups: Joe Jones, CTO of Franklin Robotics, will join Clara Vu, vice president of engineering of Veo Robotics, and Max Makeev, CEO of Owl Labs, for a fun discussion of lessons learned from their Roomba days and how it all applies to the current landscape in robotics. That will be moderated by Hanns Anders, investment director at iRobot Ventures.
Tickets are going fast, but we’ve still got a few seats left. You can grab one here. Stay warm, and see you all on April 12.
