TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 is set to place artificial intelligence at the center of the conversation, with the AI Stage returning to explore how the technology is reshaping product design, business models, security, and growth strategies. The program is presented by Google for Startups and will take place October 13-15 at Moscone Center in San Francisco.
The sessions will focus on the practical side of AI adoption: how companies price products as models become more accessible, how teams build security for agentic systems, and how AI-native workflows are creating entirely new roles in tech. The stage is designed for founders and operators looking to understand where the market is heading next.
Enterprise AI in Practice
Anthropic's Cat de Jong will share what happens after enterprises move beyond pilots and begin using Claude in real workflows. The discussion will highlight where deployments create value quickly, where they slow down, and what separates successful adoption from long-running experiments.
AI-Native Growth and Productivity
OpenAI's Tara Seshan will explore how AI has transformed go-to-market strategy and helped define the fast-growing role of GTM engineering. The session will show how AI-native teams are building new growth systems from the ground up.
Security, Video Intelligence, and the New SaaS Model
Other sessions will examine enterprise AI security, including observability, governance, and infrastructure-level protection for autonomous systems. Leaders from Okta, AWS, Databricks, and Luta Security will also discuss how agentic AI changes cloud architecture. On the product side, founders from Decart, Luma AI, Glean, Monte Carlo, Clay, and venture firms such as Sapphire Ventures and NEA will look at real-time video intelligence and the future of SaaS pricing in an AI-driven market.
With thousands of startup, tech, and venture capital leaders expected to attend, the AI Stage is positioned as a key meeting point for the people building the next wave of intelligent products. It reflects a future where AI is not just a tool, but a core layer of how modern companies operate and grow.
