250 Years of American Innovation.
The Moment to Define Technology’s Future Is Now
Be part of the pivotal conversations that prove what 250 years have shown: America wins when America innovates.
A Policymaker’s Playground.
We’re obsessed with creating an atmosphere that fosters a collaborative space to be laser-focused on the things that need national attention: safeguarding our defense, fueling economic prosperity, and reinforcing our global preeminence.
The Special Competitive Studies Project has curated an impactful environment for both policymakers and technologists. Our mission is centered on advancing U.S. competitiveness in AI, bringing a strategic, non-partisan lens to this critical domain. We’re bridging the traditional gap between both the world of innovation and government, ensuring the conversations at the Expo are both cutting-edge and policy-relevant.
Featured Speakers
Leaders across government, industry, academia and more will continue to be announced ahead of the Expo.
Noubar Afeyan
Chairman and
Co-founder, Moderna; Founder and CEO, Flagship Pioneering
Austen Alexander
Creator, Battle Bunker;
Founder, AMA Marketing
Paul S. Atkins
Chairman, Securities and Exchange Commission
Rye Barcott
Co-Founder and CEO,
With Honor
Gina Bennett
Director, All Secure Design Lab, Girl Security
Lauren Buitta
Founder and CEO, Girl
Security
Sir Vince Cable
Chair, Element 2 and
eFreight 2030
Charlene Cooper
Director, CYBER.ORG
Karen Dahut
CEO, Google, Public Sector
Brandon Daniels
CEO, Exiger
Sanmay Das
Professor, Virginia Tech
Sviat Dulianinov
CEO, Bright
Machines
Keith Dunbar
Founder & Chief
Executive Officer, FedLearn
Ray Eitel-Porter
Author; Founder, Lumyz
Advisory
Lindsay Ellis
Reporter, The Wall Street
Journal
Rebecca Fannin
Founder / Editor,
Silicon Dragon Ventures
Steve Feldstein
Senior Fellow, Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace
Eyck Freymann
Hoover Fellow,
Stanford University
Darío Gil
Under Secretary for Science, U.S. Department of Energy
AyseDeniz Gokcin
Pianist, Composer, and AI
Producer, Borderless Music LLC
Dr. José-Marie Griffiths
President, Dakota State University
Arun Gupta
CEO, NobleReach
Foundation
Ume Habiba
Software Engineer,
Microsoft
Ravit Jain
Founder & Host, The
Ravit Show
Vince Jesaitis
VP & Head, Global Government Affairs, Arm
Kimberly Kagan
Founder and President,
Institute for the Study of War
David Kelly
Head of Government and
Regulatory Affairs, Parallel Systems
Kathleen Kennedy
Executive Director,
MIT
Sajjaad Khader
Founder, SWE
Launchpad
Sundas Khalid
Principal Analytics
Lead, Google
William Kimmitt
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, U.S. Department of Commerce
Pushmeet Kohli
VP, Science and Strategic Initiatives, Google DeepMind
Alex Kotran
CEO and Co-Founder, The AI
Education Project (aiEDU)
Keith Krach
CEO, Freedom 250;
Chairman, Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy
Torsten Kroeger
Chief Science Officer,
Intrinsic
Lindy Kyzer
Vice President,
ClearanceJobs
Megan Lieu
CEO, ML Data
Rev Lebaredian
Vice President of Omniverse and Simulation Technology, NVIDIA
Lydia Logan
VP for Global Education and
Workforce Development, IBM
Chris Malachowsky
Co-Founder and Fellow, NVIDIA
Katrina Manson
Reporter,
Bloomberg
Dave Marchick
Dean of Kogod School
of Business, American University
Vasileios Maroulas
Associate Vice Chancellor
and Director, AI Tennessee Initiative, University of Tennessee
Knoxville
David Marsh
Chairman and CEO, Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum
Kevin McCarthy
55th Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
Patrick McHenry
Former Chairman, House
Financial Services Committee
Ed Mehr
Co-founder & CEO,
Machina Lab
Felipe Millon
Head of Government Go to
Market, OpenAI
Dr. James Moore III
Assistant Director,
NSF
Katrina Mulligan
Head of National Security Partnerships, OpenAI
Anne Neuberger
Senior Advisor, a16z;
Former Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging
Technologies
Balakrishnan (Prabha)
Prabhakaran
Director, AI Plus
Institute, University at Albany
Justin Reynolds
Deputy Director
Technology Cooperation, State Department
Liz Reynolds
Professor of the Practice,
MIT
Anshu Roy
Founder and CEO, Rhombus Power
Anthony Salcito
GM, Enterprise, Coursera
David Sanger
Author
Nadia Schadlow
Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute
Alex Schildt
President,
ClearanceJobs
Brendan Schulman
Vice President of
Policy & Government Relations, Boston Dynamics
Damion Shelton
Co-Founder and Chairman,
Agility Robotics
Eric Smith
Director and Chair of Space AI Steering Committee (Space), Lockheed Martin
Mohammed Soliman
Senior Fellow, Middle
East Institute
Keith Sonderling
Acting Secretary of
Labor, U.S. Department of Labor
David Stout
Founder and CEO, webAI
Keith Strier
Senior Vice President, Global AI Markets, AMD
Nicholas Thompson
CEO, The
Atlantic
Mac Thornberry
Board of Advisors,
SCSP
Olivia Trusty
Commissioner, Federal
Communications Commission
Jaap van Etten
CEO, Datenna
Miriam Vogel
President & CEO,
EqualAI
Eric Xing
President and
University Professor, Mohamed Bin Zayed University of Artificial
Intelligence
The AI+ Expo Community
Government
Explore technology applications for your agency, identify ways to address your specific challenges, connect the dots on a global scale, and gain industry insights at the edge.
Military
Discover mission-critical insights, see the latest drone and robotic advancements, and enhance your understanding of AI at The Exchange, a curated event on the AI+ Expo show floor designed for defense leaders.
Public Sector
Find effective solutions that align with your mission, share your experience while learning from your peers, and connect with problem-solvers to tackle our generations’ hardest challenges.
Private Sector
Connect in person with government representatives interested in new products, share your expertise, collaborate across industries and sectors, and stay informed on the policies that will shape your work.
Academia
Showcase educational programs, explore industry partnerships, present research, and identify new ways to collaborate.
Students & Early Career Professionals
Meet and learn from leaders, explore the future of AI and emerging tech, and discover new professional paths at the AI+Careers Stage.
What You’ll Gain
The AI+ Expo delivers what typical conferences don’t. Here are three top reasons for you to attend:
Purposely Built for a Powerful Mission
With active participation from government officials, defense leaders, industry innovators, and leading research institutions, the nonpartisan AI+ Expo has earned its reputation as the most credible, execution-focused convening in AI and emerging technology.
Thank You to Our 2026 Sponsors
Thank You to Our 2026 Media Partners
