AI hasn’t just changed how startups build; it’s broken how they sell, secure their data and customers, and scale it more rapidly than ever before. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, the AI Stage is back to dig into the single hottest topic in the community for the past few years, presented by Google for Startups. This time around, we’re exploring the business models AI is rewriting, the wealth of unsolved security gaps, and the entirely new job categories AI has created from scratch.
From October 13–15 in San Francisco at Moscone Center, join leaders from across the AI industry as they get into the real questions founders are facing right now. We’re talking about the matter of how to price AI products when models become commoditized, why agent security has to be rebuilt from the infrastructure up, and what it actually means to have a go-to-market plan in an AI-native world.
We’re also closing in on the end of our current pricing window, so your chance to save up to $200 is ending soon, so grab your ticket here before it’s gone. Without further ado, let’s see what’s on deck for the AI Stage, with more announcements to come:
What Anthropic Sees When Enterprises Actually Deploy Claude
Most enterprise AI conversations happen before deployment. This one starts after. As Head of Applied AI at Anthropic, Cat de Jong works directly with the enterprises putting Claude to work across their most critical workflows — and sees patterns that never make it into press releases. Where deployments succeed immediately. Where they stall. What separates the organizations extracting real value from the ones still running pilots eighteen months in. This session pulls back the curtain on what applied AI actually looks like inside the world’s most closely watched AI company — and what it reveals about where enterprise AI is really headed.
With Cat de Jong, Head of Applied AI, Anthropic
What Building AI Native Actually Means. Join the Conversation with OpenAI’s Head of Productivity
Two years ago, GTM engineering did not exist. Today, it is one of the fastest growing roles in the industry, with independent practitioners building million-dollar businesses. This session traces how AI collapsed the traditional go-to-market stack and created an entirely new discipline in its place. Walk away knowing what AI-native GTM looks like in practice and how it’s changing the way companies grow.
With Tara Seshan, Head of Productivity, OpenAI
The Enterprise Isn’t Broken. Your Assumptions About It Are.
AI is now making autonomous decisions inside the most sensitive enterprise systems in the world, at a speed traditional security frameworks weren’t built for. This session breaks down what enterprise AI security actually requires in 2026 — from observability and governance to the architecture that separates deployments enterprises can trust from ones they can’t afford to touch.
With Arsalan Tavakoli, Co-founder and SVP of Field Engineering, Databricks
The Agent Security Problem Nobody Is Talking About
Agentic AI is powerful, but it was never built to be secure. Now, enterprises trying to harness that are learning to rebuild the basic elements of cybersecurity from scratch. This session is a candid technical conversation about what agent security actually requires at the infrastructure level, why application-level permission models are fundamentally flawed, and the architectural decisions that really matter when deploying agentic AI.
With Ric Smith, President of Product & Technology at Okta
The Video Intelligence Race: Real-Time, Reasoning, and What Comes Next
Visual AI has moved past attention-getting demos into real-time inference and physical reasoning. Founders building at the frontier discuss what happens when generation crosses into genuine intelligence.
With Dean Leitersdorf, Co-founder and CEO, Decart, and Amit Jain, Co-founder and CEO, Luma AI
Rewriting SaaS: Why AI Breaks the Old Business Model
Is the SaaS playook dead, or is it just evolving? This session brings together founders and platform leaders who are grappling with that question in real time – and coming away with real answers. Walk away with a sharper understanding of how to price AI products sustainably, how to build defensible moats when models are commoditizing, and how to make SaaS work in the AI era.
With Arvind Jain, Founder & CEO, Glean, Barr Moses, Co-founder & CEO, Monte Carlo, Cathy Gao, Partner at Sapphire Ventures, and Aaron Jacobson, Partner, NEA
The GTM Engineer: How AI Created Tech’s Next Big Job Category
GTM engineering didn’t exist two years ago — now it’s one of the fastest-growing roles in tech, with independent practitioners building million-dollar businesses. Walk away knowing what AI-native GTM looks like in practice and how it’s reshaping growth.
With Kareem Amin, Co-founder and CEO, Clay
Securing the AI Enterprise: Why the Cloud Just Got a Lot More Complicated
AI is running inside the most sensitive enterprise systems in the world, making autonomous decisions at a speed and scale that traditional security frameworks were never designed to handle. This session delivers the infrastructure-level view of what enterprise AI security actually requires in 2026, from observability and governance to the architectural principles that separate deployments enterprises can trust from ones they cannot afford to touch.
With Chet Kapoor, VP, Security Services & Observability, AWS, Katie Moussouris, Luta Security, Wendy Nather, 1Password
Whether you’re rethinking your pricing model, closing the security gaps in your AI stack, or building the go-to-market playbook that doesn’t exist yet, the AI Stage is where the builders shaping this next wave get specific.
Plus, you’ll be doing all this alongside 10,000+ startup, tech, and VC leaders, with access to every other stage, Startup Battlefield, a wealth of networking opportunities, and the exhibition floor. Register today!
Learn more about Disrupt 2026
Check out Disrupt’s headline speakers
Everything Founders should know about Disrupt
Get the best hotel deals ahead of Disrupt
How to host your own Side Event at Disrupt
Take part in Disrupt and learn how to exhibit your startup
When you purchase through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.
