TiEcon 2026 — the flagship conference of TiE Silicon Valley — is set to take place from April 29 to May 1, 2026 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in California. This year's theme, "AI & You: Human Centered, AI Powered," reflects a broader conversation about how artificial intelligence is reshaping the way we live, work, and lead. With over 156 speakers and Nobel Laureates headlining the main stage for the very first time in the conference's history, TiEcon 2026 promises to be among the most significant gatherings in Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial calendar.
Here is a look at the confirmed keynote and featured speakers shaping the conversation at TiEcon 2026:
1. Dr. John M. Martinis
Nobel Laureate in Physics (2025); Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara; Co-Founder & CTO, Qolab
In a landmark announcement for TiEcon 2026, Dr. John Martinis — awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with John Clarke and Michel Devoret — will take the main stage. The Nobel Committee recognized the trio for demonstrating macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit, foundational discoveries that paved the way for today's superconducting qubit technologies. Martinis also led the Google hardware team that claimed the first evidence of quantum supremacy in 2019 with the Sycamore processor, and currently serves as Co-Founder and CTO of Qolab, a quantum computing startup focused on building fault-tolerant superconducting quantum computers at semiconductor scale. His session at TiEcon 2026 is expected to explore how quantum computing is converging with AI to unlock entirely new classes of problems.
2. Dr. Randy Schekman
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013); Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Randy Schekman shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with James Rothman and Thomas Südhof for their discoveries of the machinery regulating vesicle traffic — the critical system by which cells package and deliver molecules to the right place at the right time. A professor at UC Berkeley, Schekman's presence at TiEcon 2026 represents the conference's expanding vision: bringing deep scientific expertise from fields like cellular biology alongside technology and entrepreneurship, and spotlighting how AI is beginning to transform biomedical discovery.
3. Dr. Jagdeep Singh Bachher
Chief Investment Officer, University of California; Chancellor, University of Waterloo
Dr. Bachher will serve as the moderator for the Nobel Laureate conversation on the main stage — widely expected to be one of TiEcon 2026's most anticipated sessions. As CIO of the University of California since 2014, he oversees an investment portfolio of approximately $209 billion spanning pensions, endowments, and retirement savings. Since 2024, he also serves as the 12th Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. Bachher brings a singular lens on where deep science and long-term capital intersect, making him a natural bridge between the research stage and the investment community that fills TiEcon's halls.
4. Chetan Nayak
Technical Fellow and VP of Quantum Hardware and Systems Engineering, Microsoft
Chetan Nayak leads Microsoft's quest to build a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer based on topological qubits — one of the most ambitious bets in the quantum computing industry. Under his leadership, Microsoft unveiled the Majorana 1 chip in early 2025, the world's first quantum processing unit powered by a topological core built with a new class of materials called topoconductors. His session at TiEcon 2026 is expected to offer a rare inside look at what it takes to move quantum computing from laboratory promise to enterprise-scale reality, and how topological approaches may fundamentally change the error-tolerance picture for the industry.
5. Santosh Janardhan
Head of Infrastructure, Meta
Santosh Janardhan oversees the infrastructure powering Meta's billions of users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — one of the most complex distributed systems ever built. In his role since 2009, he has spanned production engineering, software infrastructure, and now the full global stack of hardware, networks, software and data centers. At TiEcon 2026, he is expected to speak to how hyperscale infrastructure is being reimagined for the AI era, and what enterprise builders can learn from Meta's approach as it plans investments of up to $600 billion in US data center infrastructure through 2028.
6. Anita Manwani
President and Board Chair, TiE Silicon Valley; Serial Entrepreneur, Corporate Executive, Investor & Philanthropist
As the driving force behind TiEcon 2026, Anita Manwani will open the conference and set the tone for three days of conversations around AI, entrepreneurship, and human potential. A serial entrepreneur and investor with decades of experience across enterprise technology, Manwani has been instrumental in bringing two Nobel Laureates to TiEcon's main stage for the very first time — a milestone for the conference and for Silicon Valley's innovation community.
What to Expect at TiEcon 2026
Beyond the keynotes, TiEcon 2026 will feature tracks spanning Applied AI, Global Trade & Education, enterprise scaling, and investment trends across healthcare, software, and deep tech. A hands-on Go-To-Market Workshop for B2B AI startups, a live Hackathon with graduate AI and data science teams from universities including Northeastern University Silicon Valley, and curated sessions for career starters and enterprise leaders round out the three-day agenda.
The event runs from April 29 to May 1, 2026 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA. Registration is open at tiecon.org.
Here is a look at the confirmed keynote and featured speakers shaping the conversation at TiEcon 2026:
1. Dr. John M. Martinis
Nobel Laureate in Physics (2025); Professor of Physics, University of California, Santa Barbara; Co-Founder & CTO, Qolab
In a landmark announcement for TiEcon 2026, Dr. John Martinis — awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with John Clarke and Michel Devoret — will take the main stage. The Nobel Committee recognized the trio for demonstrating macroscopic quantum mechanical tunneling and energy quantization in an electric circuit, foundational discoveries that paved the way for today's superconducting qubit technologies. Martinis also led the Google hardware team that claimed the first evidence of quantum supremacy in 2019 with the Sycamore processor, and currently serves as Co-Founder and CTO of Qolab, a quantum computing startup focused on building fault-tolerant superconducting quantum computers at semiconductor scale. His session at TiEcon 2026 is expected to explore how quantum computing is converging with AI to unlock entirely new classes of problems.
2. Dr. Randy Schekman
Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013); Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley
Dr. Randy Schekman shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with James Rothman and Thomas Südhof for their discoveries of the machinery regulating vesicle traffic — the critical system by which cells package and deliver molecules to the right place at the right time. A professor at UC Berkeley, Schekman's presence at TiEcon 2026 represents the conference's expanding vision: bringing deep scientific expertise from fields like cellular biology alongside technology and entrepreneurship, and spotlighting how AI is beginning to transform biomedical discovery.
3. Dr. Jagdeep Singh Bachher
Chief Investment Officer, University of California; Chancellor, University of Waterloo
Dr. Bachher will serve as the moderator for the Nobel Laureate conversation on the main stage — widely expected to be one of TiEcon 2026's most anticipated sessions. As CIO of the University of California since 2014, he oversees an investment portfolio of approximately $209 billion spanning pensions, endowments, and retirement savings. Since 2024, he also serves as the 12th Chancellor of the University of Waterloo. Bachher brings a singular lens on where deep science and long-term capital intersect, making him a natural bridge between the research stage and the investment community that fills TiEcon's halls.
4. Chetan Nayak
Technical Fellow and VP of Quantum Hardware and Systems Engineering, Microsoft
Chetan Nayak leads Microsoft's quest to build a scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computer based on topological qubits — one of the most ambitious bets in the quantum computing industry. Under his leadership, Microsoft unveiled the Majorana 1 chip in early 2025, the world's first quantum processing unit powered by a topological core built with a new class of materials called topoconductors. His session at TiEcon 2026 is expected to offer a rare inside look at what it takes to move quantum computing from laboratory promise to enterprise-scale reality, and how topological approaches may fundamentally change the error-tolerance picture for the industry.
5. Santosh Janardhan
Head of Infrastructure, Meta
Santosh Janardhan oversees the infrastructure powering Meta's billions of users across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — one of the most complex distributed systems ever built. In his role since 2009, he has spanned production engineering, software infrastructure, and now the full global stack of hardware, networks, software and data centers. At TiEcon 2026, he is expected to speak to how hyperscale infrastructure is being reimagined for the AI era, and what enterprise builders can learn from Meta's approach as it plans investments of up to $600 billion in US data center infrastructure through 2028.
6. Anita Manwani
President and Board Chair, TiE Silicon Valley; Serial Entrepreneur, Corporate Executive, Investor & Philanthropist
As the driving force behind TiEcon 2026, Anita Manwani will open the conference and set the tone for three days of conversations around AI, entrepreneurship, and human potential. A serial entrepreneur and investor with decades of experience across enterprise technology, Manwani has been instrumental in bringing two Nobel Laureates to TiEcon's main stage for the very first time — a milestone for the conference and for Silicon Valley's innovation community.
What to Expect at TiEcon 2026
Beyond the keynotes, TiEcon 2026 will feature tracks spanning Applied AI, Global Trade & Education, enterprise scaling, and investment trends across healthcare, software, and deep tech. A hands-on Go-To-Market Workshop for B2B AI startups, a live Hackathon with graduate AI and data science teams from universities including Northeastern University Silicon Valley, and curated sessions for career starters and enterprise leaders round out the three-day agenda.
The event runs from April 29 to May 1, 2026 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA. Registration is open at tiecon.org.
