EmTech Future 2026: AI's biggest impact may come at intersections

EmTech Future 2026 ran across three days and framed its agenda around convergence rather than single technologies. The sessions described how AI is impacting industries, where quantum is heading, what new energy systems could make possible, and how robotics are evolving — with a stated interest in what challenges and opportunities arise when these technologies start to converge.

The event also paired AI with adjacent frontiers directly. Hartmut Neven, founder and lead at Google Quantum AI, explored how quantum is advancing alongside other frontiers, and why its significance may lie not only in what it can do on its own, but in how it begins to interact with the systems around it. Evelyn Wang, VP for energy & climate at MIT, addressed how energy, computing, infrastructure, and climate technologies are increasingly interconnected. Cory Doctorow took on a different angle, exploring how AI is changing the way we work and think.

Matias's framing sits within that pattern: the pitch is that AI's value may be realized at the points where it meets biology, infrastructure, manufacturing, and science, rather than in isolation. For readers deciding where to place attention or budget, the practical question is whether these cross-field intersections produce measurable results — and the on-demand program, at $596 for subscribers, is where the full set of conversations now sits.