AI has fundamentally reshaped how startups build, sell, secure their data and customers, and scale more rapidly than ever before. At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, the AI Stage—presented by Google for Startups—returns to explore the single hottest topic in the tech community: the business models AI is rewriting, the critical security gaps it creates, and the entirely new job categories it has spawned.
From October 13–15 at Moscone Center in San Francisco, join industry leaders as they tackle the real questions founders face today. We’ll discuss how to price AI products when models become commoditized, why agent security must be rebuilt from the infrastructure up, and what an AI-native go-to-market plan actually looks like in practice.
As our current early-pricing window closes soon, this is your last chance to save up to $300. Grab your ticket here before it’s gone. But first, here’s what’s on deck for the AI Stage—with more announcements to come:
The Enterprise Isn’t Broken. Your Assumptions About It Are.
AI is now making autonomous decisions inside the world’s most sensitive enterprise systems, at speeds traditional security frameworks were never designed to handle. This session breaks down what enterprise AI security truly requires in 2026—from observability and governance to the architectural decisions that separate trusted deployments from risky ones.
Featured Speaker: Arsalan Tavakoli, Co-founder and SVP of Field Engineering, Databricks
The Video Intelligence Race: Real-Time, Reasoning, and What Comes Next
Visual AI has evolved from flashy demos to real-time inference and physical reasoning. Founders building at this frontier will discuss what happens when AI generation crosses into genuine intelligence.
Featured Speakers: Dean Leitersdorf, Co-founder and CEO, Decart; Amit Jain, Co-founder and CEO, Luma AI
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 understanding what AI-native go-to-market looks like in practice and how it’s reshaping company growth.
Featured Speaker: Kareem Amin, Co-founder and CEO, Clay
Whether you’re rethinking your pricing model, closing security gaps in your AI stack, or building a go-to-market playbook that doesn’t exist yet, the AI Stage is where the builders shaping this next wave get specific.
via TechCrunch AI