OpenTech Connect: Day 1 - INSPIRE

OpenTech Connect brings together researchers, professors, students, developers, and industry experts for two days of hands-on learning, demos, lightning talks, and thought leadership around data, AI, and open technology.

Venue

EPFL Innovation Park - exact rooms TBA

Dates

11 - 12 November, 2026

What to expect

Day 1 - INSPIRE

Talks and demos

Lightning sessions

Thought leadership

Panel discussions

Networking and apéro

Agenda

09:00 - 09:30 - Arrival and breakfast09:30 - 09:50 - Sofia Vallecorsa, CERN : Negative Results as a Measure of Progress: Quantum Computing in the Age of AI09:50 - 10:10 - Sandro Saitta, viadata : The Data Side of AI10:10 - 10:30 - TBA10:30 - 10:50 - Deborah de Wolff, Liinka.io : Why Building Faster with AI Makes It Harder to Find What Users Actually Need10:50 - 11:05 - Break11:05 - 11:25 - Jérôme Michaud, GVA : Innovation has no Runway11:25 - 11:45 - Julien Knafou, HES-SO : Delivering the Best RAG of All Times in a Few Weeks11:45 - 12:05 - Alexandra Pérez Acevedo, Analytics Alpha Group : Two Agricultural Worlds, One Data Frontier12:05 - 12:25 – TBA

12:25 - 13:30 - Lunch

13:30 - 13:50 - Swiss AI Academy : Agentic Transformation: Erosion vs Evolution13:50 - 14:10 - Samuel Pouyt, Enough to Act: Judgment in the Age of Fluent Machines 14:10 - 14:30 - Adi Saric, Maverix : Built to Be Understood: AI and Financial Inclusion in Developing Economies14:30 - 15:00 - Break15:00 - 15:20 - Prof. Mascha Kurpicz-Briki, BFH : The Potential of Small Language Models for SMEs15:20 - 15:40 - Lindsey DeWitt Prat, Bold Insight : All of Tech’s a Stage: Old Stories, New Futures15:40 - 16:00 - TBA16:00 - 16:20 - Break16:20 - 16:40 - Quintana Hoyne, Embreier : The AI Supercycle: What Changes Inside the Enterprise16:40 - 17:10 - Panel17:10 - 17:30 - Philippe Caroff : Closing session 17:30 - 20:00 - Apero

👉 ATTENDING THE DAY 2 WORKSHOPS? Day 2 requires a separate registration! Sign up for Day 2 - BUILD here.

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