The biggest risk for founders and investors right now is not moving too slowly. They are too slow to react to where the market has already moved.
A new stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will help founders and investors make faster, more informed decisions in today’s highly complex and volatile markets.
Held from October 13th to 15th at Moscone West in San Francisco, Disrupt will bring together more than 10,000 founders, investors, and executives for more than 250 sessions across six stages focused on the operational pressures that are reshaping startup innovation, from AI-native competition and infrastructure bottlenecks to changing venture dynamics and corporate adoption.
Explore the six stages coming in 2026 and secure your pass before prices increase. Right now, you can save up to $410 with early bird pricing, plus 50% off your second ticket.
Explore all six stages of Disrupt
Jump into Disrupt’s six stages, designed for a hands-on approach to launching, building, and selling in today’s technology industry.
Disruption Stage: See where the market is heading
The Disrupt Stage remains the heart of TechCrunch Disrupt, where leading founders, key technology leaders, and top investors come together to discuss the broad changes that are reshaping markets.
The Startup Battlefield 200 is also held here, giving attendees a first-hand look at startups that investors and media believe have the potential to break through before the rest of the market catches up. Think your startup has what it takes to compete? Nominate and apply by May 29th.
The conversation will focus on:
The future of AI and technology. How are companies currently founded and financed? A leader who shapes the world’s industries. What’s next for the biggest changes in the technology industry?
For founders, investors, and executives alike, it reveals signals that shape opportunities, such as where attention is focused, which categories are accelerating, and how successful companies are positioned in tougher markets.
For a limited time, you can join our community at Disrupt and save up to 30% on tickets. Please register here.
Builders Stage: Tactical answers for founders under pressure
Builders Stage at Disrupt focuses on the operational realities of starting a company today, including financing, recruiting, product-market fit, executing go-to-market, and scaling in a more demanding environment.
Unlike traditional founder content, these sessions are built around current pressure points that have real impact.
Sessions such as “How to win when you’re not building AI” address one of the defining challenges in today’s market: how non-AI startups compete for attention and capital while investors chase AI-first companies.
Other programming considerations include:
Financing before product market fit. Going from Seed to Series A. AI native recruitment strategy. New expectations regarding growth and profitability.
Speakers include Nina Achadjian, Partner at Index Ventures; Rajeev Dham, Managing Partner, Sapphire Ventures. Josh Reeves, CEO and Co-Founder of Gusto. Grant Lee, CEO and co-founder of Gamma. Robbie Stein, head of product at Google. and Mo Jomaa, Partner at CapitalG.
This is one of the most tactical environments at Disrupt for founders looking to reduce mistakes and move quickly.
Lock in your Disrupt ticket That way, you can tackle your biggest growth challenges.
Smart Money Stage: Track where your capital is going
As the fintech market matures and investor scrutiny increases, startups’ success will depend on understanding which financial technologies are still generating sustainable growth and which models are losing momentum.
Disrupt’s Smart Money Stage focuses on how financial infrastructure is evolving beyond the hype cycle towards a digital financial system.
The session will explore where real-time payments are gaining momentum, why some embedded financial models are struggling, and where founders are still building durable fintech businesses despite increased investor scrutiny.
The core of programming is:
Payment infrastructure.
These conversations are based on what’s actually surviving in a more skeptical market, rather than speculation. Speakers on this stage include Jack Zhang, founder and CEO of Airwallex, and Lotti Siniscalco, general partner of Emergence Capital.
The key for fintech founders and investors is to understand where capital still sees long-term opportunities and where market enthusiasm is starting to fade.
Registering with Disrupt gives you direct access to the investors, founders, and operators shaping the next generation of financial infrastructure.
Smart System Stage: Infrastructure Powering AI
As AI expansion accelerates, so too does the demand for data center capacity, energy, grid connectivity, and industrial systems.
Disrupt’s Smart Systems stage focuses on one of the biggest constraints facing the technology industry: the physical infrastructure required for energy, climate, and industrial systems.
This stage focuses on the operational systems that modern software companies increasingly rely on, but often overlook. The session will consider:
AI data center energy crisis. Grid infrastructure bottlenecks. Infrastructure automation. Robotics and Industrial Systems. Climate and energy scalability.
Leaders playing key roles in this space include Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Inertia, and David Kirtley, CEO of Helion.
For founders and investors building energy, robotics, logistics, infrastructure, or climate change technologies, this stage provides a clearer understanding of where the constraints of the physical world may create the next big opportunity – or new barriers.
Get your Disrupt ticket to see where infrastructure innovation is your next competitive advantage.
AI in the real-world arena: Where AI works
When AI is introduced into physical systems, reliability becomes a business issue, not just a technical one.
Disrupt’s AI in the Real World stage addresses what happens when AI systems move beyond demos and into environments where trust is key, from robotics and autonomous systems to manufacturing and drug discovery.
Programming explores how AI is being deployed in the following areas:
The focus at this stage shifts from AI hype to operational realities, such as how trusted systems are built, what happens when cloud access is limited, how physical AI products are scaled, and whether a failed deployment creates real financial and operational risks.
For founders and investors evaluating the next generation of AI companies, this stage provides a clearer picture of which companies will actually survive the transition from prototype to production.
Explore Disrupt ticket options for founders, investors, operators, and startup teams.
AI Stage: How AI rewrites software in real time
Disrupt’s AI stage, powered by Google Cloud, focuses on how generative AI and AI agents are transforming software companies at every level.
Programming at this stage, such as “Rewriting SaaS: Why AI is disrupting old business models,” reflects a growing reality across the software industry. As AI changes user expectations and product economics, the benefits of traditional SaaS are rapidly disappearing.
The session will consider:
AI agents and automation. DevSecOps and AI security. How software pricing and workflows are changing.
The value for founders and operators is to understand how software companies are currently adapting and where competitive advantage may be lost next.
Find your ticket match and experience Disrupt firsthand before prices go up.
Save up to $410 and get insights from today’s top technology leaders
TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 alone is three jam-packed days with more than 200 sessions across six stages, led by more than 250 technology leaders who are shaping the industry today. Save up to $410 on your pass and get 50% off your second ticket, so bring your plus one and experience Disrupt with us. Register now.
If you buy through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect editorial independence.
