surprise! StrictlyVC San Francisco, which kicks off this year’s TechCrunch event lineup on April 30th at the Centro Philippine Cultural Center, is adding new participants to its ever-growing roster of speakers. Praveen Neppalli Naga, CTO of Uber, joins us to discuss operating at scale in the age of, you guessed it, AI.
However, you’ll need to act fast to snag tickets to what’s becoming a popular event on the sci-fi startup scene next week. This is the ideal one-stop shop for founders and investors looking to expand their network, deepen community ties, and learn from our currently very extensive speaker roster.
Naga’s conversation with TechCrunch Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos covers that breadth and explores what it takes to build the many intertwined systems in the AI revolution in one of the most widely used services on the planet. And his work at Uber runs deep, having been with the company since 2015, long before the AI boom that refined what CTOs should focus on.
And it’s not all AI. Mr. Naga has a particular focus on developing revenue systems for drivers and couriers within the Uber network, and previously played a key role in building LinkedIn’s early products and infrastructure, making it a pillar of professional life today.

For those who haven’t kept score, there are currently 5 (!!) speakers, including Naga.
Eclipse founder and CEO Lior Susan recently raised $1.3 billion in funding and is focused on physical AI startups. He takes a deep dive into the types of ventures and projects that excites him and that other investors should take note of.
Amjad Massad, Co-Founder and CEO of Replit, looks at the future of AI-driven software development at a couldn’t time, amidst big claims about AI coding capabilities and huge concerns from engineers.
tech crunch event
San Francisco, California
|
October 13-15, 2026
Tonight’s sponsor, TDK Ventures, will host an important conversation with President Nicolas Sauvage about the details of raising funding from strategic backers and other early-stage investing topics that founders and venture capitalists won’t want to miss.
Campbell Brown, former CNN host and head of Meta Media Partnerships, will also share his story of breaking into the startup community at Forum AI, hoping to contribute to efforts to stop disinformation and inaccurate claims arising from the misuse of AI.
Don’t wait or procrastinate, act now and get your tickets before word gets out about our newest speakers. Block off your calendar and make time to join the StrictlyVC community and prepare for future success with the lessons learned from this sci-fi event.
If you buy through links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. This does not affect editorial independence.
