Future of AI 2026 Agenda

agenda

Wednesday, 21 October 2026 at Hilton Tel Aviv

produced by

since

2018

edition

9th Annual Summit

For nearly a decade, Lynx has been bringing together the tech, business, startup and enterprise ecosystems through industry-leading conferences, executive communities, curated meetings and innovation events.

2026 speakers

Meet the first speakers joining Future of AI 2026. More announcements coming soon.

Dan Benger

CEO & Co-Founder @ Tego AI

Gal Benkin

Sponsorships & Partnerships Manager @ Lynx

Amir Gal Or

Chairman @ 42AI

Asaf Green

Director of BD @ NTT Innovation Lab Israel

Dr. Assaf Horowitz

VP of AI @ Israel Innovation Authority

Asaf Kochan

Co-Founder @ Sentra | Former Commander @ Unit 8200

Itsik Mantin

AI Security Research Lead @ Intuit

Dror Mizrachi

CTO & Lab Director @ Toga Networks

Yehu Ofer

Chief Executive Officer @ OdysightAI

Ben Pelled

Founder & CEO @ Lynx

Esti Peshin

Former VP & GM @ Destino Ventures

Shiri Rosenman

Marketing & Partnerships Manager @ Lynx

Izhar Shay

Co-Founder @ Next October

Ofer Smadari

Co-Founder & CEO @ Torq

Ariel Sterman

Partner at @ Bessemer Venture Partners

Sanaz Yashar

Co-Founder & CEO @ Zafran Security

Ester Zabar

CEO @ AQA

Steering Committee

Future of AI 2026 is led by Ben Pelled, Founder & CEO, Lynx.

The Committee is chaired by Dr. Ayelet Ben-Ezer, CEO, Reichman University.

Dr. Ayelet Ben-Ezer

Committee Chair | CEO & VP @ Reichman University

Asaf Kochan

Co-Founder @ Sentra | Former Commander @ Unit 8200

Adir Duchan

Senior AI Engineer @ Elementor

Asaf Green

Director of BD @ NTT Innovation Lab Israel

Assaf Araki

Investment Director, AI @ Intel Capital

Avichai Ben

Co-Founder & CTO @ Charm Security

Esti Peshin

Global Cybersecurity, AI & Aviation Executive

Idit Muallem-Yedid

Investor, General Partner

Liron Azrielant

Founder & Managing Partner @ Meron Capital

Maish Saidel-Keesing

Senior Developer Advocate @ AWS

Omri Baumer

Founder @ Dreambloom

Tal Kollender

Co-Founder & CEO @ Remedio

Dr. Tal Shapira

Co-Founder & CTO @ Reco

Yoel Zeldes

Sr. Research Engineer (NLP) @ Google DeepMind

Ziv Katzir

Former Head, AI Infra. National Program @ Israel Innovation Authority

Agenda is subject to change.

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Doors Open

08:00 - 09:00Breakfast
Check-in, Badge Pickup & Breakfast
Start the day over breakfast and coffee, meet fellow participants and explore the exhibition area before the program begins.

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Main Stage

09:00 - 10:00Lightning Talk
Future of AI Startup Competition Finals
Meet the next generation of AI companies. Selected founders take the stage to present what they are building to leading investors, technology executives and industry experts.

Interested in applying? Review the criteria and submit your application here
10:00 - 10:10Keynote
Welcome to Future of AI 2026

Ben Pelled, Founder & CEO @ Lynx

A brief opening to the day and the big questions shaping this year’s Future of AI. Ben Pelled, Founder & CEO of Lynx, will welcome the audience together with the Main Stage MC and set the stage for the day ahead. Future of AI, now in its 9th year, brings together 1,000+ founders, builders, technology leaders and investors from across Israel’s tech ecosystem to explore where AI is heading next.
10:10 - 10:20Keynote
When AI Finds Its Voice: The Rise of Conversational Agents

Keynote by ElevenLabs

Founded in 2022, ElevenLabs has rapidly become one of the world’s leading AI audio companies, reaching an $11 billion valuation in just four years. This keynote explores how voice and conversational agents are changing the way people interact with technology, and what happens when AI can listen, understand, speak and take action.
10:20 - 10:30Keynote
From Startup to Global Scale: Building AI with the World's Largest Enterprises

Asaf Green, Director of BD @ NTT Innovation Lab Israel

NTT is one of the world’s largest technology and telecommunications groups, with more than 340,000 employees worldwide. From its innovation lab in Israel, this keynote explores what global enterprises are really looking for from AI startups, and how partnerships with global corporations can unlock technology, customers and scale.
10:30 - 10:55Panel Discussion
The Next 12 Months of AI
- Dr. Assaf Horowitz, VP of AI @ Israel Innovation Authority
Four leaders look beyond today’s hype and make concrete calls on the next phase of AI, from agents and infrastructure to business, jobs and the technologies that could define 2027.

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Brunch & Networking

11:00 - 11:45Coffee Break
Coffee & Networking
Meet speakers, partners and fellow participants over coffee, visit the exhibition and startup areas, and continue conversations before the parallel tracks begin.

TRACKS

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Enterprise AI & Agents (Hall B)

11:45 - 12:00Keynote
From AI Pilot to Production: What Actually Worked
A practical look inside a real enterprise AI implementation: what the organization set out to achieve, what worked, what failed, the lessons learned along the way, and what it really took to move from experimentation into production at scale.
12:00 - 12:15Expert Talk
Beyond Copilots: Welcome to the Autonomous Enterprise
Enterprise AI is moving from assistants that recommend actions to agents capable of executing them. What changes when autonomous systems begin participating directly in business processes and workflows?
12:15 - 12:30Expert Talk
The Agentic Stack: Build, Buy or Orchestrate?
Models are only one part of the emerging agentic stack. This session explores agents, enterprise data, tools, MCP, permissions, memory, observability and orchestration, and where companies should build versus buy.
12:30 - 13:05Panel
Where Is the ROI? The Real Economics of Enterprise AI
After years of pilots and experimentation, boards want measurable results. Enterprise leaders discuss where AI is generating productivity, revenue and cost savings, and which projects remain difficult to justify.

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AI for Developers & Builders (Hall A)

11:45 - 12:00Technical Talk
Coding Agents Are Changing Software Engineering
Coding agents are moving deeper into the software development lifecycle. What happens to engineering workflows, developer productivity, code review and team structures when AI can increasingly build alongside us?
12:00 - 12:30Workshop
Build an AI Agent That Actually Works in the Real World

Dror Mizrachi, CTO & Lab Director @ Toga Networks, A Huawei Company

A live workshop following an AI agent from idea to working system, connecting context, tools, MCP, memory and evaluation while addressing the challenges that appear beyond the demo.

See how the different components work together, where agents typically break, and what it takes to make them more reliable, useful and ready for real-world environments.

The session will explore practical decisions around architecture, tool use, context management, testing and evaluation, as well as the trade-offs builders face when moving from a promising prototype to a working agent.

Expect a hands-on, technical session focused on how AI agents are actually built today: what works, what doesn’t, and the lessons that can save teams time when building their own agentic applications.
12:30 - 13:05Panel
How We Build AI Now
AI builders discuss the tools, architectures and workflows they are actually using today, from coding agents and context engineering to evals, models and the rapidly changing AI development stack.

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Security in the Age of AI (Hall B)

13:05 - 13:20Expert Talk
Your New Insider Threat Is an AI Agent
AI agents can hold identities, access data, use tools and take actions across enterprise systems. What new security risks emerge when autonomous software becomes part of the workforce?
13:20 - 13:35Expert Talk
Prompt Injection Was Only the Beginning
The attack surface is expanding as AI systems gain access to data and tools. A look at agent hijacking, context poisoning, data leakage, tool abuse and the vulnerabilities emerging in agentic applications.
13:35 - 13:50Case Study
AI vs. AI: Inside the Autonomous SOC
AI is changing both sides of cybersecurity. This session explores how autonomous systems are being used across threat detection, investigation and response, and what the next-generation SOC could look like.
13:50 - 14:25Panel Discussion
Who Secures the AI-Native Enterprise?
- Sanaz Yashar, Co-Founder & CEO @ Zafran Security
- Asaf Kochan, Co-Founder @ Sentra | Former Commander @ Unit 8200
- Ofer Smadari, Co-Founder & CEO @ Torq
As models and agents spread across the enterprise, responsibility for AI security becomes increasingly fragmented. CISOs and technology leaders discuss ownership, identity, access, data protection and governance in an autonomous environment.

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AI Infrastructure & Compute (Hall A)

13:05 - 13:20Expert Talk
The AI Infrastructure Race
The AI boom is creating unprecedented demand for compute. GPUs, accelerators, networking, energy and data centers are becoming strategic resources, but where will the next infrastructure bottleneck emerge?
13:20 - 13:35Engineering Talk
Inference Is the New Battleground
Training created the AI revolution, but running AI at massive scale creates a different set of challenges. This session examines inference cost, latency, throughput, model selection and the race to make AI economically scalable.
13:35 - 13:50Keynote
The Context Layer: AI's New Infrastructure
Powerful models are not enough. AI systems need the right context, memory, data and tools. Context engineering is becoming a critical layer of the modern AI stack, helping teams build more accurate, reliable and effective AI systems.
13:50 - 14:25Panel
The AI Stack in 2027: What Will Still Matter?
Open or closed models? Cloud or local inference? Large models or smaller specialized systems? Builders and infrastructure leaders debate which layers of today’s rapidly changing AI stack will become strategic – and which will become commodities.

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Aerospace, Defense & Physical AI (Hall B)

14:25 - 14:35Keynote
The Autonomous Battlefield
AI is rapidly changing how machines perceive, decide and act in the physical world. A look at autonomous systems, computer vision, drones and what’s reshaping modern defense, from battlefield operations to autonomous capabilities.
14:35 - 15:00Keynote
AI, Drones & the New Defense Stack
Defense technology is being rebuilt around software, autonomy and intelligence. Leaders from across the ecosystem discuss drones, autonomous systems, edge AI and the emerging technology stack behind modern defense.
15:00 - 15:10Lightning Talk
From Battlefield Problem to Global Company
Some of Israel’s strongest technology companies begin with an urgent operational problem. How can defense and dual-use innovation move from real-world need to a scalable global technology business?
15:10 - 15:45Panel Discussion
Can Startups Move Faster Than Defense Giants?
- Esti Peshin, Former VP & GM @ Destino Ventures
- Yehu Ofer, Chief Executive Officer @ OdysightAI
Startups can move quickly while governments and large defense organizations operate under different constraints. Founders & industry leaders discuss procurement, regulation, dual-use technology and the changing defense ecosystem.

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AI-Native World (Hall A)

14:25 - 14:35Founder Talk
The 10-Person Unicorn
AI is dramatically increasing what small teams can build. Could the next generation of global companies reach massive scale with a fraction of the employees – and what would that mean for founders, investors and organizations?
14:35 - 15:00Panel
Can Israel Win the AI Era?
Israel has major strengths in cybersecurity, deep tech, defense and infrastructure, but faces intense global competition in AI. Founders and investors discuss where Israel can genuinely lead and what the ecosystem still needs to build.
15:00 - 15:10Future Talk
Life After AI
What happens when AI becomes an everyday layer of work and life rather than a tool we occasionally open? A provocative look at how intelligent systems could reshape creativity, education, interfaces and human behavior.
15:10 - 15:45Panel
What Happens to Work When Everyone Has AI?
When every employee, founder and creator has access to powerful AI, the advantage shifts from access to how we use it. Leaders discuss AI-native companies, productivity, management, solo entrepreneurship and the skills that become more valuable.

Archives

Categories

agenda

produced by

since

edition

2026 speakers

Dan Benger

Gal Benkin

Amir Gal Or

Asaf Green

Dr. Assaf Horowitz

Asaf Kochan

Itsik Mantin

Dror Mizrachi

Yehu Ofer

Ben Pelled

Esti Peshin

Shiri Rosenman

Izhar Shay

Ofer Smadari

Ariel Sterman

Sanaz Yashar

Ester Zabar

Steering Committee

Dr. Ayelet Ben-Ezer

Asaf Kochan

Adir Duchan

Asaf Green

Assaf Araki

Avichai Ben

Esti Peshin

Idit Muallem-Yedid

Liron Azrielant

Maish Saidel-Keesing

Omri Baumer

Tal Kollender

Dr. Tal Shapira

Yoel Zeldes

Ziv Katzir

Doors Open

Check-in, Badge Pickup & Breakfast

Main Stage

Future of AI Startup Competition Finals

Welcome to Future of AI 2026

When AI Finds Its Voice: The Rise of Conversational Agents

From Startup to Global Scale: Building AI with the World's Largest Enterprises

The Next 12 Months of AI

Brunch & Networking

Coffee & Networking

TRACKS

Enterprise AI & Agents (Hall B)

From AI Pilot to Production: What Actually Worked

Beyond Copilots: Welcome to the Autonomous Enterprise

The Agentic Stack: Build, Buy or Orchestrate?

Where Is the ROI? The Real Economics of Enterprise AI

AI for Developers & Builders (Hall A)

Coding Agents Are Changing Software Engineering

Build an AI Agent That Actually Works in the Real World

How We Build AI Now

Security in the Age of AI (Hall B)

Your New Insider Threat Is an AI Agent

Prompt Injection Was Only the Beginning

AI vs. AI: Inside the Autonomous SOC

Who Secures the AI-Native Enterprise?

AI Infrastructure & Compute (Hall A)

The AI Infrastructure Race

Inference Is the New Battleground

The Context Layer: AI's New Infrastructure

The AI Stack in 2027: What Will Still Matter?

Aerospace, Defense & Physical AI (Hall B)

The Autonomous Battlefield

AI, Drones & the New Defense Stack

From Battlefield Problem to Global Company

Can Startups Move Faster Than Defense Giants?

AI-Native World (Hall A)

The 10-Person Unicorn

Can Israel Win the AI Era?

Life After AI

What Happens to Work When Everyone Has AI?