Dent:AI Startup Showcase Reception
Gather with the founders of some of the most innovative AI startups in San Diego, along with investors supporting these new ventures: join us at the Dent:AI reception and startup showcase, from 5:00–9:00 PM on Monday, January 27, at UC San Diego Park & Market.
Over 200 people have signed up so far. Space is limited, so please RSVP now to secure your spot. Due to high demand and limited capacity, only approved applicants will be granted admittance.
Talks & Speakers
An exclusive series of talks will kick off the evening. Kicking off at 5:00 PM, these sessions will illuminate the AI landscape presented by key pioneers and thought leaders in the field.
Friction, Belonging, and AI: Unlocking the Future of Innovation
5:00pm
Innovation thrives on diverse perspectives—but that diversity also creates friction. When managed well, friction fuels creativity and breakthrough ideas. When ignored, it leads to dysfunction and stagnation. In this keynote, Charlene Li, a leading expert on disruptive innovation, will explore how belonging is the key to turning friction into innovation. She’ll share how AI can help startups build high-performing teams by fostering diverse perspectives, ensuring equitable advancement, and creating cultures where bold ideas can thrive. Whether you're hiring your first employees or scaling a fast-growing company, this session will give you the insights to harness AI and belonging as competitive advantages in the age of innovation.
Creating a Supportive Environment in San Diego for AI Startups
5:30pm
Cheryl Goodman (Founder of FindGood.tech, and Co-Founder of AskTuring.ai) along with Andy White of Keshif Ventures, will join Aaron Fulkerson, CEO at Opaque Systems for a fireside chat to explore San Diego’s AI startup landscape and its unique challenges. The conversation will touch on how startups can navigate San Diego’s evolving infrastructure, scaling difficulties, and the importance of building strong professional networks. This informal, conversational session aims to provide valuable insights for anyone interested in fostering San Diego’s growth as an AI innovation hub, addressing both the opportunities and obstacles in our city’s tech landscape.
The Human Side of Generative AI: Creating a Path to Productivity
6:00pm
Our panel of experts will explore how generative AI is reshaping the workplace, focusing on both leadership perspectives and its impact on individual workers. Join us as Curt Jacobsen, a Partner at McKinsey & Company specializing in digital transformations, tech entrepreneur Mel Lim, CEO of Chateauz (an AI-driven XR platform), and Manish Sirdeshmukh, a tech product executive at Qualcomm with prior experience at Netflix and Unity, share their insights.
This discussion will move beyond a purely technical overview of AI to delve into its strategic implications, the human element, and how to harness its potential for productivity. The panelists will address how organizations can adopt AI technologies effectively, emphasizing clear vision, leadership mindset, and the importance of identifying impactful problems to address.
Curt, Manish, and Mel will share some real-world examples of how AI is being implemented today, and will consider the long-term implications for the workforce’s future. They will also explore how AI impacts the current workforce, offering practical advice for maximizing opportunities in an AI-driven world. Specifically, they will discuss how the roles of both specialists and generalists will evolve in the AI era and the importance of skills development in adapting to these changes. They will also cover how AI is redefining work to include more creativity, emphasizing a human-centered approach to AI that incorporates emotional and spatial intelligence—not just automation. Finally, the panelists will provide guidance on approaching AI adoption with conviction while remaining realistic about the changes ahead.
Reception and Demos
Following the talks, we’ll have demo tables set up throughout the reception, where you’ll have a chance to engage with some of the top AI startups and entrepreneurs from around the region. You’ll come away with a firsthand look at what’s in development across the world of AI innovation today.
Appetizers and beverages will be provided by Dent the Future, featuring special wine selections, picked by Dent’s official sommelier, Greg Kisor. If wine is not your thing, don’t worry: the bar will also serve beer and soda throughout the evening.
We’re excited to announce the first companies participating in the Dent:AI San Diego Startup Showcase:
EdgerunnerAI: EdgeRunner Athena is an on-device AI assistant enhancing productivity by managing emails, scheduling, coding, and real-time translation, ensuring data privacy.
EyePop.ai: Unlock the full potential of computer vision technology with EyePop.ai, designed to empower startups at every technical level. Purpose built to give teams without ML Expertise capabilities in real-time object and people detection and analysis, all through a user-friendly platform.
Gravity.ai: GravityAI is a production-ready AI Ops platform offering a model catalog and deployment process enabling accessible API/UI integration, organization-wide model visibility, and governance aligned with AI ethics and regulations.
Hal9: Hal9 empowers companies with self-service data solutions that leverage generative AI to seamlessly get insights from data sources.
Juice Labs: Juice Labs will show GPU-over-IP and its benefits, including efficient use of resources, flexibility, scalability, easy deployment, and more.
Loopholes: Loopholes is an AI-powered SaaS platform scanning text, images, video, and audio to flag compliance risks, ensure policy alignment, and provide actionable fixes.
Peregrine OKB: They “put the analog back into digital” by designing and delivering experiential media systems, support and structural fabrication concepts, media content, and conceptual technology design.
Wallabi: The first generative data analytics solution for marketing and revenue teams. Ask business questions in plain language. No data warehouses. No coding. No dashboards.
Thanks also to our sponsors, including findgood.tech and AskTuring.ai.
At AskTuring.ai, we design intelligent AI solutions to help your business operate more efficiently. With patent-pending technology, we make AI secure, private, easy, affordable, and user-friendly on your data, so you can focus on what you do best—running your business.
Become AI-Fluent with findgood.tech using AI workforce trainings based top selling book "How to Win Friends & Influence Robots: AI for Non-Tech Brilliant Minds" Discover your AI roadmap with easy-to-understand, curated content and resources that empower you and your team to get in the game.
Interested in featuring your startup at the reception? Please indicate your interest when you request your ticket, and we’ll be in touch.
For over a decade, Dent the Future has been bringing curious, adventurous, and diverse professionals together to explore new approaches to thinking and push you to breakthrough ideas and new insights.
#TechNetworking #StartupShowcase #DentAI2025
Thanks to our partners and sponsors, including Experiences for Mankind, Peregrine OKB, Innovation and Tech Today, FindGood.Tech, Interlock Capital, and Dent the Future.