We participated in an AI event during last week’s South by Southwest Conference (SxSW) that perfectly captured the Austin experience. Capital Factory, a local incubator, hosted a Saturday night AI Mixer. The event gave local AI companies the opportunity to showcase and demo their solutions to SxSW attendees. We were invited to co-sponsor the mixer by our friends at Kung Fu AI, an Austin-based AI strategy and development services firm.
Come Saturday evening, we lugged our stuff down Congress Avenue to Capital Factory. Our eclectic team - representing engineering, UX and marketing - spent 4 hours at the busy event networking, having conversations about AI, and demonstrating the Alegion platform.
Best of all was the mix of attendees, a crowd that perfectly captured SxSW in Austin. There were lots of data scientists from Microsoft, Dell, and lead sponsor BoozAllen, all companies with big Austin footprints. There were AI enthusiasts drawn to the event by the subject matter and the location. And then there were lots of SxSW attendees who were intent on hitting as many Saturday events as humanly possible. It was a great time, the interest in AI was palpable, and we were only too happy to answer all of their questions.
After all the demonstrating and question answering, our team finished the night at Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar. Where did you end up?
Austin, TX has emerged as an epicenter for AI startups, creating a large and active community. If you are interested in getting involved, you can join one or more of the well-attended AI Meet-ups.