All Things AI (Live)

This event is conducted in partnership with IBM, All Things Open, and The AIE Network.

Learn more about the workshops and reserve your tickets.

Day 2 – March 24: Conference Day
Hear from industry-leading speakers—builders, researchers, and business leaders—sharing what’s next in AI and how to use it now. Expect hard-hitting keynotes, candid panels, and real-world case studies.
What’s New in 2026

• More Speakers: Broader perspectives from AI pioneers and practitioners.
• More Space: The Carolina Theatre and Durham Convention Center combined for bigger networking and collaboration.
• More AI Learning: Hands-on, applied content you can take back to your work the very next day.

If you’re serious about AI—whether you’re deploying it, managing it, or building with it—this is your event.

March 23–24, 2026. Durham, NC.
Mark your calendar. Secure your spot early.
Full details will be available soon at:
allthingsai.org
Secure your ticket early - expected to sell out.

[To purchase tickets, visit https://2026.allthingsai.org/register workshop tickets also include access to the All Things AI conference on March 24th. Price increases after Tuesday, March 17 so sign-up early and save $100 ]

Many organizations have experimented with AI Agents. Far fewer have moved confidently into sustained, responsible execution.
As teams progress from early pilots to real-world deployment, leaders often encounter the same challenges: impressive prototypes that stall before production, uncertainty about where agents actually add value, late-breaking security and governance concerns, and misalignment between business and technical stakeholders about what “success” should look like. Too often, these issues surface only after cost, complexity, or risk have already compounded.
This workshop helps leaders make the shift from experimentation to execution—not by pushing agents everywhere, but by providing a clear blueprint for when agents make sense, when they don’t, and how to make sound decisions when autonomy is on the table.

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#### The Outcome: Better Decisions, Earlier

By the end of this session, participants will have more than an overview of AI Agents. They will leave with a practical decision-making framework they can apply immediately to real initiatives.
You’ll be able to:

• determine whether an agent is appropriate for a given problem—or whether a copilot or traditional automation is the better choice
• evaluate agent proposals with a clear understanding of autonomy, risk, and tradeoffs
• anticipate the organizational, architectural, and governance factors that separate successful deployments from stalled experiments
• identify common failure modes early—while they are still inexpensive to address

The result is clearer judgment about what to delegate to agents, what to constrain, and what should remain human.

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#### What the Blueprint Covers

In this intensive workshop, business and technical leaders will work through a practical blueprint for AI Agent success, grounded in real-world constraints and leadership realities.
Key topics include:

• understanding degrees of agency and how they change cost, risk, and accountability
• distinguishing agents from copilots and traditional automation—and why that distinction matters
• identifying use cases where agents consistently create value, and scenarios where they introduce unnecessary fragility
• recognizing common pitfalls that derail agent initiatives, from over-delegation to hidden operational complexity
• aligning organizational readiness, security, and governance with the level of autonomy being introduced

Participants will also receive a high-level technical orientation to the AI Agent ecosystem, including platforms, Model Context Protocol (MCP), and model selection tradeoffs. This includes a balanced discussion of the benefits and risks of using Small Language Models (SLMs) in agentic workflows, particularly when autonomy and tool access are involved.

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#### What You’ll Leave With

Participants will leave with:

• A clear framework for deciding if and when AI Agents should be used
• A practical blueprint outlining the conditions required for agent success—and the signals that indicate trouble
• A realistic understanding of the cost, complexity, and operational demands of agent-based systems
• Clear guidance for incorporating security, governance, and human oversight from the start
• A shared language that aligns business and technical leaders around the same decision criteria

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#### Who This Is For

This workshop is designed for business and technical leaders responsible for turning AI experimentation into operational reality, including:

• Leaders driving digital, AI, or transformation initiatives (e.g., Chief Digital Officers, Heads of AI, Transformation and Digital Strategy leaders)
• Technology and architecture leaders accountable for execution and scale (e.g., CTOs, CIOs, VPs of Engineering, Enterprise and Solution Architects)
• Product and innovation leaders shaping AI-enabled capabilities (e.g., CPOs, Heads of Product, Innovation and Emerging Technology leaders)
• Security, risk, and governance leaders involved in overseeing autonomous or AI-driven systems (e.g., CISOs, Responsible AI and Risk leaders)

This session is especially valuable for leaders who sit at the intersection of strategy and execution—those expected to decide when AI Agents should be used, how much authority they should have, and how to govern them responsibly.

[To purchase tickets, visit https://2026.allthingsai.org/register workshop tickets also include access to the All Things AI conference on March 24th. Price increases after Tuesday, March 17 so sign-up early and save $100 ]