EmTech Future 2026, held over three days, examined key questions about how emerging technologies are reshaping industries and research. Organizers and speakers explored where artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, energy systems and robotics are heading — and why their intersections may be where the most significant effects emerge.
Main speakers and topics
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Yossi Matias, Vice President & Head of Google Research, discussed how AI is beginning to reshape biology, infrastructure, manufacturing, and science, emphasizing that the largest impacts may occur when AI intersects with other fields.
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Hartmut Neven, founder and lead at Google Quantum AI, put quantum advances into context, arguing that quantum’s importance may lie not only in standalone computational power but in how it interacts with surrounding systems.
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Evelyn Wang, Vice President for energy & climate at MIT, analyzed the growing interconnection of energy, computing, infrastructure, and climate technologies, and what these converging systems could mean for industry and society.
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Cory Doctorow, bestselling author and award-winning writer, explored how AI is changing the way we work and think.
Why this matters
A central message of the conference was that major technological change often arises from convergence rather than isolation. When AI, quantum computing, new energy systems, and robotics begin to interact, they create new capabilities and risks that affect business models, regulation, research priorities, and societal outcomes.
Access to the full program
The full EmTech Future 2026 program is now available on demand, providing access to all sessions and conversations from the three-day event. MIT Technology Review subscribers receive a 20% discount; with that discount the price to access the full program is $596.
Summary
EmTech Future 2026 gathered researchers and leaders to highlight how AI and other emergent technologies are converging to reshape multiple sectors. The event’s recorded sessions are available on demand for those who want to review the discussions in full.
