Our Story

We built the conference we wanted to attend. You will too.

Started by two tech veterans who wanted a conference that gives back to the local community that's building the future of AI. We believe we're creating the conference everyone needs: one that goes beyond talking about AI to teach the business community how to thrive with it.

Inside All Things AI 2026

Full rooms, leaning in

The Carolina Theatre marquee in Durham reading ALL THINGS OPEN AI, MAR 23 TO 24. Ronald Reagan once played this stage; All Things AI was held here in 2025 and 2026
Don Shin of CrossComm teaching how to put agents into production to a full ballroom on Workshop Day, twin screens either side of the stage
A packed and diverse breakout room of business executives, developers, knowledge workers and AI engineers, every chair taken and more attendees on the floor
Boz Vitanova on stage, microphone and clicker in hand, talking about building AI champions inside an organization
All Things AI co-founder Todd Lewis opening the 2026 keynotes from the edge of the stage, a full ballroom in front of him
whurley of Strangeworks giving a keynote beside the clear podium, paired on stage with an autonomous agent
An overflow crowd standing and sitting in the aisles to see a 2026 session; rooms like this are why 2027 moves to a bigger venue
A guest in headphones laughing at the microphone in the podcast booth
A full breakout room, attendees at tables and in rows taking notes
A packed breakout room in a deep dive on AI models, a mountain on the slide behind the speaker
Attendees sitting cross-legged on the floor at the front of a full breakout room, laptops open
Attendees leaning in during a talk, one with his hand to his chin
A full agentic AI session, laptops open beneath a slide on agent failure modes
Chisa Pennix-Brown gesturing to the room on stage in a teal dress, microphone in hand
Taylor Desseyn of Torc.dev standing among the audience, mid-sentence, everyone turned toward him
Calvin Hendryx-Parker, CTO of Six Feet Up, raising his hand to ask a question, laptop on his lap
Suha Mokalla, a data scientist at Attention Arc, explaining with her hands at the Durham Convention Center podium
Taylor Desseyn of Torc.dev walking out into the middle of a full ballroom to talk about the AI jobs of the future
Marc Sirkin pointing out into the audience from the podium, microphone in hand
The Carolina Theatre's main floor full for a session, the slide on the big screen
A speaker laughing at the podium, sticker-covered laptop beside her
Luis Lastras of IBM making a point beside the clear keynote podium
A speaker at the Carolina Theatre podium, laptop open, looking out at the audience
Durham Mayor Leo Williams in the middle, with Jason Hibbets on the left and All Things AI co-founder Todd Lewis on the right, in front of the astronaut backdrop
A line of presenters on stage, each holding notes, waiting their turn
A long line of smiling attendees waiting outside the 2026 venue in spring sunshine; the 2027 venue in Raleigh has room for everyone
whurley on the keynote stage facing a full ballroom, his slide on a floor monitor
Chisa Pennix-Brown giving an Ignition Talk, walking the aisle with a microphone as the audience turns to follow her
An attendee in a Google lanyard laughing in her Carolina Theatre seat
Attendees at a workshop table listening intently, one with his hands pressed together at his face
Rows of attendees close up, faces turned toward the speaker
An attendee in the Carolina Theatre's green seats smiling up at the stage, rows of listeners around him
Luis Lastras of IBM on the keynote stage, a packed ballroom seen from the side
Attendees mid-session, one in glasses asking a question from her seat
Darko Mesaros, Principal Developer Advocate at AWS, throwing one arm wide on the keynote stage
An attendee writing in a spiral notebook on his knee during a session
Anya Derbakova, Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, addressing the room with microphone and clicker in hand
A speaker at the podium in the foreground, a full room listening in front of him
A speaker in a black blazer gesturing with both hands as she makes her point
Pam Didner, seen from behind at the podium, walking a full Carolina Theatre through how to use Microsoft Copilot
A ballroom audience many rows deep at All Things AI 2026, so full that the conference moves to a bigger venue in Raleigh for 2027
Matt Hamann, co-founder and CTO of Rownd, explaining a live demo beneath a slide on visual embeddings
A ballroom keynote under blue stage light, the room filled to the back wall
Sarah Chick of NPower North Carolina smiling at the audience from the podium, microphone in hand
Major League Hacking presenting the MLH AI Roadshow on stage, a speaker at the microphone with the student team behind him
Don Shin, CEO of CrossComm, smiling from behind the Durham Convention Center podium
Attendees across three levels of the Carolina Theatre's raked seating for a 2026 training session, laptops and notebooks open
A wide view of the Carolina Theatre auditorium during the lunchtime Ignition Talks, rows filled from the stage to the back
A speaker in a light jacket at the podium against a black stage curtain
Chris Heivly on the keynote stage with both hands raised, mid-story
A blue All Things AI banner at the entrance reading WELCOME, we're glad you're here
Yassah Reed of Intercom mid-sentence on the keynote stage under blue light, microphone in hand
Attendees in the Carolina Theatre's green seats smiling at something said on stage
Ben Heller, Field CTO at Microsoft, gesturing with both hands at the keynote podium
A ballroom so full that people stand along the back to watch
A speaker pointing up at the screen behind him while the front rows look on
Brent Laster of Tech Skills Transformations teaching a packed breakout room, people sitting on the floor at the front
Victoria Vojnovich, PhD, Global Principal for AI-led Transformation at HCLTech, speaking on the Carolina Theatre stage
Workshop attendees around a table with laptops open, working an exercise together
John Willis, a founding father of DevOps and co-author of The DevOps Handbook, speaking on stage with a clicker in hand
Chisa Pennix-Brown leaning toward the front row of a packed room during her Ignition Talk, microphone in hand
Anjanette Miller, Executive Director of Echo-NC, speaking on the Carolina Theatre stage beneath a slide about infrastructure built on a government timeline
Igor Jablokov, who founded Yap, Amazon's first AI acquisition, in a fireside chat on the Carolina Theatre stage with Mark Hinkle, who is laughing beside him
A speaker in a white blazer raising one arm high behind the podium, asking the room to raise their hands
An attendee at a workshop table smiling across at the person next to him
Jennifer McFarland, Founder and CEO of Marit Digital, laughing into the microphone at the podcast booth
Ben Ilegbodu of Netflix at the podium in a full breakout room, seen from the back of the crowd
Attendees in the Carolina Theatre laughing together during a session on AI for business professionals
Attendees in a dark session room following the slides, laptops on their knees
John Willis leading an AI DevSecOps workshop, a large room working along on laptops
A full front row of attendees leaning in, all ages, at an All Things AI 2026 session
Keith Boswell of Scaled Agile, in a teal shirt, giving his pitch to an attendee in the expo hall
An attendee writing notes on her program in a row of attentive listeners
An attendee photographing a slide on his phone from the middle of a session
Danny Castro in headphones at the podcast booth, talking about his new RTP chapter of AI Tinkerers
Where this came from

All Things AI was built by people who usually sit on your side of the table. Todd Lewis created All Things Open. Mark Hinkle founded The AIE Network. Between them they've spent decades in technology go-to-market — building conferences, building communities, and buying and selling the sponsorships that pay for both.

Which means we've sat through the bad version. The keynote that's a product demo. The expo hall nobody walks. The badge scan that's really the whole relationship. We started this because we thought a conference that obsesses over the people in the seats is the only kind worth putting your name on.

How we use AI

We teach AI. We put it to work.

We vibecoded this website. We built ConferenceOS, our own conference software. We edit videos and create ads with AI. Using the technology in our own work gives us something practical to bring back to the community.

We recruit speakers. We also teach, lead training, and speak at events throughout the year. At our own conference, we spend less time on stage and give more of it to other voices.

See how we dogfood AI—and try the WebMCP walkthrough →
Why AI fluency matters to us

Helping people build AI fluency is central to our mission

We want an AI future everyone can participate in. That takes more than access to new tools. People need the confidence and judgment to use AI in their own work, and a place to practice with others.

You can start with the work you already understand. No programming experience is required to begin.

Three habits we practice together

  1. Start with a real task

    Pick work you understand well, so you can judge whether the result is useful.

  2. Check what comes back

    Compare the output with your source, and correct anything missing or invented.

  3. Keep people responsible

    Protect sensitive information, and have a person review decisions that matter.

How we help people build AI skills for work
How we run it

What the Savannah Bananas did for baseball, we're doing for tech conferences

The Bananas didn't make baseball shorter or cheaper. They made every minute of it about the fan, and sold out ballparks across America doing it.

We apply the same discipline. Keynotes capped at ten minutes, because respect for attention is a feature. An Agent Hackathon that opens the week. Ten five-minute Ignition Talks over lunch. A roaming robot photo booth. An invite-only executive reception. A single curated conference day where every slot has to earn its place, and an expo floor laid out for foot traffic instead of square footage.

And one rule that costs us money on purpose: no sales presentations on any stage, at any sponsorship level.

A banana built like a spacecraft — riveted hull panels, swept fins and engine nozzles trailing blue plasma — flying past a planet, with a shaggy sheepadoodle looking out of a brass porthole in its side
Banana One. Chief cAnIne Officer aboard. Our commitment to the bit is total.
What it added up to

We don't have attendees. We have fans.

1,600 people came to the first one, at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. The next year we put 3,400 seats on sale and filled every one of them. In 2027 we need a bigger room again.

People come back to events that were built for them, and they bring somebody. That only works because the community doesn't go quiet in between — more than 5,000 people in our AI meetup, more than 3,000 in the DevOps group, gathering across Raleigh and Durham all year. By the time the doors open, it's a reunion.

A LETTER FROM OUR CO-FOUNDERS

Let’s make AI
work for people.

Dear future partner,

We started All Things AI with a simple belief: people should have the knowledge and confidence to make AI useful in their own lives.

Across our first two sold-out years, we have seen what happens when business leaders, practitioners and people learning something new come together. A question becomes a conversation. A demonstration makes an idea tangible. Someone leaves ready to try.

Our 2027 theme, Make AI Work for You, brings that purpose into focus. We want attendees to discover what is possible, understand where AI can help and build the judgment to use it well.

Your team can help make that experience valuable. Share what you know. Show how you solve a real problem. Listen to the people who may put your work to use.

We also want more people to have access to this opportunity. Practical learning and a smaller digital divide belong in the same future.

Here’s to making this year’s All Things AI out of this world!

Mark Hinkle, co-founder of All Things AI

Mark Hinkle

Co-founder, All Things AI · Founder, The AIE Network

Mark Hinkle is the founder of The Artificially Intelligent Enterprise (AIE) Network, reaching 250,000+ AI professionals through newsletters, podcasts, and events. A veteran open-source executive and author, Mark brings deep expertise in AI strategy and community building.

Mark on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Todd Lewis, co-founder of All Things AI

Todd Lewis

Co-founder, All Things AI · Founder, All Things Open

Todd Lewis is the founder of All Things Open, one of the largest open-source conferences in the world with 4,000+ attendees annually. With over a decade of experience building tech communities in the Research Triangle, Todd brings his passion for open, accessible technology to the AI space.

Todd on LinkedIn (opens in a new tab)
Who keeps us honest

We do not decide this on our own

8 practitioners from IBM, Microsoft, Google Cloud, Fidelity, Duke and the Linux Foundation help shape the direction of All Things AI.

  • Sahdev Zala

    Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

  • Sachin Solkhan

    Vice President, Intelligent Search, Fidelity Investments

  • Nithya Ruff

    Independent Board Director | AI Strategy & Governance | Open Source Leadership | Chair, The Linux Foundation

  • Jon Reifschneider

    Founding Director, AI Master of Engineering, Duke University; Co-founder & CEO, Inquisite AI

  • Ben Heller

    Field CTO, GenAI Transformation Director, Microsoft

  • Marcia Olson

    CEO / Chief Product Officer, SaberLogix, LLC.

  • George Dohanich

    Principal Architect, Google Cloud

  • Jason Johns

    GM, Global Indirect Sales Leader, Trimble | 8x CRN Channel Chief | Founder, ConnXions

Meet the advisory board
The Organizations Behind All Things AI

Organizing Sponsors

All Things AI is produced by two organizations with deep roots in open technology and AI education.

All Things OpenVisit

All Things Open is one of the largest open-source and open-technology conferences in the world, drawing 4,000+ attendees annually to Raleigh, NC. Founded by Todd Lewis, ATO has brought together developers, engineers, and technology leaders since 2013 to share knowledge and advance open technology. All Things Open is the operational backbone behind All Things AI, providing event production, community management, and organizational infrastructure.

4,000+ annual conference attendees10+ years building tech communitiesWorld-class event production
The AIE NetworkVisit

The Artificially Intelligent Enterprise (AIE) Network is a media and education platform reaching 250,000+ AI professionals through newsletters, podcasts, and events. Founded by Mark Hinkle, a veteran technology executive and open-source leader, The AIE Network publishes The AI Enterprise — a flagship business AI newsletter delivering actionable tips, strategies, and resources five days a week. The AIE Network provides All Things AI with content strategy, newsletter operations, and access to a global audience of AI practitioners.

250,000+ AI professionals reached5x weekly AI business newsletterContent strategy & audience development
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