Preparing for AI conference overload in SF

Or should I just get on that plane to Fiji?

Hello from the Grand Hyatt SFO, where I am staying overnight after flying in from Newark in preparation for AI conference overload — in this case, a massive Enterprise AI extravaganza called HumanX.

I’ve got a fantastic runway view from my room, which would please my Dad, who is an avid airline memorabilia collector. Personally, I’m mostly interested in the Fiji Airways plane parked outside my room. I’m tempted to book a flight to the South Pacific rather than spend the next few days at the Moscone Center, but duty calls.

I’ll be moderating a few panels, tackling a bunch of meetings, hitting a boatload of happy hours and dinners, and maybe, just maybe, having a moment to attend a session or chat with folks totally randomly? We shall see — especially since the news cycle never ceases for a Fortune AI reporter!

My flight was a typical coast-to-coast jump. Naturally, my row-mate is an AI founder building in stealth. Yet, as usual the Starlink wifi barely worked. Of course I am almost ready to hit the hay, and it’s only 7 pm PT. Yawn.

Tomorrow, I’ll prepare for three fireside chats on the main stage. I’m excited to speak with Andrew Ng and Greg Hart (DeepLearning.AI/Coursera), Michael Truell (Cursor) and Francis deSouza (Google Cloud).

Other than that, I assume I’ll be dodging the hundreds of PR folks I did not respond to in advance of HumanX. I’m not sure I have ever been bombarded with reach-outs like I have here. It was total overkill and mostly felt like AI-written spam. I had to put up a post on LinkedIn begging for it to stop.

That said, I am looking forward to the part that actually matters — real, in-person conversations with people I choose to talk to. It’s been a while since I’ve had that kind of density of IRL reporting, and I’m hoping to come away with some real signal (and not just noise) to share later this week.