Welcome to the third and final day of TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 at Moscone West in San Francisco! The excitement here is still in full swing, and there’s no slowing down.
If you thought it was too late to join, think again — there’s still time to register with a 50% discount and be part of the action. Don’t wait a whole year to be a part of the tech epicenter of the year.
Today’s agenda features some of the most anticipated stage sessions, spotlighting insights from trailblazers such as Rohit Patel, Director at Meta Superintelligence Labs; Kirsten Green, Founding Partner of Forerunner; and Tristan Thompson, NBA Champion and Fintech Entrepreneur — among others. Excitement builds throughout the day as we await the long-awaited announcement of the Startup Battlefield 200 winner. Be sure to explore groundbreaking innovations in the Expo Hall, gain invaluable knowledge from industry leaders in hands-on sessions, and forge meaningful connections that could shape your next big move.
Important reminders for today at Disrupt
Register and grab your scannable badge at the Registration Desk anytime from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Don’t forget your ticket and government-issued photo ID. The name on your badge/ticket must match the name on your ID. You cannot pick up a badge for another attendee.
Investors Breakfast Fireside Chat: Innovation in the next decade – The Next Growth Engines and funding models. Location: Deal Flow Cafe (Investor pass-holders only)
Get ready for an action-packed day — here’s what’s in store for day 3 of Disrupt 2025.
Techcrunch event
San Francisco
|
October 27-29, 2025
Today’s sessions
We’re closing out Disrupt 2025 with a powerful lineup of industry leaders hitting the stage. Visit the full agenda for timing and session info.
AI Stage
From Ads to Films: Creating with Code: Alejandro Matamala Ortiz (co-founder and chief design officer, Runway)
The $1M AI Trust Bet: Can we truly trust an AI agent to run influencer marketing?: Francis Yang (co-founder and chief product officer, Head AI)
How Google is building for the Agentic Cloud: Will Grannis (CTO, Google Cloud)
AI in the Dust: Building Trustworthy Models for the Physical World: Fahad Khan (senior director, product management, Platform, Blue River Technology, [John Deere]) and Jeff Mills (president and chief of revenue operations, iMerit Technology)
Shaping the AI Stack with Hugging Face: Thomas Wolf (co-founder and chief science officer, Hugging Face)
Love, Lies & Algorithms: The Truth About AI in Matters of the Heart: Dr. Amanda Gesselman (research scientist, Kinsey Institute), Mark Kantor (head of Product, Tinder), and Eugenia Kuyda (founder, Replika)
Smarter Streets: How AI Is Driving the Future of Transportation: Dave Ferguson (co-founder and co-CEO, Nuro) and Sachin Kansal (chief product officer, Uber Technologies)
AI and National Security in the High-Stakes Race to Innovate: Justin Fanelli (chief technology officer, US Dept of Navy), Kathleen Fisher (director, AI and Cybersecurity Initiative, RAND Corporation), and Chris Morales (partner, Point72 Ventures)
AI That Talks Back: Character.AI in the Spotlight: Karandeep Anand (CEO, Character.AI)
Builders Stage
Seed Money Secrets Every Founder Should Know: Gabby Cazeau (partner, Harlem Capital), Marlon Nichols (co-founder and managing general partner, MaC Venture Capital), Maria Palma (general partner, Freestyle Capital)
Rethinking Startup Capital Without VCs: Erik Allebest (CEO, Chess.com, Louwee Shibata (founder and partner – Next Gen, KALDOS Capital), and Gale Wilkinson (managing partner, VITALIZE Venture Capital)
Global Hiring Isn’t Spooky! And Paying in Crypto Shouldn’t be Either: Francoise Brougher (chief executive officer, Pebl)
With Vibe Coding, Do Early Stage Startups Still Need to Hire 10x Engineers?: David Cramer (co-founder and CPO, Sentry), Zach Lloyd (CEO and founder, Warp), and Laurie Moore (partner, Bessemer Venture Partners)
Preparing Now for Your Later Stage Raise: Lila Preston (head of growth equity, Generation Investment Management), Andrea Thomaz (CEO and co-founder, Diligent Robotic), Zeya Yang (partner, IVP)
The Pros and Cons of Hiring AI Agents as Early Employees: Jaspar Carmichael-Jack (co-founder and CEO, Artisan), Sarah Franklin (CEO, Lattice), Caleb Peffer (co-founder and CEO, Firecrawl)
Creating Communities and Companies That Last: Tade Oyerinde (founder and chancellor, Campus) and Teddy Solomon (co-founder and CEO, Fizz)
Disrupt Stage
Rebuilding the City that Builds Startups: Daniel Lurie (Mayor of San Francisco, City and County of San Francisco)
A Conversation with Investor Extraordinaire: Elad Gil (Gil & Co.)
Survive, Scale, Reinvent: Lessons from a Cloud OG: Aaron Levie (co-founder and CEO, Box)
Startup Battlefield Alumni Update: Dr. Capella Kerst (CEO and founder, geCKo Materials)
The Startup Battlefield Final: Kirsten Green (founding partner, Forerunner, Kevin Hartz (general partner, A*), Aileen Lee (founder and managing partner, Cowboy Ventures), Kevin Rose (founder, Digg)
Crypto’s Next Chapter with Solana’s Anatoly Yakovenko: Anatoly Yakovenko (co-founder, Solana, and CEO, Solana Labs)
From Digg to Deals-Kevin Rose on Reinvention and Investing: Kevin Rose (founder, Digg)
Cluely’s Roy Lee: Building, Breaking, and Betting Big: Roy Lee (co-founder and CEO, Cluely)
From Courtside to Code-Tristan Thompson on AI, Sports, and Startups: Tristan Thompson (NBA Champion and Fintech Entrepreneur)
Announcing the Winner of Startup Battlefield 200
Roundtable sessions
Participate in these 30-minute collaborative sessions. Note that Expo+ Passes do not grant access to these roundtables.
AI Evaluation 101: Addressing Challenges to Real-World AI Applications: Rohit Patel (Director, Meta Superintelligence Labs, Meta)
Consumer AI and Gen Z Tech: Piyush Shah (co-founder, InMobi)
Scaling Search and AI for Millions: Lessons from Reddit Search [encore]: Rachel Miller (product manager, Reddit)
Relentless Progress: Building Products That Never Stall: Papi Menon (VP and chief product officer, Outshift by Cisco)
Raising a Seed Round in San Francisco as an Outsider: Alice Bentinck (CEO and co-founder, Entrepreneurs First)
Beyond the Model: Building the Infrastructure of Intelligence: Ben Braverman (co-founder and managing partner, Saga Ventures)
AI Evaluation 101: Addressing Challenges to Real-World AI Applications [encore]: Rohit Patel (director, Meta Superintelligence Labs, Meta)
Expo Hall
The buzzing Expo Hall will host 300+ startups from all stages, industries, and regions worldwide. Engage with them and explore the groundbreaking innovations they’re thrilled to showcase. Opens at 8:00 a.m.
Breakout Stage
These 50-minute first-come, first-served sessions are meant to provide insights and to get your burning questions answered. Located right next to the Expo Hall and accessible to all ticket types.
Being Heard in the Age of AI: Qianwen Chen (CEO, EchoHer), Fay Kallel (chief product and design officer, Headspace), and Chenxi Wang (general partner, Rain Capital)
Powering AI: The Race to Scale Gigawatts of New Energy: Mike Schroepfer (founder and partner, Gigascale Capital) and Garth Sheldon-Coulson (co-founder and CEO, Panthalassa)
AI & Agents: Shaping How We Build, Live & Connect: Thomas Foley (revenue leader, Composio), Patrick Murphy (CEO and co-founder, Maket), Jeremiah Owyang (general partner, Blitzscaling Ventures), and Alyx van der Vorm (founder and CEO, Clyx)
Discovery to Disruption: Turning Research into Venture-Backable Companies: Pratik Nimbalkar (CEO, Plaid Semiconductors), Jared O (co-founder and CEO, SirenOpt Inc.), Chon Tang (managing partner, Berkeley SkyDeck Fund), and Asad Tirmizi (CEO, T-robotics)
SOSV: Where Deep Tech is Headed (It’s Not JUST AI): Sierra Brooks (senior scientist and analyst, SOSV), Po Bronson (general Partner, SOSV, and managing director, IndieBio SF), Westley Dang (principal, SOSV), Philipp Sander (investment analyst, SOSV)
Pitch Showcase Stage
Catch exhibitors’ fast pitches on the Pitch Showcase Stage, located in the Expo Hall.
9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Health Pitches
1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.: Startup Battlefield 200 Policy + Protection Pitches
Unmatched networking: Where conversations spark innovation
In addition to casually mingling with fellow Disrupt attendees, elevate your networking experience via Braindate. You can create or explore topics on the app for deeper conversations and make the right connections to help you reach your goals. Meet in person at the Networking Lounge powered by Braindate for 1:1 or small-group discussions anytime between 9:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Side Events
More than 80 company-hosted Side Events are set to happen throughout San Francisco this week, extending the Disrupt excitement. Here’s what’s happening today. To RSVP and for more details, head to the Side Events page.
Last call for TechCrunch Disrupt 2025 magic — Don’t miss the finale
Today is the final day of the conference. Right now, startups are pitching breakthrough ideas, connections are sparking across the Expo Hall, and industry giants are dropping game-changing insights onstage. We really don’t want you to have to wait another 365 days for next year’s conference. Don’t miss the energy, the innovation, and the opportunity. Register here to get a 50% discount on your pass and head to Moscone West for your ticket.
