CEOs and executives shared their best practices. Professors and researchers offered their expert opinions. Inventors and entrepreneurs demonstrated their latest ideas.
The 2017 GeekWire Summit was a melting pot of innovators, entrepreneurs, business executives and tech leaders who came together this week in Seattle to explore the future of the innovation economy.
It was so fun welcoming more than 900 of you to our annual event, which featured speakers like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella; Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson; Amazon execs Jeff Wilke and Toni Reid; and many others who provided a glimpse into a technology-fueled future.
The on-stage discussions ranged from quantum computing; to fake news; to battling cancer; to Inventions We Love; to the “The Quadfather.” GeekWire launched its third annual Geeks Give Back campaign; we debuted a new series called “Immigrant’s Journey”; and announced our newest initiative, “GeekWire HQ2.”
We had fun, too, as attendees networked and mingled at a geeky Welcome Party at the Living Computers + Museum and a Rooftop Party at Frolik Kitchen + Cocktails.
Attendees also had fun with the return of the Best Buy box, which offered prizes if folks could solve tricky puzzles. Other prizes available to attendees included first class tickets on Alaska Airlines; iPads, Amazon Echoes; GoPros; signed Steve Largent jerseys; a drone; two Seahawks tickets and a night stay at the Sheraton; and much more. The first 500 Summit attendees also received a game-day approved Welcome Bag, including some cozy GeekWire socks, courtesy of our partners at Strideline.
We also welcomed back Guillaume Wiatr, founder of MetaHelm, who sketched drawings on big murals near the stage that were inspired by on-stage interviews and presentations.
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This event isn’t possible without the help of many organizations and people — a huge thanks to all of our GeekWire Summit sponsors for helping to make this happen.
A big thanks to our title GeekWire Summit title sponsor: Bank of America.
Also, thanks to gold sponsors: Baidu, Boeing, Capital One, Sirqul,
HomeAdvisor, Wave Business, WSGR, ExtraHop, Zillow Group and Dragonchain. And a shout out to our silver sponsors and supporting sponsors: Living Computers Museum + Labs, Vulcan, K2, Moz, WGU Washington, Best Buy, Avalara, EY, Intellectual Ventures, Northeastern University, UPS Connect, Alexandria, Cray, Global Innovation Exchange and EPAM.
Thanks to our partners: Bloomberg, KUOW, Bootstrapper Studios, Strideline, Alaska Airlines, ALLtech, Killer Infographics, Name Brand Promotions and Sharp. And thanks to our exhibitors: OfferUp, WSOS, Perkins Coie, Nintex, WeWork, ReachNow, CloudEnablers, Acumatica, Validar, GWATA, Internap and TAG.
Thanks to Dan DeLong for taking photos; to Kevin Lisota for help on photos and video; and to Frank Catalano for “Heard & Overheard” editorial help.
You can check out our full coverage here. Also see videos and slides from each speaker here. And check out social media activity on Twitter and Instagram.
Other media outlets also covered the event — see stories from Bloomberg; Axios; Puget Sound Business Journal; KING5; Q13; The Stranger; Pitchbook; and OnMSFT.
We’ve put together a recap of the Summit for those who missed out or those that just want to relive the two-day event. We recapped Day 1 here — you can also read about it below, after our Day 2 recap.
We’ll see you again at the GeekWire Gala this December.
Day 2 Recap
Panel: Diversity & Inclusion
Tech companies often focus on the numbers when discussing diversity and inclusion efforts — but it’s about a lot more than that. Zillow Group COO Amy Bohutinsky led a panel about how companies can authentically build a culture that values diversity and inclusion — whether that company is a startup or has thousands of employees. Panelists included Moz CEO Sarah Bird, HERE Seattle co-founder Eric Osborne and Effenus Henderson, co-director of the Institute of Sustainable Diversity & Inclusion.
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Fireside chat: Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
GeekWire co-founder Todd Bishop had a wide-ranging conversation with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, exploring the themes and subjects of his upcoming book, “Hit Refresh.” An engineer by training, Nadella led Microsoft businesses including its Bing search engine and Azure cloud computing platform prior to becoming CEO, putting him in a unique position to understand and shape the future of technology.
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Nadella noted that one of the hardest parts of writing his new book was reflecting on Zane, his son with cerebral palsy. It also led to him reflecting on his work at unusual times, such as in a hospital when Zane was coming out of surgery. “All the equipment around me, it was all Windows,” he recalled. “And I said, ‘Hey, it better work.'”
More coverage:
- How Microsoft’s Satya Nadella got Wall Street to look past its cloud battle with Amazon Web Services
- Microsoft HQ2? ‘We are very, very happy where we are,’ says CEO Satya Nadella
- What Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella learned from Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer about being a leader
- After struggling with ‘Why us?’ Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella credits son with shaping who he is
- Here’s the line of poetry Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says best describes the future
- Three technologies Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks will shape the future
- Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on leadership lessons from cricket and team sports
Tech companies are provoking more ire by moving out of the suburbs and into cities, says urban history expert
Margaret O’Mara, a University of Washington professor of history, schooled the tech present on the tech past — and made it clear that, not so long ago, tech was not pervasive in day-to-day experience. Around 1980, when companies like Microsoft and Apple were just starting to gain traction, in newspapers, “there might be a section on the tech industry — ‘Oh these funny guys making these funny things,'” she noted.
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Immigrant’s Journey with Reetu Gupta, CEO of Cirkled In
Indian-born Reetu Gupta, CEO of Cirkled In, shared the inspiring story of her path to the Seattle region and entrepreneurship. Gupta’s daughter joined her on stage and sung a song for the crowd.
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In pursuit of independence, Todd Stabelfeldt urges techies at GeekWire Summit: ‘Make my life real’
Todd Stabelfeldt, CEO of C4 Database Management and a quadriplegic, started off his talk about the universal benefits of universal design by politely rejecting the 20-minute time limit for his talk. “Who’s gonna push the dude in the wheelchair off the stage because he went more than 20 minutes?” he joked.
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Stabelfeldt, a.k.a. “The Quadfather,” made the case for universal design as a way to level the playing field for everyone, regardless of their age, size, ability or disability. Stabelfeldt showed how technology allows him to fully participate in life in this funny, tender, and inspiring talk.
Stripe co-founder John Collison explains why online payments powerhouse opened an office in Seattle
Stripe co-founder and president John Collison, the youngest self-made tech billionaire on the planet, spoke with Axios Chief Technology Correspondent Ina Fried about how he and his brother are shaking up online and mobile payments.
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More coverage: Why Stripe co-founder John Collison thinks his company is the Amazon Web Services of payments
TheBoardlist founder: ‘Silicon Valley is built for people given opportunity they’re not qualified for’
theBoardlist founder Sukhinder Singh Cassidy is a former Google executive and startup founder who is now leading an effort to bolster the number of women serving on company boards. During an on-stage interview with Zillow Group CEO Spencer Rascoff, she called BS on tech industry leaders who avoid hiring female candidates because they don’t want to “lower the bar.”
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Inventions We Love: Smart lighting, a smart ball and a DIY pancreas system that is … well, really smart
Inventions We Love, presented by Sirqul, is a fun geek show-and-tell featuring some of the coolest gadgets and hardware devices we’ve seen. Day 2 included presentations by Deako, Open APS, and Play Impossible.
Real talk about fake news: How the Information Age became the Disinformation Age
Technology is fueling a massive shakeup in the way news and information is distributed. From fabricated news stories to social media echo chambers, it can feel like the nature of truth itself is under assault. Vinny Green of Snopes, Jevin West of the University of Washington, and Ina Fried of Axios offered some hope that a combination of dogged fact-checking, media literacy, and technological innovation could improve incentives to produce quality, trustworthy content in an era of misinformation.
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More coverage: B.S. for Ph.D.s: Not even science is immune from the fake-news epidemic
See the GeekWire Summit 2017 Day 1 recap here, or continue reading.
Day 1
Baidu president calls AI the ‘single most transformative force of our time’
The GeekWire Summit kicked off on Monday evening with a Welcome Party hosted by Vulcan, Inc. at the unique and geeky Living Computers Museum + Labs.
VIP guests also attended a pre-party hosted by Baidu, featuring a fireside chat with Baidu President Ya-Qin Zhang. Baidu, which just opened an office in the Seattle area, is putting its full weight behind artificial intelligence and its ability to change countless industries.
Starbucks CEO explains how company ties together a physical store experience with digital innovation
Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson, a long-time tech industry executive, touched on a number of topics related to the Seattle-based coffee giant, from artificial intelligence to store design to digital innovation.
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Immigrant’s Journey with Venture Kits CEO Leslie Feinzaig
Leslie Feinzaig, CEO of Venture Kits, kicked off this first-of-its-kind GeekWire Summit series that highlights the inspiring stories of immigrant entrepreneurs, innovators and trailblazers.
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In the race to get driverless cars on the road, expert warns of the need to pump the brakes — for now
Missy Cummings, a professor from Duke and one of the first U.S. Navy female fighter pilots, gave a Power Talk about how artificial intelligence is changing transportation systems, from driverless cars to cargo drones to flying cars.
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3rd annual Geeks Give Back campaign aims to raise $1M for the next generation of STEM leaders
We announced details about the annual Geeks Give Back campaign, presented by Bank of America. GeekWire helps run the program with the Washington State Opportunity Scholarship, opening doors to a brighter future for today’s youth.
Future battles against cancer will expand tech frontiers, Fred Hutch’s chief says
Fred Hutch President Dr. Gary Gilliland discussed the latest innovations in the fight against cancer, and provided an update on his bold prediction that “we will have cures and therapies for most, if not all, human cancers” in the next eight years.
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How Amazon’s $13.7B purchase of Whole Foods is a ‘blessing in disguise’ for Instacart
The grocery market is rapidly changing, and Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta — a former supply chain engineer at Amazon — shared insights on the changing face of grocery shopping and a few entrepreneurial lessons that he’s learned along the way.
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How do you succeed in tech? ExtraHop CEO Arif Kareem thinks you must invest in people
In this sponsored talk, ExtraHop CEO Arif Kareem talked about how new market opportunities, customer influence, people, and community contribute to a company’s ultimate success.
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‘I cannot stand losing’: Washington AG Bob Ferguson on never underestimating Donald Trump
Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson provided an update on the battle against President Donald Trump’s immigration ban, and discussed the intersection of public policy and tech.
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Brain scientist Christof Koch maps out a path to merge humans and machines
Integrating artificial intelligence chips into our own neural wiring may be the best way to address concerns about the rapid rise of AI, and the potential that the machines could outpace humans, said neuroscientist Christof Koch, chief scientific officer at Seattle’s Allen Institute for Brain Science.
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How Amazon’s Alexa overcame doubters — even within the project team — to conquer the voice speaker market
Longtime Amazon exec Toni Reid, who leads the company’s Alexa and Echo Devices group, talked about the origins and future of Amazon’s popular voice technology platform.
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Brad Smith, Microsoft president and Washington State Opportunity Scholarship board chairman, and Citlaly Ramirez, a WSOS scholar
Brad Smith, Microsoft president and Washington State Opportunity Scholarship board chairman, introduced Citlaly Ramirez, a WSOS scholar who spoke about her journey as an immigrant in this first-of-its-kind GeekWire Summit series.
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3 investors discuss the most (and least) exciting emerging technologies on their radar
Cryptocurrency. Virtual Reality. Artificial Intelligence. We found out what’s hot in the startup world from three leading venture capitalist: Rebecca Lynn of Canvas Ventures, Julie Sandler of Pioneer Square Labs and Sarah Tavel of Benchmark.
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Amazon says it will make Prime membership ‘really valuable’ for Whole Foods shoppers
If you’ve purchased anything on Amazon lately, you’ve likely got Jeff Wilke to thank, at least indirectly. As head of Amazon’s consumer business, Wilke oversees a diverse range of businesses in the consumer arena, everything from third party marketplaces to new entertainment offerings to Amazon’s historical roots in book sales. Wilke talked about Amazon’s expansion into brick-and-mortar retail; how the company uses artificial intelligence and robotics in its operations; and Amazon’s plans for HQ2.
See also: Sorry, HQ2 suitors: Wacky stunts aren’t likely to get Amazon’s attention, says top exec Jeff Wilke
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Inventions We Love: Pillsy, JikoPower and SafKan pitch geeky gadgets to voters at GeekWire Summit
Inventions We Love, presented by Sirqul, is a fun geek show-and-tell featuring some of the coolest gadgets and hardware devices we’ve seen. Day 1 included presentations by Pillsy, JikoPower, and SafKan.
Capital One Rooftop Party at Frolik
Geek Choir
Day 1 also included some geeky entertainment from the talented folks at Seattle Peace Chorus who sang techie remakes of classic songs as part of the newly-formed “Geek Choir.”
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