DC Startup and Tech Week 2024 kicks off

With over 300 speakers and 150 sessions, the ninth edition of the DC Startup and Tech Week highlights AI’s transformative potential, featuring keynotes by AI experts and leaders in technology and entrepreneurship.

Formerly known as DC Startup Week, the latest edition of the annual event – now DC Startup and Tech Week – has returned to Washington, D.C., for its ninth year. The five-day event, running through Friday, kicked off on Monday with an impressive lineup of speakers and participation from key players in the tech scene.

Opening day speakers included Noelle Russell, founder of the AI Leadership Institute; United States Patent and Trademark Office Director Kathi Vidal; and “Shark Tank” casting consultant Brandon Andrews.

Russell, a Microsoft AI MVP, delved into how industries are being transformed by the rise of generative and applied AI technologies. She also discussed the risks, challenges, and ethical implications of AI implementation.

Sharing her journey into AI and technology, which was shaped by her personal experience as a mother of a child with Down syndrome, she highlighted how AI can be used to solve real-world problems with mindfulness and inclusivity. Russell stressed the importance of divergent thinking, clear communication, and the ethical responsibilities we carry as we develop and deploy AI systems.

“AI is just a tool,” she remarked. “It’s like a hammer—what’s a hammer without a person who swings it?”

Speaking on the ethical aspects of AI, Russell reminded the audience, “With great power comes great responsibility, and your responsibility is to gain clarity of thought so that you can talk to these models and guide them to revenue-generating content.”

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Seema Alexander, the Indian American co-chair of DC Startup & Tech Week, opened the session with a critical discussion on the transformative potential of AI and its far-reaching effects, setting the stage for Russell’s keynote. Alexander, co-founder and President of Virgent AI, compared the impact of AI to that of the internet’s rise. Drawing on her personal journey, she reflected on how her own Indian immigrant family’s business struggled during the rise of the internet due to a lack of adaptation. She urged entrepreneurs to embrace AI as it rapidly revolutionizes business workflows, moving at a pace faster than any previous technological revolution.

“What the internet was to accessing information, AI is transforming data and decision-making,” Alexander noted. She also warned, “There are only two types of companies in this world—those who are great at AI and everybody else.”

DCSTW’s real value lies in the connection it offers to one of the biggest innovation markets in the US. With a wide variety of sessions such as panel discussions, investor meetings, fireside chats, happy hours and more, coordinated by local startup ecosystem’s leaders – this event is not one to miss for anyone interested in learning from top founders, investors and innovators.

Over 300 speakers are set to participate in more than 150 sessions throughout the event, which is expected to draw an audience of over 7,000 attendees. The weeklong event features more than ten tracks and subtracks, including: Early Stage Founders, Growth Stage Founders, Emerging Tech and AI, Startups for Good, Female Founders & Funders, Consumer Packaged Goods, Government and Innovation, Climate & Sustainability, Web 3.0, Life Sciences & Biotech, Technology, Developer, and the two newest subtracks: Mental Health & Wellness, and Cannabis.

“I appreciate that this year there’s a stronger focus on where government meets technology,” Kiel Chesley, Principal at NJ3Q Technology, told The American Bazaar, referring to the Government and Innovation subtrack.

NJ3Q is an information technology consulting firm that provides technology solutions to both public and private sector partners.

Chesley, attending the event for the second time, hopes to network and meet “interesting people and explore where small business, government, and the investment community intersect.” He plans to attend the event for at least three or four days.

The finale of the weeklong event schedule is the annual pitch competition, a trademark of DCSTW. The culmination of the learning, innovating, and networking brings the startups teams to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges and impress them in a bid to win money and in-kind services.

Some of the contenders for this year’s pitch competition include Veza Innovations, HR Geckos, Kleenup, DSR, Uplift Geosystems, The Laundry Basket, Vanadium, EqualityMD, Smart Machines Lab, and Indian American-founded Biodesign Innovation Labs.

From the Indian American startup community, Chida Sadayappan, who is a Managing Director at Deloitte, is heading the developer-focused DevFest track; Anjali Mahadevia, the head of business development for Silver Spring-based, sustainability-focused financial transactions platform Future, is in charge of the Climate & Sustainability track.

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