Day ZERØ is capped at 300 participants—a curated environment where senior engineers, product leaders, founders, and executives converge before the main conference opens. While The AI Conference will host over 5,500 attendees, Day ZERØ creates an intentionally small setting optimized for deep technical learning, strategic leadership development, and meaningful collaboration.
This is ground ZERØ for where AI ideas come to life. Running parallel to Day ZERØ workshops, Hack Day brings together builders racing against the clock to ship functioning AI applications in a single day. Day ZERØ participants move between structured learning and live collaboration—watching teams build, offering feedback, and forming the connections that turn concepts into companies. The winning Hack Day team earns the opportunity to pitch live to top venture capitalists on the Startup Showdown stage during Day 1 of the main conference, creating a direct bridge from experimentation to exposure, capital, and scale.
Day ZERØ is capped at 300 participants—a curated environment where senior engineers, product leaders, founders, and executives converge before the main conference opens. While The AI Conference will host over 5,500 attendees, Day ZERØ creates an intentionally small setting optimized for deep technical learning, strategic leadership development, and meaningful collaboration.
Technical Track
Deep-dive, hands-on sessions for engineers and builders covering model development, RAG, infra, evaluation, agents, and real-world deployment patterns.
Leadership Track
Strategy-focused sessions for founders and executives on AI roadmaps, product strategy, governance, organizational change, and safely scaling AI in production.
The first confirmed workshops for Day ZERØ 2026. Additional workshops announced weekly.
Google Cloud Run:
The Enterprise Serverless Runtime for Agentic AI
Google Cloud Run is the ideal serverless runtime for agentic applications, seamlessly bridging the gap between creative “vibes” and a secure, scalable, global service with no infrastructure to manage. In this workshop, we will dive into the latest updates on how Cloud Run powers enterprise-grade AI agents.
The session is heavily focused on hands-on labs, covering key topics such as:
- Vibe-to-Cloud Deployment: Explore spec-driven development using Antigravity to design, build, and deploy a serverless app from scratch.
- Production-Ready MCP: Learn how to deploy a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server on Cloud Run with built-in enterprise governance and security.
- Local-to-Cloud Migration: Modernize your workflow by migrating a full-stack app using the Gemini CLI and Google MCP servers.
Hack Day Access
Hack Day runs 10am–7pm Tuesday, September 29 in a separate room at the same venue.
- For Day ZERØ attendees: Guaranteed access to observe or participate. Come and go throughout the day.
- For the public: Free but requires approval (LinkedIn/GitHub review). Historically oversubscribed—rejected applicants for 3 consecutive years.
- Special badge tier: Day ZERØ + Hack Day participation badge for those building alongside workshops.
Hack Day winners pitch live to top VCs on the Startup Showdown stage during Day 1 of the main conference—a direct path from build to capital.
Day ZERØ
Sept 29
Day ZERØ is a high-signal, small-room kickoff where senior builders and leaders spend a full day moving between focused workshops and a live AI Hack Day before the main conference begins. The AI Conference full experience starts here.
Capped at 300 people, this where AI ideas go from concept to usable tech in real-time. It includes technical or leadership tracks (6 sessions, 90 min each), deeper discussions, and direct access to speakers and peers.
Technical Track
Deep-dive, hands-on sessions for engineers and builders covering model development, RAG, infra, evaluation, agents, and real-world deployment patterns.
- Google Cloud Run for Agentic Apps – Hands-on labs using Cloud Run to design, deploy, and scale agentic AI services with Google’s latest tooling.
Additional workshops announced weekly
Leadership Track
Strategy-focused sessions for founders and executives on AI roadmaps, product strategy, governance, organizational change, and safely scaling AI in production.
Observe or participate in a live AI build environment. See frontier ideas move from concept to working systems in real time.
An intimate gathering with fellow operators and speakers designed for meaningful conversations before the larger conference begins.
Start early, avoid lines, and move seamlessly into the two-day conference with complete access to all programming.
Be where AI ideas go from concept to usable tech in real-time. This is ground zero for where execution meets opportunity.
Pre-Sale Ends
Networking Event
All registered attendees get an invite to the AI industry’s most anticipated private after-hours event.
Party in the Park is an open-air celebration where ideas meet vibes and the AI community comes to life under the stars.
This exclusive event will feature:
- Live music that keeps the energy high
- Ice-cold drinks and good food
- Big giveaways
- A surprise announcement you’ll want to be there for
San Francisco
The AI Conference 2026 is hosted at Pier 48, a waterfront venue in San Francisco’s Mission Rock neighborhood. The space sits steps from Oracle Park and the emerging Mission Rock district, with easy access from downtown, Caltrain, and major freeways.
The AI Conference 2026
Pier 48 · Shed A and B
48 Pier 48, San Francisco, CA 94158
Mission Rock waterfront district
Get notified of new speakers and first access to unannounced features.