We’re Back — Bigger, Smarter, and Built for Action
The All Things AI community is growing fast. We are combining the AI RTP meetup group with the All Things AI Live meetup group, which has over 6,000 local AI enthusiasts. That makes us one of the biggest (And in my opinion, the best) local AI meetups in the country.
Alongside that, we’re returning to conduct our annual All Things AI conference in Durham on March 23–24, 2026, with a larger venue, expanded programming, and new opportunities to help professionals thrive with AI.
More space. More learning. More connections. More tracks.
Join thousands of innovators, builders, and executives who will gather to move from AI pilots to productivity.
Starting Friday, November 28, through Friday, December 5, use the code BlackFridaySale to save 20% on your event tickets!
🎟️ Register and save today → https://2026.allthingsai.org/register
🎤 Want to speak? Submit your talk CFP is open for a few more days→
Before the Main Stage… There’s Launchpad
Launchpad is the spark before the fire.
It's the room where ideas collide, where a stranger becomes a collaborator, where something that starts as a half-formed thought over a beverage turns into the thing you'll be building six months from now.
This isn't a warm-up act. It's the origin story.
You'll get a lineup of speakers from wildly different backgrounds, each with five minutes to share something real about AI—no fluff, no corporate keynote energy, just stories and insights that actually land.
20 AI Experts, 5 Minutes a Piece, Unlimited Inspiration
Abigail Merrill, GrowthUp Partners, AI for ROI in 3 Steps
Marc Sirkin, Founder, Marc Sirkin Consulting | Former CEO, Third Door Media (acquired by Semrush)| Host of Playbook Broken, Force Yourself to Experiment: How AI is Rewiring the Modern Marketer
Guoliang Cao, Research Triangle AI Society, Stop Learning, Start Building, Idea to product in one day!
Jen McFarland, Founder at Marit Digital | Writer for WRAL TechWire & Cary Magazine, Green AI: Finding Your Sustainable AI Solution
Harsha Upadhyay, All About Data LLC, 3 Simple Rules to Become an Agentic Polymath
Una Stevenson, Pinno Marketing & Business Development, The One Shift That Gets AI Out of Pilot Purgatory
Brittany Barnwell, How my digital twin stole my real life
Danny Castro, AI Tinkerers, RTP is the community where AI innovation will thrive
Chip Kennedy, CivicReach, Our Relationship with Government: Building the AI-Native front Desk for Government Social Services
Nicholas Allen, NPower, Three Questions That Launch Careers: Empowering Young People in the AI Era
Yassah Reed, Gridiron Survivor, Prescription for Change: Addressing AI's Place in Healthcare
Scott Girard, Knowledge Reactor, Composite AI
Sarah Finnerty, AI, Meet Real Life: How I'm Using It to Lead Smarter
Melanie McLaughlin, AI A Innovations, Your AI Training Failed - The 7 Hour Test, AI A Innovations
Angela Liu, Ikaru Consulting, The Secret Element Behind AI Transformation
Robert Thelen, LLama Farm, AI at the Edge: AI That Works Offline Isn't a Feature, It's Table Stakes
Harsha Upadhyay, All About Data LLC, All about Ethical AI !!!
Ruiwen Zhang, SAS Institute, Agents in the Wild: Lessons from Deploying Autonomous Systems in Production
Suha Mokalla, Attention Arc, GPUs? No Problem! Training ML Models Without Expensive Hardware
Kavita Aladahar, All About Ethical AI
Black Friday Sale: AI Training for Sales, Marketing, and GTM Professionals
Save 40% on AI for Go-To-Market when you register by Monday, December 1st
You've bookmarked the tools. Skimmed the articles. Watched the demos. But you're still doing GTM the old way—and your AI-powered competitors are pulling ahead.
On December 3rd, that changes.
AI for Go-To-Market isn't another day of watching someone else use AI. You'll build and ship real campaigns alongside practitioners who've trained 10,000+ professionals to stop learning and start doing.
Use code BlackFriday at checkout, or click here to register with your discount applied →
What you'll walk away with:
AI-powered workflows that turn 60-hour weeks into 40
Systems to qualify leads in seconds and personalize at scale
Battle-tested playbooks from million-dollar AI-driven GTM engines
8+ hours back every week (that's what our students consistently report)
Your instructors aren't theorists—they're operators: Come hear Greg Boone, CEO of WalkWest, Former CEO of Third Door Media, Marc Sirkin, and All Things AI co-founder, Mark Hinkle.
MetLife has Jobs for New Grads!
Join Venkata Natarajan, SVP, Chief Information Officer, US Businesses & Digital Services with MetLife, along with other technology leaders, as they highlight the Global Technology Hub in Cary, NC. The speakers will share insights into their culture, technology teams, career paths, and open roles. You’ll also hear directly from an early career team member about their experiences, professional development opportunities, and what it’s really like to work there. MetLife has recently opened several roles targeted to recent graduates and those with under 4 years of experience.
25 practical AI life hacks you can try today
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer just for developers—it’s becoming part of everyday life. This free guide is from our partners at All Things Open. This guide highlights simple, real-world examples of how people are using AI to save time, spark creativity, and make life easier. From organizing your inbox and planning meals to redesigning spaces or speeding up coding tasks, you’ll discover practical AI life hacks and tips you can try today, whether you’re just getting started or looking for fresh ideas to expand your toolkit.
AI Isn’t Waiting—Neither Should You
Be part of the community defining what comes next in enterprise AI.
Register early, save money, and secure your seat at the biggest AI event of 2026.
🎟️ Register now
Your AI Community Sherpas and Friends,
Mark Hinkle
Co-founder, All Things AI
Follow me on LinkedIn
Todd Lewis
Co-founder, All Things AI
Follow me on LinkedIn
P.S. If you want access to quality AI analysis and news, you might want to check out Mark’s newsletters at TheAIE.net.