Discounted and free passes
- Academic rate: $799, limited to 200 passes, for current academic staff and students using an academic email
- Government rate: $1,599, for civil servants with a .gov.us email
- Start-up and Investor Delegate: $899, limited to 300 passes, for companies meeting two of three criteria: under 25 staff, under $3 million raised, or under three years old
- Group bookings: 20% off for three or more delegates from the same company, on every pass except the Expo Pass
- Future AI Leaders: a free, application-based Delegate Pass for early-career AI professionals (1 to 4 years of experience) and final-year students. The application deadline is November 9
- Charity Pass: free, one per registered charity
- Press Pass: free for working journalists and analysts, after vetting
If you can't attend, the on-demand session library costs $799.
What is the difference between the Expo Pass and the Delegate Pass?
The Expo Pass gets you onto the expo floor, four Expo stages, live demos, and AI Demo Tours. The Delegate Pass adds six more stages of in-depth content, masterclasses, lunch and refreshments, full app access with attendee lists and messaging, and the on-demand video library.
For networking, that app access matters a lot. With a Delegate Pass, you can see who's attending and message them before you arrive. With an Expo Pass, your networking is limited to whoever you run into.
What's on the agenda at The AI Summit New York 2026?
The AI Summit New York 2026 has 10 stages and tracks, plus hands-on and networking formats:
- Headliners Stage: big-name keynotes on AI's direction and enterprise leadership
- Beyond AI at Scale: moving AI from pilots to enterprise-wide deployment
- Applied AI (new): generative AI, agentic AI, and practical deployment strategies
- AI Cybersecurity: securing AI and using AI for security
- Finance: AI in financial services
- Creative AI: how brands, agencies, and creators use AI
- Data Excellence: for data scientists, ML engineers, and AI developers
- Impact Arena (new): measurable AI value across industries
- Augmented Intelligence (new): how AI changes human expertise and judgment
- Next Generation and the Start-up and Investor Stage, including a start-up pitching competition
New features for 2026 include the AI Clinic, where you bring a real AI implementation problem and get guidance from experts; AI Demo Tours of the expo floor; and the AI Ecosystem, a set of partner-led meetups and social events around New York.
There are also two add-on programs:
- The AI Leadership Accelerator on December 8, a one-day program with London Business School's Data Science and AI Initiative, limited to 40 places
- The Executive AI Security Forum (CAIO x CISO), a closed-door, executive-only forum on AI, security, and governance, with no vendor pitches
Who attends The AI Summit New York?
The AI Summit New York expects 7,500+ senior professionals in 2026. The 2025 edition, its 10th anniversary, brought together 6,500+ people from 75+ countries.
The crowd includes:
- C-suite decision-makers: CEOs, CTOs, Chief AI Officers, and CISOs setting AI strategy
- Technical practitioners: data leaders, AI engineers, and architects
- Product and business unit leaders deploying AI in their teams
- Investors: VCs and angels funding AI companies
- Public sector and civil society leaders working on AI policy and services
Typical roles include VP and director level, heads of IT, CTOs, CDOs, and CIOs, AI and ML product leads, and cloud and software engineers. They come from a wide range of industries, including healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing.
Is The AI Summit New York worth it?
The AI Summit New York is worth it if you're responsible for deploying AI in a business, or if you sell AI products to the people who are. It's harder to justify if you want deep technical research, or if you'd only walk the floor, since an Expo Pass covers that for $129.
The AI Summit New York is worth it if:
- You own an AI rollout and want real deployment stories from peers in your industry
- You want to compare AI vendors in one place, with live demos and the AI Clinic
- You're a Chief AI Officer, CISO, or IT leader and want the executive forums or VIP programs
- You sell AI products to enterprises and want to meet buyers who already have budget
It's probably not worth it if:
- You want frontier research or model-building content
- You only want the expo, which the $129 Expo Pass covers
- You can't make it in person, since the on-demand library ($799) is cheaper than a trip
Can AI vendors attend The AI Summit New York?
Yes, but the organizers price vendors differently. They sell a separate Solution Provider Delegate Pass ($2,899 at current pricing) for solution providers and consultants, with full conference access aimed at lead generation. Vendors can also exhibit, sponsor, or join the hosted buyer program.
The hosted buyer program matches senior technology buyers with vetted AI solution providers for 1:1 meetings. Buyers apply, get matched by the organizers, and attend three to four pre-scheduled 15-minute meetings. In return, qualifying buyers get a complimentary Delegate Pass worth $2,899.
How do AI vendors turn AI Summit New York meetings into relationships?
AI vendors turn AI Summit New York meetings into relationships by booking conversations before the event, treating every short meeting as the start of a conversation that continues afterward, and getting ready for buyers who research with AI, and increasingly send AI agents, before they ever talk to a person.
The AI Summit is full of buyers with budget. It's also full of vendors pitching them. With 100+ exhibitors and short meeting slots, the vendors who win aren't the ones with the biggest booth. They're the ones still in a useful conversation with the buyer in February.
Use the app before you get to the Javits
Delegate, VIP, and Solution Provider passes include full app access with attendee lists and messaging. Use it the week before, not the morning of. Find the buyers who fit your ICP, check whether anyone on your team already knows them, and message them with a specific reason to meet.
Knock AI's Private Relationship Graph can surface warm paths into those accounts, through your team's network, customers, and past conversations. For anyone who prefers to book directly, send a Knock Scheduling link set to Eastern time.
Make 15 minutes count, then keep it going
Hosted buyer meetings are 15 minutes. Booth conversations are often shorter. That's enough to start a relationship, not to finish one. So spend the time understanding what the buyer is trying to do, then give them a way to keep talking.
A Knock Marketing Card can hold your demo, docs, a chat, and a booking link behind one QR code, and every rep can carry a Knock Sales Card. The buyer gets a direct line, and your team gets the context of what was said.
Get ready for buyers who send their AI agent first
AI-agent research is the trend most vendors at an AI conference will miss. Buyers are starting to use AI assistants to research vendors for them, and those assistants are already visiting B2B websites.
In The Anonymous Buyer, our 12-month study of 90+ B2B software websites, AI-agent visits to the same 21 B2B sites grew 10x in a year (from 7.2K in Q3 2025 to 72.5K in Q3 2026), while human visits grew 1.5x. And those agents aren't just reading. In a nine-week window, AI-assistant browsers made around 32,000 visits to 42 companies, touched forms in 128 sessions, and clicked demo, contact, or pricing buttons in 70. ChatGPT or Claude opened a company's "talk to us" link 45 times on a person's behalf.
So after the AI Summit, the first "visit" from a buyer you met might not be the buyer at all. Make sure your site gives agents clear, accurate answers, and gives them a way to start a conversation that a human can pick up. Our AI discoverability playbook and our guide on getting your CRM ready for AI agents cover the practical side.
Expect AI-researched buyers to want a human
Buyers who research with AI tend to arrive further along, and they want to talk. In our data, AI-referred visitors reached pricing, demo, or contact pages about twice as often as Google visitors (4.0% vs 2.1% of visits). At companies that offer live conversation, they started a conversation or booked a meeting about three times as often, and their conversations ran longest, at 7.7 messages on average versus 6.0 from organic search.
That's the buyer you'll meet after the AI Summit: someone who has already asked an AI about you and now wants a person to answer what the AI couldn't. Let the Knock AI Agent handle the first questions, then route the conversation to a human rep as soon as it gets specific. We dig into where that handoff belongs in can an AI agent really replace an SDR?.
Keep the relationship in one place
Between the app, the booth, a hosted meeting, a LinkedIn message, and a website visit in January, one buyer can touch your company five different ways. If those stay separate, nobody on your team has the full picture. Knock keeps them as one relationship, with one history, routed to the rep who owns the account.
One of our customers, Puzzle, found its standard forms weren't capturing how buyers wanted to engage. After switching to proactive conversations that qualify and route buyers by type, Puzzle saw 3x more top-of-funnel engagement in two months and 10 to 15% more inbound leads with no increase in website traffic.
Best ways to build relationships with buyers at The AI Summit New York: the shortlist
- Knock AI: Best for turning booth, hosted meeting, and app conversations into one ongoing relationship per buyer, followed up by the right rep across LinkedIn, Slack, WhatsApp, and your website, and ready for AI-agent visits
- The hosted buyer program: Best for guaranteed, pre-qualified 15-minute meetings with senior buyers
- The AI Summit app: Best for messaging attendees and booking meetings before the event, with a Delegate-level pass
- Peer Connect sessions and the Networking Café: Best for informal conversations during the 21+ hours of networking
For other big events this season, see our guides to Microsoft Ignite and Web Summit.
Going to the Javits? Set up your AI Summit card and chat links with Knock AI before December 9. It takes minutes.
FAQs
What is The AI Summit New York?
The AI Summit New York is an annual enterprise AI conference and expo held at the Javits Center in Manhattan, organized by Informa. It focuses on commercial AI, with 350+ speakers, 10 stages, 100+ exhibitors, and 7,500+ attendees expected in 2026.
When is The AI Summit New York 2026?
The AI Summit New York 2026 is on Wednesday, December 9 and Thursday, December 10, 2026. The AI Leadership Accelerator add-on runs on December 8.
Where is The AI Summit New York held?
The AI Summit New York is held at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, 429 11th Avenue, New York, NY 10001.
How much does The AI Summit New York cost?
The AI Summit New York 2026 Expo Pass costs $129 and the Conference Delegate Pass costs $2,399 at current pricing. VIP All Access costs $2,999, the Solution Provider Delegate Pass costs $2,899, and the Data Excellence Delegate Pass costs $899. Regular pricing ends December 8.
Is there a free pass for The AI Summit New York?
Yes, for some groups. The Future AI Leaders program offers free Delegate Passes to early-career AI professionals and final-year students by application, with a November 9 deadline. Registered charities can get one free Delegate Pass, journalists can apply for a press pass, and senior buyers accepted into the hosted buyer program get a complimentary Delegate Pass.
Are there discounts for The AI Summit New York?
Yes. Groups of three or more from the same company get 20% off all passes except the Expo Pass. Academic (799),government(1,599), and start-up and investor ($899) rates are available to eligible attendees.
How many people attend The AI Summit New York?
The AI Summit New York 2026 expects 7,500+ attendees from 80+ countries. The 2025 edition had 6,500+ attendees from 75+ countries.
Who attends The AI Summit New York?
The AI Summit New York attracts C-suite executives, Chief AI Officers, CISOs, IT and data leaders, AI engineers and architects, product leaders, investors, and public sector leaders. Organizers say 85% of attendees are actively investing up to $5 million in AI projects.
Is The AI Summit New York virtual?
No. The AI Summit New York is in person only. Session recordings are available on demand after the event, included with Delegate-level passes or sold separately for $799.
What is the difference between the Expo Pass and the Delegate Pass?
The Expo Pass covers the expo floor, four Expo stages, demos, and AI Demo Tours. The Delegate Pass adds six more stages, masterclasses, lunch, full app access with attendee lists and messaging, and the on-demand library.
What is the hosted buyer program at The AI Summit New York?
The hosted buyer program at The AI Summit New York, officially called Curated Connections, matches senior technology buyers with vetted AI solution providers. Buyers apply, get matched, and attend three to four pre-scheduled 15-minute meetings in exchange for a complimentary Delegate Pass.
Is The AI Summit New York worth it?
The AI Summit New York is worth it for leaders deploying AI in their organizations and for vendors selling AI to enterprises. If you only want to see the vendors, the $129 Expo Pass is the cheaper option, and if you can't travel, the on-demand library costs $799.
Is there a hotel discount for The AI Summit New York?
Yes. The AI Summit New York works with HotelMap to offer discounted hotel rates for attendees, bookable through the event's travel page.
Can children attend The AI Summit New York?
No. All attendees must be over 18, and no one under 18, including infants in strollers, is allowed in.
Is there a happy hour at The AI Summit New York?
Yes. The AI Summit New York has a dedicated Happy Hour, and the agenda lists the exact time.
How should AI vendors follow up after The AI Summit New York?
AI vendors should follow up after The AI Summit New York in the channel each buyer chose, with something specific to what they discussed, and be ready for buyers who research with AI or send AI agents before replying. Knock AI keeps every event conversation, follow-up, and website visit in one relationship history, so the right rep follows up with full context.
Last stop of the year
The AI Summit is one of the last big events before budgets reset. The buyers you meet at the Javits are planning next year's AI spend. Make sure they remember a conversation with you, not just a booth.
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