SXSW 2026 was a whirlwind — and the contrast was the whole point.

I kicked things off volunteering at a networking happy hour for a solo founder. Helping him check in guests was a great reminder of that raw “idea phase” energy. Chatting with teams of one to ten people using AI to solve real problems was grounding in the best way.

Then the contrast hit. One minute I’m at a tiny startup mixer, the next I’m at The Garrison — the massive Netflix activation for the new Peaky Blinders movie. Seeing that level of production and remembering that even Netflix was once a small-timer at events exactly like that happy hour — that’s the through line.

A few other highlights from the week:

Spotify House

Caught Nick Jonas talking about his new project. It took me back to my campaign manager days, hearing how media buyers are now leveraging Spotify’s data for hyper-contextualized placement.

Glean Work AI House

Glean is moving beyond the chatbot phase into true orchestration. Their new Agentic Coworker features are exactly what every partnership manager should be watching — company knowledge becoming instantly accessible changes how partner teams operate.

HOPE Outdoor Gallery x Dropbox

A standout collaboration. Hearing artists talk about the intersection of creators and tech at the new HOPE creative campus was a reminder that tools like Dropbox are the digital glue for the creator economy.

inKind

Seeing inKind go from a clunky local Austin app when I lived here to a global brand was a full-circle moment. They are the gold standard for sustainable hospitality tech.

Capped the week at the Orville Peck set sponsored by Rivian. One of my favorite artists, tying together film, music, and the energy that only Austin delivers.

After years in the game, there is something genuinely refreshing about seeing first-timers light up at their first big event. Every global giant started with a single check-in desk.

Originally published on LinkedIn, March 2026.