Hot Off The AI Furnace - January 8

The AI Hot 100 Summit 2026 is back for its third edition on May 7th, 2026 in New York City. Where AI Visionaries meet Industry Leaders. The only AI Summit built for real connections where startup innovation meets enterprise implementation.

 🔥 New Partner & Sponsor Announcement: PwC and Niural join the line-up

We’re excited to welcome PwC and Niural to The AI Hot 100 Summit on May 7.

PwC is our Exclusive Audit Partner

PwC's Emerging Company Solutions (ECS) practice is the leading provider of audit, tax, and IPO readiness services to companies backed by venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms. More specifically, PwC's ECS practice has the greatest market share and is the #1 provider of audits of technology, software, and media company IPOs amongst the Big 4 accounting firms since 2017. Whether it be in connection with a Series A capital raise, a later-stage VC or PE firm investment, leading up to, during and subsequent to an IPO, PwC's ECS practice is uniquely positioned to be with you every step of the way, helping you achieve your business goals while minimizing risk.

Niural joins as a Bronze Sponsor

Niural is an AI-native, end-to-end HR and finance platform transforming global payroll, PEO, and compliance. Powered by EMMA, our intelligent AI coworker, Niural brings payroll, HR, and finance into a single, streamlined ecosystem. From automated payroll and HR workflows to global compliance across multiple jurisdictions—including support for both fiat and crypto payments—Niural helps companies scale with confidence. We make global operations smarter, faster, and more efficient.

We’re proud to work with both organizations as we bring together the leaders shaping the future of AI at the AI Hot 100 Summit.

PwC and Niural will be joined by executives from OpenAI, NVIDIA, Anthropic, Cursor, Eleven Labs, Adobe, Mastercard, Haleon plc, & more at The AI Hot 100 Summit 2026.

Interested in joining the action? Showcase your brand alongside the biggest companies in AI or register now for early bird pricing to save $700+ on your pass.

Interested in Speaking at The AI Hot 100 Summit?

The AI Hot 100 will spotlight bold voices and transformative ideas redefining AI. If you’re driving AI innovation in enterprise, we want to hear from you. The call for speakers is filling fast. Applications are due on November 28 at 5 PM ET, but they're reviewed on a rolling basis, so the earlier you submit the better!

Make your mark on the most forward-thinking event in AI. Apply to speak today!  

Highlights from the 2025 Summit - “Buy vs Build: What Enterprises Actually Consider” w/ McKinsey, Crunchbase, Ringier AG, and Invisible Technologies

Listen to the CTO at Invisible Technologies talk about how AI Budgets from Two Years Ago Were Mostly a "Waste of Money."

Speakers: Petra Ehmann (Group Chief AI Officer, Ringier AG), Megh Gautam (Chief Product Officer, Crunchbase), Tey Bannerman (Former AI Partner, McKinsey & Co), Alexius Wronka (CTO, Data & Growth at Invisible Technologies).

Watch the full Buy vs Build Panel hosted at the AI Hot 100 Summit 2025, delving into what enterprises actually consider when deciding whether to build tech in-house or go with a vendor.

👀 ICYMI - Access the AI Hot 100 Market Report 2025

On July 10th, we dropped the 2025 AI Hot 100 Market Report by The AI Furnace. Here, we highlighted the Hot 100 startups building in AI in North America this year.

👉️ Check out the full report

📢 Want to partner? Reach out to get your brand in front of 25k+ AI executives, entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, and AI leaders.