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Conference Talks in 2026

5 min read

Devrel

You know the drill. This is for engineers who haven't spoken — start local.

Tech Lead

A talk = visibility + proof of expertise. One talk can change your trajectory.

Tpm

Talks on 'how we shipped X' — product + eng story. Conferences eat that up.

Conference Talks in 2026

TL;DR

  • Hot topics: AI in production, RAG patterns, cost control, prompt ops, AI UX, brownfield AI.
  • Start small — meetups, local dev groups, internal conferences. Work up to large stages.
  • A strong abstract = problem + solution + what you learned. Not "I'll talk about X."

Speaking is one of the fastest ways to build credibility. One good talk can get you recruiter DMs for months.

What's Hot in 2026

TopicWhy
RAG in productionEveryone's building it. Few share real lessons.
AI cost managementPain point. "How we kept our LLM bill under control" = useful.
Prompt management / opsNew problem. Early speakers own the narrative.
Brownfield AIRetrofitting AI into existing products. Most companies are here.
AI UX patternsStreaming, fallbacks, confidence. Designers and engineers both care.

Avoid: "Introduction to ChatGPT" — saturated. Go specific.

How to Get Accepted

Abstract matters. Good: "We added semantic search to 2M docs. Here's what worked, what didn't, and our chunking strategy." Bad: "Let's explore the exciting world of RAG."

Specificity wins. "Lessons from 6 months of RAG in production" > "RAG overview."

Proof helps. "I shipped this at [Company]" or "I built this open source." Reviewers want real experience.

Start local. Meetups, local chapters (ACM, IEEE), company tech talks. Build a track record. Then apply to regional conferences. Then nationals.

CFP Calendar

  • Q1: Many CFPs for summer/fall conferences. KubeCon, Strange Loop, O'Reilly.
  • Q2: AI-specific: ML conferences, LLM-focused events. Check Call for Papers aggregators.
  • Year-round: Meetups. Lower bar. Good practice.

'Let's explore the exciting world of RAG.' Generic. Saturated. Reviewer: skip. Audience: heard it before.

Click "Strong abstract" to see the difference →

Quick Check

What makes a conference talk abstract get accepted?

Do This Next

  1. Draft one talk idea — Problem you solved. Lessons learned. 3 key takeaways.
  2. Write an abstract — 150–200 words. Problem, approach, outcome. Submit somewhere.
  3. If you've never spoken — Propose at your company's tech talk or a local meetup first. 15 min is enough.