The MIT Startup Exchange Lightning Talks and Startup Exhibit listed below are part of the full agenda for 2026 MIT AI Conference - Navigating the Digital Future: AI and Technology Strategy.
AI is advancing faster than many organizations can adapt, raising urgent questions about how emerging technologies can be deployed reliably and at scale. The 2026 MIT AI Conference looks ahead to the next chapter of AI—examining not only what is possible, but what is practical, responsible, and achievable in the years to come.
The conference highlights MIT’s most influential work from the past year and the promising future it is shaping. The program includes topics such as future AI architectures, AI management and deployment, AI applications, social impact, and policy. Together, these themes offer a forward-looking view of where AI is headed—and how society can prepare.
Program Coordinator, MIT Startup Exchange
Irina Gaziyeva joined the Startup Exchange team on June 21, 2022, as Program Coordinator reporting to Catarina Madeira and working closely with the whole Startup Exchange and other Corporate Relations teams. Irina comes to Corporate Relations from the Mechanical Engineering Department at MIT where she worked 10 years as Administrative Assistant where she has supported four senior faculty members and their research groups (20-25 graduate students). Since 2018, Irina has acted as program coordinator, teaming-up with the program manager and program faculty lead for the MechE Alliance program. She has facilitated 45+ virtual seminars, workshops, and mentoring events in this informal role. Irina has also actively connected members of the MechE community to support student career development, mentorship, and networking opportunities with MIT alumni and industry. Before MIT, Irina held positions as Administrative Assistant and Member Representative at Brookline Dental and Tufts Health plan, respectively. Irina has also been a Community Organizer in Worcester, MA. Irina earned her B.A., Management (with Innovation & Entrepreneurship track) at Clark University in Worcester, and her M.S., Program and Project Management from Brandeis University in Waltham. She has received many awards at MIT for outstanding service, and she has extensive community volunteer work to her credit.
Disclaimer: MIT Startup Exchange can make introductions that ideally provide open ended discussions in order to share mutual interests and potentially create common ground that incite the parties to collaborate. MIT Startup Exchange introductions may eventually lead to mutual partnerships, but that is not in any way guaranteed by MIT, MIT Corporate Relations, MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP) or MIT Startup Exchange, which takes no responsibility for these outcomes and no formal part in such discussions following our introduction. MIT Startup Exchange and its activities and events are not for purposes of soliciting investment or offering securities.