The Future of Work Social Mixer + Open Demos: Worktech, Robotics & Agentic AI

This is an official side event of the TechCrunch Disrupt 2026: the biggest tech event of the year. Join us in downtown San Francisco for yet another edition of our Future of Work-themed social mixer + open demos! This event is an open-mic formula - just bring your laptop, join us, and step up to pitch and present your demo. This event is optimized for making deals. We'll host a blitz round of intros on stage and give you plenty of time to mingle with investors at the demo tables. We will also as investors to come up to the stage at the end of the evening and share their discoveries of the night. Would you like our investors to also review your deck? Deadline for submitting decks: Sunday, October 11th, 23:59 PT The Future of Work Social Mixer & Open Demos event is independently organized and operated solely by Ontology of Value. TechCrunch Media, LLC is not responsible for the event's content, programming, speakers, venue, attendee conduct, or any incidents, injuries, or claims arising from the event. Ontology of Value agrees to indemnify and hold harmless TechCrunch Media, LLC from any liability related to the event. Hosted @ HumanMade HumanMade is a non-profit community-based training, manufacturing, and prototyping studio on a mission to democratize access to the tools of innovation.It brings together makers and fabricators of all types - from entrepreneurs to hobbyists, teachers to artists, inventors to explorers and more. HumanMade provides a wide range of industrial workshops where members can take training courses and use all of our equipment to build or make almost anything. Our Point of View Today, building stuff is not the moat anymore. In fact, it's understanding the market and the particular pain points you are tackling, and the Go-to-Market strategy — both relate to you and your professional history as a founder. Yes, AI might build your product and your operations, but the human is still on the receiving end of your offer: both as a decision-maker in sales and as the ultimate recipient of your work, whether it's direct sales or a chain of a hundred interactions. Therefore, this is the "origin story" event. We'd love to hear your "why" — not just your pitch. You need to build your case: show us why everything you've ever done in your life brought you to this problem and this moment in time. And why, of all humans, YOU are the person to step forward and solve it. When & Where 📍 HumanMade, 655 Bryant St, San Francisco 📅 Monday, October 12th, 2026 (on the eve of TechCrunch Disrupt 2026!) 🕔 5:00-9:00 PM PT 📅 Agenda:  5:00 - 5:30 PM | Networking 5:30 - 5:40 PM | Welcome from Organizers & Community Partners 5:40 - 5:45 PM | Sponsor: TechnologyWire 5:45 - 6:00 PM | Fireside Chat with Nick Linck, The Residency: "Residencies - Accelerators 2.0?" 6:00 - 6:10 PM | Workshop by Lital Cohen 6:10 - 6:25 PM | Fireside Chat with Robin P. Zander, Responsive Conference: "Anticonference: An Optimal Networking Paradigm?" 6:25 - 7:00 PM | A round of flash standup introductions 🚀 moderated by Natalie Pan, Funding Breakthrough Lab 7:00 - 8:30 PM | Open Demos 8:30 - 8:45 PM | Investors share their discoveries on stage; moderated by Nicholas Ferraro, New York Life 8:45+ | Networking; music, greetings, farewell Special Guests Nick Linck is the Founder of The Residency: the new paradigm in business/entrepreneurship education and in developing and funding startups . Robin Zander is the Founder and Director of Responsive Conference: the antisystemic anticonference in HR in the world that attracts leaders in HR but feels like a hackathon (just ask Claude!) Lital Cohen is a communication and executive presence coach at Stanford Graduate School of Business and a former national champion in Toastmasters public speaking. She prepares founders from around the world at Plug and Play to present effectively to audiences and investors, focusing on delivery, presence, and impact. At the event, she will share observations on how speakers show up and influence the room. Why Should I Participate? We are a community focused on building (and disrupting!) the future of work — sharing and promoting innovation in work tech, agentic AI, and robotics so that humans and AI can happily cohabitate in the labor market and build a wonderful economy together. This time around, we are putting together a social mixer and demo night in one. This isn’t your standard pitch night. This gathering is for founders, operators, investors, and builders who want to shape how humans and AI collaborate in the workplace of tomorrow. It’s your chance to connect authentically, get feedback for your project, talk to investors in powerful, intimate one-on-one conversations, and see where the future of work is headed. Pitching & Demos We will open several demo tables. Do you have a project you'd like to share? Join us on October 12 and step forward to (1) give a blitz standup pitch on stage, (2) show a demo from your laptop. Would you like to additionally receive detailed professional feedback from the investors? Apply through this registration page as a "Pitching Startup" and link your deck while applying — it will be distributed to our network of investors. Showcase Package - $199 (5 tickets left) Top-priority pitch scheduled at the beginning of the pitching session 2-minute pitch on stage (including slides) Dedicated demo table Priority company listing on Luma Placement of one company-provided physical poster Media support beginning up to 2 weeks before the event and continuing through 1 week after the event Spotlight Package - $349 (3 tickets left) — includes everything in Showcase, plus: Featured Company status 3-minute pitch on stage (including slides — extra 1 minute), Feature in the press release after the event 🍀 My project is not in Worktech. Shall I still submit my pitch? The Future of Work is a broad category, with a variety of tech projects influencing the job market, either directly or indirectly. When in doubt, just give it a try, and we