South by Southwest has revealed its initial keynote and second round of featured speakers for the 39th edition of the annual Conference, scheduled for March 7-15 in Austin, Texas.
Headlining the Conference's keynote speaker, IBM Chairman and CEO Arvind Krishna, who will lead From Science Fiction to Society: The Next Era of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing as it looks beyond the “science fiction publicity” that surrounds headline issues and instead focuses on their real-world merits.
“Exploring the benefits of new advances in technology while addressing the potential challenges represents a core part of the SXSW experience we curate each year,” said Hugh Forrest, Co-President and Director of Programming in a statement.
“We are excited to announce Arvind Krishna as our first keynote speaker of the 2025 season. His session on the convergence of artificial intelligence and quantum computing will cover what this monumental shift in technology will bring to humanity.”
Krishna's addition to SXSW coincides with the announcement of Featured Speakers, which include founder and Chief Trend Curator at The Non-Obvious Company, Rohit Bhargava, who will lead the 7 non-obvious secrets of understanding people to predict the future meeting; founder and CEO of EMPIRE Ghazi. director and social media strategist Alex Haraus; author, Chief Scientist for The Nature Conservancy, and Horn Distinguished Professor and Endowed Professor of Public Policy and Public Law at Texas Tech University Dr. Katharine Hayhoe.
The list of speakers also includes Bumble CEO Lidiane Jones. activist and astronaut Amanda Nguyen, WNBA Champion, WNBA Finals MVP, 2x WNBA MVP, 2x Gold Medalist, WNBA Rookie of the Year and broadcaster Candace Parker. writer and music attorney at Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman Donald Passman; and author, speaker, teacher, consultant, podcast host and futurist Rishad Tobaccowala.
Many of these speakers will also participate in the featured sessions also announced today, which include Spill the Tea: A Strategic Guide to Office Gossip with Contributing Editor at Harvard Business Review Amy Gallo? Cleaning up our atmosphere: Carbon removal is poised to go mainstream with Climeworks COO Douglas Chan and the aforementioned Dr. Hayhoe.
This new speaker announcement complements the first round of SXSW previously revealed in September, which included Drs. Peter Attia, Johanna Faries, Douglas Rushkoff and others.
SXSW will take place March 7-15 in Austin, Texas, with full details on newly announced speakers and sessions available via their website.
