AI is changing how we work, create, build businesses and live our lives. The pace is extraordinary. How do we balance risk and opportunity?About this Event
FLIRT (Future Leaders in Responsible Technology) is a two-day, city-wide festival-conference bringing together the people building, funding, using and questioning the technologies shaping our future.
Founders. Investors. Scientists. Artists. Technologists. Creative leaders. Policymakers. And anyone curious about what happens next.
Across seven stages and zones in Brighton, expect big conversations, practical workshops, emerging technology, startup showcases, music, networking and unexpected connections.
Not another conference about the future. A chance to be part of shaping it.
Meet the people shaping what's next.
From consciousness and quantum computing to music, business and the future of work, FLIRT brings together influential voices and people working at the frontiers of their industries.
Featuring:
- Anil Seth — World-leading consciousness neuroscientist, University of Sussex
- Lord Clement-Jones CBE — House of Lords spokesperson for AI and Digital
- Daniel Bedingfield — Multi-platinum singer-songwriter
- Adah Parris — Technology futurist and cultural innovator
- Winfried Hensinger — Quantum computing pioneer, University of Sussex and Universal Quantum
- Rob McCargow — Technology Impact Leader, PwC UK
- Polly Barnfield OBE — Founder and CEO, Maybe*
- Andrew McStay — Professor of Technology and Society, Bangor University
- Jennifer Roebuck — Co-founder, Tortilla
- Landy Slattery — Creative Innovation Director, Channel 4
- Mark Breslin — Former FTSE 100 Chief AI Officer, Amplifi
Alongside founders, investors, researchers, artists and industry leaders putting these ideas into practice.
What's happening at FLIRT?
Explore the questions that matter.
What does the future of human work look like? Could AI ever be conscious? Who gets to build the next generation of technology? What will quantum computing make possible? How do we ensure technological progress benefits people?
These aren't abstract questions anymore.
Highlights from the programme include:
- AI and Consciousness — A conversation and audience Q&A with Anil Seth.
- Could There Be a Sussex Quantum Silicon Valley? — Winfried Hensinger explores the potential of quantum computing.
- Why Most AI Strategies Fail Before They Start — Mark Breslin on making AI work inside organisations.
- Who Finishes the Work? — Polly Barnfield OBE on why AI adoption isn't the same as execution.
- The Next Sound of Music Creation — Daniel Bedingfield on technology and the creative process.
- The Human Advantage in an AI Workplace — Exploring the skills and capabilities that matter as work changes.
- What Makes a Startup Investable? — Founders and investors explore what makes a company worth backing.
Expect honest perspectives, practical insights and conversations that go beyond the usual technology hype.
Get hands-on. Learn something useful.
FLIRT isn't just about listening.
Throughout the programme, practical workshops and interactive sessions give attendees the opportunity to develop skills, test ideas and explore how emerging technologies can be used in the real world.
Sessions include:
- Make Something Worth Sharing with AI — Led by Saira Jamieson of AI XOXO / Bloomsuite.
- So You Want to Do AI? What Next? — A value-led workshop with Sam Jeremiah of FernAI, exploring where AI can actually make a difference.
- Relational Dynamics — A workshop led by Vjera Orbanic of Ethical Intelligence, hosted by Adah Parris.
Whether you're looking to bring AI into your business, develop your creative practice or simply understand the technology better, FLIRT is designed to give you something useful to take away.
Workshop places are subject to capacity and availability.
Discover the startups building tomorrow.
The FLIRT Startup Village brings emerging companies, investors, founders and potential collaborators together across both days.
Discover new products, meet the people behind them and explore opportunities to work together.
The programme includes startup showcases, live investment discussions and opportunities for founders to get their ideas in front of investors and industry decision-makers.
From AI and creative technology to legal tech, software, music and climate innovation, the Startup Village is a place to discover what might become the next big thing.
Building a company? Meet potential customers, collaborators and investors.
Looking for opportunities? Meet founders and discover emerging businesses before everyone else does.
Investor meetings and selected opportunities require advance booking or application.
The AIMI Conference returns.
Following its sold-out 2025 edition, the AI in Media Institute's conference returns as part of FLIRT.
Across the Storytelling and Sonic stages, the AIMI Conference brings together leaders from film, television, advertising, publishing, music and the creative industries.
Explore how AI is transforming storytelling, production, distribution, ownership and the future of human creativity.
From filmmaking and broadcasting to music rights, artist careers and emerging creative tools, the programme connects the people creating culture with those developing the technologies changing it.
A dedicated creative programme within a much wider technology festival.
Seven stages and zones. One city.
Rather than keeping everyone in a single conference hall, FLIRT brings different industries and perspectives together across Brighton.
FLIRT Macro Stage — Big ideas, frontier technology, science, business and society.
Startup and Scale Up — Founders, investors, fundraising, growth and the companies building what's next.
Storytelling Stage — Film, television, advertising, journalism and the future of creative production.
Sonic Stage — Music, audio, artists, rights, technology and creative innovation.
Trust and Planet — AI governance, identity, accountability, sustainability and responsible innovation.
Work and Access — The changing workplace, new skills, inclusion and technology that works for people.
Operator and Growth — Practical AI, automation, marketing, operations and the tools businesses can actually use.
Explore a subject you already know, then walk into a conversation you never expected to have.
That's where FLIRT gets interesting.
And then there's Brighton.
The best conversations don't always happen on stage.
FLIRT is designed to bring people together beyond the formal programme, with networking opportunities, small-group conversations and informal gatherings throughout the festival.
FLIRT After Dark takes the experience into Brighton's pubs, bars, restaurants and creative spaces.
Meet founders over drinks. Exchange ideas with artists and scientists. Find people building something completely different from you. Continue a conversation long after the last talk finishes.
Come for the programme. Leave with people you want to work with.
Selected evening gatherings have limited capacity and may require reservations.
Who should come?
If technology is changing your world, FLIRT is for you.
Whether you're a startup founder looking for investment, a business leader figuring out how to use AI, an artist exploring new creative possibilities or someone trying to understand what the next decade might look like.
FLIRT brings together entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, researchers, marketers, creative professionals, policymakers, educators, students and curious minds.
You don't need to be a technologist or an AI expert.
You just need to be interested in what's coming, what it makes possible and what we should do about it.
Built on something real.
FLIRT builds on the success of the sold-out AIMI Conference, which brought together more than 600 attendees and 40 speakers in Brighton in 2025.
Produced by the AI in Media Institute, FLIRT takes that conversation beyond media and the creative industries, connecting technology, science, business, culture and society.
At its heart is a simple question:
In the pursuit of progress, have we forgotten why?
We believe the future of technology should be shaped by more than the organisations developing it.
And the best way to participate in that future is to bring people together, challenge assumptions, learn from one another and start building.
Join us in Brighton.
Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 November 2026.
Two days of ideas, emerging technology, practical learning and people worth meeting.
Discover the programme. Find your people. Be part of the conversation.
The future is not a keynote.
Be part of it.
Full programme: https://flirtconference.com/agenda
Programme, speakers and venues are subject to change. Workshops and certain gatherings have limited availability.
Agenda
flirtconference.com/agenda
Event venue
The Wing at the Brighton Centre, Russell Road, Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.