The Physical Worldand What Comes Next
An invite-only afternoon hosted by Alpaca VC at HSBC’s New York headquarters.
The argument
The bottleneck to AGI is
beyond just the models.
It’s in the
concrete,
copper,
permits, and
power behind them.
The event
Where are we on the path to AGI? What is blocking its arrival? And what could its far-reaching second-order effects mean for our world?
Through a fireside conversation, founder panels, experiential demos and activations, Alpaca VC will examine the opportunities within one of the most consequential inventions of our lifetimes.
Keynote
The psychologist who pioneered positive psychology brings decades of work on optimism, agency and human flourishing to the age of AI.
Zellerbach Family Professor of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania.
Official biography ↗
Fireside
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, NYU. Director, Center for Mind, Ethics, and Policy
Jeff Sebo studies AI minds, ethics and policy, including how we should reason about consciousness, welfare and moral status in advanced AI systems.
jeffsebo.net ↗
Moderator, Physical Economy
Author, Construction Physics. Senior Infrastructure Fellow, Institute for Progress
Brian Potter is a structural engineer who writes Construction Physics, the newsletter on why building in the physical world is hard, from housing and factories to the grid.
construction-physics.com ↗
Founder panel
Co-founder, Foursquare. CEO, Hopscotch Labs
Dennis Crowley is co-founder and CEO of Hopscotch Labs and co-founder and co-chair of Foursquare. He previously founded Dodgeball, acquired by Google in 2005.
denniscrowley.com ↗
Founder panel
Co-founder, August. Founder, PERIOD. Author of “Period Power”
Nadya Okamoto is an entrepreneur, author and advocate for menstrual equity. She founded the nonprofit PERIOD at 16 and later co-founded the period-care brand August.
itsaugust.co ↗
Founder panel
Co-founder and CEO, Autopoiesis Sciences
Joseph Reth is co-founder and CEO of Autopoiesis Sciences, a San Francisco company building AI systems for autonomous scientific discovery.
autopoiesis.science ↗
Founder panel
Co-founder and CEO, Burro
Charlie Andersen is co-founder and CEO of Burro, which builds autonomous robots for agriculture and other labor-intensive outdoor industries.
burro.ai ↗
Founder panel
Co-founder and CEO, Applied Atomics
Ben Kellie is co-founder and CEO of Applied Atomics. He previously founded The Launch Company, an aerospace engineering company acquired by Voyager Space.
benkellie.com ↗
Activation
CEO, Crane Stationery
Robert Buhler is CEO of Crane Stationery, the American stationery company known for personalized cards, invitations and traditional engraving.
crane.com ↗
Activation
Co-founder, Lora. Former Chief Product Officer, Hinge
Michelle Parsons is a product leader whose work has included personalization and consumer products at Spotify, Netflix and Hinge. She is now co-founder of Lora.
getlora.com ↗
Moderator
Executive and Strategic Advisor. Former CMO and CBO, Zazzle
Nizzi Karai Renaud advises founders on positioning, communications, and growth. She is developing PRESCRIBE, a personalized well-being product grounded in positive psychology and inspired by social prescribing.
analysishappiness.com ↗Join us on October 14.
Request an invitation ↗Agenda
October 14, 2026 · All times Eastern.
Location
Sponsors
Unblocking AGI:
The Physical World and What Comes Next.
October 14
