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TECH, VENTURE & AI SUMMIT
JUNE 11-12, 2026 – CHARLESTON
Grow your business, get a job,
& level up!

Build the future at Dig South

Host sponsor

Partner today – mellonie@digsouth.com
Dig South Anchors Charleston Tech Week – June 8-12, 2026

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Dig South Summit Ticket
+ Annual Membership

$499
($599 after June 10)

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VIP-Investor Ticket
+ Annual Membership

$599 with code: EARLYBIRD
($699 after June 10)

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SUMMIT SPEAKERS 2026

{Early Confirmations – Speakers Added Weekly}

SHIVENDRA SRIVASTAVA

Software Development Manager – AWS Lambda

AMAZON / AWS

DANELLE DELGADO

Founder

ENGAGE TRAINING

JASON WILLIAMSON

CEO

MYTHWORX

Carrie Jaquith

Global Head of Digital Product

ABAXX TECHNOLOGIES

LARKIN ELLZEY

Partner

REED SMITH

SWETHA SEKHAR

Staff Data Engineer
Safety Systems

OpenAI

BHAVUK JAIN

Senior Software/Lead Engineer

GOOGLE

BARON D. JORDAN

Chief Product Officer–Supply Chain at CONA–Coca Cola System IT Services

COCA-COLA

PRASAD Sundaramoorthy

Sen. Distinguished Leader
Data Analytics & AI

NORDSTROM

Carleigh HICKMAN

Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Computing Technology

HORRY-GEORGETOWN TECHNICAL COLLEGE

Jeff baxter

Partner – Head of Platform

11 Tribes Ventures

KASPER HYTONEN

Founder & CEO

SYNCHRO SOCIAL

Will Horn

CEO / Founder

GNDA

Carter kennedy

CEO & Co-founder

SOLOINSIGHT

JAIME CAHALAN

Founder

EMOTIVE STRATEGIC

JACK TEITEL

Founder, CEO

TITLE AI

Becket Fusik

Founder, CEO

TTN

Sandeep Kumar Chittimalli

Senior Data Scientist

SYNETICS FOR MANAGEMENT DECISIONS

austin embrack

President

BRACK TECHNICAL SOLUTIONS

Matthew pardieck

Managing Principal

HARBOUR WEALTH MANAGEMENT

thomas HEATH

Founder & Personal Branding Specialist

THOMAS HEATH ADVISORS

Stacey Bailey

Senior Consultant

THE INTENTION COLLECTIVE

anshul sharma

Customer Success Technical Leader

CISCO

Juan Garzón

Managing Director

INNOVATE CHARLOTTE

Grady Johnson

Executive Director

THE HARBOR ENTREPRENEUR CENTER

NITHIN Mohan

AI & Supercomputing Leader
HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE

ANCHIT Jhingan

Senior Data Scientist
AMAZON

TODD HEADLEY

CEO
ZUCKER INSTITUTE FOR INNOVATION COMMERCIALIZATION

bob crutchfield

Managing Director
HOTSPOT VENTURES

Michael duffey

Global VP, Corporate Sales
HashiCorp/IBM

will cruz

Chief Investment Officer
InvestSC

SAIROHITH THUMMARAKOTI

Regional Manager
AI Collective

LINDSEY Peterson

Deal Flow Committee Member
CHARLESTON ANGEL PARTNERS

max heILman

Agentic AI Architect
g/d/n/a

Stephen Brown

Angel Investor
Charleston Angel Partners

thomas mccarthy-howe

CTO
VCONIC

Jon yarian

Chief of Staff

sovereign

MICHAEL WEBB

Founder & CEO

H-minus

Brett berman

Director of Operations Health Solutions

MUSC

jewel walker

Diligence Associate

VentureSouth

daniel harris

Director, Office of Research & Technology Applications

Naval information warfare center

bruce billian

Deputy CTO

Naval information warfare center

robert keisler

Director of Artificial Intelligence – NAVWAR

CLAIRE AMEEN

Decision Advantage Operations Lead

Naval information warfare center

jUSTIN HODGES

Deputy Director, Rapid Capabilities Cell

Naval information warfare center

CARL KING “TREY” RUST

Co-Founder, President

PIXIEBLACK & ELECTRIC RED

WILLIAM DROHAN

Angel Investor
CHARLESTON ANGEL PARTNERS

StANFIELD GRAY

Founder & CEO
DIG SOUTH & CHARLESTON TECH WEEK

Emily Farella Porter

Director of Brand & Product Marketing

GNOSIS FREIGHT

NOLA SOLOMON

Founder & CEO
RENOVERSE.AI

scott quinn

Artist

AI to Analog

Jason gorham

Creator of Programmatic Job Advertising, Co-founder

TalentXi

Mica dolan

President & CEO

ATI

Tomasz Wilmanski, MPH, PhD

Vice President of Health Algorithms

THORNE

william “bill” kirkland

President & CEO

SCRA

brian gillespie

Partner

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough

kaitlyn crobar

Intellectual Property & Licensing Officer
Associate Director, Digital Health & Creative Works

Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization

APPLY TO SPEAK

2026 Dig SOUTH TECH SUMMIT Agenda

* THEME: THINK BIGGER *
1. Grow your business
2. Get a job
3. Level up

Founders, Funders, Executives, Experts, Coders, Creators, Builders
& Other Innovators!

THURSDAY

6.11.26

6:30 – 7:30am

Sponsor:

Pro Bono Miles: A Pre-Dig Summit Morning Run with Reed Smith
Get your blood running pre-summit!
Join Larkin Ellzey of Reed Smith for a pre-conference jog through the heart of Charleston Thursday morning!

Meet at the corner of Market & Meeting near Charleston Place.

Conversational pace.

4 mile loop through Historic district and Battery. MAP

Free to attend. Register HERE

This event is a part of Charleston Tech Week 2026, a decentralized week of events bringing together the founders, builders, investors, and folks all across the tech ecosystem.

11:00am – 1:00pm

Sponsor:

Cybersecurity-focused Industry Meet & Greet – Hosted by Trident Technical College

161 Calhoun Street, Hill Gallery, Albert Simons Center for the Arts, next to the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art

REGISTRATION: College of Charleston, Albert Simons Center for the Arts, 54 St. Philip Street.

Free to attend. Register HERE

This event is a part of Charleston Tech Week 2026, a decentralized week of events bringing together the founders, builders, investors, and folks all across the tech ecosystem.

You are invited to join us for a key cybersecurity workforce and education event taking place during 2026 Charleston Tech Week. This gathering brings together students, job seekers, educators, industry leaders, and community partners who are shaping the future of cybersecurity in the region.

Attendees will have the opportunity to:

Connect with cybersecurity employers actively seeking talent

Explore programs from colleges and training institutions committed to cybersecurity education and upskilling

Engage with non‑profit organizations supporting digital safety, workforce development, and community tech initiatives

Learn about pathways into cybersecurity careers and emerging opportunities in the field

This event is designed to be an open, collaborative space where attendees can discover resources, build connections, and gain insight into the cybersecurity ecosystem across the Charleston region.

1:00 – 3:00pm

Sponsor:

Accelerating Career Readiness Pitch at Dig South Tech Summit
Charleston County High School and SC Technical College Students Practice Pitching Newly Created Products & Services

Hosted by College of Charleston, Simons Center Recital Hall. Supported by ATI Foundation and Charleston County Economic Development.

Free to attend. Register HERE

Welcome to the 2026 Dig South Tech, Venture & AI Summit, anchoring the 2nd Annual Charleston Tech Week!

In our opening event, Charleston County High School Students and South Carolina Technical College students guided by personal mentors practice pitching newly created products & services.

The pitch is hosted in the Simons Center for the Arts at College of Charleston. Parking is available off street and in two garages, one on the corner of St. Philip and Calhoun Streets, and the other on the corner of St. Philip and George St. Ride share encouraged.

1:30 – 4:00pm

Presented by:

The Harbor Entrepreneur Center Accelerator Pitch
Hosted by College of Charleston, Emmett Robinson Theatre inside the Albert Simons Center for the Arts, Free to attend. Must register HERE.

The HEC’s 16-week program is designed to help early-stage founders sharpen their focus, test ideas, find traction, and build with confidence. Each founder works alongside other entrepreneurs and gets direct access to mentors who’ve built companies from the ground up.

Welcome to the 2025 Dig South Tech Summit, anchoring the 1st Charleston Tech Week!

The pitch is hosted in the Simons Center for the Arts at College of Charleston. Parking is available off street and in two garages, one on the corner of St. Philip and Calhoun Streets, and the other on the corner of St. Philip and George St. Ride share encouraged.

Purchase a ticket for the full 2-day Summit at digsummit.com.

2:00 – 2:45pm

Sponsored by:

Make Them Work for You: How to Fully Leverage AI-Powered Marketing, Messaging, Sales, Branding & Social Platforms

Discover how to harness AI across marketing, messaging, sales, branding, and social platforms to drive real results. This panel explores practical strategies, tools, and workflows to amplify impact, personalize engagement, and scale growth—turning AI from a buzzword into a powerful engine that works smarter, faster, and more effectively for your business.

Kasper Hytonen – Founder, Synchro Social
Becket Fusik – Founder & CEO, TTN
Moderator: Michael Houck – Founder, Founding Journey & Megaphone

Kasper Hytonen is the Founder of Synchro Social, a social media agency that has grown over 8 million followers and generated over 1 billion content views for high-profile coaches, authors, and thought leaders. Through these campaigns, he has sold out live events, driven record enrollments in online programs, and established clients as recognized authorities in their fields. These outcomes are built on a repeatable system that Kasper pioneered — precise content architecture paired with creative that captures attention and converts, without relying on hacks or shortcuts.

At the forefront of conscious content architecture and social media growth strategy, Kasper Hytonen has risen to the very top of his field. He has transformed how thought leaders and impact-driven entrepreneurs reach global audiences, setting new industry standards, earning recognition from leading media, and shaping the cultural conversation in the United States and beyond. His mission is clear: to expand the reach of leaders driving monumental impact and ensure their voices shape the global dialogue.

Becket Fusik is Founder of Titan, a media infrastructure company solving the $850 billion gap between valuable companies and their audiences. Through his career, Becket has generated over 1 billion impressions and driven 8-figures in revenue by building media systems that make good companies impossible to ignore.

As co-host of The Big Picture podcast with Randall Carlson and creator of the Amplified Impact Workshop, Becket has pioneered frameworks like the Flirt-Date-Commit Content Continuum that help organizations build authentic relationships at scale. At Titan, he’s integrating AI across every process, from storytelling to data analysis, proving that technology is no longer the limiting factor for creation.

Having bootstrapped multiple ventures and invested in five companies without raising capital, Becket brings a practitioner’s perspective to building sustainable media businesses. His work with leaders like Matt Beall (CEO, Bealls) and George Howard (Founder, Restoration Systems) demonstrates that relationships, not transactions, drive lasting business value.

Michael Houck – Founder of Founding Journey & Megaphone
After raising $23M from a16z, Balaji Srinivasan, and others for his hacker-house-turned-venture-fund, Michael Houck has built a 300,000+ person audience and bootstrapped a personal holding company to $3M in revenue. He’s an early investor in startups like Figure.ai and Beehiiv who started his career as part of the early team that built Uber Eats, and a product manager at Airbnb.

10:00 – 10:30am (Recital Hall)

Co-sponsorship available

Wild Pitch, Round 1:

Altra – Redmond, WA – altrainfusion.com – Robert Canfield, CPO; Tom Cassou
Altra is reinventing infusion therapy with a next-generation pump designed to eliminate drug delivery errors. It delivers higher accuracy, safety, and reliability across hospitals, transport, and home settings while reducing cost and complexity.

Annlex Systems – Charleston, SC – annlex.com – Doug Hall, Founder
Annlex is an AI-powered legal research platform grounded in real court opinions. It anchors every response to verifiable sources, enabling lawyers to conduct more reliable and compounding research.

Bavovna AI – Charleston, SC – bavovna.ai – Arthur McCallum, Co-Founder & CEO
Bavovna AI is Charleston-based defense technology company that has been building cutting edge autonomous drone systems since 2022. We are Made in America and Proven in Ukraine. We will be presenting Carolina DroneHub, our SC-based drone manufacturing and testing facility that will double total US production capabilities and make SC a center of gravity for next-gen defense technologies.

Data Moose – Charleston, SC – datamoose.org – John Seaman, Co-founder & CEO
Data Moose is the AI-ready data infrastructure layer purpose-built for the nonprofit mid-market. It unifies donor, financial, and operational data into one governed warehouse and makes it accessible through AskMoose, a natural-language AI interface. The company serves nonprofits nationwide with 100% renewal and zero churn.

Foresight Grid Inc. – Austin, TX – foresight-grid.com – Miguel Silva, Co-founder & CEO
Foresight Grid built a specialized AI foundation model that learns the physics of the electricity grid to forecast wholesale prices and optimize trading decisions for energy generators, traders, and large consumers. The company is initially focused on Texas, the most volatile electricity market in the U.S.

MC: Juan Garzón, Managing Director, Innovate Charlotte
Judges

10:40 – 11:10am (Emmett Robinson Theatre)

Sponsor:

Innovations in HealthCare: Clinical, Non-Clinical, AI & Beyond

Moderator: Kaitlyn Crobar – Associate Dir. of Digital Health & Creative Works, MUSC
Sairohith Thummarakoti – Regional Manager, AI Collective
Michael G. Webb – Founder & Chief Executive Officer, H-Minus Inc
Benjamin Lok, Ph.D. – CTO, Rovex Technologies Corporation

Kaitlyn Crobar, JD, CLP is the Associate Director of Digital Health & Creative Works and Intellectual Property & Licensing Officer at the Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization. She leads IP evaluation, protection, licensing, and compliance for digital health and creative works innovations, including AI, software, mobile apps, educational materials, trademarks, and other copyrightable works.

Michael Webb is a healthcare executive, growth leader, entrepreneur, and U.S. Army officer with 17+ years of leadership experience spanning healthcare, life sciences, specialty pharmacy, digital health, and military service.

He has held senior leadership roles with Fortune 500 organizations including Optum, Quest Diagnostics, and AmerisourceBergen, and has led growth, commercial strategy, go-to-market execution, and business transformation across large-scale enterprises and emerging ventures. His experience includes building high-performing teams, scaling revenue, developing strategic partnerships, and advancing AI-enabled and technology-driven solutions that improve patient access and operational performance.

Michael is also Founder and CEO of a healthcare infrastructure venture focused on patient access orchestration and workflow design. His work sits at the intersection of healthcare operations, automation, and enterprise growth strategy.

In addition to his executive work, Michael serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship at the Baker School of Business, where he brings a practical and strategic perspective to leadership, decision-making, and organizational performance. He emphasizes the connection between academic theory and real-world application, helping students develop as thoughtful, disciplined, and effective leaders.

He also serves as a Major in the U.S. Army Reserve, with leadership experience in logistics, airborne, and aerial delivery operations.

MBA, Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
BS in Finance, Miami University.

Sairohith Thummarakoti is an accomplished technology leader and recognized expert in Pega, cloud computing, and AI-driven enterprise transformation. He currently serves as a Consultant Application Engineer at Healthcare company, where he leads major modernization initiatives.

With deep expertise in intelligent automation, cloud architecture, and digital health platforms, Sairohith has delivered enterprise-scale solutions across healthcare, banking, and insurance for organizations like Wells Fargo, Elevance Health, and Citizens Bank.

He is a Certified Pega Lead System Architect and an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional, blending low-code design with advanced cloud and AI technologies to build scalable, secure, and high-performance systems.

Beyond industry, Sairohith is deeply engaged in the academic and professional community as the Founding Chair of the IEEE Computer Society Columbia Section, Senior Member of IEEE, and Industry Advisory Board member at Texas A&M University–Kingsville. He actively mentors students, reviews research for IEEE and Elsevier journals, and delivers talks on AI, cloud optimization, and digital healthcare innovation.

10:40 – 11:10am
(Black Box Theater)

Sponsor:

Beyond Conscious Capitalism: Why Being a Fully-Human Business Owner is Critical in the Age of AI

In this motivational talk, Matt explores from his own heart: What AI cannot replace, academic studies showing relationship between profit and purpose—including definable HOW, the huge trust differential between community and large institutions, the opportunities ahead for owners to save/grow their companies in AI era and yes—perhaps, contribute to saving the world

Matthew Pardieck, Managing Principal, Harbour Wealth Management

Matthew Pardieck is the author of Bottom Line of Happiness (a Conscious Capitalism reading resource), owner of Harbour Wealth Management, and generally a super big-hearted intelligent dude.

10:40 – 11:10am (Recital Hall)

Co-sponsorship available

Wild Pitch, Round 2:

Genesis 1 Technologies – Charlotte, NC – genesis1.tech – Marcus Wade, Founder & CEO
Genesis 1 deploys smart recycling stations on college campuses monetized through digital advertising. The company combines recycling infrastructure, incentives, accountability, and media revenue into a scalable platform.

Iguana Cyber – Charlotte, NC – iguanacyber.com – Parker Garrison, Founder & CEO
Iguana Cyber has built an EDR cybersecurity platform designed for the AI era. Unlike traditional systems that rely on historical threat matching, Iguana Cyber uses a patent-pending consensus model to identify new and evolving threats in real time.

IQExit – Wilmington, NC – iqexit.com – Tully Ryan, CEO
IQExit is the defining platform in a new category: Exit Readiness Intelligence™. It captures business owner intent, timing, and readiness 24–60 months before a transaction begins.

Maxsis – Knoxville, TN – maxwellbookkeeping.com – Daniel J. Maxwell, Founder
Maxsis is an AI financial intelligence platform that analyzes accounting and financial data to detect liquidity risk, anomalies, and compliance issues. It provides actionable insights for organizations without full-time CFO oversight.

PitStop – Longview, TX – orderpitstop.com – Dustin Hartman, Founder & CEO
PitStop is an on-demand parts delivery marketplace serving mechanics and shop owners. It partners with local parts stores to deliver parts in minutes instead of hours, reducing downtime and lost productivity.

MC: Juan Garzón, Managing Director, Innovate Charlotte
Judges: TBA
Track: Startups, Pitching, Demos, Funding, Scaling

11:15 – 12:00am (Emmett Robinson Theatre)

Sponsor:

Beyond LLMs: Building the future of AI with less energy and fewer data centers
Looking toward creation is the future of AI. How Neuromorphic computing can get batter results with less energy.

Jason Williamson, CEO, MythWorx

Jason Williamson is the Chief Executive Officer of MythWorx, where he leads the company’s growth and commercialization of next-generation AI innovations. A seasoned technology executive, Jason brings a proven track record of scaling organizations and driving global innovation. He previously served as an Executive Director at Oracle, where he expanded the startup ecosystem from 250 to over 3,000 companies, and held a global leadership role at Amazon Web Services (AWS), building strategic partnerships across private equity and advisory sectors. Jason is also a former non-commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps, bringing disciplined leadership and strategic focus to every endeavor.

11:15 – 11:45am (Black Box Theater)

Sponsor:

Learning from Learning: How Education Analytics Can Transform AI and Business Dashboards

This session, translates classroom insight into corporate impact. Hickman reveals how educational analytics frameworks—feedback loops, reflection dashboards, and progress tracking—can make AI systems and teams smarter over time. Attendees will see how to turn static business dashboards into adaptive “learning environments” that teach organizations to perform better, not just report performance. You’ll leave with practical models for closing the feedback loop between human decision-makers and AI systems, templates for adaptive KPI dashboards, and a fresh perspective on what it really means for analytics to learn.

Takeaways: Apply learning-analytics cycles to AI and BI strategy. Build dashboards that evolve through feedback. Use educational measurement techniques to drive organizational growth and innovation.

Carleigh Hickman — Professor of Artificial Intelligence & Computing Technology, Horry-Georgetown Technical College

Carleigh Hickman is a Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Computing Technology at Horry-Georgetown Technical College, where she is developing the college’s first AI program. With more than eight years of experience in IT project management and digital transformation, she has served as CRM Manager at four-year institutions and Learning Analytics Engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense. Her work bridges human-centered design, data science, and educational technology—translating learning analytics into actionable business intelligence. She specializes in explainable AI, performance dashboards, and evidence-based strategies that help organizations actually use the data they collect.

11:15 – 11:45am (Recital Hall)

Co-sponsorship available

Wild Pitch, Round 3

Pressiant Health – Charleston, SC – pressianthealth.com – Brett Sternfield, CEO
Pressiant Health is building the first remote, non-invasive hemodynamic monitoring system designed to improve heart failure management.

Quellios – Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hil, NC – Dr. Steven F. LeBoeuf
Founded by veteran pioneers in wearable tech, Quellios has developed a deep-tech inflammation intelligence engine that measures the body’s inflammatory response to food using one’s smartphone camera. Powered by patent-pending Snap & Sense™ technology, Quellios combines nutrition AI with bio-optical machine vision to connect meals, symptoms, and physiological signals, revealing personalized inflammation triggers and guiding precision dietary decisions.

Renoverse AI – Charleston, SC – renoverse.ai – Nola Solomon, Founder & CEO
Renoverse AI helps residential construction professionals manage communication, decisions, budgets, and timelines through a centralized collaboration platform. It reduces design-cycle inefficiencies, lowers litigation risk, and improves client communication.

Rovex Technologies – Gainesville, FL – gorovex.com – Benjamin Lok, Co-Founder & CTO
Rovex is developing AI-powered robotics for hospital logistics. Its autonomous mobile robot attaches to hospital stretchers to transport patients safely and efficiently, improving throughput and reducing labor strain.

SafeShowings – Charleston, SC – safeshowings.com – Helen Hudson, Founder & CEO
SafeShowings provides safety technology designed specifically for real estate professionals.

MC: Juan Garzón, Managing Director, Innovate Charlotte
Judges: TBA
Track: Startups, Pitching, Demos, Funding, Scaling

Renoverse
Founder: Nola Solomon
Headquarters: Charleston, SC
Website: renoverse.ai
Renoverse AI is renovation assistant built for homeowners to simplify the overwhelm and time wastage in planning renovations with an education layer to help them understand what they don’t know or answer any question they have along the way. Through an interactive and collaborative AI experience, homeowners can start projects (our MVP is bathroom) and design the space they want to renovate by leaning on the GenAI helper to guide them through decisions and generate ideas and visualizations that they can interact with and make changes to.

12:00 – 1:15pm

Summit Lunch Break – Choose Your Adventure
Excellent options within 3 blocks of the Simons Center: Bar Taco, Legend Deli, Caviar & Bananas, Leyla, Beech, Breizh Pan, Fire Grill, Basic Kitchen

1:30pm – 2:00pm (Emmett Robinson Theater)

Sponsorship available

Building AI Infrastructure at Global Scale and What it Means for Your Small-to-Midsize Business

Focus: Cloud infrastructure, data pipelines, and large-scale systems. Content enrichment for AI. Building AI-powered detectors and correctors for media assets and metadata. Applying AI to build intelligent agents in Google Cloud for enterprise customers.

Bhavuk Jain — Senior Software / Lead Engineer, Google
Anchit Jhingan — Senior Data Scientist, Amazon
Nithin Mohan — Engineering Leader, HPC & AI Products, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Moderator: Michael Duffey — Global VP of Corporate Sales, Hashicorp / IBM

Anchit Jhingan is a Senior Data Scientist with 6+ years of experience in big tech, specializing in machine learning, AI systems, and analytics. He currently works at Prime Video in the content localization domain. He holds a Master’s degree from UIC and has deep experience in model development, deployment, and applied AI. His work focuses on using intelligent systems to solve real-world business problems, especially in media and entertainment.

Bhavuk Jain is a Tech Lead at Google, driving applied AI initiatives across diverse product areas. He focuses on translating cutting-edge research into scalable products adopted by millions of users worldwide. Most recently, he contributed to integrating AI in Pixel devices, with his work making its way into AOSP (Android Open Source Project) and being adopted by leading global device makers. He has also led efforts in applying AI to build intelligent agents in Google Cloud for enterprise customers.

Nithin Mohan: I work at the frontier of AI and supercomputing, building teams and technologies that transform how enterprises and research organizations solve their most complex challenges. My career has taken me from scaling early stage innovation at a startup that turned unicorn to driving global adoption of AI and High Performance Computing at HPE.

What drives me is the opportunity to turn breakthrough ideas into systems that matter. I thrive at the intersection of technology and strategy, collaborating with engineering, product, and business leaders to translate cutting edge AI and HPC research into solutions trusted by customers worldwide. I am equally passionate about mentoring diverse teams and creating environments where innovation flourishes. My mission is to push the boundaries of what AI and Supercomputing can achieve for industries, communities, and society at large.

Michael Duffey: I moved to Charleston almost 3 years ago after 12+ years in San Francisco. I have been a go to market executive for New Relic, Hashicorp and now IBM after their acquisition of Hashicorp last year. I was the youngest VP in New Relics history, and have built a career in helping scale sales organizations within multi billion dollar market cap companies within the observability, digital infrastructure and security spaces.

1:30 – 2:00pm
(Black Box Theater)

Gnosis Freight Workshop

The Real Cost of AI Slop:
Why good taste matters more than good tech

Emily Farella Porter – Director of Brand & Product Marketing, Gnosis Freight

Content, code, design, strategy, and production are becoming faster, cheaper, and increasingly accessible to everyone. As execution becomes abundant, something else becomes scarce: good taste.

The challenge facing founders, investors, and product leaders isn’t how to create more faster. It’s how to avoid becoming indistinguishable from everyone else creating with the same tools.

This session explores the rise of AI slop as a symptom of a larger market shift: the migration of value away from execution and toward taste, discernment, authorship, and point of view.

We’ll examine why brand affinity is the moat surrounding product consideration, why buyers scrutinize your narrative long before they ever experience your product, and how AI can either erode differentiation or amplify it depending on the quality of the human judgment behind it.

AI scales execution, but it does not create meaning.

The companies that thrive in the next decade won’t be the ones using AI the most aggressively. They’ll be the ones with the clearest sense of who they are, what they believe, and what deserves to exist in the first place.

Attendees will leave with practical frameworks for capturing their judgment, translating it into repeatable systems, and using AI to scale differentiation rather than dilute it.

Content, code, design, strategy, and production are becoming faster, cheaper, and increasingly accessible to everyone. As execution becomes abundant, something else becomes scarce: good taste.

The challenge facing founders, investors, and product leaders isn’t how to create more faster. It’s how to avoid becoming indistinguishable from everyone else creating with the same tools.

This session explores the rise of AI slop as a symptom of a larger market shift: the migration of value away from execution and toward taste, discernment, authorship, and point of view.

We’ll examine why brand affinity is the moat surrounding product consideration, why buyers scrutinize your narrative long before they ever experience your product, and how AI can either erode differentiation or amplify it depending on the quality of the human judgment behind it.

1:30pm – 2:00pm (Recital Hall)

Co-sponsorship available

Wild Pitch, Round 4

SimuPharma – Richmond, VA – simupharma.tech – Tim Van Meter, CEO & Founder
SimuPharma develops AI-driven real-time precision health analytics and simulation software.

SiteFit – Boca Raton, FL – sitefit.base44.app – Dominik Suchanek, CEO; Tyler Cureton, COO
SiteFit is an AI-powered site plan generation platform that uses zoning data to create code-compliant layouts and due diligence reports for developers, architects, and designers.

Snapline – Cumming, GA – snapline.co – Patrick Hassell, Founder & CEO; Jimmy Banyas, Co-founder
Snapline, Inc. is building the financial infrastructure layer for the $560B U.S. home renovation / restoration market. We manage and protect payments for homeowners, contractors, and lenders/insurers through a state-of-the-art funds administration platform.

Sortyx – Chennai, India – sortyx.com – Subrathra Neha, CEO
Sortyx is an AI-powered waste and urban infrastructure company that transforms waste bins into connected smart assets using IoT sensors and real-time data. Its platform also integrates digital advertising screens, creating a hardware, SaaS, and media revenue model.

2:05 – 2:45pm
(Emmett Robinson Theater)

Sponsor:

Building Innovation Ecosystems & How Scalable Startups Can Take Advantage of Them

Mica Dolan – President & CEO, ATI
Bill Kirkland – President & CEO at South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA)
Tomasz Wilmanski – MPH, PhD – Vice President of Health Algorithms at Thorne
Moderator – Melissa Levesque – Vice President, Strategic Operations | Chief of Staff at CRDA

Ms. Mica Dolan is the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Advanced Technology International (ATI). As President and CEO, she oversees the strategic direction and ongoing success of ATI, which has grown to become the largest collaboration management services company in the United States.

Prior to this role, she was President and Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for developing company-wide best practices, as well as implementing and leading business operations and
establishing policies to promote ATI’s mission and vision.

Ms. Dolan also served as Senior Vice President of Contracts and Procurement. In that role, she was responsible for negotiating and overseeing ATI’s multi-billion dollar contract portfolio. She was a
key contributor to the startup of a number of consortia, including formation, contract negotiation and execution, operating procedure development and implementation, member training, and
working hand in hand with the government throughout the execution of consortia based Other Transaction Agreements.

Ms. Dolan has an M.B.A from The Citadel and a B.S. in Finance and Management from the University of South Carolina. She is a Certified Professional Contracts Manager and is also a Riley Institute
Diversity Fellow.

2:10 – 2:40pm
(Recital Hall)

Sponsor:

The State of Funding from Bootstrap to Angel, Venture to Equity, and Beyond

Moderator: Brian Gillespie – Partner, Nelson Mullins
Bill Drohan – Angel Investor, Charleston Angel Partners
Will Cruz – CIO, InvestSC
Karl King “Trey” Rust III – Co-founder, President, PixieBlack

Brian Gillespie
I am a partner in the Emerging Companies practice at Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP. My practice primarily focuses on representing startup companies across a multitude of industries. I’ve represented companies from formation through exit, seed financings to growth stage financings, majority-deals to exits. In addition to my startup practice, I regularly guide clients through buy and sell-side M&A transactions, various liquidity events, cofounder divorces, and secondary transactions. I’ve counseled a number of venture funds across the southeast on investment transactions.

Carl King “Trey” Rust III
Co-Founder & President, PixieBlack | Director of Business Development, Electric Red
Trey Rust is a serial entrepreneur and technology leader with 28 years of experience — beginning his tech career in 1998 — building platforms that help businesses cut through
complexity and act with confidence. He is the Co-Founder and President of PixieBlack — an AI and automation oversight platform that gives executive leadership a clear, financially quantified view of every business process, the people performing it, and the technology supporting it. PixieBlack recently closed its $500K pre-seed round and is building the future of people operations.
Trey is also the Founder of Pollen Social, an all-in-one marketing platform that turns everyday connections into measurable outcomes for growing brands, and serves as Director of Business Development at Electric Red, a Charleston-based managed, AI-powered
technology services firm.

Will Cruz: A serial entrepreneur and global investor committed to accelerating innovation returns and venture funding through corporate capital. Moreover, I am also dedicated to creating long term wealth and equity value through exceptional founder talent execution. I believe the time has never been better for Venture Studios to be front and center with corporations as partners. I encourage the startup ecosystem to look at Venture Studios and their companies as a new asset class.

Bill Drohan currently serves as an Angel Investor with Charleston Angel Partners. He is also the Chairman of the Deal Flow Committee for the organization.

His extensive background includes several key leadership and advisory roles:
Virginia Venture Partners: Member of the Investment Committee for this state-funded seed-stage VC company.

Startup Mentorship: Mentor for startups in the SCORE program and Harbor Entrepreneurship Center, and advisor to various fintech and SaaS companies.

Former Executive Roles: Previously served as Chairman and founding board member of Alliance Bank (Nasdaq:ABVA), President/CEO of the Association of University Research Parks (AURP), and a banking lobbyist in Washington, DC.

Education: Holds an MBA from George Washington University and a BS from Bryant University.

2:10 – 2:40pm
(Black Box Theater)

Sponsorship available

The AI Startup Frontier: What’s New, Different, and How Should I Approach It?

Building and scaling AI from startup to enterprise. Bridging deep technical expertise with strategic leadership. Delivering measurable business impact through innovation in AI adoption.

Jack Teitel — Founder & CEO, Title AI
Jason Gorham – Creator of Programmatic Job Advertising, Co-founder, TalentXi
Thomas McCarthy-Howe – CTO, VCONIC
Moderator: Jaime Cahalan – Founder, Emotive Strategic

Jack Teitel is a former professor of AI with 12 years of experience applying AI in industry. I have worked extensively across healthcare AI (within hospitals, insurance, medtech, sports medicine, etc.). I also have significant experience in NLP/LLMs (building custom agents, fine tuning models, RAG systems, LLM-based web crawlers, etc.) and in computer vision (2d imaging, 3d imaging, video, rgb, xray, ultrasound, infrared, detection, segmentation, action recognition, real-time, edge devices, etc.). Aside from those specialty areas I have some good experience with predictive analytics, logistics, unsupervised learning/analysis, general ML/DL, general data analytics, etc. I have performed numerous speaking engagements around the US throughout the years, and I’ve given several local talks and panels in coordination with the CDC, SC Competes, and other organizations.

Jason S. Gorham is a renowned leader and innovator in talent acquisition, with more than 25+ years of experience working with and for multiple Fortune 100 companies. He excels at leveraging technology and hands-on expertise to revolutionize recruitment processes, enhance recruitment marketing, and develop cutting-edge talent acquisition strategies.

Gorham’s innovative vision is exemplified by his pioneering work as the first in the industry to integrate job search engines with sponsored job advertising, a concept protected under U.S. Patent 7,653,567. This groundbreaking achievement earned him recognition as a Citrix Dual Category Award Finalist, and has significantly influenced recruitment technology. The technology is now utilized by numerous companies and licensed by Indeed and LinkedIn. Continuing to be recognized for his innovative thinking, Gorham earned 2nd place in the IT Expo Pitch Competition in February 2026.

In addition to his groundbreaking innovations, Gorham is a respected thought leader and sought-after international speaker, having shared his expertise at prominent events such as MIT Roundtable, Tri-State SHRM, London Recruiting, the ERE Conference, and the Atlanta Recruiter Roundtable, among others. His presentations focus on the synergy between HR technology and talent acquisition strategies, offering insights into how cutting-edge tools can enhance the human-centric aspects of recruitment. Gorham’s ability to engage diverse audiences highlights his dedication to shaping the future of talent acquisition.

Thomas McCarthy-Howe
I build the infrastructure that lets conversations move safely between systems.

For 30+ years I’ve worked at the intersection of real-time communications, distributed systems, and applied AI — from early SIP and DSL deployments, through large-scale contact-center platforms, to today’s privacy-preserving conversational AI. I’m the creator of the vCon (Virtualized Conversation) standard now being developed in the IETF vCon Working Group, where I currently co-author 8 active Internet-Drafts covering the core data model, lifecycle management, SIP signaling, agent sessions, and privacy and lawful-basis frameworks.

As CTO of VCONIC, I’m commercializing that work — building the platform that turns calls, chats, transcripts, and AI-agent interactions into portable, signed, consent-aware vCon containers that flow safely between systems. I also created and maintain Conserver (github.com/vcon-dev/vcon-server), the open-source reference implementation of vCon that processed millions of customer conversations in production at Strolid and now powers VCONIC’s pipeline.

Earlier, as CTO of Strolid, I led the engineering team that built one of the first vCon-powered automotive customer-experience platforms. Before that, I founded and led multiple ventures, architected modern real-time communications systems, hold multiple US and EP patents in cloud call-back and conversational platforms, and have spoken at dozens of industry events.

I care most about getting the foundational layer right: open standards, privacy by construction, provable provenance, and infrastructure that’s worthy of the conversations it carries.

2:50 – 3:30pm (Emmett Robinson Theater)

Sponsor:

How to Pilot, Fund, Launch, Take to Market & Scale Innovations in HealthTech

Moderator: Todd Headley, CEO, Zucker Institute for Innovation Commercialization
Brett Berman, Director of Operations Health Solutions, MUSC
Todd Lillibridge – President & CEO , TWL Enterprises
Bob Crutchfield, Managing Director, Hotspot Ventures

2:45 – 4:00pm (Recital Hall)

Sponsor:

GDNA INTERACTIVE WORKSHOP

Start Something Real with Will Horn, Founder/CEO, g/d/n/a and Max Hellman

Additional details and registration for the workshop found HERE.

Join the Mira Game—a fast, engaging, facilitated workshop that transforms a raw idea (or no idea at all) into a clear, fundable pitch in just 2–3 hours. Inspired by the curious, empathetic Mira agent (think kestrel vibes), you’ll progress through structured checkpoints to create real startup artifacts: problem framing, user insights, VTDF business model, MVP plan, and a polished pitch ready to share. Perfect for founders with concepts, aspiring entrepreneurs, or anyone curious about startups. Leave with a tangible pitch to attract funding, co-founders, or launch momentum—all in one focused afternoon.

Will Horn is the founder, CEO, and Managing Technologist of g/d/n/a (gdna.io), an AWS Advanced Tier and AI Services Partner and data-first transformation company based in Charleston, SC. For 20+ years, Will has built and scaled businesses through technology and operational efficiency, from startups to Fortune 10 enterprises in 45+ countries across a dozen industries.

At AWS, he was a GSI leader in the TCS alliance, bootstrapping the team and operating model that drove two AWS Partner of the Year wins and billions in shared revenue, followed by a tenure as AWS Partner Strategist at Splunk.

Today, through g/d/n/a, he’s transforming companies and communities by bringing enterprise-grade operational excellence to startups and SMBs—and startup-speed execution to enterprises that can’t afford to wait.

In 2025, under his leadership, g/d/n/a delivered 40+ customer successes, tripled revenue, launched its agentic AI product practice (GDNA.AI), and invested in workforce development by actively launching new tech careers—progressing both companies and the people behind them.

Will is a builder, a community connector, and a believer that listening first leads to value creation.

Max Heilman is an Agentic AI Architect at GDNA, where he designs intelligent, autonomous systems that transform how businesses operate. His career began on the technology team at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, where he built software powering one of the world’s largest financial marketplaces. He went on to found and lead a venture-backed startup for four years, sharpening his instincts for building products from the ground up and navigating the demands of high-growth environments. Today, Max brings that blend of engineering depth and entrepreneurial grit to the frontier of AI, specializing in agentic SaaS and business process transformation. He’s focused on helping organizations move beyond simple automation toward truly autonomous, AI-driven workflows.

2:45 – 3:15pm (Black Box Theater)

Sponsorship available

Enterprise Engineering in the Age of AI, New Data Platforms, Plus Identity and What it Means to Be Secure in an Agentic World

Carter Kennedy, CEO & Co-founder, SoloInsight
Shivendra Srivastava — Amazon Web Services
Anshul Sharma — Customer Success Specialist, Cisco
Moderator: Victoria Reed – AI Experience Lead, CODE/+/TRUST

Focus: Modern enterprise data architecture. How to bridge the gap between experimenting with AI and engineering safe and secure, production-grade systems that serve millions of users. How to embed AI into real-world workflows. Attendees will gain a clear understanding of MCP’s architecture and walk away with the foundational knowledge needed to start applying MCP patterns within modern NetOps environments.

Carter Kennedy, CEO, Soloinsight
A serial entrepreneur with a passion for software, Carter has built SaaS businesses for over a decade, combining his 35+ years of expertise in finance, management, compliance, audits, fundraising, high frequency algorithmic trading and managing software teams. Before investing $3M of his personal money into Soloinsight, Carter founded a SaaS platform called Airtight Compliance, which automates compliance processes for hedge funds and Registered Investment Advisors. Carter entered the world of finance after graduating from Hamilton College, where he provided fixed income options trading strategies to institutional customers. As the founder and manager of proprietary trading firm Tuscarora Trading, which specialized in trading debt options, and as an algorithmic trader with Tuscarora Capital Management, he traded money for Goldman Sachs and other professional investors. Under his leadership, TCM raised $25M from institutional investors and high net worth individuals.

Goldman Sachs also contributed $5M to Carter’s Commodity Trading Advisory. He lead Soloinsight’s fundraising to the tune of more than $10M from high net worth investors, including $MM from Stanley Black and Decker’s venture capital arm, Stanley Ventures. Under his leadership, the company grew from 15 to 112 employees, converted several Fortune 500 companies and
Class A portfolios and healthcare chains into happy customers, won several awards including the SIA New Product Award, Chicago Innovatio”Customer Success Technical Leader, Cisco” (not “Customer Success Specialist”).

Anshul Sharma, Customer Success Technical Leader, Cisco
Anshul Sharma works at Cisco Systems in RTP, North Carolina, as a Customer Success Technical Leader. He focuses on software-defined networking, AI adoption, and architecture across a range of enterprise technologies, leading large-scale adoption initiatives and AI-Assistant rollouts for global customers. Anshul is a CCIE, AWS Certified AI Practitioner, Cisco AI Blue Belt, and an IEEE Senior Member with multiple IEEE publications, peer reviews, and multiple Best Presented Paper awards. He has served as a lab instructor at Cisco Live and as an invited speaker at Lasell University, where he presented on the rise of AI-native network operations. Anshul also mentors and judges at multiple industry hackathons, and is passionate about making complex technology simpler and more accessible for everyone.n Award, and 4th Revolution Award in addition to being granted 2 patents

Shivendra Srivastava, has 17 years of experience in the software industry and is currently working as Software Development Manager at AWS Lambda managing a team of engineers working on challenging problems in the serverless compute space. Prior to AWS he worked at Microsoft, Wayfair, and Walgreens. He has a Masters in CS with specialization in Machine Learning from Georgia Tech. He advises startups on their usage of cloud, product strategy and innovation and also mentors students at University of Washington, Bothell.

3:30 – 4:00pm
(Black Box)

Sponsorship available

Thinking in vCon

Thomas McCarthy-Howe, CTO, VCONIC

Thomas McCarthy-Howe frames vCon through the lens of the Internet standards tradition: the quiet but transformative work of turning messy, fragmented human activity into interoperable infrastructure.

Just as the IETF helped make email, the web, real-time communications, security, and identity work across networks and vendors, vCon applies that same standards discipline to one of the most important artifacts of the AI era: the conversation itself.

3:40 – 4:30 pm (Emmett Robinson Theatre)

Co-sponsorship available

Wild Pitch Finale 2026!
The top 3 scores from the morning sessions battle it out for the chance to pitch for $1M in Silicon Valley.

Grand Prize: Golden Ticket to Pitch for $1,000,000 at Startup World Cup

2nd Prize: $5000 Dig South Sponsorship Package for 2027

3rd Prize: 2 VIP Badges to Dig South Tech Summit 2027
Introductions: Pegasus Tech Ventures

The final three startups of the tournament compete for a chance to pitch for $1,000,000 at Startup World Cup in Silicon Valley.

Closing Shindig & Charleston Tech Week Finale Tickets

5:00 – 6:30pm
BUY TICKETS

Sponsor:

“Think Bigger” Silicon Harbor Shindig: Dig South’s Closing Bash– also celebrating the close of Charleston Tech Week. Sponsored by The Office People, Hosted Holy City Hospitality, 39 C-G John Street, Hutson’s Alley (in between Charleston Music Hall and Rue De Jean).

Buy Guest Tickets HERE

The Office People
The Office People™ is an award-winning, minority-owned and operated business that has been serving the Southeast for over twenty years. Our growth and success have enabled us to service customers in twenty-three (23) states across the nation with outstanding products, service, and support.

2026 PARTNERS

ThanK YOU FOR MAKING DIG SOUTH POSSIBLE!

Platinum

GOOD AS Gold

Silver SURFER

SOLID Bronze

Startup SOUTH

partneR today

$1,000,000 Wild Pitch
w/ startup world cup

Dig South’s Wild Pitch is the South’s Capitol of Capital. Show why you’re the Summit’s smartest investment. Win the chance to pitch for $1,000,000 in Silicon Valley at Startup World Cup.

Secure a Startup Alley exhibitor space and maximize your lead-gen, networking impact.

For details, email: info@digsouth.com
Application closed: April 1, 2026

Enter Wild Pitch for a chance to win a

$1,000,000 Investment Prize

at Pegasus Tech Ventures Startup World Cup

APPLY TO speak
AT DIG SOUTH

Dig South welcomes innovators building the future, top-shelf speakers working in real-time in emerging technology – AI, Energy, Fintech, Martech, Cybersecurity, Defense, Supply Chain, Healthtech, Transportation, Hospitality, Creative Industries, Investment Capital, Deep Experts & beyond.

We focus on Founders, Funders, Executives, Entrepreneurs Builders, and Experts currently in the trenches scaling companies.

Keynotes, Panels, Fireside Chats, Workshops, Demos and other formats welcome – get creative!

Apply Now

2026 Summit Theme

think biggeR!

Raise a round, find top talent, learn, and land new clients.
The 14th annual Dig South anchors the 2nd annual Charleston Tech Week, June 8–12, 2026!

Special Features

$1M PITCH OPPORTUNITY
Co-Sponsor: Charleston Angel Partners

Dig South’s Wild Pitch winner will pitch for a $1,000,000 investment prize at the Startup World Cup in Silicon Valley.

INVESTOR HOT SEAT PANEL
Sponsor: info@digsouth.com
Ticket included with 2-day badge, or buy a separate ticket. On sale soon.

Capital Access: From Angel to VC, PE and Beyond. Attend our rapid-fire forum featuring expert investors. Learn how deal flow really works in the South.

UPLOAD CHARLESTON SHINDIG:
Dig South’s signature welcome shindig since 2013
Sponsor: info@digsouth.com
Ticket included with 2-day badge, or buy a separate ticket. On sale soon.

The ultimate Summit kickoff. Mingle with top tech talent, founders, and VCs over spirits, local bites, and electric conversation. Charleston charm meets tech’s boldest minds.

SPEED-DATING FOR STARTUPS
Sponsor: info@digsouth.com
By invitation only.

Founders, entrepreneurs, and tech pros casually pitch to seasoned investors for a 3–minutes before rotating to the next table.

MONEYBALL: INVESTOR-VIP-SPEAKER SHINDIG
GAME ON!
Sponsor:
info@digsouth.com
Tickets included with badges at the VIP-Investor-Level and also sold separately.

Meet Top Funders – Angels, VCs, LPs, & Private Equity Players – Plus Dig South Speakers at Charleston’s Most Essential Investor Bash.

THINK BIGGER: CLOSING SHINDIG
Sponsor: info@digsouth.com
Ticket included with 2-day badge, or buy a separate ticket. On sale soon.

Couldn’t make the full Summit? Drop by the “Think Bigger Farewell Bash,” your last chance to do the network dance. Beer & wine included.

SUMMIT TRACKS
ALL THINGS AI & THEN SOME

Explore advancements in the cutting-edge cosmos of technology

AI, ML & Data Analytics: Dive into the world of AI, where robots aren’t just taking over—they’re making our lives smarter, faster, and easier. AI is the co-pilot we need, from deep learning to digital assistants.

Service & Hospitality: Experience how AI is turning customer service into customer wow! From personalized experiences to robot concierges, tech is serving up innovation with a side of southern charm.

Healthcare: Get ready to learn how AI-driven diagnostics, wearable tech, and telemedicine are revolutionizing how we stay healthy—and maybe even live forever!

Supply Chain, Transportation & Energy: Whether it’s drones delivering your dinner or AI optimizing global logistics, this track explores the tech that’s ensuring everything gets from point A to point B at the speed of innovation.

Sales & Marketing: Say goodbye to boring campaigns! This track is all about leveraging AI and data analytics to craft marketing strategies that are more engaging than a cat on a unicycle.

Dig South’s Wild Pitch: The South’s Capitol of Capital. Pitch for a chance to win a $1,000,000 investment prize at Pegasus Tech Ventures Startup World Cup. Take the stage and show why you’re the Summit’s smartest investment. Apply here.

Cybersecurity & Defense: As we boldly go where no data has gone before, this track ensures your secrets stay safe in the digital universe. Explore the latest in cyber armor and defense tech.

TBA

Fintech, Legal & Blockchain: Money and law are getting a futuristic facelift. Blockchain, smart contracts, and AI-driven legal tools are rewriting the rules of finance and justice—no time travel required (but maybe trekcoin.)

Push boundaries. Stretch. Grow. Invent the future at Dig South Tech Summit, June 11-12, 2026. Contact us for opportunities: info@digsouth.com

Join the Movement

FIND WHO YOU NEED TO MEET

DIG SOUTH Welcomes Boardy.ai: The South’s New AI Super Connector

Click here to onboard:

Straight from the source

Why We Love Dig South Events

FAQs

Sponsor FAQs

Email info@digsouth.com to sponsor Dig South Tech Summit. A limited number of exclusive partnerships are still available and include year-round benefits. Partner with us today for year-round value!

Dig South will register sponsors for the Dig South Tech Summit, May 1-2, 2025, in the Dig Nation member platform. Follow the instructions from the email sent from our team, which includes a unique link to register you and your guest tickets. Sponsors should complete their company profiles and other information asap to maximize the benefits. Email mellonie@digsouth.com for assistance.

2-day badges to Dig South Tech Summit include: May 1 events: Mentor Matchup, Upload Charleston, Benjamin Wallace Author Event; May events: All sessions on the schedule and the New Frontiers Shindig.

View the schedule at digsummit.com for details.

*For year-round Dig Nation membership events, visit digsouth.com/events

Follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok, X, Instagram, and Facebook. We greatly appreciate reposts and tags when you see Dig South and Dig South Tech Summit in your feed. Be sure to use #DigSouth #DigSouthTechSummit #DigNation in your posts. A brand kit is available by request at info@digsouth.com

Dig South Tech Summit will be held in the Simons Center for the Arts at the College of Charleston. Enter on St. Philip Street between Calhoun and George Streets. The newly renovated Simons Center is a cornerstone for the arts, providing dynamic facilities including an elegant theater, recital hall, black box theatre, dance and sculpture studios, classrooms and the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art.

Paid parking for the Summit is available in multiple garages, surface lots, and metered spaces around the Simons Center for the Arts. The nearest locations are the garages at 89 St. Philip Street and 34 St. Philip Street. Dig South also encourages using rideshare to attend the Summit.

Yes, you could. But why would you want to miss out on free benefits? The membership is an excellent year-round benefit to attending Dig South Tech Summit at no additional cost, but, we get it, not everyone wants to be listed in a community. Anyway you roll, we’re thrilled to see you at the Summit.

Heck yeah! Important note: Upload Charleston is included with the full ticket to the Summit. Guests who only want to attend Upload Charleston may buy a separate ticket to the event on Thursday, May 1, 5-7pm. Email info@digsouth.com to purchase.

Additional party tickets can be purchased for separate entry to the Upload Shindig for only $50. Email info@digsouth.com. Due to hard costs and capacity, the Summit is unable to accommodate full or single-session passes for guests, including spouses, colleagues, friends or assistants.

Dig Nation members gain access to not only Dig South Tech Summit but also year-round events and a range of excellent benefits, including a curated network, top-shelf content and capital opportunities. Visit dignation.co for benefits and more groovy info about the South’s Tech Tribe.

Badges for Dig South Tech Summit can be picked up on Thursday, May 1, 5:00-7:00pm, at the Upload Charleston Shindig at The College of Charleston President’s House, 6 Glebe Street, Charleston, SC 29401. Or on the day of the Summit, Friday, May 2, 8:00am-5:30pm at the Simons Center of the Arts, located on St. Philip Street between George and Calhoun Streets.

The Dig South “Upload Charleston” event will be held on Thursday, May 1, 5-7pm, at The College of Charleston President’s House – Bishop Robert Smith House, 6 Glebe Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

The oldest building on the College of Charleston campus, the President’s House was the site of the school’s first classes. Today this handsome Georgian mansion with the garden around it serves as the President’s House; it was also the home of the College’s first president over 200 years ago.

The land on which it stands was granted in 1672 to one of the colony’s original settlers, John Coming, whose name is remembered in nearby Coming Street. In 1698, his widow Affra Harleston Coming donated 17 acres of the land to St. Philip’s Anglican Church. The church soon after built a parsonage for its ministers about a block south of this site (approximately where Memminger School stands today).

Around 1770, as this area, known as Harleston Village, was developed, St. Philip’s decided to erect “a new parsonage house” with “a garden, orchard and pasturage,” and received approval and funding from the Royal legislature. A “brick building 48 by 44” with four main rooms on the main floor, two larger ones in the front, smaller ones in the rear, with “Kitchen and other Offices underneath” was agreed upon, with minister Robert Smith and contractor Daniel Cannon empowered to sort out the details. Construction had yet to begin by May of 1774, and although the details are vague, it is likely that the house was finished by 1778. For years, the house was dated “circa 1770.”

The agenda and session schedule will be available in 3 locations:

Website (limited). Visit the digsouth.com/techsummit website to view a limited, abbreviated agenda. You will not have access to the full Dig Nation member community until you are registered and have a ticket to Dig South Tech Summit. Purchase at dignation.co
Dig Nation Community (full access). If you are registered and already in the Dig Nation member community, visit dignation.co to view the full Dig South Tech Summit agenda and connect with attendees, sponsors and speakers, and receive your year-round benefits.
Mighty Networks App (mobile). If you are registered and in the Dig Nation network, download the Mighty Networks app to access the Dig South Tech Summit agenda and network mobile view, and stay connected year-round to the Dig Nation community. The Dig Nation member network will be associated with the email you used for registration.

Dig South will record video and audio portions of most of the sessions and events for our Dig Nation member platform and other Summit marketing channels. With 30+ speakers we may not capture every session in its entirety or provide video files to speakers. Speakers are welcome to self-record the session, or we can connect you to a freelance videographer who can record the event for a fee.

Attendee FAQs

Buy tickets today at dignation.co.

Registering for Dig South Tech Summit is easy and includes a major bonus – year-round membership to Dig Nation: The South’s Tech Tribe. Dig South hosts additional talks, webinars, and happy hours plus event collaborations with Harbor Entrepreneur Center, CRDA and other prominent organizations. The networking is superb. Share your expertise and gain significant knowledge and know-how from fellow members. View benefits and register for Dig South Tech Summit today.

In addition to all Summit sessions on May 2, tickets to the Summit include the following. Additional tickets can be purchased at dignation.co.

> Upload Charleston Shindig, Thursday, May 1, 5-7pm, at The College of Charleston President’s House Courtyard at 6 Glebe Street, Charleston, SC 29401. The President’s House is located two blocks from the Summit venue in the Simons Center for the Arts.

>New Frontiers, Friday, May 1, 4:30-5:30pm. This is the Dig South Tech Summit closing bash. Two sponsorships are available.

>Year-round Dig Nation membership events. View at digsouth.com/events.

Dig South Tech Summit will be held in the Simons Center for the Arts at the College of Charleston. Enter on St. Philip Street between Calhoun and George Streets. The newly renovated Simons Center is a cornerstone for the arts, providing dynamic facilities including an elegant theater, recital hall, black box theatre, dance and sculpture studios, classrooms and the Halsey Institute for Contemporary Art.

Speaker FAQs

Please apply here to speak at Dig South Tech Summit. Speakers are selected on a rolling basis through January 31, 2025 or until sessions are full. Apply today, slots fill up quickly. Sponsors and members are given priority consideration.

Speaker amenities include the Speaker Green Room (located behind the Emmett Robinson stage), which speakers may visit anytime during the Summit to use the co-working space outfitted with refreshments and a concierge. Speakers may also attend all events throughout the Summit.

Speaker badges to the Summit include:
> Upload Charleston Shindig, Thursday, May 1, 5-7pm, at The College of Charleston President’s House Courtyard at 6 Glebe Street, Charleston, SC 29401. The President’s House is located two blocks from the Summit venue in the Simons Center for the Arts.

>Dig South Tech Summit closing bash: New Frontiers, sponsorship is available.

>Year-round Dig Nation membership events. View at digsouth.com/events

Stages will be equipped with a tech producer, LCD screen, confidence monitor, lectern and microphones.

Yes, speakers may use Keynote or Powerpoint presentations. It is not required but if a speaker plans to use a Keynote or Powerpoint deck, it should be created in 16:9 ratio and emailed to the Executive Producer, production@digsouth.com, by EOD Friday, April 25 , 2025. Dig South Tech Summit can also provide a template slide and logo in advance by request.

Speakers can expect 300–350 for mainstage presentations and 40-75 people for breakout sessions. Dig South strongly encourages promoting your session in advance in social media and through the Dig Nation app to increase attendance.

Dig South will register speakers for (1) badge for the Dig South Tech Summit, May 1-2, 2025. Speakers will have full access to the Dig Nation member platform up until one week following the Summit. They will then be able to purchase a year-round membership should they so choose.

Speakers will receive confirmation via email with instructions that will send a link to their self-managed speaker profile within the Dig Nation member platform. Speakers should add their headshots, bios and relevant links asap to encourage attendance for their session and benefit from additional networking.

IMPORTANT: assistants are welcome to manage speaker profiles; however, they must log in using the email address the speaker registered with in the platform. Speaker profiles cannot be managed using more than one email address.

No. But you’ll miss out on all of the excellent year-round benefits. Not only do you receive a ticket to Dig South Tech Summit when you join Dig Nation, you will also have access to a fantastic network of innovators, plus meetups and other great benefits. Visit digsouth.com/events for details.

——————-

Powered by Dig South, Dig Nation is the South’s Tech Tribe. Dig Nation members gain access to not only Charleston AI Summit but also year-round events and a range of excellent benefits, including a curated network, top-shelf content and capital opportunities. Visit dignation.co for benefits and more groovy info.

Startup Wild Pitch FAQs

Please apply here to join Wild Pitch at Dig South Tech Summit on May 2, 2025. Companies focused on emerging technologies such as generative AI, sustainable energy, mobility, and SaaS platforms, plus other innovative solutions will be selected and notified by February 1, 2025. Space is limited. Apply today.

Stages will be equipped with a tech producer, LCD screen, confidence monitor, lectern and microphones on the mainstage. The sidestage does not require a microphone.

Yes, startup pitchers may use Keynote or Powerpoint presentations. It is not required but if a pitcher plans to use a Keynote or Powerpoint deck, it should be created in 16:9 ratio and emailed to the Executive Producer, production@digsouth.com, by EOD Friday, April 25, 2025. Dig South Tech Summit can also provide a template slide and logo in advance by request.

Pitches will be presented tournament style with 16 companies presenting over 4 sessions, four at a time. For the first round of pitches, pitchers can expect 40-60 attendees. The finals will include the 4 winners of the previous rounds and will be held on the mainstage in front of an audience of 300–350 attendees.

There is no cost to pitch at Dig South Tech Summit. Pitch teams will receive two comped tickets to the full Summit. If an individual pitcher is also a speaker or panelist they do not receive an additional comp ticket. Additional tickets can be purchased at dignation.co.

Registering for Dig South Tech Summit is easy and includes a major bonus – year-round membership to Dig Nation: The South’s Tech Tribe. In addition to our marquee event for 2025, Dig South hosts additional talks, webinars, and happy hours plus event collaborations with Harbor Entrepreneur Center, CRDA, and other prominent organizations. The networking is superb. You can share your expertise and gain significant knowledge and know-how from fellow members along the way. To view benefits and register for Dig South Tech Summit, visit dignation.co today.

>New Frontiers, Friday, May 1, 4:30-5:30pm. This is the Dig South Tech Summit closing bash. Two sponsorships are available.

>Year-round Dig Nation membership events. View at digsouth.com/events.

Dig South will register pitchers for (1) badge for the Dig South Tech Summit, May 1-2, 2025. Speakers will have full access to the Dig Nation member platform up until one week following the Summit. They will then be able to purchase a year-round membership should they so choose.

Yes, additional tickets to the Upload Charleston event on Thursday, May 1, 5-7pm, can be purchased by emailing info@digsouth.com.

Powered by Dig South, Dig Nation is the South’s Tech Tribe. Dig Nation members gain access to Dig South Tech Summit, year-round events and a range of excellent benefits including a curated network, top-shelf content and capital opportunities. Visit dignation.co for benefits and more groovy info.

The Dig South Tech Summit agenda and session schedule will be available in 3 locations:

Website (limited). Visit the charlestonaisummit.com website to view a limited, abbreviated agenda. You will not have access to the full Dig Nation member community until you are registered and have a ticket to the Charleston AI Summit. Purchase at dignation.co
Dig Nation Community (full access). If you are registered and already in the Dig Nation member community, visit dignation.co to view the full Charleston AI Summit agenda and connect with attendees, sponsors and speakers, and receive your year-round benefits.
Mighty Networks App (mobile). If you are registered and in the Dig Nation network, download the Mighty Networks app to access the Charleston AI Summit agenda and network mobile view, and stay connected year-round to the Dig Nation community. The Dig Nation member network will be associated with the email you used for registration.

Dig South will record video and audio portions of most of the sessions and events for our member platform and other Summit marketing materials. With 30+ speakers we may not capture every session in its entirety or provide video files to speakers. Speakers are welcome to self-record the session, or we can connect you to a freelance videographer who can record the event for a fee.

Additional party tickets can be purchased for separate entry to the Upload Shindig by emailing info@digsouth.com. Due to hard costs and capacity, the Summit is not able to accommodate full or single-session passes for guests, including spouses, colleagues, friends or assistants.

Speakers, pitchers and session moderators are responsible for all of their costs related to travel, hotel, ground transportation, and incidentals associated with participation in Dig South Tech Summit.

Dig South General FAQ

Founded in 2012, Dig South is the South’s Innovation Hub. We connect executives, entrepreneurs, experts, investors and founders through the Dig Nation membership. Dig South focuses on AI and other emerging technologies, business growth, sales and marketing, and innovation culture. Dig South produces Dig South Tech Summit, the Dig Nation member community, and year-round events and programs. Learn more at digsouth.com.

Dig South connects leading global brands to the South’s most scalable startups year-round. We provide the contacts, content, and capital opportunities companies need to succeed through in-person and online experiences, particularly our flagship event: Dig South Tech Summit and monthly “Rise & Grind” meetups at The Harbor Entrepreneur Center.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. We greatly appreciate reposts and tags when you see Dig South and Dig South Tech Summit in your feed. Be sure to use #DigSouth #DigSouthTechSummit #DigNation in your posts. A brand kit is available at digsouth.com under “About” on the main menu.

Dig South Tech Summit is the South’s Premier Tech Summit. The Summit presents 100+ executive-level speakers from leading global brands, fast-growth startups, and top investors. Since 2012, Dig South Tech Summit has welcomed thousands of attendees to Charleston, a culinary mecca and Condé Nast Traveler’s top destination for over a decade. Visit digsouth.com for details.

For the last 12 years, Dig South has welcomed more than 12,000 attendees and 1000 speakers from the world’s leading brands, including Netflix, Oracle, Hubspot, Facebook, TikTok, Magic Leap, Bonobos, Instagram, Red Hat, CNN, Coca-Cola, Jet, Casper, BuzzFeed, IBM, X/Twitter, Re/Code, WSJ, The New York Times, Forbes, Adobe and many more plus the South’s hottest companies. Notable speakers have included Gary Vaynerhchuck, Vox Chairman and CEO Jim Bankoff, Jet CEO Liza Landsman, Kabbage and Roadie Co-founder Mark Gorlin, Kickstarter CEO Yancy Strickland, Essentialism author Greg McKeown, Atlanta Hawks CMO Melissa Proctor, Bonobos CEO Micky Onvural, VF Brands Innovation Officer and hundreds more.

Dig Nation is the South’s Tech Tribe powered by Dig South. Dig Nation provides the contacts, content and capital opportunities members need to succeed. Visit dignation.co for benefits and details. Join today to grab your ticket to Charleston AI Summit.

Dig South is the nexus of emerging tech and culture in the South. We believe the best way to promote innovation across the region is to invite global brands, execs, founders, investors and experts from beyond the region to connect, collaborate and do business with leading brands and startups based in the South. It’s a global economy and we engage in the global conversation on innovation.

In 2011, Stanfield Gray attended the AdAge Digital Conference in NYC. Connecting with tech executives and experts from Silicon Valley, NYC, Boston and other major tech hubs, he left inspired but frustrated that the same opportunities to work at the highest levels in digital technology and other creative industries were scarce in the South.

Why should the region’s top talent continue to leave the region? If someone chooses to go, good for them. Could be a smart move. But what if the best and brightest could launch, grow and scale global tech companies HQ’d in the South? Michael Dell (Dell Computers), Ted Turner (CNN), Ben Chestnut (Mailchimp) and Tim Sweeney (Epic Games) are proof that it can be done.

Driven to build a stronger innovation economy for the region and, more specifically, his two young kids, Gray and his wife, Sunny, launched Dig South in 2012 as the first Tech Summit dedicated to elevating the region’s digital economy and building opportunities for the next generation of founders, entrepreneurs and tech talent.

Officially, Dig South was born on July 4, 2012. Bootstrapping, the DIG Team rallied the southeastern community behind the idea and launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise a small fund to launch Dig South. Held April 12–14, 2013, at the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC, the first Dig South Interactive Festival drew 454 paid attendees with more than a thousand guests passing through the DIG Trade Show, nightly shindigs, Space Walk and other free events. The Summit grew considerably each year, experimenting with NFT galleries, Bitcoin ATM machines, pitch events, hackathons, demo days and other programs.

To date, Dig South has welcomed more than 12,000 attendees and 1000 speakers from the world’s leading brands, including Oracle, Salesforce, IBM, Instagram, Facebook, Jet, Casper, BuzzFeed, Twitter, Re/Code, WSJ, The New York Times, Forbes, Adobe and many more plus the South’s hottest companies, including Red Hat, Roadie, Kabbage, Blackbaud, Terminus, Benefitfocus, CNN, Coca-Cola, BoomTown, Atlanta Hawks and many more. Visit digsouth.com for details.

Stanfield Gray is the founder and CEO of Dig South and a lifelong practitioner of innovation in the South. Gray was named one of Time magazine’s “31 People Changing the South” and one of South Carolina’s “50 Most Influential Business Leaders” by SC Biz magazine. A Liberty Fellow in the Aspen Global Leadership Network, he is a graduate of the University of South Carolina-Honors College and University of Mississippi’s MA program in Southern Studies. Featured on the cover of the issue, Gray was named one of “Charleston’s 50 Most Influential” by Charleston Business magazine in 2017, 2018 and 2019, twice named one of Charlie magazine’s “50 Most Progressive,” and named a “Rock Star” award finalist by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce. Gray has been a featured speaker at the Collision Conference Global Ecosystem Summit in New Orleans, the Southern C Summit, and numerous other events. Also a songwriter and musician, Gray currently performs in the band, The Speed of Sound (S.O.S.). For further details, visit his LinkedIn profile.