# QCon AI New York 2026

> QCon AI New York 2026 is a two-day conference on production AI for senior software engineers, software architects, and engineering leaders. Senior practitioners walk through the AI systems they run in production and what they'd do differently, across agent runtime design, context engineering, evals, tool access, security, and inference cost. The program is chosen session by session by a committee of working senior engineers, product pitches are filtered out before any session is accepted, and sponsored talks are separated from the editorial program. December 15–16, 2026, at The Westin Jersey City Newport, one PATH stop from Lower Manhattan.

## Key facts

- **Event:** QCon AI New York 2026
- **Dates:** December 15–16, 2026 (2 days)
- **Venue:** The Westin Jersey City Newport, 479 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310
- **Location:** Jersey City, NJ, one PATH stop from Lower Manhattan
- **Audience:** senior software engineers, software architects, Staff+ engineers, ML and MLOps engineers, platform engineers, security engineers, and engineering leaders making decisions on production AI
- **Format:** senior practitioner-led, curated by a program committee, single-track focus on production AI
- **Conference Chair:** Eder Ignatowicz, Senior Principal Software Engineer & Architect @Red Hat AI
- **Program Committee members:** Faye Zhang (Staff Software Engineer @Pinterest, Tech Lead on GenAI Search) and Wes Reisz (Technical Principal Consultant @Equal Experts, creator and co-host of The InfoQ Podcast)
- **Organizer:** C4Media, the team behind InfoQ and QCon
- **Current price:** $1,450 (rises on set deadlines, full price $1,875 from December 9, 2026)
- **Contact:** info@newyork.qcon.ai
- **Website:** https://ai.qconferences.com
- **Register:** https://ai.qconferences.com/registration/event/newyork2026

## What the program covers

Production AI patterns from the senior engineers and architects who built them, across two days.

| Topic | Focus |
|---|---|
| Agent runtime design | State ownership, recovery, replay paths, and approval boundaries for long-running agents. |
| Context engineering | The right company context for the task, without stale docs or oversized prompts. |
| Evals and observability | Trace what the agent saw, what it called, what it decided, and what it cost. Turn detected failures into deterministic checks that gate releases. |
| MCP and tool access | Scoped permissions, ownership, and audit trails as tool use grows. |
| Zero-trust agent security | Least privilege, bounded retrieval, and kill switches for tool-using agents. |
| Inference cost and latency | Routing, caching, batching, and token budgets, planned up front. |

## How the program is chosen

The program is chosen by a committee of working senior engineers. Two questions decide every session:

1. Has the speaker run this in production?
2. Will they share what didn't work as honestly as what worked?

The committee filters product pitches out before any session is accepted, and sponsored talks are clearly separated from the editorial program.

**Program committee:** Eder Ignatowicz (Conference Chair, Senior Principal Software Engineer & Architect @Red Hat AI), Faye Zhang (Staff Software Engineer @Pinterest, Tech Lead on GenAI Search), and Wes Reisz (Technical Principal Consultant @Equal Experts, creator and co-host of The InfoQ Podcast).

**Program timeline:** first sessions announced in August, preliminary schedule in October, complete program published by early November.

## What each role takes back

| Role | Takeaway |
|---|---|
| Software architects | Patterns for where an LLM's judgment belongs and where deterministic code takes over. |
| Staff+ engineers | What it takes to turn a demo agent into a system that survives a failed run. |
| ML / MLOps engineers | Eval designs that say ship or hold. |
| Platform engineers | How other platform teams handle model access, eval pipelines, and inference cost. |
| Security engineers | Identity, least privilege, and kill switches for tool-using agents. |
| Engineering leaders | Adoption metrics tied to delivery and quality. |

## Who attends

Senior engineering leaders, software architects, and team leads making decisions on production AI.

- 76% are senior developers or higher (architects, leads, and engineering management)
- 46% engineering managers, senior management, and architects
- 30% senior developers and engineers
- 24% developers
- Speaker-to-attendee ratio: 1:11

Past attendees have included senior engineers from Amazon, Netflix, Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, eBay, Uber, JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and NASA.

## Pricing

All amounts in USD. The price steps up at each deadline.

| Current pricing ends | Price |
|---|---|
| August 11, 2026 (now) | $1,450 |
| September 8, 2026 | $1,535 |
| October 13, 2026 | $1,620 |
| November 10, 2026 | $1,705 |
| December 8, 2026 | $1,790 |
| From December 9, 2026 (full price) | $1,875 |

## Group and alumni discounts

Register 3 or more colleagues from the same company to save per ticket.

| Attendees | Discount per ticket |
|---|---|
| 3–6 | $50 |
| 7–10 | $75 |
| 11–15 | $100 |
| 16+ | $125 |
| QCon alumni (attended a QCon before) | $100 off |

Discounts don't stack and are applied at the time of order. For a promo code, email info@newyork.qcon.ai with your group size. Group registration deadline: November 27, 2026.

## Payment and deadlines

- Ticket transfers: transfer to a colleague for free until Friday, December 11, 2026. Email info@newyork.qcon.ai.
- Refunds: registration fees are non-refundable.
- Group registration deadline: November 27, 2026.
- Only participants who have paid in full before the event start date are admitted or receive access credentials.

## Venue and travel

**The Westin Jersey City Newport**, 479 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310. On the Hudson directly across from Lower Manhattan. The conference runs inside the hotel, so there is no commute between sessions and check-in.

- **PATH train:** Newport station is a 5-minute walk. One stop (WTC line) to Lower Manhattan, about 5 minutes; five stops (33rd St line) to Midtown, about 15 minutes. Fare $3.25, contactless, runs 24/7.
- **Airports:** Newark (EWR) about 11 miles, 15–20 minutes. LaGuardia (LGA) about 15 miles, 35–55 minutes. JFK about 22 miles, 50–90 minutes.
- **Light rail:** Hudson-Bergen Light Rail stops behind the hotel.
- **Driving:** just off I-78 at the Holland Tunnel approach. On-site parking available.
- **Room block:** the Westin holds a room block for QCon AI attendees. [CONFIRM room-block link and rate]
- **Alternative hotels:** Courtyard Jersey City Newport and Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson, both a short walk away.

## The experience

- Practitioner-led sessions selected by a committee of working senior engineers
- The decisions, tradeoffs, fixes, and open questions behind production AI systems
- Patterns to apply: agent boundaries, eval loops, cost controls, and tool-access models
- Peer conversations between every session with senior engineers and architects working through the same decisions
- A two-day format built for technical conversations
- Sponsored talks are clearly separated from the editorial program

## FAQ

**What is QCon AI New York 2026?**
A two-day conference on production AI for senior software engineers, software architects, and engineering leaders. Senior practitioners walk through the AI systems they run in production and what they'd do differently, across agent runtime design, context engineering, evals, tool access, security, and inference cost. December 15–16, 2026, at The Westin Jersey City Newport, one PATH stop from Lower Manhattan.

**Who is it for?**
Senior software engineers, architects, Staff+ engineers, ML and MLOps engineers, platform engineers, security engineers, and engineering leaders making decisions on production AI. If you're moving AI work from prototype into production and own how it runs, it's built for you.

**How are talks selected?**
By a program committee of working senior engineers. Every session has to clear two questions: has the speaker run this in production, and will they share what didn't work as honestly as what did. The committee filters product pitches out before any session is accepted, and sponsored talks are clearly separated from the editorial program. That's what "no hidden product pitches" means in practice.

**Who is behind QCon AI?**
C4Media, the team behind InfoQ and QCon. QCon has helped senior software teams adopt new technologies and practices for more than 20 years, and QCon AI applies the same practitioner-led approach to production AI.

**The full program isn't published yet. Why register now?**
First sessions are announced in August, a preliminary schedule follows in October, and the complete program is published by early November. Two reasons to register before then: pricing rises on set deadlines, so booking sooner costs less, and every session comes from the same committee filter, so you're not buying blind even before the names are up.

**Can I transfer or refund my ticket if plans change?**
Registration fees are non-refundable, but you can transfer your ticket to a colleague for free until December 11, 2026. Email info@newyork.qcon.ai to arrange it.

**Do you offer group or team discounts?**
Yes. Register 3 or more colleagues from the same company and save per ticket: $50 off for 3 to 6 attendees, $75 for 7 to 10, $100 for 11 to 15, and $125 for 16 or more. QCon alumni get $100 off. Discounts don't stack and are applied at the time of order. The group registration deadline is November 27, 2026. Email info@newyork.qcon.ai with your group size for a code.

**When and where is it?**
December 15–16, 2026, at The Westin Jersey City Newport, 479 Washington Boulevard, Jersey City, NJ 07310. The conference runs inside the hotel, one PATH stop from Lower Manhattan.

**Where should I stay?**
The Westin holds a room block for QCon AI attendees, and the conference runs in the same building. If the block fills, the Courtyard Jersey City Newport and the Hyatt Regency Jersey City on the Hudson are a short walk away.

## Links

- **Website:** https://ai.qconferences.com
- **Convince your manager:** https://ai.qconferences.com/convince-your-manager/newyork2026
- **Code of Conduct:** https://ai.qconferences.com/code-conduct
- **FAQ:** https://ai.qconferences.com/faq
- **Terms:** https://ai.qconferences.com/terms-conditions
- **Privacy notice:** https://qconferences.com/privacy-notice
- **2025 schedule:** https://ai.qconferences.com/schedule/newyork2025
- **2025 speakers:** https://ai.qconferences.com/speakers/newyork2025
- **X:** https://twitter.com/QCon
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/qcon-conferences/
- **Instagram:** https://www.instagram.com/qconconferences/
- **YouTube:** https://www.youtube.com/infoq
- **Bluesky:** https://bsky.app/profile/qconferences.com
- **Mastodon:** https://techhub.social/@qcon
- **Facebook:** https://www.facebook.com/QCon/
- **Flickr:** https://www.flickr.com/photos/qconpictures/collections/

## Related events

- QCon San Francisco: November 16–18, 2026, Hyatt Regency, San Francisco. https://qconsf.com
- QCon London: April 13–15, 2027 (conference), plus a separate ICSAET certification training day April 16, 2027, The QEII Centre, London. https://qconlondon.com
- InfoQ online certification cohorts: https://certification.qconferences.com

## About InfoQ and QCon

More than 1 million people read InfoQ every month, and 4,500+ attend QCon and InfoQ Dev Summit each year. QCon and InfoQ have given every major technology shift the same practitioner-led treatment for more than 20 years: sessions chosen for technical depth and real production experience.