Join us as we host a panel discussion on the outlook for Agentic Engineering in 2026.
We've assembled a panel with four distinct perspectives on where this space is headed:
Austin Vance, Co-Founder/CEO at Focused Austin leads a boutique consultancy building production-ready AI agents for clients. He brings a practitioner's view on what it actually takes to ship agentic systems that work in the real world.
Karan Singh, Partnership Lead at LangChain LangChain has become one of the most widely adopted frameworks for building AI agents. Karan has a front-row seat to what developers are building, the challenges they're facing, and where the tooling is headed.
Jack Crewse, IP and Technology Development Manager at Polsky Center, University of Chicago Jack works with the physics and computer science departments at UChicago to help protect and commercialize the technologies developed by faculty and staff. He sees the innovations emerging from research before they hit the market.
Abhinaya Konduru, Partner at M25 Abhinaya invests in startups across the Midwest and evaluates what makes an AI company fundable. She'll share what VCs are looking for—and what they're skeptical of—in the agentic AI space.
Together, we'll explore the themes of innovation, oversight, and opportunity: the tools and breakthroughs shaping 2026, the regulatory and public sentiment landscape, and where businesses can find real value in agentic AI.
The Event is hosted at the Old Post Office
433 W Van Buren St. Chicago, IL 60607
Please reference our visitor guide page (https://www.notion.so/focusedlabs/Focused-Chicago-Visitor-Guide-External-fb804f764479438393f43ed5b15a441b#fb804f764479438393f43ed5b15a441b) for detailed information on how to access the building.
The event is in the Airmail room located on the second floor. ALL guests must register for the event in advance and will need to check in with security upon arrival.
Agenda
5:30 - 6:15 Networking and Pizza
6:15 - 7:00 Presentation
7:00 - 7:15 Q&A
7:15 - 8:00 Networking and Wrap Up
Agentic Engineering Chicago is sponsored by Focused an exclusive LangChain partner and boutique consultancy dedicated to building production-ready AI systems that work in the real world.
Continue the conversation between gatherings. Join our discord (https://discord.gg/bmdwxs2Q5F)
