Brandwave at Web Summit 2021

On paper, Web Summit is a behemoth. In person, it’s another level up from any other conference I’ve ever experienced. Over 42,000 attendees from 128 countries, 700 speakers, 1,500 start-ups and over 850 investors. Web Summit truly must be experienced to be believed.

Moreover, Web Summit has swiftly risen to become the global benchmark for where it’s at in tech from AI to AR. It’s like Tomorrow’s World on speed. That said, the event has also become about so much more than just tech. In the digital age in which we live, tech and culture have become so intertwined, the Summit has become very much about the future of society and human interaction on a global level.

To that end, keynote speakers this year included Ayọ (fka Opal) Tometi – Co Founder of Black Lives Matter, Sir Tim Berners Lee – inventor of the world wide web, and Former UK Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg now Meta (Facebook) VP of Global Affairs.

The two hottest subjects that were on everyone’s lips were firstly, NFTs (non-fungible tokens), which seem set to become one of the fastest growing revenue streams not just in sports, but across many industries, and secondly, the Metaverse, which despite several presentations, nobody seems to fully understand quite yet, but everyone seemed very excited about.

For my part, this year I was kept busy speaking, hosting, and mentoring a broad range of tech start-ups. My guests on the Panda Conf stage included Jane Wakely – CMO of Mars, Sebastian Copp – CEO of Veja, and the hugely inspirational Alain Sylvain – Founder of SYLVAIN.

All in all, another epic Web Summit. If you want to get ahead of the curve on all things tech in 2022, this event is not to be missed. To register for 2022 tickets, click here: https://websummit.com/.

Photo: Web Summit Co-Founder, Paddy Cosgrove gives the opening address on the main stage.

Photo: Ayọ (fka Opal) Tometi, Co-Founder of Black Lives Matter on the main stage.