Artificial intelligence was a hot topic last year. But it’s an even more pressing one this year at Denver Startup Week beginning Monday as Colorado is one of the first states to test the waters of regulating the industry.

And it’s the first year since the Biden Administration named the Mountain West region as the nation’s premier quantum tech hub.

As the technology industry moves away from traditional software businesses, AI and quantum will be two biggest themes discussed at the 13th Denver Startup Week running from Monday through Thursday., Sept. 16 – 19, event co-founder Erik Mitisek said in an interview.

“Startup weeks have always been driven by the themes of the time … This year, quantum and AI are leading a lot of that dialogue, which is reflective of the economy in Colorado,” he said.

The city’s annual event for founders, entrepreneurs and technology professionals began in 2012 and has been run by the Downtown Denver Partnership with a team of community volunteers within the start-up world.

The event saw more than 11,000 attendees last year, a 15% increase of visitors from 2022, according to data from the Downtown Denver Partnership.

This year, the organization expects more than 12,000 participants for 234 events spread out across the city center over three days.

The event will see a few changes compared to past years.

Organizers condensed the week’s main events to three days so professionals can take a day off or two and be able to attend more sessions rather than have to fit what they can around their work schedules.

It’s also the first year with “Community events,” where businesses and participants create their own sessions, meetups or activities to host during Denver Startup Week.

They’re “for the community, by the community,” according to the event website.

Nearly a third of the startup week’s events were self-designed by participants.

“We really wanted to allow the autonomy of hosts to be able to create the content that they thought was most relevant, and let the community vote for the things that they wanted to attend by using their feet and showing up,” Mitisek said.

It pushes leaders to create the best content to get the most attendees, he added. It also helps hosts — many of them businesses — gauge how interested the community is in their topic.

Events dive into AI, aerospace, quantum … and ‘speed dating’ for downtown offices?

The event will feature keynote speakers such as Gov. Jared Polis and the founder of Colorado’s largest IPO debut in 2024 Bryan Leach of Ibotta, a cash back rewards tech company.

LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt will also headline the Den AI Summit, the first city-led conference for artificial intelligence happening Thursday, in partnership with the city’s startup week.

Startup week’s AI discussions will also feature some legislators who were behind Colorado’s new regulations on AI, Mitisek said.

Colorado was the first state to regulate the industry with a new law aiming to stop “high-risk” machine learning systems from discriminating in job or loan applications or within health care uses. It would require developers to provide information on the software and machine-learning to explain to consumers how the AI computes its decisions.

The new law caused concern from some business leaders who were worried the rules could dissuade AI companies from expanding or setting up in Colorado when they have the choice to go to a state with fewer rules.

Polis is expected to discuss the state’s role in being a leader in AI during his speech at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday during the kickoff session at Denver Startup Week, the event’s co-founder said.

“Part of his remarks is really highlighting that Colorado is that environment and region for the future of artificial intelligence, and how the legislative environment and the things that he has championed is really starting to change the state,” Mitisek said.

Denver Startup Week has a slate of sessions covering startup essentials such as finding funding, scaling up as well as local topical issues such as building Colorado’s outdoor recreation technology industry, if the state’s tech appeal has peaked or has room to grow, the ever-popular pitch competition and the state’s leadership in aerospace and the next big hotspot: quantum.

Another event poses to set up “speed dating” rounds to help downtown Denver’s empty offices find their match with a budding startup. Business leaders will be set up with commercial real estate brokers representing the city’s vacant skyscrapers for five-minute rounds to discuss expanding their presence into downtown.

When it comes to quantum computing, Mitisek said he hopes Denver Startup Week can be a place to have conversations about what it takes to be a federal tech hub.

The Colorado-based Quantum Elevate tech hub beat Illinois for a coveted federal grant from the Biden administration in July, helping cement the Mountain West as the heart of a budding industry the U.S. is heavily investing in to beat China in getting the technology to market.

“Being named the quantum hub in the United States is nice, but in reality, you have to build all of the assets to earn that moniker,” Mitisek said. “And Denver Startup Week is really a container to have the discussions and dialog around the future of the quantum economy.”

The week will focus on discussing what the market needs, where to get capital funding and how to keep the status the U.S. government gave the region, he added.

And it’s a theme Mitisek said Denver Startup Week aims to carry across the state’s tech industries.

“We really want it to be that place that allows you to incubate, develop and ultimately materialize your ideas in a place where you can take them back to your company,” he said, “put them into action and execute.”