Just back from Web Summit, the World’s largest tech event and what a party we had.   In between the Time Out Market, Pastel de Nata, Sagres, Douro red wine & octopus, we met an eclectic array of techies from across the globe .... and Tony Blair!  

The scale of the event and the numbers it attracts - over 70,000 - make it worth going to... at least once.  And that’s before you mention Lisbon ... which is arguably the star of the show! B

The opening ceremony on Monday was a jaw dropping spectacle and unlike anything else you will ever experience at a business event ... and I guess therein lies the rub ... Web Summit is all about meeting people, celebrating technology and the future ... not so much about getting into detail with more on the sales side rather than on the tech side.  There was an amazing variety & frequency of speakers.

Who could not be interested in what Edward Snowden (Freedom of the Press Foundation), Brad Smith (President Microsoft), Katherine Maher (CEO Wikikipedia) and Gillian Tans (Chair of Booking.com) have to say?....But the content is dished you very much as “pop art”, consumable, bite sized “fast Food tech”.  So if you’re here to understand a Brief History of Time or cut through the jargon of AI forget it!

Other key highlights for us included Spot the Robot Dog, demonstrating just how far AI robots have come. Though we have to wonder whether an AI robot will ever replace the emotional connection we as humans have to animals (particularly our pets).

It came as no surprise that sustainability was front and center at this year’s conference, with talks by both Daniel Grieder (CEO of Tommy Hilfiger and PVH Europe) and Anna Gedda (CSO of H&M) focusing on the way that sustainability and technology are disrupting the fashion industry.

Anyway we loved it ... it’s an amazing place for start ups and scale ups (2,150 were there this year) looking to attract global attention and investment. Will we be back ?... oh yeah! Where else can you do business with companies from Korea, Ukraine & Portugal in an afternoon & round off with the wisdom of Eric Cantona….