ODSC AI West 2026: Dates, Speakers, Tickets & Guide
October 27-29, 2026
TL;DR: ODSC AI West 2026 runs October 27-29, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California, with both in-person and virtual pass options. The 11th edition of this applied data science and...
TL;DR: ODSC AI West 2026 runs October 27-29, 2026 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California, with both in-person and virtual pass options. The 11th edition of this applied data science and AI conference features confirmed speakers including Peter Norvig, Michael I. Jordan, and Chip Huyen, spread across 7 technical tracks covering agentic AI, AI engineering, and data science, plus a separate business and leadership track.
Most AI conferences these days are built around a keynote stage and a hallway full of vendor booths. ODSC has stayed stubborn about a different model since it started: hands-on training sessions where you write code, tune a model, or build a pipeline alongside the person teaching it, not just watch a slide deck about it.
I track software and AI conferences for the same reason I track AI tool deals: the workflows and tools debated on these stages tend to show up in real team roadmaps a few months later. ODSC AI West caught my attention because its 2026 track list, agentic AI, AI engineering and evals, physical AI and robotics, reads less like a generic “future of AI” agenda and more like a checklist of what applied ML teams are actually shipping right now.
In this guide, I’ll cover the exact dates and venue, who this event is genuinely built for, the confirmed speaker lineup, what the agenda covers, the pass tiers and what’s actually included, and the real discount codes ODSC publishes on its own site. All figures below come directly from the official ODSC AI West site and its linked schedule, speakers, and discounts pages.
If you only need the short version: this is a practitioner-heavy AI conference built for people who write code and train models for a living, not a strategy offsite for executives. The hands-on training format is the real differentiator. Here’s the full breakdown.
Key Takeaways
- Three days, one venue, hybrid access. ODSC AI West 2026 runs October 27-29 at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California, with virtual pass options for anyone who can’t travel.
- The track list is applied, not theoretical. Seven technical tracks cover agentic AI and autonomous systems, AI engineering and evals, physical AI and robotics, data science and machine learning, data and AI infrastructure, personal AI and workflow automation, and AI for software developers.
- The speaker list is deep and still growing. Confirmed names include Peter Norvig, Michael I. Jordan, Chip Huyen, Deepak Pathak, and Thomas Dohmke, with organizers adding more speakers weekly ahead of the event.
- Pricing is genuinely tiered, and partly dynamic. In-person passes range from a lower-cost Silver tier up to VIP and VIP-plus-Accelerator options, and ODSC runs rolling early-bird rounds, so confirm the live price before you book.
- The discount codes are real, not stacked marketing. ODSC publishes standing 10% codes for nonprofits, government employees, academics, and pre-Series A startup teams, plus alumni and group rates on request.
A conference that hands you a working notebook instead of a slide deck is worth more to a practicing data scientist than eight keynotes strung together.
What Is ODSC AI West?
ODSC AI West, formerly known as the Open Data Science Conference, is an applied data science and AI conference now in its 11th year, held annually in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 2026 edition runs across three days and is built around a premise that’s held up since the event started: engineers and data scientists learn faster from hands-on training sessions where they actually build something than from another recorded webinar.
ODSC markets itself as built for “AI and data science practitioners, business leaders, and those reskilling into AI,” according to the official event page. Organizers stated that last year’s ODSC AI events welcomed nearly 20,000 attendees combined across the year’s editions, which puts this squarely among the larger applied AI gatherings on the calendar, not a boutique meetup.
What separates ODSC from a generic AI summit is the split between its technical and business tracks. The technical side (AI engineering, agentic AI, data infrastructure, physical AI and robotics) is aimed at engineers who ship models into production. A separate strategy, enterprise, and product track runs in parallel for founders and leaders who need the business context without sitting through code-heavy sessions built for a different audience. That’s a deliberate structure decision, not an afterthought, and it’s the reason ODSC keeps pulling both individual contributors and the executives who fund their teams to the same event.
When and Where Is ODSC AI West 2026?
ODSC AI West 2026 takes place October 27-29, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California. The venue sits a few minutes from San Francisco International Airport, which makes it one of the easier major tech conferences to fly into on the US West Coast.
Burlingame is a practical choice for a conference this size. It’s close enough to the airport that international attendees aren’t adding an extra hour of ground transit after a long flight, and it’s a short ride from San Francisco proper if you want to extend the trip. ODSC also runs a virtual pass track in parallel with the in-person event, so the sessions aren’t limited to whoever can get to the Bay Area that week.
A few practical notes worth knowing before you book. ODSC also runs a co-located “AI Engineering Accelerator” program spanning October 26-29, aimed at engineers who want additional pre- and post-conference training on top of the main three days. If you’re weighing whether to add that track, budget an extra travel day on each end.
Quick facts:
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Event | ODSC AI West 2026 |
| Dates | October 27-29, 2026 |
| Venue | Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport, Burlingame, California |
| Format | In-person with a parallel virtual pass track; co-located AI Engineering Accelerator (Oct 26-29) |
| Tracks | 7 technical tracks plus a separate business, strategy, and enterprise track |
| Themes | Agentic AI, AI engineering and evals, physical AI and robotics, data science and ML, data and AI infrastructure, AI for developers |
| Official site | odsc.ai/west |
Who Should Attend ODSC AI West 2026?
ODSC AI West is built for people who write code, train models, or build data pipelines as their actual job, not for attendees looking for a high-level AI trends overview. The organizers state the target audience plainly: AI engineers and developers, ML engineers, data scientists, and tech lead architects on the technical side, with a separate track for business and product leaders who need enterprise-level AI context.
You’ll get real value out of this event if you fit one of these profiles:
- ML engineers and applied data scientists who want current, hands-on technique from the training sessions instead of another theory-heavy keynote about “the future of AI.”
- AI engineers building agentic systems looking for practical sessions on evals, AIOps, and production-grade agent workflows rather than demo-only showcases.
- Data and AI infrastructure teams trying to figure out what’s actually production-ready in the physical AI, robotics, and infrastructure space versus what’s still a research paper.
- Tech leads and architects who need to evaluate which of the agentic AI and workflow automation patterns being discussed are worth adopting on their own team.
- Founders and product leaders who want the separate business and strategy track content without sitting through deeply technical training sessions built for engineers.
Here’s the honest caveat. If you’re brand new to data science with no applied ML experience, the hands-on training sessions and technical tracks will move fast, since this is a practitioner event rather than an entry-level bootcamp. If you’re early in your career, the smarter move is often to send a senior engineer to the technical tracks and have them bring the workshop material back to the team.
ODSC AI West 2026 Speakers and Program
The confirmed speaker list for ODSC AI West 2026 already runs 40-plus names, with ODSC’s speaker page noting that new additions are still being announced. Confirmed names include Peter Norvig (researcher at Recursive), Michael I. Jordan, PhD (Professor Emeritus at UC Berkeley and researcher at Inria), Chip Huyen (author of AI Engineering), Deepak Pathak, PhD (co-founder and CEO of Skild AI), and Thomas Dohmke, PhD (former CEO of GitHub, now co-founder and CEO of Entire).
The broader speaker list draws heavily from practitioners at OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, LangChain, Hugging Face, NVIDIA, and Waymo, alongside independent researchers and startup founders. That mix matters: a session list built mostly from people currently shipping production AI systems is a different program than one built from academics or conference-circuit regulars alone.
The program itself splits into talks and keynotes, hands-on training sessions, workshops, and tutorials, run across all three days alongside dedicated breakout sessions. Morning keynotes are scheduled for October 28 and 29. The organizers describe the format as “cutting-edge workshops, hands-on training sessions, and insights from industry leaders,” which lines up with ODSC’s long-standing pitch: fewer passive keynotes, more sessions where you leave with a working notebook or a tested pipeline pattern.
What Does the Agenda Cover?
The ODSC AI West 2026 agenda organizes its technical content into 7 tracks: Personal AI and Workflow Automation, AI Engineering, Evals and AIOps, Physical AI and Robotics, Agentic AI and Autonomous Systems, Data Science and Machine Learning, Data and AI Infrastructure, and AI for Software Developers. A separate business track covers strategy, the future of work, enterprise adoption, and product decisions for leaders who need that context without the code.
That track list is a useful signal on its own. Two years ago, “agentic AI” and “AI engineering evals” weren’t standard conference tracks anywhere. Now they sit alongside classic data science and ML content as core programming, which tracks with how fast production AI teams have had to formalize evaluation and agent-orchestration practices in the last year.
The session mix is deliberately layered across formats: talks and keynotes for broad exposure, hands-on training sessions for people who want to build something during the conference itself, and workshops and tutorials for applied, narrower skill-building. The co-located AI Engineering Accelerator adds further pre- and post-conference training days for engineers who want more depth than the standard three-day program covers, running October 26-29.
ODSC AI West 2026 Ticket Pricing
ODSC prices ODSC AI West 2026 across multiple pass tiers rather than a single ticket type, and confirmed at least one concrete data point directly: the In-Person AI Expo Pass, which covers Expo Hall access, was listed at a $330 regular price with a promotional rate as low as $99 at the time of this research (a “save 70%” offer, per the official Expo pass page). A no-cost Virtual pass application option was also listed for attendees who only want to watch sessions online.
Beyond the Expo pass, ODSC’s official FAQ page confirms four in-person tiers and their inclusions, without a fixed dollar figure attached to each at the time this was researched:
| Pass | What’s Included |
|---|---|
| Silver (2-Day) | ODSC Keynotes and Demo Talks, AI Expo Halls, virtual sessions, Meet the Experts, Networking Reception |
| Gold (3-Day) | ODSC Talks and Tutorials, Keynotes, Demo Talks, AI Expo Hall, Networking Reception, and extra events |
| Platinum (3-Day) | All ODSC sessions, including Training Sessions, Talks and Workshops, Keynotes, Demo Talks, and AI Expo Hall |
| VIP (4-Day) | Everything in Platinum, plus Speaker/VIP Lounge access, VIP Lunch, VIP registration, and a VIP gift bag |
Honest note here: ODSC runs its pricing in rolling early-bird rounds rather than one static price list, so the exact dollar figure for Silver, Gold, Platinum, and VIP passes shifts as the event date gets closer. Rather than quote a number that could already be stale by the time you read this, check the live price on ODSC’s own registration page before you commit, and factor in that Platinum is the entry point if hands-on training sessions are the reason you’re attending, since Silver and Gold don’t include them.
Discounts and Group Rates for ODSC AI West 2026
ODSC publishes several standing discount codes directly on its own discounts page, and they’re worth checking before you assume the listed price is your best option. Nonprofit and NGO employees get 10% off with code WE26NP, government employees get 10% off with WE26GOV, full-time academics, researchers, and students get 10% off with WE26AC, and founders or employees at pre-Series A startups get 10% off with WE26ST. Each requires proof (nonprofit employment, government ID, university ID, or startup proof) at check-in.
Alumni who’ve attended a previous ODSC event get access to a custom discount code by emailing info@odsc.com with “ALUMNI” in the subject line, the prior conference attended, and a copy of the previous e-ticket. Company teams and data science meetup groups can also request group discounts through the registration page’s “Group Discount” tab or by contacting ODSC’s community partners directly. If you’re sending more than one or two people, it’s worth the five minutes to ask, since ODSC describes these as “generous” team discounts rather than a token markdown.
If you want a heads-up the next time a conference like this runs a real discount code, subscribe for AI deal and event alerts instead of relying on catching it manually.
Is ODSC AI West 2026 Worth It? My Honest Take
For working ML engineers, applied data scientists, and AI engineering teams, ODSC AI West 2026 looks like a strong pick mainly because of the training-session format, not the keynote list. A conference that puts Platinum-tier hands-on training alongside talks, workshops, and a growing 40-plus speaker roster is giving practitioners a genuine choice between broad exposure and applied, walk-away-with-a-skill sessions.
The honest caveats are about pricing clarity and audience fit, not content quality. ODSC’s rolling early-bird pricing means you can’t lock in an exact number months out the way you can with a flat-rate conference, and this is a practitioner-first event; if your team is still building its first production ML pipeline, the technical tracks may move faster than they need to right now.
Here’s my buy-or-skip framing, the same one I apply to AI tools I’ve personally tested. Buy the Platinum or VIP pass if hands-on training in agentic AI, evals, or AI infrastructure is something your team will actually use in the next two quarters, and check the current early-bird rate before you book. Buy the virtual pass or apply for the free Expo pass if budget or travel is the real blocker, since the keynotes and Expo content are accessible either way. Skip it for now only if your team has no applied AI work in production yet; the ROI on a $300-plus pass is much clearer once you have a live pipeline to compare notes on.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where is ODSC AI West 2026?
ODSC AI West 2026 runs October 27-29, 2026, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame, California. A parallel virtual pass track is also available for attendees who aren’t traveling.
How much do ODSC AI West 2026 tickets cost?
Pricing is tiered across Silver, Gold, Platinum, and VIP in-person passes, plus Virtual options, and ODSC runs rolling early-bird rounds rather than one fixed price. The confirmed In-Person AI Expo Pass was listed at $330 regular, with a promotional rate as low as $99 at the time of research. Check the official registration page for the current rate on full conference passes.
Who speaks at ODSC AI West 2026?
Confirmed speakers include Peter Norvig, Michael I. Jordan, Chip Huyen, Deepak Pathak, and Thomas Dohmke, part of a growing list of more than 40 confirmed speakers from organizations including OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, and NVIDIA.
Is ODSC AI West good for beginners?
It’s best suited for working practitioners: ML engineers, AI engineers, data scientists, and tech lead architects. Total beginners with no applied ML experience will get more from foundational learning first, then attending once they have real context for the hands-on tracks.
Can I attend ODSC AI West 2026 online only?
Yes. ODSC runs a Virtual pass track alongside the in-person event, including a free application option and paid Virtual Premium and Virtual Platinum tiers that add training-session access and full recordings.
Are there discount codes for ODSC AI West 2026?
Yes. ODSC publishes standing 10% codes for nonprofits (WE26NP), government employees (WE26GOV), academics (WE26AC), and pre-Series A startups (WE26ST), plus alumni and group discounts available on request.
The Bottom Line
ODSC AI West 2026 is doing what a lot of AI conferences claim but don’t consistently deliver: real hands-on training, not just a bigger keynote list. Between the 7 applied technical tracks, a speaker roster already past 40 names and still growing, and a Platinum tier built specifically around training sessions rather than passive talks, this is a conference built for people who want a working skill, not a notebook full of slide screenshots.
The insight worth taking with you: the Platinum and VIP tiers are where the real differentiation lives, since Silver and Gold skip the training sessions entirely. Anyone can watch a keynote recording later. Spending a day working through agentic AI evals or an AI infrastructure pattern hands-on is the part a replay link can’t replicate.
Your concrete next step for ODSC AI West 2026: check the official event page for the current early-bird rate, apply one of the real discount codes above if you qualify, and pick the pass tier that matches whether you need training sessions or just the talks. While you’re evaluating which AI engineering tools are worth adopting after the sessions, browse the AI events I track across the industry for the next practitioner-focused conference worth your training budget.