March 15–21, 2027 | Austin, TX

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March 15–21, 2027 | Austin, TX

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March 15–21, 2027 | Austin, TX

  • The First Keynote and Featured Sessions for SXSW 2027 Are Here

    The First Keynote and Featured Sessions for SXSW 2027 Are Here

    The countdown to SXSW 2027 officially begins with our first round of Keynote and Featured Session announcements, and we couldn’t be more excited to share them!

    SXSW sparks cross-industry conversations, creating an amalgamation of ideas that shape what’s next. These Featured Sessions point to a theme running through this year’s programming: as technology accelerates, people still crave community. From AI to branding, this round brings together voices from across the spectrum. Whatever brings you to SXSW 2027, we’ve got you covered.

    See the full lineup here.

    Keynote

    Deep Unlearning: The Rise of AI and the Radicalization of a Tech Idealist

    Timnit Gebru, Founder and Executive Director, Distributed AI Research Institute (DAIR)

    Timnit Gebru has been present at nearly every inflection point in tech’s recent history. She was an engineer at Apple on the cusp of the iPhone’s first release, a Ph.D. student at Stanford’s computer vision lab as her adviser worked on the enormous datasets so crucial to AI’s development, and the most senior Black woman on the Ethical AI team at Google as DeepMind and OpenAI took over the field of artificial intelligence—where she was forced out for having raised the alarm about bias in large language models, causing global shockwaves in the tech industry. Over the course of her life, Gebru has seen up close how the destructive ideologies and outsized egos of the tech world have come to wreak havoc on our environment, our economies, and the lives of billions of people.

    This session discusses how we could have made a different choice every step of the way — and how we still can.

    Follow Timnit on LinkedIn
    A Conversation with Timm Chiusano on the Art of Appreciation

    Timm Chiusano, Principal, Chiusano & Daughter

    Did you know there is a specific distinction between gratitude and appreciation, and that it can be a path to a happier and more fulfilling existence?  We’re told to practice gratitude, chase purpose, and live in the moment—but we are never taught how appreciation is the skill that makes it all possible. Through personal stories, surprising research, and practical exercises, Timm Chiusano shows how noticing and valuing the world around us can interrupt negative spirals, strengthen relationships, build self-worth, and help us make better use of the time we have.

    Follow Timm on LinkedIn
    Beyond the Exit: The Founders Next Act

    Allison Ellsworth, Founder, Poppi

    Mike Hofman, Editor-in-Chief, Inc.

    After building poppi into a nearly $2 billion brand, Allison Ellsworth faced a question many entrepreneurs never publicly discuss: What comes next? In conversation with moderator Mike Hofman, Allison will explore the unique pressure placed on female founders to continually prove themselves, replicate success, and reinvent their careers. She will unpack the emotional and professional realities of a founder’s second act – from identity shifts and burnout to ambition, reinvention, and redefining success after the achievement everyone thought was the finish line.

    Follow Allison on LinkedIn
    Growth Beyond the Horizon: Moving Past Innovation Paralysis with Strategic Foresight

    Joanna Lepore, Global Foresight Strategist, Dig Insights

    Most leaders today prefer to be surprised and deal with the crisis of the moment, in that moment. But that stagnation is not a measured response; it’s paralysis, and it’s causing an innovation and growth gap in your strategy. In this session, global foresight strategist Joanna Lepore draws on firsthand experience building foresight as an enterprise-level capability inside some of the world’s biggest brands, using it to fuel innovation and commercial growth. When scaled properly, foresight moves quickly past theory into operational practice and commercial results. And it does one other critical thing for leadership: driving better decisions when indecision is the easier option.

    Follow Joanna on LinkedIn
    Amy Webb Launches Technology Convergences 2027

    Amy Webb, CEO, Future Today Strategy Group

    Every few centuries, the tools humans make stop being tools. Fire became civilization. Writing became a memory. The engine became the modern world. What tools are we creating today that will change the course of history? At SXSW, futurist Amy Webb, CEO of the Future Today Strategy Group and professor at NYU Stern, will take you on a mind-bending exploration of the forces reshaping business, culture, and society. With her signature wit and data-driven approach, Amy will decode the technology convergences that demand your attention, reveal scenarios that challenge how you think about the future, and tell you exactly what to do differently on Monday morning. If you’ve joined Amy’s packed sessions in past years, you know to expect startling insights, big shifts in perspective, and ideas you’ll be talking about long after the session ends. This year’s theme is “Second Nature”—because the tools that eventually change history are the ones we stop noticing. And before you leave the room, we’re going to build a tool together that you’ll take home. (Yes, a real one. Yes, you’ll take it home.)

    Follow Amy on LinkedIn

    Badges are now on sale for SXSW 2027. What are you waiting for? Register by Thursday, Sept. 17, to secure the lowest rate of the season. 

    Kate Smith

  • SXSW 2027 Illustrator María Jesús Contreras Is Keeping Austin Weird

    SXSW 2027 Illustrator María Jesús Contreras Is Keeping Austin Weird

    Fear. Humor. In-your-face color. These are just a few of the defining characteristics of Chilean artist María Jesús Contreras’s work. You might recognize her bold illustrations from The New York Times‘ Saturday morning paper, The Washington Post, Penguin Random House, Texas Monthly, The New Yorker, and Gucci, to name a few. 

    Every year, we commission an artist to try and capture the essence of SXSW and the city we all know and love. Contreras’s work is known for an almost Where’s Waldo-ness in her pieces. If you look a little closer, you can spot familiar faces, local landmarks, and everything in between tucked into every corner. That’s the exact spirit of SXSW 2027: thousands of small communities packed into one week, where there’s something and someone for everyone to discover.

    For SXSW 2027, we’re focusing on exploring humanism and community, two things often lost in the whirlwind landscape where AI has become the go-to for the simplest tasks. We recently sat down with Contreras to discuss her artistic process, why Tears for Fears is the perfect motivational music, and how her gaucho childhood in Patagonia’s cowboy country stoked her inspiration for capturing Austin.

    SXSW: What do you hope attendees take away from your work?

    María Jesús Contreras: I’m providing probably one of the most eclectic versions of Austin that exists, but maybe people will think it’s funny and that’s enough for me, you know? If it makes you laugh, or it makes you feel weird; if it gives you some emotion, then my job is done. I want people to think, “What is going on with that thing in that character’s hand?”

    Where exactly did you get your inspiration? 

    I’m from Southern Chile in Patagonia, so we’re cowboys… gauchos. I understand the vibe, but it’s completely different there because it’s much colder weather, which is tough. Even when you feel like a cowboy with boots, or a lasso, that’s something I can understand. But I also realize that Texas— well, Austin specifically, is such a metropolitan area where you have these different kinds of influences happening at the same time, which is very unique. 

    How would you describe the color palette?

    María Jesús Contreras: I used a very saturated color palette with five colors for everything. I knew I had to create different colors for each category: Music, for example, was green. I had to relate everything to color. So I was thinking about music, which is often outside because people are enjoying it there, so I was basing the color palette on each type of environment where people would go to experience that. 

    Your work tends to mix fear and humor. Where does it show up here? 

    My main work is with the press each week, and I always try not to portray people’s faces too much, because for me, it’s very expressive. In this project, I tried to keep a muted face so you don’t know if they’re happy or not. When I was a kid, like all kids, I had this tendency of seeing faces in every object, you know? Like when you see a piece of wood, it’s like a creepy thing going on there. So when I was trying to do the hat for example, I knew this is the place where the mouth goes.

    I love how these characters like the speaker, the longhorn, and the popcorn all have a human-like element, but they still lack expression.

    Exactly! It’s very creepy to me, almost like I don’t know how to feel when I look at this, but it’s cool… that it’s a little bit upsetting, like a puppet. I don’t know if you know the puppet show “Don’t Hug me, I’m scared,” but it’s that kind of thing. Is this character happy? Is this character weird? So I prefer to go with a muted face.

    If this project had a soundtrack playing in the background, what would it be?

    I listen to a lot of Tears for Fears on vinyl.  

    What are your feelings as an artist towards the rise of AI in artistic spaces? 

    You’ve got to toughen up when you’re an artist. Maybe three years ago, this work would take four months to make it happen. People are losing perspective on how long it really takes to do a drawing. Nowadays, people probably expect you to do everything through a machine and with artificial intelligence. That’s why I also think as artists, we should move more to analog. I’m trying to do much more animation and analog stuff so people can actually see and say: “Hey look! There is a human behind the project.”

    Thanks so much for speaking with us.

    You can find María Jesús Contreras on Instagram and see more of her incredible work on her website.

    A special thanks to Overstory for making this collaboration possible.

    Kate Smith