Featured Speakers

Featured Speakers are innovators and creatives at the top of their industries sharing ideas, processes, and expertise in the hopes of inspiring a better world.


SXSW 2024 Featured Session: Mindfulness Over Perfection: Getting Real On Mental Health – Photo by Jakayla Monay

About Featured Speakers and Sessions

 

Spanning the many tracks and themes of the SXSW Conference, Featured Speakers offer attendees the knowledge, leadership and inspiration to shape their professional careers and personal lives in our ever-evolving path forward.

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2025 Featured Speakers Announced

The Kickoff to March is On

Explore some of the exciting names you can expect to see in Austin, TX this March, including President of Blizzard Entertainment Johanna Faries; founder of Early Medical Dr. Peter Attia; Professor of Psychology at Yale University Dr. Laurie Santos; and more!

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SXSW 2025 Featured Speakers – Dr. Peter Attia, Laurie Santos, Johanna Faries, Douglas Rushkoff, and Amy Webb.

SXSW 2025 Featured Speakers – Dr. Peter Attia, Laurie Santos, Johanna Faries, Douglas Rushkoff, and Amy Webb.

Auntie Deb

SXSW 2022

"We will only change our future when we recognize what needs to be changed and when we say the words out loud."

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Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland speaks at 'Auntie Deb's Guide to Equity & Inclusion' – SXSW 2022 – Photo by Hutton Supancic/Getty Images for SXSW

Amy Webb

SXSW Online 2021

"Our goal is not predicting — it is preparing for what comes next."

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Amy Webb - SXSW 2019 Featured Speaker - Photo by Mike Jordan

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

SXSW 2019

"I don’t think that our government is irredeemable. If I did, I wouldn’t have run for office."

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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez - 2019 - Photo by Adam Kissick

J.J. Abrams

SXSW 2016

"We want to see stories that are unique, that have points of view that might not be expected."

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J.J. Abrams at SXSW 2016 – Photo by Judy Won

Stacey Abrams

SXSW 2019

"We have to stop allowing identity to be weaponized against us."

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Stacey Abrams - Photo by Danny Matson

Anthony Bourdain

SXSW 2016

"Making TV should be fun. It should be a creative expression...Everybody should be pushing it and having a good day at work."

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Anthony Bourdain - Photo by David Tait

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