In my professional career I have experienced many “firsts”, and last week was my first time PopTech, an event held at the Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, from October 7th to 9th. Below I share some personal impressions and reflections on the event.
What is PopTech
Founded in 1996 by technology pioneers Robert Metcalfe, inventor of Ethernet, and John Sculley, former Apple CEO, PopTech began as a forum for innovators, scientists, and creatives. Over time, it has evolved into a collaborative network dedicated to tackling major societal challenges through unconventional collaborations and innovative ideas.
PopTech Enigma 2025
At the event, I found what I was looking for and much more. I went to see, listen, and engage with visionary innovators and creative, rebellious people from around the world and diverse backgrounds. The gathering brought together scientists, technologists, artists, social entrepreneurs, and activists ready to take on the challenge of deciphering the complex enigmas of our rapidly evolving world. This is PopTech: creatives, "mysterious codebreakers," discussions, immersive experiences, and serendipitous encounters that foster a spirit of discovery and participation.
The Ethics of the Enigma: Seizing Opportunities in the Unknowable
This year's theme, “"Enigma"”, invited us to accept the constant imbalance of an ever-changing world. In 2025, in a context of technological and social acceleration, PopTech proposed a creative imperative: exploit ambiguity that surrounds our existence. The keynote sessions and workshops explored artificial intelligence and bioscience, climate resilience, and social innovation, presenting complexity as an opportunity to discover unexpected solutions and possibilities together.
Experiences that Transform
The genius of PopTech lies in its immersive quality. It all began with a reception at the Barrel House Café & Bar, where I got my first taste of the diverse attendees, mostly visionaries and innovators, who attend this event.
In the days that followed, I felt fascinated, inspired, and constantly challenged. Among the many speakers, some sparked in me a strong sense of possibility for the future:
- Pablos Holman, inventor and author of Deep Future, launched a call to address humanity's major "hardware" problems: energy, water, climate, and infrastructure. His vision sees technology not as a point of arrival, but as a starting point for global advancement, inviting us all to collaborate in collective innovation.
- Beth Shapiro, Of Colossal Biosciences, leads "de-extinction" programs through genetic engineering, with the goal of bringing extinct species like the woolly mammoth back to life. His work also aims to protect threatened animals and ecosystems, redefining conservation as a technological action for planetary protection.
- Eben Bayer, founder of Ecovative, has shown how biomaterials can revolutionize industrial sectors. By cultivating mushrooms to create packaging, insulation, and alternatives to wood, Bayer envisions a world with far less plastic, combining sustainability and industrial innovation.
- Meymuna Hussein-Cattan and his team of Tiyya Foundation They build programs for migrants and refugees, promoting economic independence and community resilience. Their approach restores dignity and humanity to stories of transformation.
- Dan Ariely, a behavioral economist, spoke about how to model risk in an era of rapid change. He explained that our risk aversion stems from an evolutionary legacy unsuited to modern compromises. He urged us to overturn this mindset, to create support networks that enable innovation based on the courage to experiment and fail.
These extraordinary speakers have sparked imagination and creativity, and there is no doubt that, with such visionaries at the helm, the coming decades will hold great promise.
The Strength of the Community
At the heart of PopTech is a culture of engaging participation and intentional community building. More than a conference, PopTech is a vibrant community that transcends the official program. Hikes, discussions, and even late-night explorations of Washington highlighted the event's true value: human connection. Even lunches became moments of discovery, with small groups dispersing to the cafes and restaurants of Logan Circle. The most innovative ideas often emerged in these informal spaces.
Evening parties and spontaneous conversations often served as the starting point for new projects and lasting partnerships, transforming the conference into a true interactive laboratory of creativity and connections.
What to Expect
I will do my best to attend PopTech 2026 and become part of this community that, for nearly thirty years, has brought together ideas and people ready to reinvent the map of possibility. I had the clear feeling that innovation isn't born solely from knowledge, but from the courage to explore uncertainty together.
Looking ahead to 2026, I hope to return not just as a listener, but as a storyteller, to share a project born at the intersection of innovation and equity. My goal is to bring ECOS, a global digital marketplace for surgical devices, into the PopTech conversation. If PopTech celebrates the courage to experiment with the unknown, then ECOS is the perfect example: an initiative grounded in the belief that technology and collaboration can redefine what's possible in global surgical healthcare.
