From Michael Dell to Kendra Scott, here's which tech, business leaders will be at SXSW 2024

From Michael Dell, founder of Round Rock-based Dell Technologies, to Waymo CEO Tekedra Mawakana, South by Southwest will once again bring together some of the biggest influences in the business and technology world, including a number with ties to Austin.

This year, topics will span from artificial intelligence and space exploration to the future of mobility during the packed SXSW conference. The schedule, which includes more than 400 sessions, can be a bit overwhelming, so here are some of the notable, and local names you might want to consider checking out:

And check out our other previews for more information on what to know, and what to consider attending in film, music and even free events during the SXSW week.

Which tech and business leaders will be at SXSW?

Michael Dell will discuss his thoughts on entrepreneurship, business, risk-taking and "the magic of Austin" in a featured session with Austin-based analyst Patrick Moorhead. The session will be 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. March 14 in the Austin Convention Center.

Round Rock-based Dell Technologies will also have its own programming, the Experience at The Riley Building,​ this Friday and Saturday, which will include sessions on artificial intelligence, gaming and sustainability.

Austinite and AMD CEO Lisa Su will be talking about artificial intelligence, and her vision of how AMD adaptive, leading-edge computing technology will be able to solve future challenges. This keynote session will be in the Austin Convention Center at 1-2 p.m. Monday.

Austinite Kendra Scott, founder of her namesake Austin-based jewelry brand, will be a part of some events Friday, starting with a celebration of international women's day at the University of Texas' Hook 'Em House at 10 a.m. Later that day, Scott will have a book signing from 12:15 to 12:40 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center and will also be a part of a session on entrepreneurship at the Hilton Austin Downtown from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Texan businessman Mark Cuban will be a part of a number of sessions this year, starting with a session on health care disruption 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday at the Austin Marriot Downtown, where he will discuss his pharmaceutical startup as founder of Cost Plus Drugs along with Advanced Research Projects Agency director Renee Wegrzyn. On Sunday, Cuban will also have two sessions, starting with an 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. one at the Hilton Austin Downtown where Cuban, along with Facebook co-founder and current CEO of Philo, Andrew McCollum, will discuss entrepreneurship. Later that day, Cuban will be on the air with tech journalist Kara Swisher from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m., for a taping of her podcast as part of the Vox Media Podcast Stage in the JW Marriott.

Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan will be joined by Politico reporter Daniel Lippman to discuss the regulatory environment for Big Tech and artificial intelligence in Washington D.C., as well as the relationship between antitrust and innovation. The session will be 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the convention center.

Peter Deng, the head of ChatGPT, one of OpenAI's best known artificial intelligence products, will be speaking about the role humans play in artificial intelligence's evolution, and how humanity can co-evolve. He will be joined in the session by Josh Constine venture partner at venture firm SignalFire 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday at the convention center.

Waymo co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana will be discussing the autonomous vehicle company's road map for multicity autonomous vehicle service, as the company offers driverless rideshare in in cities including San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles, and potentially soon Austin. Mawakana's fireside chat will be at the Hilton Austin Downtown from 10-11 a.m. Wednesday.

Katrin Lohmann, President of Volkswagen Autonomous Driving Mobility and Transport, will also be speaking about the path forward for autonomous vehicles, including emphasis on building trust with the technology, along with leaders from Austin-based Farm and City and TxDOT on March 13 from 4:00- 5:00 p.m. at the Hilton Austin Downtown. Volkswagen has also been testing its autonomous vehicle technology in Austin.

Dan Clancy, CEO of Twitch, the livestream platform, along with content creator Stefan Li (TheSushiDragon) will discuss livestreaming and how it has evolved in recent years beyond gaming as part of the broader content creation economy. The session will be at the Hilton Austin Downtown on Tuesday 10-11 a.m.

Roku CEO and founder Anthony Wood and serial investor Bill Gurley will discuss the future of streaming, including user preferences and cut the cord trends, in a fireside chat on March 9, from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center

Jack Conte, CEO of Patreon, a platform where fans can support content creators monetarily through subscriptions, will give a keynote about the future of the web and how current algorithms are "killing" followers and threatening traditional content creator livelihoods. The session will be 1-2 p.m. March 15 at the convention center.

Justin McLeod, CEO of dating app Hinge, which is owned by Dallas-based Match Group, will be discussing loneliness and the role tech plays in creating it, as well as fixing it. The Monday session will be held 10-11 a.m. at the Hilton Austin Downtown, where McLeod will be joined by Ann Shocket, CEO of the TheLi.st, a company that brings together women and underrepresented leaders.

National Poet Laureate Ada Limón will have an engraved copy of one of her poems sent to space in October as part of NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft, but she first will be sharing the poem at SXSW in a session where she, along with NASA planetary science division director Lori Glaze, discuss how science and art unite. The session will be from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. Friday at the convention center. Limón will also have a book signing Monday from 11:30 to 11:55 a.m., and NASA employees will be on a number of sessions throughout the conference.

Billionaire and venture capitalistVinod Khosla will discuss his view of how AI could upend every sector, and how it could lead to a utopia in a featured session 4-5 p.m., March 14 at the Hilton Austin Downtown.

Delta Airlines CEO Ed Bastian and chef and entrepreneur José Andrés will discuss centering people in business during challenging times, as Delta prepares to turn 100 in 2025. The session will be 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the convention center.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson will discuss how technology can be used by both industry and the government to address the climate crisis. The conversation, which will be 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Monday in the Hilton Austin Downtown, will include conversations about what transit and ride-hailing could look like in cities including Austin as mobility and delivery evolves. On Sunday, from 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., Watson, along with San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, will be part of a session focused on workforce development in growing cities.

Sports stars will be talking about their work off the field and court in several sessions, including WNBA star Sue Bird, who co-founded media company TOGETHXR, NFL star and former Texas Longhorn Bijan Robinson, who will discuss NIL partnerships and NBA star Dwyane Wade, who will discuss his entrepreneurial ventures.

What Austinites and Austin-based companies will be at SXSW?

Austin entrepreneur Ben Lamm, CEO of Colossal, the Texas-based de-extinction company will be joined by actor, voice artist and comedian Seth Green for a session Friday from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the JW Marriott. The two will discuss how real world de-extinction technology, like the methods Colossal is using to try to bring back the woolly mammoth, dodo bird and Tasmanian tiger, compares with fictional technology, such as "Jurassic Park."

Capital Factory, an Austin-based incubator and co-working space, will again host its yearly SXSW house from Friday through Tuesday at its space in the Omni Hotel. The house will have daily events, and its sessions will include discussions on defense tech, networking and entrepreneurship. It will host its annual startup crawl 6-9 p.m. Friday.

Jeff Cardenas, CEO of Austin-based Apptronik, will be discussing the potential for how humanoid robotics could affect our ability to explore space. The session, which will include NASA dexterous robotics team leader Shaun Azimi, will be 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the JW Marriott. Apptronik has worked with NASA on several challenges related to humanoid robotics.

Andrea Thomaz, CEO of Austin-based Diligent Robotics, along with UT professor Peter Stone, Oregon State University professor Bill Smart and Wall Street Journal reporter Jackie Snow, will discuss the ethics, possibilities and challenges of AI-enabled robotics. The session will be from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. Friday at Antone's as part of UT's Hook 'Em House.

UT President Jay Hartzel, Austinite and venture capitalist Jim Breyer, Dell Medical School Dean Claudia Lucchinetti, ArteraAI CEO Andre Esteva and venture capitalist Thomas J. Cahill will discuss Austin's booming life science scene. The session will be at Antone's as part of the Hook 'Em House at 4-5 p.m. Friday.

Matt Angle, CEO of Austin-based Paradromics, a brain interface technology startup, David Paydarfar, a UT neurologyprofessor, Kavita Patel, a venture partner and doctor, and Amanda Pustilnik of the University of Maryland's School of Law will discuss brain chip technology and how the technology could help people with paralysis and other conditions but could also present legal and ethical challenges. The session, which is part of UT's Hook 'Em House will be from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Friday at Antone's.

Austin-based Icon, a construction company that uses 3D printing and launched at SXSW in 2018 with its first 3D-printed house, will be holding an event Tuesday at the Long Center, where the company will make announcements and showcase its technology, followed by live demos and musical entertainment. Doors will open at 2 p.m. with programming starting at 3 p.m.

The company will also be announcing the winners of its Initiative 99 contest, which it announced last year during SXSW, challenging people to design a house for under $99,000.

Oracle, which moved its headquarters to Austin in 2020, will be hosting a range of panels focused on the future of health care.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: SXSW 2024 tech lineup: Michael Dell, Kendra Scott, more among leaders