San Diego AI Showcase #2 (North County) March 2026
San Diego AI Showcase (North County)
A Homebrew-style night for AI experiments and demos.
This is a monthly, in-person gathering for San Diego founders who are actively building with AI, and who are willing to show their work before it’s perfect.
Inspired by the original Homebrew Computer Club, where builders like Steve Wozniak casually shared what they were experimenting with, this is a space for real demos, early prototypes, bold ideas, and honest lessons. No polished pitch decks. No sales. No pressure.
This is about learning in public, helping each other think sharper, and accelerating progress through thoughtful feedback.
The San Diego AI Showcase is designed to grow a tight, curious, builder-driven founder community in the region.
What you’ll see
Early AI products, tools, agents, workflows, and experiments
Things that are half-working, just launched, or still a little rough
Lessons from what didn’t work (often the most valuable part)
Live demos, screen shares, short walkthroughs
Format
5–10 founders present for ~10 minutes each
3-minute Q&A and group discussion after every presentation
Hang out, meet other builders, and keep the conversation going
Who this is for
Founders actively building with AI (pre-seed to growth)
Engineers, designers, and product leaders experimenting hands-on
People who value curiosity, humility, and substance over hype
What this is not
Not a pitch night
Not an investor demo day
Not a sales event
Just builders helping builders.
📍 Event Details
When: March 3, 6:00 pm
Where: LVLUP USA (North County San Diego. Vista, California)
Organizer: Demian Borba, Founder and CEO of Pactto (Stanford StartX S25, ex-Adobe, Intuit, PayPal, BlackBerry)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/demianborba/
If you’re interested in presenting, attending, or shaping the future of this meetup, please email Demian at [email protected]. The goal is to create something long-lasting for San Diego — a place where meaningful work gets shared early, and momentum compounds over time.
Presenters
Raul Pegan, Co-Founder & CTO of Qbox-ai.com
6:15 pm
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/raulpegan/
Title: AI-Powered Sales, from MVP to customers.
Details:
Traction is the most common bottleneck in scaling a startup and validating your product. The founder of Qbox AI will share his own journey of attracting new users and giving a demo of how AI-assisted human-to-human sales can help you book more meetings, attract beta customers, and close more deals.
Ian Isom, Director, Editor, AI Creator, Runway Creative Partner, Post-Production Expert
6:30 pm
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianisom/
Title: From Prompt to Production: Making a Full AI Anime and What It Means for the Future of Film
Details: Most AI video demos are 10-second clips. Ian built an entire 7-minute anime using a stack of AI tools including Runway, Kling, Higgsfield, and Stable Audio. He'll screen the full short, break down how each tool fit into the production pipeline, then open a conversation about where AI film and entertainment is actually heading over the next few years, both for independent creators making original work and for agencies integrating AI into client pre-visualization. Less hype, more real creative process.