Building LLM-powered products in production - #NYTechWeek

​Building LLM-powered products in production (not just demos)

​NYC Tech Week · Jun 1–7, 2026 · Doors 9:00 · Start 9:30 · Finish 11:30

​9:00 — Doors open · Registration + coffee Informal networking before the program starts. 30 min

​9:30 — Opening keynote · From demo to deployed: what actually changes What breaks between prototype and production — and what the best teams do differently. Sets the frame for everything that follows. Speaker: Founding CTO · AI-native startup · 15 min

​9:45 — Panel · RAG, fine-tuning, evals — when to use what The real architectural decisions teams face in production. Cost, latency, reliability — no hype, just hard-earned lessons. Speakers: ML Engineer · Series B / AI Infra Lead · enterprise / VC · AI portfolio · 25 min + 5 min Q&A

​10:15 — Live teardown · Under the hood: CTO reviews 2 real LLM products A senior CTO reviews 2 pre-submitted products live on stage — probing architecture, stressing the UX, surfacing production gaps. Honest, specific, no sugarcoating. Founders get written feedback within 48hrs. Speakers: Guest CTO · reviewer / 2 volunteer founders · 10 min per product · 20 min total

​10:35 — Pitch competition · LLM in production: 3 founders, 5 minutes each 3 founders pitch their LLM product to a live panel — judged on production architecture, scalability, and defensibility. 5 min pitch + 5 min Q&A each. Mix of curated + open application spots. Speakers: 2 curated startups / 1 open-application startup / Judges: CTO + 2 investors · 30 min total

​11:05 — Closing · Winner announced + key takeaways Judges share their decision and top observations from the day. Winner receives investor introductions + featured slot at next event. Speaker: Judge panel · 10 min

​11:15 — Open networking Program ends 11:30. Room open for continued conversations.

​This event is a part of #NYTechWeek—a week of events hosted by VCs and startups to bring together the tech ecosystem. Learn more at www.tech-week.com