How AI Can Build RTP's Next Great Startup

​The Research Triangle has produced some of the most important technology companies in the world. It's a region with world-class universities, deep engineering talent, and a startup culture that doesn't get nearly enough credit on the national stage. The ingredients have always been here. What's changing is how few resources you now need to turn those ingredients into something real.
AI is rewriting the math of early-stage company building. The leverage available to a small founding team today — through agents, automation, and AI-assisted execution — would have required a Series A round and a 20-person team just five years ago. That changes everything about how you think about starting a company in the Triangle right now.

The speaker is Mark Hinkle, The Artificially Intelligent Enterprise

​Mark Hinkle has been in and around startups for three decades — from growing MindSpring into a dot-com era success story right here in this region, to leading Developer Relations at Cloud.com through a $300 million acquisition, to co-founding venture-backed TriggerMesh with backing from Index Ventures and Cisco. He's seen what it takes to build, what kills companies before they get there, and what the AI moment means for founders who are willing to move fast and think differently about leverage.
In this session, Mark will make the case that RTP is uniquely positioned to produce the next generation of AI-native startups — and lay out what it actually takes to get started. What use cases are working today. How to think about capital differently when agents can do the work of headcount. And why the Triangle, with its talent, its research institutions, and its underrated startup community, might just be the best place in the country to build one right now.

​This event is being hosted by The Loading Dock and All Things AI for Raleigh Durham Startup Week.