⚡ You’re going to want to hear these lightning talks

Lightning Talk Presenters

We’re excited to announce the final round of Lightning Talk presenters for State of the Net 2026!

These short, high-impact talks were selected from more than 100 submissions and reflect the depth, diversity, and urgency of today’s technology policy conversations. From AI at work to data governance and the future of the web, this final group of speakers brings fresh ideas and bold perspectives to the stage.

Round 3: SOTN 2026 Lightning Talk Lineup

courtney r

Crawling the Web We Want: Policy Choices Shaping the Agentic Web

Dr. Courtney Radsch
Director, Center for Journalism & Liberty
Open Markets Institute

revana s

A Proactive Response to AI-Driven Job Displacement

Revana Sharfuddin
Research Fellow
Mercatus Center at George Mason University

lauren cg

Balancing Privacy and Power: How Data Governance Will Shape AI’s Future

Lauren Culbertson Grieco
Co-Managing Partner
The Founders Policy Group

tom r

From Research Labs to Policy Agendas: What Computer Scientists Are Thinking About Now that Policymakers Will Be Discussing Soon

Tom Romanoff
Director of Global Policy
Association for Computing Machinery