VB Transform 2026: Apply for AI Innovation Showcase – Agentic AI & Autonomous Agents

March 24, 2026 Rachel Kim – Technology Editor Technology

Menlo Park, CA – VentureBeat’s Transform 2026 conference will once again spotlight cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies with the return of its Innovation Showcase. This year’s event, scheduled for July 14 and 15, shifts its focus from generative AI to the emerging field of autonomous agents, specifically examining “enterprise agentic orchestration,” according to a statement released by VentureBeat.

The Innovation Showcase aims to identify the ten most promising autonomous agent technologies capable of reshaping enterprise operations. The competition will be divided into two tracks: one for seed to early-stage Series A companies that have raised $50 million or less, and another for Series B or later startups, or units within larger organizations that have secured or allocated more than $50 million in funding.

This year’s showcase will prioritize technologies addressing key areas including LLM observability and evaluation – often referred to as LLMOps – Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) infrastructure, inference platforms and optimization, and agentic AI security and identity. The move reflects a growing industry trend, with more than 68% of organizations anticipating the integration of AI agents by 2026, according to a recent study by Protiviti.

Companies selected to present their technologies will have the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities to an audience of AI industry leaders and receive direct feedback from a panel of enterprise tech experts. VentureBeat will also provide exclusive editorial coverage to all presenters, reaching its audience of millions of monthly readers.

The application deadline for the Innovation Showcase is June 1, 2026, at 5 p.m. PT. Interested companies are encouraged to submit their applications through the VentureBeat website. Last year’s winner was Solo.io.

The increased focus on agentic AI comes as Meta signals a growing investment in the technology sector through the acquisition of an AI-powered social media platform, according to reports from the Las Vegas Sun. This investment, alongside the broader industry shift towards autonomous agents, underscores the potential for AI to transform how businesses operate, as highlighted in a 2025 report by Menlo Ventures on the state of generative AI in the enterprise.