SCALE, the platform for the UK’s most ambitious scaleups, investors and business leaders, is placing technology and artificial intelligence firmly at the centre of its flagship event in London on 22-23 April.
SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026 will see founders, investors, policymakers convene, with operators working across technology, AI, fintech, sustainability, and digital transformation, and in the sectors where modern scaleups are driving economic growth and industry disruption.
From macroeconomic insight to practical implementation, SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT provides a meeting point for the conversations, connections, and collaborations that will define the future of high-growth business.
Hosted at the Business Design Centre in London, in partnership with City AM, the event will spotlight how emerging technologies and AI-driven innovation are reshaping the scaleup journey, from access to capital and talent, to productivity, policy, and global expansion.
Sam North, Co-founder and CEO of SCALE, said:
“There is no question that AI will play a critical role in shaping the next generation of scaleups. SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026 is the ultimate meetup for forward-thinking founders, business leaders, and the investors backing them to scale. By bringing them all together to exchange strategies and solutions, we’re reinforcing London’s position as a global hub for tech innovation.”
A Programme Built Around Tech, AI and the Scaleups of the Future
Across two days, SCALE SUMMIT attendees will gain insight into the macroeconomic and technological forces shaping high-growth businesses.
Day 1: Scaleup Economics
Exploring the economic landscape through a scaleup lens, covering:
- Market predictions and investor sentiment
- The role of AI and green energy in shaping economic trends
- Global threats and opportunities facing scaling businesses
Day 2: Scaleup Champions – Capital & Collaboration
Chaired by Rupert Hargreaves, COO of City AM, this panel will examine how coordinated investment and smarter policy can enable UK innovation to scale globally, without forcing companies to move offshore.
Hargreaves will be joined on stage by Lewis D’Ambra, Director of Public Policy, Space Forge - the company that ignited a 1,000°C furnace in space, wedging the door to in-orbit manufacturing firmly open, just as demand for high-efficiency chips surges (thanks to 5G, electric vehicles and AI).
Tech founders Michael Smith (Sagittal AI) and Grace Almendras-Castillo (Gifftid AI) will join the panel, bringing experience of building, scaling and exiting companies in the US and the UK.
Michael Smith said his motivation for joining SCALE was “to support British and other sovereign AI companies pursuing innovation and growth.
His company, Saggital AI is building Neo, an automation tool for the software development life cycle (SDLC) that offers companies “a truly productive AI team member”.
Smith added: “The UK is in a strong position - if it takes the lead - to drive an ambitious yet clear-eyed view of an often-overhyped technology, leveraging its universities, talent and markets to become a global power in this field.”
>> Explore the SCALE SUMMIT agendaExplore the SCALE SUMMIT agenda, including roundtables exclusive to Summit pass holders.
AI in Practice: From Strategy to Execution
The free-to-attend SCALE EXPO (running alongside the SUMMIT), focuses on practical application, with sessions designed to help founders operationalise AI across their businesses, — from operational efficiency to customer experience and workforce transformation.
Leveraging Tech & AI on Your Scaleup Journey
Chaired by Ed Soltani, Founder & CEO of Smile IT Solutions, this panel will explore how scaleups can embed AI into their growth strategies.Featuring:
- Dominic Kos, Cleverfox AI
- Ash Chawla, Founder, Duke of Design
- Bukky Babjide, Founder, Female Techpreneur
- Dr Asieh, Brunel University
Ed Soltani, founder and CEO of Smile IT Solutions, said:
“For scaleups, the pressure to embed AI into core operations is real and accelerating — early movers are already compounding commercial advantages their slower competitors will struggle to close. The tools making the biggest difference for growth-stage companies right now are AI-powered automation across sales and ops workflows, data pipelines that surface actionable insight without adding analyst headcount, and cloud-native infrastructure that scales efficiently as demand grows. The founders we work with who treat AI as a strategic business investment — not a back-office IT project — are consistently the ones accelerating fastest.”Exclusive Roundtables: AI, Talent and Financial Inclusion
SUMMIT pass holders will gain access to curated roundtable discussions focused on high-impact AI applications, including:
- Tickl - Data insights for scaling
- Gifftid AI – Risk, Readiness and Resilience Intelligence, driving financial inclusion for modern SMEs globally
- Reed AI – Unlocking access to talent for growing teams through AI
Gifftid AI’s Decision Intelligence infrastructure enables financial institutions, investors, and ecosystem partners to access real, structured operational signals unlocking capital for businesses that have historically been overlooked or mispriced.
Grace Almendras-Castillo, founder of Gifftid AI, said:
“SCALE provides a critical platform to bridge the growing disconnect between capital and the realities of today’s Modern SME economy. Gifftid’s technology enables institutions to see and act on the real signals of modern SMEs, unlocking finance where it was previously not accessible."
SCALE EXPO & SUMMIT 2026 will also showcase the next wave of AI-driven innovation through its live pitch competition.
Applications are already flooding in from founders building solutions in agentic AI, frontier intelligence, and digital-first platforms, all competing for investment, visibility, and a scaleup support package from SCALE Ventures and its partners.
Discover the Tech & AI Innovators Exhibiting at SCALE
SCALE EXPO’S dedicated Tech & AI zone will feature a curated selection of companies building cutting-edge solutions for scaleups, including:
AccrueTek • ARCH • BBX • Cleverfox AI • Female Techpreneur • Lucidity IP • Quik-AI • Shakers • Smile IT Solutions • Super Benji AI • Mercer (a Marsh business) • Spawn.London
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