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Join us as we close out Config 2024.
Alexis Gay & Jason Ballard & Spike Jonze & Ellen McGirt
4:30 - 4:45P
Standup with Alexis Gay
4:45 - 5:10P
Entretien avec Spike Jonze
5:10 - 5:30P
Building a human future with robots
4:30 - 4:45P
Standup with Alexis Gay
Alexis Gay
elle / elle
Comedian
Alexis Gay is a comedian and podcaster known for satirizing tech culture and her own neuroses. Her viral videos have received over 21mm views. Across 106 episodes of her podcast, Non-Technical, she interviewed influential tech and business folks about everything except their resumes. Guests included entrepreneur Mark Cuban, journalist Kara Swisher, and presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Alexis previously worked in the tech industry running Business Operations and Creator Partnerships at Patreon. She’s been profiled by Fast Company, Nightline, Business Insider, SFGate, and CNBC. Alexis will return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2024 with her debut solo show, “Unprofessional.”
4:45 - 5:10P
Entretien avec Spike Jonze
Join acclaimed filmmaker, actor, and photographer Spike Jonze, along with Caterina Fake, as they explore the art of taking creative risks, facilitating unconventional collaboration, and navigating future with AI.
Spike Jonze
He/him
Filmmaker, Actor, Photographer
Spike Jonze’s arms legs head shoes teeth and thoughts are copyrighted and controlled by Universal Comcast Disney Corporation, trademark 2019. He’s a Fulbright Scholar, an MIT media lab and half a McArthur genius. He’s made 84 movies and three birthday cakes and has cried at 32% of the movie trailers on YouTube. He’s not allowed in the city of Vancouver.
5:10 - 5:30P
Building a human future with robots
Construction technology company ICON is endeavoring to develop advanced ways of building that allow us to solve the global housing crisis without surrendering our most human values: beauty, sustainability, dignity, and hope. CEO and Co-Founder Jason Ballard will share lessons from their progress developing giant 3D printers, cutting edge robotics, AI systems, and novel approaches to architecture. ICON believes that emphasizing both high technology and high design will transform the global construction industry and usher in a new golden age of building, and that this approach offers the best way for us all to think about the problems and opportunities that matter most.
Jason Ballard
il / lui
CEO & cofounder at ICON
Jason Ballard has dedicated his life to working on big problems in service to humanity, most notably as the co-founder and CEO of ICON, the construction technology company developing robotic and AI systems to lower the cost and increase the speed and quality of construction. Raising $451 million to date in funding, ICON has delivered communities of 3D-printed homes in the U.S. and internationally and forged partnerships with world-renowned architects, builders and housing organizations missionally aligned to shift the paradigm of homebuilding. Ballard has been named to TIME100 Next as one of the emerging leaders shaping the future as well as Newsweek’s America's Greatest Disruptors: Visionaries and Innovators Who Are Changing the World.
hôtes de session
Alexis Gay
elle / elle
Comedian
Alexis Gay is a comedian and podcaster known for satirizing tech culture and her own neuroses. Her viral videos have received over 21mm views. Across 106 episodes of her podcast, Non-Technical, she interviewed influential tech and business folks about everything except their resumes. Guests included entrepreneur Mark Cuban, journalist Kara Swisher, and presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Alexis previously worked in the tech industry running Business Operations and Creator Partnerships at Patreon. She’s been profiled by Fast Company, Nightline, Business Insider, SFGate, and CNBC. Alexis will return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2024 with her debut solo show, “Unprofessional.”
Jason Ballard
il / lui
CEO & cofounder at ICON
Jason Ballard has dedicated his life to working on big problems in service to humanity, most notably as the co-founder and CEO of ICON, the construction technology company developing robotic and AI systems to lower the cost and increase the speed and quality of construction. Raising $451 million to date in funding, ICON has delivered communities of 3D-printed homes in the U.S. and internationally and forged partnerships with world-renowned architects, builders and housing organizations missionally aligned to shift the paradigm of homebuilding. Ballard has been named to TIME100 Next as one of the emerging leaders shaping the future as well as Newsweek’s America's Greatest Disruptors: Visionaries and Innovators Who Are Changing the World.
Spike Jonze
He/him
Filmmaker, Actor, Photographer
Spike Jonze’s arms legs head shoes teeth and thoughts are copyrighted and controlled by Universal Comcast Disney Corporation, trademark 2019. He’s a Fulbright Scholar, an MIT media lab and half a McArthur genius. He’s made 84 movies and three birthday cakes and has cried at 32% of the movie trailers on YouTube. He’s not allowed in the city of Vancouver.
Ellen McGirt
elle / elle
Editor-in-Chief at Design Observer
Ellen McGirt is an author, podcaster, speaker, community builder, and award-winning business journalist. She is the editor-in-chief of Design Observer, an independent media company that has maintained the same clear vision for more than two decades: to expand the definition of design in service of a better world. Ellen established the inclusive leadership beat at Fortune in 2016 with raceAhead, an award-winning newsletter on race, culture, and business. The Fortune, Time, Money, and Fast Company alumna has published over twenty magazine cover stories throughout her career, exploring the people and ideas changing business for good. Ask her about fly fishing if you get the chance.