The Business of IT Blog

Top 11 Voice Tech Conferences of 2020

5 minute read
Muhammad Raza

Every year, hundreds of tech conferences offer unique networking opportunities and inspiring speaking engagements for IT professionals, businesses, and tech enthusiasts to connect and learn about new innovations. Choosing the right conferences can be difficult, especially for niche technology applications such as voice. So, we’re helping you out with this round-up of the top voice tech conferences to follow in 2020.

Feel free to get in touch to add a voice tech conference to the directory. To be considered, please email all details including the conference name, dates of the event, location, and a link to the event’s website to [email protected].

For more topic-specific conference, check out our other conference round-ups, including Top IT/Tech Conferences, Top DevOps Conferences, Programming & Software Dev Conferences, and CyberSecurity Conferences.

Note: Some event information may be out of date due to COVID-19. Please confirm details with event organizers.

(This article is part of our IT Conferences & Events Guide. Use the right-hand menu to navigate.)

What is voice tech?

Voice technology includes all the devices we talk to daily, from iPhone’s Siri and Android’s Google Assistant to standalone smart speakers like Google Home and Amazon Echo. But voice technology has the potential to be much bigger than at-home devices. A recent study estimates that the global voice technology industry could be worth $32 billion within just five years—that’s up from under $10 billion in 2017.

Powered by AI and natural language processing and relying heavily on cloud computing, voice tech experts say that the technology can change how we work and live, helping us be more productive. These tech conferences talk about everything from AI-driven chatbots and virtual agents to the future of work and living.

Top Voice Tech Conferences of 2020

SuperBot

Date: March 31, 2020
Location: San Francisco, CA
Cost: $399

The popular annual tech conference focused on AI-enabled voice tech and chatbots offers a vibrant speaker lineup comprising of entrepreneurs and industry experts from Facebook, Google and Amazon. Hundreds of attendees from Fortune 500 enterprises join the to connect with leading experts, IT professionals, and enthusiasts each year.

Topics include customer service, investors perspective, industry trends, and the future of AI-based voice technologies.

VoiceFirst: Voice of the Car Summit

Date: April 7-8, 2020
Location: San Jose, CA
Cost: Starting at $499.99

Voice brings an extra dimension to the autonomous vehicle driving experience and the Voice of the Car Summit aims to present how voice-first technologies are integrated into the modern car. Engineers, researchers, and leaders from Mercedes-Benz, Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant divisions will discuss where the industry is heading at the intersection of AI, voice tech, and autonomous driving. The event is expected to gain large audience, particularly for the speaker sessions.

SpeechTEK2020

Date: April 27-29, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Cost: $1,895 early bird through March 27

The premier voice tech conference with CxOs from leading voice tech companies and enterprise organizations including Google Cloud, IBM Watson, and Verizon, as well as university professors speaking at the event. The event attracts large audience of executives, developers, and adopters of speech technologies networking with each other and witnessing insightful presentations from industry experts guiding the future of voice tech.

Chatbot Summit

Date: May 13-15, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $625 early bird

Chatbot Summit takes place in Las Vegas, Tokyo, and Berlin this year and is a popular global event on technologies accelerating conversational AI around the world. The Vegas edition will host talks from some of the most popular AI teams in the tech, finance and government sector, including:

  • Ed Doran, Director PM and Cofounder of Microsoft Cortana
  • Dexter Zavalza, VP and Lead Content & Design Strategist for Mobile JP Morgan Chase
  • Research scientists form Uber AI, Adobe, and Facebook

Hundreds of attendees are expected to join from across the nation to connect with professionals working with niche chatbot technology solutions.

Connected Consumer Summit

Date: May 18, 2020
Location: London, UK
Cost: €1,745 + VAT

This conference is all about the consumer-focus in voice technologies. Experts from Microsoft, Uber, Viber, and BT will discuss how the commercial world is transforming with the emergence of AI powered natural language solutions. Professionals pioneering modern voice technologies will provide practical advice and stories on voice and chatbot technologies they developed in recent years and what to expect in the near and long-term future.

CogX

Date: June 8-10, 2020
Location: London, UK
Cost: £695 for full access

As one of the most exciting tech conferences in the world, CogX has a wide lens on topics like AI, Blockchain, and breakthrough technologies within the voice solutions industry. This is the chance to engage with experts from the industry, government and academia on a variety of topics closely or indirectly associated with voice tech. Speakers include the head of AI at the World Economic Forum, the CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and experts from Berkeley and UCL.

Amazon RE:MARS

Date: June 16-19, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: $1,999 for full access

Amazon is set to present new ideas from its innovative and fast advancing tech divisions of Machine Learning, Automation, Robotics and Spece (MARS). The conference will feature talks by:

  • Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO
  • USC roboticist Dr. Maja Matarić
  • Dr. Sara Seager, MIT planetary scientist and astrophysicist

Attendees can expect insightful discussions on the technologies powering the modern voice solutions such as Alexa, search, automation, and autonomous vehicles.

VoiceFirst: Voice of Healthcare Summit

Date: August 5-6, 2020
Location: Boston, MA
Cost: TBA

Healthcare is a promising application use case of voice technology and one facing significant challenges. The Voice of Healthcare Summit brings together technology experts, healthcare professionals, academics and entrepreneurs to discuss the opportunities and implications presented by AI-based voice technologies. Speakers include:

  • Shwen Gwee, Novartis co-founder
  • Peter Durlach, Nuance Healthcare SVP
  • Professors, healthcare experts, and researchers from University of Washington and Mayo Hospital

Voice 2020

Date: October 5-8, 2020
Location: Washington, DC
Cost: The expo is free; main stage access starts at $100

Voice 2020 is a global stage for voice tech and marketing. Arguably one of the most popular events in the voice tech industry, attracting more than 5,000 attendees from around the world. It’s the most popular meeting place for voice tech enthusiasts with over 400 speakers representing 36 countries across more than 200 sessions will join. Engaging presentations will cover topics such as the technology, design, and marketing of intelligent voice solutions.

All About Voice

Date: November 20, 2020
Location: Munich, Germany
Cost: €250 super-early bird

All About Voice is all about smart natural voice solutions and networking opportunities with professionals developing promising new technologies at startups and enterprise organizations. Experts will speak about industry trends and identifying new business opportunities in the voice tech industry. The program expects more experts from diverse industrial sectors to present at the conference.

AWS re:Invent

Date: November 30-December 4, 2020
Location: Las Vegas, NV
Cost: TBA

Amazon pioneered the cloud revolution with its AWS infrastructure, which powers Alexa AI systems and many other popular voice solutions with its cloud and machine learning platform. The five-day event is joined by thousands of visitors engaging in deep technical discussions, workshops, hackathons and networking related to AWS infrastructure and technology solutions. The conference covers diverse topics ranging from business and industry trends, to security and machine learning solutions widely applicable to voice tech in use today.

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About the author

Muhammad Raza

Muhammad Raza is a Stockholm-based technology consultant working with leading startups and Fortune 500 firms on thought leadership branding projects across DevOps, Cloud, Security and IoT.