I initially started pulling this list together to better understand the AI conference and event landscape in Chicago, and quickly realized just how deep and diverse the offering has become.
The Chicago area now hosts a wide range of conferences, summits, and symposia. As my list evolved, I expanded the scope to include other events across Illinois. The following 30+ items are sorted chronologically within each category.
Enterprise & Executive Leadership
- AI Summit 2026. Chicago, February 5, 2026. Organized by Exec Club Chicago.
- CIO Community Executive Summit. Chicago, May 12, 2026. Organized by Gartner.
- Chief Data and Analytics Officer. Chicago, August 11–12, 2026. Organized by Corinium.
- Leaders in AI Summit. Chicago, September 15–16, 2026. Organized by the Institute for AI Transformation.
- CIO Community Executive Summit. Chicago, December 1, 2026. Organized by Gartner.
Innovation & Ecosystem
- AI+IQ Summit. Chicago, April 29, 2026. Organized by Chicago Innovation.
- Nivan Innovation Conference. Chicago, May 21, 2026. Organized by Nivan.
- Chicago AI Week. Chicago, June 25–26, 2026. Organized by AI 2030.
- Techicago Week. Chicago, July 20–26, 2026. Organized by Techicago.
- Tech Pulse 2030. Chicago, August 4, 2026. Organized by Chicago AI Council and AI 2030.
Data & Analytics
- PASS Data Community Summit. Chicago, May 7–8, 2026. Organized by PASS.
- The Data Science Conference. Chicago, May 28–29, 2026. Organized by NeoNorm.
- AI & Analytics Summit. Schaumburg, May 28, 2026. Organized by Technology Executives Club.
- Data & Analytics Summit. Chicago, October 29, 2026. Organized by Data & Analytics Summit.
Physical AI, Robotics, and Automation
- World AI & Robotics Conference. Chicago, June 8–10, 2026. Organized by MomentEra.
- The Automate Conference. Chicago, June 22–25, 2026. Organized by the Association for Advancing Automation.
- Humanoid Robot Summit. Chicago, November 3–4, 2026. Organized by ACG.
Government, Public Sector, and Civic AI
- Digital Government Summit. Chicago, May 12, 2026. Organized by e.Republic.
- Illinois IT Leadership Forum. Springfield, June 2, 2026. Organized by e.Republic.
Responsible, Legal, and Governance AI
- The AI Governance & Strategy Summit. Chicago, April 22, 2026. Organized by CenterForce.
- AI 2035 Symposium. Chicago, May 11–13, 2026. Organized by the Chicago Bar Association.
- Responsible AI Summit. Chicago, June 23–24, 2026. Organized by AI & Data Analytics Network.
Research Symposia
- Molecule Maker Lab Institute Symposium. Urbana-Champaign, March 23, 2026. Organized by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
- Symposium on Transformative AI. Chicago, March 29-30, 2026. Organized by University of Chicago.
- Computational Research Symposium. Chicago, April 20, 2026. Organized by University of Illinois Chicago.
- Data Science in the Humanities and Humanities in Data Science. Chicago, April 21–24, 2026. Organized by University of Illinois Chicago.
- AI Symposium in Business and Society. Chicago, May 18, 2026. Organized by University of Illinois Chicago.
- Midwest Machine Learning Symposium. West Lafayette, IN, June 24-26. Organized by Purdue University. Previously held in Chicago (2025).
- AI Roadshow. Lockport, 2026. Organized by Argonne National Laboratory.
- AI Ecosystem Symposiums. Chicago, 2026. Organized by University of Illinois Chicago.
Vendor Roadshows
- Oracle AI World Tour. Chicago, April 7, 2026. Organized by Oracle.
- Microsoft AI Tour. Chicago, September 25, 2026. Organized by Microsoft.
The following initiatives have been added for reference given their relevance to AI literacy and education.
- National AI Literacy Day. A national initiative observed annually to promote public understanding of artificial intelligence, AI ethics, and responsible use through educational programming and community engagement.
- Argonne AI STEM Summit. Organized by Argonne National Laboratory. Last held in 2025. Focused on AI education, workforce readiness, and applied AI training for educators, students, and professionals.
My goal is not to be exhaustive, but to capture the events where AI is a primary theme or a meaningful part of the agenda. This list is not an endorsement of any event, organizer, or sponsor. It is simply a compilation I put together for my own reference, which I am sharing in case others find it useful when navigating the growing AI ecosystem in and around Chicago.
Credits: Chicago skyline — photo by Kelly on Pexels
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