BOULDER, Colo. — Anyone who still questions the power of artificial intelligence to transform commerce and the broader economy would have had their doubts put to rest by attending the IterateON conference earlier this week. Organized by Iterate.ai, which offers an enterprise platform that accelerates the development of AI applications, the semiannual event brought together more than 160 leaders in technology and other business sectors to examine AI and its impact.

“We wanted the event to be a little bit different in that it includes people from all layers of the AI tech stack — the application layer, the model layer and the infrastructure layer,” said Jon Nordmark, Iterate.ai’s co-founder and chief executive officer. “The reason is that AI is really dependent on each of these layers working together. 

“We also wanted to make sure that it was cross-industry. We have people ranging from space exploration in the room, trying to build an office park in space, all the way to CPGs like Pepsi, L’Oréal and many different types of companies. The cross-pollination of ideas from industry to industry is really important for sparking ideas.”

Speakers and panelists tackled AI from a variety of perspectives. The fast-paced day included presentations about robotics; the shift from digital to physical processors by utilizing vision AI agents; companies as living organisms; and legal and political issues. Throughout the day, those talks were supplemented by a series of real-world AI demonstrations. 

Prior to IterateON, participants had the opportunity to gain a better understanding of the revolutionary implications of quantum computing and the centrality of Boulder in the development of the technology. Greater Boulder is home to five of the world’s 20 largest quantum computing companies. 

“The Quantum Experience was all about showing how quantum computing could define the next hundred years of humanity,” Nordmark noted. “It will impact us greatly. Whereas the computers we work with today use bits, which are essentially on/off switches, qubits in quantum computing operate more like dimmer switches. That creates all these probabilities which are infinite compared to what we have today.”

Building on that foundation, IterateON tackled the intersection of AI and quantum computing. The combination will change business fundamentally. 

“AI is streamlining today’s work, but it’s also making the impossible possible,” said Nordmark.