South by Southwest (SXSW) 2026 is not so far away anymore, and lineups are starting to roll out. In one of the first programming announcements so far, the festival announced more than 250 sessions for the Innovation, Music and Film & TV Conferences from March 12018.
These sessions come from PanelPicker submissions, ideas community members have submitted to a platform and voted on alongside SXSW gatekeepers. Although community voting is closed, there are 3013 proposals to view on the PanelPicker platform. The ones announced November 4 have been accepted.
A press release names artificial intelligence — perhaps unsurprisingly — as the most popular submission topic, particularly when it comes to emerging technology’s “impact on humanity.” The release suggests that a common thread will be insulating human creativity against possible machine encroachment. Other popular topics were branding and marketing (nearly a third of submissions, it says) and health, especially mental health (10 percent).
“SXSW is the place creators and innovators come together to discuss the biggest questions on emerging trends,” said SVP of programming Greg Rosenbaum in the release. “This year, one theme stuck out above the rest: humans. Across all of our tracks—Tech & AI, Cities & Climate, Creator Economy, Culture, Design, and more — session submissions asked the fundamental question, ‘how does this impact humans and humanity?'”
“Tracks,” or subject categories, help attendees follow topics they’re most interested in. In 2026, they’ll include: Brand & Marketing, Cities & Climate, Creator Economy, Culture, Design, Health, Startups, Sports & Gaming, Tech & AI, and Workplace. There are also the more general Music, Film, and TV Conferences.
The press release shares five standout sessions as examples of what attendees can expect. They’re edited for brevity below:
How We Could Lose Control: Avoiding the Paths to Runaway AI with physicist Anthony Aguirre and tech ethicist Tristan Harris: examines how humanity could lose control over advanced AI, as well as concrete ways to prevent this outcome.The Anime Advantage: Brand Strategy Meets Cultural Power with Darren Traub and Elizabeth Cohen from Crunchyroll, Robin Tilotta from Twitch, and Uzma Rawn Dowler from Major League Baseball (MLB) looks into anime as a narrative and business engine.An Influential Conversation with Jordan “The Stallion” with Influential CCO Chris Detert and digital personality Jordan “The Stallion” Howlett: discusses Howlett staying true to himself while navigating the business of brand deals, audience engagement, and online growth.Launching a New WNBA Team: The Story of the Toronto Tempo with The Tempo’s CMO, Whitney Bell, and CRO, Lisa Ferkul, and Matt Klar from The Greater: shares the story of launching the WNBA’s first team outside the U.S., including lessons in branding and shaping community partnerships.The AI-Powered Bionic Revolution Has Already Begun with bionic limb pioneer Aadeel Akhtar: reveals how shared breakthroughs are transforming assistive technology into accessible, intelligent extensions of the body like mass-producible bionic hands and real-time adaptive control.
A full list of conference sessions can be found at sxsw.com.