A number of the speakers taking the stage at this year's South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas will be members of the Media Lab community — below are some details on the people and projects scheduled to participate.

Monday, March 9 (part of SXSW EDU)

Conversation: From Mystery to Mastery — What Students Say About AI Literacy                @ 2:00pm CT
Jaleesa Trapp, alum from the Lifelong Kindergarten group, joins Dr. Jenny Nash, Head of Education Impact (US) at LEGO Education, to discuss how to equip students with the skills needed to navigate a data-driven world with curiosity, creativity, and confidence.

Tuesday, March 10 (part of SXSW EDU)

Workshop: Building Belonging Through Inclusive Creative Computing @ 2:00pm CT
Jaleesa Trapp, Cecilé Sadler, and Karishma Chadha, alums from the Lifelong Kindergarten group, lead a workshop on fostering belonging in computer science education through creative computing approaches that help learners connect their lived experiences with justice-oriented learning.

Tuesday, March 17

Panel: AI Is Changing Consumer Behavior — How Brands Must Adapt @ 10:00am CT
Nataliya Kos'myna, research scientist in the Fluid Interfaces group, joins behavioral experts, cognitive researchers, and marketers to explore how AI is reshaping consumer behavior and how brands can respond.

Conversation: AI, Your Brain & the Battle for Cognitive Sovereignty @ 2:30pm CT
In this live debate on whether AI is expanding or eroding human cognition, Nataliya Kos'myna participates in a discussion inviting the audience to take a position and engage directly in the conversation.

Featured Session: Breaking Through Barriers to Innovation — Lessons from Space and Earth @ 4:00pm CT
Dava Newman, the MIT Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics, futurist, former director of the MIT Media Lab, and former NASA deputy administrator, discusses how leaders can harness paradigm-shifting technologies to create new opportunities for innovation.

Wednesday, March 18

Presentation: Design in Tech Report 2026 — UX to AX @ 11:30am CT
Former Media Lab Professor John Maeda presents new research on the shift from traditional user experience (UX) toward Agentic Experience (AX), where design focuses on orchestrating outcomes rather than interfaces.