From AI to AEP, an Impressive Array of Keynotes at APEX EXPO 2026

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Each year at APEX EXPO, the Global Electronics Association provides an impressive lineup of keynote speakers to kick off the largest electronics manufacturing event in North America. This year included four keynote speeches, on topics ranging from the promise and peril of AI to the power of electronics, quantum computing, and the importance of heterogeneous integration in advanced electronics packaging.

Intelligence as Infrastructure: Zack Kass on AI’s Promise and Peril
The event’s keynote speaker is always a special treat. In past years, we’ve had astronauts, actors, and technologists grace the stage. This year by Zack Kass was just as inspiring. He’s an industry expert on AI who helped bring open-AI to market, and was the perfect choice for a technology event that would inevitably be focused significantly on AI throughout all of its programs and presentations, all week long.

His impassioned keynote felt both electrifying and deeply human, urging leaders to confront AI not just as executives, but as parents and stewards of the future. Drawing on history and computer science, he framed this moment in our collective culture as unprecedented: “We are no longer building tools, but intelligence itself as infrastructure.” Since the scientific breakthrough that was the first transformer to AI’s current ability to surpass human benchmarks in intelligence and reasoning (Kass cited the example of ChatGPT 4.0 having won the 2024 Math Olympiad), he emphasized that progress is accelerating at a breathtaking pace by being faster, cheaper, and more accessible than ever before. Yet his excitement was grounded in a deep humility.

It was refreshing that he did not shy away from the unease this technology has brought forth, even if he seems to believe it may be slightly mischaracterized. He highlighted risks that feel immediate and personal: the erosion of critical thinking, rising anxiety among younger generations, the empowerment of nefarious actors now capable of mass injury that would not have been possible before, and the looming question of identity in a world where our work may no longer define us. He ended on the extraordinary upside: scientific breakthroughs, radical abundance, and the possibility of truly reshaping society for the better. 

Ultimately, his message was a call to action to embrace AI’s potential and be mindful stewards of this powerful technology, so that progress enhances rather than diminishes what makes us human.

Quantum Computing’s Roadmap: David Lokken-Toyli, IBM Quantum 
In his keynote launching the Global Electronics Association’s first conference focused on advanced electronic packaging, IBM’s Dr. David Lokken-Toyli reframed quantum computing as a collaborative, supply-chain-driven effort, urging industry partners to “leap” rather than wait. He described quantum computing as part of a second quantum revolution, leveraging phenomena like superposition, entanglement, and interference to solve classes of problems beyond the reach of classical systems—particularly in chemistry, materials science, and complex optimization. While not universally faster, quantum systems offer unique advantages for simulating quantum-scale interactions, though they come with significant technical overhead and require carefully matched applications.

Lokken-Toyli emphasized IBM’s long-term roadmap, including error-corrected systems such as Starling (2029) and Blue Jay (2033), and highlighted the importance of transparency through metrics like the Quantum Advantage Tracker. He emphasized growing real-world engagement, citing installations like the Cleveland Clinic’s quantum system as evidence of industry readiness to experiment and invest.

His message called for active participation across the electronics ecosystem, positioning quantum computing not as a distant breakthrough, but as an evolving platform that will reshape computing, and one that requires immediate, collective action to realize its full potential.

The Enabling Power in Advanced Electronics Packaging: Dr. Ravi Mahajan, Intel Fellow
In his advanced packaging keynote, titled “Advanced Packaging: A Crucial Enabler for Heterogeneous Integration,” Dr. Ravi Mahajan’s thesis was that heterogeneous integration is crucial for continued progress in compute hardware development, and that advanced packaging techniques enable that progress.

As computing and communications hardware needs accelerate, it becomes increasingly clear that different technologies cannot always be optimized on the same die. To keep up with performance improvements, packaging experts are optimizing the package by stitching silicon die components together. Mahajan called this “disaggregation.” 

Getting into the details, Mahajan introduced the idea of planar interconnects as sections of the package/board interface set aside for silicon interconnects as small as 2 microns, alongside traditional 9-micron ball-joint interconnects. While this technique currently supports packages as large as 120 mm per side, Mahajan predicted 120–230 mm by 2028. He shared details about Intel’s development of glass-core substrates, mentioning that Intel is working to build out a glass substrate ecosystem with partner suppliers. Doubly interesting was the pairing of planar interconnects with glass substrates. These new packages will lead to a transition away from traditional solder to interconnects that go from copper to copper directly. 

These new packages are both driving the acceleration of compute power and responding to the need for more compute power. But energy needs are also benefiting. Where a standard package today requires 0.5pJ per bit of power, current advanced packages reduce the power appetite by an order of magnitude, to less than 0.05pJ/bit, and 0.01pJ/bit is projected for the near future. 

Mahajan noted the demand is growing and must remain economically feasible. He described advanced packaging as the leading edge that enables higher levels of heterogeneous integration, while rising compute and connection counts also drive packaging needs. He wraps up with a general call-to-action: get involved with the heterogenous integration roadmapping process.

Electronics Powering the Future: Global Electronics Association CEO John W. Mitchell
In the fourth and final 2026 keynote, Association CEO John Mitchell took the stage to build on his presentation from last year’s event. Entitled “Electronics Powering the Future,” Mitchell framed electronics as the backbone of nearly everything in modern life. He highlighted the growing strain on the electronics supply chain and manufacturing as demand accelerates across AI, advanced packaging, and global markets, and painted a picture of a current reality where capacity expansion to meet this demand lags due to workforce shortages, geopolitical pressures, and supply chain constraints. He drew on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse as an illustration to show that systems can fail when dynamic forces are not fully understood. In electronics manufacturing, our systems and supply chain are under more strain than ever before. 

Mitchell clearly outlined three imperatives:

• Building “flexible strength” through strategically interdependent supply networks
• Treating talent as critical infrastructure by developing cross-disciplinary, systems-level expertise
• Reinforcing the industry through interoperable standards and digital integration

Again drawing on his bridge analogy, his keynote message emphasized that fragility often hides in the connections between regions, technologies, and people. His call to action was that as electronics become too essential to fail, the industry must intentionally design for resilience, integration, and adaptability to ensure it can sustain and scale under increasing global demands.