Beyond the Frontier NYC 2025: Two Days of Depth, Dialogue, and Direction
Building the Future with Intention
Beyond the Frontier NYC 2025 was not designed to impress from the outside. It was designed to work.
Co-hosted and led by SplitX and Frontier Collective, the two-day summit brought together founders, investors, technologists, city builders, creatives, and policy leaders for something increasingly rare in New York: real engagement, real depth, and real momentum.
Across two distinct but deeply connected days, the summit explored frontier technology not as a trend, but as a responsibility. AI, climate, mobility, infrastructure, creativity, wellbeing, and leadership were all on the table. But more importantly, so were the humans building them.
Day 1: Systems, Trust, and the Intelligence Age
Newlab, Brooklyn Navy Yard
Hosting Day 1 inside Newlab was more than symbolic. Newlab is one of the few places where frontier tech, public-private collaboration, and long-term thinking truly collide, and it set the tone perfectly.
The day began with reflections on New York City’s role as a global innovation engine and quickly transitioned into the defining challenge of our time: trust in the information age.
We kicked off the day with remarks from Michelle Brechtelsbauer (Newlab), who shared Newlab’s impact as a platform for frontier innovation, and Justin Kreamer, SVP at New York City Economic Development Corporation, who underscored NYC’s place as the world’s 2nd largest startup tech ecosystem. What’s happening here is no longer emerging, it’s accelerating.
Tobias Peyerl (OpenAI) then set the tone on building trust in the intelligence age.
From there, the conversations just kept getting sharper:
Mina Seetharaman (IDEO) led a grounded and important discussion with Reena Jana (Google) and Tobias Peyerl (OpenAI) on AI standards and ethical signals.
Dug Song (Michigan’s first Unicorn! Duo Security), Daniel Baruch (J.P. Morgan), and Vijay Gurbaxani (UC Irvine) unpacked what it really takes to invest in the next economy, moderated by Journalist Jade Scipioni
Natalie Monbiot (Virtual Human Economy), Christian F. Nunes MBA, MS, LCSW (NOW), Ravi Sarkar (Microsoft), and Cameron Berg (AE Studio) explored cognition, trust, and the emotional architecture of AI.
I had the pleasure of joining Michelle Brechtelsbauer (Newlab), Randolph F. Wiggins (NY Global Tech & Innovation Center), and Mary Franck (Future Colossal) to talk about place as a platform, and how the spaces we build shape the ideas that grow there. Newlab was the perfect example.
We closed out with bold takes from Jeff Prosserman (Voltpost) and Som Ray (Clip) on infrastructure, mobility, and cities. Plus, Jennifer Weng (Frog), Norma A. Padrón (J.P. Morgan), Alexander Fleischer (Capgemini), and Amy Peck (Endeavor) explored how we move from experimentation to real-world impact across sectors, from enterprise and capital markets to design and venture-building.
The day was not performative. It was precise, opinionated, and forward-moving. Reminder of what happens when the right people are brought into the right space with intention.
Day 2: Humanity, Perception, and Creative Power
Microsoft Soho
If Day 1 focused on systems, Day 2 went underneath them.
Hosted at Microsoft Soho, the energy shifted from macro structures and hard tech into perception, wellbeing, imagination, and how humans actually experience the future we’re building.
The day opened with a moment that captured the spirit of the entire summit.
Co-Host Armando Matijevich (SplitX, Got Fyaka?) led a reflective Got Fyaka session (The art of being present, doing nothing for the moment) and powerful session on well-being and the future of human thriving, alongside Dr. Eric Solomon, Ph.D. (The Human Operating System), Mina Seetharaman (IDEO), and Ashley Roberts (Visual Artist & Herb) reminding us that technology without humanity is directionless.
In Perception Engine, we dove into how AI and storytelling collide with creative expression. Huge respect to James Gregson (ex-LEGO/WPP), Michael Gold (Horseman.ai), Lucas Rizzotto, and Toni Thai Sterrett (Bad Grrls Creative Club) for pushing the boundaries on how we experience reality and how creation and expression happens in an AI revolution.
Tonya Sitko, MBA, PMP (HSG), Yumi Kimura (LEAD Tech), Samantha G. Wolfe (PitchFWD), and Robin Wood Sailer (UNFPA) explored the real work of scaling AI across systems that matter, health, education, equity, and beyond.
On creative entrepreneurship, Sam Hunter Magee (Harvard), Tiya Gordon (It’s Electric), Stewart Smith (Apogee), and Amy Peck (EndeavorXR) shared how innovation is surviving (and thriving) in volatile times.
And to close it out: The Frontier Tech Revolution. We heard from Murat Aktihanoglu (Remarkable Ventures), Ryan Wang (Outpost Capital, Zebra Labs), Cat Middleton (Venture Collective), and Mike Pell (Microsoft Garage) on what’s coming next across venture, AI, and spatial computing.
The final rooftop reception at Microsoft Soho brought it all together: sunset views, deep follow-ups, and conversations that we know will carry far beyond this week.
Why Beyond the Frontier was success
Beyond the Frontier NYC 2025 succeeded because it was designed, not assembled.
- It balanced hard technology with human presence
- It prioritized depth over scale
- It created space for real dialogue, not scripted panels
- It treated wellbeing, creativity, and ethics as core infrastructure, not side topics
The future of frontier innovation isn’t just about what we build but how we show up while building it.
Beyond the Frontier wasn’t about predicting what comes next.
It was about starting to build it, together, with clarity, trust, and intention.
