Startups

AT&T talks driving innovation through collaboration at Disrupt

Comment

We’re just a few short weeks away from the first in-person TechCrunch Disrupt in three years. The agenda is absolutely bursting with expert insight and information from the leading voices in the early-stage startup universe.

We want to take a moment to highlight a session led by our title sponsor, AT&T, who helps more than 100 million people in the U.S. connect in meaningful ways every day. Great partners make Disrupt possible, but they do more than just write a check. They show up and deliver information and resources that help early-stage founders succeed and grow.

That’s why we’re excited to share that Jeremy Legg, the chief technology officer at AT&T, will take the TechCrunch+ stage — along with Boddle Learning founders, Edna Martinson and Clarence Tan.

In a session called “Framing Innovation Through Collaborations Big and Small,” the panelists will discuss connectivity and the essential role it plays in driving innovation, opportunity and growth. You’ll also learn how AT&T collaborates with startups at every stage and hear from Martinson and Tan about their real-world collaboration experience and what it’s done for their business.

Jeremy Legg oversees the AT&T Technology Services (ATS) organization for business, consumer, data and analytics, IT and cloud, network architecture and AT&T Labs, security and new product development.

Legg’s organization is helping the company modernize its legacy IT infrastructure and migrate as much of it as possible to the cloud while retiring outdated systems. His team also includes business and consumer technology platforms, as well as experts developing new products and services built on AT&T’s leading-edge 5G and fiber connectivity.

Prior to joining AT&T, Legg served as executive vice president and CTO for WarnerMedia, where he was responsible for all technology strategy, development and operations, as well as the technology development of the video streaming platform HBO Max.

Edna Martinson is the co-founder of Boddle Learning — a gamified learning platform that helps K–6 teachers deliver engaging and adaptive math practice and assessments using gameplay and AI. The award-winning platform has served more than 2.5 million students and supports thousands of classrooms across the U.S.

Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Martinson came to the U.S. at the age of 16 to pursue her BS in international business. She also holds an MBA from the University of Missouri. A Forbes Next 1000 recipient, Martinson is a big believer in the importance of solid education at a young age. Her desire to help young kids succeed academically fuels her passion for the edtech space.

Martinson’s bold and visionary leadership stems from a strong background in building business relationships, executing on growth-hacking strategies, and building strong teams.

Clarence Tan is a co-founder of Boddle Learning — a gaming platform for children. Used by more than 2.5 million kids, Boddle makes learning seriously fun both in and outside the classroom.

Tan has over 10 years of experience designing games and user experience in the kid and learning space. He also speaks on classroom gamification for KCPT, the Kansas City PBS station, and at educational conferences such as International Society for Technology in Education, Learnfest and SXSW EDU.

Tan dedicates his work to creating engaging experiences that improve student outcomes in the K–12 space.

In addition to this talk, AT&T will be hosting several video breaks for attendees that share innovative tools and information to help startups grow.

TechCrunch Disrupt takes place on October 18–20. Buy your pass today.

Is your company interested in sponsoring or exhibiting at TechCrunch Disrupt 2022? Contact our sponsorship sales team by filling out this form.

 

More TechCrunch

Accel has invested in more than 200 startups in the region to date, making it one of the more prolific VCs in this market.

Accel has a fresh $650M to back European early-stage startups

Kyle Vogt, the former founder and CEO of self-driving car company Cruise, has a new VC-backed robotics startup focused on household chores. Vogt announced Monday that the new startup, called…

Cruise founder Kyle Vogt is back with a robot startup

When Keith Rabois announced he was leaving Founders Fund to return to Khosla Ventures in January, it came as a shock to many in the venture capital ecosystem — and…

From Miles Grimshaw to Eva Ho, venture capitalists continue to play musical chairs

On the heels of OpenAI announcing the latest iteration of its GPT large language model, its biggest rival in generative AI in the U.S. announced an expansion of its own.…

Anthropic is expanding to Europe and raising more money

If you’re looking for a Starliner mission recap, you’ll have to wait a little longer, because the mission has officially been delayed.

TechCrunch Space: You rock(et) my world, moms

Apple devoted a full event to iPad last Tuesday, roughly a month out from WWDC. From the invite artwork to the polarizing ad spot, Apple was clear — the event…

Apple iPad Pro M4 vs. iPad Air M2: Reviewing which is right for most

Terri Burns, a former partner at GV, is venturing into a new chapter of her career by launching her own venture firm called Type Capital. 

GV’s youngest partner has launched her own firm

The decision to go monochrome was probably a smart one, considering the candy-colored alternatives that seem to want to dazzle and comfort you.

ChatGPT’s new face is a black hole

Apple and Google announced on Monday that iPhone and Android users will start seeing alerts when it’s possible that an unknown Bluetooth device is being used to track them. The…

Apple and Google agree on standard to alert people when unknown Bluetooth devices may be tracking them

The company is describing the event as “a chance to demo some ChatGPT and GPT-4 updates.”

OpenAI’s ChatGPT announcement: Watch here

A human safety operator will be behind the wheel during this phase of testing, according to the company.

GM’s Cruise ramps up robotaxi testing in Phoenix

OpenAI announced a new flagship generative AI model on Monday that they call GPT-4o — the “o” stands for “omni,” referring to the model’s ability to handle text, speech, and…

OpenAI debuts GPT-4o ‘omni’ model now powering ChatGPT

Featured Article

The women in AI making a difference

As a part of a multi-part series, TechCrunch is highlighting women innovators — from academics to policymakers —in the field of AI.

7 hours ago
The women in AI making a difference

The expansion of Polar Semiconductor’s facility would enable the company to double its U.S. production capacity of sensor and power chips within two years.

White House proposes up to $120M to help fund Polar Semiconductor’s chip facility expansion

In 2021, Google kicked off work on Project Starline, a corporate-focused teleconferencing platform that uses 3D imaging, cameras and a custom-designed screen to let people converse with someone as if…

Google’s 3D video conferencing platform, Project Starline, is coming in 2025 with help from HP

Over the weekend, Instagram announced it is expanding its creator marketplace to 10 new countries — this marketplace connects brands with creators to foster collaboration. The new regions include South…

Instagram expands its creator marketplace to 10 new countries

You can expect plenty of AI, but probably not a lot of hardware.

Google I/O 2024: What to expect

The keynote kicks off at 10 a.m. PT on Tuesday and will offer glimpses into the latest versions of Android, Wear OS and Android TV.

Google I/O 2024: How to watch

Four-year-old Mexican BNPL startup Aplazo facilitates fractionated payments to offline and online merchants even when the buyer doesn’t have a credit card.

Aplazo is using buy now, pay later as a stepping stone to financial ubiquity in Mexico

We received countless submissions to speak at this year’s Disrupt 2024. After carefully sifting through all the applications, we’ve narrowed it down to 19 session finalists. Now we need your…

Vote for your Disrupt 2024 Audience Choice favs

Co-founder and CEO Bowie Cheung, who previously worked at Uber Eats, said the company now has 200 customers.

Healthy growth helps B2B food e-commerce startup Pepper nab $30 million led by ICONIQ Growth

Booking.com has been designated a gatekeeper under the EU’s DMA, meaning the firm will be regulated under the bloc’s market fairness framework.

Booking.com latest to fall under EU market power rules

Featured Article

‘Got that boomer!’: How cybercriminals steal one-time passcodes for SIM swap attacks and raiding bank accounts

Estate is an invite-only website that has helped hundreds of attackers make thousands of phone calls aimed at stealing account passcodes, according to its leaked database.

12 hours ago
‘Got that boomer!’: How cybercriminals steal one-time passcodes for SIM swap attacks and raiding bank accounts

Squarespace is being taken private in an all-cash deal that values the company on an equity basis at $6.6 billion.

Permira is taking Squarespace private in a $6.9 billion deal

AI-powered tools like OpenAI’s Whisper have enabled many apps to make transcription an integral part of their feature set for personal note-taking, and the space has quickly flourished as a…

Buy Me a Coffee’s founder has built an AI-powered voice note app

Airtel, India’s second-largest telco, is partnering with Google Cloud to develop and deliver cloud and GenAI solutions to Indian businesses.

Google partners with Airtel to offer cloud and GenAI products to Indian businesses

To give AI-focused women academics and others their well-deserved — and overdue — time in the spotlight, TechCrunch has been publishing a series of interviews focused on remarkable women who’ve contributed to…

Women in AI: Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick wants to pass more AI legislation

We took the pulse of emerging fund managers about what it’s been like for them during these post-ZERP, venture-capital-winter years.

A reckoning is coming for emerging venture funds, and that, VCs say, is a good thing

It’s been a busy weekend for union organizing efforts at U.S. Apple stores, with the union at one store voting to authorize a strike, while workers at another store voted…

Workers at a Maryland Apple store authorize strike

Alora Baby is not just aiming to manufacture baby cribs in an environmentally friendly way but is attempting to overhaul the whole lifecycle of a product

Alora Baby aims to push baby gear away from the ‘landfill economy’