Qld AI Festival 2026 to close with Brisbane awards

Qld AI Festival 2026 will take place in Brisbane over two days, ending with an awards program recognising work in technical and creative artificial intelligence.

The festival will bring together AI companies, start-ups, investors, creatives and business executives from around Australia for keynote sessions, panel discussions, workshops, live demonstrations and start-up showcases. The agenda will focus on the use of AI across sectors including health and commerce.

The event was created by Brisbane-based tech event founder Matt Kirby, who also launched the Australian AI Festival, Australian XR Festival and Qld XR Festival. He said the Queensland edition followed the response to the Australian AI Festival in Melbourne.

"We had a great time creating and delivering Australian AI Festival at St Kilda Beach, Melbourne last year - so much so that I wanted to create another AI Festival but this time closer to home," said Matt Kirby, founder of Qld AI Festival.

Kirby said the reach of previous technology festivals had exceeded his expectations.

"Every time we do a technology festival, the international reach we get blows me away. To me it starts off just an idea while having a beer with a medium rare steak at a pub with a nice sea view for inspiration. It gets momentum very quickly and suddenly, I'm in a room full of people with trophies to hand out," he said.

Awards focus

A central part of the program is the Qld AI Festival 2026 Awards, which will recognise local, national and international achievements. Spanning technical AI and creative AI categories, the awards will close the festival.

Kirby said award submissions had helped shape the wider festival program.

"The festival itself has been shaped by the submissions that we received for the awards," he said.

He also pointed to outcomes from the Australian AI Festival, where some winners drew attention from overseas.

"As we saw with Australian AI Festival, some of the award winners attracted offshore interest as a direct result of participating. We want local and national innovators to seize this opportunity to connect with their international peers should they arise," he said.

Post-event collaboration, he added, has been one of the clearest signs of value from his events.

"For me personally, nothing beats getting a message from an investor or an awards winner to say they're now collaborating after an event," he said.

Brisbane profile

The festival comes as Australian cities compete to attract technology investment, founders and specialist talent linked to artificial intelligence. Brisbane is being positioned as a venue for discussions on both the commercial uses of AI and broader questions about how people and AI systems will work together.

That framing reflects a broader shift in the AI market, where public debate has moved beyond model development to practical deployment, governance and workforce impacts. Events of this kind increasingly seek to balance technical discussion with examples that appeal to business users and non-specialist audiences.

Kirby said accessibility had been built into the event's approach.

"As much as we're a technology festival, we want to make it relatable to people who aren't technical, and that's why we focus on the real-world uses of AI and where it is heading," he said.

He added that clearer language could widen participation among businesses and individuals.

"Doors open up for AI companies and individuals when the technical jargon is removed from the conversation - it's all about the outcome," he said.

The event also reflects efforts by local organisers to build a stronger identity for Brisbane within Australia's technology sector. While Sydney and Melbourne often dominate investment and media attention, Queensland has sought to raise its profile through sector-specific gatherings and local founder networks.

Kirby linked that ambition to local pride in the city's and country's technology output.

"I want people to be proud of what we continue to achieve with technology here in Brisbane, but also in Australia," he said.