AI has dramatically lowered the barrier to building good prototypes. Turning these prototypes into products is another story.
Every founder wants their breakthrough to become a product that customers can trust. But the path from prototype to production is rarely a straight line. Manufacturing challenges emerge. Infrastructure must support growth. Autonomous systems must run outside of a controlled environment. As technology leaves the lab, problems change rapidly.
That’s the focus of “From Prototype to Production: Can It Scale in Reality” on the Real World AI stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026.
Leaders in space communications, autonomous systems, and AI infrastructure share how they navigate the transition from promising innovations to production deployments. While every industry follows its own path, all three speakers face the same reality. A successful prototype is just the beginning.
Disrupt returns to San Francisco’s Moscone West from October 13th to 15th, bringing together more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators for more than 250 sessions to explore the technology and market forces that will shape what’s next. Secure your Disrupt pass to hear how today’s innovators are bringing breakthrough technologies into production.
When AI leaves the lab
A working prototype answers one question: “Can it be done?” Production will finance dozens more. Building optical communications hardware has little in common with deploying self-driving cars or self-driving construction equipment. But all require technology that runs consistently outside of a controlled environment, where reliability, manufacturing, infrastructure, and daily operations become integral to the product itself.
This Real World AI Stage session does not promise a single blueprint. Instead, it brings together founders who have approached production from very different angles, providing a rare opportunity to compare what scaling looks like across industries.
Explore Real World AI Stage and save up to $200 when you sign up for Disrupt.
Lessons from companies that made the leap
No two production stories look the same. That’s what makes this argument so compelling. Each founder on the real-world AI stage has taken a different path from prototype to production, offering lessons that startups can apply to their own journeys.
Building the future of space communications
Moving beyond prototypes often means building manufacturing capabilities along with the technology itself. John Mackey, co-founder and CEO of MBRYONICS, transformed the photonics spin-out into a leader in space-based optical communications, scaling high-volume manufacturing while helping build the infrastructure behind next-generation space networks. His insights help startups understand what changes when a company moves from building prototypes to building products.
Introducing autonomy when consistency is important
Prior to co-founding Bedrock Robotics, Boris Sofman helped lead self-driving trucking and core technology at Waymo, driving more than 100 million driverless miles in fully autonomous vehicles. His experience reflects what happens when autonomous systems leave controlled testing and begin operating in environments where consistency and reliability are critical every day. He reveals how to scale production while ensuring safety and reliability.
Engineering the foundations of autonomous systems
Before co-founding Foxglove, Adrian Macneil led infrastructure engineering at Cruise, developing a data platform to support autonomous vehicles at scale. His research shows that production is dependent on the engineering systems that surround it. His talk will highlight the systems and infrastructure that enable complex technologies to move beyond experimentation and into everyday use.
Together, they offer three different perspectives on the same milestone that ambitious technology companies ultimately reach: moving from a successful prototype to something customers can trust in the real world.
Hear how these founders approached creation and what they learned along the way. Select the Disrupt ticket type and save up to $200 through September 25th.
What comes after the breakthrough?
Sooner or later, all promising technologies need to prove themselves outside the laboratory. That’s where this disruption conversation begins. Rather than focusing on what’s possible in theory, these founders discuss what happens when manufacturing, deployment, infrastructure, and day-to-day operations become part of the product.
No matter what innovation you’re building, this session will give you the chance to hear from founders who have already gone from prototype to production and the lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Secure your pass to Disrupt and hear how leaders are making the leap from prototype to production. Save up to $200 before price increases on September 25th.
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