All registrants will be placed on a waitlist pending approval. Admission is only limited to qualified Sparknify members to ensure a high-quality program and a focused, high-signal conversation environment. Become a member today to gain access to this exclusive event.

How do corporate venture arms of global industrial leaders decide where the future is heading — and how does strategic capital shape the next wave of AI, semiconductor, and deep tech?

In the age of artificial intelligence, the most important investment decisions are no longer made by financial capital alone. Increasingly, the defining bets on the future are coming from corporate venture arms of global industrial leaders — investors who sit at the intersection of frontier technology, manufacturing scale, and long-term strategic vision.

As part of Sparknify’s Silicon Valley Unplugged series, this live studio panel brings together three leaders shaping the deep tech landscape from inside some of the world’s most influential industrial ecosystems:

• Anand Kamannavar, Applied Ventures (the venture arm of Applied Materials)

• Divya Raghavan, Hitachi Ventures (the global venture arm of Hitachi)

• Ben Haskell, Lam Capital (the corporate venture arm of Lam Research)

Together, they represent strategic capital embedded inside the companies that build the physical backbone of the modern world — from semiconductor fabrication equipment and advanced materials to industrial systems and global infrastructure.

Unlike traditional venture funds, corporate venture capital (CVC) is driven not only by financial returns but by long-term strategic alignment. These investors operate with deep domain expertise, direct access to customers, and global supply chains — often influencing which technologies transition from breakthrough to industry standard.

In this candid Silicon Valley Unplugged conversation, we explore:

• How do corporate venture teams decide which AI and deep tech innovations are truly strategic?

• What signals matter most when evaluating semiconductor, hardware, robotics, and advanced compute startups?

• How do CVCs balance financial discipline with long-term industrial vision?

• Where do they see the next wave of AI-native infrastructure emerging?

Corporate Capital in the Age of AI offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from decision-makers inside the venture arms of companies that power the global industrial ecosystem. For founders building deep tech, this conversation provides insight into how to align with strategic investors. For investors and technologists, it offers a window into where industrial leaders are placing long-term bets.

As AI reshapes industries from silicon to systems, strategic capital is becoming one of the most powerful forces steering innovation. This is your opportunity to understand how — from the inside.

All registrants will be placed on a waitlist pending approval. Admission is only limited to qualified Sparknify members to ensure a high-quality program and a focused, high-signal conversation environment. Become a member today to gain access to this exclusive event.