Kaito Mercer
Founder & CEO · Cendre Systems
PROGRAM FORMAT
TABLE_
SOME CONVERSATIONS NEED A SMALLER ROOM
Small. Curated. Focused. Often off-stage. Sometimes invite-only. Designed around participation, not passive listening.
PARTICIPATE_CURATED_OFTEN OFF-STAGE_
TOPIC_
ROOM_
DISCUSSION_
TRUST_
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT_
WHY IT MATTERS
SOME IDEASONLY SURVIVEA SMALLER ROOM_
A table is small on purpose. Fewer people, one topic and no audience is what makes it safe to say the uncertain thing and follow it all the way down.
TRUST_
A room small enough to say the real thing.
FOCUS_
One topic. No performance.
DEPTH_
Follow a thread further than a stage allows.
SMALLROOMSHONESTANSWERS
TRUST_
A room small enough to say the real thing.
FOCUS_
One topic. No performance.
DEPTH_
Follow a thread further than a stage allows.
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE TABLE?
WHAT HAPPENS AT THE TABLE?_
From CXO roundtables to closed expert groups, TABLE_ brings the right people into a room built for depth, not an audience.
ROUNDTABLE_
Peers only, no audience,
so nobody in the room is performing for it.
RESEARCH DISCUSSION_
Unfinished work said out loud,
well before it's ready for a paper.
FOUNDER TABLE_
What's actually keeping them up,
said away from investors and the press.
POLICY CONVERSATION_
Regulators and builders,
working through it together, in the same room.
INVESTOR DISCUSSION_
What's fundable right now,
said off the record, not from a stage.
CLOSED EXPERT GROUP_
One narrow, specific question,
worked through by the handful of people who'd know.
UPCOMING TABLE CONVERSATIONS
UPCOMING TABLE CONVERSATIONS_
Roundtables, closed groups and working sessions from upcoming HATCon events.
SAMPLE PROGRAM — tables are published as each city confirms
5 sessions shown
09:00
NOV 14
Regulators, model builders and one plaintiff's lawyer, in the same room, on the record with each other but not with the press.
HATCon BengaluruPOLICY CONVERSATION14 seats · application
11:00
NOV 14
CYBERSecurity founders on the decisions they'd make differently — hiring, pricing, disclosure — away from investors and press.
HATCon BengaluruFOUNDER TABLE10 seats · invite only
13:30
NOV 14
AIA closed conversation on where capital is actually moving this year, and which pitches are quietly getting passed over.
HATCon BengaluruINVESTOR DISCUSSION16 seats · application
10:00
NOV 15
BLOCKCHAINA narrow technical question about a widely used primitive, worked through by the handful of people qualified to answer it.
HATCon New DelhiCLOSED EXPERT GROUP8 seats · invite only
15:00
NOV 15
FRONTIERAn open working session for people already deep in the problem — bring your own half-finished approach.
OnlineTECHNICAL WORKING SESSION20 seats · open
REGULATING WHAT YOU CAN'T FULLY EXPLAIN_
Fourteen seats. Regulators, builders and one plaintiff's lawyer, working through the question neither side has a clean answer to.
The room only works if people can say the unfinished version of what they think.
Sofia LindqvistDirector, Tech Policy, Nordic Digital Institute
DIFFERENT WAYS TO JOIN A TABLE
DIFFERENT WAYSTO JOIN A TABLE_
Same room. Different ways to earn a seat at it. Some are invited, some ask, some do the inviting.
REQUEST A SEAT_
Apply for an open table. Tell us why this room, why now.
HOST A TABLE_
Set the topic. Curate the room. Decide who needs to be in it.
FOUR DEPTHS. ONE TABLE.
FOUR DEPTHS.ONE TABLE_
Different domains. The same smaller room. Four fields, each taken to its own depth, around one table.
SAMPLE FIGURES
AI_
21 TABLES · 40% OF THE PROGRAMME
Systems that reason, act and build alongside us.
- Policy
- capital
- research direction
Related circle: Responsible AI
CYBER_
16 TABLES · 30% OF THE PROGRAMME
Defending the systems the world now runs on.
- Founder rooms
- disclosure norms
Related circle: AI Security
BLOCKCHAIN_
9 TABLES · 17% OF THE PROGRAMME
Trust, identity and value as programmable primitives.
- Cryptographic assumptions
- protocol risk
Related circle: Zero Knowledge
PEOPLE AT THE TABLE
PEOPLE AT THE TABLE_
You can't regulate what you can't explain, and you can't explain it in a room built for applause.
DIFFERENT WAYS TO SHAPE
COME IN WITH A TOPIC_
The best tables start with a question someone won't ask on stage.
AITHREAD_
What would you only say in a closed room, not a keynote?
7H AGO
CYBERDEBATE_
Which founder conversations never happen with investors present?
1D AGO
BLOCKCHAINTHREAD_
What cryptographic assumption deserves more scrutiny?
2D AGOGO DEEPER FROM HERE
GO DEEPER FROM HERE_
Six formats. A bigger picture.
HAVE A TABLE WORTH HOSTING?
Host a table at HATCon_
Host a table, propose a topic or tell us who's missing from the room.
We're looking for a clear topic, the right small group, and a reason the room needs to be small.
HOST A TABLE_CFP OPENING SOON_
- Open
HATCON_
THE BEST CONVERSATIONSHAPPEN IN THE SMALLEST ROOMS_
SMALLER ROOMS.HARDER QUESTIONS.MORE TRUST.