RenderATL (Render Atlanta)

Engineers used to write every line by hand. Now, like producers sampling a beat, the craft is in what they do with what AI gives them. During RenderATL, we had the privilege of hosting Killer Mike and New Relic's Jemiah Sius to break down that shift. Then Angie Jones (Agentic AI Foundation), Scott Hanselman (Microsoft), Donnie Beamer (City of Atlanta), and RenderATL's Justin Samuels dug into what it means for how software gets built.

AI can be your coworker, assistant or accelerator, but it cannot replace great human judgment. During this RenderATL 2026 Main Stage conversation, our partners at DraftKings & their CTO Zach Maybury, shared what responsible AI collaboration looks like: provide clear direction, evaluate its work along the way and always trust, but verify. Watch the full day of Main Stage conversations now on the RenderATL YouTube channel. #RenderATL #DraftKings #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork

A message from our Founder & CEO 🚀

Over the weekend, RenderATL and our nonprofit foundation, Silicon South, hosted Silicon South House in Martha’s Vineyard in partnership with The Retreat by The Gathering Spot. The invitation-only experience brought together founders, executives, investors, policymakers, creatives, and industry leaders for thoughtful conversations around artificial intelligence, entrepreneurship, economic opportunity, regional innovation, and the future of the South’s technology ecosystem. We were honored to welcome Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, who shared remarks with the room, and grateful to every guest who showed up ready to exchange ideas and build meaningful relationships. We also want to recognize everyone from Atlanta who made it a point to stop by the House while on the Vineyard. Having so many members of our home community in the room was a meaningful reminder that Atlanta continues to play an important role in the conversations shaping technology, business, and innovation far beyond our city. Silicon South was created to help strengthen the connective tissue across the South’s innovation ecosystem by bringing together talent, industry, investors, policymakers, and community leaders while expanding access to capital, mentorship, visibility, influence, and opportunity. There is extraordinary talent across the South. Our work is helping make sure that talent is connected to the people, resources, and opportunities needed to thrive. Martha’s Vineyard was an important stop in that work, and we’re excited for what comes next.

Day 2 said “ship it.” So we did. We went deeper on the work itself: AI, architecture, open source, scaling, engineering leadership and the decisions teams are making behind the scenes every day. The hackathon wrapped, the technical rooms stayed full, and there was no shortage of opinions being shared. Then we ended the night the Atlanta way... D4L + Dem Franchize Boyz at Founders Green. 2005 was very much alive 😂 We’ve got a full RenderATL 2026 recap coming soon because there’s way too much to fit into one post. But before we get into all of that, thank you. Thank you to every person who came to Atlanta, shared what you know, asked good questions, challenged an idea, met somebody new and spent these two days with us.

Jerseys on. Laptops open. Fits hitting. 🏀💻 Jersey Day at #RenderATL understood the assignment. Now be honest, who had the hardest fit? 👀

“The future of creative work is already here, but it isn’t evenly distributed.” Brandon Butler on why understanding that future starts with learning from the people already building it. #RenderATL

“The real problem isn’t your AI agent, but the over-permissioned credential, the missing environment boundary, and the human-era policy it inherited.” Jiachen Jiang on why your AI might not be the problem. Your infrastructure is. #RenderATL