Smart Kitchen Summit 2026
For those of you interested in all sorts of ideas about the future of food, cooking and kitchen design, thelatest Smart Kitchen Summit goes live online tomorrow. This is the conference that deep dives into the role of tech in our kitchens. It will put out podcasts from Monday 12 October to Friday 16 October.
I’ll be talking at 4pm London time on Friday with Michael Wolf, founder of the conference, exploring how design, social media, AI and changing habits are transformingour kitchens, a process can only pick up pace. It will not, I promise, be all about robots, but more a quest for the perseverance of human skills and the timeless pleasures of cooking and creativity in a radically new setting. Do have a listen if you can.
Monday, October 12
The Future of Home Food Robots. Posha’s Raghav Gupta and MealTec’s Eric Khairy join us to discuss what cooking robots can do today, what remains difficult, and whether consumers are ready to hand over more of the cooking.
Understanding The How and Why of Food Tech Fails. Jonathan Blutinger and Michael Woolf will examine food tech startups that didn’t make it, looking at what went wrong and what their experiences can teach anyone building a business in this space.
Tuesday, October 13
Next-Gen Cooking: What Are Kitchen Appliances of the Future? Revolution Cooking’s Tom Klaff and Combustion’s Chris Young explore how cooking appliances will change over the next decade, from new heating technologies to tools that help us get better results in the kitchen.
Wednesday, October 14
The Future of Restaurants. Counter Service’s Tom Cortese and MOTO Pizza’s Lee Kindell discuss how they’re rethinking the restaurant, including kitchen operations, technology, and the experience that brings customers back.
The Food Tech Hardware Product Launch Playbook. Scott Heimendinger, founder of Seattle Ultrasonics and creator of the Ultrasonic Chef’s Knife, walks through what it takes to bring a kitchen tech product to market.
Thursday, October 15
Vibe Coding Your Next Food Tech App. Food futurist Mike Lee shows how to get started building apps and agents with AI, opening up new possibilities for turning a food business idea into something you can actually try.
From Beer Tech to Helping Us Live Forever. PicoBrew co-founder and DeepSpan CEO Bill Mitchell joins us to discuss his move from home brewing to technology focused on sleep, nutrition, wellness, and longevity.
Friday, October 16
The Past, Present and Future of Kitchen Design. Designer and author Johnny Grey shares lessons from his career and explores how social media, AI, and changing habits could shape tomorrow’s kitchens.
How AI Is Changing the Consumer Meal Journey. GPT Food Cam’s Raj Singh, Springhouse’s Jay Lee, and BakeSpace’s Babette Pepaj discuss how AI fits into everyday food decisions, including its conveniences, questionable recommendations, and the reasons consumers remain skeptical.
