Hear why Science Corp CEO Max Hodak says the screen era is ending at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Science Corp chief executive Max Hodak is scheduled to argue at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 that computing may be moving beyond the display-dominated model that has shaped digital life for decades. His planned appearance, titled Beyond Screens, will examine a possible next generation of interfaces designed to respond more closely to their users. The session is set for the Disrupt Stage, placing the discussion within a conference agenda focused on the businesses and technologies now being built around artificial intelligence.

Hodak’s central proposition is not simply that screens will disappear overnight. Rather, the event description points to an interface shift: systems could increasingly adjust to people through brain-computer interaction, producing different ways to communicate with and operate machines. That framing puts the emphasis on adaptation, not on a single device or product. It also raises a broad question for technologists and companies: whether the familiar pattern of tapping, typing and looking at flat displays will remain the primary gateway to software.

The idea arrives as the technology industry is putting renewed attention on how people interact with AI. Software can now generate text, images and code, but its usefulness still commonly depends on keyboards, phones, laptops and other screen-based hardware. A system that better interprets a user’s intent could change that relationship. Hodak’s session is expected to explore that possibility through the lens of brain-computer interactions, an area that links the design of interfaces with deeper questions about how humans direct digital tools.

There is an important qualification to the sweeping claim implied by an era after screens. The conference material describes a potential direction for technology, rather than a timetable or a declaration that existing displays are about to be replaced. Screens remain deeply embedded in work, entertainment, communication and the hardware ecosystem. Any move toward more adaptive interfaces would therefore have to coexist with current devices, and its practical value would depend on whether people can use such systems reliably and comfortably in everyday settings.

The discussion will take place when Disrupt returns to Moscone West in San Francisco from October 13 through October 15. Organizers expect more than 10,000 people from the startup world, including founders, investors and other community participants. The program is slated to include over 250 sessions, giving Hodak’s appearance a place in a larger gathering where young companies, capital providers and technology leaders compare ideas about what may become commercially viable.

Artificial intelligence is a particular focus of this year’s event. The agenda is intended to address how AI businesses can be made sustainable, with AI-oriented sessions spread across six industry stages. OpenAI, Anthropic and Replit are among the names highlighted in the conference promotion. That breadth makes the interface debate relevant beyond Science Corp: companies developing AI models, applications and developer tools may all face choices about how their products meet users and what forms of interaction they should prioritize.

For startup founders and investors, the practical consequence is likely to be a closer look at the layers between a model and a person. A more responsive interface could affect product design, accessibility, hardware partnerships and the way users grant control to software. At the same time, such ambitions invite scrutiny. The question is not only whether a new interaction method can be demonstrated, but whether it solves a problem more effectively than a conventional display, while earning the trust required for technologies that may react to personal signals or behavior.

What to watch at Disrupt is how specifically Hodak connects the broad vision to the path ahead. The session may clarify which kinds of brain-computer interaction he sees as most meaningful, what role adaptive systems could play alongside screens, and how the concept fits an AI-centered market. The conference is also offering a registration discount before September 25: attendees can receive as much as $200 off, described as a 25% reduction on tickets. Those details underline the event’s effort to draw participants into a debate that reaches from AI economics to the basic mechanics of using a machine.

Source: TechCrunch