Speaker

Rob Smith

Partner M13

Rob helps startups strategically build, deploy, fundraise, and go to market. Prior to M13, Rob has been a serial founder as the CEO of BlackSmith Studios and Pecabu, as well as acting in an interim-CMO/CPO capacity at a number of later-stage Bay Area VC-backed companies, including Cala Health, Apnicure, Neodyne & others. He is a recipient of UK Entrepreneur of the Year in 2012.

Upcoming and recent events

CIO 100 Leadership Live Los Angeles

Betting on AI: Can Adopting a VC Mindset Enhance CIO Enterprise Technology Decisions?

Thursday, April 16, 2026

3:20 - 3:55 pm

Venture capital moves 18 months ahead of the enterprise. Four investors share where they’re placing their bets right now, which technologies are getting overhyped, and how CIOs can use VC signal to sharpen their own roadmap before the trends arrive as vendor pitches.