Llama Lounge 19 at SAP Palo Alto

Author

Jeremiah Owyang
September 20, 2025

Above: Angle 1 (we couldn’t fit everyone in frame)

Above: Angle 2 (we couldn’t fit everyone in frame)

Llama Lounge 19 at SAP AppHaus (which featured Joule) in Palo Alto was a milestone. AI founders, investors, and corporate AI leaders came together to build, challenge, and imagine. We had a sold-out crowd, startup demos, lightning pitches, food, and networking among AI leaders. I sounded the call of the conch to open the evening, and the room erupted with energy. From demo tables with teams like CrewAI and Dimension Company to corporate leaders walking the floor, this was about community, yes the AI leaders want to be together in real life, while automating the tasks we no longer want to do.

Llama Lounge 19 stats:

  • 1,400+ applied to attend

  • 800+ were approved, including AI founders, venture capital investors, and corporate AI partners in decision-making roles

  • 520+ showed

  • 400-person capacity reached in 60 minutes

  • 60–100 waited 20–60 minutes in line, most got in

  • 10 founders pitched and hosted demo tables

  • Llama Lounge is now 2.5 years old

Pitch Emcee: Samuel Cummings III of Generative AI (6M Linkedin Followers)

Startups that pitched at Llama Lounge 19:

  • ApertureData: powering AI with semantics, context, and multimodality

  • Avelis Health (YC S25): auditing medical claims for self-insured employers

  • CrewAI: multi-agent automation platform

  • The Dimension Company: CAD agents for specific domains and tasks

  • Instock.com: smart robots for warehouse racking

  • Osly: natural language workflows for internal operations

  • Pixelesq: AI-native CMS (“cursor for marketing”)

  • PowerYou: AI guide for emotional strength

  • Thesys: frontend infrastructure for AI agents

  • Vella.ai: deep work tools powered by AI

Above Pie Chart: Llama Lounge is for AI Leaders: AI Founders/CEOs, Investors (VCs and Family Offices) and Corporate AI decision makers and AI adopters. Each person was screened. 

 

Above thank you Yaad Oren of SAP, Samuel Cummings III of Generative AI, and Stephanie Mosqueda of SAP for hosting, leading, and being an amazing part of Llama Lounge


Corporate AI Leaders, who partner with AI Startups:

  1. SAP

  2. Adobe: GenStudio Product Manager

  3. Amazon Fulfillment Robotics

  4. Amazon One Medical: Sr SWE

  5. Amazon Pay: Product Leader

  6. Amazon Prime Video & MGM: Applied Science

  7. Amazon AGI: Product

  8. AWS: GM Data Foundation (Analytics, Storage, DB)

  9. Apple: Strategy Lead

  10. Apple: Machine Learning Engineer

  11. Audi: Director

  12. Blackrock: Head of AI

  13. Block: Software Engineer

  14. Blue Cross Blue Shield: Product Leader

  15. Box

  16. Capitol One: SW Engineer AI Agent

  17. Carta: Engineering Leader

  18. Consumer Reports: Innovation Labs (AI)

  19. C3 AI: Chief Data Scientist

  20. Cisco: Sr Dir Product Management

  21. Cisco Meraki: Computer Vision Engineer

  22. Cisco Meraki: Product Manager

  23. Citi: AVP Data Solutions

  24. Cruise/GM: Technical Lead of Mapping

  25. GEICO: Product

  26. Genentech

  27. Google (multiple AI roles, Open Source Lead)

  28. Google Cloud: Product Manager

  29. Google DeepMind: Product Lead TPMs

  30. Google DeepMind: Research Scientist

  31. Google: Head of Cloud AI Activation

  32. Grayscale Ventures

  33. Hearst: Sr Data Scientist

  34. Honda Research Institute USA

  35. HPE: AI ML

  36. Hubspot: Principal MarTech AI Engineer

  37. IBM: Agents Engineer

  38. Impulsum Ventures

  39. Intel: Chief AI Architect

  40. Intuit: TPM

  41. Intuit: Head of Global Sales Data Science

  42. Intuit: Head of AI Product Management

  43. Intuit: Product

  44. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory: PM

  45. LinkedIn: Product

  46. LinkedIn: Staff SWE/ML

  47. Marubeni America Corporation: Silicon Valley Exec

  48. Mazda: Innovation & New Ventures

  49. Menyala (Temasek)

  50. Meta: ML

  51. Meta: Product Manager

  52. Meta: SWE

  53. Meta: Llama GTM

  54. Meta: AI Research Scientist

  55. Microsoft: AI Engineer

  56. Nvidia: Inception Startup Program

  57. Nvidia ChipNemo: Product Lead

  58. OpenText: Lead SWE

  59. OpenAI: Sr Director, Oracle Cloud

  60. Oracle: Data Scientist

  61. Palo Alto Networks

  62. Paypal: SWE

  63. Qatar Airlines: Head of Ops & Innovation

  64. Ringcentral: AI/ML Data Engineering

  65. Rivian: SWE

  66. Samsung Research: ML

  67. Samsung Research America: VP AI Center

  68. Sandisk: Computer Scientist

  69. Sandisk: Head of Platform Development

  70. Snap: SWE

  71. SoftBank Group Telecom America Corp

  72. Snowflake: Director of AI Partnerships

  73. Stellantis

  74. SuperMicro

  75. Samsung: Conversational AI DevRel

  76. Tesla: Supply Chain Leader

  77. Tiktok: Sr Product Manager

  78. Toyota/Woven: Product Manager of Mapping/Lane Keeping

  79. UK Dept of Business and Trade

  80. Visa: Product Manager Payments

  81. Volkswagen of America: Tech Scouting AI

  82. VW: IT Lead

  83. VW: Volkswagen Innovation Center of California

  84. Walmart: Global Tech SWE

  85. Walmart: Data Science Payments

  86. Walmart: PMO

  87. Wells Fargo: SVP of Product Management AI

  88. Whirlpool Corporation: DevOps Engineer

  89. ZScaler: Director of Data + AI

  90. Zoox

VCs and Investors, backers of AI Startups:

  1. Blitzscaling Ventures

  2. 2468 Ventures

  3. 500 Global

  4. Acorn Pacific Ventures

  5. Advantary

  6. AI Fund

  7. Alchemist Accelerator

  8. Alpha Square Group

  9. Alumni Ventures

  10. Arka Venture Labs

  11. Battery Ventures

  12. Benhamou Global Ventures

  13. Berkeley Angel Network

  14. Berkeley Venture Capital

  15. Blackstone

  16. Blume Ventures

  17. Boundless Ventures

  18. Canaan

  19. CCV Capital

  20. Converge

  21. Cofounder Ventures

  22. Dell Tech Capital

  23. Denso Ventures

  24. Diversis Capital

  25. Diversity Venture Capital

  26. Dnipro VC

  27. Docomo Innovations

  28. Draper Associates

  29. DRIVE Catalyst

  30. EAI Investments

  31. Emergent Ventures

  32. Escape Investment Management

  33. FalconX Ventures

  34. G2C Ventures

  35. Galaxy Ventures

  36. Ganas Ventures

  37. Georgian

  38. Grayscale Ventures

  39. Ground Capital

  40. Hat Trick Capital

  41. Hesperian Ventures

  42. Hitachi Ventures

  43. Hustle Fund

  44. Inception Studios

  45. InMotion Ventures / Jaguar Land Rover

  46. January Capital

  47. J2

  48. Jolly Ventures

  49. KFC Ventures

  50. Lamarka

  51. Latín Leap VC

  52. LDV Ventures

  53. Llama Venture

  54. LG Technology Ventures

  55. Marubeni Power Ventures

  56. Mayfield

  57. Micron Corporate Ventures

  58. Mitsui Global Investment

  59. Mosaic Ventures Lab

  60. MS&AD Ventures Inc

  61. Mubadala Capital

  62. Next 47

  63. Natcast: NSTC Investments

  64. NGP Capital

  65. Nurture Growth Fund

  66. Obvious Ventures

  67. Omni Ventures

  68. Onsen Global

  69. Outpost Capital

  70. Pano Ventures

  71. Pegasus Angel and Accelerators

  72. Practical Venture Capital

  73. Presidio Ventures

  74. Progressive Ventures

  75. Qualcomm Ventures

  76. Race Capital

  77. Redpoint Ventures

  78. Ringcentral Investments

  79. Rocketship VC

  80. Rogue Venture Fund

  81. RPS Ventures

  82. Sageview Capital

  83. SBI Holdings

  84. SBI USA Gateway Fund

  85. Script Assets

  86. Seido Capital

  87. SenseAI Ventures

  88. Sky 9 Capital

  89. Shack15 Ventures

  90. Shucker VC

  91. Sixty Degree Capital

  92. Sky9 Capital

  93. SOSV

  94. Sprintly Partners

  95. StarWorks Entrepreneurial VC

  96. Swisscom Ventures

  97. Techstars

  98. TQ Ventures

  99. Unpopular Ventures

  100. Unruly Capital

  101. UpScaleX AI

  102. VU Venture Partners

  103. Wild Tree Ventures

  104. Wipro Ventures

  105. Xora VCXY Ventures