Top 5 Reasons Why I'm Attending NVIDIA GTC 2026 (And Why You Should Too!)

If there's one AI event you absolutely cannot afford to miss this year, it's NVIDIA GTC 2026. Happening March 16–19 in San Jose, CA (and virtually!), GTC has firmly established itself as what Jensen Huang himself calls the "Super Bowl of AI."

NVIDIA GTC is the developer conference for the era of AI and the metaverse. It’s where students, developers, researchers, creators, IT decision-makers, and business leaders gather to learn how to shape our world with the power of AI, accelerated computing, data science, and more. Here are my top 5 reasons why I'm going, and why you should register today — virtual attendance is completely FREE!

1. Jensen Huang's Keynote — Where the Future Gets Announced

Every year, Jensen Huang takes the stage and rewrites the industry roadmap. This year's keynote is on Monday, March 16, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. PDT at the SAP Center, preceded by the GTC Live 2026 Pregame Show (8–11 a.m. PDT) featuring industry leaders breaking down the AI advances shaping the year ahead. The keynote will be live-streamed and available on demand afterward - so even if you can't make it live, you won't miss a thing.

Last year, Huang unveiled the Vera Rubin platform at CES 2026 - a six-chip AI supercomputer delivering a jaw-dropping 5x performance leap over Blackwell and a 10x reduction in token costs. At GTC, expect deeper architectural details on Rubin deployment timelines, the NVL72 rack-scale systems, and what comes next on the roadmap (hints of Rubin Ultra in 2027 and Kyber in 2028 have already been teased).

If you want to know where the entire AI industry is heading before anyone else, the keynote is where it happens.

2. Agentic AI Takes Center Stage - And It's My World

GTC 2026 is zeroing in on Agentic AI as a core theme, and as someone building multi-agent systems with Docker Compose and exploring multi-LLM architectures daily, this couldn't be more relevant.

NVIDIA has described the shift from "Generative" to "Agentic" AI as the defining transition of this era. Unlike simple chatbots that respond to prompts, agentic models are designed to execute complex, multi-step workflows - coding entire applications, managing supply chains, conducting scientific research - with minimal human intervention.

Dedicated sessions will cover reasoning models, multi-step workflows, enterprise-scale agent deployments, and the software frameworks (CUDA-X, NIM microservices, ASTRA security) that make it all possible. For anyone working on "Agents as the New Microservices," this is the place to be.

3. Docker Is at GTC 2026 — And You Should Visit the Booth!

Here's something that makes this event even more special for me -  Docker is an official exhibitor at GTC 2026! If you're a developer working with containers and AI, this is a must-visit stop at the Exhibit Hall.

Docker has been at the forefront of making AI development accessible to every developer. If you haven't already seen it, check out how Docker Model Runner on the new NVIDIA DGX Spark is creating a whole new paradigm for developing AI locally — combining the DGX Spark's GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip with Docker's familiar developer workflow for seamless local model inference. With just a docker model pull and docker model run, you get full GPU acceleration through NVIDIA's container runtime. Add Docker Hardened Images (DHI) for enterprise-grade security, and Docker is redefining how we build, ship, and run AI-powered applications.

Stop by the Docker booth for hands-on demos and to see firsthand how containers are becoming the backbone of the agentic AI era. If you've been following my "Agents are the New Microservices" work, you already know how tightly Docker and multi-agent architectures go together. This is where that story comes alive.

4. Physical AI, Robotics & The Omniverse

One of the most exciting tracks at GTC 2026 focuses on Physical AI - the convergence of AI with robotics and the real world. Sessions will explore how simulation-driven training is moving autonomous systems from pilots into production.

NVIDIA's ecosystem here is staggering: Cosmos for synthetic training data, Isaac GR00T N1 for humanoid robot foundation models, Newton physics engine for robotics simulation, and the Alpamayo open reasoning model for autonomous vehicles. The Omniverse continues to evolve as the digital twin platform tying it all together.

For developers curious about how containerized AI workloads will power the next generation of robots and autonomous systems, these sessions are a goldmine.

5. 500+ Sessions, World-Class Networking & Unforgettable Experiences

GTC isn't just about watching talks - it's about doing and connecting. The conference features:

• 500+ technical sessions spanning Agentic AI, AR/VR, Robotics, LLMs, Computer Vision, Developer Tools, Data Science, quantum computing, digital twins, healthcare AI, and accelerated computing
• 70+ hands-on training labs led by NVIDIA experts
• Expert-led workshops with certification tracks recognized across the industry
• Developer Days & Hackathons for build-first learners
• Connect With the Experts sessions for direct access to NVIDIA engineers
• 300+ exhibits showcasing groundbreaking innovations

GTC 2025 drew 25,000 in-person attendees and 300K virtual participants, and 2026 is expected to be even bigger. The hallway conversations, structured meetups, and after-hours events (who can forget last year's Taiwanese night market?) are where real connections happen. The Startup Showcase highlights emerging companies with founders demoing prototypes. Enterprise leaders from companies like Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, Siemens, and Mercedes-Benz will be sharing how they're deploying AI at scale.

As someone who runs a 17,000+ member community and organizes Docker meetups worldwide, I can't overstate the value of being in the room where it happens.

Bonus: Sessions I'm Most Excited About

With 500+ sessions to choose from, building your agenda can feel overwhelming. I had the pleasure of receiving a personal invitation from Kari Briski at NVIDIA, and her session picks are spot on. Here are the ones I'm most excited about:

Open-Source AI Shaping the Next Era of Intelligent Digital Workers [S81789] — This is Kari Briski's own session, and it's one I'd highly recommend catching right after Jensen's keynote. She'll be exploring how open-source AI is driving the next era of intelligent digital workers - a topic that's incredibly relevant to anyone building agentic systems and multi-agent architectures. Don't miss it!

More Sessions:

The State of Open-Source AI [S81791] - Hugging Face and NVIDIA team up to discuss where open-source AI stands today. As someone who believes deeply in the power of open communities (we built Collabnix on that very principle!), this session is a must-attend. Open models are catching up to the frontier fast, and this will be the definitive update on that trajectory.

Nemotron Unpacked: Build, Fine-Tune, and Deploy NVIDIA's Open Models [S81719] - Presented by Bryan Catanzaro, VP of NVIDIA Research. NVIDIA's Nemotron family of open models has been a game-changer for developers building agentic systems. This session will go deep on how to build, fine-tune, and deploy these models — exactly the kind of hands-on knowledge you can take back to your projects immediately.

Practical Context Engineering: Eliminate Bugs With High-Signal AI Code Review [S81612] - CodeRabbit joins to talk about context engineering for AI-powered code review. If you're working with AI coding assistants (and who isn't at this point?), understanding how to feed the right context to eliminate bugs is critical. This is where agentic AI meets real-world developer workflows.

Code with Context: Build an Agentic IDE that Truly Understands Your Codebase [S81528] - Cursor presents their approach to building an agentic IDE that genuinely understands your entire codebase. For developers building multi-agent systems and complex applications, an IDE that can reason about your code contextually is the ultimate productivity multiplier.

How to Register (Virtual Is FREE!)

Digital registration is completely free — there's no reason not to sign up. Whether you attend in person or virtually, you'll get access to Jensen's keynote and hundreds of sessions on demand.

Register for GTC 2026 here (use this link to register through our community!)

For in-person attendees, use referral code GTC-NVR6N0BG for an extra 25% off your Conference pass. Options include:

• 4-Day Conference Pass — full access including the live keynote, all sessions, exhibits, and networking events
• 1-Day Conference Pass — flexible single-day attendance
• Exhibits Only Pass — access to the exhibit hall
• Virtual Access — FREE! Included with all pass types

Academic, government, and non-profit attendees can save 40% with a qualifying email address. Group discounts of 30%+ are available when purchasing three or more of the same pass type.

The event takes place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center with the keynote at the SAP Center. Book your hotel early through the official EventSphere portal - last year, hotel prices near the venue soared to $2,500/night!

Browse the full GTC Session Catalog to start building your personalized agenda.

🎁 Collabnix Community Giveaway!

To celebrate GTC 2026, I'm running a special giveaway for the Collabnix community! Register for GTC using this link and you could win a $100 BrevCode credit - perfect for powering your next AI project in the cloud.

Stay tuned on our Slack and Discord channels for giveaway details, a community watch party for Jensen's keynote, and post-event highlights where we'll break down the biggest announcements together.

See You in San Jose!

GTC is more than just a conference. It's an opportunity to connect, learn, and share with the brightest minds in AI and beyond. Whether you're building agentic AI systems, deploying AI at the edge, containerizing ML workloads, or simply trying to understand where this incredible wave of innovation is heading - GTC 2026 is where you need to be.

Register for free (virtual) here and join me at the biggest AI event of the year!

I'm looking forward to seeing you there.