Build from Dock: Conversational AI Agents in Messaging

About Event AI is no longer just something you prompt. It's something you message. The most natural interface for AI agents is the one billions of people already use every day, their messaging apps. Andreessen Horowitz recently mapped this shift, naming messaging as the next major surface for AI assistants, and the market is moving fast. Poke, which launched a personal AI experience on Apple Messages, was recently acquired — a clear signal of where the industry is headed. Join us for Conversational AI in Messaging Channels: The Future Is Here to hear directly from companies already launching AI agents on Apple Messages for Business and other channels, reinventing how brands communicate with customers. Poke.com, recently acquired by Devin, launched their experience on Apple Messages for Business. OpenAI and Anthropic are enabling conversational AI experiences on their own channels, while Hermes and OpenClaw connect agents to Slack, Telegram, and beyond. ​You'll learn: How real companies are deploying AI agents in Apple Messages and beyond Why messaging is becoming the primary channel for AI-to-customer interaction What this shift means for your brand, and how to get ahead of it Join us and Linqapp.com to talk about their vision for the future of messaging and AI. In this exclusive gathering, we'll discuss how you can reshape digital interactions with verified agents and key platforms like Infobip, powering conversational commerce and messaging, and reviving voice as a key interface alongside web, email, and apps. ​Featured Speakers ​David Fernandez Messaging Advisory & Execution David has spent his career spearheading the adoption of conversational AI to transform business messaging, leading personalized experiences at scale. He worked on the first wave of High Tech and Telco business messaging solutions with WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, and has led the RCS charge to become the new business messaging industry standard after SMS. Earlier in his career, David joined as the second employee at a messaging solutions company, helping launch its BlackBerry integration and establish it as a key reference in the market, and later led Telefónica's introduction of convergent data services into a voice-dominated mobile business. ​Elliott Potter CEO & Co-Founder, Linq Elliott Potter is CEO and Co-Founder of Linq, the infrastructure layer letting AI assistants live directly inside iMessage, RCS, SMS, and voice, no app download required. Elliott and his co-founders, all early executives at Shipt (acquired by Target for $550M), pivoted Linq into AI messaging infrastructure after demand surged in the wake of Poke's launch. Since then, Linq has grown its customer base 132% quarter over quarter, with AI agents on its platform now reaching roughly 134,000 monthly active users and processing over 30 million messages a month. Linq recently raised a $20M Series A led by TQ Ventures, with participation from Mucker Capital. Elliott's vision for the platform extends beyond messaging: giving any AI agent the ability to talk to people wherever they already are, from Slack and WhatsApp to Telegram, Discord, and Signal. Agenda 5:00 – 6:00 PM Networking 6:00 – 6:30 PM Elliott Potter (Linq) — their value proposition for conversational AI startups, and where the future sits in messaging and AI. 6:30 – 6:50 PM Startup Demos 6:50 – 7:30 PM Networking ​Hosts ​Venture Dock & The Conversational AI Community The Deep-Tech Community Our mission: we help AI/ML deep-tech researchers and founders by bringing the right people and resources together. The Conversational AI Mastermind Group Join our high-impact Conversational AI group at the heart of Palo Alto, where AI/ML deep-tech founders, researchers, and investors converge to explore the future of Conversational AI across messaging and voice channels. SAFE-MCP SAFE-MCP is an open-source specification for MCP attack vectors and mitigation techniques, initiated by astha.ai and now part of the OpenID and Linux Foundations, driven by community collaboration. ​What Venture Dock Offers Founders Beyond weekly sessions like this one, Venture Dock is built to be a real part of how founders operate day to day: Investor introductions ​Curated programming: roundtables, fireside chats, and working sessions with operators who've built and scaled before ​Peer network: direct access to other founders building alongside you, for the honest conversations you can't have with investors ​Visibility with visiting delegations: opportunities to meet founders and ecosystem leaders coming through Silicon Valley from other markets ​Ecosystem support: hiring, fundraising, and go-to-market help pulled from the community itself, not a generic playbook ​Become Part of the Venture Dock Community Venture Dock is a founder-first community and innovation hub connecting startups with investors, operators, mentors, and strategic partners. If you've been looking for a high-signal founder community in Silicon Valley, we'd love to meet you. If you've been coming to events and want deeper access, you can apply to join the community here: https://venturedock.fillout.com/t/gHcUcf7Tz8us