Data Con LA 2026
Data Con LA 2026: the headline numbers
Data Con LA 2026 at a glance, from Saturday, August 22 at California State University, Long Beach. The fourteenth edition in an unbroken run since 2013: 620+ people registered, 53 speakers across 41 sessions and 7 tracks, attendees from 300+ organizations and 50+ colleges and universities, and a 4.8 average session rating.
Data Con LA 2026: organizations represented
The size of the organizations people came from, running small to large. It is a barbell rather than a bell: 30% work alone or on a pre-team at one end and 23% at organizations of 5,000 or more at the other, with every band in between holding between 9% and 15%. Independents and enterprise in the same room, in roughly equal number.
Data Con LA 2026: the audience
Who was in the room, by role. Students were the largest group at 35%. Practitioners came next: data scientists, AI/ML engineers and analysts at 13%, data engineers, software engineers and architects at 12%. Founders and CXOs, managers, and VPs and directors together made up about 20%, with faculty and consultants each around 6%.
Data Con LA 2026: the day in numbers
The whole public recap on one sheet: the headline numbers across the top, then who was in the room by role and by industry, the spread of organization sizes, and the 41 sessions broken out by track. Students were the single largest role at 35%, technology and software the largest industry at 43%, and lightning talks the largest track in their first year.
Data Con LA 2026: industries represented
The industries people work in. Technology and software was the largest at 43%, and the rest of the room spread wide rather than clustering behind it: government, education and nonprofit at 11%, healthcare and life sciences at 8%, consulting at 7%, media and entertainment at 6%, finance at 5%, then manufacturing and retail.
Data Con LA 2026: the program
The 41 sessions by track. Lightning talks led the program with 12 in their debut year, ahead of AI/ML and data science at 11 and business analytics and reporting at 6. Behind them, 4 panels, 3 data engineering sessions, 3 on data careers and 2 keynotes, running across 6 rooms in one day.