Call for Panelists

Join a Cross-AI panel as a panelist or moderator.

Cross-AI hosts organizer-defined panels on open questions that span the Frontier Sessions and workshops. We invite researchers and practitioners to apply as panelists or moderators for the panels below.

To propose a panel of your own instead, see the Call for Panel Proposals.

Panels

Select a panel for its full description, connected sessions, and the perspectives it seeks.

Panel Format

	Panel
Participants	A moderator and three to five panelists
Length	60 or 90 minutes, including time for audience Q&A
Delivery	Online, with standard Cross-AI Zoom support

Who Should Apply

We welcome applicants from academia, government, industry, startups, and nonprofits. Each panel brings together people from different disciplines, sectors, and backgrounds, so a perspective that differs from the others is a strength.

You may apply as a panelist, a moderator, or either, on the Technical or Creative Practice track described below. Nominations of others are also welcome, with the nominee’s agreement.

Panelist and Moderator Requirements

Panelists and moderators are expected to be established experts in the panel topic. Each applicant chooses one of two tracks, which sets the requirements they must meet:

• Technical track. Researchers, engineers, and practitioners who build or study AI systems.
• Creative Practice track. Artists, musicians, composers, performers, and designers whose work is with or about AI.

Technical Track

• Education and experience.

  • Panelists meet one of the following:
    • A doctoral degree (PhD or equivalent) in a field related to the panel topic and at least three years of post-degree experience.
    • A master's degree in a related field and at least six years of relevant professional experience.
  • Moderators meet one of the following:
    • A doctoral degree in a field related to the panel topic and at least five years of post-degree experience.
    • A master's degree in a related field and at least ten years of relevant professional experience.

• Credible track record related to the panel topic, including recent work, shown through one of the following. Moderators are expected to have a more extensive record than panelists.

  • Research record. Peer-reviewed papers, verifiable through a public profile such as Google Scholar or DBLP.
  • Industry record. Technical leadership of AI products or systems deployed at an established organization, plus at least two of the following: granted patents, peer-reviewed papers or technical reports, invited talks at recognized conferences or industry events, or widely adopted products, systems, or open-source projects.
    • Panelists hold a role such as lead engineer, architect, or principal scientist for at least three years.
    • Moderators hold a senior role such as director, distinguished engineer, or chief scientist for at least five years.

• Professional standing (moderators only). At least two of the following leadership roles, with at least one in the past five years:

  • General, program, track, or workshop chair of a recognized conference or workshop.
  • Area chair or senior area chair at a recognized venue.
  • Associate editor or higher on the editorial board of a recognized journal.
  • Keynote or plenary speaker at a recognized conference.
  • Senior Member or Fellow grade in a major professional society.
  • For moderators with an industry record, a senior industry leadership role.

  Reviewing and program committee membership do not count toward professional standing.

Creative Practice Track

• Education and experience.
  • Panelists meet one of the following:
    • A terminal degree in the arts (such as an MFA or DMA) and at least five years of professional creative practice.
    • At least eight years of professional creative practice.
  • Moderators have at least ten years of professional creative practice.
• Credible track record of recognized creative work related to the panel topic, including recent work. Moderators are expected to have a more extensive record than panelists.
  • Recognized work includes juried or curated exhibitions and performances, commissions, residencies, juried awards, and releases with established labels or publishers. Pay-to-exhibit venues and unjuried showcases do not count.
  • Documentation such as venue pages, programs, or reviews in recognized press.
• Professional standing (moderators only). At least two of the following, with at least one in the past five years:
  • Jury or selection committee member for a recognized award, festival, or exhibition.
  • Keynote or featured speaker at a recognized arts conference or festival.
  • Artistic director of an established ensemble, company, or festival.
  • Faculty position at a recognized art, music, or design school.
  • Major award, fellowship, or honor in the field, such as a national arts fellowship or a top prize at a recognized competition.
  • Solo exhibition or featured performance at a major institution, such as a museum, concert hall, or international festival.
• Panels moderated. Creative Practice moderators may moderate only panels centered on art and creative practice, such as Can a Machine Move You? AI and the Future of Art.

Both Tracks

• Moderation experience. Moderators must have prior experience moderating panels, chairing sessions, or leading discussions.
• Recognized work only. Self-published or personal projects alone, such as personal websites, blogs, social media posts, or self-hosted videos, do not meet the track record requirement.

Applications that do not clearly document these requirements will not be reviewed.

Application Requirements

Each application includes:

• Role. Panelist, moderator, or either.
• Track. Technical or Creative Practice, stated in the first line of the abstract.
• Panel. The panel or panels you are applying for.
• Abstract. Includes:
  • Perspective. Two or three sentences on the perspective you would bring to the panel.
  • Order of preference. If you apply for more than one panel, list them in order of preference.
  • Qualifications. Your highest degree (field, institution, and year), if any, and years of relevant experience.
  • Moderators only. One or two sentences on your moderation experience.
• Supplementary materials. Links that include:
  • Publication profile (Technical track): a link to your Google Scholar, DBLP, or similar profile. Applicants with an industry record and no publication profile may link a professional profile instead.
  • Qualifying work (Technical track): for a research record, links to your papers related to the panel topic; for an industry record, your leadership role and links to public evidence of your work, such as patents, product or project pages, technical reports, or talk recordings.
  • Professional standing (moderators): links to official pages that document each role counted toward professional standing, with its year, such as conference committee pages, editorial board pages, jury listings, keynote listings, society membership records, faculty pages, or award announcements.
  • Portfolio (Creative Practice track): a link to your portfolio, plus links to venue pages, programs, or reviews that document each qualifying work, with its year.
  • Past panels, if any: official event webpages or videos of panels where you served as a panelist or moderator.
• AirBalloon profile. Your bio (up to 150 words), affiliation, and a website link (homepage or professional profile), entered in your AirBalloon account profile rather than in the application.

Complete your AirBalloon profile before applying. If you do not have an AirBalloon account, register using your institutional or organizational work email address. Personal and professional society email addresses (e.g., ieee.org or acm.org) are not accepted. If you already have an account, ensure your email address is a qualifying work email and that your bio, affiliation, and website link are complete. Incomplete profiles will not be considered.

Where to Apply

Applications are submitted through the AirBalloon conference management system. In the application:

• Select the panel or panels you are interested in.

• Fill in your AirBalloon profile with your bio, affiliation, and website link.

• Choose your role: panelist, moderator, or either.

• In the abstract, include:

  • Your track, Technical or Creative Practice, in the first line.
  • Your perspective on the panel topic.
  • Your panels in order of preference, if you select more than one.
  • Your highest degree, if any, and years of relevant experience.
  • Your moderation experience, if applying as a moderator.

• In the supplementary materials, include:

  • Technical track: your publication profile, your qualifying work, and, for moderators, your professional standing.
  • Creative Practice track: your portfolio, documentation of your qualifying work, and, for moderators, your professional standing.
  • Both tracks: official webpages or videos of past panels you joined or moderated, if any.

  Links to self-published or personal projects alone do not meet the track record requirement.

Apply →

Deadlines (AoE)

Milestone	Date
Application Deadline	November 16, 2026
Selection Notification	November 30, 2026

After Selection

Selected panelists and moderators will:

• Join a short preparation call with the panel before the symposium.
• Provide a final title, affiliation, and bio for the program.
• Take part in the live panel and audience Q&A.

Moderators also coordinate the session plan and seed questions with the panelists.

Complimentary Registration

Selected moderators and panelists will receive complimentary General registration. Moderators and panelists who also have accepted archival or non-archival submissions must register as Authors and pay the difference between the General and Author fees.