Global tech leaders are looking east. In Baku, the INMerge Innovation Summit brought together names from Netflix, Pixar and OpenAI to explore the future of digital economies.
Former Netflix CEO Marc Randolph wasn’t in Azerbaijan to talk streaming. Alongside the co-founder of Pixar and a former strategic lead for OpenAI, he was headlining the INMerge Innovation Summit in Baku— one of the region’s largest technology and business innovation forums.
InMerge’s ambitious agenda brought together 150 expert speakers, 100 regional startups and 80 global venture funds to discuss the future of business in Central Eurasia and beyond, with panels covering varied topics including AI ethics and the telecoms-fintech alliance.
The ambition is clear — to build a cross-border innovation corridor stretching from Türkiye to Kazakhstan, linking Central Eurasia’s emerging tech ecosystems.
From AI to e-commerce: Baku’s digital agenda
Now in its fifth year, INMerge has steadily expanded its reach and reputation as a key meeting point for regional and international tech leaders. Previously welcoming global voices such as Amazon CTO Werner Vogels, Baku’s innovation summit continues to attract heavyweight thinkers shaping the digital economy.
This September, more than 5,000 participants flowed into Baku Convention Center over two days to hear from big-name speakers, including Netflix’s Marc Randolph, Pixar’s co-founder Ed Catmull, and OpenAI’s former Head of Go-to-Market Zack Kass, on the topic of innovation, creativity and the future of technology.
The official programme covered eight themes: AI & data, fintech, responsible banking, telecom, e-commerce, industry 4.0, marketing and investment. In addition to keynote sessions, the programme featured panel discussions, expert Q&As and startup competitions, enabling cross-border knowledge sharing alongside networking and investment opportunities.
40 startups battle it out for investment
The summit’s InBattle Pitch Competition saw 40 startups from Azerbaijan, Türkiye, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan go head-to-head for a chance to win USD$30,000, pitching their innovations to an international audience of investors and corporate partners.
Beyond the exposure, participants gained rare access to global capital, networks and the possibility of scaling across borders — the very building blocks of a thriving tech scene.
Turning Central Eurasia into one tech market
Ahead of the main summit in Baku on 29-30 September this year, INMerge held side events in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Türkiye. Scaling across such a diverse geography is no small feat, but the appetite was evident in the partnerships and conversations happening on the ground.
Panels such as “The Education-Entrepreneurship Pipeline: Turning Knowledge into National Growth” reflected Azerbaijan’s wider strategy to embed innovation into culture and education, unlocking the potential of its young population.
Among the speakers were Harvard professor Tarun Khanna and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Science and Education, who argued that rethinking traditional teaching and fostering risk-taking in education are essential to competing globally and achieving sustainable growth.
Innovation with regional impact
INMerge was built on the belief that innovation drives meaningful progress, not just for industry but for societies and governments too. With a strategic focus on Azerbaijan and broader MENA and Eastern Europe regions, it serves as a dynamic platform for regional collaboration, enabling bold ideas and lasting impact.
Dedicated to accelerating this transformation, the INMerge Summit aims to rapidly drive ideas from concept to execution, contributing directly to the region’s development and long-term resilience.
The driving force behind INMerge is PASHA Holding, a leading Azerbaijani investment company whose focus on innovation and diversification has helped position Baku as a hub for technology, entrepreneurship and investment.
Through initiatives like INMerge, PASHA Holding supports cross-border collaboration that strengthens not just Azerbaijan’s economy but the wider innovation landscape of Central Eurasia.
Beyond the stage: what’s at stake?
With global tech figures establishing credibility and numerous startups forging partnerships with potential investors, the INMerge Innovation Summit has established itself as more than a networking event. It is positioning Baku as a seedbed for regional innovation, helping ideas take root locally and grow into technologies with global impact.
The challenge now is to sustain that momentum: to turn promising pitches into thriving enterprises, and initial conversations into collaborations that reach beyond borders. Yet the groundwork has been laid.
The energy in Baku suggested a region ready not just to adapt to global innovation trends but to help define them — with INMerge emerging as the platform where that transformation gathers pace.