RenderATL returns to the AmericasMart in downtown Atlanta on Aug. 12-13 for its sixth year, and the lineup is the clearest statement of what the conference is trying to be: Killer Mike, Dallas Austin, Lloyd, Yung Joc, D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz, alongside speakers from Zillow, Google and Uber.
\"We try to do everything to represent what this region has,\" founder and CEO Justin Samuels told the AJC. The conference anchors Atlanta Tech Week, running Aug. 9-14 with tech events across the metro. Artificial intelligence dominates the program. Killer Mike gives the opening keynote on the intersection of AI and culture and what it means for the music industry — a talk Samuels framed around reassurance rather than alarm: \"We're going to talk about how it isn't designed to replace you. It's help — it's designed to enhance you and help bring out what your next level could be if you had an extra superhuman there to help you.\" Grammy-winning producer Dallas Austin speaks as well, sitting on the seam between the two halves of the program.
New Relic, the San Francisco-based AI web monitoring and analytics company, is a partner this year and will host a miniconference during the event. The Atlanta AI Expo, run in partnership with Mayor Andre Dickens' office, will also take place at the conference, spotlighting AI-focused businesses based in the city.
The evening programming pushes into the neighborhood. Lloyd and Yung Joc perform the night of Aug. 12. On Aug. 13, D4L and Dem Franchize Boyz face off song for song in the newly renovated South Downtown district — where RenderATL recently opened its first office, giving the conference a permanent address in the neighborhood rather than just an annual booking.
Samuels has attached a condition to sponsorship that shapes who participates: partner companies must either be hiring in Atlanta or allowing employees to work remotely from the city, so the event does not become a recruiting pipeline that drains local talent elsewhere. \"This is a much bigger opportunity than just me,\" he said.
His ambition for it is explicitly modeled on what downtown already does well. \"ATL became the epicenter of doing big sporting events — World Cup, Super Bowl, the Olympics, right? We have the same opportunity now to do Big Tech events, and when they start happening, boy, they start happening.\"
Original reporting: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2026-07-29)