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Bewkes, Kalanick, Meeker will appear at Code 2017

Here are the first speakers we’re announcing for the annual tech and media conference.

Time for the annual red-chair hot-seat test for tech and media’s biggest players.
Time for the annual red-chair hot-seat test for tech and media’s biggest players.
Time for the annual red-chair hot-seat test for tech and media’s biggest players.

Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes, Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker are the first speakers we’re announcing for the annual Code conference that takes place at the end of May.

There are many more speakers to come for what is considered the most prestigious event in tech and media, which brings together a global community of the biggest names in the business, from executive leaders to startups, for in-depth conversations about the current and future impact of digital technology.

Over the span of three days, Code 2016 featured 30 industry luminaries, including SpaceX and Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Bill and Melinda Gates of the Gates Foundation, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos and many more. Guest speakers offered fresh insights and perspectives on topics ranging from human habitation on Mars to artificial intelligence, tech and politics and the coming product wars.

Now, only six months into the new Trump administration, there is even more to discuss, and these three are only the first of many speakers we have locked in to reflect on the state of the industry.

Longtime media mogul Jeff Bewkes appeared at our old conference, D: All Things Digital, in 2008, right when he took over as leader of Time Warner. He was a live wire then, sassing me about the hard time I was giving him about the rough road AOL has had as a Time Warner property. Now, he is awaiting regulatory approval of his company’s $85 billion sale to AT&T, and will answer questions about how its high-profile content properties like Warner Bros., HBO and Turner will fare as part of the telco giant.

There’s no question that it’s been a tough road of late for Uber’s Travis Kalanick. The ride-hailing company has been under fire over charges of sexism and sexual harassment, which has brought management and culture issues under the microscope. That is why a discussion with him about all that and also where the massively funded and valued Uber is headed next will be one you don’t want to miss. Kalanick was last onstage in 2014, when the entrepreneur made waves talking about self-driving cars, a key tech development that has only accelerated since then.

And it would not be Code without longtime analyst and now Kleiner Perkins partner Mary Meeker, who will once again present her famous state-of-the-internet slide deck. In more than 200 slides last year, and in record time, she managed to outline the latest trends in mobile, commerce, transportation and advertising. Her thoughts about what is coming next is a must-see for anyone who cares about where the digital sector is headed.

Code 2017 is returning to the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., from May 30 to June 1. You can read about details here.


This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

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