The best AI conversations usually happen off the stage.

We kept noticing the same pattern: the moments people remember most happen after the main event, in smaller rooms, or in conversation with someone who cares just as deeply.

How it started

distilled started with a single tweet and a simple idea: get 10 to 12 people in the same room and see what kind of conversations could emerge.

The response was much bigger than we expected, and what began as a small experiment quickly started to feel like a real community. We're trying to build that feeling, on purpose, for NYC's AI community.

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Small by design

The room stays intimate so the conversation can actually go somewhere.

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High-signal

Builders, researchers, operators, and investors who care deeply about the work.

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Worth returning to

The goal is to leave with energy, sharper ideas, and people you want to see again.