Ahead of IT Arena 2026, we’re sharing conversations with speakers who will shape this year’s discussions and insights. In this edition, we feature Dave Morgan, Chief Executive Officer of Simulmedia, who will join the Defense Stage of IT Arena as a speaker this September.

Dave Morgan is a Silicon Valley veteran entrepreneur and seasoned industry leader, and an investor in Ukrainian defense tech, viewing Ukraine as one of the key markets for the development of defense technologies. With deep experience in digital advertising, adtech innovation, and media strategy, he founded and scaled pioneering companies in online advertising and programmatic media, and held senior leadership roles at major global tech and media organizations. 

In this conversation, Dave shares his perspectives on AI and its impact on business and startups, and how it is reshaping innovation, execution, and market dynamics across the tech industry. 

— You helped build online advertising before most people even understood what digital advertising could become. What feels similar today — and what feels completely different in the AI era?

— So much is the same in tech startups today as compared to 30 years ago: learning new technologies, exploring market disruptions, falling in love with customers’ problems, taking risks, and the excitement of recruiting team members for the journey.

What’s different is speed — everything moves faster, with less predictability and reduced stability — less planning, more prototyping, more rebuilding, and less refining.

— What happens to creativity when AI can generate infinite ad variations instantly?

— AI has made tools for expressing creativity much more powerful and robust, so creativity cycles move faster, making strategic planning and framing in the creative process even more important. The creative execution may become more instantaneous, but the core of the message and experience needs to be durable.

— From your perspective, what has become more important in launching a company during today’s AI boom?

— Today, tech companies in an AI world can be launched much more cheaply and quickly than in the early Internet days, and there is a powerful supporting ecosystem. What never changes is the importance of execution. Ideas are easy. 

Committing to the idea, turning it into a business, driving execution, and maintaining resilience when things don’t go well are hard.

— Which underestimated market could become enormous within 5 years?

— I believe we will see enormous strides in tech and AI, enabling large legacy industries like agriculture, mining, mineral processing, and manufacturing. These are markets where Ukrainian companies have innate advantages and can become global leaders.

— What advice would you give founders trying to scale globally?

— Win locally before expanding globally. Find a customer set in a single market with a big and growing problem and solve it in a profitable, scalable, and defensible way. 

Make your solution portable. Rinse and repeat market by market. There aren’t shortcuts if you want to build a sustainable global business.

— If you were visiting IT Arena 2026 as a 25-year-old founder, where would you focus your attention?

— Attend the sessions that speak to you the most, but focus as much time and attention as you can on the networking. Meet fellow founders. Discuss your dreams, your fears, your challenges. 

Meet investors. Meet potential corporate partners and strategic players in your industry. Don’t leave IT Arena without a head full of learnings and a phone full of new contacts.

— As a small preview of your IT Arena talk, what themes or ideas are you planning to focus on?

— I plan to talk about the unlimited opportunities in Ukraine’s tech sector, the power of AI as an accelerator, the enormous civil spin-off opportunities for Ukraine’s defense tech companies, and the need to galvanize global investors to help Ukraine win the war, achieve a just peace, and build deep connectivity with democracies around the world.

Dave Morgan will join us on the Defense Stage at IT Arena 2026 to share his experience and perspective on the future of business and defense innovation. Join us to hear him live and ask your questions. 

Get your tickets at IT Arena 2026.