My Experience at KGC 2026 | AI, Ontologies, and the “Year of Context”

Just got back from KGC 2026 (Knowledge Graph Conference), and I wanted to share some thoughts, highlights, concerns, and big-picture takeaways from the event.

In this video I cover:

• Why I haven’t uploaded many videos lately
• Why uploads should return to a regular pace
• Upcoming podcasts and interviews

Then we dive into KGC 2026 itself:

Founded in 2019 by Thomas Deely and Francois Scharffe, KGC has quickly become one of the central conferences for the knowledge graph, ontology, and semantic technology world.

Big takeaways from the conference:

1. Everyone is talking about LLMs + semantics as the bridge between enterprise data and AI.

2. The market is HOT. Gartner is now describing semantic technologies and knowledge graphs as “critical infrastructure,” alongside data platforms and cybersecurity.

3. There’s a real sense that NOW is the time to get involved.

Conference highlights:

• Meeting viewers and members of the community in person
• Reconnecting with friends and colleagues like Alex Shifrin, Maru, and Heather
• Great conversations with new people like Eloragh
• Ora Lassila and Jim Hendler’s Wednesday keynote
• “Understanding 20th-Century Science Patronage through Knowledge Graphs”
• “RDF 1.2 Status Report”
• “The Context Layer: Knowledge Graphs' Second Act” from Atlan

I also talk about some worries:

• Confusion around what “semantics” actually means
• The gap between vision and tangible implementation
• Whether KGC is fully representative of the broader ontology community

Overall though, the energy was strong and optimistic.

If you’re interested in ontologies, semantic web tech, knowledge graphs, RDF, OWL, AI, or linked data, this community is still relatively small and surprisingly accessible.