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Tech Race Summit Brings Top Tech Leaders To Warsaw

by News Editor
Andrey Doronichev 2

Tech Race Summit, organised by SOFTSWISS, will take place in Warsaw on 10 September 2026 at Centrum Praskie Koneser, Plac Konesera 8. The event will bring together more than 30 international speakers and 1,000 attendees for what the organiser describes as “the first cross-industry forum to exchange ideas, technologies, and expertise, driving the future of large-scale digital products.”

The summit gathers engineers, technology executives, infrastructure specialists, and product teams to discuss how companies respond to growing technical complexity, cybersecurity challenges, and the rapid adoption of AI across business operations and consumer products. Speakers and contributors have been confirmed from big-name companies including AWS, Oracle, Cloudflare, Google, Fastly, Tesla, PandaDoc, Shazam, Gcore, ScyllaDB, and others.

The Keynote Line-up

Andrey Doronichev, founder and CEO of Optic and former Google executive, will deliver a keynote on how AI is changing industries and work. Doronichev spent 14 years at Google, where he helped develop products used by billions of people worldwide.

Javier Verdura, Global Director of Product Design at Tesla, will present “Building High-Performance Teams: Lessons from Tesla.” His session will explore how a globally recognised technology company builds teams capable of delivering products at speed while maintaining quality and innovation.

Mikita Mikado, co-founder and Chief Product Officer of PandaDoc, will deliver “Building the Next Silicon Valley Businesses.” PandaDoc is an agreement-management company that reached a valuation of $1 billion in 2021. In his keynote, Mikado will share lessons from scaling PandaDoc into a global software company.

They are joined by Dhiraj Mukherjee, co-founder of Shazam, and Artur Bergman, founder and CTO of Fastly, whose sessions will address technology shifts and the future of internet infrastructure. Ivan Montik, founder of SOFTSWISS, is scheduled to open the summit.

Cross-Industry Forum For High-Load Businesses

As online gaming businesses grow across regulated markets, they face many of the same questions as global technology companies, especially how to build high-performing teams, develop products at scale, and compete for talent whilst maintaining speed of execution. By bringing together leaders who have been there, done that from Tesla, PandaDoc, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Oracle, Cloudflare, and other global technology companies, Tech Race Summit creates a forum where these experiences can be shared across industries.

The programme covers cloud architecture, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, engineering leadership, observability, product development, and company building. All sessions are held in English.

Sergey Kastukevich, Chief Technology Officer at SOFTSWISS, describes the summit’s origin as follows:

“Tech Race Summit was created to bring together people solving difficult technology problems and to explore what the future of technology holds.”

Kastukevich adds to the cross-industry framing:

“The technology challenges facing iGaming today extend well beyond infrastructure. Building successful technology companies also depends on leadership, product thinking, and the ability to scale teams as the business grows […] Our goal is to give attendees practical insights they can apply to their own organisations, regardless of the industry they work in.”

Three-Track Programme

The summit runs across three parallel conference stages. The Vision Track features keynotes and discussions about AI, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and technology strategy. The Solution Track focuses on technical sessions and case studies from engineers and architects working on modern digital systems. The Experiment Track covers technical deep-dives, implementation lessons, and engineering practices.

Attendance And Registration

The offline event is sold out. Online streaming tickets remain available through the event website. Sponsorship information is also available through the summit’s partnership page.

For more information and ticket details, follow the link here.

About SOFTSWISS

SOFTSWISS is an international technology company that has developed solutions for the iGaming industry since 2009. The company provides software for managing online gaming projects and supports more than 1,500 brands worldwide. SOFTSWISS’ product portfolio includes the Casino Platform, the Game Aggregator, the Sportsbook, and the Prediction Markets Platform. The company has more than 2,000 employees across its international locations, including Malta, Poland, and Georgia.

Dictionary.com Names ‘Maxxing’ Its Word Of The Year For 2026

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Dictionary.com has named “maxxing” its Word of the Year for 2026, reflecting a growing online trend of optimising almost every aspect of life, from health and appearance to work and leisure.

The choice follows last year’s selection of “6-7”, a phrase popularised by younger internet users. Unlike that expression, “maxxing” has spread beyond niche online communities into everyday social media language.

From “Looksmaxxing” To Mainstream Usage

Derived from “maximising”, “maxxing” describes doing something to the fullest or optimising it as much as possible. According to Dictionary.com, its roots lie in phrases such as “maxing out” a credit card and gaming terminology.

During the 2010s, the term gained traction in manosphere and incel communities through “looksmaxxing”, referring to efforts to improve physical attractiveness through fitness, grooming and, in some cases, more extreme measures.

The word later became associated with controversial manosphere influencers, including livestreamer Braden Peters, known as Clavicular, who promotes an intense focus on male appearance.

A Broader Meaning

Younger social media users have since expanded “maxxing” beyond its original associations. Searches for the term surged in August as it became a label for everything from wellness routines to workplace habits. It is also used ironically to poke fun at the pressure to constantly improve.

“Maxxing is the linguistic manifestation of a culture increasingly preoccupied with getting the most out of everything,” said Steve Johnson, director of lexicography for Dictionary Media Group at IXL Learning.

Johnson noted that the term can signal enthusiasm for self-improvement, exaggerate it for humour or reject the idea of constant optimisation altogether. Examples include “proteinmaxxing” at breakfast, “tokenmaxxing” with AI tools at work and “cozymaxxing” on a Friday night.

The Many Forms Of “Maxxing”

The term has generated numerous variations. “Softmaxxing” refers to relatively modest appearance improvements, such as a new haircut, while “hardmaxxing” describes more extreme approaches, including severe dieting or cosmetic procedures. “Jestermaxxing” involves using humour to gain social acceptance or online attention, while “sleepmaxxing” focuses on improving sleep quality or duration.

These variations show how the language of optimisation has spread across personal identity, health, social status and leisure.

The Pressure To Do More

The popularity of “maxxing” also reflects a wider tension between self-improvement and the expectation to make every activity more productive. In the workplace, “tokenmaxxing” describes employees being encouraged to use AI tools as much as possible, turning technological adoption into another measure of performance.

The term captures a culture in which ordinary activities can become opportunities for measurable gains, even as some people use the language to question that pressure.

Other Words On The Shortlist

Other candidates for Dictionary.com’s 2026 Word of the Year included “affordability”, “data center”, “odyssey” and “unc”.

Interest in “odyssey” may have been boosted by Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey, while “unc”, short for “uncle”, is used by Gen Z and Gen Alpha to describe someone older who is perceived as out of touch or uncool.

“Maxxing” ultimately stands out for capturing a defining online impulse: to optimise everyday life, share the process and keep striving for more.

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