Our team traveled to Santa Clara for the 2026 Global Missional AI Summit (April 7–9). It was our second year attending, and this time around, we got to sponsor as well – booth, matching t-shirts, swag bags, power packs, and all. Our shirts said it best: Your Missional Software Team. That’s who we want to be for this amazing community of God’s people, and it was a joy to show up and meet so many people doing Kingdom work.
Missional AI 2026: Why We Went
EC Group has partnered with mission and Faith-driven organizations for over 25 years – Prison Fellowship Ministries, Focus on the Family, SIL, Wycliffe, OneHope, Ligonier, and many more. We are so grateful to have partnered with this community over the years and we want to be your missional software partner: the team that walks alongside you to extend your engineering capacity, accelerate your roadmap, and build technology that serves the Kingdom well.
Missional AI 2026 reminded us that the Church and the organizations serving her are stepping into this AI moment with wisdom, courage, creativity and a lot of prayer. We’re honored to be a small part of that work, and we can’t wait to see what this next year brings.
A Dinner to Remember
Tuesday night, we hosted a dinner of eighteen people at a local Indian restaurant, Indian Sizzler, for our clients and new connections we’d met throughout the day. This was one of our favorite parts of the whole trip. There’s something about sharing a meal that moves a conversation from “nice to meet you” to real relationship, and that’s the kind of partner EC Group has always wanted to be. A big thank you to everyone who joined us around the table.
Day One - Innovation & Kingdom Impact
The first day opened with keynotes on the cutting edge of AI innovation and what it means for the Kingdom, along with the first round of Missional Labs pitches. Seeing founders at that stage of the journey, passionate, prayerful, and building fast, is always one of the most energizing parts of this event. It’s also a great reminder of why we do what we do. Many of these teams need software talent, and being able to stand behind our banner and say “we can help you build this” never gets old.
Our booth stayed busy between sessions. It was so good to reconnect with familiar faces from last year (Ligonier, Biblica, SIL) and meet new friends we’d only known over email or LinkedIn up until now.
Day Two - Risks, Challenges & the Imago Dei
Day two leaned into the harder questions – the ethical complexities, the societal risks, and the deep theological questions AI raises. The afternoon plenary on AI and the Imago Dei was especially thought-provoking: what does it mean to be human in an age of intelligent machines? These are the conversations our industry needs more of, and Missional AI does a beautiful job of creating space to have those honest conversations.
A Little Fun Along the Way
No trip to the Bay Area would be complete without a few classic California moments. The team made it to a Sharks game (a first for all of us!), and yes – we absolutely stopped at In-N-Out. Priorities. Between the booth time, the conversations, and the conference sessions, these little team outings were valuable to debrief and enjoy time together.
Let’s Connect!
If we connected at the booth or around a dinner table, or if we didn’t get the chance but you’re curious how EC Group might support your team, we’d love to continue the conversation. Reach out any time.
