Google's Robby Stein to Take the Stage at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

Google Executive Confirmed for TechCrunch Disrupt 2026

According to an official TechCrunch announcement, Google's Robby Stein will appear at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, delivering a talk on the Builders Stage. His session will focus on the full journey of scaling a product from its earliest users to billions — a topic that resonates deeply with product builders and founders alike.

For practitioners focused on AI and tech product growth, firsthand insights from a senior Google product leader carry real weight. Google operates multiple products at the billion-user scale, and the experience of continuously iterating and innovating at that level is something most teams rarely get direct access to.

Robby Stein currently serves as VP of Product for Google Search, where he has led several pivotal product transformations during the AI era — most notably the launch of AI Overviews. That feature rolled out broadly in the United States in 2024, integrating generative AI summaries directly into search results pages, marking one of the most significant shifts in Google Search's product form in decades. His perspective spans from feature design all the way to operating at massive scale, giving him genuine first-hand experience running a "billion-user" product — which is precisely what grounds this talk.

Builders Stage: A Hands-On Arena for Product Makers

The Builders Stage is a dedicated track at TechCrunch Disrupt designed specifically for product builders. Unlike other stages that lean toward investment trends or industry outlook, Builders Stage emphasizes concrete methodologies and product growth frameworks. Robby Stein's session title — "From first users to billions" — cuts straight to the core question: how do you bridge the gap from zero to one, and then from one to true scale?

This type of content is especially valuable for early-stage founders. The challenges a product faces with its first users are fundamentally different from those it encounters at massive scale. The former is about finding product-market fit; the latter involves systemic questions around infrastructure, organizational coordination, and growth strategy.

In the product world, "zero to one" and "one to scale" are two entirely different problems. The former, as Peter Thiel articulated in Zero to One, is about identifying monopolistic innovation opportunities and achieving product-market fit (PMF). The latter — often called the "one to N" scaling phase — shifts the challenge to maintaining core product value while navigating technical architecture bottlenecks, organizational growth, multi-market localization, and an increasingly diverse user base. Products like Google Search, YouTube, and Gmail have all made this leap, and the methodologies behind them offer meaningful lessons for any product team with scaling ambitions.

Early Bird Ticket Pricing

According to the official announcement, tickets purchased before September 25 are eligible for discounts of up to $200. Those interested in attending should keep an eye on the early bird deadline to lock in their spot at the best available price.

It's worth noting that the information currently available covers the basics — speaker, session topic, and ticketing details. Further specifics on session content and the broader agenda are expected to be released as the conference approaches. Stay tuned to TechCrunch's official channels for the latest updates.