Atlanta Tech Week + RenderATL 2025: When Tech Looks Like Us, It Feels Like Home

A week where Black engineers, designers, and creatives weren't just in the room—they were building it

If you've ever wondered what it looks like when tech and culture collide—in the best way possible—then Atlanta Tech Week and RenderATL 2025 gave us the blueprint. And honestly? It wasn't just about tech. It was about energy. About legacy. About us.

All week long, the city of Atlanta was buzzing—not just from caffeine and code, but from connection. From possibility. From seeing Black engineers, designers, founders, and creatives take up space not as a token, but as the standard.

We weren't just attending panels. We were rewriting the narrative.

What Even Is Atlanta Tech Week + RenderATL?

Let's break it down.

Atlanta Tech Week is exactly what it sounds like: a weeklong celebration of the city's booming tech ecosystem. But it's more than just panels and pitches—it's curated experiences that spotlight who's building and why it matters. You've got everything from rooftop mixers to AI summits, startup showcases to soul food-infused networking lounges. It's community, it's career-building, it's creative. All at once.

RenderATL, on the other hand, is the anchor. The soul. Think of it like if a TED Talk, SXSW, and an HBCU homecoming had a beautiful Black tech baby—that's Render. Founded by Justin E. Samuels, it's not just a tech conference. It's a cultural reset. A space where engineers, entrepreneurs, artists, and innovators come together to talk shop and build legacy.

And in 2025, they turned all the way up.

Day One: Tech, Taste, and AfroFuture Vibes

The week kicked off across Tech Square with activations that felt more like a block party than a boardroom. There were AI summits, investor roundtables, hands-on workshops, and conversations about the future of Black-led innovation. Folks pulled up with purpose, laptops in one hand, cocktails in the other.

But the moment everyone's still talking about? The RenderATL Rooftop Kickoff Party, powered by Uber and curated by AfroFuture (the crew behind Afrochella). Picture this: genre-blending sounds from Afrobeats to hip-hop, nostalgic arcade games, mini golf, and cocktails inspired by the diaspora—all happening above the city at Skyline Park.

It wasn't just a party. It was a reminder that we don't have to water ourselves down to be in these rooms. We are the room.

Day Two: Building Brands, Bridging Worlds

If Day One was about vibes, Day Two was about vision.

The schedule was stacked:

• Zillow hosted a powerful conversation on hybrid work culture

• Netflix pulled back the curtain on storytelling through code

• Black Ambition and Essence teamed up for fire panels on entrepreneurship

• Citizen's Lounge transformed into an all-day hub of demos, discussions, and unapologetically Black brilliance

But the moment that lit the room up? A surprise fireside with David Banner—yes, that David Banner—who dropped gems on brand-building, impact, and moving through multiple industries with your identity intact. Alongside RenderATL's founder Justin Samuels and Okla Jones from Essence, the chat was a masterclass in doing it your way and making it work across music, media, tech, and more.

Banner embodies what a lot of us feel but don't always hear out loud: You don't have to choose between being technical and being cultural. You can be both. You already are.

More Than a Moment—It's a Movement

Across every room, every rooftop, every roundtable—one truth echoed loud and clear:

Representation isn't just important. It's necessary.

To see Black women leading tech panels. To watch Black creators launch tools built for their communities. To hear engineers talk about accessibility, ownership, and storytelling in the same breath. To witness joy, Blackness, and brilliance center stage—not tucked in the corner of someone else's idea of innovation.

This is why RenderATL hits so hard. This is why Atlanta Tech Week matters.

It's not about looking polished for LinkedIn (though, your photos will). It's about reminding yourself and each other that you belong in the room. In the code. On the mic. At the helm.

Final Thoughts: Atlanta Did What It Had to Do

By the end of the week, your feet hurt, your notes app was full, and your soul? Reignited.

If you came here to network, you left with new collaborators. If you came here to pitch, you left with purpose. If you came here not knowing where you fit in—surprise—you do now.

Atlanta didn't just host a tech week. It hosted a future we can believe in.

And we'll be back next year, with bigger dreams and even bolder code.