Entrepreneur and tennis legend Maria Sharapova to headline Collision 2024

Collision, the premier technology event in North America, today announced that entrepreneur and world-class tennis champion Maria Sharapova will be speaking on Centre Stage at the 2024 edition, taking place at the Enercare Centre from June 17-20.

Collision will bring together 40,000 people who are redefining the global tech industry. The event will feature Maria, alongside IBM senior VP of software and chief commercial officer Rob Thomas, on Centre Stage discussing the impact of AI on sport. Widely considered one of the best tennis players in the world, Maria is a former world number one, who won five Grand Slams before her retirement in 2020.
Maria was ahead of her time in building a robust business portfolio during her playing career, including founding her business Sugarpova, maintaining long-term partnerships with brands such as Evian and Nike, and becoming an active investor in several successful startups. Now, post-career, she continues to work as an active founder, CEO, and investor. She is an equity owner of Supergoop!, and an investor and strategic advisor to multiple businesses, including home fitness startup Tonal, wellness technology company Therabody, financial services and investments platform Public.com, fitness accessories and apparel brand Bala, and men’s footwear brand Wolf & Shepherd. Last year, she was appointed to the board of Moncler.

Rob leads IBM’s software business, overseeing product management and design,product development, and business development for the company’s AI technology.
Additionally, as chief commercial officer, Rob has global responsibility for IBM revenue and profit, including worldwide sales and strategic partnerships.
Maria and Rob will join godfather of AI Geoffrey Hinton, 1Password CEO Jeff Shiner,OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair, Khosla Ventures founder and renowned investor Vinod Khosla, Groq founder and CEO Jonathan Ross, Cohere founder and CEO Aidan Gomez,Waabi founder and CEO Raquel Urtasun, and Stash CEO Liza Landsman at Collision next month.
More than 40,000 attendees are expected to take part in Collision’s sixth year in Toronto, with founders, CEOs, investors and media from across the world coming to the city to network and explore opportunities in the region. More than 300 global partners will take to the event floor, with IBM, Microsoft, Dell, Neosoft, TeamViewer,Snowflake and more joining 1,600-plus startups from countries including Nigeria, the Republic of Korea, Uruguay, Japan, Italy, Ghana, Pakistan and beyond.