Two-day Silicon Mountains Summit & Expo 2026 concludes under the theme “Invest

The two-day Silicon Mountains Summit & Expo 2026 ICT conference in Yerevan concluded under the theme “Invest in Innovation”. Following first-day presentations by leaders in space, telecommunications and semiconductors, discussions on the second day focused on how next-generation chips are designed, the role of artificial intelligence in engineering, how women lead in technology and government, and how to invest in a rapidly changing world.

Among the conference guests, Kam Ghaffarian, the 2026 State Award laureate for Global Contribution to High Technologies and co-founder of X-energy, Intuitive Machines, Axiom Space and Quantum Space, met students from Armenian universities offering technology education. The conversation centred on what students should invest their time in.

Presenting his group of companies, Ghaffarian recalled their guiding motto: “Imagine, believe and achieve.”

“Find your passion, because when you find it, going to work every day is no longer work, but a pleasure. Have the courage to do it. Think without limits,” Ghaffarian said.

He also spoke about perseverance, determination and adaptability, stressing that these qualities were essential to achieving a major goal. Among his favourite quotations was Carl Sagan’s statement: “The sky calls to us. If we do not destroy ourselves, we will one day venture to the stars.”

Representatives of leading international and local companies in microelectronics and semiconductors spoke at the forum. Their presentations shared a common theme: how next-generation systems are designed, tested and managed when their complexity exceeds the capabilities of conventional approaches.

Dr Katayoon Basharkhah, Distinguished Technologist at IMEC, presented the future of automotive computing platforms. She said the industry was moving towards heterogeneous, chiplet-based systems driven by demands for artificial intelligence, performance and scalability. She stressed the need for standardisation and interoperability, noting that the main question was no longer “Can we build this?” but “How do we design and validate the right chiplet system before first silicon?”

Dr Artur Jutman, founder and CEO of Estonia’s Testonica, said conventional testing was no longer sufficient given the complexity of high-performance and artificial intelligence systems. Under the approach he presented, test solutions should be reused throughout the silicon lifecycle, from manufacturing to in-field monitoring, while data collected on-chip should be translated into fault management, from diagnosis to autonomous recovery.

Siemens EDA Technical Account Manager Faïçal Chtourou outlined how artificial intelligence is changing design work. His three main points were that agentic systems flag risks before they become problems, AI agents explore several directions simultaneously, and expertise is embedded in the tool rather than remaining solely with individual specialists.

Professor Vazgen Melikyan, Director of the Educational Department at Synopsys Armenia, presented the results of the Synopsys educational programme. According to his figures, 100% of the programme’s graduates have found employment in microelectronics, with 77% joining Synopsys Armenia, while 56% of the company’s employees have completed the programme. The programme has trained 95 doctoral, 1,161 master’s and 1,588 bachelor’s graduates.

Arsen Manukyan, head of Cisco Armenia’s office, spoke about the evolution of AI networks, noting that it begins with silicon. He presented systems powered by the Cisco Silicon One G300 platform, featuring 100% liquid cooling and approximately 70% greater energy efficiency.

National Instruments representative Manouel Ohanian stressed that, in semiconductor validation, artificial intelligence primarily helps manage and improve existing workflows by accelerating the scaling of test code and anomaly detection, while human involvement remains central to product optimisation.

Sergey Ghahramanyan, Lead QA Engineer at Cadence Design Systems, presented the TimeVision AI Agent, part of the InnoStack AI Super Agent, which helps detect SDC errors before sign-off. Harutyun Harutyunyan, General Manager of Xsight Labs Armenia, presented the company’s open, programmable silicon solutions for AI data centres, from switches to DPUs, including a lightweight version of the E1L.

The conference also hosted a Women Leaders Club discussion entitled “Leadership Without Borders: Lessons from Tech, Government and Diplomacy”. Participants included the ambassadors of Canada and Switzerland; Armenia’s Deputy Minister of High-Tech Industry and Artificial Intelligence, Tatev Aslanyan; Enterprise Armenia CEO Gohar Abajyan; Ani Safaryan, head of Microchip Technology’s Armenian office; and Safe YOU founder Mariam Torosyan. The discussion was moderated by Luiza Ayvazyan, CIPE’s Country Manager for Armenia.

The participants discussed the personal side of leadership: the boundary between personal and professional life, not compromising core values for a career, a lack of self-confidence and how to work through it. Ani Safaryan said consensus was important but should not become an obstacle, and that decisions had to be made and responsibility taken for them. She added that leadership was defined by values, character and experience rather than gender. Gohar Abajyan stressed the importance of honesty: being clear about both what can and cannot be offered.

The conference concluded with an investment discussion entitled “After AI: What Are Investors Actually Paying For?” Participants discussed how to plan and invest wisely in a world where technologies, markets and projects are changing rapidly.