Baku is about to host one of the region's biggest tech gatherings. The INMerge Innovation Summit runs Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 at the Baku Congress Center, and the 2026 speaker list has some genuinely big names attached.

Headlining are Maria Sharapova, the five-time Grand Slam champion who now works as an entrepreneur and investor (she sits on Moncler's board and wrote a New York Times bestseller); Mo Gawdat, the former chief business officer of Google X best known for his books on AI and happiness, "Solve for Happy" and "Scary Smart"; and Joel Mokyr, the Northwestern University economic historian who picked up the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for his work on technology and growth.

They're joined by Greg Hoffman, who spent nearly 30 years at Nike and worked his way up from intern to chief marketing officer — his book "Emotion by Design" digs into how emotion builds brands. The full lineup and ticket details are published on the summit's site.

INMerge was launched in 2021 by PASHA Holding, an Azerbaijani group, and has grown into a meeting point for corporations, investors, startups and government figures from Azerbaijan, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. The goal is partly regional cooperation, partly building Baku's reputation as an innovation hub. Last year's edition pulled in over 5,000 participants, more than 180 speakers, 122 startups and 80 investors — so if you're attending, expect a crowded, well-attended floor rather than a boutique meetup.

For travellers, this is a good excuse to visit a city many people still skip. Baku in late November is cool but manageable, well past the summer heat, and the Congress Center sits within easy reach of the city's hotels. Between sessions you've got the walled Old City (Icherisheher), the flame-shaped Flame Towers on the skyline, and a Caspian Sea boulevard made for long walks. Azerbaijan's e-visa is straightforward for most nationalities, and flights connect via Istanbul, Dubai and several European hubs.

Even if you're not a startup founder, the mix of sport, tech, economics and marketing speakers makes this one of the more accessible big-ticket events on the regional calendar — and a tidy anchor for a long weekend in Azerbaijan's capital.