Artificial Intelligence is entering a new phase. Following the widespread adoption of generative AI tools capable of answering questions and creating content, AI agents are now emerging: systems designed to perform tasks, make decisions, collaborate with one another, and autonomously support organizations.

This transformation will be at the heart of the 17th edition of the Q-Day Conference, held this year under the theme “AI: The Age of Agents.” Recognized as one of Portugal’s leading events in the technology field and already held under the High Patronage of the President of the Portuguese Republic, the conference will once again bring together representatives from public administration, business, academia, and entrepreneurship to discuss how this new generation of AI is redefining the economy, organizations, and national competitiveness.

More than a technological evolution, agentic AI represents a fundamental shift in how work is performed and how organizations create value. As agents become integrated into business processes, use tools, interact with other systems, and execute complex tasks, challenges such as governance, accountability, trust, quality, and technological sovereignty are taking on increasing importance.

The Q-Day program will therefore feature several panels addressing digital sovereignty as a competitive advantage; the strategies organizations need to respond (and thrive) in an economy increasingly shaped by AI; and the skills required to lead and orchestrate this new generation of intelligent agents. The program will also include the Co-Innovation Awards, recognizing organizations and partners behind projects developed in collaboration with Quidgest, as well as a session dedicated to the Portuguese tech and entrepreneurial diaspora, bringing together professionals and companies to share their experiences of internationalization, entrepreneurship, and technological development.

What’s new this year

The conference will feature two initiatives designed to extend the discussion around AI Agents beyond the event itself.

· Launch of the book "Valuable AI Agents - From LLMs to Agent Capability Enablement". The book presents Quidgest’s approach to the creation, integration, and governance of AI agents within organizations. According to João Paulo Carvalho, Co-Founder and Senior Partner at Quidgest, the future of AI lies in turning intelligent agents into real organizational capabilities: “We have entered a new phase of Artificial Intelligence, and the challenge is no longer to create agents that impress in demonstrations, but agents that deliver real value in the day-to-day operations of organizations. Just as APIs transformed the way software communicates, we believe AI agents now need a layer that enables organizations to create them, connect them to business processes, govern them, and scale them consistently. An agent can solve a problem on its own; but an organization capable of orchestrating dozens of agents can transform the way it creates value. That is the vision we present in the book: an approach to integrating AI responsibly, with governance and the ability to scale alongside organizations.”

· Presentation of the Quidgest International Observatory 2026–27 findings. The study examines the maturity of agentic AI adoption across organizations and identifies the key trends likely to shape the coming years. Bruna Ferreira, Coordinator of the Observatory, anticipates findings that challenge some widely held assumptions about AI adoption: “This study, which brings together the perspectives of professionals from 50 countries, contains some surprises. It shows that the biggest barrier to AI is no longer people’s resistance, but governance and organizational integration; that many companies still struggle to demonstrate a return on their AI investments; that technological sovereignty has become a strategic concern; and that the gap between experimenting with AI agents and using them in real-world settings remains much greater than market enthusiasm might suggest. More than simply measuring the state of AI, this Observatory helps us understand the factors that will distinguish the organizations that lead from those that fall behind in this new era.”

The 17th Q-Day Conference will be held in a hybrid format, allowing participants to attend either in person (at Culturgest in Lisbon) or online. Registrations are open here.

About Q-Day Conference:

Organized by Quidgest since September 9, 2009, the Q-Day Conference is an annual forum dedicated to digital transformation, Artificial Intelligence, and the future of technology. It brings together public-sector decision-makers, business leaders, academics, and national and international experts to foster debate on the technological challenges shaping organizations, the economy, and society. The 17th edition is dedicated to the theme “AI: The Age of Agents.”

The Portugal News is proud to be an official media partner of Q-Day Conference 2026.

About Quidgest:

Quidgest is a 38-year-old global technology company founded in Portugal. A pioneer in software modelling and automatic software generation through its neuro-symbolic generative AI platform, Genio, Quidgest develops complex, mission-critical, and highly specific systems designed to continuously evolve, while remaining flexible and scalable across multiple technologies and platforms. Partners and major organizations, governments, multinational companies, and global multilateral institutions use Quidgest solutions to deliver on their digital strategies. More information is available at Quidgest.com