This guide sets out what the organisers have published so far: the programme structure, what each pass includes, who the event is aimed at and how to reach the venue. It also lists what has not been announced yet, so you can plan around the gaps. Every event detail below comes from the official site at mergefuture.com, read in November 2026. Check it again before you book, because the schedule and speaker list are still being finalised.
Event guide · Calicut · 9–10 January 2027
MERGE FUTURE is a two-day technology summit at Calicut Trade Center, Kozhikode, on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 January 2027. It is organised by CAFIT (Calicut Forum for IT), with HiLITE as title sponsor. Five subject tracks run in parallel across three stages, with masterclasses, hands-on workshops and an expo floor alongside. Doors open at 9:00 AM on both days, and passes range from ₹2,000 to ₹9,000. iOSS is exhibiting on the expo floor.
Fact sheet
MERGE FUTURE 2027 at a glance
Expected scale (organiser figures)
10,000
Delegates
50+
Speakers
100+
Exhibitors
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Dates | Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 January 2027 |
| Venue | Calicut Trade Center, Mavoor Road, Kozhikode, Kerala |
| Doors | 9:00 AM IST on both days |
| Organiser | CAFIT, the Calicut Forum for IT |
| Title sponsor | HiLITE |
| Format | 5 tracks, 3 stages, masterclasses, workshops and an expo |
| Expected scale (organiser figures) | 10,000 delegates, 50+ speakers, 100+ exhibitors |
| Passes | Visitor ₹2,000, Gold ₹5,000, Diamond ₹9,000 (including GST and fees) |
Background
What is MERGE FUTURE?
MERGE FUTURE is a regional tech summit that brings developers, founders, enterprise teams, investors, government officers and students into one venue in Calicut for two days. The organisers describe the mixed audience as the point of the event: a founder meeting a CIO, or a student meeting a policymaker, is the kind of conversation the format is built to produce.
The name and branding lean on Calicut's history as a trading port. The event site frames the summit as the same habit applied to technology: people from different sectors meeting in one city to exchange ideas, the way traders once exchanged spice and goods on this coast.
The 2027 edition is being run with a travel theme throughout, so the website's passes appear as boarding passes and the venue as a gate.
Programme
The five tracks and who each one is for
The programme is split into five verticals. Each runs masterclasses and workshops, and the organisers have published sample session titles for each one. These samples show the intended direction of each track; they are not a confirmed agenda.
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1
AI, future tech and cybersecurity
This track covers AI, automation, cloud and the security work that protects them. It is aimed at engineering and product teams, CTOs, CIOs and security leaders, and founders building AI-first products. Sample sessions include “AI in the real business: what actually shipped”, a masterclass on building AI agents that work, a session on cloud threats and defences, and a prompting workshop for product teams. If your company is weighing where AI fits in its own operations, this is the track to prioritise. Our page on enterprise AI solutions covers the planning questions that usually come up before a project starts.
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2
Marketing, eCommerce and fintech
Here the focus is on finding customers, selling online and moving money: martech, D2C brands and marketplaces, payments and digital finance. Sample sessions cover performance marketing with AI, moving from a storefront to a marketplace, pricing and positioning, and the fintech stack for payments and lending. Marketing and growth teams, eCommerce brands and finance teams are the stated audience.
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3
Retail, manufacturing and logistics
This vertical looks at technology in stores, factories and supply chains. Sample topics include “phygital” retail (physical stores with digital ordering, payment or tracking built in), automation on the factory line, inventory and demand planning with data, and last-mile delivery. It suits retailers, plant leaders and logistics teams who want to see what peers have already put into practice.
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4
Enterprise and business solutions
The software that runs a growing company sits here: ERP, CRM, SaaS and core IT. Sample sessions include choosing an ERP for a growing business, a one-day CRM automation workshop, selling SaaS to enterprises and digital transformation projects that last. Business owners, CXOs and IT and operations heads are the intended audience. For context on the Indian software companies this track speaks to, see our roundup of top SaaS companies in India.
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5
Startup and innovations
The final track is for founders, early teams and first-time builders, along with the investors, mentors and incubators who back them. Sample sessions run from finding a first customer to raising a first round, plus a five-minute pitch workshop and a session on building from Kerala for global markets.
Format
How the two days are organised
Sessions run on three stages at the same time, so you will need to choose between them. The stages have different jobs:
The Future Stage
Hosts keynotes, fireside chats and headline sessions.
The Growth Arena
Carries sessions and panels on building and scaling a business.
The Community Circle
For meetups, open conversations and community-led sessions.
Around the stages, three more formats run in parallel
Masterclasses
Small-room deep dives with practitioners, only open to Diamond pass holders.
Workshops
Hands-on labs where you bring a laptop and build something during the session; Gold and Diamond passes include them.
The expo
Open on both days, with startups and companies showing what they make.
Because everything runs in parallel, the practical question for most attendees is which sessions to sacrifice.
The full schedule had not been published when this guide was written, so plan to compare the Day 1 and Day 2 agendas as soon as they appear and pick a primary track for each day.
Tickets
Passes and what each one includes
| Pass | Price (incl. GST and fees) | Includes | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor | ₹2,000 | Expo floor entry on both days | People scouting vendors, partners or employers |
| Gold | ₹5,000 | Everything in Visitor, all sessions on the three stages, workshops, lunch and refreshments on both days | Most professionals who want the talks and hands-on labs |
| Diamond | ₹9,000 | Everything in Gold, every masterclass, and the gala networking night with dinner | Founders and leaders who want small-room sessions and the evening networking |
The organisers list the Gold pass as the most popular option and say the Diamond pass is limited to 300 seats. The website gave 17 October 2026 as the date pass sales opened.
Audience
Who should attend
The organisers name six groups: developers, founders, enterprises, government, investors and students. What each group can expect to get out of two days is a little different.
Developers and engineering teams
Will find most of their value in the workshops and the AI and cybersecurity track, where the sessions are framed around what has shipped rather than what is promised.
Founders
Have the startup track, the pitch workshop and, with a Diamond pass, the masterclasses and gala night, which are the settings most likely to lead to longer conversations with investors.
Enterprise and operations leaders
Can use the enterprise track and the expo to compare ERP, CRM and automation options in one place, which is faster than booking a series of separate vendor demos.
Government officers and policymakers
Are part of the intended mix, which makes the event a place to hear how state programmes for startups and IT are being run.
Students
Get exposure to all of the above, and the Visitor pass is the cheapest way to walk the expo and meet companies that hire locally.
Location
Why the summit is in Calicut
Kozhikode was the port where traders from across the Arabian Sea came for spice for centuries, and in 2023 it was named a UNESCO City of Literature. The organisers also point to a growing local tech community, of which CAFIT is the industry forum.
For companies already working in the city, holding a summit of this size at home matters in a practical way: customers, partners and job candidates from across Kerala and beyond come to them for two days.
iOSS works from Govt. Cyberpark in Calicut, so this is our city's event too, and it is why we are exhibiting.
At the expo
Visit iOSS at the MERGE FUTURE expo
iOSS has a stand on the expo floor at Calicut Trade Center, and our team will be there on both days. Every pass, including the ₹2,000 Visitor pass, includes expo entry, so you do not need a session pass to come and see us.
We build custom software and AI for businesses, including AI agents, AI chatbots for customer support, WhatsApp AI chatbots and enterprise AI projects. We also have packaged products such as Desklog time tracking and direct selling software. If you want to see one of these working or talk through a project of your own, the stand is the easiest place to do it.
A short conversation at an expo goes further when you arrive with three things written down
The process you want to change
Described in terms of what happens today (for example, “support questions arrive on WhatsApp and wait for someone to reply”).
The systems it has to work with
Such as your CRM, ERP, website or payroll tool.
When you would like something running
Even if it is only a rough quarter.
With those, we can tell you on the spot whether an existing product fits or whether it is a custom build, and what the next step would be.
Travel
Getting to Calicut Trade Center
The venue is on Mavoor Road in Kozhikode. The organisers list three ways to get there:
- By air, through Calicut International Airport at Karipur.
- By rail, to Kozhikode Railway Station. The organisers say shuttles will run from the station on both days.
- By road, using taxis and city buses that run to Mavoor Road.
The organisers have said they will publish a partner hotel list with stay offers. January is a busy month for travel in Kerala, so if you are coming from outside the city it is worth booking a room early and moving it to a partner hotel later if a better offer appears.
Still open
What has not been announced yet
Several details were still open when we read the event site in November 2026. The full programme for both days is marked “will be updated soon”. The speaker section lists names, but each entry is labelled as a sample listing, so treat any individual speaker as unconfirmed until the organisers publish the final line-up. The partner hotel list has not been released, and while the site shows sponsor and partner categories (supporting, ecosystem, startup, CRM and others), most of the named partners had not been filled in.
None of this changes the dates, venue or pass structure, but it does mean you should hold off on planning your day around a particular speaker until the schedule is out.
Checklist
How to plan your two days
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1
Decide your goal
Decide what you want from the event: learning, hiring, selling, buying or fundraising. The answer decides your pass. Buyers and job seekers may only need the expo; anyone who wants sessions needs at least Gold.
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2
Pick your tracks
Pick a primary track for each day from the five verticals, and a backup in case a session fills.
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3
Watch for the schedule
Watch mergefuture.com for the published schedule and mark the sessions on each stage that match your primary tracks.
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4
Pack a laptop
If you are taking a Gold or Diamond pass, bring a laptop for the workshops.
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5
Book travel early
Book travel and a room early, and check the partner hotel list when it is released.
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6
Line up your meetings
List the companies you want to meet on the expo floor and set up meetings in advance where you can.
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7
Arrive by 9:00 AM
Plan to arrive by 9:00 AM on Saturday; the first sessions on the main stages will draw the largest crowds.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Will MERGE FUTURE sessions be recorded?
Yes. The organisers say sessions on all three stages will be recorded and shared with pass holders after the event.
Can my company exhibit or sponsor?
Yes. The organisers handle this through the “Become a Partner” and “Become a Sponsor” options on the event site. They say stands and speaking slots are limited.
Can I apply to speak or volunteer?
The event site has “Apply to speak” and “Volunteer” links in its “Get involved” section.
Closing
See you in Calicut
With five tracks running in parallel, you will get more from MERGE FUTURE with a plan: a pass that matches your goal, a primary track for each day and a short list of companies to meet. If iOSS is on that list, find us on the expo floor on 9 or 10 January.
Find us on the expo floor
If you would like to know more about us before the event, you can read about iOSS and get in touch to set up a time to meet at the stand.
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