Working with data: what changes, what endures, and what becomes possible

The Fifth Elephant 2026 Winter Edition

Explore how people investigate data, test assumptions and turn findings into decisions. Discover approaches you can use, and meet people whose work gives you new ideas for your own.

4–5 December 2026
TERI, Domlur, Bangalore
Livestream exclusively for annual members

Get your ticket

Participants discussing vector databases at a Birds of Feather (BOF) session at The Fifth Elephant 2024 edition

New possibilities. lasting analytical skills.

AI is changing what we can attempt with data. Asking useful questions, understanding the evidence and checking our conclusions remain central to the work.

This edition brings together analysts, data scientists, statisticians, researchers, journalists, and people working with data in business, public policy and non-profits. Expect concrete investigations, surprising findings and work in progress—with lessons you can apply beyond the speaker’s domain.

What you’ll take away

Fresh approaches to your work
See how practitioners across fields tackle questions, choose methods and investigate unexpected results.

Better ways to question a result
Learn from measurement mistakes, misleading metrics and the checks that changed someone’s conclusion.

People to keep thinking with
Find collaborators, exchange experiences and bring your unresolved questions into the conversation.

Attendees listening and taking notes during a talk at a past edition of The Fifth Elephant.

On the programme

Practitioner talks
Six investigations into data problems and methods. Each session includes a 25-minute presentation and 5 minutes of Q&A.

Showcases
Six focused, 20-minute explorations of applications, analyses and experiments.

Posters · Open both days
Explore work by researchers and practitioners applying data science and machine learning in engineering, physical and social sciences, policy and the social sector. The poster corridor stays open throughout both days, with opportunities to discuss the work one-on-one with presenters. Work in progress is welcome.

Conversations and participation
Join Birds of a Feather discussions and contribute ideas or expertise to the problem wall.

Confirmed talk

What breaks next?

Tracing a retail disruption and checking AI recommendations

Abhijith Neerkaje · Founder, Beyond Vectors

A supplier delay puts a seasonal collection at risk. Which products, stores and promotions are affected—and which responses are feasible?

Abhijith explores how connected data and explicit business rules help trace the consequences and check AI recommendations. The retail case offers lessons in structuring and interrogating data that apply across domains.

Meet the editors

Karthik Shashidhar
AI and data consultant

S Anand
LLM Psychologist

Prasanna Bhogale
Founder at Romulan AI; author

Conversations between sessions at a past edition of The Fifth Elephant.

Bring your curiosity - and a problem you are working on (or getting worked up about!)

Join us at TERI, Domlur, Bangalore, on 4–5 December 2026.

Livestream exclusively for annual members.

Get your ticket

Want to contribute? Submit a talk, showcase, poster, discussion or problem by 11 October 2026.

Interested in sponsoring? Explore sponsorship options.

Questions? info@hasgeek.com · Call/WhatsApp: +91 7676332020