VMware Explore 2026

VMware Explore 2026 runs 31 August to 3 September at The Venetian Convention and Expo Center in Las Vegas, and is Broadcom's flagship event for the VMware Cloud Foundation platform. Broadcom is pitching this edition explicitly at practitioners rather than executives: hundreds of technical sessions, expert roundtables, quick talks, a full Hands-on Labs environment and on-site certification exams, organised around four areas — AI strategy and infrastructure, VCF optimisation, security and compliance, and platform engineering. Because VCF 9.1 is already generally available, the agenda leans towards field-experience content — NVMe memory tiering, vSAN deduplication and compression, parallel cluster upgrades, live patching and vDefend — rather than roadmap previews. A condensed Explore on Tour series then runs in Mumbai, Singapore, Frankfurt, Tokyo, London and Washington, DC through December, the last of those newly added for the US public sector.

Date

August 31 – September 3, 2026

Location

The Venetian Convention and Expo Center, Las Vegas, Nevada

Format

In-Person

Event Type

Conference

Status

Upcoming

Pricing

Paid

Organizer

Broadcom

Added

Jul 7, 2026

Updated

Aug 21, 2026

• ✓VP of Infrastructure
• ✓Cloud Architect
• ✓Platform Engineering Lead
• ✓Virtualization Administrator
• ✓Chief Technology Officer
• ✓Security Architect
• ✓IT Operations Manager

For an infrastructure VP or platform director, this is the only venue where Broadcom's VCF engineering, the certification programme and several thousand peers running the same stack are in one place — and post-acquisition, where licensing and TCO questions get answered face to face rather than through an account team. The Full Event Pass bundles a VCAP certification exam voucher, so travel budget converts into credentials on site. The practical draw in 2026 is private AI: sessions on agentic workloads, GPU resource management and frontier-model deployment on infrastructure you own. One independent practitioner guide's caution is worth carrying in — treat every vendor TCO figure as a claim to validate against your own workload mix.

• ✓AI Strategy & Infrastructure track — production AI on private cloud, hardware constraints, security posture and Kubernetes at scale
• ✓VCF Optimization track — migration paths and performance improvements
• ✓Security & Compliance track — hardening strategies, threat defence and vDefend
• ✓Platform Engineering track — container and VM integration
• ✓General session 'VCF State of the Union: Optimizing Costs and Closing Security Gaps in the AI Era' (session code CLOB1276LV)
• ✓Hands-on Labs in four formats: expert-led workshops, self-paced labs, the Hands-on Labs Tour and the Odyssey Tournament
• ✓On-site certification exams across five VCAP tracks: vSphere Kubernetes Service, Automation, Operations, Storage and Networking
• ✓The Hub expo floor, partner-ecosystem access and networking receptions
• ✓Explore on Tour follow-ons: Mumbai 29-30 Sep, Singapore 1-2 Oct, Frankfurt 13-14 Oct, Tokyo 20-21 Oct, London 18-19 Nov, Washington DC 8 Dec

• ★The only venue where Broadcom's VCF engineering, product and certification teams are all on site post-acquisition — the practical place to put licensing and TCO questions to someone directly
• ★Content is deliberately practitioner-first: VCF 9.1 is already GA, so sessions are field experience rather than roadmap preview
• ★The Full Event Pass bundles a complimentary VCAP certification exam voucher, redeemable on site across five VCAP tracks
• ★A full Hands-on Labs environment in four formats, including the gamified Odyssey Tournament and a daily 30-45 minute Labs Tour
• ★Pass choice materially changes what you get: the Essentials Pass is not offered in 2026, and the limited Meetings+ Pass excludes sessions, labs, certification exams, meals and swag

Broadcom publishes pass rates only inside the registration flow — its public pricing page does not render a price list — so no headline Full Event Pass figure can be quoted here honestly. What is published: early-bird took $200 off the Full Event Pass through 16 June 2026 and has closed; VMUG Advantage members save a further $100; groups of five or more save $100 per pass; education and government registrants save $300, not combinable with other discounts. The Full Event Pass includes a complimentary VCAP certification exam voucher, valued at roughly $250. The Essentials Pass is not offered in 2026, and the limited Meetings+ Pass excludes sessions, labs, certification exams, meals and swag. Attendance is restricted to those aged 21 and over.

When is VMware Explore 2026?

VMware Explore 2026 takes place August 31 – September 3, 2026 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Where is VMware Explore 2026 held?

VMware Explore 2026 is held in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event format is in-person.

How much does VMware Explore 2026 cost?

VMware Explore 2026 is paid. Broadcom publishes pass rates only inside the registration flow — its public pricing page does not render a price list — so no headline Full Event Pass figure can be quoted here honestly. What is published: early-bird took $200 off the Full Event Pass through 16 June 2026 and has closed; VMUG Advantage members save a further $100; groups of five or more save $100 per pass; education and government registrants save $300, not combinable with other discounts. The Full Event Pass includes a complimentary VCAP certification exam voucher, valued at roughly $250. The Essentials Pass is not offered in 2026, and the limited Meetings+ Pass excludes sessions, labs, certification exams, meals and swag. Attendance is restricted to those aged 21 and over.

Who should attend VMware Explore 2026?

VMware Explore 2026 is aimed at VP of Infrastructure, Cloud Architect, Platform Engineering Lead, Virtualization Administrator, Chief Technology Officer, Security Architect, IT Operations Manager.

What topics does VMware Explore 2026 cover?

VMware Explore 2026 covers Private AI Cloud, VMware Cloud Foundation, Kubernetes and Container Platforms, Infrastructure Security and Compliance, Platform Engineering, GPU and AI Infrastructure, Storage and Memory Tiering, Cloud Cost and TCO Optimization.

This page was written from 6 sources, 5 on domains other than vmware.com.

1. 1.vmware.com — usvendor
2. 2.blogs.vmware.com — registration live las vegas
3. 3.blogs.vmware.com — vcf at vmware explore 2026 what to see do learn
4. 4.barchart.com — vmware explore empowers it practitioners to drive modern pri
5. 5.virtualbytes.io — vmware explore 2026 field guide
6. 6.vchamp.net — five reasons vmware explore 2026 should be on your radar