Applications for flexible electronics will cover a broad range of the cost-performance metric on varieties of substrates, ranging from low-temperature polymers to relatively high temperature steel foils. While novel materials consistent with low temperature processes are continuously being developed, the highest performance systems still require the use of thermal energy (annealing) to reach near-equilibrium conditions and behaviors. In this talk, I will discuss the use of pulsed and CW laser annealing for transient thermal processing of various semiconductors, oxides and ceramics on flexible substrates. By restricting heating times to either the nanosecond regime (pulsed laser) or sub-millisecond (scanned CW laser), surface temperatures above 1500oC have been achieved. For silicon thin film transistors (TFTs), solidification from the liquid phase following laser induced melting enables devices with mobilities above 250 cm2/V-s, while maintaining static process temperatures below 150C. With oxide/ceramic materials, repetitive cycling to moderate temperatures can readily eliminate high temperature anneals. With sputter deposited ITO, laser annealing can simultaneously achieve low sheet resistivity, transparency and chemical etch resistance. Solgel processed nanocrystalline BaTiO3 films on PET substrates, irradiated to modest temperatures, exhibit dielectric properties comparable to films thermally annealed at 700C. Finally, I will discuss use of transient processing for pentacene. While the liquid phase is not accessible under static heating, nanosecond irradiation is shown to result in melting with conversion from the thin film phase to the bulk phase.