Speakers

GAI INSIGHTS
CEO, Co-founder and Principal Analyst

Mr. Baier is the CEO and principal analyst at GAI Insights. He is a seasoned software entrepreneur with two decades of experience and multiple exits. Related to AI, he was VP of Product at First Fuel Software, an enterprise AI company for 5 years. Mr Baier co-authored 3 articles about enterprise GenAI that were featured in Harvard Business Review. In March 2024, he was appointed an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School. He holds an MBA from Harvard and a BA from Kenyon College.

INFLECTION AI
COO

Ted Shelton is the Chief Operating Officer of Inflection AI, a leading company in AI model development and the creator of Pi. He rejoined the software industry in June 2024 after 15 years in management consulting, most recently as an Expert Partner at Bain & Company, where he focused on digital transformation and growth strategies. Ted has held senior roles in technology companies, driving innovation and operational excellence. With deep expertise in both tech and consulting, he is committed to advancing human potential and business growth through transformative technologies. Ted's leadership is pivotal in shaping Inflection AI's strategic direction and impact.

BLITZSCALING VENTURES
General Partner

Jeremiah is a seasoned venture capitalist at Blitzscaling Ventures, a global public speaker, and host of the popular AI startup series, Llama Lounge. At Blitzscaling Ventures, he focuses on investing in early-stage AI startups poised for rapid growth and market leadership. An angel investor since 2017, Jeremiah has a strong track record of successful exits. As a global speaker, he advises on leveraging technology trends for business success. With over 250,000 followers on TwitterX, he is a recognized voice in tech and business. Jeremiah also organizes "Llama Lounge," a leading AI event series in the SF Bay Area that brings together founders, investors, and influencers.

BANK OF AMERICA
Head of Data & AI Banking

Awais Bajwa, a leader in Data and AI banking, has over 15 years of experience, leading strategic deals totaling over $60 billion. He founded Bank of America’s global AI banking practice in Palo Alto and has unique insights into AI adoption in financial institutions. Awais previously established the software investment banking practice at Bank of America and the digital infrastructure banking practice at Barclays in London. He holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Oxford, positioning him as a distinguished advisor on AI in the financial sector.

NBCUNIVERSAL
SVP Media Operations

Megan Mauck is the Senior Vice President of Media Operations at NBCUniversal Media, LLC, with over 17 years of experience in technical operations. She oversees the management and distribution of NBCUniversal's content across networks, ensuring reliable delivery to screens worldwide. Known for her leadership in scalable and geographically diverse media operations, Megan has advanced from Quality Lead to senior executive roles. She frequently speaks at industry events, sharing her expertise in media technology and operations. Her extensive experience reflects a deep commitment to media innovation and operational excellence.

LAKAMP MEDIA
Former EVP, Media Supply Chain

Brian Lakamp's career spans business and technology operations, financial and business modeling, product development, strategy, and management. At Paramount Global, Brian was responsible for developing and operating Paramount’s media supply chain and led a  team of over 800 people that prepared, localized, packaged, and delivered CBS, Showtime, Paramount, Nickelodeon, MTV, Comedy Central, and P+ Original content to Paramount+, Pluto, Prime Video, Apple, Netflix, and hundreds of additional distribution partners worldwide. Prior, he was President of Digital at iHeartMedia and launched and managed iHeartRadio, the industry-leading streaming music and digital radio service. He defined and developed the company’s big data and programmatic strategy to unify all tech platforms. Early in his career, Brian developed and deployed MovieLink one of the first Internet movie services and he has advised multiple media and technology startups.

TUBI
VP of Product

Blake Bassett is the Vice President of Product for Emerging Tech at Tubi where he’s responsible for integrating the latest advancements in AI to help Tubi's audience discover content they'll love. He's also the editor of Nudge Notes, a tech publication that explores the intersection of behavioral design, behavioral economics, and tech. Prior to Tubi, Blake worked at Microsoft, Meta, and Square in various product and operational roles. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner, two kids, and dog.

AIRBNB
Head of Product, CS Digital Platform (Experience, AI, & Data)

Hanlin Fang is a strategic product leader with nearly 20 years in emerging technology and business transformation. Currently, she heads Airbnb's Digital Experience Products portfolio in Community Support, enhancing the digital journey for Hosts and Guests. Her team drives a self-service platform, an AI-powered automation engine, and an enterprise-level data platform. Previously, Hanlin was VP of Product at ServiceNow, leading the Conversational AI Platform and Omnichannel Experience. At Workday, she directed AI/ML platform products, accelerating revenue growth for HCM and Financial applications. Hanlin holds an MBA and a master’s in computer science and enjoys outdoor activities, travel, and home renovation.

LENOVO
CTO

Tolga Kurtoglu is the CTO of Lenovo, a technologist turned innovation leader, venture builder, and early-stage investor. Over two decades, he has overseen the commercialization of 40+ technologies. As CEO of Palo Alto Research Center, he launched PARC Refinery, and as CTO of HP, Inc., led the company's technology strategy and internal incubations. Tolga serves on the Board of Directors at Omidyar Network, advocating responsible tech development, and advises AI startups that align with his vision of creating long-lasting impact through science and technology.

CAPGEMINI
Executive Vice President - Data Driven Business & GenAI

Steve Jones is the Executive Vice President of Data Driven Business and Generative AI at Capgemini. He leads AI integration across industries, redesigning KPIs and fostering data-driven cultures. Steve's work includes developing industry-specific AI models and ensuring ethical AI use. A thought leader, he has contributed to standards like the Business Data Lake and led Capgemini’s global practices in Java, MDM, and Big Data. He has built major next-gen data platforms and published on Cloud, SOA, and AI Ethics in IEEE Software and the Financial Times.

DELOITTE
Principal

As Sales Excellence Leader for the Deloitte US Member Firm, I guide and direct the efforts of our Sales Executives, Sales Center of Excellence, and Pursuit Center of Excellence Teams. These teams support our leaders and professionals to find, qualify and win marketplace pursuits supported across Deloitte's Advisory, Audit, Consulting, and Tax businesses.

REDHAT
Director of AI and Data, Experience Engineering

Mandy Elliott is an experienced leader, coach, and team builder with a passion for pairing multi-disciplinary skills with the most challenging business needs to deliver innovative and effective solutions. She completed her graduate degree at Carnegie Mellon University and additionally has earned credentials as a Certified Usability Analyst (CUA), Prosci Certified Change Practitioner, and Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt. Mandy resides in Raleigh, North Carolina with her partner, daughter, and two dogs and enjoys spending time quilting and horseback riding.

GOOGLE
Head of Customer Engineering, Google Cloud

Matt MacCaux is the Head of Customer Engineering at Google, leading AI-driven transformation projects that leverage data, modern applications, and cloud operating principles. Previously, as Director of Sales Engineering at Hewlett Packard Enterprise, he led a global team that helped clients convert data into actionable insights, achieving 40% year-over-year growth and $100M in sales in FY23. With over 15 years of experience in AI, Machine Learning, and Analytics, he excels in building high-performing teams and developing data-centric strategies. He is passionate about empowering organizations to unlock the full potential of their data to drive innovation and create value.

GITHUB
Staff Product Operations Manager

Chris Butler is a chaotic good product manager, writer, and speaker. He facilitates critical decision making for teams that build new and innovative products. Chris focuses on bias, uncertainty, and randomization to help build more robust and resilient teams.

He has been a product leader at Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Cognizant, KAYAK, and Waze. He created techniques like Empathy Mapping for the Machine, Animistic Design Mapping, Confusion Mapping, and Analogical Innovation Mapping to create cross-team alignment while building AI products.

ZENDESK
Chief Legal Officer

Shana Simmons is the Chief Legal Officer at Zendesk, where she oversees corporate governance and advises on the legal implications of the company’s strategic initiatives. Prior to joining Zendesk, Shana served as the Chief Legal Officer at Everlaw, where she spearheaded the legal department overseeing all aspects of legal, regulatory, privacy, governance, risk, and compliance matters. Before joining Everlaw, Shana held the position of Head of Go-To-Market Legal at Google Cloud, where her team played a pivotal role in driving the company's expansion into global and regulated markets. Shana began her legal career at Cleary Gottlieb Stein & Hamilton LLP in New York and London, as a corporate associate.

DATASAUR.AI
Founder, CEO

With over a decade of experience building NLP technologies across startups and enterprises, Ivan Lee has successfully navigated multiple AI winters and technological advancements. As the founder of Datasaur, he is dedicated to making NLP breakthroughs accessible and scalable for a diverse range of users, from leading academic institutions and Fortune 500 companies to passionate hobbyists. He specializes in AI/ML, NLP, product management, founder-led sales, and public speaking. His work at Datasaur empowers organizations and individuals to harness the power of cutting-edge NLP tools, driving innovation and transformation in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence.

WORKDAY
VP and Chief Technologist, Workday Ventures

Erin Yang is VP and Chief Technologist at Workday Ventures, where she has been investing in enterprise software startups since 2020. Prior to Workday Ventures, Erin was a product leader at Workday for eight years, supporting growth from $134M to $3B+ in revenue and from 900 to 12,000+ employees. She led the technology product team, scaling the technology platform powering all Workday applications. This platform includes analytics, integrations, infrastructure, machine learning and more. She later launched Workday Extend in a leadership role across sales, product, and engineering. Erin holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University.

PADEM MEDIA GROUP
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXEC.

Allan is the president and chief exec of the advanced M&E advisory firm PADEM Media Group. With 30 years of experience, Allan has pioneered the development/deployment of engaged streaming and interactive media services and platforms globally to over a billion households. A recognized thought leader and C-level executive at the intersection of content creation, data, AI and technology for companies like Disney, Microsoft, and BBC he is frequently sought after for insights on media evolution and digital transformation. Holding an MBA, he’s a guest lecturer at Stanford Business School and serves on multiple boards, shaping the future of digital media.

OPERANT AI
CEO and Co-Founder

An entrepreneur with deep technical and commercial strengths. With a Master’s in Computer Science from USC and over 20 years of experience building hardware and software products, Vrajesh built core technologies for iOS & macOS, including Dynamic Tracing, Data Protection, and Secure Enclave at Apple. He holds many patents in distributed systems, data, and security. Vrajesh is passionate about building technology-first businesses that drive positive human impact at scale.

Operant is the runtime application protection platform for cloud-native environments. Operant’s innovative technology shields modern applications with fine-grained security enforcement across every interaction and every cloud. All with zero instrumentation, zero drift, and zero friction between Dev, Sec, and Ops.

COGNIZER AI
Chief Customer Officer

Experienced senior operations executive skilled in building and managing high-performing revenue, customer, and product teams for applied AI/ML startups. A design thinker and multiple patent holder, dedicated to OKRs and the EOS model to drive innovation, efficiency, culture, and scalability in tech companies. Combines natural grit, a bias for action, and a high adversity quotient to lead products and projects from concept to completion. Seeks leadership roles that require experimentation and intellectual rigor to build, deliver, and scale advanced AI/ML products that delight customers and exceed expectations.

SMARTSHEET
Corporate Development & Strategy

Kenn So is the Director of Corporate Development & Strategy at Smartsheet, where he drives growth through acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships. He has worn different hats in AI from being a data scientist building models, to an operator driving adoption of AI tools in an organization, to an venture capitalist investing in AI startups. Kenn is also the author of Generational, a widely-read publication on what matters in the business & technology of AI. As part of Generational, he hosts events like the Enterprise GenAI Forum, bringing together industry leaders to discuss scaling AI products.

BETTERWORKS
VP Engineering

Maher Hanafi is an executive leader with a proven track record of transforming engineering teams, driving cloud migrations, and delivering impactful SaaS solutions. As Vice President of Engineering at Betterworks, he leads the integration of AI into performance management software. Maher is passionate about the transformative potential of generative AI to learn, adapt, and solve real-world problems. He is committed to its responsible development and exploring its potential to empower people. He thrives on creating environments where engineers feel valued, challenged, and equipped to excel.

CRESTA
CEO

Ping Wu has been the CEO of Cresta since early 2023. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Ping was head of Product and Engineering. Ping has played a significant role in bringing Generative AI to the mainstream. Prior to Cresta, Ping spent 14 years at Google where he co-founded Google’s Contact Center AI Solution in 2017 as well as the GCP Vertex AI platform in 2018. 

STEALTH STARTUP
Chief Product Officer and AI/ML Architect

Monte Gibbs is the Founder & Chief Product Officer of a new applied AI company currently in stealth mode. A recognized leader in human-centered AI/ML, deep learning, and augmented intelligence, Monte has decades of experience driving product innovation at Fortune 500 companies and founding & scaling AI startups. He specializes in creating secure, ethical and trusted AI solutions that enhance human potential. Previously, Monte founded Relatus AI and led initiatives at LiveNation, Getty Images, MTV, Facebook, IBM and the NSA. Monte is a guest lecturer and adjunct professor at Oxford University and Pratt Institute, and advises and serves on several boards.

AVOA
CIO Strategic Advisor

Tim Crawford is ranked as one of the topmost influential CIOs and regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, CIO.com, NPR, Forbes, TechCrunch, SiliconAngle and TechTarget. Tim is a strategic CIO, executive coach and advisor that works with large global enterprise organizations across industries including financial services, healthcare, major airlines and high-tech.

MIMOTO
CEO, Co-founder

Kris Bondi is the CEO and Cofounder of Mimoto, an AI-powered cybersecurity company that delivers continual validation, access management, and AI governance solutions. Kris made a name for herself as a category creator and GTM strategist, contributing to eight acquisitions and two IPO filings. Skilled at transforming cutting-edge technology into business mainstays, she’s best known for establishing “serverless” as a movement and category. A sought after cybersecurity and crisis expert, she has responded to natural and manmade disasters and contributed to international crisis plans. Kris is a frequent writer and speaker on the intersection of business, technology, and applied AI.

VERA
CEO, Co-founder

Liz O’Sullivan is CEO of Vera, the AI Gateway. Prior to founding Vera, Liz was previously a cofounder at Arthur AI, after spending 12 years in NYC startups on the business side of AI companies. Liz has advised many local, federal, and international bodies on approaches to regulating AI, including NYC council, Congress, and the United Nations. More recently, she was appointed as an inaugural member of the United States’ first National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC, AI.gov), a federal committee tasked with advising the U.S. White House and Congress on how to foster AI adoption and regulate its risks.

MULTIPLAI.AI
CEO

Isar Meitis, brings a unique perspective to AI implementation as a four-time CEO, investor, board member, former F16 pilot, and an Air Force Academy instructor. Isar believes that AI business benefits come from empowering people to innovate with AI, achieved through continuous employee education and an AI committee. Isar's expertise lies in crafting holistic AI strategies that prioritize the human factor alongside technological advancements. His dynamic leadership style and passion for mentoring make him a sought-after speaker, Instructor, and consultant.

Isar hosts the "Leveraging AI" podcast and loves to travel with his family and play pickleball and soccer.

SILICON VALLEY SOFTWARE GROUP
Founder and Managing Partner

Matthew Swanson founded SVSG to help organizations around the world move at Silicon Valley speed. Having launched multiple enterprise-focused startups, he has had first-hand experience helping companies overcome the challenges of adopting new technologies into their businesses. Matthew specializes in working with business leaders to navigate the rapidly changing technology ecosystem in order to turn the threat of emerging technology into a competitive advantage. Matthew has spent the past 15 years deploying AI in commercial setting. Having served as CEO at AugmentCXM (acquired by Sutherland Global 2022) and CTO at Speakertext (acquired by CloudFactory 2012), Matthew specializes in working with business leaders to develop AI solutions that increase revenue. 

WOMEN AND AI
Fractional Chief AI Officer & Strategic Consultant

Lana Dubinskiy brings over two decades of product development experience, specializing in addressing complex organizational challenges through strategic AI integration and infrastructure development. Currently, she works for the Executive Office of the President and serves as a fractional Chief AI Officer for a cloud security company. Her expertise lies in translating AI potential into tangible business outcomes, building AI-capable infrastructures and organizations, ensuring responsible implementation, and solving critical challenges. In addition to these roles, she consults with companies to navigate the intricate AI landscape, design robust AI solutions, and harness AI's power to drive meaningful, transformative results.