2025 Speakers

Awais Sher Bajwa

Head of Data & AI Banking, Bank of America

Awais Sher Bajwa is a leader in Data and AI banking, as well as a tech entrepreneur and angel investor. With a career spanning over 15 years, Awais has led over 60 strategic deals, including IPOs, M&A, and capital raises, with a total value exceeding $60 billion. Awais founded Bank of America’s global AI banking practice in Palo Alto. His unique insights into AI adoption within financial institutions as well as the broader AI landscape position him as a distinguished strategic advisor on AI. Prior to his current role, Awais established the software investment banking practice at Bank of America and the digital infrastructure banking practice at Barclays in London.

Awais holds a Master’s degree in Engineering from the University of Oxford.

Jessica Davis

Vice President, News Automation & AI Product, Gannett Media

Jessica Davis is VP of News Automation & AI Product at Gannett, which owns USA TODAY and 200+ local news sites across the United States. Jessica also co-chairs Gannett’s AI Council, which governs responsible, ethical and safe use of AI across the company.

She led the launch of AI assisted key points earlier this year by using generative AI to accurately summarize highlights at the top of USA TODAY stories, leading to an increase in average engaged time.

Eric Pace

Head of AI, Cox Communications

With over ten years of work experience in software engineering and architecture, I am a passionate and skilled developer who strives to deliver high-quality solutions for complex business problems. I currently work as a Software Engineer at JPMorgan Chase, where I leverage my AWS, and Apigee certifications to design, develop, and deploy scalable and secure APIs for various financial applications. Previously, I was an Architecture Lead Analyst at Citi, where I led a team of developers and analysts to implement a API gateway framework. I also have experience as a Senior Software Engineer at Fannie Mae, where I worked on several web development projects using Hugo, a static site generator and service mesh for micro service integration. My core competencies include API management, service mesh, web development, cloud computing, and agile methodologies. I am always eager to learn new technologies and best practices, and to collaborate with diverse and talented teams. My mission is to use my expertise in software engineering and architecture to create innovative and impactful solutions that improve the lives of millions of people.

Diana Mingels

Head of Machine Learning, S&P Global

Diana Mingels is the Head of Machine Learning (ML) at Kensho, S&P Global’s Innovation hub, where she spearheads initiatives that encompass the entire spectrum from research and development to the deployment of production-grade ML applications in the Finance and Business sectors. Prior to her role at Kensho, she served as the Head of Conversational AI at Capital One, where she was instrumental in the creation of Eno, the first banking assistant in the U.S., which now serves a user base of 60 million.

Noelle Russell

Founder, AI Leadership Institute

Noelle Russell is a multi-award-winning technologist with an entrepreneurial spirit who specializes in helping companies with emerging technology, Generative AI, and LLMs. She has led teams at NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS and Amazon Alexa, and is a consistent champion for Data and AI literacy.

Deb Matteliano

Global Head of Restaurants, AWS

Deborah Matteliano serves as the global head of restaurant service providers at AWS, where she focuses on advising Third Party Delivery companies, Restaurant Technology Providers, and Virtual Dining Concepts on deploying the cloud to promote digital innovation.

Prior to AWS, Deborah managed partnerships on Amazon’s Fulfillment and Distribution team, and served as a founding member of Uber Eats’ sales organization, where she scaled Uber Eats to over 200,000 restaurants across the U.S. and Canada. Later, Deborah led Uber’s Virtual Restaurants segment, where she grew virtual dining concepts by 700% globally. She is currently pursuing her Executive MBA at the Cornell Johnson School of Management.

Sachin Sinha

Director of Technology Strategy, Microsoft

Sachin Sinha is a Data Engineering leader who has been passionate about designing systems that help his customers make decisions based on data. He has helped startups in healthcare get off the ground by building a business on data and mature from seed to series funding. He has also helped organizations in the Public Sector achieve their mission by enabling them to make decisions based on data. Now at Microsoft, as Technology Strategy Director, he helps customers on their cloud journey with Microsoft Cloud offerings. His areas of expertise include Digital Transformation, Solution Architecture and Design, Data Platforms, Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence & Analytics and Artificial Intelligence focusing on the Healthcare and Public Sector domains.

Jubin Thomas

Technical Architect, Signet Jewelers

Jubin Thomas is a Technical Architect at Signet Jewelers with over 14 years of experience in the IT and retail sectors, residing in Philadelphia, USA. He has a proven track record of leading transformative technology initiatives and is also an Independent Researcher focusing on Machine Learning and Supply Chain integrations.

As a senior member of IEEE, Jubin is a frequent technical speaker, having presented at major conferences like LambdaConf 2024 , Conf42 Machine Learning conference and BlackIsTech Conference 2024. He has been honored with the prestigious GRA Award and the Titan Business Award in the field of eCommerce, and is a well regarded distinguished judge in several hackathons including IEEE hackathon.

Soo-Jin Lee

AI Conversation Designer, Netflix

Soo-Jin is an AI Conversation Designer shaping the way machines communicate. With an MFA in playwriting from UT Austin and 20+ years of writing plays and poems, she brings storytelling to AI, making conversations more natural and accessible for millions of users.

In 2022, she transitioned from teaching to tech, and since then, she’s influenced AI at Wells Fargo, Amazon, and Google. Currently contracting at Netflix, she’s making AI sound more like us.

Steve Keller

Sonic Strategy Director | Studio Resonate, SXM Media

Steve Keller is the Sonic Strategy Director for Studio Resonate, SiriusXM Media’s in-house audio-first creative consultancy, offering support to brands that advertise on the Pandora, SiriusXM, and Soundcloud platforms. He is recognized as one of the world’s leading authorities on sonic strategy and identity, blending art and science into award winning creative content and sonic systems for a variety of global agencies and brands. His research explores the ways music, sound, and voice influence perception and behavior and can be found in the Journal of Advertising Research, Journal of Psychology and Marketing, Frontiers in Psychology, WARC, Expert Journal of Marketing, Music and Medicine, Journal of Multisensory Research, Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science, and Journal of Food Quality and Preference.

Prakash Kota

CIO, Autodesk

As chief information officer, Prakash Kota drives a multi-faceted enterprise strategy that enables Autodesk to grow and scale its business, and seamlessly deliver world-class technology experiences.

Prakash leads the Enterprise Systems and Experience team, which manages critical technology supporting the company’s global enterprise systems, customer operations, business platforms engineering, and infrastructure, including data and security operations, and workforce collaboration and productivity services. Prakash and the team deliver innovative solutions that allow people to focus on higher-value work and accelerate business results.

Prakash was named a Bay Area CIO “Global” Orbie award winner, a Forbes innovative technology leader on the “CIO Next” list, and a “Top 100 CIO” by the National Diversity Council.

Throughout his nearly 20-year tenure at Autodesk, Prakash has held roles including vice president of enterprise infrastructure and operations, sr. director of enterprise operations, and director of devops. He holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Oklahoma State University, and a bachelor’s degree in electronics and communication from the University of Madras.

Cathy Hackl

Founder & CEO, Future Dynamics

Cathy Hackl is a globally recognized tech & gaming executive, futurist, and speaker focused on spatial computing, virtual worlds, augmented reality, AI, strategic foresight, and gaming platforms strategy. She’s one of the top tech voices on LinkedIn and is the CEO of Spatial Dynamics, a spatial computing and AI solutions company, including gaming. Hackl has worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE and has advised companies like Nike, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Louis Vuitton, and Clinique on their emerging tech and gaming journeys. She's also built virtual experiences in Roblox (Walmartland) and Fortnite, has also produced virtual concerts (Electric Fest), and is an Apple Vision Pro developer. As a sought-after keynote speaker, she’s spoken at Harvard Business School, MIT, SXSW, Comic-Con, WEF Annual Meeting in Davos 2023, CES, MWC, Vogue’s Forces of Fashion, and more.

She’s one of Ad Age’s Leading Women of 2023, was featured on the cover of Forbes Latam’s 100 Most Powerful Women 2023 issue, and is on the Vogue Business 100 Innovators list. She’s the host of Adweek’s highly successful TechMagic podcast and is popularly known in tech circles as the Godmother of the Metaverse. Cathy has been a fixture in the world of immersive technology for almost a decade with many media appearances in CNBC’s Squawk Box, 60 Minutes, CNN, Good Morning America, GQ, Time, The Economist, Bloomberg, and is a guest editor for Vogue Singapore. In 2022, she became the first human to ring NASDAQ’s opening bell and open the financial markets both in physical and avatar form while doing so on live television.

Stephanie Rymer

Lead Experience Designer, Verizon

Steph is a lead experience designer at Verizon, where she creates scalable frameworks for designing conversations. With over 15 years of experience in product design, she’s been focused on conversational AI since 2018, and is passionate about exploring the role of design systems and emerging UI patterns in AI-driven experiences.

Gillian Eiserman

Conversation Designer, General Motors

After years working in software development and quality assurance, Gillian decided to pursue a career in UX based on her passion for understanding and helping users. She obtained a degree in Human-Computer Interaction and Design from UC-Irvine and has since worked in the conversational design field, building voice and chat solutions for FinTech companies and now General Motors.

Roger Kibbe

Head of Conversational AI Developer Relations, Samsung

Roger, an accomplished expert in generative AI, boasts an extensive background and a wealth of insights in the field. As the Head of Conversational AI developer relations at Samsung, he is at the forefront of the company's efforts to use AI to redefine user experiences and is recognized as an industry thought leader.

In addition to his role at Samsung, Roger lends his AI expertise as an advisor to various startups. He co-founded a startup dedicated to helping artists use emerging technology to profitably market their creations. Roger also founded a voice technology startup aimed at making it easy for SMBs to create a voice presence.

Marlinda Galapon

Automations & AI Specialist, Figma

Marlinda Galapon is an Automations & AI Specialist at Figma. Originally, she pursued a career path in nursing, but her curiosity and lifelong love of language, design and the workings of interpersonal relationships led her into the conversation design design field. Drawing on her experience at companies like Yahoo!, Adobe, and Salesforce, Marlinda puts fairness, rigor, and inclusion at the center of her design process, guiding teams toward developing scalable experiences that are efficient, welcoming, and helpful.

Andrew Craig

Solution Manager, General Motors

Detroit-based CX expert with 10+ years of experience in aftersales process, operations, and support capacities for leading auto companies.

Specialization in dialogue-based tools and digital products. Formal education in journalism. Endless enthusiasm for solving problems amidst chaos.

Preferred pastimes include odd statkeeping, winter sports, and canning.

Sanjeev Sharma

Founder and Principal, Data Capital Labs

Internationally renowned Cloud Adoption, DevOps/DevSecOps Transformation, and Data Modernization Executive. Industry Analyst, Thought Leader, Technology and Strategy Advisor, Startup Advisor, Keynote Speaker, Blogger, Podcaster, YouTuber and bestselling Author. Author of ‘The DevOps Adoption Playbook’, and ‘DevOps For Dummies, IBM Edition’. Keynote speaker at global IT conferences.

Roya Kandalan

Senior Gen AI Research Scientist, Cigna

Parker DiPaolo

AI Innovation Specialist, PRADCO

Bio to come.

Alyssa Young

Conversation Design Program Manager, Notion

Alyssa Young is a Conversation Design Project Manager at Notion, specializing in building high-performance AI chatbots and self-service support systems. She has consulted for leading brands, including JCPenney, Zenni Optical, and JINS Eyewear, on chatbot strategies for marketing and customer support.

Alyssa’s work earned her a prestigious Shorty Award for a chatbot designed for JC Penney. She combines strategic insight with technical expertise to create scalable, personalized customer interactions that enhance user satisfaction and business efficiency.

Tiarne Hawkins

Co-Founder, Optica Labs

With over 15 years of experience in Digital Transformation and 7 years in AI, Tiarne currently serves as a Co-Founder of Optica Labs. Previously, she held the position of Director of AI at Welocalize, where her focus included AI data services, Generative AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and AI strategy.

As a public speaker, media personality, and podcast host, Tiarne engages audiences on AI topics, recognized for convening global leaders, tech icons, celebrities, and innovators to discuss AI's impact on humanity and the planet. She drives AI dialogues across banking, tech, media, retail, and life sciences, advocating for customer-centric innovation and exploring AI's societal impacts through initiatives like the "You & AI" series

Hallie Stern

Co-Founder, Optica Labs

Hallie Stern specializes in information and computational social science, focusing on how human interactions with emerging technologies shape and influence global societal dynamics. Her work aims to address challenges to democratic stability while advancing effective technological solutions that enhance economic well-being. Currently serving as the AI and technology policy translation fellow at the McCain Institute, she holds a B.A. in integrative media and ontological studies from the University of Redlands and an M.S. in global security, conflict, and cybercrime from NYU, where she studied "The Human Side of Cyber Conflict."

Varsha G

Founder, Loop to Logic, Fidelity Investments

I am a continuous learner and naturally curious about human behavior. My experience in UX and Product Management spans across highly regulated industries in both private and public sectors, where radical innovation can be challenging but highly rewarding. I aim to make thoughtful considerations when leveraging AI to build intuitive, human-centered products.

Uvika Sharma

Founder & Managing Partner, INTDL

With 20+ years of experience in data, AI, and emerging technologies, Uvika Sharma has worked across startups, Fortune 500 companies, and global ecosystems, helping leaders make informed, ethical, and high-impact AI and data-driven decisions. As a Data & AI strategist, she helps enterprises, startups, and nonprofits harness AI strategically, responsibly, and effectively to drive growth, efficiency, and risk mitigation. Her mission is to bridge the gap between AI potential and real-world impact, whether through AI literacy, strategy development, responsible AI adoption, or digital transformation.

Padmini Soni

Founder & CEO, Rezonance AI

Mellini Monique

Founder, Vocal Culture Garden

Voice consultant at the forefront of human vocal expression, voice AI, and wellness. Founder of Vocal Culture Garden, a boutique consultancy, Mellini Monique is redefining the role of Voice in creativity, productivity, & impact. With her guiding mantra of “Giving Voice to Humans and AI,” Mellini combines innovation with integrity to craft authentic and ethically grounded voice solutions.

Oita Coleman

Senior Advisor, Open Voice TrustMark Initiative

Oita Coleman is the Project Lead/Senior Advisor at the Open Voice TrustMark Initiative, a global Linux Foundation project dedicated to educating and advocating for open standards and best practices for conversational AI technologies. In her role, she is responsible for developing and implementing an ethical framework that protects individuals' privacy rights, complies with global laws and regulations, and minimizes risks for all stakeholders. She is also a member of the National Institute of Health Bridge2AI – Voice Advisory Board, which consists of global voice data and AI experts aiming to integrate voice as a biomarker of health in clinical care, and the Duke University Health AI Partnership Advisory Council.

Greg Nudelman

Distinguished UX Designer, Sumo Logic

Greg Nudelman is a UX Designer, Strategist, Speaker, and Author. For over 20 years, he has been helping his Fortune 100 clients like Cisco, IBM, and Intuit to create loyal customers and generate $100s of millions in additional valuation. A veteran of 35 AI projects, Greg is currently a Distinguished Designer at Sumo Logic, creating innovative AI/ML solutions for Security, Network, and Cloud Monitoring. Greg presented 120+ keynotes and workshops in 18 countries and authored 6 UX books and 24 patents. His latest book, “UX for AI,” is coming in April 2025. More info at: https://UXforAI.com

Anne Canterra

Sr AI Experience Designer , LexisNexis

AI Experience Designer, mentor, and conversation design expert; host of the DESIGNathon podcast on AI, agentic systems, and UX.

Taylor Jordan Smith

Senior Developer Advocate, Red Hat

Taylor Smith, Senior Developer Advocate at Red Hat, is an advocate of open source AI innovation and democratization. She has a background in software development, open source technologies like Kubernetes and linux, and technical partnerships. Taylor loves music, animals, and helping to solve real-world problems with technology. Based out of North Carolina.

Jennifer Linder

CEO, Sonaphi

Entrepreneur, Researcher and CEO, Jennifer is leading the company and development of AI screening solutions using vocal biomarkers. This new emerging technology provides healthcare solutions that are accurate affordable and accessible worldwide. The challenges are many but Jennifer sees this as one of the greatest developments in the area of healthcare we have seen yet. She looks forward to joining the Voice AI community to further develop this technology and bring solutions to the world.

Allen Firstenberg

Google Developer Expert, Objective Consulting

By day, Allen is a Senior Project Engineer at http://spiders.com/ where he’s been instrumental in creating websites and mobile apps for companies and organizations, ranging from the American Booksellers Association to the National Science Foundation. By night he creates tools, software, and tutorials to help people share their stories and improve their digital lives. You'll find him contributing to the LangChainJS open source project, as one of the two hosts of the "Two Voice Devs" podcast, and co-author of the O’Reilly book “Designing and Developing for Google Glass”. He is a Google Developer Expert for Machine Learning, Google Workspace, and the Google Assistant and has been known to occasionally wear light blue shirts.

Dakshesh Kaki

Student, Middleton High School

I’m a student from Tampa, Florida, who loves technology, leadership, and helping others grow. I serve as COO of a $25K robotics nonprofit, bringing robotics to students in the community. I’m also the Global SWE Director for the Youth Passion Project, leading tech for free global education programs. I was also honored as a Future Tampa Bay Business Hall of Famer for my work in education and tech. Additionally, I’ve spoken at VOICE & AI about robotics and AI and am a two-time national winner with Future Business Leaders of America. I’ve also interned at Radical and Impacter AI, helping bridge the gap between AI and education, and AI and real estate. In conclusion, I’m passionate about building the future—and empowering others to do the same

Reshwant Borra

Student, Middleton High School

I am a student and researcher who combines studies in AI with education and productivity fields. Through my work I developed personalized learning artificial intelligence systems along with automated content and scheduling platforms that handle student task administration. I also am currently working on a startup that employs autonomous systems to provide virtual fitting services to customers. My current work deals with operational AI applications for students who need to manage their information flow and organize tasks. I undertake research into how artificial intelligence agents both aid genuine learning goals and make complex operations less demanding through automated solutions.