Speaker Biographies by Name

Chief Technology Officer, Federal
No bio available

Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Special Projects
Amina Al Sherif is the Chief Innovation Officer and Head of Special Projects at Anno.ai. She has spent over ten years in the Department of Defense serving as an Army officer in the Reserves and North Carolina National Guard (SOD-X) and remains focused on bringing culture, process and technical innovation to the DoD and intelligence community. Prior to Anno, Amina worked as a Customer Engineer on the Google Cloud Platform bringing the innovation and power of Google’s capabilities to the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community. She works with the government to help improve mission effectiveness through adoption of commercial cloud services with a focus on big data and machine learning, gaming and simulation, and data privacy and security in cloud computing and analytics. Amina has worked with the Joint Special Operations Command as an Arabic, Farsi, and French language enabled Open Source Exploitation Analyst at Fort Belvoir, VA and Fort Bragg. She deployed under Operation Inherent Resolve to Baghdad, Iraq in 2015/2016. In 2016-2017 she deployed to Afghanistan supporting the Special Operations Community. Most recently Amina deployed to Iraq and Syria for a Special Missions Unit out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Amina holds a BA in Linguistics and Arabic from the University of Mississippi and a Masters in Professional Studies in Cybersecurity and Information Sciences from Penn State University. She regularly blogs on Medium documenting her self-taught technical career. In January 2020, she published her first book An Approach to Machine Learning in Cyber Defense for the Department of Defense.

Director of Artificial Intelligence
No bio available

Analytics Director, Special Investigations Unit
Aneta Andros has worked in the insurance fraud industry for over 17 years. Currently, she is the Analytics Director within Cigna's SIU and has a diverse set of responsibilities including oversight of the Advanced Analytics team, Case Development team, and the Clinical-Coding team. In addition, she works closely with matrix partners throughout the organization to mitigate fraud risk at an enterprise level. In addition to her extensive work in healthcare fraud, Aneta spent a number of years working in the Property and Casualty (P&C) insurance fraud industry where she was responsible for proactively identifying fraud through data analytics. Aneta worked on a number of projects that enhanced the company’s fraud detection tools and is a co-inventor of a patented analytical process that identifies opioid related fraud and abuse (ID US8768724B2). Aneta received a Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Central CT State University where she later taught as a Criminology adjunct professor for a number of years. In addition, Aneta became a MMS Trained Executive Life Coach in the Spring of 2019 and is currently pursuing her certification as an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Head of Artificial Intelligence
Steven uses design, data, and technology to build better products and policy. Currently, he is the Head of Artificial Intelligence for the U.S. Technology Transformation Service (TTS). In 2015, he was a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the Federal Bureau of Investigation where he orchestrated a more user-centered approach to building products and mitigating threats to national security. Steve was awarded for Exceptional Service in the Public Interest by FBI Director Christopher Wray. In 2015, Steve founded his own consultancy with clients including The World Bank. Previously, he worked for design strategy consultancies Monitor-Doblin and IA Collaborative. Steve has taught public private partnerships at American University and human-centered design at Northwestern University and CEDIM Design School in Mexico. He was a mentor at MATTER, the Chicago-based health care incubator, and was in the Emerging Leaders Program with The Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Principal Scientist, Interactive Analytics Laboratory
Raja Bala is a Principal Scientist and Leader of the Computer Vision group at Palo Alto Research Center. His research interests are at the intersection of digital imaging, computer vision, and machine learning. Earlier he was a Principal Engineer at Samsung Research America, where he developed innovative computational imaging technologies for Samsung’s high-end smartphones. Previous to that, Bala worked for Xerox and PARC, leading efforts in a variety of imaging and vision applications, including facial health analysis, mobile document imaging, human activity monitoring with wearable sensors, license plate recognition, and traffic anomaly detection. Bala has served as adjunct faculty at the Rochester Institute of Technology. He is a Fellow of IS&T and Senior Member of IEEE, and holds over 100 publications and 170 patents. He is Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, and co-editor of the book “Computer Vision and Imaging in Intelligent Transportation Systems”. He received a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Purdue University

Director, Global Government Practice, Former Director of the US National Biosurveillance Integration Center, Department of Homeland Security, Global Public Sector Practice
Steve Bennett drives strategic industry positioning and messaging in global Government markets. A thought leader in decision science and the application of analytics in government, Bennett works to enable delivery of effective solutions to government customers around the world. Following the events of 9/11, he led the design and application of quantitative analysis to inform some of the United States’ most challenging security decisions, most recently as the Director of the National Biosurveillance Integration Center.

VP AI Applications, AI Applications
In his current role as VP AI Applications, Joe leads the go to market and product strategy for a 1B+ portfolio of applications that are focused on Asset Operations, Weather Operations, and that are leveraging artificial intelligence. Joe is best known as being an entrepreneur operating inside of IBM with a focus on transforming portfolios to rapid growth. Mr. Berti has 25+ years of leadership experience in software and services. Joe has launched 25+ products that are at the forefront of innovation and transformation to the industries they served. Prior to joining IBM, Mr. Berti was the CEO of Oniqua and led the company into a rapid-growth cycle achieving new levels of innovation and he led the sale of Oniqua to IBM. Mr. Berti received a Bachelor of Science in Finance and MIS (Management Information Systems) at Ohio State University.

Chief of People and Culture, IT Modernization Centers of Excellence
Nina brings leaders together to make big dreams come true. As Chief of People and Culture at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration serving the Office of Information Management and Technology, she advances the future of work through collaborative leadership and design. From service front lines to C-suites, her teams combine creativity with agile partnerships to drive tangible results that people can feel. Expanding mindsets and growing lifelong learning cultures are the keys to solving seemingly unbeatable problems.

CTO for HPE Pointnext Services, AI & Data Science Practice
Glyn Bowden is CTO for HPE Pointnext Services, AI & Data Science Practice, at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. His technical experience has spanned many industries from global finance, national security and high technology. With a background in high performance compute, cloud native computing and emerging technologies such as blockchain and machine learning, Glyn’s goal is to make high technology solutions accessible to all.

Inaugural Director, Atlantic Council GeoTech Center and Executive Director, Commission for the Geopolitical Impacts of New Technologies and Data
Dr. David A. Bray has served in a variety of leadership roles in turbulent environments, including bioterrorism preparedness and response from 2000-2005, time on the ground in Afghanistan in 2009, serving as the non-partisan Executive Director for a bipartisan National Commission on R&D, and providing leadership as a non-partisan federal agency Senior Executive. He accepted a leadership role in December 2019 to incubate a new global Center with the Atlantic Council. He also provides strategy to both Boards and start-ups espousing human-centric principles to technology-enabled decision making in complex environments. He was also named a Senior Fellow with the Institute for Human-Machine Cognition in starting in 2018. Business Insider named him one of the top “24 Americans Who Are Changing the World” under 40 and he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum for 2016-2021. From 2017 to the start of 2020, David served as Executive Director for the People-Centered Internet coalition Chaired by Internet co-originator Vint Cerf, focused on providing support and expertise for community-focused projects that measurably improve people’s lives using the internet. He also was named a Marshall Memorial Fellow and traveled to Europe in 2018 to discuss Trans-Atlantic issues of common concern including exponential technologies and the global future ahead. Later in 2018, he was invited to work with the U.S. Navy and Marines on improving organizational adaptability and to work with U.S. Special Operation Command’s J5 Directorate on the challenges of countering misinformation and disinformation online.

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Dr. Pablo Breuer is currently a Principal Director for Applied Cyber Intelligence at Accenture Federal Services. He is a 22 year veteran of the U.S. Navy. Some tours of interest include: military director of US Special Operations Command Donovan Group and senior military advisor and innovation officer to SOFWERX, the National Security Agency, and U.S. Cyber Command as well as being the Director of C4 at U.S. Naval Forces Central Command. He is a DoD Cyber Cup and Defcon Black Badge winner, and has been faculty at the Naval Postgraduate School, National University, California State University Monterey Bay, as well as a Visiting Scientist at Carnegie Mellon CERT/SEI. He has taught classes for various U.S. government agencies and industry on topics ranging from malware reverse engineering and exploit development to cyber policy and authorities. Pablo is also a co-founder and board member of The Diana Initiative and is on the staff for BSides Las Vegas.

Research Director, Value-based IT Transformation Strategies
Cynthia Burghard is a Research Director with IDC Health Insights where she is responsible for the value-based healthcare practice. A key focus of her research includes the use of cognitive/AI technologies to advance digital transformation in healthcare. Areas of research include analytics, population health workflow, proactive patient engagement including patient personal assistants.

Deputy Inspector General for Investigations
As the Deputy Inspector General for Investigations, Gary Cantrell leads the Office of Investigations (OI) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG). Since 2012, he has been overseeing the operations and resources of OI, an office with more than 600 employees including investigators, analysts, forensic examiners, and administrative staff. Just in the last 5 years, under Mr. Cantrell’s leadership, OI’s investigations have led to 7200 criminal and civil actions, more than 16,000 exclusions, and over $18 billion in investigative receivables. Mr. Cantrell engages extensively with the private sector to prevent and detect fraud in health care. He serves on the Board of Directors for the National Health Care Anti-Fraud Association, represents OIG on the Health Care Fraud Prevention Partnership, and frequently speaks on the topic of health care fraud before numerous private associations.

Research Psychologist, Computational & Information Sciences Directorate
Daniel Cassenti earned his Ph.D. at The Pennsylvania State University in cognitive psychology in August 2004. After one-year as a National Research Council Post-Doctoral Associate, Dr. Cassenti joined Army Research Laboratory (ARL) as a research psychologist. He currently has 45 publications, covering a diverse set of research topics including: cognitive psychology, artificial intelligence, network science, robotics, neuroscience, cognitive modeling, and human factors. He has served as technical assistant to the ARL director, Chair of the BRiMS conference, and senior co-Chair of the ARL Institutional Review Board.

Director of AI Implementations, IT Modernization Centers of Excellence
Anil Chaudhry has over 20 years of progressive leadership experience in technology delivery, operations, and program management in the defense, intelligence, and national security sectors. At the Artificial Intelligence CoE, Chaudhry advises federal agencies on establishing mature data governance and management practices, developing innovative approaches for leveraging data as a strategic asset, and laying the foundation for advancing data discovery, access, and use through artificial intelligence and machine learning. Prior to joining the CoE, Chaudhry served in critical leadership positions within US Customs and Border Protection and as a Presidential Management Fellow (PMF) at the Defense Business Transformation Agency. Chaudhry served as an enlisted soldier in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps and as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps. Chaudhry was one of three DHS employees selected to attend the National War College in 2016 as part of the DHS Senior Succession Management Program. Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anil-neil-chaudhry/

Sr. Director, AI/ML Engineering Services
Dave Cook is the Sr. Dir. of Data Science at Figure Eight Federal. Over his 25+ year career, Dave has solved data and analytics problems for the U.S. Government. He is passionate about data science and holds firm that properly curated and managed data coupled with AI/ML brings insights and promise to today’s issues. He has authored publications on intelligence and analytical methods and has an MS from Carnegie Mellon and BA from Northwestern. He is pursuing an MS in Geospatial Computing and Machine Learning from Univ. of MD.

Director, Advanced Computing Technology Centers
Steve Dennis provides technical leadership and guidance for research, development and deployment of advanced computation and data analytics for the Science & Technology (S&T) Directorate and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the Director of the Advanced Computation Technology Center, Mr. Dennis leads and enables a team of multi-disciplined subject matter experts to address critical technology mission challenges for homeland security, including the new DHS emerging technology risk assessment, data analytics, artificial intelligence/machine learning, modeling & simulation, visualization, cyber security, next generation computing architecture and quantum information science.

Director, Board of Directors
Neil D. Doherty currently serves as a Director, Board of Directors for the Senior Executives Association (SEA). As a board member, he sets SEA’s overall strategic direction and is focused on strengthening the Senior Executive Service (SES) through legislative and policy initiatives, building a leadership pipeline for the Executive Branch, and establishing SEA as a thought leader in the Washington, D.C. policy debates that impact not only the SES, but all civil service employees. Mr. Doherty retired from federal service as a career senior executive in 2019. His career with the Department of Justice spanned over 28 years. As a sworn federal law enforcement officer and member of the SES, he led the operational, technological, and analytical efforts for the Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Diversion Control Division. He also held senior leadership roles at the DEA focused on business continuity and emergency preparedness, crisis management, disaster recovery and enterprise-wide support to global operations. Prior to his career in government, Mr. Doherty was employed in the private sector by two Fortune 500 companies and served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations throughout his career in recognition of his leadership, performance, and commitment to public service.

Director of Artificial Intelligenc
Brian Drake is the Director of Artificial Intelligence for the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Science and Technology, Future Capabilities and Innovation Office. He was previously a Senior Intelligence Analyst and Branch Chief for the Global Drug Trends Team in the Americas and Transregional Threats Center (ATTC). Prior to joining ATTC, Mr. Drake was a Management Analyst with DIA's Chief of Staff in Strategy Planning and Policy. For DIA's intelligence analysis mission, he has worked worldwide targets in emerging and disruptive technologies and weapons of mass destruction. Mr. Drake was an Intelligence Liaison Officer in the Executive Support Office, served on the Information Review Task Force, and led the BLACK ANVIL counterterrorism team. Prior to his time in DIA, Mr. Drake was a management consultant at Deloitte and Toffler Associates where he served commercial clients in various industries and government clients at the ODNI, FBI, CIA, NSA, and USD (I).

Chief Human Capital Officer and Deputy Assistant Secretary for HR, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Blair Duncan serves as the Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO) and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources (DAS HR) for the Department of Health and Human Services. As the CHCO/DAS HR, Mr. Duncan is responsible for HHS-wide policy and oversight of all aspects of human resources and human capital management including: policy and accountability, program oversight, talent acquisition, workforce development and optimization, employee relations, performance management, compensation, strategic workforce and succession planning, executive resources, diversity management, workforce planning and data analytics, and HR information technology, among other areas of oversight. Mr. Duncan is a retired Army Veteran who holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Troy University and a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science from Shippensburg University. He joined HHS with over 25 years of experience in human resources and human capital management while serving in operational and strategic positions in the U.S. military, private sector, and U.S. government. Following his military career, he worked for almost a decade in DC-area consulting firms providing all categories of human capital solutions to agencies across the Federal government including workforce and succession planning, organizational analysis and design, and the development of organizational human capital strategies. Prior to joining HHS, Blair conducted strategic workforce planning within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce.

CEO and Founder
Rebecca Fair, CEO. Ms. Fair is the CEO and cofounder of Thresher, a software company that develops tools for expert analysts to extract meaning from unstructured data in any language, even when actors are trying to manipulate the content. She spent a decade as an intelligence officer in a variety of roles and has a deep understanding of the intelligence community. Prior to her government service she founded, ran and sold a management consulting practice for CEOs of mid-market companies. She started her career working in Russia at the International Finance Corporation, a division of the World Bank. She holds a BA (magna cum laude) from Middlebury College and an MBA from Dartmouth, graduating as a Tuck Scholar.

Program Director, Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology
Dr. Farahani is the program director in imaging informatics and the federal lead on the Imaging Data Commons (IDC) at the Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT) at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Farahani joined CBIIT in January of 2020 after serving in the NCI Cancer Imaging Program as the program director for Image-Guided Interventions, since 2001, and the deputy director for technology development in the Quantitative Imaging Network, since 2018. Dr. Farahani has led algorithmic challenges in cancer imaging and digital pathology since 2013. Dr. Farahani has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed articles, 10 book chapters, and served as a guest editor to several scientific journals. A fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Dr. Farahani obtained a B.S. in Physics from Sonoma State University in California, and a PhD in Biomedical Physics from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).

Program Vice President, Integration and Process Automation
Maureen Fleming is Program Vice President for IDC's Business Process Management and Middleware research area. In this role, Ms. Fleming examines the products and processes used for building, integrating, and deploying applications within an extended enterprise system. With more than 20 years of industry and analyst experience, Ms. Fleming most recently came from Symantec, where she worked in the strategy and planning group. A major area of focus was examining emerging security technologies aimed at protecting an enterprise’s digital assets from outbound threats stemming from bad process and malicious employee behavior. Prior to Symantec, Ms. Fleming ran marketing for a startup firm focused on commercializing the use of grid technology to deploy content and applications to the edges of networks. She also worked in the product marketing and the office of the CTO groups at Ascential Software before its acquisition by IBM. During her tenure there, she focused on the strategy, planning and product-enablement of real-time data integration. Prior to Ascential, Ms. Fleming led the team at a startup firm that invented the concept of business activity monitoring (BAM). Ms. Fleming was also an analyst at Gartner, where she researched technologies that allowed enterprises to create and manage information, particularly real-time information and the associated enabling technologies. Ms. Fleming began her career in technology as a programmer for the University of Michigan, where she has a Bachelor’s of General Studies degree with concentrations in computer science, economics and journalism.

Chief Administrative Officer, Department of Commerce
Laura Furgione is the chief administrative officer (CAO) at the U.S. Census Bureau. As CAO, Furgione provides human resources and administrative leadership to all components of the U.S. Census Bureau. Furgione joined the Census Bureau in December 2016 from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), where she served as deputy assistant administrator for weather services and the deputy director of the National Weather Service. She holds a bachelor of science in atmospheric science from the University of Missouri–Columbia and a master of public administration from the University of Alaska–Southeast.

Chief Technology Officer, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
Mr. Gattoni is responsible for the technical vision and strategic alignment of CISA data and mission services to manage risk to federal networks and critical infrastructure. CISA is the Nation’s risk advisor, working with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborating to build more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. Previously, Mr. Gattoni was the Chief of Mission Engineering & Technology responsible for developing innovative analytic techniques and new approaches to technology insertion to increase the value of DHS Cyber mission capabilities. In 2015, Mr. Gattoni was named the DHS Systems Engineer of the Year. Prior to joining DHS in 2010, Mr. Gattoni served in various positions at the Defense Information Systems Agency and the United States Army Test & Evaluation Command.

RPA CoP Program Manager
Jim Geoghegan manages the federal Robotic Process Automation Community of Practice at GSA. He leads the community in its mission to accelerate the adoption of RPA across the government by sharing knowledge and solving common challenges. Under Jim’s leadership the RPA CoP has published a comprehensive RPA Playbook, conducted over 30 knowledge sharing events, and built a RPA Use Case inventory. Prior to this role, Jim served as the Deputy Director for GSA’s Working Capital Fund budget division where he oversaw the formulation and execution of $800 million in funds. Jim graduated from the Partnership for Public Service's Excellence in Government program and was recognized at the 2020 Government Innovation Awards as a member of GSA's RPA program. Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Richmond.

Deputy Assistant Director, Computer and Information Science and Engineering
Dr. Erwin Gianchandani is the National Science Foundation (NSF) Deputy Assistant Director for Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE). In this role, he contributes to the leadership and management of NSF’s CISE directorate, including formulation and implementation of the directorate’s $1 billion annual budget, strategic and human capital planning, and oversight of day-to-day operations. In recent years, he has led the development and launch of several new NSF investments, including Smart & Connected Communities, Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research, and the National Artificial Intelligence Research Institutes. Before joining NSF in 2012, Dr. Gianchandani was the inaugural Director of the Computing Community Consortium, providing leadership to the computing research community in identifying and pursuing audacious, high-impact research directions. He has published extensively and presented at international conferences on computational systems biology. He holds a B.S. in computer science and M.S. and Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the University of Virginia.

CEO
Derry Goberdhansingh is the founder and CEO of Harper Paige. He leads the development and implementation of AI-based fraud and cybersecurity systems, recommender systems, NLP, and object detection in video and geospatial systems across a variety of mobile and IoT devices. He has over 20 years of experience in AI systems, software development, cybersecurity, strategy, and human capital across both government (federal and state) and commercial markets. In prior roles, Mr. Goberdhansingh was responsible for the architecture and cybersecurity of Command and Control (C2) systems within the DoD space, along with setting cybersecurity policies across the Navy for nearly five years. Mr. Goberdhansingh is a member of Constellation Research’s Business Transformation 150 (BT150) and also sits on the Board of Advisors for several other AI-based start-ups.

Director, Principal Technology Architect, Technology Solutions Services
Shawn Gorrell is the Principal Technology Architect at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where he serves as director of architecture, and quality assurance and compliance. He is responsible for overseeing innovation, digital transformation, and cloud strategy for the Sixth Federal Reserve District. Shawn began his career as a technical trainer, interactive courseware developer, programmer, and then moved into content management systems (CMS) and architecture. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Management and Master of Business Administration from Park University, and is a relentless student of leadership, productivity, team dynamics, and EQ.

Co-Founder and CTO
Bob previously founded Crucial Point LLC, a technology research and advisory firm. He is the publisher of CTOvision.com Bob collaborates in the operation of OODALoop.com. Bob’s first career was as a naval intelligence officer, which included operational tours in Europe and Asia. Bob was the first Director of Intelligence (J2) at DoD’s cyber defense organization JTF-CND. Following retirement from the Navy Bob was an executive with TRW and Northrop Grumman, and then returned to government service as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Bob was named one of the top 25 most influential CTOs in the globe by Infoworld. He was selected for AFCEAs award for meritorious service to the intelligence community, and was named by Washingtonian as one of DC’s “Tech Titans.” Bob was named one of the “Top 25 Most Fascinating Communicators in Government IT” by the Gov2.0 community GovFresh. Bob was noted as “Most Influential on Twitter for Big Data” by Forbes. The blog he founded and publishes, CTOvision, is now ranked among the top 50 federal technology blogs.

CEO
No bio available

Machine Learning Research Scientist and Technical Program Manager at Defense Innovation Unit (DoD) + Carnegie Mellon University Institute, Software Engineering Institute
Ritwik Gupta is a Machine Learning Research Scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, Software Engineering Institute. Ritwik’s research focuses on the intersection of machine learning and health. Specifically, his areas of interest are in efficient machine learning as applied to various domains such as humanitarian assistance/disaster response and robotics. He is passionate about educating people about machine learning and the many cool and unique ways it can be applied to unorthodox problem domains. Ritwik is additionally affiliated with the Defense Innovation Unit and NASA Ames. He is located at the NASA Ames Research Park in Moffett Field, CA.

CEO
Dr. Nick Hart is the CEO of the Data Coalition, a non-profit business association that advocates for government to have responsible policies to make government data high-quality, accessible, and usable. He is also the President of the Data Foundation, a non-profit think tank that works to promote open data to improve government and society. Dr. Hart previously worked at the White House Office of Management and Budget and was the Policy and Research Director for the U.S. Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. He is a fellow at the Bipartisan Policy Center and a fellow for the National Academy of Public Administration.

Project Officer - AI and Data Strategy
Thom Hawkins is a project officer and applied AI lead for the US Army Project Manager Mission Command. In this role, he works to improve battlefield situational awareness and enhance tactical planning, and works across government, academia, and industry to remove barriers and mitigate risks to AI implementation. Hawkins has previously worked at the US Army Combat Capabilities Development Command and the US Army Program Executive Office for Command, Control, Communications-Tactical.

US Federal AI Lead
Prior to HPE, Steve served as CIO, CTO, or VP Engineering for 18 years at several tech and media companies. In these roles, he oversaw AI and machine learning projects in the areas of pediatric cancer, fraud prevention, natural language processing, energy forecasting, predictive maintenance, image/video analytics, and cybersecurity. Steve regularly presents on artificial intelligence and advises agencies on the use and deployment of AI solutions.

Senior Advisor for Software and Cybersecurity, Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation
Dr. Amy Henninger serves as a Highly Qualified Expert (HQE) Senior Advisor for Software and Cybersecurity, Dr. Henninger formulates recommendations and strategic plans in software and cybersecurity for the Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E). Prior to her current position, Dr. Henninger served in a variety of federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) and special term government leadership positions, traversing the seams between the two as they have intertwined over time. Dr. Henninger’s corporate sector experience includes founding the Florida office of Soar Technology (www.soartech.com), a tech startup and spin-off company from the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Laboratory at the University of Michigan. Over her tenure, Dr. Henninger led research teams sponsored by DARPA and other Defense agencies, growing the Florida office by 400%. Dr. Henninger earned a PhD in Computer Engineering, with emphasis in AI, and five additional degrees across the mathematical, computing, engineering, social, and management sciences. She has taught undergraduate classes in software engineering, graduate classes in artificial intelligence, authored over 70 publications, and received a variety of awards for her work.

Chief Scientist for Dependable AI
Chuck Howell is focused on increasing MITRE’s role as enabler and accelerant for our stakeholders’ adoption of consequential AI systems. His current priority is on adapting tools and techniques from high-assurance systems engineering used in safety critical systems development and from the financial sector’s model risk management frameworks to apply to consequential AI (particularly, machine learning) systems. These adapted tools and techniques can help organizations mitigate concerns about AI system properties such as fairness, operational risk, and credibility. Adapting these tools and techniques can reduce rework, encourages informed selection of AI capabilities into consequential systems, and reduces the risk of failure to deploy or operational failure after deployment of the system. Chuck has over 30 years of experience working in High Assurance Systems Engineering and AI. He previously held roles at Mitretek, Sun Microsystems, Reliable Software Technologies, and Computer Sciences Corporation. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and a member of the AAAI. https://www.linkedin.com/in/chuckhowellcch/

Director, Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office
Cheryl Ingstad serves as the Director of the Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office (AITO) for the Department of Energy (DOE). AITO was created on September 5, 2019, to serve as the central body responsible for the development, coordination and application of Artificial Intelligence, building upon the Department of Energy’s capabilities as a world-leading enterprise in scientific discovery and technological innovation. Ingstad comes to DOE from 3M Company, where she led critical commercialization efforts in AI/Machine Learning research and development. Before 3M, Ingstad was an early leader in the Defense Intelligence Agency’s Information Operations Branch. Ingstad holds a MA in International Economics and International Relations from Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies, and a BS from Georgetown University. She is also a graduate of the US Army Signal Officer Basic Course and the US Army Intelligence Analysis Course.

Deputy Chief Information Officer for Architecture, Engineering, Technology, and innovation
In July 2018, Mrs. Pamela K. Isom was selected as Deputy Chief Information Officer (DCIO) for Architecture, Engineering, Technology, and Innovation (AET&I) for the United States Department of Energy (DOE). Mrs. Isom directs digital strategy and implementation of innovative, safe, and mission-focused products and integration services, enabling DOE to fulfill its enterprise business and IT objectives. As principal corporate officer, she serves as an advisor to and partner with senior executive officials and staff to achieve effective outcomes. Mrs. Isom brings over 25 years of digital transformation, information management, and IT modernization expertise to the agency. Leveraging her strong track record of collaboration, leadership, foresight, and blending business with IT, Mrs. Isom is advancing OCIO’s shift toward a posture of operating as an IT service broker while maintaining exemplary cybersecurity and data stewardship. She is an excellent advisor to Chief Data Officers. In 2015, Mrs. Isom joined the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) from the private sector and served as the Director of the Office of Application Engineering and Development, where she led design, development, and implementation of high quality Patent, Trademark, and Corporate systems in support of federal IT modernization efforts. Her achievements have led to numerous recognitions, including being honored as a part of the National Inventors Hall of Fame (NIHF) Women of Innovation exhibition, and her selection as a panelist by the Department of Commerce for their “Hidden Figures” event honoring trailblazing women in labor and business. Prior to joining the federal workforce, Mrs. Isom led business and IT transformation programs and operated as Principal Executive Consultant, Executive Enterprise Architect, and Software Engineer for various large organizations, with a specialization in cloud, data center transformation, and secured information management. She is an author of a book and numerous publications, has been awarded 5 patents, and brings a wealth of private industry knowledge and applied experiences to the federal government. Mrs. Isom holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems Management from Walden University and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Chaminade University of Honolulu. In her spare time, she likes to work out, garden, spend time with family, and be a positive role model.

Program VP, AI Research, Global AI Research Lead
Ritu Jyoti is Program Vice President, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Research with IDC's software market research and advisory practice. Ms. Jyoti is responsible for leading the development of IDC's thought leadership for AI Research and management of the Worldwide AI Software research team. Her research focuses on the state of enterprise AI efforts and global market trends for the rapidly evolving AI and Machine Learning (ML) innovations and ecosystem. Ms. Jyoti also leads insightful research that addresses the needs of the AI technology vendors and provide actionable guidance to them on how to crisply articulate their value proposition, differentiate and thrive in the digital era. Ritu Jyoti is a trusted advisor to some of world's largest technology firms and end-users. Prior to this role, she was Program Vice President, Systems Infrastructure Research Portfolio for IDC's Cloud IaaS, Enterprise Storage and Server team. She expanded IDC’s research on Infrastructure for AI & Analytics, launched a competitive market "Data services for hybrid cloud", and delivered compelling "Digital Transformation – IT Transformation" framework for Data Infrastructure Services. She was also the lead analyst for a couple of technology vendors consulting engagements, where she delivered ground-breaking research to drive their business transformation, re-enforcing IDC's position as the go-to thought leader in the industry.

Director, AI Center of Excellence
Krista Kinnard is the Director of the Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence in the Technology Transformation Services within GSA. Since 2019, she has led the team that is enabling agencies to develop AI solutions to meet unique business challenges by incorporating machine learning, computer vision, natural language processing, intelligent process design, and robotic process automation (RPA) across the organization. Krista also serves as the AI lead with the Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice (CoP). The AI CoP is a government-wide Community of Practice (CoP) harnessing the advancements and accelerating the adoption of AI across the federal government. Before becoming the Director of Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence, Krista worked as a data scientist where she partnered with federal agencies to build AI solutions.

President
As President of SRI International, Manish Kothari, Ph.D., jointly develops SRI strategy with the CEO and ensures that corporate resources and talent are aligned with supporting SRI’s research needs. In this role, he also directly oversees SRI Ventures, Global Partnerships, Marketing and Communications, and SRI’s International offices, including the Japan office. Prior to joining SRI, Manish co-founded and was CEO of Mytrus (successfully acquired by Medidata), which utilized NLP and ML to offer cloud-based software as a service platform for the direct-to-participant clinical trials. He has also held a series of executive roles in a number of successfully exited startups, including Sales & Marketing as well as in R&D. Manish received his M.S. degree and Ph.D. in biomechanical engineering from Cornell University, and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. His bachelor of technology degree in aerospace engineering (summa cum laude) is from the Indian Institute of Technology. He holds multiple patents and is the author or co-author of several peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Manish has served on the boards of a number of startups, spanning robotics (Seismic, Abundant), AI/ML (Oto), space (LeoLabs) and a number of others. In his spare time, he enjoys playing squash, hiking and creative writing.

Vice President, Information and Computing Science Division, Center for Vision Technologies
Rakesh “Teddy” Kumar, Ph.D., is Vice President, Information and Computing Sciences and Director of the Center for Vision Technologies at SRI International. In this role, he is responsible for leading research and development of innovative end-to-end vision solutions from image capture to situational understanding that translate into real-world applications such as robotics, intelligence extraction and human computer interaction. He has received the Outstanding Achievement in Technology Development award from his alma mater, University of Massachusetts Amherst, the Sarnoff Presidents Award, and Sarnoff Technical Achievement awards for his work in registration of multi-sensor, multi-dimensional medical images and alignment of video to three-dimensional scene models. The paper “Stable Vision-Aided Navigation for Large-Area Augmented Reality” co-authored by him received the best paper award in the IEEE Virtual Reality 2011 conference. The paper “Augmented Reality Binoculars” co-authored by him received the best paper award in the IEEE International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality (ISMAR) 2013 conference. Kumar has served on NSF review and DARPA ISAT panels. He has also been an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence. He has co-authored more than 60 research publications, and received more than 50 patents. A number of spin-off companies have been created based on the research done at the Center for Vision Technologies. Kumar received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1992. His M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering is from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1995, and his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering is from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India in 1983.

Director | Data & AI, Technology Transformation Service
Bryan Lane is a technology executive within the GSA IT Modernization Centers of Excellence (CoE) and has over 15 years of experience leading advanced analytics and technology initiatives. Within the CoE, Mr. Lane serves as Director for the Data and AI CoE. He is currently leading the GSA partnership with the DoD Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) data and AI activities. Mr. Lane has partnered with federal agencies on establishing mature data governance and management practices, developing innovative approaches for leveraging data as a strategic asset, and laying the foundation for advancing data value through artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning. Prior to joining GSA, Bryan was a product manager for a commercial geospatial software company, an analytic consultant in the defense and national security industry, and assisted in managing a $750M rapid acquisition portfolio.

Vice President, U.S. Government, Nonprofit and Healthcare, Worldwide Public Sector
David leads AWS’s U.S. Government, Nonprofit and Healthcare businesses. He and his teams help Governments, NGOs, Nonprofits, and Healthcare providers realize the potential of technology to transform their organizations and fulfill their missions. In this role, he works closely with national security clients, civilian and defense agencies, nonprofits and hospital systems on their journey to cloud technology. Prior to joining AWS, David worked for Apple Inc. for 12 years and led the teams that helped government adopt innovative mobile technologies. Before joining Apple, David worked for Monster.com and helped lead its customer facing teams which played a key role in bringing automation and innovation to federal hiring and recruiting platforms. In addition to his executive career, David co-founded Sulla Technology Group. At Sulla, as co-founder and COO, he built a successful datacenter services company focused on higher education clients and state and local governments. Before founding Sulla, David started Empire Capital Management to focus on the investment needs of mid-market institutional clients.

Co-Founder of SoKat.co and Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, AI and GovTech
Dr. Jim Kyung-Soo Liew is an Associate Professor of Finance at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and revels in pushing the boundaries of financial knowledge and product development both as an academic and FinTech entrepreneur. He has published pioneering research in the intersection of social media big data, blockchain, and financial markets. He currently teaches "Big Data Machine Learning AI," "Crypto-Currencies and Blockchain,” “Advanced Hedge Fund Strategies," and "Leading Entrepreneurship and Innovation" at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of the Johns Hopkins Innovation Factory and has received the Dean’s Award for Faculty Excellence 2015-2019. He is on the Editorial Board of The Journal of the British Blockchain Association, Journal of Alternative Investments and the Journal of Portfolio Management where he co-authored the most read Invited Editorial "iGDP?". About SoKat Consulting, LLC (www.SoKat.co) - SBA 8(a) Certified Dr. Liew co-founded SoKat Consulting, LLC. SoKat creates award-winning, world-class Machine Learning / AI and Blockchain products and services primarily servicing institutional investors, government agencies, academic institutions and select-startups. SoKat unlocks the hidden value of data through thoughtful and creative solutions, comprising of actionable business intelligence, transparent data analytics, bold predictive models, and next-generation investment products. Previously, Dr. Liew has been with the Carlyle Asset Management Group, Campbell and Company, and Morgan Stanley. He holds a BA in Mathematics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. in Finance from Columbia University. He currently resides just outside of Baltimore with his wife and two daughters, whom he hopes to raise as next generation disruptors.

CEO
Dr. Joanne C. Lo is the CEO and founder of Attica AI. The purpose of Attica AI is to provide US Warfighters a strategic advantage by harnessing leading-edge artificial intelligence (AI) systems, allowing the US military to rapidly evolve within the new, data-centric era of modern warfare. Using a combination of cutting-edge AI/ML algorithms, a warfighter-centric design process, and hardened agile technology development cycle, Attica AI has designed and fielded numerous AI systems for the US warfighters. Prior to founding Attica AI, Joanne was a member of the Technical Staff at Sandia National Labs, where she led the design and development of key components for national-level systems from research to fielding. After her time at Sandia, Dr. Lo also led research projects within Google ATAP and Adobe Research. Dr. Lo was the founder and CEO of Elysian Labs, focused on producing human-machine teaming systems for the US Special Operations Command and its component units. Dr. Lo has a PhD in Electrical Engineering (HCI) from UC Berkeley, and an MS in Electrical Engineering and BS in Biomedical Engineering from UC Davis.

Research Director, Future of Work
Amy Loomis is Research Director for IDC’s worldwide Future of Work market research service. In this role, Ms. Loomis covers the growing influence of technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, augmented and virtual reality, and intelligent process automation in changing the nature of work. Her research looks at how these technologies influence workers' skills and behaviors, organizational culture, worker experience and how the workspace itself is enabling the future enterprise

Director, Mathematical Statistics Research Center, Office of Survey Methods Research
Wendy Martinez has been serving as the Director of the Mathematical Statistics Research Center at the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) for seven years. Prior to this, she served in several research positions throughout the Department of Defense. She held the position of Science and Technology Program Officer at the Office of Naval Research, where she established a research portfolio comprised of academia and industry performers developing data science products for the future Navy and Marine Corps. Her areas of interest include computational statistics, exploratory data analysis, and text data mining. She is the lead author of three books on MATLAB and statistics. Wendy was elected as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (ASA) in 2006 and is an elected member of the International Statistical Institute. She was honored by the American Statistical Association when she received the ASA Founders Award at the JSM 2017 conference. Wendy is also proud and grateful to have been elected as the 2020 ASA President.

Program Director for Data Science Workforce Development, Office of Data Science Strategy
As data science workforce development lead in NIH’s Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS), Jessica Mazerik is leading efforts to recruit new and diverse computational talent to NIH, and build programs to enhance data science training for the broader NIH research community. Prior to joining ODSS, she served as a special assistant to the NIH Principal Deputy Director. She recently worked at the National Eye Institute, where she coordinated prize competitions to develop 3-dimensional retinal tissue models. Prior to that, Jess worked at the National Cancer Institute, where she started as a health communications fellow. She then transitioned to a role as a program manager for an international initiative to create a biobank of patient-derived 3-D tumor culture lines with matched genomic and clinical data. She has a B.S. in biology from Ohio State and a PhD in cell biology from Vanderbilt University.

Research Director, Edge Strategies
Dave McCarthy is a Research Director within IDC's worldwide infrastructure practice focusing on edge strategies. In this role, he provides both qualitative and quantitative analysis of distributed computing paradigms that extend beyond centralized datacenter and cloud infrastructure. Benefitting both technology suppliers and IT decision makers, Dave’s insights delve into how edge computing compliments IoT, AI, and other next-generation technology to accelerate digital transformation initiatives. His research is available via syndicated research programs (subscription services), data products (IDC Trackers) and custom engagements.

Research Director
Shawn P. McCarthy is Research Director for IDC Government Insights, responsible for collecting and assessing government market data, providing IT investment and positioning strategies for both government and vendors, and market sizing for tech suppliers. His core coverage area includes U.S. federal and state and local IT budgets, agency-level technology priorities and government enterprise architecture standards. He also covers government use of blockchain solutions. He manages the IDC Government Insights: United States Government Infrastructure and Systems Optimization Strategies research advisory service, which includes technology recommendations and key industry forecasting for government IT systems. He also issues IDC’s semi-annual U.S. Government IT Spending Guides (federal, state and local and education).

A/CIO for Transformation; Data Science Strategic Lead, Office of the Chief Information Officer
Ed McLarney is NASA Langley Research Center’s Associate CIO for Transformation, and Data Science Strategic Lead. In addition, Ed was co-lead for creation of NASA’s AI and Machine Learning strategy as a major thrust within NASA Digital Transformation. Prior to NASA, Ed served 20 years as an Army Engineer and Operations Research / Systems Analysis officer. He has a BS in Electrical Engineering from the United States Military Academy, and an MS in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Mr. McLarney lives in Hampton, VA with his wife and daughter, and has two adult sons. His passions outside of work are songwriting, science fiction, and hiking.

Researcher, Energy Optimization and Analytics
Sakshi is an energy and AI researcher. She has been working on developing Artificial Intelligence based solutions for enabling large-scale clean energy integration into the smart grid. She is currently working at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as Energy – Optimization and Analytics researcher. At NREL, she is working as development lead for the REopt Lite API and its recent open-source effort. Sakshi is also part of NREL's Intelligent Campus project where she leads predictive analytics research and development using Machine Learning. Before joining NREL, Sakshi was Transmission Planning Engineer at American Electric Power where she served as an industry advisor for PSERC projects. Sakshi is also serving as an Ambassador for Women in AI organization’s Denver chapter. She holds a Professional Engineer License in the state of California. She has a master’s from Carnegie Mellon University in Energy Science Technology and Policy and received her bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from VIT University, India. She has a Professional Certification from Stanford University in Energy Innovation and Emerging Technologies. She had conducted her bachelor’s thesis as full-ride scholar at Deakin University, Australia.

Chief Data Officer (Acting), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of the Inspector General (OIG)
As the Senior Advisor to the Chief Data Officer for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), Renata works to empower HHS OIG to use data proactively to protect the integrity of HHS programs as well as the health and welfare of the people they serve. In her role, Renata focuses on developing and implementing advanced analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities to support OIG in efficiently and effectively executing its oversight mission. Her prior roles have included a senior position in the private sector, directing the strategy for government financial reporting and compliance solutions, and serving as the acting Deputy Assistant Commissioner for Data at the U.S. Department of Treasury, Bureau of the Fiscal Service. Renata also played a key role in leading the government-wide implementation of the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) as well as the re-launch of USAspending.gov, using modern technology, cloud computing, and agile and user-centered development methodologies. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Providence College and a Masters in Public Administration from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. She enjoys spending time outdoors and running after her two young children.

Assistant Chief Information Officer for Data Services & Chief Data Officer
Daniel Morgan is the first Chief Data Officer of the United States Department of Transportation. As the CDO, he has overall responsibility for the Departmental data program and data compliance across the Department. He is responsible for establishing a clear vision of the data managed in DOT and the application of DOT data for decision-making. He serves as data strategist and adviser, steward for improving data quality, liaison for data sharing and developer of new data products. Prior to assuming this role, Mr. Morgan spent 15 years as a management consultant, providing services to public and private sector clients in a variety of areas, including: open government, information technology governance, capital planning and investment control, enterprise architecture, and human capital planning. Mr. Morgan holds a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Deputy Assistant Commissioner, IT Acquisition, Information Technology Category, Federal Acquisition Service
Mr. Keith Nakasone is the Deputy Assistant Commissioner, IT Acquisition, within the Office of Information Technology Category (ITC) in GSA’s Federal Acquisition Service (FAS). The Federal Acquisition Service provides buying platforms and acquisition services to Federal, State, and Local governments for a broad range of items from office supplies to motor vehicles to information technology and telecommunications products and services. As an organization within FAS, ITC provides access to a wide range of commercial and custom IT products, services and solutions.

Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer and Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for HR U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Bahar Niakan serves as the Deputy Chief Human Capital Officer (Deputy CHCO) and Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for HR for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She is responsible for spearheading transformational and strategic initiatives for all aspects of HHS human resources and human capital management, with a focus on optimizing HR service delivery, modernizing HR Information Technology, and improving the employee performance and engagement culture at HHS. Ms. Niakan has over 20 years of public and private sector experience in management and operations, including human resources and human capital management. Prior to joining the HHS Office of Human Resources in 2017, she served as the Director of Policy and Information Coordination, and then Director of Management, for the Health Resources and Services Administration at HHS; the Director of Management Policy for the HHS Office of the General Counsel; and the Director of Human Resources Solutions in private industry, providing contract HR and operations support to Federal agencies, including the Departments of Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Commerce, and Agriculture. Ms. Niakan holds a Bachelor's degree in Comparative International Development from Johns Hopkins University.

Research Director, Government Digital Transformation Strategies
Adelaide O'Brien is Research Director for IDC Government Insights responsible for Government Digital Transformation Strategies. Ms. O'Brien assists clients in understanding the full scope of efforts needed for digital transformation, and focuses on technology innovations such as Big Data, AI, cognitive, and cloud in the context of government use cases such as customer experience, data driven benefits and services, and public health protection. Ms. O'Brien's research also includes a particular emphasis on journey maps that assist clients in understanding the full scope of efforts required to achieve outcomes, and she has benchmarked the maturity of deploying cloud and Big Data and analytics in the federal government. Her research also includes the threats and opportunities now facing government's ecosystems in leveraging agency information as a critical asset, allowing stakeholders to make better decisions, provide better services and experiences for constituents, and react in real time to limit liabilities and manage risks.

CTO
A member of the Senior Executive Service and FEMA’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Mr. Ted Okada is responsible for leading the technology strategy and direction for a wide variety of mission, business, and enterprise systems. He has spearheaded a broad range of continuous improvement initiatives involving geospatial technologies, data analytics, and cyber security, as well as a whole community approach to interoperable communications in the event of a disaster. Mr. Okada is the creator and executive sponsor of OpenFEMA—the public’s resource for FEMA’s data provided in open, machine-readable formats. Launched in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy, OpenFEMA provides timely, usable, and accurate information enabling collaboration with Whole Community partners in support of disaster survivors. Mr. Okada is a graduate of Northwestern University with a B.A. in Mathematical Methods in the Social Sciences and Economics. His experience includes over thirty years in international relief and development, a decade in internet services architecture, and two technology start-ups. Prior to becoming FEMA’s first CTO, Mr. Okada served as the Director of U.S. Global Public Private Partnerships and as the Director of the Humanitarian Systems Group at Microsoft developing solutions to the world’s most vexing and least served humanitarian problems.

Director, Healthcare Life Sciences Practice Lead
As the practice lead, Maria is focused on recruiting a global community of multi-disciplinary stakeholders to openly collaborate and develop solutions to enable trust in and validation of breakthrough technologies/applications that will provide sustainable and universal quality of care, privacy and protection for all individuals. Before joining the IEEE SA, Maria founded DisruptiveRx™ Media, the first information company to introduce blockchain/DLTs as a viable option to addressing the many data integrity and security challenges within the pharmaceutical value chain. Maria’s professional highlights include growing an African-based largest mining investment platform into a multi-national brand while bringing innovative communication and information programs to global markets and various industries including financial, pharma/life sciences, natural resources, and telecommunications. Maria currently holds an MBA from the Rutgers Graduate School of Business and a BA and BS from Rutgers College at Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey.

Head of AI Ethics Policy, DoD
Alka Patel serves as the first Head of AI Ethics Policy for the Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC). In this role, she is leading the effort on Responsible AI. She brings over 20+ years of experience working at the intersection of technology, business, and law. Most recently, Alka was the inaugural Executive Director of the Digital Transformation and Innovation Center sponsored by PwC (an industry/academic partnership) at Carnegie Mellon University. In addition to leading the start-up of the $13 million center including developing and executing strategy and operations, she managed the industry sponsor’s relationship as well as managed over 25 research projects (from project scoping through delivery) with interdisciplinary faculty teams in the area of artificial intelligence, data analytics, and cybersecurity/privacy.

Advisory Board Member
Valerie J. Pelton is an attorney, mediator and former U.S. Air Force Signals Intelligence and Adversary Electronic Combat Operations Officer who has represented U.S. and international technology, telecommunications and aerospace companies. She currently works for the U.S. Postal Service. She is admitted to practice in Texas, Virginia, New Jersey, California and the District of Columbia. She is active in Washington area business, legal and sailing groups and is studying Chinese culture and Mandarin language at GWU’s Confucius Institute. Ms. Pelton Co-chairs the International Committee of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia and serves on the Advisory Boards of Devotion to Children and Asian American Youth Leadership, Empowerment and Development. Her work is published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce, The International Lawyer, Journal of World Energy Law & Business, Texas Tech Administrative Law Journal and Journal of Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems.

Director, Legal and Policy, Ridgeline International, Inc.; Founder
Antigone is General Counsel and Innovation Strategist for a secure communications solutions company, The Solvus Company. She also provides technology law counseling though her boutique law firm, Cloudigy Law. She is a registered patent attorney with a focus on privacy, cybersecurity, information governance, and technology law and regulation and their intersection with social media, IoT, AI, blockchain, and cloud computing. Antigone has been recognized among the Virginia Legal Elite and WIPR Leaders by her peers and a SuperLawyer for her work involving intellectual property law. You can find Antigone's musings about IP law, privacy, and tech topics at the DecodingIP.com blog, AntigonePeyton.com (bio), and follow her on Twitter @AntigonePeyton. Before moving in-house and restarting her boutique firm, Antigone managed the IP and Tech Group at a large Virginia law firm and she managed the e-Discovery group at the international IP firm Finnegan LLP. During her 20 year legal career, Antigone has counseled a wide variety of tech-startups and Fortune 500 companies. Before becoming a lawyer, she conducted scientific research at a large university medical center. All of these experiences honed her passion for exploring the intersection of cutting edge science and technology, law, and policy. She received a B.S. in Chemistry from The College of William and Mary, pursued graduate Bioethics and pre-clinical research work at the University of Pennsylvania, and a J.D. in law with an Intellectual Property focus from the Scalia School of Law, George Mason University, where she was the editor-in-chief of the Federal Circuit Bar Journal and a member of the Moot Court. Having worked for former Chief Administrative Law Judge Paul Luckern at the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) and the Honorable Kimberly Moore at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (Federal Circuit), Antigone brings a practical perspective to her litigation and client counseling practice.

Program Manager
Dr. Rubino currently manages two large multi-national, human language technology research programs for IARPA, the ODNI’s Research Organization. He joined IARPA after having served nearly a decade as the Director of the DOD’s Center for Applied Machine Translation, and other related positions in industry and academia.

Chief Analytics Officer, Army Talent Management Task Force
LTC Kristin Saling is the Chief Analytics Officer for the Army Talent Management Task Force. She and her team of data analysts and strategists provide in-depth analysis to inform Army senior leader decisions and provide expertise in developing analytic use cases, pilot programs, training, and implementation plans for analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence in the Army’s people enterprise. Prior to this position, LTC Saling served as the Army G-1’s chief for officer strength analysis and forecasting, a position that gave her an in-depth understanding of the Army personnel management processes that she and her organization now seek to change.

Director, Global Smart Cities Strategies
Curt Savoie is the Director, Global Smart Cities Strategies program. The central components of his work revolve around data: its use, security, meaning, accessibility, and governance. He brings to IDC a deep interest in algorithms, artificial intelligence, resiliency, identity, ethical considerations, privacy and anonymization, reducing information asymmetry, and how data can power a better future. At the intersection of theoretical, strategic, and practical experience in the domains of big data, analytics, urban informatics, city operations and innovation, data science workflows and methodology he can help answer not just what but how and why.

Managing Partner, Principal Analyst
Ron is principal analyst, managing partner, and founder of the Artificial Intelligence-focused analyst and advisory firm Cognilytica, and is also the host of the AI Today podcast, SXSW Innovation Awards Judge, founder of TechBreakfast demo format events, and an expert in AI, Machine Learning, Enterprise Architecture, venture capital, startup and entrepreneurial ecosystems, and more. Prior to founding Cognilytica, Ron founded and ran ZapThink, an industry analyst firm focused on Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA), Cloud Computing, Web Services, XML, & Enterprise Architecture, which was acquired by Dovel Technologies in August 2011.

Research Director Cognitive/Artificial Intelligent Systems and Content Analytics
Dave Schubmehl is Research Director for IDC's Cognitive/Artificial Intelligent Systems and Content Analytics research. His research covers information access and artificial intelligence technologies including content analytics, search systems, unstructured information representation, cognitive computing, deep learning, machine learning, unified access to structured and unstructured information, Big Data, visualization, and rich media search in SaaS, cloud and installed software environments. This research analyzes the trends and dynamics of the content analytics, discovery and cognitive systems software markets and the costs, benefits and workflow impacts of solutions that use these technologies.

Deputy Division Chief
Zack Schwartz serves as a Deputy Division Chief at the U.S. Census Bureau where he and his teams are responsible for delivering critical systems in support of the 2020 Census. His area is also coordinating national partnership efforts with technology companies. Schwartz leads the Trust & Safety Team, which serves to protect the Bureau’s reputation and the American public from malicious efforts to undermine the count by spreading mis- and disinformation. Prior to serving in his role, Schwartz was the Program Manager over the Decennial IT PMO managing a complex budget and schedule in support of the 2020 Census systems. Schwartz holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from American University and currently resides in Washington D.C. where he is a Sworn Reserve Police Officer.

Senior Vice President & Chief Data Scientist
Anthony Scriffignano in an internationally recognized data scientist with experience spanning over 35 years, in multiple industries and enterprise domains. Dr. Scriffignano has extensive background in linguistics and advanced algorithms, leveraging that background as primary inventor on multiple patents worldwide. He provides thought leadership globally. Recently, he briefed the US National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee regarding reports to the President on Big Data Analytics and Emerging Technologies Strategic Vision. Additionally, Scriffignano provided expert advice on private sector data officers to a group of state Chief Data Officers and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He also served as a forum panelist and keynote speaker at the World Internet Conference hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuzhen, China. He was recently published in CIO Review, Huffington Post, Mint (India) and quoted in various publications including China Daily, Xinhua and Peoples Daily. He was profiled by InformationWeek and by BizCloud, and is a recurring CXOTalk guest. He regularly presents at business, government and academic venues globally regarding emerging trends in data and information stewardship, the “Big Data” explosion, artificial intelligence, multilingual challenges in business identity and malfeasance in commercial settings.

Innovation Coach, Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Procurement Innovation Lab
As an Innovation Coach with the DHS Procurement Innovation Lab I help make procurement fun again! One day I might help a team use a down-select into oral presentations or product demonstrations. Another day I might talk with a team about how to apply the Agile sprint methodology to a software procurement. No matter what day or what agency, I empower teams with knowledge and help them meet their missions needs.

Chief Science Advisor, Artificial Intelligence & Technology Office
Fred Streitz serves the chief science advisor for the Artificial Intelligence and Technology Office (AITO) in the Department of Energy, where he provides technical assistance to the Director on the planning, development and execution of strategies for advancing and adopting AI and related technologies agency-wide. Prior to this appointment, Dr. Streitz held a number of technical leadership roles at LLNL, most recently as the Director of the High Performance Computing Innovation Center (HPCIC) and as the Lab’s Chief Computational Scientist. Fred serves on advisory boards for Argonne and Oak Ridge National Laboratories, the Institute for Advanced Computational Science at Harvard University, and the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Consortium. He is a Subject Editor for the International Journal of High Performance Computing Applications, a member of the Advanced Computing Round Table at the Council on Competitiveness and was recently named Adjunct Professor in the Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology Department at Georgetown University. Dr. Streitz is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and a two-time recipient of the IEEE Gordon Bell Prize for outstanding achievement in high performance computing. Fred earned his B.S. in Physics from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland.

Vice President, Worldwide AI Initiatives
No bio available

General Engineer Expert, Federal Aviation Administration
Mr. Stroup is a General Engineer Expert, a recognized expert within the FAA providing systems engineering leadership for highly complex and challenging activities in the air transportation field.  Mr. Stroup has served in multiple positions with the FAA over his 30 years, which include Chief Systems Engineer (CSE) for Airborne and Ground Integration; Senior Systems Safety Engineer for NextGen; Computer Scientist for NAS Software in the CIO office; and Aviation Safety Engineer and Software Technology Specialist in Aircraft Certification.  Currently, Mr. Stroup leads the application of AI/ML technologies in the future NAS.  He provides technical leadership in the investigation of AI/ML technologies as it affects the evolution of the NAS.

President & Founder
A respected thought leader in the Federal IT community, Tom Suder is Founder and President of the Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC). Tom is a two-time winner of a Federal 100 Award, a prestigious honor that recognizes government and industry leaders who played pivotal roles in Federal IT and made a made a difference in the way technology transformed the government. He is the co-author of over 25 White Papers that were jointly published by MITRE and ATARC following collaboration sessions during the ATARC Federal IT Summit Series. Topics of these educational symposiums include Mobile Technology, Cloud & Data Center, Data & Analytics, DevOps, Cybersecurity, Health IT, Network Transformation and the Internet of Things. Tom is also the Founder & President of Apcerto, a mobile DevSecOps company, and he serves on a variety of technology advisory boards, including the Professional Science Master’s Advisory Board, which is a part of the Telecommunications Management graduate program at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).

Doctoral Researcher, Department of International Affairs and Political Economy
Daniel Trusilo is a doctoral candidate at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. His research focuses on the practical application of ethics and humanitarian law to autonomous systems. Previously, Daniel served as a Humanitarian Assistance Advisor to U.S. Africa Command for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Before working for USAID, Daniel carried out a Fulbright Public Policy Fellowship to Nepal where he addressed civil-military matters related to disaster preparedness and emergency response with the Government of Nepal and Nepali security forces. Daniel served seven and a half years as a U.S. Army officer where he held a variety of positions. He holds a B.S. in International Relations from the United States Military Academy at West Point and Masters of Arts degrees in International Affairs and Law and Diplomacy from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, respectively. Daniel is also the winner of the Atlantic Council’s 2015 Thought Leadership Grant for his writing on Iraq.

General Manager, National Security
Mark Valentine is the General Manager of Microsoft’s National Security Team where he focuses on delivering advanced technologies to warfighters and analysts across the military and intelligence community. His most recent efforts include adapting cloud computing, artificial intelligence and mixed reality tools to generate insight for military personnel, increase training efficiency and enhance operational outcomes. Prior to joining Microsoft in 2015 he served in the US Air Force for over 25-years as a fighter pilot, commander, and staff officer at Headquarters US Air Force and the Joint Staff. Mr. Valentine holds a Bachelor of Science in Astronautical Engineering from the United States Air Force Academy and a Master of Arts in International Security Policy from Georgetown University. Additionally, he attended the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business as a Secretary of Defense Fellow. He is also a graduate of the US Air Force Weapons School, NATO Tactical Leadership Program, the National Emergency Management Executive Academy (joint program of the Emergency Management Institute and Harvard University) and the Foreign Service Institute’s National Security Executive Leadership Seminar. He lives near Annapolis, Maryland with his wife and two children where he is active in AFCEA, the American Legion Boys State program and several non-profit boards.

Researcher, Computer & Information Sciences Directorate
Dr. Michelle Vanni has been engaged in NLP research and research management since the 1990's when, as DoD Visiting Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Language Technologies Institute, formerly the Center for Machine Translation, she built a prototype Italian-English Machine Translation generator. Her interests in language processing are linguistics-based, borne of early experience with the tasks of triage, analysis, and translation of non-English text, and informed by her expertise in judging human translation. Her multilingual work has supported information extraction (IE) and machine translation (MT), especially practical approaches to MT evaluation (MTE), with her Task-Diagnostic model incorporated into EAGLES/FEMTI formulations, and her papers on the PLATO experiments in the early 2000's. Recognition, based on the linguistic concept of Expectancy Grammar, of the importance of accurate name rendering to human understandability led to a focus on MT of named entities and the comparative evaluation of output with and without accurate name rendering. Management of an Army research project with Howard University and CMU led to work in detecting and evaluating the significance of code-switching in social media, largely along the lines of Myers-Scotton's markedness interpretation, which led to follow-on work with the University of Melbourne to incorporate a multilingual capability into their Realtime Analytic Platform for Interactive Datamining (RAPID). Her research on the efficacy of IE systems for Decision Support has entailed not only experimentation with state-of-the art annotation systems to perform tasks of varying complexity but also multidisciplinary work employing phrase extraction, with synonym detection for expansion, to construct and search faceted taxonomies. More recently, Dr. Vanni has worked with the LIWC tool on social media data, to explore the psychology of political leanings, and with crowd-sourced data, to explore the effects of linguistic complexity on the accuracy of human- paraphrased questions. Vanni earned Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. at Georgetown University and M.A. at Middlebury College. She has over 50 peer-reviewed articles to her credit and is fluent in French and Italian.

Women's Bar Association of DC, Co-Chair, 20+ Years of Experience; Adjunct Professor, Indiana University
Elizabeth Varner has served as Co-Chair of the WBA 20+ Years of Experience Forum. She has provided strategic advice, leadership, and risk mitigation for business, ethical, legal, management, and policy issues impacting government and non-federal cultural and scientific organizations and collections for more than ten years. She has led change and people as a results-driven senior executive for seven years for both the government and non-profit sector where she was responsible for all matters, including innovation and technology. She spent four additional years facilitating oversight and guidance of 200 million cultural and scientific collections at 3,000 government and non-federal entities by developing policy, leading resolution of legal issues and complicated disputes, and serving as a liaison and technical advisor on collections, facilities, and operations. Varner is an attorney, arbitrator, and an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. She serves on the American Alliance of Museums’ Leadership and Management Network Executive Committee and Curatorial Ethics Subcommittee, the Steering Committee for the American Bar Association’s Art and Cultural Heritage Committee, and the US Committee for the International Council of Museums. She formerly served as Executive Director of two museums, President of the Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, and Faculty at John Hopkins University Graduate Museum Program and American Arbitration Association's class, Arbitrating Cultural Heritage Disputes. She has written publications, edited journals, and lectured on legal, ethical, business, and technology issues impacting museums, cultural heritage, scientific collections, management, armed conflict, and arbitration. She has co-edited a forthcoming book, INTERSECTIONS IN INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL HERITAGE LAW, with Oxford University Press.

VP & GM, AI Software New Ventures
Laura joined Xerox in July 2018 to focus on new venture creation. She is leading Xerox’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovation area which aims to bring high value AI-enabled SaaS solutions to customers by leveraging Xerox’s unique AI technologies and expertise. The strategy involves building a portfolio of solutions that support knowledge workers with authoring business development documents, the first of which will be a request for proposal (RFP) assistant. Laura’s previous experience includes VP Marketing & Strategy for a tech startup that was acquired for $1.7B; VP/GM at PacBell (AT&T) that built and successfully launched internet services/media startup business; McKinsey consultant in Europe & Silicon Valley; and Major account sales for HP. Laura is also an advisory Board member of an AI-focused accelerator and a consultant/mentor for a variety of startups. She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Duke University.

Managing Partner, Principal Analyst
Kathleen is a principal analyst, managing partner, and founder of Cognilytica, an AI research and advisory firm, and co-host of the popular AI Today podcast. She is a serial entrepreneur, savvy marketer, AI and Machine Learning expert, and tech industry connector. Kathleen spent many years as the Content and Innovation Director for TechBreakfast, the largest monthly morning tech meetup in the nation with over 50,000 members and 3000+ attendees at the monthly events across the US. In addition, she is a SXSW Innovation Awards Judge and AI / Hardware Meetup organizer. As a master facilitator and connector, who is well connected in the technology industry, Kathleen regularly meets with innovators in key markets and gets the opportunity to see the latest and newest technologies from game changing companies.

Founder and Conference Chair, AI World & AI World Government
Mr. Weinman is Founder and Conference Chair of AI World. For the past two decades Eliot has been a successful entrepreneur and veteran high tech market expert. AI World was his fifth publishing start-up which he sold recently to Cambridge Innovation Institute. AI World and companion online magazine AI Trends have become the nation’s largest independent AI business event and integrated media platform covering the enterprise AI market. He previously founded and sold four leading publishing firms whose media products had become the largest in their respective industry. He has been a publisher, editor and author of numerous magazines, newsletters, books and research studies in diverse areas of advanced technology. His writings have appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle and The Washington Post. Eliot received is M.S. in Computer Engineering from Boston University and completed a research fellowship in A.I. with GE and MIT where he worked on developing expert systems for the quality inspection of jet engine turbine blades. Before starting his first media business, he headed up the AI group at a top 10 property insurance company (Hanover Insurance) where he implemented one of the nation’s earliest commercial expert systems in underwriting and claims. He also headed advanced engineering groups at the MIT Draper Labs. Eliot has created more than 200 events in emerging technology markets, including Mobile Commerce World, 4G World, Mobile Internet World, RoboNexus, RoboBusiness, Client/Server Computing and Application Development Conference & Expo. Mr. Weinman has partnered with, consulted to and sold his businesses to many of the industry’s leading computer hardware, software, publishing and research firms. He has taught courses at Northeastern University in AI and knowledge engineering. Previously he earned his B.S. in Accounting at SUNY Albany, and was a CPA for several large CPA firms.

Vice Chair
Margaret D. Williams serves as the Learning Policy and Program Support Specialist (TL) for the U.S. Postal Service Learning and Development Team. In this role, Ms. Williams, a 33-year Postal veteran, is responsible for the organizations Strategic Learning Initiatives and Learning and Development policy for over 640,000 employees. Prior to being awarded her current position, Ms. Williams served as the National Public Information Representative for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service for over four years, the law enforcement arm of the agency.

Special Assistant, Office of Procurement
Mitch Winans is a Special Assistant in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Office of the Chief Procurement Officer. In this role, he is responsible for managing stakeholder relations and advising leadership on industry engagement, media outreach, strategic planning, and organizational development. Prior to joining the IRS, Mitch was an Industry Liaison at the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet) under the Department of Commerce and helped the newly-formed agency establish its procurement organization and small business program. Before coming to FirstNet, he served in various roles at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). As the Strategic Communications Liaison in the DHS Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, Mitch counseled leadership on effective communications strategies and managed the spread of procurement information to industry, Congress, the media, the DHS acquisition workforce, and other DHS components. He was also a Contract Specialist for multiple agencies at DHS and supported a wide range of emergency management, law enforcement, and research and development programs for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Customs and Border Protection, and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate. Before joining DHS, Mitch worked at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Office of Congressional and Public Affairs. He received an MBA from the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and a BA from the University of California, Irvine.

Data & AI Cloud Architect, Customer Success Unit
David Yu is cloud solution architect with focus in Data & Artificial Intelligence. He has been serving the federal government customers for 18 years and have led digital transformation and cloud adoption efforts with large government agencies. David started his career as a developer and architect in the open source technologies. He then supported government customer programs as strategic advisor and project manager. David holds a Master degree in Computer Engineering and Master degree in System Engineering. David is passionate about democratizing AI and excited about the new ways it will enable government agencies to operate