Panel - AI & Industry

alt="Industry_Graphic_5Panelists_reduced"

AI & Industry | 11:00 - 11:45 AM

Explore how AI is transforming industries across tech, healthcare, and beyond, as experts discuss advancements, challenges, and the future impact of AI on business and society.

Bill Grady

Director,
Head of Design and UX Research,
IBM Cloud

IBM

Bill is a creative leader and brand builder known for working collaboratively to produce and deliver the highest quality experiences, and an award-winning designer and inventor with eight patents. He is responsible for the product design of IBM Cloud, leading a global team of designers and user researchers building more than 200 products and the underlying platform. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team for the multi-billion dollar division, he drove a transformation program to help 6,000 people become user-obsessed. While in this role, his team won 22 international design awards, increased their Net Promoter Score by 46 points and achieved annual revenue growth. Previously he was brand manager of Watson, IBM’s AI brand, with responsibility for global familiarity and favorability of the brand. He led programs including naming, merchandise and event design and helped lead a brand refresh that included the design of the current logo. He has managed the creative development of exhibitions and digital experiences enjoyed by millions of visitors, including creation of the 6,600 square-foot IBM exhibit at Disney World, and led industrial design of several products. He earned his BS in Industrial Design at Georgia Tech and an MBA from NYU.

Robin Lerner

Senior Director for Academic Engagement,
Technology for Fundamental Rights

Microsoft

Robin Lerner assumed the position of Senior Director for Academic Engagement at Microsoft in August 2024, where she fosters collaborative efforts between Microsoft’s policy experts and academic scholars. Before joining Microsoft, Ms. Lerner was the president and CEO of the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) for seven years, during which she doubled the consortium’s membership and grew its strategic reserves by over 80%. Prior to her work at TIEC, Ms. Lerner served in the Obama administration as senior advisor and counselor to the ambassador-at-large for global women’s issues. She also held the role of deputy assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, where she oversaw the J-1 Visa Exchange Visitor Program, bringing 300,000 foreign participants annually to the United States to study, teach, and build skills. Earlier in her career, Ms. Lerner worked as a senior counselor on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and as a legal and human rights advisor for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo. This year, she proudly became a Longhorn Mom. Hook ‘em!

Michael Redding

Sr. Technical Product Manager

Indeed

Michael Redding is a Senior Technical Product Manager at Indeed, currently focusing on Generative AI and how it will impact and influence how modern businesses do work. At Indeed, he leads the product strategy for developer productivity, helping Indeedians become more effective at helping millions of job seekers get jobs. As a graduate of the School of Information, the intersection between technology and the humans who use it has always been an academic interest. Now that AI has fully entered the modern workplace, helping workers make this next transition in how knowledge workers do their job has become a top professional & academic interest. Michael is based out of Austin, Texas with his partner and five fur children, though he can be found all over the internet talking about how new technology will change how we think and live.

Tommi Salli

Chief Enterprise Architect and Fellow

Dell

Tommi Salli is the Chief Enterprise Architect and Fellow in the Chief AI Office at Dell Technologies, where he guides AI strategy and leads teams in implementing innovative solutions. With over two decades in the IT industry, Tommi has shaped advancements in cloud and AI-driven platforms. Prior to Dell, he was Managing Director and Head of Hosting Platforms at Bank of America, engineering cloud infrastructure to support enterprise growth. At JPMorgan Chase, as CTO of Global Compute Services, he developed the bank’s internal cloud platform, enhancing its efficiency and scalability. His tenure at Cisco Systems included the launch of the Unified Computing Systems (UCS) product line, redefining data center technologies. Tommi holds multiple patents and has co-authored two books, making him a thought leader in AI, cloud, and modern computing solutions.

Catherine Walker

Head of Content

The Cigna Group

"Catherine leads Content Strategy and Architecture at the Cigna Group, a Fortune 16 company, whose mission is to improve the health and vitality of the nearly 178M people they serve. Her team sits within the Chief Design Office and creates innovative experiences across lines of business and audiences including consumers, clients, and providers. In her role, Catherine focuses on leveraging emerging technology to enable design and content systems, transform experiences, and ultimately help reimagine healthcare. Throughout her career, Catherine has focused on bridging a deep understanding of customers with a systems approach to business value and optionality. Prior to The Cigna Group, she led global design and content teams at PayPal and created technology-driven marketing strategies at an Austin-based agency. In her free time, you can find her at a field/court/park cheering on her two elementary-aged sports enthusiasts."