Tag

AI

Engaging with Manufacturing Data / The Road to AI Transformation
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Engaging with Manufacturing Data / The Road to AI Transformation

Tom is a seasoned business professional with over 25 years of experience helping manufacturers leverage technology to drive business transformation and performance improvement. Since starting with IBM in the mid-’90s, he has specialized in developing and executing technology strategies that align with corporate objectives, enhance operational efficiency, and fuel growth.

Passionate about innovation, Tom helps manufacturers navigate the rapidly evolving technology landscape, enabling them to improve productivity, increase profitability, and expand market share. His expertise lies in delivering high-value outcomes through digital solutions tailored to the unique needs of the manufacturing industry.

When he’s not advocating for technology-driven transformation, Tom enjoys spending time outdoors with his wife and two boys. Whether fly-fishing, camping, or birding, he values the balance and inspiration that nature provides.

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Evolutionary Progress in a World of Revolution: Moving Forward Within the Chaos
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Evolutionary Progress in a World of Revolution: Moving Forward Within the Chaos

Jeff Pehler is a partner in West Monroe’s Consumer and Industrial Products practice. He is known for his relentless pursuit of improvement, consistently driving measurable value for his clients. Recently, Jeff developed a product launch strategy that generated over $20 million in annual sales growth for a consumer services company. Additionally, he redesigned back-office operations, boosting EBITDA by more than 4% for an industrial products distributor. His expertise encompasses growth strategy, pricing, process optimization, and M&A strategy.

Kylea Robb is a Senior Manager with West Monroe in the Consumer & Industrial Products practice and is part of the Dallas office. She is a results-driven, relationship-oriented project leader experienced in developing and delivering more efficient processes and productivity enhancements with a technology layer. Her expertise includes enterprise digital strategy value creation, in depth manufacturing diagnostics, ERP and business applications strategy development, supply chain strategy and implementation, and overall process improvement.​

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Overcome Uncertain Times: AI Enabled Transformation to Drive Business and Workforce Success
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Overcome Uncertain Times: AI Enabled Transformation to Drive Business and Workforce Success

Chris Dobbrow is a passionate advocate for lifelong learning and innovation, dedicated to partnering with industry leaders in digital manufacturing to drive transformative growth. With over 25 years of experience in technology and media, he has spent the past decade focused on AI-driven Industrial IoT, including more than five years at Augury. Chris has a proven track record of growing top-line revenue and EBITDA, leading full P&L operations exceeding $200 million. His expertise spans strategic enterprise sales, high-performing team development, and organizational transformation. He excels in forging strategic partnerships and executing forward-thinking strategies that drive sustainable success.

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Strategies to Enhance the Smart Factory Ecosystem
MANUFACTURING, VIDEO, MANUFACTURING

Strategies to Enhance the Smart Factory Ecosystem

Lee has 25+ years of experience across manufacturing (Boeing/Corning), software technology (GE VERNOVA), and consulting (EY) that enables him to craft digital strategies that optimize manufacturing operations. A trusted advisor for manufacturing transformation, Lee works with clients to develop strategic roadmaps, navigate technology selection, and ensure financial viability for their smart factory initiatives.

GE Vernova, Proficy® Software & Services – Proficy® software empowers teams, illuminating the path to a greener, more profitable future. GE Vernova’s industrial software accelerates innovation, enables connected workers, and operationalizes Sustainability to drive measurable progress for over 20,000 diverse customers with cloud-based and on-premise HMI/SCADA, MES, historian, and analytics.

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The Increasing Importance of HR as a Driver of Transformation & Engagement
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

The Increasing Importance of HR as a Driver of Transformation & Engagement

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Gerrit Spengler is known for his work as an expert in the fields of human resources, organization design, strategy & transformation, and general management. Gerrit has worked for 14 years within Volkswagen Group and presently serves as Chief Human Resources Officer for Volkswagen Group of America & Volkswagen North American Region. Over his career, his work has taken him across three countries (Germany, Russia, United States). Prior to his current role, he served as CEO and General Director for Volkswagen Group Russia. He has also held HR leadership positions at both Volkswagen Group Russia and Volkswagen AG. Before joining Volkswagen, he worked for BMW, Mercer, Oliver Wyman, and MAN Truck & Bus. Gerrit holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration – Organization & Strategy from Technische Universität Chemnitz and a M.S. in Business Administration from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.

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Leveraging a Skills Strategy to Solve the Biggest Business Challenges
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

Leveraging a Skills Strategy to Solve the Biggest Business Challenges

With a business focus on addressing some of the most complex diseases of our time, Amanda Poole leads a global People team working together to foster a highly engaged workforce and inspirational culture at BMS. Made up of Talent and Culture, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, Business Partners, Leadership Development, People Services and Inclusion & Diversity, the BMS People Organization is focused on business evolution, growth, development and wellbeing.

Recognizing that people are at the heart of corporate success, Amanda is committed to creating exceptional experiences for our colleagues as they define what’s possible for the future of science and the patients BMS serves.

Amanda has deep pharmaceutical industry experience having joined BMS in 2004 in a career that spans both international and domestic assignments across varied business functions. She brings expertise in global talent management, change management, recruitment, M&A, labor relations and executive coaching. She previously worked for Raytheon, where she was an inaugural member of their HR Leadership Development Program.

Amanda is deeply passionate about the future of the pharmaceutical and People/HR sectors. She is dedicated to harnessing the power of rapidly advancing technologies, including AI, to create cutting edge, yet simple, experiences.

Amanda has a BS degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from The College of New Jersey. She serves as the executive sponsor of the Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD) People and Business Resource Group at BMS and is a member of the Human Resources Policy Association (HRPA), Center for Executive Compensation.

She is an avid global traveler, enjoys playing tennis and spending family time with her husband and two teenage boys. At BMS, each colleague is asked “Who are you working for?” and keeps this person in mind each day as their purpose. Amanda works for her mom and brother-in-law.

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HR Innovations to Empower People for a Thriving Workforce
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

HR Innovations to Empower People for a Thriving Workforce

As the senior vice president and chief people officer of The Kroger Co., Tim leads all areas of HR and Labor Relations including Total Rewards, Labor Relations, Diversity, Business Unit Human Resources, People Operations, Training and Development, Talent Hiring, Retention and Engagement, Corporate Affairs, Associate Communications, Shared Services and Aviation.

Tim joined Kroger in 2010 as vice president of Talent Development. He was promoted to group vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations in 2014 and was appointed as Chief People Officer in 2015. He was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2018. Prior to joining the company, he served in several HR leadership positions over 21 years at Procter & Gamble. Tim has an extensive global HR generalist background in leadership development, performance management, strategy development and employee communications and engagement.

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The AI Amplifier: How Work Tech Can Directly Drive Business Impact
HUMAN RESOURCES, VIDEO, HUMAN RESOURCES

The AI Amplifier: How Work Tech Can Directly Drive Business Impact

Ben Blackman is a Strategic Account Executive at Paradox with over a decade of experience in the HR/TA technology and advertising industries. After working for CareerBuilder and SmashFly, Ben joined Paradox in 2022 with a focus on helping organizations transform their candidate experience and back-end workflows through automation and conversational AI. In his current role, Ben helps prospective clients to evaluate Paradox’s suite of solutions, develops business cases, and addresses challenges related to the hiring process.

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How AI and Accelerated Computing Are Driving Energy Efficiency
Sustainability, VIDEO, SUSTAINABILITY

How AI and Accelerated Computing Are Driving Energy Efficiency

Josh Parker joined NVIDIA in 2023 to lead the company’s corporate sustainability program. Josh studied electrical engineering and spent several years practicing IP law at a large law firm and later for the computer storage company Western Digital. While at Western Digital, he was asked to lead the company’s ethics and compliance program in Asia and later to build a new corporate sustainability program for the company.

At NVIDIA, Josh is pursuing a data-driven approach to sustainability, believing that accurate and credible data is a prerequisite for effectively managing impacts. Josh is also deeply persuaded that technology—especially AI—can play a critical and dramatic role in solving world-scale sustainability challenges.

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Sustainable Innovation
Sustainability, VIDEO, SUSTAINABILITY

Sustainable Innovation

Manoj Mathew passionately leads the Sustainability Practice at Cognizant, actively collaborating with G2000 clients on business and technology changes. The practice engages with diverse industry sectors to build innovative AI-driven solutions for managing net-zero transformation. Cognizant aims to help customers move beyond ESG disclosure to enable businesses to drive performance against targets and devise commercially scalable models.
Cognizant is driven by a vision to Engineer modern businesses to better everyday life. Cognizant’s engagements span multiple verticals, including financial services, manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals, food and food service, travel, and hospitality. Heavily leveraging a systems-design approach, and multidisciplinary engineering competencies Cognizant delivers AI-driven, transformative solutions.
Manoj works closely with clients to comprehensively embed sustainability goals and performance models into core business activities, such as circular product development, supply chain surveillance and resilience, and critical infrastructure management for asset efficiency and energy transition. These efforts are helping clients achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions and successfully transform their business models.
Manoj holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Kerala, India, and has over 25 years of experience in product development, supply chain, corporate strategy, and performance management across various industry sectors. Manoj’s interests include AI-engineered solutions for precision resource management, asset risk management, and designing circular logistics models.
Manoj is based out of The Hague in the Netherlands.

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From Complaints to Patient Breakthroughs: Harnessing AI to Capture Voice of Customer and Accelerate Medical Device Innovation
LIFE SCIENCES, MEDICAL DEVICES

From Complaints to Patient Breakthroughs: Harnessing AI to Capture Voice of Customer and Accelerate Medical Device Innovation

Zillery A. Fortner is a respected professional in the life sciences industry with over 30 years of experience. She has held roles like surgical assistant, quality assurance specialist, regulatory affairs expert, and accreditation professional. Now, she is the Industry Business Development Director, SME at Honeywell, advocating for customers.

Her dedication to innovation is evident in her involvement in professional organizations and her numerous patents. Zillery’s extensive knowledge helps drive digital innovation and ensure regulatory compliance in the industry.

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Panel: Planning for Medical Device Manufacturing of the Future: What are the Five Big Things We Need to Talk About?
LIFE SCIENCES, MEDICAL DEVICES

Panel: Planning for Medical Device Manufacturing of the Future: What are the Five Big Things We Need to Talk About?

Innovation and R&D: Fueling our industry, R&D drives groundbreaking solutions. We will explore strategies to stay ahead in technology and product development

Manufacturing Processes and the Future: Optimizing processes for agility and sustainability is key. We adapt to innovations to lead the industry forward

Quality in the Age of AI/ML: Exploring the future of medical device manufacturing and how automation will reshape operations while maintaining quality standards and leveraging technologies for risk mitigation and improvement

Regulatory Compliance: Employing effective strategies for clearance and ongoing compliance

Supply Chain Resilience and Sustainability: Enhancing supply chain resilience and sustainability through strategies that leverage digitization and AI to bolster efficiency, traceability and fortify against unforeseen challenges

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Unlocking Career Growth at Scale: Leveraging AI and Emerging Technologies for Hyper-Personalized Learning
LEARNING, VIDEO, LEARNING

Unlocking Career Growth at Scale: Leveraging AI and Emerging Technologies for Hyper-Personalized Learning

Ashley Walvoord is Verizon’s Chief Learning Officer, bringing a people-first approach to connecting learning and career development across the employee lifecycle. With a focus on creating a robust skills ecosystem, Ashley is committed to empowering employees at every stage of their careers, ensuring they have the tools and opportunities needed to thrive. She is passionate about leveraging innovative technologies to transform the learning landscape and align it with the rapidly evolving digital world. Under her leadership, Verizon’s talent practices in performance management, assessments, and skills development have been highlighted by leading organizations such as Forrester, Gartner, Harvard Business School, and SHRM. Verizon’s learning and development programs have earned recognition from Training Top 10 Hall of Fame, CLO Learning Elite, Brandon Hall and ATD Best.

Ashley holds a Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from the University of South Florida, and has published multiple articles, chapters and presentations on the science of work and talent management. Her leadership is marked by a profound commitment to inclusion, culture, and innovation and she is enthusiastic about giving back to the community, volunteering her time in business development for education, diversity, and social-emotional learning initiatives.

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How AI Reshapes Leadership Development and the Workplace
LEARNING, VIDEO, LEARNING

How AI Reshapes Leadership Development and the Workplace

Abilitie
Since 2015, Abilitie has been at the forefront of business education and leadership development, crafting lively programs that blend human connection and technology to deliver transformational experiences for organizations, teams, and individuals. Our dynamic offerings, including the flagship 12-Week MBA program, focus on core business skills such as financial acumen, leadership, strategy, and decision-making.

Abilitie’s curriculum helps leaders develop the timeless and universal capabilities required to manage numbers and lead people. We provide more than frameworks and tools. Our expert faculty guides leaders through collaborative and competitive simulations and case studies. We’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of leaders at hundreds of companies across dozens of industries. In our experience, the true challenge of leadership lies in leveraging relationships to drive results and driving results to build relationships at one and the same time.

Trusted by over 100 Fortune 500 clients, including Dell, GE, Coca-Cola, and Southwest Airlines, we invite organizations to discover how Abilitie can enhance employees’ abilities to navigate real-world management and strategy scenarios. Our commitment to leadership excellence has earned us recognition as a leading solutions provider; in 2024 Abilitie was named to Training Industry’s Top 20 Leadership Training Companies list and ranked #842 on the Inc. 5000.

Propel your leaders to their potential today with Abilitie.

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Speed to Market: The Power of Centralized Data and the Promise of AI
LIFE SCIENCES, VIDEO, LIFE SCIENCES

Speed to Market: The Power of Centralized Data and the Promise of AI

Ken has spent over 30 years in product, project and IT operations leadership focused in the software and life science industries. Prior to joining IDBS where he focuses on software to manage biopharma manufacturing process data, Ken served as Director, Project Management at BIOVIA. Previously, he was Director of Commercial Operations at Fischer Imaging and Director of IT at Allos Therapeutics and Genomica.

Ken holds a BSc in Computer Science from Cal Poly and an MBA from the University of Colorado, Denver.

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Abundance of IQ, Scarcity of EQ – The Criticality of Leadership in an AI World
VIDEO, SUPPLY CHAIN, SUPPLY CHAIN — EUROPE

Abundance of IQ, Scarcity of EQ – The Criticality of Leadership in an AI World

Fares “rallying cry” for his organization is #BreakingRecordsTogether, as he believes in achieving ambitious goals through strong collaboration and sharing, through building skills and confidence, and through being openminded to technical evolutions that help businesses & organizations to serve consumers better than ever before.

Fares leads the global Product Supply Organization of P&G’s biggest business, producing world-class Fabric-Care products and serving consumers around the world. After starting his P&G career 35 years ago in the Dammam plant, he led 4 different P&G plants in Yemen, South Africa, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, before broadening his scope as the Product Supply Director of P&G’s Central Europe, Middle East & Africa & Western Europe regions.

After this, Fares led P&G’s Global Ambi Pur Division as General Manager, bringing in his extensive Supply Chain-, Business- and Consumer experience. Before taking on his current role as Global Leader of Fabric Care Product Supply, Fares led P&G’s European Supply Chain organization for 10 years, developing the Product Supply function to automate and digitize the end-to-end planning systems as he led in parallel the in Global Business Services and IT for supply planning.

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Fireside Chat: How Amazon is Creating New Opportunities for Employees and Delivering Packages Faster with Generative AI
VIDEO, SUPPLY CHAIN, SUPPLY CHAIN — EUROPE

Fireside Chat: How Amazon is Creating New Opportunities for Employees and Delivering Packages Faster with Generative AI

Stefano Perego is Amazon’s Vice President of International Operations & Global Operations Services. In his role, he manages Amazon’s customer fulfillment and transportation networks internationally, as well as real estate, reliability processes, supply chain procurement, engineering, and security for the company’s operations globally. With over 13 years of experience at Amazon, Stefano’s journey with the company has been marked by several key milestones. He played a pivotal role in the launch of Amazon Operations in Italy, headed fulfillment for France, Italy, and Spain, led the network’s transition to robotics in the UK, and managed fulfillment and supply chain networks across Amazon’s North American and European business before taking on his current role leading all operations in Europe, the Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Stefano has an MSc MEng from Politecnico di Milano in Italy and lives in Luxembourg with his wife and two sons.

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