Speakers

Dean Abbott is Co-Founder and Chief Data Scientist of Smarter Remarketer, Inc., and President of Abbott Analytics, Inc. in San Diego, California. Mr. Abbott is an internationally recognized data mining and predictive analytics expert with over two decades experience applying advanced data mining algorithms, data preparation techniques, and data visualization methods to real-world problems, including fraud detection, risk modeling, text mining, personality assessment, response modeling, survey analysis, planned giving, and predictive toxicology.

Mr. Abbott is the author of Applied Predictive Analytics (Wiley, 2014) and co-author of IBM SPSS Modeler Cookbook (Packt Publishing, 2013). He is a highly-regarded and popular speaker at Predictive Analytics and Data Mining conferences and meetups, and is on the Advisory Boards for the UC/Irvine Predictive Analytics Certificate as well as the UCSD Data Mining Certificate programs.

He has a B.S. in Mathematics of Computation from Rensselaer (1985) and a Master of Applied Mathematics from the University of Virginia (1987).

Dr. Chakrabarti is a Senior Research Scientist in Hitachi's Financial Innovation Lab. in Santa Clara. He works at the intersection of data science and finance, and has been doing industrial research for over ten years . He did his MS-PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rice University, and afterwards did his Master of Financial Engineering at U C Berkeley. Dr. Chakrabarti's research publications and patents have collectively been cited over one thousand times.

Jim is an Academician of International Academy for Quality, a Fellow of American Society for Quality, and is co-author on 9 international patents for advanced analytics in Oil & Gas, and Utilities.  His most recent publications are on Disruptive Analytics and Data Science.  He lectures internationally on Big Data and Advanced Analytics for the China International Industries Fair (keynote 4 years) as well as India and universities in Taiwan, Portugal and Qatar.  Jim’s career includes positions as a corporate director for two Fortune 100 companies.  His positions included Director, Strategic Business Analytics for Anheuser-Busch, Senior Data Scientist for SAS Institute, and Technology Director, Corporate Quality Assurance for Reynolds Metals.  He chaired the committee on statistical procedures for the Aluminum Association and served on the GMP SPC Committee for the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association.  Jim holds BS and MS degrees in statistics.

John Elder chairs America’s most experienced Data Science consultancy. Founded in 1995, Elder Research has offices in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, Washington DC, and London. Dr. Elder co-authored 3 award-winning books on analytics, was a discoverer of ensemble methods, chairs international conferences, and is a popular keynote speaker. John is occasionally an Adjunct Professor of Systems Engineering at the University of Virginia.

Jen Gennai leads Google’s Responsible Innovation team which is responsible for operationalizing Google’s AI Principles, ensuring that Google’s products have fair and ethical outcomes on individual users and the world. Her team works with product and engineering, leveraging a multidisciplinary group of experts in ethics, human rights, user research, racial justice and gender equity to validate that products and outputs align with our commitments to fairness, privacy, safety, societal benefit and more. Before she co-authored the AI Principles and founded Responsible Innovation, Jen worked on machine learning fairness and founded the Ethical ML team in Trust & Safety.

Sarah Kalicin is a HR Measurement Data Scientist with Intel Corporation, who is passionate about how organizations gain more business value through Data Science. In her extensive data career at Intel, she develops strategic plans for analytic adoption to increase business impact. Working in various industry and government positions, such as Becton Dickinson (BD), Kraft Foods, Nabisco, Ford Motor Company, and USDA/National Agriculture Statistics Service, she has gained insight and experience on how successful organizations function that allow them to succeed in their analytic initiatives.  She holds a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics from the University of Michigan and Bachelors’ degrees in Mathematics and Psychology from the SUNY at Oswego.

Diego Klabjan is a professor at Northwestern University, Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences. He is also Founding Director, Master of Science in Analytics and Director, Center for Deep Learning. His work is focused on machine learning, deep learning and analytics (modeling, methodologies, theoretical results) with concentration in finance, insurance, sports, and bioinformatics. Professor Klabjan has led projects with large companies such as Intel, Baxter, Allstate, Anthem, and many others. He is also a co-founder of Videspan, LLC after successfully starting Opex Analytics, a Coupa company.

Wes is a data science innovator, with a career of experience working on projects that elevate data science solutions to business problems.  With a strong background in software engineering, analytics, and machine learning Wes is able to bridge the gap between computer science and data science.  Wes has built software to streamline machine learning at scale, built product integrated machine learning models that drive revenue by increasing product ROI, and answered countless questions with deep dive analysis projects.

James McCaffrey, who annually leads the full-day deep learning workshop at Machine Learning Week, works for Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash. James has a PhD in cognitive psychology and computational statistics from the University of Southern California, a BA in psychology, a BA in applied mathematics, and an MS in computer science. James learned to speak to the public while working at Disneyland as a college student, and he can still recite the entire Jungle Cruise ride narration from memory.

Terry Miller has spent nearly 10 years working with OEMs to evaluate and optimize industrial processes through increased performance of their machines. After finishing a Master’s Degree in Predictive Analytics, Terry began formally training and deploying traditional statistical models, as well as Machine Learning algorithms for asset-predictive (explanatory) maintenance and process optimization, specifically on industrial robots.

In his current role, Terry is building a global team of data scientists and data engineers to solve problems in the Services business for Johnson Controls.  Deploying the best practices of Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics, his team facilitates outcomes in Customer Retention, Pricing, and other enterprise applications.

Long before the buzz surrounding generative AI, Martin Musiol was already advocating for its significance in 2015. Since then, he has been a frequent speaker at conferences, podcasts, and panel discussions, addressing the technological advancements, practical applications, and ethical considerations of generative AI. Martin Musiol is a co-founder of generativeAI.net, a lecturer on AI to over 1000 students, and publisher of the newsletter 'Generative AI: Short & Sweet'. As a Data Science Manager at Infosys Consulting (previously at IBM), Martin Musiol helps companies globally harness the power of generative AI to gain a competitive advantage.

Ayush is the co-founder of TwelveFold, an AI start-up studio, where he manages a portfolio of MLOps and Generative AI companies with entrepreneurs. He also works as the CEO of Censius, an AI Observability platform that helps to optimize AI models' real-world performance.  As a seasoned professional, he has closely worked with customers across industry verticals, AI teams, and research projects to build reliable and compliant AI solutions to solve everyday business problems and scale models at production.

Steven J. Ramirez is the chief executive officer of Berkeley, Calif.-based Beyond the Arc, Inc., a firm recognized as a leader in helping companies transform their customer experiences by leveraging advanced analytics.

In addition to developing and executing the vision for Beyond the Arc, Ramirez leads teams of data and strategy consultants committed to client success. They analyze customer and social media data, combined with text analysis, to drive customer growth, improve customer retention, understand service breaks and build stronger customer loyalty.

Prior to leading Beyond the Arc, Ramirez served as an executive with Time Warner, where he was responsible for creating and successfully implementing marketing and corporate development strategies.

Ramirez earned a bachelor's degree and master's in Business Administration from the University of California at Berkeley. He as also created and taught courses in business management for UC Berkeley and been a guest speaker at the university's Haas School of Business.

Karl Rexer founded Rexer Analytics in 2002. He and his teams have built an outstanding reputation providing predictive modeling and analytic consulting to clients across many industries. Recent clients include OneBlood, PwC, Boston Scientific, Redbox, ADT Security, Interamericana University, MIT, Forward Financing, SharkNinja, and many smaller companies. In addition to leading client engagements and hands-on data work, Karl is a predictive analytics evangelist, frequently speaking at conferences, colleges, and other events. He also serves on Advisory Boards for the Business Analytics programs at both Babson College and Bentley University. Since 2007 Rexer Analytics has conducted surveys of analytic professionals, asking them about their algorithms, tools, behaviors and  views. Summary reports from these surveys are available as a free download from the Rexer Analytics website. Prior to founding Rexer Analytics, Karl held leadership positions at several consulting firms and two multi-national banks. Karl holds a PhD from the University of Connecticut.

Alejandro Jesús Castañeira Rodríguez is the Principal Data Scientist atJanzz.technology a leading developing and consulting company in jobmatching solutions, international classification systems, multilingualknowledge graphs, and processing of Human Resources(HR) information.Janzz offers SaaS/Cloud solutions as well as standard on-premise andwhite-label products in up to 40 languages for multinational jobportals, social and career networks, governmental or state-levelorganizations and public employment services(PES) worldwide. In hiscurrent role, Alejandro leads multiple stages of the product developmentcycle, from data collection, training of deep learning models,evaluation, deployment, maintenance, and customer support. He alsosupports and mentors other members of its team, providing guidance ontechnical issues, setting performance goals, and identifying areas forprofessional growth. Before coming to the HR industry, Alejandro was alecturer of Applied Mathematics and researcher, for more than 5 years atone of the most prestigious and beloved universities in Latin America,the Universidad de Oriente, Cuba. Where he graduated from a Master'sDegree in Computer Science specializing in the field of ArtificialIntelligence and Natural Language Processing.

Asha Saxena is a strategic, innovative leader with a proven track record of building successful tech businesses for the last 25 years. With a strong academic background, creative problem-solving skills, and an effective management style. She has been instrumental in building business models for success.

Asha Saxena is the Founder and CEO of Women Leaders in Data and AI (WLDA), an organization bringing senior leaders together with a mission to create an impactful digital world with parity and equity.

Asha Saxena is also a partner at CEO Coaching International, a leading coaching firm for growth-focused CEOs and entrepreneurs, where we follow a practical and proven methodology to help CEOs and their teams perform at their very best and achieve their business goals.

As a Board Advisor and an Adjunct Professor at Columbia University, she teaches graduate classes on Management Consulting, Entrepreneurship and Big Data Analytics. She has served a four-year term as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School.

Published Author, Columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine, Asha Saxena is a well-known key-note speaker on Entrepreneurship, Leadership, Women in Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

Eric Siegel, Ph.D., founder of the Predictive Analytics World conference series and executive editor of The Machine Learning Times, makes the how and why of predictive analytics understandable and captivating. He is the author of the award-winning Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die, a former Columbia University professor who used to sing to his students, and a renowned speaker, educator, and leader in the field.

Eric has appeared on Bloomberg TV and Radio, Business News Network (Canada), Fox News, Israel National Radio, NPR Marketplace, Radio National (Australia), and TheStreet. He and his book have been featured in Businessweek, CBS MoneyWatch, Contagious Magazine, The European Business Review, The Financial Times, Forbes, Forrester, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, The Huffington Post, The New York Review of Books, Newsweek, Quartz, Salon, Scientific American, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and WSJ MarketWatch. Follow him at @predictanalytic.

Evan Wimpey was a Financial Management Officer in the Marine Corps and an Operations Associate at Goldman Sachs prior to joining Elder Research as a Data Scientist. He holds master's degrees in Economics from East Carolina University and in Analytics from North Carolina State University. He is currently the Director of Strategic Analytics at Elder Research. Evan has a passion for cryptocurrency and exploring more equitable access to credit markets. Evan lives in Cary, NC with his wife and two sons.