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Software Infra

Author:

Ankur Mehrotra

GM, SageMaker AI
AWS

Ankur Mehrotra is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker AI services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker AI, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.

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Ankur Mehrotra

GM, SageMaker AI
AWS

Ankur Mehrotra is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker AI services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker AI, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.

Systems Optimization

Author:

Haseeb Budhani

Co-Founder & CEO
Rafay Systems

Haseeb Budhani is the CEO and co-founder of Rafay Systems. He previously co-founded and led Soha Systems, which was acquired by Akamai Technologies, where he later served as Vice President of Enterprise Strategy. Haseeb has also held executive and leadership roles at Infineta Systems, NET, and several other technology companies. He holds an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

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Haseeb Budhani

Co-Founder & CEO
Rafay Systems

Haseeb Budhani is the CEO and co-founder of Rafay Systems. He previously co-founded and led Soha Systems, which was acquired by Akamai Technologies, where he later served as Vice President of Enterprise Strategy. Haseeb has also held executive and leadership roles at Infineta Systems, NET, and several other technology companies. He holds an MBA from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Southern California.

Author:

Vinesh Sukumar

VP of Product Management for AI
Qualcomm

Vinesh Sukumar currently serves as VP of Product Management for AI at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc (QTI).  In this role, he leads AI product definition, strategy and solution deployment across multiple business units.

He has about 20 years of industry experience spread across research, engineering and application deployment. He currently holds a doctorate degree specializing in imaging and vision systems while also completing a business degree focused on strategy and marketing. He is a regular speaker in many AI industry forums and has authored several journal papers and two technical books.

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Vinesh Sukumar

VP of Product Management for AI
Qualcomm

Vinesh Sukumar currently serves as VP of Product Management for AI at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc (QTI).  In this role, he leads AI product definition, strategy and solution deployment across multiple business units.

He has about 20 years of industry experience spread across research, engineering and application deployment. He currently holds a doctorate degree specializing in imaging and vision systems while also completing a business degree focused on strategy and marketing. He is a regular speaker in many AI industry forums and has authored several journal papers and two technical books.

Author:

Nikhil Tyagi

Senior Manager, Wireless Device Innovation Strategy
Verizon

Nikhil Tyagi is a recognized leader in next-generation technology, with a proven track record at the intersection of AI infrastructure, wireless innovation, and immersive computing. As Senior Manager of Wireless Device Innovation at Verizon, he leads strategic initiatives for breakthrough device categories that integrate AI, XR (AR/VR), and advanced connectivity.

Previously, Nikhil held key roles at Humane, Meta, and Apple, where he helped shape pioneering AI and XR experiences—from developing on-device intelligence for ambient computing, to architecting scalable XR systems and wearable platforms. His cross-functional expertise spans edge AI, spatial computing, and system-level wireless design, making him a pivotal voice in the evolving landscape of AI-driven interfaces."

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Nikhil Tyagi

Senior Manager, Wireless Device Innovation Strategy
Verizon

Nikhil Tyagi is a recognized leader in next-generation technology, with a proven track record at the intersection of AI infrastructure, wireless innovation, and immersive computing. As Senior Manager of Wireless Device Innovation at Verizon, he leads strategic initiatives for breakthrough device categories that integrate AI, XR (AR/VR), and advanced connectivity.

Previously, Nikhil held key roles at Humane, Meta, and Apple, where he helped shape pioneering AI and XR experiences—from developing on-device intelligence for ambient computing, to architecting scalable XR systems and wearable platforms. His cross-functional expertise spans edge AI, spatial computing, and system-level wireless design, making him a pivotal voice in the evolving landscape of AI-driven interfaces."

Systems Optimization

Author:

Apala Guha

Principal AI Architect
Microsoft

Apala Guha is Principal AI Architect at Microsoft. In her current role, she studies AI model architectures and analyzes their behavior and performance on GPUs. With these insights, she co-designs SoCs, systems and compilers for Azure AI. In the past, she was part of AI hardware development at Tenstorrent and Lightmatter. She has a PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Virginia and has held several academic research positions on accelerator compilers.

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Apala Guha

Principal AI Architect
Microsoft

Apala Guha is Principal AI Architect at Microsoft. In her current role, she studies AI model architectures and analyzes their behavior and performance on GPUs. With these insights, she co-designs SoCs, systems and compilers for Azure AI. In the past, she was part of AI hardware development at Tenstorrent and Lightmatter. She has a PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Virginia and has held several academic research positions on accelerator compilers.

Author:

James Kelly

VP Market Intelligence & Innovation
Open Compute Project

James joined the OCP Foundation staff in 2024 as VP Market Intelligence and Innovation, working with technology leaders in the community and augmenting the foundation’s directional strategy, innovation efforts and marketing. His contributions to the OCP proceed from over two decades of experience in technology research, engineering, product management and marketing.

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James Kelly

VP Market Intelligence & Innovation
Open Compute Project

James joined the OCP Foundation staff in 2024 as VP Market Intelligence and Innovation, working with technology leaders in the community and augmenting the foundation’s directional strategy, innovation efforts and marketing. His contributions to the OCP proceed from over two decades of experience in technology research, engineering, product management and marketing.

Author:

Dharmesh Jani

Director of AI Infrastructure Ecosystem & Partnerships
Meta
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Dharmesh Jani

Director of AI Infrastructure Ecosystem & Partnerships
Meta

Author:

Pyungsu Han

VP & CTO
Qualitas Semiconductor

Pyungsu Han is the Vice President and CTO of R&D at Qualitas Semiconductor.
He holds a Ph.D. from Yonsei University and previously worked at LG Electronics.
With deep expertise in high-speed interconnect technology, he leads cutting-edge R&D initiatives and drives strategic growth in the semiconductor industry.

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Pyungsu Han

VP & CTO
Qualitas Semiconductor

Pyungsu Han is the Vice President and CTO of R&D at Qualitas Semiconductor.
He holds a Ph.D. from Yonsei University and previously worked at LG Electronics.
With deep expertise in high-speed interconnect technology, he leads cutting-edge R&D initiatives and drives strategic growth in the semiconductor industry.

Optimized Infrastructure
Gen AI
Agentic AI

Author:

Jeongkyu Shin

CEO
Lablup

Jeongkyu Shin is the founder of Lablup Inc. and has made significant contributions to open-source projects over the past two decades, including his lead developer role in the Textcube Project. He has served as an AI expert at Google Developers Experts since 2017 and was active in the Innovative Steering Board of the Northeast Asia Open Source Software Promotion Forum until 2022. In recognition of his contributions to the technology industry, he was awarded the prestigious Industrial Service Medal by the Korean government in 2024. Additionally, Jeongkyu supports startup companies as a technical mentor at Google for Startups Accelerator.

He holds a Ph.D. in Statistical Physics from POSTECH, where his research focused on complex systems, agent-based models, and computational neuroscience. Throughout his career, Jeongkyu has led machine learning and open-source projects in various companies and labs, specializing in text classification, entropy-related information compression, and contextual search. Since 2015, he has been developing Backend.AI, an open-source, hyper-scalable AI infrastructure platform (available at https://www.backend.ai).

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Jeongkyu Shin

CEO
Lablup

Jeongkyu Shin is the founder of Lablup Inc. and has made significant contributions to open-source projects over the past two decades, including his lead developer role in the Textcube Project. He has served as an AI expert at Google Developers Experts since 2017 and was active in the Innovative Steering Board of the Northeast Asia Open Source Software Promotion Forum until 2022. In recognition of his contributions to the technology industry, he was awarded the prestigious Industrial Service Medal by the Korean government in 2024. Additionally, Jeongkyu supports startup companies as a technical mentor at Google for Startups Accelerator.

He holds a Ph.D. in Statistical Physics from POSTECH, where his research focused on complex systems, agent-based models, and computational neuroscience. Throughout his career, Jeongkyu has led machine learning and open-source projects in various companies and labs, specializing in text classification, entropy-related information compression, and contextual search. Since 2015, he has been developing Backend.AI, an open-source, hyper-scalable AI infrastructure platform (available at https://www.backend.ai).

Author:

Ankur Mehrotra

GM, SageMaker AI
AWS

Ankur Mehrotra is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker AI services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker AI, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.

... read more

Ankur Mehrotra

GM, SageMaker AI
AWS

Ankur Mehrotra is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker AI services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker AI, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.

Author:

Sakshi Naik

Lead Data Scientist
Walgreens Boots Alliance

Sakshi Naik is an AI Consultant at Walgreens Boots Alliance, where she leads the development of ethical and impactful AI solutions in healthcare. With a Master’s in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s in IT Engineering from Mumbai University, she brings deep technical expertise across data science, machine learning, and AI infrastructure.

Sakshi is also a recognized voice in AI policy. She has advised U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives on the future of responsible AI and serves as Secretary of the IEEE Connecticut Section. As a member of the IEEE AI Policy Committee (AIPC), she actively contributes to shaping national and global frameworks for trustworthy AI.

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Sakshi Naik

Lead Data Scientist
Walgreens Boots Alliance

Sakshi Naik is an AI Consultant at Walgreens Boots Alliance, where she leads the development of ethical and impactful AI solutions in healthcare. With a Master’s in Computer Science from Stevens Institute of Technology and a Bachelor’s in IT Engineering from Mumbai University, she brings deep technical expertise across data science, machine learning, and AI infrastructure.

Sakshi is also a recognized voice in AI policy. She has advised U.S. Senators and Members of the House of Representatives on the future of responsible AI and serves as Secretary of the IEEE Connecticut Section. As a member of the IEEE AI Policy Committee (AIPC), she actively contributes to shaping national and global frameworks for trustworthy AI.

Storage
Systems Optimization
Moderator

Author:

Rashmi Gopinath

General Partner
BAM Corner Point

Rashmi Gopinath is a General Partner at B Capital Group where she leads the fund’s enterprise software practice in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, devops, and AI/ML sectors. She brings over two decades of experience investing and operating in cutting-edge enterprise technologies. She led B Capital’s investments in over 24 companies such as DataRobot, FalconX, Clari, Phenom People, Synack, Innovaccer, Labelbox, Fabric, 6Sense, Highspot, Pendo, Starburst, OwnBackup, Figment, Perimeter81, Zesty, among others.

Rashmi was previously a Managing Director at M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, where she led investments globally in enterprise software and sat on several boards including Synack, Innovaccer, Contrast Security, Frame, UnravelData, Incorta, among others.

Prior to M12, Rashmi was an Investment Director with Intel Capital where she was involved in the firm’s investments in startups including MongoDB (Nasdaq: MDB), ForeScout (Nasdaq: FSCT), Maginatics (acq. by EMC), BlueData (acq. by HPE), among others. Rashmi held operating roles at high-growth startups such as BlueData (acq. by HPE) and Couchbase (Nasdaq: BASE) where she led global business development, product and marketing roles. She began her career in engineering and product roles at Oracle and GE Healthcare. She earned an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Mumbai in India.

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Rashmi Gopinath

General Partner
BAM Corner Point

Rashmi Gopinath is a General Partner at B Capital Group where she leads the fund’s enterprise software practice in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, devops, and AI/ML sectors. She brings over two decades of experience investing and operating in cutting-edge enterprise technologies. She led B Capital’s investments in over 24 companies such as DataRobot, FalconX, Clari, Phenom People, Synack, Innovaccer, Labelbox, Fabric, 6Sense, Highspot, Pendo, Starburst, OwnBackup, Figment, Perimeter81, Zesty, among others.

Rashmi was previously a Managing Director at M12, Microsoft’s venture fund, where she led investments globally in enterprise software and sat on several boards including Synack, Innovaccer, Contrast Security, Frame, UnravelData, Incorta, among others.

Prior to M12, Rashmi was an Investment Director with Intel Capital where she was involved in the firm’s investments in startups including MongoDB (Nasdaq: MDB), ForeScout (Nasdaq: FSCT), Maginatics (acq. by EMC), BlueData (acq. by HPE), among others. Rashmi held operating roles at high-growth startups such as BlueData (acq. by HPE) and Couchbase (Nasdaq: BASE) where she led global business development, product and marketing roles. She began her career in engineering and product roles at Oracle and GE Healthcare. She earned an M.B.A. from Northwestern University, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from University of Mumbai in India.

Author:

Sebastien Jean

CTO
Phison
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Sebastien Jean

CTO
Phison