2021 Speakers

Ajit Pai is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. He was designated Chairman by President Donald J. Trump in January 2017. He had previously served as Commissioner at the FCC, appointed by then-President Barack Obama and confirmed unanimously by the United States Senate in May 2012.

Regulatory Philosophy

Chairman Pai’s regulatory philosophy is informed by a few simple principles. Rules that reflect these principles will result in more innovation, more investment, better products and services, lower prices, more job creation, and faster economic growth.

• Consumers benefit most from competition, not preemptive regulation. Free markets have delivered more value to American consumers than highly regulated ones.
• No regulatory system should indulge arbitrage; regulators should be skeptical of pleas to regulate rivals, dispense favors, or otherwise afford special treatment.
• Particularly given how rapidly the communications sector is changing, the FCC should do everything it can to ensure that its rules reflect the realities of the current marketplace and basic principles of economics.
• As a creature of Congress, the FCC must respect the law as set forth by the legislature.
• The FCC is at its best when it proceeds on the basis of consensus; good communications policy knows no partisan affiliation.

In his position as Global Head of US Telco Partnerships at Niantic Labs, Alex Rodriguez oversees all OEM/MNO partnerships aimed at delivering breakthrough branded gaming experiences. Over the past 15 years, his diverse background spans across multiple tech industries ranging from digital strategy at Warner Music Group to mobile payments product development at American Express and prior to Niantic spent 7 years developing disruptive marketing strategies and campaigns at Samsung Mobile. Alex holds a Marketing degree from Baruch college and frequently speaks at technology events worldwide to share his progressive views on how big tech brands can tap into emerging consumer trends.

Anne was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AT&T Business in September 2019. She and her organization of over 30,000 employees are responsible for serving nearly 3 million business customers in upwards of 200 countries and territories around the world. AT&T Business customers span all industries including the public sector as well as nearly all of the world’s Fortune 1000 companies. She is the first woman to hold this position and first woman of color CEO in AT&T’s history.

With decades in the industry, Anne has led many global organizations through major transformations, developing and executing innovative growth strategies while building role model relationships. She’s passionate about education, diversity and inclusion, advancing women in technology and cultivating next generation leaders.

Previously, Anne was President – National Business, where she led over 12,000 business professionals supporting 95 percent of AT&T’s business customers nationwide. Across numerous AT&T Business segments, she oversaw customer experience, management of direct and indirect sales channels, the B2B Sales Development Program, call center support, and DIRECTV FOR BUSINESSSM.

As President and CEO, Biju Nair is responsible for the execution and strategy of HYLA’s global business. He leads the company’s expanding effort to grow the company’s global strategic vision, with a focus on bringing new technology solutions and new business opportunities to the forefront. He is responsible for all aspects of ensuring the company’s short and long-term goals are realized and that the corporate strategy is secure and engaged.

Bringing more than 20 years of experience to his role, Biju is a recognized entrepreneur and technology industry leader. Most recently, he served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Corporate Strategy Officer for Synchronoss, where he was responsible for leading the technology direction and strategic vision of the company as well as investor relations.

Prior to joining Synchronoss, Biju was the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Sapience Knowledge Systems, Inc., a venture-backed wireless software company that was acquired by Synchronoss Technologies in 2011. Previously, he held the position of Senior Vice President and GM of the Connectivity and Security Group at Smith Micro Software and Corporate Vice President and GM and founder of Mobility Solutions Group at PCTEL, Inc. which was acquired by Smith Micro in 2008. In addition, Biju has held senior executive positions at SAFCO Technologies and Agilent Technologies.

Biju has a Master of Science Degree in Electronic and Computer Engineering from Politechnika Warszawska and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Illinois Institute of Technology.

Chetan Sharma is CEO and founder of Chetan Sharma Consulting and is one of the leading strategists in the mobile industry. Executives from wireless companies around the world seek his accurate predictions, independent insights, and actionable recommendations. He has served as an advisor to senior executives of several Fortune 100 companies in the wireless space and is probably the only industry strategist who has advised each of the top 6 global mobile data operators. Chetan is the author or co-author or editor of 12 best-selling books on mobile and over 200 articles related to mobile. He has been serving on the advisory boards of Telefonica, Ericsson, Kymeta and other stealth startups.

Cole Crawford is CEO and founder of Vapor IO, creators of the Kinetic Edge™ platform and the leading provider of edge colocation, edge networking and edge interconnection services. He is a founding board member of the Open19 Foundation and was previously the founding executive director of the Open Compute Project Foundation. Cole is a co-founder of OpenStack, and has been a thought leader in data center technology and edge computing for over a decade. He is leading Vapor IO in developing the largest nationwide edge colocation and interconnection platform at the edge of the cellular network. Cole has been named to Data Economy’s list of The World’s Most Influential Data Economy Leaders and The World’s First Top 50 Edge Computing Influencers.

Craig Moffett has consistently been ranked as the top analyst in the U.S. in both the U.S. Telecom and Cable & Satellite sectors. He was rated the #1 analyst in the U.S. Telecommunications sector by Bloomberg Markets in their first annual research poll in 2012, and he has been ranked among the top analysts in Telecommunications in the U.S. in Institutional Investor’s survey every year since 2008. Mr. Moffett graduated from Harvard Business School with Honors in 1989. He received a BA from Brown University phi beta kappa in 1984.

Dan Hesse currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Akamai Technologies (NASDAQ: AKAM), where he serves as chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, and PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) where he chairs the Technology Subcommittee.

Dan served as President and CEO of Sprint Corporation from December 2007 to August 2014. Previously, Hesse was the Chairman and CEO of Embarq Corporation, Chairman, President and CEO of Terabeam Corporation, and he spent 23 years at AT&T, where from 1997 – 2000, he served as the President and CEO of AT&T Wireless Services, at the time the United States’ largest wireless carrier.

He received a BA from Notre Dame, an MBA from Cornell, and an MS from MIT where he was awarded the Brooks Thesis Prize. He holds a Carnegie Mellon University/NACD CERT certificate in Cybersecurity Oversight.

Darshan is the CEO and Founder of Isima, builder of bi(OS), the world’s first hyper-converged data platform. He has spent the last two decades in silicon valley, building products based on Applied AI, distributed systems, and open API principles targeting Fortune 1000 enterprises. Before Isima, he delivered telco-grade products used by 100’s of millions of users at DataStax and Openwave Messaging.  Earlier in his career, he deployed ML models in production to detect and improve Fraud Protection in search advertising at Yahoo. He has a Masters in Software Management from CMU.

David Pinn is a technology executive with a focus on finance, strategy, and corporate development. As Brain Corp’s Chief Strategy Officer, David is responsible for building and implementing growth plans and partnerships for San Diego’s premier robotics company.

Before his time with Brain Corp, David was head of finance for Antenna79, a technology startup backed by L Catterton, the world’s largest consumer-focused private equity group.  He was a founder of Snaptracs, Qualcomm’s consumer electronics subsidiary, and he led a number of acquisitions and divestitures within Qualcomm’s Strategic Finance group. Prior to his career in finance, David was an electrical engineer designing test systems for cellular, WiFi and Bluetooth applications.

David received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and completed an MBA at UC Berkeley where he was a Mayfield Fellow.

Dr. Corinna Lathan is CEO, Co-Founder, and Board Chair of AnthroTronix, Inc., a woman-owned biomedical engineering research and development company creating diverse human-centered products in digital health, wearable technology, robotics, and augmented reality.  Most recently, Dr. Lathan led the technical team to develop DANA^tm, an FDA-cleared, mobile digital health software platform for the Department of Defense as a deployed diagnostic support to evaluate cognitive function during treatment for depression, brain injury, and post-traumatic stress.  For this work, she was named a 2017 Woman to Watch by Disruptive Women in Health Care. Dr. Lathan is currently co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Human Enhancement and is a thought leader on technology trends that impact health and healthcare.

Dr. Lathan serves as an Independent Director of PTC, Inc., a global technology provider of Internet of Things and Augmented Reality platforms.  Dr. Lathan also serves as a Director on the non-profit boards Engineering World Health and The KID-Museum, and is on the Advisory Board of the Smithsonian Institute’s Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.  Dr. Lathan also serves as a Judge and Advisor to the XPRIZE.

Dr. Lathan has been featured in Forbes, Time, and the New Yorker magazines and her work has led to such distinctions as Maryland’s “Top Innovator of the Year,” MIT Technology Review Magazine’s “Top 100 World Innovators,” and one of Fast Company Magazines “Most Creative People in Business.” Dr. Lathan was named a Technology Pioneer and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and served as Chair of their Global Agenda Council for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.

Prior to founding AnthroTronix, Dr. Lathan was an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering at The Catholic University of America and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Lathan received her B.A. in Biopsychology and Mathematics from Swarthmore College, and an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Ph.D. in Neuroscience from MIT.

Dr. Jennifer Schneider is the President of Livongo. In this role, she is responsible for product, data science, engineering, marketing, and clinical operations. Dr. Schneider previously served as the company’s Chief Medical Officer where she led the company’s strategic clinical product vision, data science, clinical trials, and the organization’s certified diabetes educators and coaches. She is the author of Decoding Health Signals: Silicon Valley’s Consumer-First Approach to a New Era of Health, which offers a guide to the depth of the chronic conditions problem facing the industry today and explores how companies are using big data analytics and artificial intelligence to reinvent care delivery for people with chronic conditions.

Prior to Livongo, Dr. Schneider held several key leadership roles at Castlight Health, most recently as Chief Medical Officer. She also has held leadership roles in the provider setting as a health outcomes researcher and Chief Resident at Stanford University, and has practiced medicine as an attending physician at Stanford University, the VA Palo Alto Health Care System, and Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Schneider has an undergraduate degree from the College of the Holy Cross, a Doctor of Medicine degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and a Master of Science degree in Health Services Research from Stanford University. She completed her internal medicine residency at Stanford University Hospital.

Dr. Schneider is a frequent speaker about innovation in healthcare, where she shares her unique perspective as a practicing physician, health services researcher, senior executive and individual who has lived with Type 1 diabetes for more than 30 years. In 2020, Modern Healthcare named Dr. Schneider one of the 50 Most Influential Clinical Executives for her work improving the healthcare experience for people living with chronic conditions. She has three children and is an avid runner and athlete, having completed her first IronMan in 2016.

Dr. Kalil Abdullah, M.D., MSc is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurological Surgery at UT Southwestern Medical Center. He specializes in the treatment of adult brain tumors, with an emphasis on low- and high-grade gliomas. Dr. Abdullah treats brain tumors using traditional microsurgery techniques and minimally invasive surgery options including endoscopy and laser therapy. Some of these surgeries are performed using an intraoperative MRI scanner- one of the few in the nation of its kind- which allows him to see tumor resection in real-time. He received his medical degree from the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, where he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Abdullah has published over 100 research publications and articles, has been independently funded as a cancer researcher, and has been an invited lecturer both nationally and internationally.

Dr. Mahesh Saptharishi is Motorola Solution’s chief technology officer. Saptharishi has more than 20 years of technology leadership experience and leads innovation across the company’s platforms in mission-critical communications, video and command center software. His areas of focus include applications that bring together artificial intelligence (AI) and human intelligence to rapidly interpret vast quantities of data, as well as new user interfaces for efficiently delivering information.

Dr. Faiman currently serves as a Staff Physician and Medical Director of Express Care Online at Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Faiman obtained his Bachelor of Science Degree, Master’s

Degree in Business Administration, and Medical Doctorate from the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Cleveland Clinic in 2002. Dr. Faiman is passionate about finding innovative ways to apply Telehealth both nationally and internationally.

Patrick Sobalvarro is the co-founder and CEO of Veo Robotics, a company that brings advanced computer vision, 3D sensing, and AI to industrial robots, allowing them to work side-by-side with humans in manufacturing processes.

Patrick has more than twenty-five years of experience in computer vision, robotics, and industrial automation. Prior to founding Veo Robotics, Patrick was the first Entrepreneur in Residence at Siemens Venture Capital, focusing on the creation of the vision behind Veo. He also served as the VP of New Growth Platforms for Avery Dennison, building a new business line in RFID-based IoT products, was President of Rethink Robotics, creators of collaborative manufacturing robots, and founded and led the computer vision startup IntelliVid to its acquisition by Tyco International.

Originally trained as a computer scientist, Patrick holds a Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Dr. Browd, M.D., Ph.D., FACS, FAANS, FAAP is professor of neurological surgery at the University of Washington and attending neurosurgeon at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Dr. Browd is the director of The Sports Institute at UW Medicine and medical director of the Seattle Children’s Sports Concussion Program. Dr. Browd co-founded four venture-backed, biomedical start-ups out of the UW where he serves as chief medical officer. He serves as a UW presidential entrepreneurial faculty fellow and is on the advisory board of CoMotion, the commercialization arm of the UW. Dr. Browd teaches at the Foster School of Business and lectures internationally on biomedical innovation and commercialization. He was recognized as the University of Washington School of Medicine inventor of the year in 2016.

Wim is the Co-Founder and Chief Architect of Kiswe Mobile, a pioneer in interactive-social mobile video experiences. Previously, Wim was at Bell Labs where he was a key contributor to the JPEG2000 standard. Wim was also the President of the Alcatel-Lucent Mobile Division, head of the Ventures Group, and Entrepreneur-in-residence at Columbia University. Wim has a PhD in Applied Mathematics, is a fellow of the IEEE, and a member of the Belgian Royal Academy of Sciences.

As Group CTO, Erik Ekudden is responsible for setting the direction of technology leadership for the Ericsson Group. In 2017 he was re-located to Kista, Sweden, after nearly seven-year at Ericsson in Santa Clara, California.

His experience from working with technology leadership globally will influence the strategic decisions and investments in mobility, distributed cloud, artificial intelligence and Internet of Things. This builds on his decades-long career in technology strategies and industry activities.

Ekudden first joined Ericsson in 1993 working on mobile systems research. He has served as research area director and vice president of standardization. During his career, his team created technology and multimedia functionality that are now used in today’s smartphones worldwide. This team also conducted some of the first work on virtual and augmented reality for mobile systems. He has worked to create global mobile systems for 3G, 4G and 5G in close collaboration with customers.

He holds a Master of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.

Galeal  Zino is the Founder & CEO of NetFoundry Inc.  NetFoundry is the leader in zero trust, programmable networking.  Galeal has been building reliable and secure Internet-based communication solutions for the past 20 years, leading teams at Tata (VP), LocalReplay (CEO), Teleglobe (VP) and ITXC (VP).  Galeal has been awarded eight patents, and the patented software still powers the Internet services of some of the world’s largest communications providers.

Dr. Ganesh Sundaram is founder and CEO of AlefEdge and is a leader in wireless technology with over 20 years of rich experience in technology creation and has worked extensively with operators globally. Prior to founding the Company, he was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff and lead multiple secure wireless solutions initiatives at Bell Labs, New Jersey. He has developed several foundational technologies, leading to new standards, products and deployments, and has authored over 50 patents relating to mobile data networking, architecture, security, cryptography, resource management and mobility management. He was named a Bell Labs Fellow in 2012, inducted into the Alcatel-Lucent technical academy 2009, and is a recipient of two Bell Labs president’s awards. Dr. Sundaram has PhD in Mathematics from Purdue University and Master of Science degrees in Applied Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering from Oklahoma State University.

Gil Rosen is CMO and president of Amdocs:next, having rejoined Amdocs at the end of 2018. In this role, Gil is responsible for Internet of Things, data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, financial services and payments.

Previous to this, Gil serviced as the chief marketing and innovation officer at Bezeq, Israel’s largest telecommunication provider. Here he significantly accelerated Bezeq’s strive towards digitization and market leadership in the IoT domain with the launch of Bezeq’s Smart Strategy, including a smart city, smart business and smart home offering. Prior to Bezeq, Gil was vice president of new media at Deutsche Telekom, responsible for the development of the cloud set top box concept, the Tolino Tab, and was the founder and business leader of Deutsche Telekom’s first fully digitized cloud-based communication provider, IMMMR.

In his first tenure at Amdocs, Gil was vice president of innovation and digital services and the founder and head of the AT&T Foundry in Israel. In this role, Gil was responsible for the setup of a new innovation center and the creation of a hybrid R&D and partnership model that led to the launch of successful innovation projects for AT&T.

Glenn Lurie serves as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Synchronoss Technologies. Glenn joined the Synchronoss team in November, 2017 with nearly 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications and wireless industries.

Prior to joining Synchronoss, Glenn was President and Chief Executive Officer of AT&T’s Mobility and Consumer Operations where he successfully grew the nation’s leading wireless and consumer business. During this time Glenn managed sales and distribution, customer care, operations, home entertainment and video services. Glenn and his team were also responsible for the integration of AT&T’s Direct TV and the company’s digital business.
After starting his career in the early days of the wireless industry at McCaw Cellular, Glenn helped usher in the modern smartphone era by leading AT&T’s negotiations with Apple to introduce the first iPhone and iPad. He built three groundbreaking business for AT&T: IoT business – bringing wireless connectivity to tablets, cars and consumer electronics; Digital Life – AT&T’s home automation and security business, and finally the launch of Aio Wireless – now Cricket Wireless, the companies’ industry leading prepaid flanker brand.
In 2014, Glenn was named as one of just 10 “MobileGameChangers” by Russell Reynolds Associates for his mobile-first approach to developing innovative services that enhance the way people live. Glenn was named to the Global Telecom Business “Power 100” multiple times, awarded Wireless Week’s Telecom Leadership Award in 2010, and presented the Atlanta Telecom Professional of the Year Award in 2009 from the Atlanta Telecoms Professionals Association.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business/Marketing from Seattle Pacific University. An avid soccer player, Glenn was a three-time National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) National Champion at Seattle Pacific University. He was also a 1st Round Draft pick in the Major Indoor Soccer League and went on to play professionally for teams in Cleveland, Atlanta, Milwaukee and Portland.

Hank is President of Connected Solutions at Aptiv, a leading technology company in the automotive space. Mr. Skorny has extensive experience in the mobile software and services industry as well as in PC software for 30 years. Prior to joining Aptiv, Mr. Skorny served as SVP – IoT at Neustar and the VP of Software & Services Group and GM of the Intel Services Division at Intel Corporation. Prior to that he was Chief Strategy Officer and SVP of RealNetworks, Inc., and President CEO of mobile messaging startup, Thumbspeed,Inc. Earlier in his career, Mr. Skorny was executive at AOL, Adobe Systems, Microsoft and Apple Computer.

Ina Fried is a Chief Technology Correspondent, where she covers a wide range of technology issues. Before helping launch Recode, Ina covered mobile at All Things Digital where she also co-produced the D: Dive Into Mobile conference. She spent a decade at CNET where she covered, among other things, Microsoft and Apple. Prior to joining CNET in May 2000, she covered chips for Bridge News and was a writer at the Orange County Business Journal and Orange County Register. She graduated from Miami University in Ohio.

John Baker is the Senior Vice President of Business Development at Mavenir. A veteran of the mobile industry, board member for 5G Americas, and sought-after industry speaker, John Baker leads the 5G team at Mavenir, intent on disrupting the market by transforming operator network economics.

A visionary and driving force behind Mavenir’s business strategy, John is at the forefront of the company’s drive to change operator views on wireless infrastructure deployment—promoting a software-focused approach to innovation, with no ties to supporting legacy hardware.

Prior to joining Mavenir, John held senior positions with leading wireless companies, including:

• GM Mobility Infrastructure at Spirent Communications
• VP & GM Network Solutions at CommScope
• VP & GM Base Stations at Nokia
• VP of Technology and Chief Technology Officer at Pacific Bell Mobile Services

John also contributed significantly in the development of the GSM standards. He graduated with an Honors Degree in Electrical Electronic Engineering from Loughborough University in Leicestershire, UK. John is frequently quoted in major wireless industry publications including Wireless Week, Fierce Wireless, Light Reading, SDX Central, RCR Wireless and Mobile World Live.

John Stanton is a wireless industry pioneer, co-founding three of the top 10 wireless operators in the United States during the last 37 years.  His involvement in the wireless industry began in 1982 when John helped found McCaw Cellular Communications, where he served as Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman.  By 1989, McCaw had grown to be the largest wireless operator in the US and in 1994 was sold to form what is now AT&T Wireless.

Beginning in 1989, John and his partners formed a number of private entities to provide wireless service in rural areas.  In 1994 these entities were combined to form Western Wireless Corporation, which went public in 1996 (NASDAQ: WWCA).  In addition to the company’s US operations, Western Wireless also operated wireless networks in eleven countries in Europe, Africa, and South America.  Western Wireless was the nation’s seventh largest independent wireless operator when it was acquired by Alltel Corporation in August 2005 in a transaction valued at $6.2B. John served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer from 1989 to 2005.

Today, John is the Chairman of the three Trilogy Partnerships.  Trilogy Equity Partners invests in early stage growth companies; Trilogy Search Partners invests in private search funds and Trilogy International Partners Inc. (TRL.TO) operates national wireless systems in Bolivia and New Zealand.  John is also the Chairman and Managing Partner of First Avenue Entertainment which owns the Seattle Mariners and Root Sports.  John serves on the boards of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST).

Jon Fortt is co-anchor of CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” (M-F, 11AM-12PM ET) broadcast live from the New York Stock Exchange. Previously, he was an on-air editor based at CNBC’s global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. Fortt joined CNBC as technology correspondent in July 2010, working from CNBC’s Silicon Valley bureau where he covered the companies, start-ups and trends that are driving innovation in the industry. He also contributes to CNBC.com.

He came to CNBC from Fortune magazine, where as a senior writer he covered both large technology companies— such as Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, and Microsoft—and trends, including cloud computing and the smartphone revolution.

Before joining Fortune in 2007, Fortt was a senior editor at Business 2.0 magazine where he produced the “What Works” section. From 1999 to 2006, Fortt wrote and edited at the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley’s hometown newspaper. There he contributed to several efforts that won awards from the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

Josh Sackman is the President and Cofounder of AppliedVR, a company pioneering virtual reality therapeutics to address unmet needs and improve clinical outcomes for patients with serious health conditions. He has spent the last decade building businesses at the intersection of health and technology. Sackman has been featured in Wired, Forbes and MIT Technology Review and has spoken at international conferences such as South by Southwest, Partners Connected Health and Health 2.0, as well as The White House about the use of virtual reality technology in healthcare.

Ken Denman is a venture partner at Sway Ventures and a voting member of the Investment Committee. He also leads Sway Studios, a new platform that will have the firm building and launching venture-scale businesses. Ken brings nearly two decades of CEO experience to Sway Ventures’ consumer and enterprise investments, garnered through successful transformations at several companies.

Ken is a former Silicon Valley technology CEO and now stays equally busy as a public and private board member and venture capitalist. Previously he was co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Emotient, Inc., a developer of software technology to analyze facial expressions, until the company was acquired by Apple in January 2016. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Openwave Systems, Inc., subsequent to his role as the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of iPass, Inc., for which he led a successful IPO. Ken was also a Senior Vice President for MediaOne. As an expat, he was Chief Operating Officer of MediaOne International based in London.

Ludwig joined The Economist as US technology correspondent in 1998. In 2003 he moved to Berlin as the newspaper’s Germany correspondent, before relocating to London in 2008 to cover the IT industry. In 2019 he returned to San Francisco as US technology editor.

Ludwig started his journalistic career in 1990 as the Paris business correspondent of Die Zeit, a German weekly. In 1995 he moved from France to California to write about the internet for several German publications. He holds a degree in economics and political science from Cologne University and degrees in journalism from the Kölner Journalistenschule and the Centre de Formation des Journalists (CFJ) in Paris. He is also co-author of a book on SAP (“Matrix der Welt – SAP und der neue globale Kapitalismus”). From November 2018 to March 2019 Ludwig was Mercator Technology Fellow at the policy-planning unit of the German Foreign Office in Berlin.

Matthew Roberts is the Head of Marketing for the Amdocs Americas division based in Toronto, Ontario.  Prior to this Matthew headed up the product marketing unit for Amdocs’ Big Data and Strategic Innovations business unit (BDSI) in London, UK.

Matthew has over twenty years of experience in telecommunications and prior to joining Amdocs he headed up the European Product Marketing team at LG Mobile, he has also held senior marketing positions at Vodafone Group, Motorola and Nokia.

Matthew holds an honors Degree in Economics from the University of Reading.

Melonee Wise is the CEO of Fetch Robotics.  Melonee was the second employee at Willow Garage, a research and development laboratory extremely influential in the advancement of robotics. While there, she led a team of engineers developing next-generation robot hardware and software, including ROS, the PR2, and TurtleBot.  Melonee was a 2015 recipient of MIT Technology Review’s TR35 award for technology innovators under the age of 35 and has been named to the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Women of Influence and 40 Under 40 lists. In 2017, Business Insider named her as one of eight CEOs changing the way we work.  Under her leadership, Fetch Robotics won the MODEX Innovation Award for the materials handling industry, as well as being named to RBR 50, a listing of the 50 most innovative robotics companies in the world.

Mike is passionate about new advances in the intersection of internet technology and healthcare. Prior to starting MedCrypt, he was the founder of Gamma Basics, a radiation oncology focused software startup. Gamma Basics was acquired by Varian Medical Systems in 2013.

Mike holds an MBA from the Wharton School, and a Master of Medical Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Milo Medin has been part of the Internet development community for more than 25 years. He is currently the vice president of wireless services at Google.

Prior to joining Google in 2010, he was founder and CTO of M2Z Networks, a company that sought to deploy a national broadband wireless network system, and before then he was cofounder and the Chief Technology Officer of Excite@Home, where he led the development of the company’s national infrastructure, and helped deliver the first large scale residential broadband access service in partnership with major cable operators, including the development of the DOCSIS cable modem standard.

Earlier, Milo worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center, where he developed the first peering point between backbone networks, and managed primary west coast interconnect for the Internet, and architected and managed the global NASA Science Internet, including the deployment of the first Internet connections to a number of countries around the world.

Milo majored in computer science at UC Berkeley. He has participated in a number of public policy forums, including two National Academy of Sciences panels, given testimony in Congress and before the Federal Communications Commission on Broadband technology policy, and served on the PCAST working group on Spectrum Sharing. He holds several patents in the field of network access technology, and sits on the FCC’s Technical Advisory Committee.

Neville R. Ray is the Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of T-Mobile USA. Mr. Ray joined T-Mobile USA (then VoiceStream) in April 2000 and since December 2010 has served as its Chief Technology Officer, responsible for the national management and development of the T-Mobile USA wireless network and the company’s information technology services and operations. Prior to joining T-Mobile USA, Mr. Ray served as Network Vice President for Pacific Bell Mobile Services. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance. Mr. Ray is an honors graduate of City, University of London and a member of the Institution of Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Institution of Civil Engineers.

Niloofar Razi Howe has been an investor, executive and entrepreneur in the technology industry for the past 25 years, with a focus on Cybersecurity for the past ten. Most recently, Ms. Howe served as Chief Strategy Officer and SVP of Strategy and Operations at RSA, a global cybersecurity company where she led corporate strategy, corporate development and planning, business development, global program management, business operations, security operations and Federal business development. Prior to RSA, Ms. Howe served as the Chief Strategy Officer of Endgame, Inc., a leading enterprise software security company, where she was responsible for driving market and product strategy, as well as leading marketing, product management, corporate development and planning. Prior to her operating roles, Ms. Howe spent twelve years leading deal teams in private equity and venture capital; first as a Principal at Zone Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm in Los Angeles, and then as Managing Director at Paladin Capital Group, a Washington DC based private equity fund focused on investing in next generation security companies. Ms. Howe started her professional career as a lawyer with O’Melveny & Myers and as a consultant with McKinsey & Co.

Ms. Howe is a Senior Operating Partner at Energy Impact Partners, a VC fund investing in companies shaping the energy landscape of the future. She is on the Board of Directors of Morgan Stanley Private Bank, NA and Morgan Stanley Bank, NA, Recorded Future, (Threat Intelligence), on the Board of Advisors of Dragos (Industrial Cyber Security), Enveil, (Data Security), Picnic Threat (Insider Threat) and Endgame (Endpoint Protection & Detection). She is a life member at the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Fellow, Cybersecurity Initiative at New America, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank.  Her non-profit work includes serving on the board of IREX, an international education and development organization focused on promoting social justice, as Chair and as a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art. Previously she served on the Board of Global Rights, an international human rights organization, as Chair, Sibley Memorial Hospital (a member of Johns Hopkins Medicine), as chair of its Investment Committee, and Sibley Memorial Hospital Foundation, as Vice Chair.  Ms. Howe graduated with honors from Columbia College and holds a JD cum laude from Harvard Law School.

Pardeep is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mavenir, where he is leading the transformation of network economics for 4G/5G with the evolution to 100% software networks for CSPs. He is a serial entrepreneur bringing innovation and industry-leading solutions to the Wireless and Telecom market. Prior to Mavenir, Pardeep was CEO of Xura, which he joined after Xura acquired Ranzure Networks, an early stage 5G and Cloud RAN solutions company that Pardeep founded in 2016.

Before leading Ranzure, Pardeep was President and CEO of Mavenir Systems, guiding the company growth through multiple rounds of venture funding and a successful IPO (NYSE: MVNR) in November 2013, as well as the acquisition by Mitel in 2015. Mavenir was the first to bring virtualization and software-defined networking to mobile core networks, and the company brought significant innovation to 4G LTE networks.

Prior to Mavenir Systems, Pardeep was Co-Founder, President and CEO of Spatial Wireless, which was acquired by Alcatel in 2004. Spatial Wireless was the leading vendor of wireless Softswitch, and brought significant innovation to the circuit switched mobile core. Pardeep has been quoted in major national publications including CNBC, the Economist, Forbes and Fast Company as well as wireless publications including Mobile World Live, RCR Wireless, SDX Central and Wireless Week.

Ms. Russo served as Lead Director of the Hewlett-Packard Company Board of Directors from 2014 to 2015. She was Lead Director of the GM Board of Directors from March 2010 to January 2014. She also served as Chief Executive Officer of Alcatel-Lucent S.A. from 2006 to 2008; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucent Technologies, Inc. (“Lucent”) from 2003 to 2006; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Lucent from 2002 to 2006.

Ms. Russo also serves as the Chairman of the Board of Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company, and as a director on the boards of KKR Management LLC (the managing partner of KKR & Co. L.P.) and Merck & Co., Inc.

The Honorable Paul M. Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science, serves as the Department’s principal advisor on fundamental energy research, energy technologies, and science, driving this mission through programs including nuclear and high energy particle physics, basic energy, advanced computing, fusion, and biological and environmental research, and direct management over a majority of the Department’s national labs and their world-leading user facilities. In addition, Mr. Dabbar manages the environmental and legacy management missions of the Department, addressing the U.S. legacy of nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research. In addition, Mr. Dabbar is the lead for technology commercialization activities for the Department and its 17 national labs.

Prior to confirmation as Under Secretary for Science, Mr. Dabbar worked in operations, finance, and strategy roles in the energy sector. As a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan, leading various energy business areas, he has over $400 billion in investment experience across all energy sectors including solar, wind, geothermal, distributed-generation, utility, LNG, pipeline, oil & gas, trading, and energy technologies, and has also led the majority of all nuclear transactions. In addition, he had a senior leadership role for the company’s commodity trading business, including power, oil and gas.

Before joining J.P. Morgan, Mr. Dabbar served as a nuclear submarine officer in Mare Island, California, and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, including deploying to the North Pole where he conducted environmental research. He also served on the Department of Energy Environmental Management Advisory Board. He has been a lecturer at the U.S. Naval Academy, and conducted research at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Peter Linder is head of 5G Marketing for Ericsson in North America and a global top-100 influencer on 5G. Peter describes himself as a broadband networker. Exciting audiences with metaphors to explain complex network contexts. A frequent traveler, passionate about Formula 1 racing and always ready to capture moments in life with a camera.

As Logitech’s Head of Global Operations, Prakash Arunkundrum is responsible for all of Logitech´s global manufacturing, world wide supply chain, sourcing, and quality operations. Prakash is also responsible for driving the strategy and execution of Logitech’s sustainability initiatives and advancing Logitech’s sustainability commitments across its worldwide operations and products. Prakash has held this role since 2018, and previously held executive positions as Head of New Product Introductions and Global Sourcing at Logitech. Prakash has over 20 years of experience in operations, he joined Logitech in 2015. Prior to Logitech, he was a principal at management consulting firms A.T. Kearney and PricewaterhouseCoopers where he focused on driving gross margin improvements and operations transformations for several technology companies. Prior to his management consulting career, Prakash held senior product management and consulting roles at several supply chain services and software companies.

Prakash holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Central ElectroChemical Research Institute (CECRI) in India and a Masters in Materials Engineering from University of Maryland at College Park.

Rahul Patel serves as senior vice president and general manager of the Connectivity & Networking Business Unit for Qualcomm Technologies Inc. In this role, Patel leads the Wireless Infrastructure and Networking (WIN), Mobile, Computing and Connectivity (MCC), Small Cells, Internet of Things (IoT), Wearables and Voice & Music (V&M) businesses.

Prior to joining Qualcomm Technologies, Rahul was the senior vice president and general manager for Wireless Connectivity in the Broadband and Connectivity Group at Broadcom where he managed the product roadmap, R&D engineering, marketing, business development, and applications engineering organizations to expand Broadcom’s Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS leadership across all market segments. During his 13-year career with Broadcom, Rahul had a strong track record of developing successful product lines, driving P&L growth, and developing strong teams.

Ralph Simon is acknowledged as one of the founders of the modern mobile entertainment & content industry. Over the last 18 years, he has been a prominent global mobile trailblazer and innovator, helping grow the mobile entertainment, mobile health, and mobile content industry,  while playing a central role in its impact and presence around the world. Today, mobile is a key platform to reach over 7.3 billion mobile subscribers worldwide.

Simon heads the London-based Mobilium Global Group, which provides high-level strategic counsel and guidance to brands, media companies and professional organizations across the entire mobile spectrum, from mobile handset makers and telco operators, to technology companies, media companies, healthcare organizations, movie studios and TV networks, global music and YouTube artists and TV personalities, ad agency groups, brands, and platform providers around the world.

Specifically, Simon guides & advises clients and companies on innovative, practical ways to expand an individual or company’s mobile social media presence through effective mobile “disruption” & accurately targeted brand development and profile enhancement, all of which help to grow revenues, & also to maximize mobile profile attention, reputational growth and impact,  & achieve consistently good profitability. This includes the use, distribution and mobile marketing of mobile apps, health and education content, entertainment content, mobile music, mobile games, mobile money, mobile social media, and mobile media technology and SIM-card technology applications.

Rodger Desai is founder & CEO of Prove. After beginning his career in engineering management positions at ExxonMobil and GE, Rodger served as an executive at Accenture’s telecom practice before becoming CEO of Rave Wireless, a mobile service that protects thousands of universities, colleges and cities.

A mobile and digital identity authentication expert who has been quoted by publications such as the Wall Street Journal, CNBC, TIME, and MIT Technology Review, Rodger has assisted in initiatives that leverage the use of mobile phones in solving societal issues, such as disease surveillance in Iraq, and micro-finance lending programs in Asia. Rodger graduated from RPI and attended the Harvard Business School.

Scott is currently Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Vodafone UK. He is responsible for operational excellence, delivering enhanced business capability and driving innovation to support business growth.  He is leading key strategic initiatives such as 5G and full fibre broadband, which puts the power of connectivity in customer’s hands.

Scott joined Vodafone in 2009 as Business Products and Services Director and was appointed Group Technology Enterprise Products and Services Director in 2012. Here he led product development across connectivity, IoT and converged communications. During this time, Vodafone established itself as a leader in hosted converged communications and IoT.

From 2015, when he was appointed Enterprise Technology Director, Scott played an integral role to the success of Vodafone’s Enterprise business by managing all aspects of product development and Enterprise Customer solutions. Working closely with Vodafone Local Markets and the Enterprise Business Units, Scott and his team focused on creating differentiated customer experience across the key priority areas underpinned by world-class service and the IT digital transformation.

Steve Jarrett has been leading product teams for over 25 years, including work on the original iPod, the first mobile app store and mobile web browser at General Magic, and the Connectivity data science and Africa teams at Facebook. He also has been CEO of three start-ups.

Steve is now the Senior Vice President of AI at Orange where he leads artificial intelligence engineering, data engineering, and AI strategy. Steve also helps drive the underlying data-driven cultural transformation of the company, identify key third party partners, platforms, and acquisitions to accelerate Orange’s efforts, and contribute to various key strategic discussions of the Group’s executive team, including in Africa.

Susan Johnson is the Executive Vice President of Global Connections & Supply Chain for AT&T. In this capacity, she is responsible for AT&T’s international & domestic strategy and partnership development for network connections. She oversees global and national access management, international voice termination, roaming support and tower strategy for the AT&T Radio Access Network.

She also leads Supply Chain functions within AT&T Communications supporting the Entertainment Group, Business Services and Technology and Operations. Her team manages strategic sourcing, purchasing, supplier diversity, sustainability, and supply chain logistics. Most recently, she is actively engaged in AT&T’s initiative to architect AT&T’s infrastructure towards software- defined networking. Jointly, her organization is responsible for a spend portfolio of over $70B that covers all of AT&T’s network and goods & services, domestically & internationally.

Ms. Johnson began working for AT&T in Corporate Development and over her 20-year career has served in a variety of positions within the AT&T portfolio of companies. She served as the head of AT&T’s Corporate Strategy group and Senior Vice President of Business Development, responsible for developing new revenue opportunities through the application of emerging technologies and served as the Senior Vice President of Customer Information Services. Most recently Susan served as the Senior Vice President of Investor Relations where she was the primary contact with the investment community on behalf of AT&T including Wall Street research analysts and institutional investors. Before joining the AT&T family, Ms. Johnson was an investment banker at Smith Barney, Inc. in the San Francisco Technology Group, where she provided a range of financial advisory services to communications and technology clients. Ms. Johnson directed several growth companies through an initial public offering of stock and served as an advisor on merger and acquisition transactions.

Prior to business school, she also worked in Smith Barney’s New York office as an analyst in the LBO/High Yield Debt area. Susan was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and raised on the East Coast. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Northwestern University and a master’s Degree in Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Susan received the 2017 Dallas Business Journal top Women in Business Award. Susan lives in Dallas with her husband, Sean, and two children. She also serves on the board of Quest Forum, a global quality and sustainability association. She is an active runner and cyclist.

Tami Erwin is executive vice president and CEO of Verizon Business. She is widely recognized for her strategic impact, marketing and operations focus, technical savvy, and passion for people. As CEO of Verizon Business, a $30B+ business with over 26,000 employees, Tami and her teams deliver mission critical solutions to businesses worldwide and operate America’s most reliable wireless network and premier all-fiber network.Together with her teams, they help businesses, government, and communities connect to the global economy and prepare for digital transformation, innovation, and accelerated growth in the 5G era.

Tami leads by example in advocating for women, social fairness and equal opportunity. She is passionate about technology’s role in improving the ways that people live, learn, work and play. Tami is a champion of development and engagement programs for women in business and investment in STEM programs for students. As the executive sponsor of Verizon’s Veterans employee resource group, Tami provides strategic oversight of the programs and resources the company provides to its more than 10,000 veterans, active reservists and military families.

Tami serves on the Paley Media Center Board of Trustees and the boards of John Deere and the Verizon Foundation. She is a graduate of the Executive Program at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, and attended Pacific Union College, majoring in Business Administration.