The list of speakers will be updated periodically. Make sure to check back frequently for more exciting announcements!
Speakers listed alphabetically
Speakers subject to availability
Dr. Nelli Babayan
AI at the Final Frontier: Your Autonomous Agents in Space
Dr. Nelli Babayan is the AI Director at Microsoft, overseeing AI initiatives with U.S. Federal Civilian agencies. She leads virtual cross-solution teams to advance mission outcomes, directing strategy and secure implementation of AI by fostering collaboration and developing mission-specific use-cases. She has delivered numerous talks and moderated panels at both US-based events and international conferences. Nelli supports government efforts with her extensive and cross-industry background, having managed research and policy projects at DC-based think-tanks, lectured at universities and published in peer-reviewed journals.
Heidi Connelly
AI at the Final Frontier: Your Autonomous Agents in Space
Heidi Connelly is the Cloud & AI Platform Leader for Microsoft Federal, where she drives strategic initiatives across government sectors with a focus on digital transformation and AI solutions. She has almost 20 years of experience supporting the Federal Government. Heidi joined Microsoft in 2017, and her past roles include General Manager of the National Security Group Specialist Team, Azure Sales Leader, Army Account Team Leader, and Azure Specialist. She is a former United States Army Signal Officer and served as a Department of Army Civilian prior to joining Microsoft. www.linkedin.com/in/hconnelly1
Bruce Holsinger - Dinner Speaker
Bruce Holsinger is the author of five novels, including Culpability, The Displacements, and The Gifted School, as well as many works of nonfiction, most recently On Parchment: Animals, Archives, and the Making of Culture from Herodotus to the Digital Age. His books have been recognized with the Colorado Book Award, the John Hurt Fisher Prize, the Philip Brett Award, the John Nicholas Brown Prize, the Modern Language Association's Prize for a First Book, and others. His essays and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Vanity Fair, and many other publications and he has been profiled on NPR's Weekend Edition, Here & Now, and Marketplace. A Guggenheim Fellow and Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, he teaches in the Department of English at the University of Virginia and serves as editor of the quarterly journal New Literary History. He also teaches craft classes and serves as board chairman for WriterHouse, a nonprofit in Charlottesville.
Culpability (Oprah's Book Club) explores a world newly shaped by chatbots, autonomous cars, drones, and other nonhuman forces in ways that are thrilling, challenging, and unimaginably provocative.
COL (Ret.) Howard D. McInvale, PhD
Director, Defense, Diplomacy & Intelligence, Guidehouse, Inc.
Insights From My Foxhole: Aligning AI Strategy and Development for Optimal Impact
Howard D. McInvale serves as a Director of Defense, Diplomacy, & Intelligence at Guidehouse, Inc., an integrated commercial and public sector consulting firm headquartered in McLean, VA. Doug leads Guidehouse Huntsville, AL office activities supporting numerous Army and DoD clients in the areas of Modernization, Acquisition, and Sustainment (MAS). His teams of experts address contemporary challenges in Digital Transformation, Supply Chain Risk Management, Predictive Analytics, Process Improvement, Fleet Management, and Artificial Intelligence. In his current role, Dr. McInvale applies his career of military experience as an Army officer and his intelligence experience as Distinguished Visiting Professor for Operations Research Technology at the National Security Agency, to deliver enterprise-level data solutions for sophisticated operational and acquisition organizations that support the Warfighter. An expert in system of systems engineering and mathematics, Doug is passionate about helping strategic partners foster more data-centric approaches and optimize their business goals.
Prior to his tenure with Guidehouse, Dr. McInvale worked as a Principal Operations Research Analyst & Space Engineer for a Federally Funded Research and Development Corporation (FFRDC) where he led Digital Transformation activities for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). Dr. McInvale is an award-winning researcher with 15 peer-reviewed scholarly journal publications and 50 professional talks. Doug is a graduate of West Point and an Airborne Ranger with duties in combat and at the Pentagon and positions of leadership from Infantry Commander to Academy Professor. Doug is a credentialed Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt (MBB) from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). His advanced degrees are an M.S. in Industrial & Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech and an Interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Systems Engineering and Decision Science from Vanderbilt University. Doug and his wife, Amy, have three children and reside in Madison, AL.
Mickey Mentzer
AI & Baseball
Mickey Mentzer is the Senior Director of Baseball Systems for the Cincinnati Reds. In this role his teams are tasked with managing the massive amounts of data for both the sport and business side of the organization. His teams are also responsible for the interfaces for the front office, coaching staff, sports science, and players. Before his role with the Reds, he had the opportunity to work in the innovation space for companies like P&G, Kroger, Anthem and 5/3. He also architected a platform for the social app ooVoo that supported 180 million users globally during its time.
Andrew Miller
AI and Law
Professor Andrew Miller joined Brooklyn Law School as Assistant Professor of Law in the summer of 2025, bringing expertise in privacy law and technology, including artificial intelligence (AI). He teaches Civil Procedure, Administrative Law, and courses relating to the intersection of law and technology.
Professor Miller previously taught at Yale Law School, where he was a Clinical Lecturer in Law, Clinical Fellow in Private Law, and Associate Research Scholar in Law. He also served as the Director of Yale Law’s Private Law Clinic, which he co-founded in 2022 and where students worked on cutting-edge and theoretically challenging matters in consumer protection, contract, tort, and property law. His research focuses on the theoretical and doctrinal implications of algorithmic decision-making in consumer markets. He is also a frequent presenter at scholarly symposia on AI and the law, speaking on topics such as bias in AI, perspectives on the No AI Fraud Act, comparative perspectives on facial recognition regulation, and the future risks, opportunities, and challenges of AI.
After graduating from Yale Law School in 2018, Professor Miller clerked for Judge Diane Wood on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and spent two years at Loevy & Loevy, a Chicago civil rights firm. At Loevy & Loevy, Miller focused on seeking redress for people harmed by the misuse of facial recognition, digital surveillance, and other artificial intelligence technologies.
Shane Morris
The Hidden NASA: Climate, Chaos, and the Data We Forgot to Brag About
Shane Morris is a senior technologist, data engineer, and AI-builder working at the intersection of national security, federal innovation, and absurdly specific dipping sauces. He’s built scalable data systems for the Army, Navy and Air Force, designed anomaly detection frameworks for critical infrastructure, and led AI enablement efforts across DoD and civilian agencies. Shane also moonlights as a tech influencer with a significant TikTok following, where he breaks down policy, bureaucracy, and machine learning with a voice equal parts professor and stand-up comic. He’s worked with the DoD, DHS and a host of other alphabet agencies, and still somehow finds time to make terrible dad jokes on the internet. Prior to his career working with the federal government, Morris enjoyed a decade plus long run in the music business, which means his playlists are probably better than your playlists.
Grant Moyle
AI 101 Workshop
Grant Moyle is the Chief Technology Officer and Master Trainer at ROI Training. Over the last 20+ years, Grant has worked with the world’s leading organizations to modernize their computing operations into the Cloud, and leverage AI and ML to solve business problems. His customers include NASA, NIH, Google, Goldman Sachs, Mayo Clinic, and HSBC.
A 2-time Google Cloud Trainer of the Year, Grant has trained thousands of business and technology professionals around the world. He has degrees from Johns Hopkins University in Biomedical, Electrical and Computing Engineering. He holds multiple certifications from Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft and ISC2. Since a young age, Grant has had a passion for technology and is an avid space enthusiast. Grant enjoys annual visits to the US Space and Rocket Center for his space camper son Duncan.
Focused on helping organizations achieve digital transformation thru upskilling, ROI Training is the global leader in customized technology and management training solutions. ROI is an AWS Advanced Tier Training Partner and has been awarded Training Partner of the Year six times by Google Cloud. ROI has authored 10 Generative AI classes and trained over 500,000 people on Cloud and AI technologies.
Denise Zheng
How Agentic AI will change the Workplace
Denise Zheng is Chief AI Officer and Data & AI Lead for Accenture Federal Services. Previously, she was Managing Director and Global Generative AI and Ecosystem Lead at Accenture where she helped companies navigate adoption and scaling new classes of artificial intelligence. She has held various leadership roles at Accenture including as Strategic Initiatives Lead for Accenture’s Chair and CEO.
Denise has a unique blend of expertise, including advanced technology R&D initiatives, strategy, and driving major cross-industry initiatives on artificial intelligence, data privacy, and cybersecurity working with CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.
Prior to joining Accenture, Denise was head of technology and innovation at Business Roundtable. She also led the Strategic Technologies Program at CSIS, ranked top thinktank in the United States, and served as lead systems engineering and technical advisor and chief of staff of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s foundational cyber and AI program – Plan X.
Denise has testified multiple times before the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives as an expert on digital trade, data privacy, and internet governance issues. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, and she has been interviewed by CNN, BBC, CBS, and NPR on a range of technology issues.
Denise completed her bachelor’s and graduate studies at University of Michigan, London School of Economics, Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and has an MBA from The Wharton School of Business.