PwC’s 2026 Emerging Tech Exchange

Andrew Blackmon is the chief information officer for United Launch Alliance (ULA) and joined the company in April 2021. In this role, Blackmon leads the development and implementation of strategy and operational delivery for all Information Technology and E^PLM infrastructure, with an emphasis on enablement of key business transformational initiatives.

Blackmon is a senior IT leader with more than 20 years of industry experience across several industries including Aerospace & Defense, Healthcare, Biotech and Technology.

Prior to joining ULA, he served as director IT Infrastructure & Operations at Ball Aerospace and was responsible for all classified and unclassified IT infrastructure nationwide. Blackmon has held several network and telecommunications engineering positions throughout his career before being promoted into his first leadership role at Children's Hospital Colorado. He ultimately served as chief technology officer at Children's Hospital Colorado and was responsible for the IT infrastructure and business applications across the organization.

Blackmon is a Colorado native who grew up in Boulder and later attended Colorado State University where he earned his Bachelor of Science in business administration with an emphasis in computer information systems.

Andre Christian is a visionary technology and marketing executive with deep expertise in AI, robotics, and go-to-market strategy. He previously served as Director at Toshiba America, leading initiatives in product marketing, innovation strategy, and automation solutions. Known for shaping brands and driving commercialization for emerging tech ventures, Andre is recognized as a futurist and evangelist for automation. At REVOBOTS, he champions the company’s mission to transform industries and elevate human potential through robotics.

An entrepreneur, engineer, and artist, Dr. Catie Cuan is a pioneer in the nascent field of ‘choreorobotics’ and works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, human-robot interaction, and art. She is the founder and CEO of Zenie, a consumer AI company, backed by Gradient Ventures and HF0. Catie holds a PhD and Master’s of Science in robotics and AI from Stanford, where she is also a Postdoc leading the art and robotics efforts at the new Stanford Robotics Center.

The title of her PhD thesis is “Compelling Robot Behaviors through Supervised Learning and Choreorobotics”, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health, Google, and Stanford University. During her PhD, she led the first multi-robot machine learning project at Everyday Robots (Google X) and Robotics at Google (now a part of Google Deepmind). She has held artistic residencies at the Smithsonian, the Exploratorium, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Everyday Robots (Google X), TED, the RAD Lab, and ThoughtWorks Arts. Catie is a prolific and award-winning robot choreographer, having created works with nearly a dozen different robots, from a massive ABB IRB 6700 industrial robot to a tabletop IDEO + Moooi robot. Catie is also an International Strategy Forum (ISF) fellow at Schmidt Futures and the former co-founder of caali, an embodied media company.

Named Fortune's Top 50 World's Greatest Leaders and honored with the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian of the Year Award, Mick Ebeling is a groundbreaking innovator recognized as a 3x recipient of TIME's Best Inventions, dedicated to redefining what's possible and inspiring you to do what's never been done before.

As the Founder of Not Impossible Labs - an innovation studio tackling seemingly impossible problems and creating real-world solutions for the sake of humanity - Mick has spent over a decade driving a movement of purposeful and life-changing innovation.

His "Help One. Help Many." method has led to some of the most internationally celebrated inventions, including The Eyewriter, Project Daniel, Don's Voice, and Project Bishop, as well as Bento (formerly Hunger: Not Impossible) and Music: Not Impossible - now successful spin-offs under the Not Impossible Labs portfolio.

At the core of Mick's philosophy is the belief that stories have the power to inspire meaningful change. As a highly sought-after keynote speaker, he takes audiences on an unexpected journey, sharing how he brought his groundbreaking inventions to life. With every talk, Mick leaves people feeling deeply inspired, energized, and motivated to take action so they too can make their impossible into NOT possible.

His approach of COMMIT, THEN FIGURE IT OUT, is the mindset that fuels Not Impossible Labs, where innovation, technology, and story come together to push boundaries and address critical human needs. Through his work, Mick continues to inspire, educate, and empower individuals, organizations, and communities to drive action, and make the impossible, NOT impossible.

Mick's book, "Not Impossible: The Are and Joy of Doing What Couldn't Be Done," recounts his life and journey of performing a simple act of kindness that turned into a lifelong mission to change the world.

José Fernández da Ponte is President and Chief Growth Officer of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting changemakers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. At SDF, his focus is on ecosystem growth, scaling portfolio companies, and growing adoption across payments, tokenization, and open finance.

Most recently, José was the SVP of the Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies team at PayPal, where he drove efforts to increase access to digital currencies and expand their utility for millions of consumers globally. He led the company’s initiative in digital currencies since 2021, driving new product developments and utilization of digital currencies.

José is a frequent contributor to the digital assets space, focusing on payments, financial inclusion, and responsible innovation. His commentary has appeared in Forbes, Fortune, Reuters, MSNBC, and Bloomberg, among others.

Ellen is Managing Director of Silicon Valley Connect, working with organizations and entrepreneurs on opportunities for technology-driven innovation, while also managing a portfolio of 50+ startups as an angel investor/advisor. She is a member of the Board of Directors at commercial real estate finance company Walker & Dunlop (WD), social network for military and veterans company Rallypoint, and fintech platform for alternative assets company CAIS. Prior Board roles include educational technology company Instructure (INST) as well as financial services company Aumni (acquired by JPMorgan). She is a Senior Advisor to the President at Arizona State University, named the “most innovative” university by US News & World report ten years and counting.

Ellen spent nearly a decade working with LinkedIn, including heading up Corporate Development & Strategy and member of the Executive Team following her original role as Advisory Board member at the company’s founding. Over her career, Ellen has held formal roles in venture capital (Softbank; NeoCarta; DFJ), startups (WhoWhere, bought by Lycos; Softbook Press, bought by Gemstar TVGuide; LinkedIn, IPO and then bought by Microsoft), technology think tanks (Interval Research), large corporations (Apple; PriceWaterhouse Coopers), and universities (Harvard; Stanford; ASU).

Described as the “Most Connected Woman in Silicon Valley", and for three years in a row has been named one of the “Top (25, 30, 40) Female Early Stage Investors”, Ellen now spends much of her time focused on dynamic, rapidly-growing startups, on issues related to the “Future of Work” (automation, AI, skills training, and education) and financial services. She has a BS from the University of Michigan, and MA/PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Stanford University.

Elise Neel is the Global Head of Strategy & Strategic Partnerships for Panasonic Go, a global corporate growth initiative to drive business transformation through AI.

Leveraging the knowledge, technology and hardware Panasonic has cultivated over the past 100+ years, Elise aims to fundamentally transform how Panasonic operates, delivers customer value and generates revenue. The goal of Panasonic Go is to expand AI-enabled software, hardware and solutions businesses to 30% of the Group’s total sales by 2035.

Elise was previously the SVP of New Business Innovation for Verizon, where she spent nearly a decade building a portfolio of nine audacious investment ventures and ushering in the advent of the 5G era. Elise managed the strategy, end-to-end execution, and P&L responsibilities. The portfolio spanned location technology, drone and aviation services, terrestrial robotics, adaptive manufacturing, sensor fusion and intelligence, and energy transformation.

Before joining Verizon, Elise served as the CEO of MapQuest (a Verizon Company that later sold to System 1) after spending time as both the Chief Revenue Officer and GM of MapQuest Enterprise. She’s also held leadership roles at companies including PlaceIQ, comScore, and InsightExpress. Elise grew up in Southern California and received her bachelor’s degree in advertising and business from Pepperdine University.

Dr. David Rabin, MD, PhD, is a neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, health tech entrepreneur & inventor who has been studying the impact of chronic stress in humans for more than a decade, particularly non-invasive therapies for treatment-resistant illnesses like PTSD. He is the co-founder & chief innovation officer at Apollo Neuroscience and the co-founder & executive director of The Board of Medicine. In addition to his clinical psychiatry practice, Dr. Rabin is currently conducting research on the epigenetic regulation of trauma responses and recovery to elucidate the mechanism of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy and the neurobiology of belief. He received his MD in medicine and PhD in neuroscience from Albany Medical College and specialized in psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He has been married to Kathryn Fantauzzi, CEO and co-founder of Apollo Neuroscience, since 2016. Together they live in Monterey, California.

Dr. Giby Raphael is a globally recognized leader in AI and humanoid robotics. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Intel’s Internet of Things Group and as General Manager of its Robotics division. He holds a Ph.D. in Robotics, M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering, as well as an MA in Leadership and an MBA from Cornell University. At REVOBOTS, he brings world-class technical expertise and executive leadership to transform the future of work through advanced robotics.

Daniela Rus, Ph.D., is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL); and Deputy Dean of Research for Schwarzman College of Computing at MIT. Rus’ research interests are in robotics, artificial intelligence, and data science.

The focus of her work is developing the science and engineering of autonomy, toward the long-term objective of enabling a future with machines pervasively integrated into the fabric of life, supporting people with cognitive and physical tasks. Rus’ research addresses some of the gaps between where robots are today and the promise of pervasive robots: increasing the ability of machines to reason, learn, and adapt to complex tasks in human-centered environments, developing intuitive interfaces between robots and people, and creating the tools for designing and fabricating new robots quickly and efficiently. The applications of this work are broad and include transportation, manufacturing, agriculture, construction, monitoring the environment, underwater exploration, smart cities, medicine, and in-home tasks such as cooking.

Rus serves as Director of the Toyota-CSAIL Joint Research Center, whose focus is the advancement of AI research and its applications to intelligent vehicles. She is a MITRE senior visiting fellow, served as a USA expert member for GPAI (Global Partnerships in AI), a member of the board of advisers for Scientific American, a member of the Defense Innovation Board, and a member of several other boards of technical companies.

Rus is a Class of 2002 MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI and IEEE, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of the 2017 Engelberger Robotics Award from the Robotics Industries Association, the IEEE Edison Medal and the John Scott Medal. She earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University.

Rus has also worked on two collaborative projects with the Pilobolus Dance company at the intersection of Technology and Art. Seraph, a pastoral story about human-machine friendship, was choreographed in 2010 and performed in 2010-2011 in Boston and New York City. The Umbrella Project, a participatory performance exploring group behavior, was choreographed in 2012 and performed at PopTech 2012, in Cambridge, Baltimore, and Singapore.

Recognized as a 2025 Tech Power Player by the Boston Globe, her research offers practical insights that help organizations harness AI's potential responsibly and innovatively.

Professor Richard Susskind OBE is an author, speaker and independent adviser to major professional firms and to national governments. Having worked on legal technology for over 30 years, his main area of expertise is the future of professional services and, in particular, the way in which the IT and the Internet are changing the work of lawyers and others in the services industries.

In 2011, Richard succeeded Lord Saville as President of the Society for Computers and Law. In the same year he became Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Oxford Internet Institute (OII) at Oxford University. Since 2009, he has also been a Visiting Professor in Internet Studies at the OII.

A pioneer in the field of information technology and law, Richard has been the IT Adviser to the Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales since 1998. He is the first Honorary Professor of Gresham College in London and the co-founder of the Centre for Law, Computers and Technology at the Law School of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.

He has written and edited numerous best-selling books, including “The End of Lawyers? Rethinking the Nature of Legal Services” (2008), “Tomorrow’s Lawyers” (2013), and most recently, co-authored with Daniel Susskind, “The Future of the Professions: How Technology Will Transform the Work of Human Experts” (2015).

He has written more than 150 columns for The Times and his work has been translated into 10 languages.

Mike Villano is the Head of Digital Asset Products for U.S. Bank. Previously, he was a Senior Innovation Lead, and he specializes in the application of emerging technology. His responsibility is to identify evolving trends and technical advancements that strategically align with business line initiatives to improve the experience and lives of customers.

Prior to his current role, Mike led software development and technical architecture teams, building and supporting dozens of applications on behalf of business clients. Mike also led technical security and cyberattack threat evaluations. Mike holds a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science and Business from Lehigh University.

Vikas Agarwal is Partner and Commercial Technology Officer for Advisory at PwC, where he is recognized as a leader of leaders, a visionary strategist, and an innovative thinker who leads his team to push boundaries and uncover what’s next while turning obstacles into opportunities. He blends the proven success of a global business executive with the forward-looking mindset of a technology pioneer. With more than 20 years of experience guiding financial institutions worldwide through risk, regulation, and transformation, Vikas has built a reputation for pairing deep business insight with bold, technology-driven execution.

As PwC’s Commercial Technology Officer, Vikas defines the vision and sets the direction for a global network of world-class technology strategists, product innovators, engineering pioneers, and UX design leaders. Under his leadership, these innovative teams don’t just deliver projects — they build the future of consulting. From AI-powered platforms and agent-driven workflows to user-centered solutions, his teams create outcomes that are scalable, intuitive, and transformative. His ability to articulate a bold vision and rally some of the best leaders in the industry around it ensures PwC’s technology strategy consistently translates into measurable client value.

Building upon his previous successes as PwC’s Financial Services Risk & Regulatory Leader, Vikas anchors his innovation agenda in trust, compliance, and controls. He ensures that every breakthrough balances responsibility with ambition. His leadership philosophy — “ignite where the fire is hottest” — captures his commitment to pursuing the toughest challenges, inspiring leaders, and co-innovating with clients to bring bold ideas to market.

At his core, Vikas believes that vision without execution is incomplete, and execution without outcomes is irrelevant. By leading leaders and guiding their vision, he ensures PwC delivers solutions that don’t just respond to client needs today — they set the standard for what comes next.

Larry Gioia serves as the Emerging Technology Leader in PwC’s Commercial Technology Innovation Office (CTIO). A seasoned technologist and trusted advisor, he has spent more than 20 years helping executives across industries harness emerging technologies, shape new business models, and prepare for the future of work.

At PwC, Larry leads a multidisciplinary team of futurists, designers, engineers, product managers, and storytellers focused on market-backed research, strategic innovation, and the firm’s forward-looking technology agenda. He is the architect and executive sponsor of PwC SHIFT (Scanning Horizons & Insights for Future Technologies), which transforms early signals into actionable insights through hands-on experimentation and authentic storytelling.

Earlier in his career, Larry spent 15 years in consulting and digital product leadership, particularly within the life sciences sector, guiding senior executives through human-led, tech-powered transformations. Prior to PwC, he held executive and founder roles as a technology entrepreneur, executive coach, and business strategist.

Outside of work, Larry can usually be found outdoors — playing pickleball, kayaking, hiking, or birding with his wife Maria and their two sons, Luca and Dominic — or building out the nature trails around their Pittsburgh home.

Scott Likens serves as the Chief AI Engineer over Global and US teams and leads the AI Engineering and Emerging Technology R&D teams domestically, driving the firm's strategy around AI, Blockchain, VR, Quantum Computing, and other disruptors. With over 30 years of emerging technology expertise, he has helped clients transform customer experience, digital strategy, and operations for various industries.

Scott started his career in software engineering in the early days of the internet, which led to working with some of the biggest multinationals, applying a local lens to global digital and emerging tech trends. His diverse tech background spans advanced analytics, digital architecture, AI engineering, and innovation.

During his time at PwC, he has lived and worked in China and across the US, as a Global AI technology leader working closely with key clients. He is a regular speaker at global conferences on emerging technologies, including AI and Generative AI, Blockchain and Crypto, IoT, Quantum Computing, and Advanced Robotics.

Bio forthcoming.

Dr. Travis S. Taylor is a licensed Professional Engineer who holds PhDs in Optical Science and Engineering and Aerospace Systems Engineering, as well as Master’s degrees in Physics, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, and Astronomy, and a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. He is currently completing his third PhD in Theoretical Physics (expected 2026).

Over the past thirty-five years, Dr. Taylor has worked on advanced technology programs for the Department of Defense, NASA, and the Intelligence Community. His recent projects include advanced propulsion concepts, quantum teleportation and information systems, space telescopes, space-based beamed energy systems, future combat technologies, and next-generation space launch systems. He has published over 30 papers, four textbooks (including Introduction to Rocket Science and Engineering, Introduction to Laser Science and Engineering, Quantum Entanglement Engineering Applications (coauthor with F.J. Duarte), A First Graduate Course in Quantum Field Theory, and Alien Invasion), and has authored or coauthored more than twenty-five bestselling science fiction novels.

From 2019 to 2022, Dr. Taylor served as Chief Scientist for the UAP Task Force supporting the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Secretary of Defense. He currently works as the Space Luminary for PricewaterhouseCoopers,PwC, and is also Chief Scientist for QuantumFrontier, LLC in Huntsville, Alabama.

Dr. Taylor’s passion for experimentation and invention has been featured in hit television series including Rocket City Rednecks (National Geographic Channel), 3 Scientists Walk Into a Bar(The Weather Channel), Live After People, The Universe, The Tesla Files, The UnXplained, Ancient Aliens, and The Secret of Skinwalker Ranch on The History Channel. He is or has been a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The World Space Drive Consortium, The Directed Energy Professional Society, the Experimental Aircraft Association, and the International High IQ Society.

He is a championship black belt martial artist, placed sixth in the world for his age group in the 2017 CrossFit Games Compex 2-Man Team Competition, and completed the Marine Corps Marathon in a full-body, bulletproof armor suit of his own invention.

Specific Space Program Highlights:

1. ACES RED1 (PI) – Launched aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 and deployed externally on the ISS for 24 months. This 3U CubeSat mission successfully demonstrated COTS FPGA flight computers and mapped GNSS coverage at LEO, revealing several previously undocumented anomalies.
2. SWORDS Launch Vehicle Review – Led the US Army’s detailed technical review of the SWORDS launch vehicle, including complete subsystem-level analysis down to individual components.
3. Pluto-Kuiper Belt Study (PI) – Principal Investigator for initial mission design involving nuclear electric propulsion for deep space exploration of the outer planets.
4. US Army SMDC Space Lab Lead – Directed the lab for over a decade (later known as Quantum Engineering and Space Technologies Lab), leading development and integration of flight hardware, propulsion systems, adapter plates, and quantum-entanglement experiments. Oversaw full spacecraft integration, systems engineering, and multiple spaceflight missions.