The University Exchange with Carnegie Mellon

Patricia heads the Data Privacy and Trusted AI programs and Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) for Trust at Autodesk.  She has over 25 years working in technology, leading and advising organizations on digital transformation efforts.  She began her journey in Data Privacy and Cybersecurity in 2017 and has held global roles in the California headquarters and Dublin Ireland.  She earned her undergrad degree at the University of California at Berkeley in Political Science.  Patricia is passionate about helping organizations, customers, and individuals embrace change, adapt to uncertainty, and seize opportunities in the digital age.  She is also dedicated to supporting and empowering women and underrepresented communities and promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

Priya Gore leads the Data & AI solutions organization for the US Financial Services and Insurance team at Microsoft. Her team is responsible for leading customers through transformation by helping them modernize with innovative data platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, analytics, and best-of-breed cloud practices. She has a passion for working with customers to help them leverage the Microsoft platform to advance business outcomes and bring innovative solutions to market. She is passionate about D&I, professional development of others, and a founding-member of the New England Women in Technology (WIT) chapter and co-leads our Women of Solutions ERG. She lives in Needham, MA with her two sons; enjoys staying active, and loves the beach!

Anil Kumar serves as the Vice President of Verizon’s global Artificial Intelligence & Data (AI&D) Engineering team. Leveraging his expertise and passion, Anil leads the Generative AI Center of Excellence (COE) which is reshaping how we live, work, and do business. He is also responsible for driving data usability, building data & AI solutions/digital twins across the enterprise, and implementing the data/platform/machine learning strategy.

In his 19 years with Verizon Anil has held a variety of leadership roles and has had the opportunity to lead projects across many, diverse portfolios. Anil is a resourceful executive who leverages AI/ML and Information Technology solutions to overcome complex business challenges. His knowledge and diverse experience allows him to drive digital transformation in areas including AI/ML, Data Governance, Cloud, EDW (enterprise data warehouse), mobile applications, wireless products, e-commerce and self-service. His daily focus is to be a driving force producing better business outcomes for Verizon and it’s customers. He is a dynamic leader with a keen ability to identify talented individuals and mentor them to create effective teams. Anil is passionate about making a difference in people's lives does so through servant leadership.

A graduate of GJU University, Anil holds double master’s degrees in physics as well computer science and a bachelor's degree in computer science. 

Anil was born and raised in Rohtak, a small city in North India which is 70 kilometers / less than 50 miles away from New Delhi. He came to the US in 2000 and resides in New Jersey with his wife of 22 years, 2 sons, and dog, Laddu. 

Fun fact: Anil's mind goes into 'single threaded mode' when watching movies or playing sports.

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 60+ 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, private capital markets data & analytics platform Aumni, and fintech platform for alternative assets company CAIS. She is a Senior Advisor to the President at Arizona State University, named the “most innovative” university by US News & World report eight 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; PricewaterhouseCoopers), and universities (Harvard; Stanford; ASU). 

Described as the “Most Connected Woman in Silicon Valley", and named one of the “Top 25 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 businesses helping society respond to the post-pandemic world. 

She has a BS from the University of Michigan, and MA/PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Stanford University.

Dewey Murdick is the Executive Director at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET). He serves as an unpaid advisor to the OECD Network of Experts on AI (ONE AI) and for the National Network for Critical Technology Assessment. Prior to joining CSET as its founding Director of Data Science, he was the Director of Science Analytics at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, where he led metric development, data science, and machine learning and statistical research for scientist-facing products and science-related initiatives. Dewey served as Chief Analytics Officer and Deputy Chief Scientist within the Department of Homeland Security. At the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), he co-founded an office in anticipatory intelligence and led programs in high-risk, high-payoff research in support of national security missions. He has also held positions in intelligence analysis, research, software development and contract teaching.

Dewey’s research interests include connecting research and emerging technology to future capabilities, emerging technology forecasting, strategic planning, research portfolio management, and policymaker support. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Physics from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Physics from Andrews University.

Walter Pasquarelli is an internationally recognised advisor, speaker, expert on AI policy, generative AI, and synthetic realities. 

Leading advisory and editorial programmes at The Economist Group, Walter operated at the forefront of technological innovation, shaping policy and business perception of emerging technologies. His works were widely published and received mentions by The Economist, Forbes, Der Tagesspiel, El Tiempo, the European Parliament, NATO, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the UAE Minister of State for AI among others. 

Walter specialises in strategic planning and has a history of anticipating and engaging with crucial shifts in the responsible use of AI, data governance, ethical and regulatory frameworks, and macroeconomic tech trends. He led the development of the first globally focused “AI Index”, benchmarking countries’ readiness to uptake emerging technologies across key industries and markets. Walter has been credited with coining the term “synthetic reality”, describing the convergence of generative and immersive technologies. 

Widely known as a consultant, speaker and research manager, Walter has managed advisory and editorial programmes totalling over $2 million USD. He has served as an advisor to Google, Meta, Microsoft, Coca-Cola as well as presidencies and government departments in the UK, the US, Canada, the European Commission, the UAE, Colombia, India, and Serbia. 

An experienced moderator and speaker he presented The Economist's Data Dividend series, and moderated the World Economic Forum, involving ministers and C-suite executives from Fortune 100 companies and government leaders. 

Walter is an expert AI member of the OECD, recipient of the Prospect Public Policy Award by the University of Cambridge, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Bennett Institute for Public Policy.

DJ Patil is an entrepreneur, investor, scientist, and leader in public policy. He has held senior roles in industry, academia, and government and his work has been featured in two Michael Lewis books (The Fifth Risk and Premonition). As a General Partner at GreatPoint Ventures he focuses on building companies in healthcare, enterprise technologies, and national security. 

Notable early-stage investments include Figma, Confluent, Ola in India, Monte Carlo, Chronosphere, Sumologic, RelateIQ, Peoplehood, and Rebellion Defense.

He is a board member for Devoted Health where he was an executive on the founding team and CTO with the mission to build a health care system that takes care of every member like they were family. Previously he led the product teams at RelateIQ which was acquired by Salesforce and was a founding board member for Crisis Text Line which works to use new technologies to provide on demand mental and crisis support. At LinkedIn he was Chief Scientist, Chief Security Officer and led the data efforts which included recommendation systems like People You May Know, Who Viewed My Profile, and Jobs You May Like; new technologies like Kafka; co-coining the term Data Scientist. He also held several roles at Skype, PayPal, and eBay.  

Dr. Patil public policy work includes being appointed by President Obama to be the first U.S. Chief Data Scientist where his efforts led to the establishment of nearly 40 Chief Data Officer roles across the Federal government. Establishing new health care programs including the Precision Medicine Initiative (now the NIH All of Us program) and the Cancer Moonshot, new criminal justice reforms including the Data-Driven Justice and Police Data Initiatives that cover more than 94 million Americans, as well as leading the national data efforts. He also has been active in national security and for his efforts was awarded by Secretary Carter the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service which is the highest honor the department bestows on a civilian. 

He is a member of the Defense Science Board and a member of the Board of Visitors for National Defense University. He has been a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center at the Harvard Kennedy School and CTO for the Biden-Harris Transition where he led development of technology related policy policies.

As a member of the faculty at the University of Maryland, his research focused on nonlinear dynamics and chaos theory, and he helped start a major research initiative on numerical weather prediction.  As an AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow for the Department of Defense, Dr. Patil directed new efforts to leverage social network analysis and the melding of computational and social sciences to anticipate emerging threats to the US. He has also co-chaired a major review of US efforts to prevent bioweapons proliferation in Central Asia and co-founded the Iraqi Virtual Science Library (IVSL). And if you’ve read this far, he barely graduated from high school because of his math grades.

More details can be found on his LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dpatil and can be followed on twitter @dpatil

In addition to serving as NIST Chief AI Advisor and Associate Director for Emerging Technologies in NIST’s Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), Elham Tabassi leads NIST’s Trustworthy and Responsible AI program that aims to cultivate trust in the design, development, and use of AI technologies by improving measurement science, standards, and related tools in ways that enhance economic security and improve quality of life. 

She has been working on various machine learning and computer vision research projects with applications in biometrics evaluation and standards since she joined NIST in 1999. Tabassi is the principal architect of NIST Fingerprint Image Quality (NFIQ), an international standard for measuring fingerprint image quality which has been deployed in many large-scale biometric applications worldwide. Among her other roles at NIST, Tabassi has served as ITL Chief of Staff. 

She is a member of the National AI Resource Research Task Force, the US Government’s AI Standards Coordinator, a senior member of IEEE, and a fellow of Washington Academy of Sciences. In September 2023, Tabassi was named by TIME magazine as one of the "100 Most Influential People in AI."

Anagha Vyas is the head of data science at Cardinal Health, harnessing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) to drive innovation in healthcare. With 25 years of experience in data analysis, machine learning and deep learning, she leads the strategy and execution of artificial intelligence to improve the customer experience, optimize operations and enhance decision-making processes. With the maturity of AI to generative abilities, Anagha is focused on strategically and responsibly integrating Generative AI into Cardinal Health’s business operations, with a focus on driving efficiency and productivity gains, while also exploring its transformative potential in healthcare applications.

Ilana is a Director in PwC Labs, where she serves as one of the leads for Artificial Intelligence. Ilana specializes in applying machine learning and simulation modeling. Ilana is listed as one of 100 “Brilliant Women in AI Ethics” in 2020, was recently recognized in Forbes as one of 15 leaders advancing Ethical AI, and is an active contributor to working groups and standards efforts for AI governance. Since 2018, she has led PwC’s efforts globally in the development of cutting-edge approaches to build and deploy Responsible AI.

Rayid Ghani is a Distinguished Career Professor in the Machine Learning Department and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. Rayid is a reformed computer scientist and wanna-be social scientist, and is focused on developing and using AI/Machine Learning/Data Science to help solve large public policy and social challenges in a fair and equitable manner. Among other areas, Rayid works with governments and non-profits in health, criminal justice, education, public safety, economic development, and urban infrastructure. Rayid is also passionate about teaching practical data science and started the Data Science for Social Good Fellowship that trains computer scientists, statisticians, and social scientists from around the world to work on data science problems with social impact.

Before joining Carnegie Mellon University, Rayid was the Founding Director of the Center for Data Science & Public Policy, Research Associate Professor in Computer Science, and a Senior Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. Previously, Rayid was the Chief Scientist of the Obama 2012 Election Campaign where he focused on data, analytics, and technology to target and influence voters, donors, and volunteers.  In his ample free time, Rayid obsesses over everything related to coffee and works with non-profits to help them with their data, analytics and digital efforts and strategy.

Coming soon.

Ramayya Krishnan is the W. W. Cooper and Ruth F. Cooper Professor of Management Science and Information Systems at the H. John Heinz III College and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. A faculty member at CMU since 1988, Krishnan was appointed as the Dean of Heinz College in 2009. 

Krishnan was educated at the Indian Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin. He has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, a master's degree in industrial engineering and operations research, and a PhD in Management Science and Information Systems. Krishnan’s research interests focus on consumer and social behavior in digitally instrumented environments. His work addressed technical, policy and business problems in these contexts and published extensively on these topics. 

He has founded multiple research centers at CMU and is the founding faculty director of the Block Center for Technology and Society. He advises governments and policy making organizations on technology policy and the deployment of data driven policy making. He is an advisor to the President of the Asian Development Bank and is a member of the Geotech Commission of the Atlantic Council. He is an AAAS Fellow (section T), an INFORMS Fellow, an elected member of the National Academy of Public Administration and a distinguished alumnus of both the Indian institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin. He served in 2019 as the 25th President of INFORMS, the Global Operations Research and Analytics Society. He was appointed to the National AI Advisory Committee to the President and the AI Initiatives office in 2022. He was appointed chair of the DOD’s RAI academic council.in 2023.

Scott leads PwC’s Emerging Tech practice in the United States. With more than 25 years of emerging technology experience, he has helped clients transform their customer experience and enhance their digital operations. 

Scott has worked across industries with some of the biggest multinational companies to transform their business by applying a local lens to global digital and emerging tech trends. He has expertise using emerging technology and advanced analytics in many areas including e-commerce, digital architecture, mobile technologies and social customer engagement. Scott is a regular speaker at global conferences on emerging technologies, including:

• Blockchain
• Artificial Intelligence
  
• IoT
  
• Robotics
  
• Automation
  

Tim Persons is a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), where he leads the development of innovative assurance solutions for its clients in artificial intelligence/machine learning, data, algorithms, and other digital transformations to best help them build and maintain trust with their customers and stakeholders. His remit involves addressing sector-specific digital assurance problems of today and tomorrow in coordination with stakeholders, policymakers, and oversight bodies – all based on design thinking and the development of a proper understanding of the opportunities, challenges, and risks. 

Tim brings a proven track record of leadership in innovation, strategy, and results-oriented execution in digital transformation and services (i.e., AI/ML, data analytics, cybersecurity) and myriad science and technology issues. Previously, Tim was Chief Scientist at the US Government Accountability Office in Washington, DC at the Managing Director for its science, technology, and digital team where he focused on providing assurance for oversight mechanisms in critical areas to help build trust in our institutions. He also held key posts with the National Security Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. During his career in public service, Tim gained a unique perspective and established relationships and credibility inside many of the US government agencies and external constituencies in the digital/cyber, quantum computing, AI, data science, and analytics industries. 

Tim holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and an MSc in Computer Science from Wake Forest University as well as an MSc in Nuclear Physics from Emory University. He is a member of or serves on various Councils and Committees of multiple U.S. National Academies and has received several awards for his outstanding achievements in science and technology, such as the Arthur S. Flemming award (2012), a James Madison University Distinguished Alumnus Award (2016), a Comptroller General Award (2020), a GAO Distinguished Service Award (2014), and two GAO Big Picture Awards (2012, 2010), among others.

Anand Rao has focused on research, innovation, applications, business and societal adoption of data, analytics, and artificial intelligence over his 35-year consulting, industry, and academic career. Anand was the Global Artificial Intelligence Leader for PwC, a Partner in their Data, Analytics, and AI practice, and the Innovation lead for AI in PwC’s Products and Technology segment.  Anand led a team of practitioners who advised C-level executives, develop, and implement advanced analytics and AI-based solutions across several industry sectors including financial services, insurance, healthcare, technology-media-telecommunications, retail, aerospace, and defense sectors.

 With his PhD and research career in Artificial Intelligence and his subsequent experience in management consulting he brings business domain knowledge, software engineering expertise, statistical expertise, and modeling expertise to generate unique insights into the practice of ‘data science’ and artificial intelligence.

Prior to joining management consulting, Anand was the Chief Research Scientist at the Australian Artificial Intelligence Institute building agent-based models and simulation systems and conducting research in the theory and practice of multi-agent systems.

Anand’s current research interests include operationalizing AI, responsible AI, systems thinking, ROI of AI, theory and practice of building agent-based models and digital twins, behavioral economics, and human decision-making.

He received his PhD from University of Sydney (with a University Postgraduate Research Award-UPRA) in 1988 and an MBA (with Award of Distinction) from Melbourne Business School in 1997. Anand has also co-edited four books on Intelligent Agents and has published over fifty papers in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence in major journals, conferences, and workshops.  In addition, he has authored over hundred articles in the business and trade press.

He has received widespread recognition for his extraordinary contributions in the field of consulting and Artificial Intelligence Research.  He has received the Most Influential Paper Award for the Decade in 2007 from the Autonomous Agents & Multi-Agent Systems organization for his contribution on the Belief-Desire-Intention Architecture; MBA Award of Distinction from Melbourne Business School, 1997 and University Postgraduate Research Award (UPRA) from University of Sydney, 1985; Distinguished Alumnus Award from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India; He was recognized as one of Top 50 Data & Analytics professionals in USA and Canada by Corinium; one of Top 50 professionals in InsureTech; one of Top 25 Technology Leaders in Consulting; and has won a number of awards for his academic and business papers.

Anand is an Adjunct Professor in BITS Pilani’s APPCAIR AI Center. He also serves on the Advisory Board of Oxford University’s Institute for Ethics in AI, World Economic Forum’s Global AI Council, OECD’s Network of Experts on AI (ONE), OECD’s AI Compute initiative, Advisory Board of Northwestern’s MBAi program,  Responsible AI Institute, Nordic AI Institute, and International Congress for the Governance of AI.

Joe is a Partner in PwC’s Product and Technology organization and leads its A.I. Innovation efforts including the research and adoption of emerging AI capabilities and application to industry use cases. He has over a decade of experience developing systems that cover a spectrum of A.I. technologies that include multi agent simulations, computer vision, audio processing, autonomous systems and language models. He has helped industry clients and PwC develop and adopt large language models for the purposes of decision activities, information extraction, search and retrieval, and content generation.