What is AI//FORWARD?
Cognifyd and All Things AI have teamed up to host Charlotte’s largest AI conference: AI//FORWARD is an exclusive two-day AI event for Enterprise & SMB business leaders—focused on real-world AI applications, innovation, and impact.
EXECUTIVE-LEVEL WORKSHOPS
Attend immersive strategy sessions and technical deep dives for business leaders, focused on Al strategy, readiness tools, workforce/change strategy, and peer-driven insights.
EXPERT TALKS & PANELS
Gain insights and expertise from Al thought leaders, engineers, and researchers on cutting-edge topics like open-source AI, LLM deployment, and real-world Al applications.
COMMUNITY & NETWORKING
Network and connect with Al business leaders, change-makers, entrepreneurs, and practitioners in a collaborative environment to share insights and discover opportunities.
PRACTITIONER-ONLY ACCESS
Experience an exclusive event designed for AI practitioners and business leaders. To preserve the depth and focus of the content, attendance is limited to non-sales/marketing roles.
KEY PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS
300
Attendees
25
Speakers
20
Sessions
Conference Agenda
Monday, October 27
Day 1 consists of two concurrent workshops. Please register for one of the two parallel courses: AIOS for Executives or AI for DevOps.
7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
Atrium
Vendor Check-In & Setup
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Atrium
Attendee Check-In & Networking
With coffee & light breakfast refreshments
9:00 PM – 12:00 PM
Auditorium
Mark Hinkle
The Artificially Intelligent Operating System for Executives (AIOS for Executives)
Workshop Session 1: Clarity on AI Strategy That Works
Gain clarity on what makes an enterprise AI strategy succeed—and what pitfalls to avoid. This session helps you prioritize the right investments across infrastructure, talent, governance, and use cases to align AI with real business impact.
Break (15 minutes)
Workshop Session 2: Playbooks for Moving from Pilot to Production
Learn how to move from AI pilots to full-scale deployment by addressing common rollout pitfalls. This session offers practical frameworks to help you integrate LLMs and automation into core workflows—focusing on high-impact use cases like customer support and productivity tools.
Lecture Hall
John Willis
AI for DevOps: From Automation to Intelligence
Workshop Session 1: Generative AI in the Modern SDLC
This session provides foundational knowledge on generative AI and its integration into software development and operational pipelines. Participants will explore the evolution of GenAI, foundational model usage, and the NORMAL framework—a structured method for understanding GenAI lifecycle components.
Break (15 minutes)
Workshop Session 2: Architectures for Augmented Generation
This session focuses on the design and implementation of AI-augmented systems. Attendees will learn how to build, optimize, and scale advanced RAG architectures—including agent orchestration, caching strategies, and graph-enhanced retrieval models.
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Atrium, Auditorium & Garden
Lunch Break
With box lunches
1:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Auditorium
Mark Hinkle
The Artificially Intelligent Operating System for Executives (AIOS for Executives)
Workshop Session 3: Readiness Tools for Executives
Evaluate your organization’s readiness to scale AI with tools tailored for executive decision-makers. This session helps you benchmark AI maturity across architecture, compliance, and culture—so you can confidently decide when to build, buy, or partner.
Break (15 minutes)
Workshop Session 4: Workforce & Change Strategy
Learn how to prepare your workforce for AI adoption through tailored, role-specific training and thoughtful change management. This session focuses on building cross-functional alignment and delivering hands-on education for non-technical teams in sales, HR, operations, and beyond.
Workshop Session 5: Peer-Driven Insight & Executive Benchmarking
Gain firsthand insights from peers leading real-world AI deployments and learn which strategies are driving results—and which aren’t. This closing session helps you benchmark your approach, refine your roadmap, and strengthen alignment with key stakeholders.
Lecture Hall
John Willis
AI for DevOps: From Automation to Intelligence
Workshop Session 3: Observability, Evaluation & Guardrails
This session teaches participants how to evaluate, monitor, and control GenAI behavior in production environments. It covers human and machine evaluation methods, observability tooling, scoring techniques, and visual diagnostics for debugging.
Break (15 minutes)
Workshop Session 4: Labs, Recap, and Knowledge Transfer
In this closing session, participants will optionally engage in instructor-led lab work to build and evaluate a GenAI pipeline. The session concludes with a review of key learnings, final Q&A, and the distribution of resource bundles for continued learning.
4:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Atrium
Open Networking
Tuesday, October 28
Note: Agenda for Day 2 (Conference Day) is subject to change.
7:30 AM – 8:00 AM
Atrium
Vendor Check-In & Setup
8:00 AM – 9:00 AM
Atrium
Attendee Check-In & Networking
With coffee & light breakfast refreshments
9:00 AM – 9:10 AM
Auditorium
Welcome
Mark Hinkle
Co-Founder & Producer, All Things AI
9:10 AM – 9:20 AM
Auditorium
Building Charlotte’s AI Community
Sakib Kadak
Founder, Cognifyd
9:20 AM – 9:40 AM
Auditorium
Opening Keynote Session
NVIDIA
Details coming soon
9:40 AM – 10:05 AM
Auditorium
Panel Discussion: AI Beyond Business
Natali Betancur
Deputy Director, Center for Digital Equity (CDE)
Charlitta Hatch
Deputy Director of Innovation & Technology, City of Charlotte
Todd Quartiere
Founder & Executive Director, Foundation for Artificial Intelligence & Health (FAIH)
Dr. Joe Perez
Senior Systems Specialist & Team Leader, NC Department of Health and Human Services
Kenyetta Hall
CEO & Lead Consultant, The Katalyst HQ
10:05 AM – 10:15 AM
Break
10:15 AM – 10:40 AM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Confidential AI: How to Keep Your Data Private in the Age of AI
Aaron Fulkerson
CEO, OPAQUE
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
An Executive Overview of the State of AI in 2025
David Ellison
Director of AI Engineering, Lenovo
10:45 AM – 11:10 AM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Artificial Intelligence: 2025 and Beyond - What's Your Strategy?
Celestine Pressley
Executive Partner, Gartner
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Model Context Protocol: Essential Infrastructure For Your Agentic AI Strategy
Don Shin
Founder & CEO, CrossComm
11:15 AM – 11:40 AM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Panel Discussion: Hiring in the Age of AI
Axiom Path
Details coming soon
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
How to Unlock the Real Power of AI
Eric Brown
VP, Head of Commercial & Infrastructure (Regional CIO), Align Technology
11:40 AM – 12:55 PM
Atrium, Auditorium & Garden
Lunch Break
With box lunches
1:00 PM – 1:25 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
AI With a Soul: How to Lead Boldly Without Leaving People Behind
Greg Boone
CEO, Walk West
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
The Center of Excellence Playbook: How to Scale Fast with AI
DeShon Clark
Chief AI Architect, Allventa
1:30 PM – 1:55 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
AI Took Your Job. Now Invent Your Future.
Rachel Krug
Chief Business Officer, SenseIP
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Overcoming AI Adoption Challenges
David Perez
Information Security Senior Manager, Wells Fargo
Israel Curiel
Senior Lead Risk Analytics Consultant, Wells Fargo
2:00 PM – 2:25 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Pillars of AI Governance at Mastercard
Katherine (Heighington) Stout
Director of AI Governance, MasterCard
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Building AI Agents on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure
Gururaj Mohan
Master Principal Cloud Architect, Oracle
2:30 PM – 2:55 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
When AI Goes Wrong: How to Navigate an AI Recruitment Incident
Cynthia Bilbrough
Global Head HR Privacy, Digital & Risk, GSK
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Validated, Scalable, Usable: What It Takes to Build AI Products
in Healthcare & Life Science
Aleksandra Petkova
Senior Product Manager, Kythera Labs
3:00 PM – 3:25 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Prioritizing and Evaluating GenAI Use Cases
Ben Heller
AI & GenAI Transformation Manager, Google Cloud
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Beyond the API Call: Building a Competitive Moat with Proprietary AI
Sathya Annamalai Geetha
Principal Architect, Strategic Industries, Google
3:30 PM – 3:55 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
AI for Employers: Balancing Innovation & Data Protection in the Workplace
Cynthia Bilbrough
Global Head HR Privacy, Digital & Risk, GSK
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
AI: Only as Good as the Data It’s Served
Tiffany Benitez
Head of Data Governance, Compass Group
4:00 PM – 4:25 PM
Auditorium
Executive Track
Community-Driven Enablement: Scaling AI Tool Mastery Through Peer Networks
Christopher Scott
Senior Manager of Data Enablement, Enact Mortgage Insurance
Lecture Hall
Technical Track
Trust, But Verify: A Practical Path to the 5% of AI Pilots That Make It To Production
David vonThenen
Senior AI/ML Engineer, Office of the CTO, NetApp
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
CO-LAB Grand Hall
Networking Social
End the day with drinks, food, and open networking across the street at CO-LAB
Featured Speakers
John Willis
Editor-in-Chief
AI CIO
Mark Hinkle
Co-Founder & Producer
All Things AI
Natali Betancur
Deputy Director
Center for Digital Equity
Joseph Hanna
Founder in Residence
AI Fund
David Ellison
Director of AI Engineering
Lenovo
Charlitta Hatch
Deputy Director of
Innovation & Technology
City of Charlotte
Celestine Pressley
Executive Partner
Gartner
Christopher Scott
Senior Manager of
Data Enablement
Enact Mortgage Insurance
Jason Oglesby
Chief Technology Officer
Rev.io
Aaron Fulkerson
Chief Executive Officer
OPAQUE
Ben Heller
AI & GenAI Transformation Manager
Google Cloud
Archie Heller
Fur Baby &
Executive Assistant to
Ben Heller
Don Shin
Founder & CEO
CrossComm
Katherine Stout
Director of AI Governance
MasterCard
Cynthia Bilbrough
Global Head HR Privacy, Digital & Risk
GSK
Tiffany Benitez
Head of Data Governance
Compass Group
Rachel Krug
Chief Business Officer
SenseIP
DeShon Clark
Chief AI Architect
Allventa
David Perez
Information Security Senior Manager
Wells Fargo
Israel Curiel
Senior Lead Risk
Analytics Consultant
Wells Fargo
Aleksandra Petkova
Senior Product Manager
Kythera Labs
Sathya AG
Principal Architect, Retail
Google
David vonThenen
Senior AI/ML Engineer, Office of the CTO
NetApp
Greg Boone
Chief Executive Officer
Walk West
SPONSORS
PLATINUM SPONSORS
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
ORGANIZING SPONSORS
MEDIA PARTNERS
Book Signings From Industry-Leading Authors
Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge
By John Willis
How Deming Helped Win a War, Altered the Face of Industry,
and Holds the Key to Our Future
Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge captures the life and influence of W. Edwards Deming, charting the path to his greatest discovery: the System of Profound Knowledge, a set of fundamental truths that can transform any system or process into something greater.
John Willis is an author and technologist, notably credited as one of the founders of the DevOps movement. He’s launched 10+ startups and authored over 11 books, including The DevOps Handbook, Beyond The Phoenix Project, and Investments Unlimited.
The Human Signal
By Mark Hinkle
Will You Work for AI—or Will AI Work for You?
The Human Signal is a technical novel intended to educate and entertain readers on the progression of AI and its effect on humanity. This educational thriller depicts the fragile balance between human intention and automated decision-making. It exposes how governance, trust, and safety hang in the balance when algorithms run the world—and how quickly the future we’ve built can turn against us.
Mark R. Hinkle is an accomplished executive in high-growth technology companies, specializing in the strategic integration of AI to enhance enterprise infrastructure and productivity.
Venue Information
The Dubois Center at
UNC Charlotte Center City
LOCATION
PARKING
Several pay-to-park options are available within walking distance. The closest is 422 E 9th Street. Use the ParkMobile app and select Zone #96422.
NOTE: Parking is no longer available at 319 E 9th Street.
For more options, view the downloadable parking map, or visit our FAQ page for full details.
Conference Organizers
Sakib Kadak
Co-Founder
All Things AI (Charlotte)
Mark Hinkle
Co-Founder & Producer
All Things AI
Todd Lewis
Creator & Chair
All Things Open
Contact Us
