Prof. Michael Biercuk

Michael is Professor of Quantum Physics and Quantum Technology at The University of Sydney where he leads a team working to develop advanced technology powered by quantum physics. Out of this research, Michael saw a gap in the market for a company which made this knowledge available outside of the lab. Michael is also Chief Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Engineered Quantum Systems.

Michael completed his Masters and PhD at Harvard University. After university, he held a research fellowship in the Ion Storage Group at NIST Boulder under the supervision of 2012 Nobel Laureate in Physics Dr. David Wineland. He has also worked as a consultant to DARPA, helping steer government investments in quantum information and next-generation computer architectures.

As one of the world’s leading authorities on quantum physics and technology, Michael is a regular contributor to both the technical literature and the popular press. He is a TEDx speaking alumnus and winner of the 2015 Eureka Prize for Outstanding Early Career Researcher.

Dr. Maximilian Bock

Maximilian’s CV has many facets. He started as a physicist at Cambridge University in 2008. He later worked as a materials researcher in construction before founding Madanyu and Netwookie, two Tech4Good companies focused on emerging markets. To date, he has supported over 60 startups as a mentor and board member. Through his work, he has built a strong international investment and expert network with focus on England, France, and USA. As an investment manager in the hardware team, his focus is on nano- and quantum technology, materials and environmental research as well as Industry 4.0 and Future of Work.

Matthew Versaggi

Matthew Versaggi holds a senior leadership role in the Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Technologies space for the Advanced Technology Division (ATC) of  Optum Technology. Combination role comprises the responsibilities of (a) thought leader, (b) evangelist, (c) education SME, (d) strategist, and (e)  advanced technology delivery of projects and technical capabilities in the AI/CT spaces. His previous role in Optum had him leading a global AI/ML delivery team (Dublin, Boston, Minnesota and South Carolina). Other responsibilities he holds are Education and Subject Matter Expert in AI/ML for College of Artificial Intelligence in the Optum Tech University, and Subject Matter Expert in the UHG Patent Review Board reviewing AI/ML technologies. 

Matthew's previous roles prior to Optum were: AI Engineer for a Military Contractor, CEO of his own company, CIO of a dental insurance company, Adjunct Professor at a University, Business Startup Partner,  and AI Developer.

He has four university degrees : BA (Computer Science), BS (Finance / MIS), MS (Computer Science -Artificial Intelligence), MBA ( International Business / Economics).  He also has Professional certificates  in Security (Server / Network), Data Science / Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing.

James Palles-Dimmock

James is Commercial Director at Quantum Motion, where he is responsible for defining an IP, technical and commercial strategy for the business, developing silicon-based qubit architectures which are compatible with standard CMOS fabrication.

James has over a decade of experience delivering products from early stage concepts through R&D programmes; developing, protecting and commercialising new semiconductor technologies, in particular during his time at Japanese electronics company Sharp. James has transferred technology to factories both in the UK and Japan and his work has spanned the TRLs, from developing the first lab-based demonstration of a hot carrier solar cell to consulting on production issues in an assembly line.

A physicist by background, James has an MSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge, a PhD in Quantum Physics from Imperial College London and is a fellow of the Electrical Research Association (ERA).

Vijay Janapa Reddi

Petro Bigioi

Petronel Bigioi is CTO, Product Licensing of Xperi Corporation. In this role, he leads an experienced engineering team developing image processing and sound solutions to address various problems in the digital still camera, mobile phone, home, automotive and other related markets. XPERI’s imaging and sound technology can be found in more than 5 billion devices worldwide.

Petronel has more than 250 granted and published U.S. and international patents to date. Petronel is an IEEE fellow with over 20 years of experience in the digital still camera and mobile phone industries, working in both signal processing and connectivity. A co-founder of several successful companies (including FotoNation), he is also a pioneer of digital camera connectivity, a co-author and actively involved in the picture transfer protocol (PTP) and PTP-over-IP networks communication standards.

Married, father of four, Petronel enjoys photography, playing ping pong and is a music aficionado in his spare time.

Petronel got his B.Sc. in electronics engineering (1997) from Transilvania University, Brasov. Petronel also holds a couple of master degrees in ASIC design (Transilvania University, Brasov, 1998) and Networks and Communications (National University of Ireland, Galway, 2000). Petronel obtained his Ph.D. in electronics from Transilvania University (2005), his work being recognized by Romanian academy of science with a “Gheorghe Cartianu” award.

Jason Knight

Eileen Tanghal

Chris Knorowski

Chandra Khatri

Chandra Khatri is the Co-Founder at Got It AI, wherein, his team is building the world's first fully autonomous Conversational AI technology. Under his leadership, Got It AI is pushing the boundaries of the Conversational AI ecosystem and delivering the next generation of automation products. Prior to Got-It, Chandra was leading various kinds of applied research groups at Uber AI such as Conversational AI, Multi-modal AI, and Recommendation Systems.

 Prior to Uber AI, he was leading R&D for the Alexa Prize Competition (Alexa AI) at Amazon, wherein he got the opportunity to significantly advance the field of Conversational AI, particularly Open-domain Dialog Systems, which is considered as the holy-grail of Conversational AI and is one of the open-ended problems in AI. Prior to Alexa AI, he was driving NLP, Deep Learning, and Recommendation Systems related Applied Research at eBay. He graduated from Georgia Tech with a specialization in Deep Learning in 2015 and holds an undergraduate degree from BITS Pilani, India.

His current areas of research include Artificial and General Intelligence, Reinforcement Learning, Language Understanding, Conversational AI, Multi-modal and Human-agent Interactions, and Introducing Common Sense within Artificial Agents.