How Organizations Compete, Build, and Win in the AI Era

Seth Kolker is a nonprofit leader and advisor focused on expanding access to opportunity and strengthening communities through more effective and equitable systems and policies. He began his career as a teacher in Central Falls, Rhode Island, and has since helped launch and lead initiatives focused on civic engagement, education, tutoring, and pathways to good jobs. His work has included efforts reaching more than 500,000 students and partnerships with state leaders across the country. Seth holds advanced degrees in law, business, education, and public policy and is currently focused on helping establish Rhode Island’s hub on AI.

Scott Gausland is the State of Rhode Island’s first Chief Data and Analytics Officer, where he leads the state’s Data, Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence and helps shape statewide strategy around data, analytics, AI, and data governance. Previously, Scott spent two decades with the Rhode Island Department of Education, ultimately serving as Director of Data & Technology Services and leading major data and technology initiatives.

Ravi Chamarti is the Founder of Datalyrix, an AI Inference Solution. Datalyrix's mission is to make AI practical, affordable, secure, and useful for businesses of all sizes. At Datalyrix, Ravi leads initiatives that help businesses integrate AI into everyday operations to improve efficiency, productivity, and decision-making. Datalyrix aims to provide AI Inference solutions such as Document Intelligence, OCR Services, and Open-weight LLMs, with a focus on Token Economics and AI Security. Datalyrix's AI solution has a 7-layer security framework. Ravi leads Datalyrix with his broad experience as an AI and Data Architect, technology leader, and educator. He has worked as a technologist at companies including EMC, VMware, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and is an AI skills educator at Northeastern University.

Naman co-founded Polymr. He studied Computer Science and Economics at Duke, where he worked with a private equity firm on AI adoption before following generations of his family into industrials, helping manufacturers in India and the U.S. modernize their operations with AI. After raising funds from Silicon Valley's biggest VCs, he dropped out of Duke at 19.

Tanmay Neema co-founded Polymr alongside Naman. He comes to manufacturing from hard science: reinforcement learning for quantum control at SRI International, and mathematical physics at UC Berkeley. He was previously on the founding team of a med tech startup that exited.

Chuck Kwolek serves as a Regional Vice President, Agentic Enablement Partner at Lydonia, where he helps clients navigate the evolving AI Automation landscape with best-of-breed technology. He focuses on aligning modern solutions with business priorities to drive efficiency, improve outcomes, and accelerate transformation.

Before joining Lydonia, Chuck worked at Paycor as a Major Market Sales Executive, where he built new territories, developed strong C-level relationships, and expanded the company’s market presence through new customer acquisition. He also held several roles at Dell Technologies and Dell EMC, including Data Protection Specialist, Data Center Account Executive, and Emerging Technologies Specialist, where he advised clients on enterprise technology strategies across infrastructure and data management. Earlier in his career, Chuck served as Assistant Director in the Federal Budget Office at Providence Public Schools, where he supported financial operations and oversight.

Chuck earned both his MBA and undergraduate degrees at Salve Regina University, where he played on the Men’s Varsity Baseball Team. Throughout his career, he has combined his background in finance with expertise in AI automation to guide clients through digital and operational transformation.

Yan Lindsay Sun is a Professor at the University of Rhode Island, an IEEE Fellow, and the founding director of URI’s Center of Cyber-Physical Intelligence and Security (CYPHER), where she leads the center’s research on trustworthy AI, cybersecurity, and the resilience of power grids. CYPHER’s externally funded research portfolio exceeds $11 million.

Dr. Sun also works to prepare engineers who combine core engineering skills with AI fluency. She designed the URI College of Engineering’s AI/ML undergraduate certificate. She leads responsible AI integration in the industry-sponsored ELECOMP Capstone program, where she collaborates with Amazon Web Services (AWS). She created the CYPHER AI Marking System, a tool for showing how AI is used in work products. URI’s Graduate School has adopted it for theses and dissertations, and URI’s AI Task Force has recommended it for faculty and students.

She completed Carnegie Mellon University’s Chief Data and AI Officer program in 2025 with Best of Cohort recognition, and her work is discussed in A Leader’s Guide to Data & AI Culture: Activate Sustainable Business Value by Karan Dhawal and Gokula Mishra. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Maryland.

Isabelle Nichols is the founder and Managing Partner of Polaris Ventures, which partners with long duration pools of private capital as a Formation Partner and advisor. Through Polaris Ventures, Isabelle has launched several successful emerging managers across Venture Capital and Private Equity. Partners include Reveille Asset Management, Keep Capital, and Three Valleys Capital.

Before Polaris, Isabelle was an investment principal at DFO, Michael Dell’s family office. There she allocated capital across private markets, including underwriting funds and direct investments across real assets, natural capital, and infrastructure; she also oversaw a multi-billion-dollar liquidity event and led the strategic realignment of the investment team. Before DFO, she spent more than 11 years at Bridgewater Associates. She was head of Strategy & Operations and chief of staff to the CEO, and she led the firm’s governance and management transformation through its ownership transition.

Isabelle holds a degree in International Relations and Classics from Dartmouth College.

Jordan McCreery is Chief Business Officer of Primech AI, the robotics subsidiary of Primech Holdings (Nasdaq: PMEC), a Singapore-headquartered facilities services and AI robotics group, where he leads North American commercial expansion and U.S. investor relations. That includes the U.S. rollout of HYTRON, Primech's autonomous restroom-cleaning robot, which made its North American debut at CES 2026, and the company's participation in the U.S. Department of Commerce's SelectUSA Tech program. Jordan is also President and Co-Founder of Ingrained Media, a marketing and communications agency he founded in 2011. Its clients range from private brands to Nasdaq- and NYSE-listed companies, including clinical-stage biotechs and U.S.-listed Asia-Pacific issuers. Jordan holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Roosevelt University, with a double major in marketing and management, and serves as First Vice President of the American Advertising Federation's St. Louis chapter.

Stephen Eaves is the founder of VoltServer, a Rhode Island-based technology company that pioneered Digital Electricity®, a new format for safely distributing electrical power. The technology was incorporated into the National Electrical Code in 2023 as Class 4 Fault-Managed Power. Digital Electricity delivers the intense power levels required by data centers while being touch and fire safe, along with built-in data and communications capabilities. Stephen is a serial entrepreneur with decades of experience in the energy and power infrastructure industries. He holds dozens of patents and has authored or co-authored peer-reviewed papers addressing energy technology and infrastructure.

Kerry McKittrick is the Executive Director of the Project on Workforce, where she works at the intersection of research, policy, and practice to transform the systems that connect people to education, work, and economic opportunity. Her work focuses on helping people navigate pathways to meaningful careers amid a changing labor market. Kerry holds a master’s degree in Education Policy and Analysis from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she was a Leadership in Education Fellow, and a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from Brown University. She is also a 2025 Aspen Institute Ascend Fellow, part of a national cohort of leaders working to improve the lives of children and families.

Founder of Intelligent Artifacts and builder of the world's first FAA-certified machine learning algorithm, with two decades of experience building machine intelligence for finance, aerospace, defense, and healthcare.

Dr. Timothy Henry is an educator and technology leader with more than 25 years of experience spanning computer science, information technology, and emerging technologies. He began his IT career as an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard and later worked with early-stage cellular, GPS, and touchscreen technologies across law enforcement, healthcare, education, and other sectors. Dr. Henry has taught across a broad range of fields, including cybersecurity, machine learning, software engineering, digital forensics, ethics, and project management, and is the co-author of several textbooks focused on computing, technology, and data structures.

Stefan Pryor currently serves as the Secretary of Commerce for the State of Rhode Island, a position he previously held for seven years under two governors. In between his terms as Commerce Secretary, Pryor served as the Secretary of Housing for Rhode Island and as a partner at an impact investment firm, Palm Venture Studios. Earlier in his career, Pryor was President of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which coordinated the rebuilding and revitalization of Lower Manhattan including the World Trade Center site following the attacks of September 11th. After his service at the LMDC, Pryor was the Deputy Mayor of Economic Development in Newark, New Jersey. Following that, Pryor was the Education Commissioner for the State of Connecticut. Pryor received his undergraduate and law degrees from Yale University.

Joe Shekarchi represented District 23 (Warwick) in the Rhode Island House of Representatives and served as House Speaker from January 2021 until stepping down in May 2026, having previously served as House Majority Leader. A lifelong Warwick resident, he has practiced law for over 30 years and served as legal counsel to the Warwick Housing Authority for more than 25 years. As Speaker, he focused heavily on housing policy, including the creation of a state Department of Housing, as well as health care, economic development, and pay equity.