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Friday, May 16
 

TBA

Startup Showcase
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
VC panel to follow the pitches - details to come.
Startups
avatar for AngioInsight

AngioInsight

AngioInsight's mission is to improve clinical outcomes through precise AI diagnosis and optimal management of both coronary artery and microvascular disease, with the intent to reduce the cost of care with the power and accuracy of AI.
avatar for Objective Biotechnology

Objective Biotechnology

Objective Bio's mission is to develop high-impact technologies that enable comprehensive measurement and manipulation of biological systems at multiple scales, unlocking new research capabilities. Its Autoinjector is the world’s first automated microinjection instrument designed... Read More →
avatar for Biometrica Health

Biometrica Health

Biometrica Health provides HIPAA-compliant, device-agnostic RPM (remote patient monitoring) solutions with predictive analytics, helping healthcare providers manage chronic conditions and improve patient outcomes while reducing costs.
avatar for HEARTio

HEARTio

HEARTio is a digital diagnostics startup pairing AI with the most commonly administered cardiac test — the EKG — to predict the presence, and impact of heart disease.
avatar for Sentinel Insights

Sentinel Insights

Sentinel Insights offers real time monitoring of website data for privacy and quality validation.  Ensure your digital data is accurate and user consent is respected. Deliver high-quality data to those who need it.
avatar for Babbl Labs

Babbl Labs

Babbl Labs transforms large-scale video content into actionable intelligence for funds and corporations. Our licensed data feeds deliver structured insights from experts and industry leaders across 1000s of market-relevant YouTube channels.
avatar for LeagueOS

LeagueOS

LeagueOS is competition management software and the system of record for 2/3 of HS and collegiate esports leagues in the US, capturing detailed stats for each individual competitor which they can use to connect with opportunities at the next level.
avatar for The Jenny Project

The Jenny Project

The Jenny Project delivers AI-driven market research solutions. Utilizing AI personas and synthetic data, it enables businesses to access real-time, actionable consumer insights without traditional panels, facilitating faster, smarter decisions.
avatar for RADICL

RADICL

Founded by serial work-technology founders Patrick Riley and Dan Riley, RADICL accelerates team impact in the future of work. It is the world’s first “Talent Intelligence” platform and uses an AI-native operating system to replace outdated assessments and tools with always-on... Read More →
avatar for Bloom Standard

Bloom Standard

Bloom Standard is building the first self-driving ultrasound device that automatically scans the heart and lungs, and alerts the user if there is something abnormal. It enables any user on the front lines of care to screen infants and children for heart or lung abnormality, with just... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  0 - Panel / Showcase

TBA

VC Panel: How VC Investing Has Changed in the Past 5 Years - and What Startups Need to Know Today
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Moderators
avatar for Graeme Thickins

Graeme Thickins

Board Member, MinneAnalytics
Speakers
avatar for Matt Miller, PhD

Matt Miller, PhD

Founder & Partner, Headwater Ventures
Accelerating digital health innovation. Investing into pre-seed and seed technologies that modernize health + care. Formerly managing director of UnitedHealthcare Accelerator and managing director at TechStars.
avatar for Rob Weber

Rob Weber

Managing Partner, Great North Ventures
Founder backing founders at Great North Ventures where execution is our North Star. Investing in entrepreneurs using breakthrough technologies to innovate industries dominated by inefficient processes.
avatar for Dave Dalvey, MBA

Dave Dalvey, MBA

Managing General Partner and CEO, Brightstone Venture Capital
25 years of venture capital fund management experience with two venture capital firms and two national investment banks completing more than 200 investments with $2 billion+ in total transaction value. 10 years of fund-of-fund portfolio oversight experience as director/advisor to... Read More →
avatar for Mary Grove

Mary Grove

Managing Partner, Bread & Butter Ventures
Two decades of leadership experience in technology, early stage investing, and startup ecosystem growth. Began her career working on the Google IPO, and went on to lead new business development partnerships, negotiating early stage product and technology deals worldwide. Then served... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  0 - Panel / Showcase

TBA

Among Us: Battling the Imposter
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Many of us have dealt with feeling out of our depth, not good enough, or generally underqualified, even if an outsider wouldn't perceive it that way. This talk will focus on practical ways to lift yourself up, be confident in your knowledge, and kick out the imposter (syndrome).
Speakers
avatar for Brittany Thomsen, DPT

Brittany Thomsen, DPT

Senior manager, Data Science, Kraft Heinz
Brittany Thomsen is a Senior Manager in Data Science with experience in digital marketing, eCommerce, and consumer packaged goods. Her goal is to empower others in their journey to tech. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

Building Resilience: Strategies for Job Seekers and New Professionals
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Being resilient doesn’t always feel resilient, but it's a key skill for job seekers and new professionals as they face challenges post-graduation. This presentation will delve into the importance of embracing the differences between work life and college life, asking questions to help foster connections, and the value of stepping out of your comfort zone. We will also discuss the unique contributions Gen Z brings to the workplace, highlighting their fresh perspectives and innovative approaches, along with sharing insights from our own team. Join us to learn how to build resilience and set yourself up for success in your professional journey.
Speakers
avatar for Linnea Wolle

Linnea Wolle

Analyst, Milliman
Linnea graduated from Luther College in May 2024 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics/Statistics and a minor in Data Science. She works as an Analyst at Milliman. Linnea is passionate about data analytics and the process of making data meaningful. 
avatar for Jordan Olds

Jordan Olds

Actuarial Analyst, Milliman
Jordan graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College in May 2024 with a major in Statistics and a minor in Economics. He has been studying and taking actuarial exams since Winter 2023. He currently works as an Actuarial Analyst for Milliman.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

Elevate Your Career: Embracing the Power of Feedback
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In the fast-paced world of data technology, continuous improvement is key to staying relevant and achieving career growth. One of the most effective ways to foster this improvement is through feedback. This session will explore the importance of asking for feedback, how to effectively solicit and utilize it, and the impact it can have on personal and professional development. Attendees will learn practical strategies for seeking feedback, interpreting it constructively, and applying it to enhance their skills and career trajectory.
Speakers
avatar for Leah Spielman

Leah Spielman

Technology Transformation Manager, Best Buy
Leah Spielman is passionate about career development and empowering others to own their own career growth. She is known for her ability to build relationships, mentor and coach others, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
avatar for Ellen Roth

Ellen Roth

Technology Transformation Associate Manager, Best Buy
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

Hot Trends in Data Protection Law 2025 - from Privacy to AI
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This session provides an insightful overview of the latest trends and challenges in US and international privacy and data protection law. Attendees will explore key legal developments, emerging issues, and the complexities of the regulatory landscape in 2025. Gain a deeper understanding of current privacy laws and their implications.
Speakers
avatar for Leona Lewis, JD

Leona Lewis, JD

Privacy and Compliance Counsel, Land O'Lakes
Leona Lewis, a Twin Cities in-house business and regulatory attorney with 20+ years of experience, who began her focus on privacy and data protection law in 2018. She now drives innovative data solutions as a key legal advisor at Land O'Lakes.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

The Human Element of Data Careers: Why mentorship matters
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Data careers often focus on technical expertise and innovation, but the true game-changer lies in the connections we build along the way. This talk explores how mentorship goes beyond opening doors—it uncovers hidden opportunities, builds confidence, and shapes the trajectory of careers in profound ways. Drawing on real-world reflections, we’ll unpack why mentorship is a critical component of success and, most importantly, how you can step into a mentorship role for data professionals to make a meaningful impact—regardless of your level or experience.
Speakers
avatar for John Hogue, MSE

John Hogue, MSE

Principal Consultant, Rogue Hogue / Social Data Science
Over a decade of AI, data and analytics leadership experience.Building effective data organizations that deliver tangible resultsOptimizing and strategizing key data initiativesAssessing skills, capabilities and processes for the future
avatar for Abhishek Roy, MS

Abhishek Roy, MS

North America Leader of AI, Cargill / Social Data Science
With 15 years of data science, machine learning, and optimization experience, I lead the North America Data AI team at Cargill, a global leader in food and agriculture. My mission is to optimize user experiences, provide insights and actions, and democratize data with great AI/ML... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

The Power of Networking in IT
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In this session, we’ll explore how networking in IT uncovers hidden job opportunities, builds personal brands, and accelerates career growth. We’ll discuss strategies for expanding professional networks both online and offline, fostering meaningful conversations, and leveraging mentorship. Attendees will gain actionable takeaways on setting networking goals, effective follow-up strategies, and the importance of giving back. By the end, they’ll have clear insights on how to structure their networking efforts for long-term success.
Speakers
avatar for Benjamin Diaz

Benjamin Diaz

Board Member, CreateMPLS
I am a board member for CreateMPLS - STEM Non Profit in Minnesota. I believe that connections and networking can have a tremendous-positive impact on your career
avatar for Daniel McKenzie

Daniel McKenzie

Sr Data Scientist, Sun Country
Experienced data scientist designing, prototyping, and deploying solutions in partnership with diverse business partners. Diverse technology and methodology stack including Azure Databricks, Spark, R, Python, Pyspark, SQL, deep learning, NLP, GIS, generative AI, Javascript, LLMs... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  1 - Business

TBA

Demontrating the Value of AI
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
AI is a hot topic for everyone today.  But how do you show the value of AI to your organization?  This is a question many are asking.  Being able to show the value and risk of LLM's, AI agents and various other AI tools go a long way in positive adoption of the tools.  This presentation walks you through the various metrics and methods of demonstrating the value of AI in a way that speaks to the business and leadership.
Speakers
avatar for Edward Chenard, MBA

Edward Chenard, MBA

Freelance Consultant, Echenard
Over a decade of building various data and analytics teams at Fortune 500's and startups.  Currently helping companies to build AI Agents for workflow automation.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

Legal Update: Where we are when it comes to AI
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This session provides an overview of the status of various legal frameworks addressing concerns with respect to AI systems in the U.S., with a mention of relevant OUS frameworks that may influence the development of law and regulation in the U.S. 
Speakers
avatar for Megan Bowman, JD

Megan Bowman, JD

Attorney, Fredrikson & Byron
Attorney at Minneapolis focused on advising companies on their development, procurement, and deployment of AI systems and related technologies.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

Measuring Price Variation: The basic statistical measure you never learned
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Using the normalized metric of Coefficient of Variation (aka Residual Standard Deviation) to measure price variance can be a highly effective way to find and diagnose issues in pricing, costing, discount policies as well as to naturally unveil customer and product segments.

This session is an End-to-end playbook on measuring and implementing Coefficient of Variation (RSD) analysis using the tools you already have: Excel, PowerBI and Tableau.
Speakers
avatar for Christine Carragee

Christine Carragee

Pricing & Analytics Consultant, Carragee Consulting
Christine Carragee has led requirements and managed implementation for over a dozen pricing systems within Fortune 500 companies. She has worked in revenue management, pricing and monetization functions across industries for ~20 years.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

Professional Development - How do I stay relevant?
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Technology changes every day. So does the job market. Do you feel ready and well-equipped for your next promotion or career move? Join me as I present tactics geared towards honing core technical skills, creating a solid data portfolio, formatting a data resume, communicating with leaders, and cultivating the right network. 
Speakers
avatar for Meghan Kupser, MS

Meghan Kupser, MS

Manager, Enterprise Analytics, Insperity
6 years of Recruiting before moving into Leadership and Operations, focused on Data Science and Analytics within the Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and Talent Operations space. Masters In Business Analytics.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

The IC Comeback: Embracing Technical Excellence After Management
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This talk is about embracing the courage to step back into the trenches, rediscovering your passion for hands-on work, and proving that leadership isn’t a title—it’s the impact you create. Drawing from experiences in both Data Science and Data Engineering, this session will highlight the power of growth, adaptability, and reclaiming your craft while forging a unique path forward.
Speakers
avatar for Devan Sayles

Devan Sayles

Lead Data Engineer, General Mills
In her 14 years at General Mills, Devan Sayles has been an SAP Developer, a Digital Marketing analyst, Data Engineer, Data Engineering Manager, and Lead Data Engineer. Her current role focuses on ingesting Supply Chain datasets to Google Cloud.
avatar for Sabin Pradhan, MS

Sabin Pradhan, MS

Lead Data Scientist, General Mills
Sabin Pradhan is a seasoned data science leader based in Minneapolis, with a strong focus on enterprise AI/ML innovation. Currently, he serves as Lead Data Scientist on the General Mills AI & Automation with a focus on organizational AI transformation.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

Using NLP to Uncover Persistence Factors for Undergraduate Women in Computing
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This research paper uses a comparative approach to explore retention among undergraduate women in computing, focusing on the experiences of those who have persisted. It offers actionable insights to shape future initiatives aimed at creating a more equitable STEM education environment.
Speakers
avatar for Bethlehem Gronneberg, PhD

Bethlehem Gronneberg, PhD

Director of Data Science | Chair of Mathematical Sciences, St. Catherine University
Dr. Bethlehem Gronneberg, Chair & Director of Data Science at St. Catherine University, is a Bush Fellow, STEM educator, & founder of uCodeGirl. She is dedicated to empowering women data scientists through her mentorship, research & leadership.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  2 - Mostly Business

TBA

AI for Innovation: Leveraging AI for Materials Discovery
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
The ability of artificial intelligence (AI) to learn patterns within vast datasets is revolutionizing research and development. Throughout the innovation cycle, AI presents opportunities to accelerate processes, synthesize information, and predict outcomes. It is important to be realistic about the capabilities and limitations of AI and cultivate projects that leverage its strengths. Using examples from materials discovery, the potential benefit of AI for research will be demonstrated with concrete examples from Seagate Technology.
Speakers
avatar for Matthew Hauwiller, PhD

Matthew Hauwiller, PhD

Senior Engineer, Seagate Technology
Matthew is passionate about the development and impact of new technologies, from the atomic to global scale. He employs AI to drive innovation of next generation data storage technologies that are more cost-effective and sustainable.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

AI-Powered Business Intelligence: Chatbots for SQL Data Analysis
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In this talk, we will explore how AI-powered chatbots can transform business intelligence by enabling non-technical users to query SQL databases and generate insights without relying on pre-built dashboards. Using open-source tools, we will cover techniques for building these chatbots, ensuring they understand natural language queries, retrieve accurate data, and generate visualizations. Additionally, we will address key considerations such as enforcing security rules and optimizing AI performance. Attendees will leave with a practical roadmap for implementing AI-driven business intelligence solutions in their organizations.
Speakers
avatar for Piers Concord

Piers Concord

Principal Software Engineer, Kinetic BI
Principal Software Engineer specializing in AI, leading the development of AI-powered enterprise platforms, including hiring management, supply-chain optimisation.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

AI/ML applications R&D data analytics
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, R&D data analytics and AI/ML applications are pivotal in driving innovation and operational efficiency. However, the implementation of these technologies presents unique challenges, including data quality and availability, scalability, model interpretability, and alignment with organizational goals. This presentation highlights the distinct challenges of applying AI/ML in R&D, including managing incomplete and evolving datasets, balancing the need for precision with exploratory analysis, and aligning model outcomes with experimental objectives. This presentation will offer practical strategies to address them.
Speakers
avatar for Debin Wang, PhD

Debin Wang, PhD

Sr Engineering Manager, Seagate Technology
A Sr Engineering Manager specializing in R&D data analytics with a strong focus on leveraging AI and ML technologies, leading innovative projects that drive data-driven decision-making efficiency and operational excellence. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Beyond the Numbers: Unlocking Insights Through Visualization
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Effective data analysis goes beyond numbers—it requires seeing the underlying patterns that may be obscured in raw data and descriptive statistics. This session will explore the analytical power of visualization, focusing on how to encode data into visuals that bring clarity to complex relationships. We will critique ineffective visualizations, diagnose their flaws, and walk through the steps needed to refine them for more accurate analysis. Even in the age of AI, human visual interpretation remains a crucial tool for identifying anomalies, contextualizing trends, and ensuring that patterns are correctly understood. Attendees will gain practical strategies for transforming data into visuals that enhance, rather than distort, meaningful insights.
Speakers
avatar for Derick Carlson, MPS

Derick Carlson, MPS

Manager - Retail Testing and Analytics, maurices
15 year analytics career spanning industries including construction, banking and retail.  Undergrads in Marketing and Marketing Analytics.  Masters in Data Visualization.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Deploying Computer Vision to Save Lives in Healthcare
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In the medical device field, computer vision offers transformative potential to enhance patient outcomes and save lives. By applying CNN algorithms like YOLO, we can improve sterilization processes, detecting objects in inspection videos to meet critical safety standards. While these algorithms are powerful, real-world implementation reveals challenges: the lack of consensus in labeled data and the importance of aligning AI solutions with hospital workflows. Partnering closely with nursing staff who rely on these tools daily, we’re merging technical precision with practical usability, underscoring both the promise and the complexities of deploying AI in life-saving healthcare environments.
Speakers
avatar for Garret Anderson

Garret Anderson

AI Practice Leader, Digineer
Garret is an AI strategist specializing in pragmatic AI solutions. With a Fortune 15 background and multiple patents, he helps organizations align AI with strategic goals for effective, scalable, and measurable outcomes.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Factory Digital Twins
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
The presentation will discuss the current state of factory data analytics, including digital twins, and the underlying mathematical and computational challenges. We will touch upon the adoption barriers for shops, especially SMMs (Small & Medium Manufacturers) in embracing data driven production and how to overcome them. 
Speakers
avatar for Vivek Saxena, PhD

Vivek Saxena, PhD

Founder & CEO, FactoryTwin
Vivek's background spans from academics (UMN, Cambridge, Cornell) to C-suite roles. His expertise is in modeling & simulation. Aided by 3 NSF awards, his team in Hopkins (MN) has built a robust data analytics platform used by manufacturers across the US.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Forecasting with Thousands of Regressors: Predicting Prior Authorization Volume
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In healthcare, your insurance company may need to do a prior authorization to determine if your medication is covered. This can be a time-consuming process for patients and insurance companies, especially if there are a lot of authorizations needed at the same time. In this talk, we'll explore our approach using thousands of individual medications to predict incoming volumes of prior authorizations, examine some of the lessons learned along the way, and share how you can still get valuable insights from a huge number of variables. 
Speakers
avatar for Jordan Sellman

Jordan Sellman

Senior Data Scientist, Prime Therapeutics
Senior data scientist working at Prime Therapeutics within operations with a focus on forecasting, data mining, and text analysis.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

LLM Creativity: Copyrighting 471B Melodies, Making All the Patents, and "Creative" Data Science
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
LLMs are radically transforming "creativity" across copyright, patents, and data analytics. Damien Riehl — lawyer, musician, technologist — copyrighted 471 billion machine-generated melodies, raising questions of originality and monopoly rights as AIs generate 300K melodies per second. Then his All the Patents project recombines prior patents' claims into "new" inventions, publishing them as prior art, all to block "obvious" patents. Further, LLMs can expedite "creative" endeavors — including data science — traversing the latent space of disparate concepts, providing novel insights. As human-AI collaboration evolves, let's explore the blurring boundaries of creativity, law, and technology.
Speakers
avatar for Damien Riehl, JD

Damien Riehl, JD

VP, Solutions Champion, vLex
Lawyer, technologist, coder. Judicial clerk, litigated complex cases, led cybersecurity & digital forensics. Chairs MN CAV Council & MSBA AI Cmte. Built legal data standard. LLMs on vLex's billion-doc global dataset. "This guy rocks!" -Elon Musk.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Maximizing Sales Efficiency Through Data-Driven Workforce Optimization
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In this presentation, we’ll showcase BestBuy’s data science solution designed to optimize labor hour allocation across stores. The solution involves a two-step approach: first, estimating a sales response function that quantifies the impact of labor hours and store footprint on sales; and second, implementing a customized optimization model to maximize sales within a given labor budget. We’ll dive into the details of the methodology and share the key outcomes achieved through this approach.
Speakers
avatar for Jingfeng Tang, MBA

Jingfeng Tang, MBA

Senior Data Science Manager, Best Buy
Jingfeng (Tom) Tang is a Senior Data Science Manager at Best Buy with 10 years of experience in leveraging data to drive impactful business decisions. He has a consulting background specializing in pricing strategy, workforce, and operations optimization.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Moving the needle with Agentic AI
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
AI isn't a magic bullet for business success. Rather, it is through a thousand tiny autonomous decisions that agentic AI can help businesses move the needles of their key KPIs. In this session, learn how to scale the most useful signals through a network of AI/ML models and other technology like the vector store, Generative AI with large language models (LLMs), and deployment capabilities. 
Speakers
avatar for Trish Lugtu, MS

Trish Lugtu, MS

Director & Principal Data Scientist, Teradata
As an insatiably curious systems thinker and data scientist, Trish drives scalable, transformative AI/ML strategies for leading U.S. healthcare organizations in her role as Principal Data Scientist for Healthcare at Teradata. She built her expertise through three decades of experience... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

OR Model for Strategic Inventory Placement and Forecast Optimization in Supply Chain
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This presentation explores a practical approach to using operational research (OR) models for enhancing supply chain efficiency and inventory management. We will discuss real-world strategies and techniques for configuring forecast and inventory constraints, optimizing network performance, and achieving a balanced inventory distribution across different scenarios. By highlighting case studies and examples, attendees will gain an understanding of how OR models can be effectively integrated into existing business processes to improve decision-making. Key takeaways will include clear insights into selecting and implementing suitable OR methodologies, understanding the trade-offs involved in inventory and speed optimization, and practical steps for successful application within their own organizations.
Speakers
avatar for Ranjit Singh Kanwar, MSc

Ranjit Singh Kanwar, MSc

Associate Data Scientist, Best Buy
Experienced Data Scientist with a strong background in retail analytics, supply chain optimization, and advanced forecasting methodologies. Skilled in developing and operationalizing advanced analytical models. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

Uplift Modeling at Scale: How HelloFresh Personalizes Customer Discounts
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
This session will introduce uplift modeling and explain its distinct challenges compared to traditional machine learning approaches. We will explore avoiding bias in training data, choosing evaluation metrics, and how uplift models can optimize competing business trade-offs.

Finally, we’ll delve into the components of an end-to-end uplift modeling system deployed in production, including data pipelines, an A/B testing framework, and methods for serving predictions.
Speakers
avatar for Justin Kaiser, MEd

Justin Kaiser, MEd

Sr. Machine Learning Engineer, HelloFresh
Justin Kaiser is a Senior Machine Learning Engineer at HelloFresh, where he develops personalization systems to enhance millions of customers' meal planning experiences.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  3 - Mix of Business & Technical

TBA

AI Agents: Revolutionizing Enterprise Innovation
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In today’s rapidly evolving technological landscape, AI agents stand as a beacon of both innovation and thoughtful design. At the core of our AI Agent Architecture is a sophisticated, multi-layered framework that integrates high-performance data ingestion, modular AI inference engines, and a secure communication layer ensuring seamless interoperability with legacy systems. Robust analytics and continuous monitoring further empower this architecture to dynamically optimize performance, ensuring reliability and resilience in an ever-changing digital world.

Our approach unlocks transformative business use cases. Conversational AI agents revolutionize customer engagement by delivering personalized, intuitive support that adapts to individual needs. Automated processes streamline operational workflows, reducing costs and enhancing efficiency. Predictive analytics harnesses the power of data synthesis to forecast market trends and drive strategic insights. Advanced fraud detection utilizes real-time anomaly recognition to safeguard assets and mitigate risk. Finally, strategic decision support aggregates diverse data streams, empowering leaders with comprehensive insights for informed choices.

Join us as we explore this convergence of technology and human insight—a future where AI agents not only drive business innovation but also foster a deeper understanding of our world. Embrace a journey where intelligent systems and human creativity merge, unlocking value and redefining the very fabric of the Enterprise.
Speakers
avatar for Michael Arulfo

Michael Arulfo

Principal Enterprise Architect, Boston Scientific
Mike is an unstoppable force who turned a rich, multi-decade career in enterprise architecture into cutting-edge innovation at industry giants like Boston Scientific, Optum.AI, EverNorth, 3M and the Mayo Clinic Mike serves as the Chairman of BETA.MN 
avatar for Jim Wilt

Jim Wilt

Chief Architect, WVE - Business Technology Strategy
Hi! I'm a technology executive recognized for innovations in Aerospace, Manufacturing, Cloud & Operating Systems, Data Analytics, Health, Fintech, and Retail to name a few. Today, I focus on Generative AI augmented Software & Platform Modernization/Digital Transformation through... Read More →
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

AI invoice screener
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
The presentation will showcase how AI can streamline invoice processing by identifying anomalies, flagging discrepancies, and integrating seamlessly with existing enterprise systems. By implementing this technology, businesses can enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and improve decision-making processes.
Speakers
avatar for Vivek Raman, MS

Vivek Raman, MS

Sr Data Architect, First source Bank
I am an AI enthusiast and Data Engineer with extensive experience in developing AI-driven solutions for data analytics and education. I strive to combine technical expertise with a commitment to driving innovation and knowledge in the AI space.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

AI on a Shoestring: Building and Deploying Small Language Models for Business Impact
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Small Language Models (SLMs) offer a practical, cost-effective, and privacy-friendly alternative to Large Language Models (LLMs) for many use cases. This session explores how to create, fine-tune, and deploy AI solutions using an open-source SLM on consumer-grade hardware. Attendees will learn to compare and select models, apply LoRA-based fine-tuning, and optimize efficiency with quantization while balancing performance, all through a hands-on chatbot use case. This talk combines business insights with technical steps for leveraging SLMs in real-world applications—ideal for developers, researchers, and AI enthusiasts.
Speakers
avatar for Rajeev Bukralia, DSc

Rajeev Bukralia, DSc

Associate Professor, Minnesota State University, Mankato
Dr. Rajeev Bukralia is an award-winning educator and thought leader in artificial intelligence and data science. He is a tenured associate professor and the founding director of the MS in data science program at Minnesota State University, Mankato. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

But I can't measure that! How to Data Science without a (precise) value proposition
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Scientist and Analyst pain caused by lack of measurement can sound like: We'd like you to make money via an algorithm, but we don't have the metadata set up to allow for attribution. Or perhaps: Can you please improve the daily customer experience? However, our primary metric is only published by the vendor quarterly...  

There are many great reasons to tackle problems that can't be clearly measured. When can we accept improvement in proxy variables as progress? When do we need to demand rigor in our financial attribution and valuations?  I will discuss a few technical examples from retail supply chain and marketing to highlight a few of the examples where we can make scientific progress without key results and at what point we should demand more rigor.
Speakers
avatar for Samantha Schumacher, PhD, MS

Samantha Schumacher, PhD, MS

Sr. Director of Data Sciences, Target
I specialize in bridging advanced mathematics to complex systems. I love leading diverse, interdisciplinary teams of scientists and artists. I have 10+ years at Target solving supply chain and inventory and marketing problems with data science.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Conformal Prediction: Uncertainty Quantification for Trustworthy AI Applications
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Imagine if an AI model could not only make predictions but also provide a clear measure of its own uncertainty. As AI becomes increasingly integrated into critical applications, understanding the confidence and reliability of predictions is essential for building trust in these systems. Conformal Prediction (CP) offers a robust, statistically grounded approach to uncertainty quantification that can be applied to virtually any model, regardless of the underlying data distribution. In this talk, we will explore the core principles of CP and demonstrate how it can be applied to practical scenarios, such as time series forecasting and visual inspection tasks.
Speakers
avatar for Sruthi Pisipati, MS

Sruthi Pisipati, MS

Principal Data Scientist, Boston Scientific Corporation
Sruthi Pisipati, Principal Data Scientist at Boston Scientific, leverages AI to drive innovation in medical device technology. Her interest areas include Vision, Gen AI and Forecasting domains.
avatar for Jason C. Myers, MS

Jason C. Myers, MS

Principal Data Scientist, Boston Scientific Corporation
Jason’s path has wound through chemistry, materials science, computer science, and electron microscopy. Now a data scientist, he specializes in AI vision and data-driven design of materials.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Do you have enough data?
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Deep learning has become commonplace at many organizations and large datasets are everywhere, but how do you know when you have enough data to train your deep learning model?  Even more importantly, how do you know when you're training on too much data?  Come learn more about data size scaling laws so you don't waste time and resources training on too much or too little data.
Speakers
avatar for Dr. Jimmy, PhD

Dr. Jimmy, PhD

Data Science Leader
Jimmy has been working with large datasets throughout her various roles over the last 10 years as an Astronomer, a Machine Learning Engineer, and a Director of Data Science.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Driving Low-Emission Freight Solutions with Streamlit: A Case Study from CH Robinson
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Freight transportation accounts for 8% of human-generated emissions, with projections indicating this figure could double by 2050 due to economic growth and global supply chain interconnectedness. To address the challenge of matching low-emission freight carrier options with shippers willing to pay a premium for low-emission solutions, we developed a web-based app using the open-source library Streamlit. This app enables CH Robinson to track and audit emission reductions, sell audited reductions to freight owners, and pass profits back to the carriers.  The app features a user-friendly Streamlit-based front end that empowers non-technical account managers to generate demos, calculate emission reductions, and match freight owner lanes with low-emission carriers. It leverages an in-house Python module for calculating carrier emissions and processes freight owner emissions via a RESTful API. The backend connects to a Snowflake SQL database using an Astronomer ETL job, ensuring seamless integration with CH Robinson's existing systems. Data security and privacy are maintained through robust authentication and authorization, requiring account managers to use their credentials to access carrier and customer data.  By driving demand for low-emission freight solutions and leveraging CH Robinson's position as one of the largest freight brokers in North America, this app has the potential to accelerate the decarbonization of the freight industry.
Speakers
avatar for Alice Nadeau, PhD

Alice Nadeau, PhD

Senior Data Scientist, CH Robinson
Alice is a senior data scientist in the Visibility group at CH Robinson. Her projects focus on customer and carrier sustainability and ETA. Alice plays a pivotal role in driving the technical aspects of CHR's sustainability initiatives.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Enhancing Stock Market Predictions with Real-Time Data Fusion: Time Series & Web-Scraped Sentiment Analysis
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Stock market prediction has traditionally relied on time series models, while recent advancements incorporate web-scraped news sentiment. However, these data sources are often analyzed separately, leading to delays in actionable insights. This talk introduces a real-time multimodal data fusion framework, integrating stock price movements, technical indicators, and sentiment analysis from financial news in a unified predictive model. We explore how transformers, event-driven modeling, and LLM-augmented sentiment analysis can improve accuracy and responsiveness in stock market forecasting. Attendees will gain insights into the latest advancements in AI-driven trading strategies and how integrating multiple data modalities can enhance market prediction accuracy.
Speakers
avatar for Ahmed Umer

Ahmed Umer

Software Developer, AspenTech
Software developer with a Computer Science background and experience in ML research. Certified in Data Science and ML, building ML apps with a focus on LLMs. Passionate about AI, data-driven solutions, and scalable software.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Expanding the use of Bayesian Models – Rethinking+Stan
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
One of the great things about the Bayesian framework is that it allows you to more easily create and think about models that are structured as “how you think the world works” as opposed to some structure imposed by software.  But, what if the model you want to estimate doesn’t fit in the model framework that commercial software imposes?  In this case you are frequently limited to various general purpose MCMC software packages (e.g. WinBugs, and more recently, Stan). These programs are flexible but tend to be fragile.  By fragile I mean that they tend to throw error messages that stop processing and provide little insight into what is wrong with the model.  

Enter “Rethinking Statistics” by Richard McElreath. Dr. McElreath has a wonderful online set of lectures that go along with his book “Rethinking Statistics” that provides an easy to understand step by step introduction to modeling in the Bayesian framework. In addition, his “rethinking” package in R allows practitioners to build models that are then translated into Stan programs for fitting and analysis. The “rethinking” package also provides a number of useful tools for extracting posterior distributions from the fitted model for analysis. Overall, the workflow has many fewer roadblocks for the practitioner with limited experience.

In this talk, I walk attendees through some of the basic steps needed to use the “rethinking” package and Stan. Utilizing an example of a standard taste test study where consumers taste and evaluate 4 of 9 products I will show how to construct and fit a model that evaluates and adjusts for order bias and scale usage bias. It is well known in taste tests (and Olympic judging) that there is bias in the evaluation that is due to the order seen. It is also well known in Market Research that there are “high raters” and “low raters” in the population of consumers. In a taste test, where sample size is limited, these biases can cause misleading results. By using Bayesian methods we can not only adjust for these biases but we can easily understand the magnitude of their effects without being limited to the small set of consumers who saw product A in the first position.

This talk will include detailed code and live demonstration of the approach.
Speakers
avatar for Michael Conklin

Michael Conklin

Principal Consultant, 56Stats LLC
For the past 30+ years, Michael has led advanced analytics teams at GfK (Now NIQ) and MarketTools (now MetrixLab). He has constantly slaked his thirst for knowledge by expanding the repertoire of models used to solve marketing and research problems. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

From Earth Observation to Earth Monitoring: how to leverage satellite imagery data in your organization at scale to make value
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Satellite imagery analytics is the confluence of physical science, visual analytics, and computer vision at continental scales. This combination of disciplines is challenging but can be used to unlock novel insights, especially across the supply chain.

In this talk, we'll dive into the tools that makes this work feasible and we'll do an example of an analysis in Python. This will be a technical talk and get excited to unlock the power of satellite imagery for your business!
Speakers
avatar for William Eerdmans, MSBA

William Eerdmans, MSBA

Senior Geospatial Quantitative Analyst, Cargill
Bill has leveraged analytics across the agricultural supply chain for 8 years. His career has taken him from shrimp growth modeling in Ecuador to monitoring assets in Ukraine with satellites to creating trading signals in Amsterdam. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

From free text to structured insights: Building a scalable text analysis application for the enterprise
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Generative AI models have made natural text analysis much more accessible to the public. Nonetheless, several roadblocks remain in leveraging out-of-the-box models effectively and rigorously. For example, an average user might not know which prompting techniques to use to get reliable and structured output, and the challenge only compounds during collaboration across teams or across the enterprise. We will present a highly scalable AI-powered application for topic modeling and sentiment analysis. This self-service solution can reliably transform unstructured text from sources like customer feedback surveys and IT service tickets into structured and trackable insights, driving improved decision-making and productivity across the organization.    

Central to the application is the enhancement of an out-of-the-box GPT model, tailored with advanced prompt engineering techniques. We will discuss a seamless self-service delivery through the user-friendly Streamlit interface enhanced with monitoring tools and Azure API management for intelligent load balancing. Importantly, we will highlight the importance of incorporating a human-in-the-loop process, both by including business validation and expertise during development and by allowing for flexible user input during the application workflow. This talk will describe the development process and lessons learned from the business problem conceptualization all through implementation.
Speakers
avatar for Linh Nguyen, PhD

Linh Nguyen, PhD

Data Scientist, Allianz Life
I am a data scientist and statistical consultant, with a background in the social sciences. At Allianz Life, I design machine learning models and generative AI applications for business units across the organization in the financial services sector.
avatar for Marissa Munley

Marissa Munley

Data Scientist, Allianz Life
I joined Allianz Life as a data scientist in 2022, using ML and AI for process automation, scaling solutions, and value creation. I earned my BS in Math from UMN, and a Certificate in Machine Learning Engineering from Sorbonne University.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Large Scale Mixed Integer Linear Programming solution for store delivery schedule and delivery route planning
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Best Buy, in partnership with Accenture, embarked on a journey to use optimization techniques to plan the weekly schedule for delivery of products from distribution center (DC) to the stores to fulfil demand at stores. The store delivery schedule problem is framed as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) that minimizes cost of transportation by deciding stores paired in each route and pickup and delivery days. The schedule must satisfy the weekly demand at stores and are subject to constraints on trailer capacity, delivery frequency, consistency of daily picks at a DC, trip duration, etc. We used Gurobi to solve this large-scale MILP for all distribution networks and achieved significant reductions in miles traveled and effort required to produce the schedules. Since most retailers, as well as other firms with DCs and many locations for repetitive deliveries, face a similar challenge, our experience would be useful to them. 
Speakers
avatar for Satish Desai, PhD

Satish Desai, PhD

Senior Data Scientist, Best Buy
Satish Desai is a data scientist at Best Buy where he has led development of diverse projects, including a delivery schedule optimizer. In previous roles, he has led searches for the Higgs Boson and the processing of petabyte scale datasets.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Off the Grid, On Your Laptop: Local LLMs for Mental Model Brainstorming
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Discover how to harness the power of local LLMs to create your own AI-powered mental model assistant—all while staying completely offline. This hands-on session demonstrates building a privacy-preserving AI system on your laptop using open-source tools like Ollama and Streamlit. Through live coding and practical examples, you'll see how to develop an AI thought partner that helps discover and refine mental models without relying on cloud services or external APIs.

Attendees will learn how to:
1. Set up and run powerful LLMs locally on their laptop for complete privacy and control
2. Build an interactive AI assistant using Ollama, Streamlit, and DeepEval that operates entirely offline
3. Create and implement custom knowledge bases to enhance the AI's capability for mental model discovery
4. Develop and test prompt engineering strategies for reliable, consistent results from local LLMs

This session is perfect for developers and tech leaders interested in exploring the practical possibilities of running AI locally while maintaining data privacy and reducing cloud dependencies.
Speakers
avatar for Jared Olhoft, MBA

Jared Olhoft, MBA

VP of Engineering, Collaboration.AI
VP of Engineering at Collaboration.AI, Jared Olhoft brings 20+ years of tech leadership across multiple industries and startups. The former Marine combines disciplined execution with innovation in practical AI solutions.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Operator Learning with DeepONets and PINN for Accelerated Physics Simulation
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Design discovery often includes computer simulation (e.g. physics, etc.) for design evaluation. These simulations can take a long period of time to compute creating a limitation in the number of designs that can be evaluated within a given time frame. Surrogate machine learning models are being used as an alternate means to perform these simulations faster. However, the machine learning model input-output relationships are constrained within the training data distribution and often cannot extrapolate well hindering the ability to explore interesting designs. Additionally, the data required to train these models to achieve accurate results can be immense. This reduces the impact of the surrogate model because the training data is derived from the physics simulations. Operator neural network structures such as Deep Operator Networks (DeepONet) are being developed to improve extrapolation capability by modeling the solution of differential equations through an input function to output function mapping (i.e. operator).  Physics Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) impose additional constraints on the training loss function potentially reducing the amount of training data required. In this talk, the ideas of DeepONet and PINNs are introduced by applying them to demagnetization fields (Poisson Equation).
Speakers
NP

Nicholas Propes, PhD

Senior Staff Data Scientist, Seagate
Nicholas Propes is a Data Scientist at Seagate Technology currently researching solutions for design discovery using machine learning methods.  He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Practical Probability Theory
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Bayesian methods give more intuitive answers, are easier to work with and conceptualize, and give sensible answers for data sizes as small as N=1.

When using Bayesian methods:

*confidence intervals get easier
* the hacky concept of p-values is discarded
* Uncomfortable cutoffs like "we can use this method if we have ~30 data points, but not if we have less" disappear.

There are many skilled data scientists who think statistics is confusing and doesn't make sense. They're right: the popular school of statistics, still taught in most universities, is a confusing mess. Bayesian methods cut through the confusion, and make advanced statistics accessible to the average data scientist.

For example, if you find p-values confusing... yes. You should. They are just bad. There is a far better alternative, which I'll tell you about.

Bayes' theorem has been covered to death, so I won't be covering it. Nor will I dump vicious equations on you. Instead, this talk has two aims:

1) To free the listener's mind from the hodge-podge of rules half-remembered from school, replacing them with a theory of probability that makes sense and can be reasoned about.

2) To equip you with methods you can use immediately, right when you get home.

and a bonus:

3) To show you how statistics works (because it absolutely does) when N = 5, or N = 2.
Speakers
avatar for Maxwell Peterson

Maxwell Peterson

Data Scientist
I use probability theory at scale to extract all available information from hard datasets.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Python Data Classes 101
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
From __init__() and to user-defined classes what are Python data classes, how they work, how I use them, when to avoid them, and other such considerations.

Attendees should have basic knowledge of Python, data types, classes, and containers to follow along easily.
Speakers
avatar for Seth Kelly

Seth Kelly

Enterprise Strategist, The Cigna Group
Python and Spark engineer with a specialty in ML/AI solution design and development.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Riding the AI Tidal Wave – How Data & Software Professionals Can Thrive
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
AI is no longer just a tool—it’s becoming an autonomous force in data, analytics, and software engineering. Large foundation models, particularly multimodal LLMs, are automating tasks that once required human expertise. AI engineers are solving complex problems, writing code, and advancing at a pace that will soon reshape entire professions.

This talk will:
  • Illuminate how AI is transforming data and software roles.
  • Demonstrate real-world AI capabilities in coding, analytics, and decision-making.
  • Provide a strategic playbook for professionals to adapt and lead.
Key Takeaways:
  • Understand the Impact – How AI is changing the professional landscape.
  • Recognize the Risks – Why ignoring this shift could lead to job displacement.
  • Leverage AI to Your Advantage – Practical strategies, tools, and skills to stay ahead.
  • AI won’t replace you—but someone using AI will. Attendees will leave with a clear action plan to ride the wave, not be crushed by it.
Speakers
avatar for Arun Batchu, MS

Arun Batchu, MS

VP, Research and Advisory, Gartner, Inc.
I research Software and AI Technologies, and advise Technology Leaders
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Scaling Graph-Based Entity Resolution to Drive System-Wide Insights
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In this session, we will explore Hennepin County’s graph-based entity resolution model. This model identifies when distinct records across county systems actually represent to the same individual. These identifications provide insight into how clients interact with the breadth of Hennepin County systems and allowing Hennepin County to provide more accurate counts for summary statistics. The technical portions of this talk will focus on implementing this model in a scalable way and preliminary comparisons to other entity resolution models.
Speakers
avatar for Christopher Roberts, MS

Christopher Roberts, MS

Data Scientist, Hennepin County
Chris is a data scientist at Hennepin County focused on using data visualization and graph data science to bring together disparate datasets to help leaders better understand patterns of service involvement. 
avatar for Cameron Thieme, PhD

Cameron Thieme, PhD

Data Scientist, Hennepin County
Cameron Thieme is a data scientist at Hennepin County who combines graph data science with traditional statistical analysis to help decision makers identify patterns in their data.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Score Big with the Right Data Strategy: Learn from Real-World Comebacks
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
In the game of data, your strategy needs more than just speed. It’s about playing smart, building an impenetrable defense, and keeping a keen eye on the scoreboard. Just like hockey, data strategy requires you to execute quick moves and sharp plays—except instead of a puck, it’s your all-important customer data.

Join us for a session that breaks down three high-impact, real-world stories where businesses were on the brink of disaster but made a comeback with the right game plan—thanks to some smart coaching! From a major retailer facing legal heat over cookie consent violations to a financial services firm constantly tripped up by broken campaign tracking, we’ll break down the plays that turned it all around.

You’ll learn how to proactively protect your brand, build customer trust, and, ultimately, score big wins through better data governance. Whether you're in marketing ops, compliance, or analytics, this session will give you the edge to stay out of the penalty box and on top of your game.

Lace up and join us to learn how to take control of your data game!
Speakers
SH

Scotty Hagen

Partner and VP of Data and Analytics, Northern Commerce
Scotty Hagen is a Partner and VP of Data + Analytics at NORTHERN. Formerly Founder and CEO of Project 3 Consulting (acquired by NORTHERN), he also co-founded two other companies, leading strategic data initiatives and driving measurable results.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

The End of JSON Validation Hell: A Practical Guide to Structured Outputs
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
OpenAI's Structured Outputs feature represents a breakthrough in ensuring reliable, schema-compliant outputs from large language models. Through innovative use of context-free grammars and constrained decoding, it enables 100% JSON Schema compliance without complex validation logic. This presentation demonstrates practical implementations of Structured Outputs across various use cases, with live code examples in Python showcasing the structured-logprobs library and best practices for production deployments.
Speakers
avatar for Eric Ness, MS

Eric Ness, MS

Principal Machine Learning Engineer, C.H. Robinson
Eric is a Principal MLE at C.H. Robinson, where he leads innovative AI initiatives to optimize workflows. With extensive experience in supply chain technology, he blends technical expertise with strategic thinking to drive business impact.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

The Hamilton Framework for Feature Engineering
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Deploying ML models in production while at the same time preserving the ability to tweak and iterate on the features is a tricky task. Often models are developed and trained by data scientists in notebooks, then handed over to machine learning engineers who productionalize the code, and then supported by software engineers as they run in production. This results in slower iteration speed as any tweak to the model needs to involve several people and tweaks to several codebases, and also introduces potential for errors since the code is copied from notebooks and then edited before it gets to production. In this talk I will describe how we address these and some other issues using the Hamilton micro-orchestration framework for feature engineering.
Speakers
avatar for Michael Chmutov, PhD

Michael Chmutov, PhD

Manager Data Science, C.H. Robinson
Michael started out as an academic mathematician, getting his Ph.D. from University of Michigan. After a postdoc at UMN, he moved to industry, and has been with C. H. Robinson since 2018. He is a lead on the Matching Team, recommending loads to carriers. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Transformers: The Foundations of Modern AI
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Transformers have become the cornerstone of modern AI, revolutionizing fields from natural language processing to computer vision. This presentation delves into the architecture that powers state-of-the-art models like GPT and Vision Transformers, explores the mechanics of attention, and highlights real-world applications across language and vision domains. Join us to discover how transformers are shaping the future of AI and bridging the gap between words and images.
Speakers
avatar for Ricardo de Deijn, MS

Ricardo de Deijn, MS

Post-Graduate Data Intern, Taylor Corporation
Ricardo De Deijn is a Netherlands-born Data Scientist in Rochester MN. Building on his Master’s in Data Science and multiple internships, he focuses on advanced computer vision and deep learning with PyTorch and TensorFlow to drive real-world impact.
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Transforming Medical Device Manufacturing with Image Analytics
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
Medical device manufacturing has traditionally relied on human oversight, with many critical observations going unrecorded. Advanced imaging acquisition and analytics now enable the capture of vast amounts of manufacturing data, providing deep insights into processes that were previously difficult to quantify. In this discussion, we will explore the opportunities for imaging technology and analytics in medical device manufacturing, along with the challenges of scaling and democratizing these innovations across 70 manufacturing sites and a product portfolio of over 100,000 SKUs.
Speakers
avatar for Gary Kunkel, PhD

Gary Kunkel, PhD

Director of Imaging Technology and Analytics, Medtronic Operations Innovation
Gary Kunkel is Director of Imaging Analytics leading machine/computer vision for medical device manufacturing. Previously, he led metrology & analytics at Seagate, pioneering sub-angstrom measurements. He holds a PhD in Aerospace Engineering.
avatar for Timothy Klein, MS

Timothy Klein, MS

Sr AI/Data Science Program Manager, Medtronic
Technical lead in engineering and data science with a passion for developing creative (and scalable) solutions for complex customer problems. 
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical

TBA

Utilization of Different Data Layers for Precision Decision-Making in On-Farm Research
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
On-farm research are conducted in real farm scenarios, considering unique properties of each individual field such as soil type, topography, and microclimate.  By combining various open-access data sources, such as satellite imagery, LiDAR, SSURGO and weather, with ground-based yield monitoring data, several decisions can be made, including crop yield prediction, management zone delineation for fertilization and seeding rates, the effects of fungicide application and many more. This case study will explore how such data can be integrated into AI/ML models to make these important decisions using freely available open-access data.
Speakers
avatar for Deepak Joshi, PhD

Deepak Joshi, PhD

Assistant Professor, Kansas State University
Dr. Joshi is Assistant Professor of Precision Agriculture, and his work is related to AI, Sensor technology and farm-based decision making.  
Friday May 16, 2025 TBA
  4 - Mostly Technical
 
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