Empowering Beyond Summit 2025

Innovation Workshops

Collaborative whiteboard discussions with an intimate gathering of industry leaders to ideate around leveraging disruptive technologies to drive innovation and success.

• Innovation in the Healthcare Industry
• Innovation in the Travel and Transportation Industry
• Innovation in the Aerospace and Defense Industry

Drinks and Dinner

(by invitation only – inquire for details and availability)

Warner Bros. Studio Tour

*Optional by Invitation Only

Enjoy a fun Hollywood experience!

Lunch Buffet

(Dolby Ballroom)

Registration Opens

Welcome Remarks

• Anupam Govil – Managing Partner, and Summit Chair, Avasant

Opening Keynote – The Butterfly Effect: Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

• Atti Riazi – SVP and CIO, Hearst

Fireside Chat – The Next Wave of Value Creation: Architecting a People and Datacentric Enterprise

• Tony Menezes – Global Managing Partner, Business Process Operations, IBM Consulting
• Jyoti Chopra – Chief People, Inclusion & Sustainability Officer, MGM Resorts International
• Anupam Govil – Managing Partner, Summit Chair, Avasant (Moderator)

CXO Deep Dive – Building a culture of innovation to drive stakeholder value

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Sean Kenny – SVP and CIO, Carnival Cruise Line

Research Insights – Enterprise AI Trends

(Executive Room)

• Chandrika Dutt – Associate Research Director, Avasant
• Swapnil Bhatnagar – Partner, Avasant

BREAK

Panel Discussion – Digital Talent at Scale: Building The Hybrid Workforce of Tomorrow

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Vipul Nagrath – CIO, ADP
• Joel Raper – SVP and GM, Digital Workplace Solutions, Unisys
• Jason Estes – SVP + CIO, First Command
• Ruth Steinberg – Principal, Avasant
• Henry Guapo – Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Managing Business Risks in a Complex Multi-Vendor Ecosystems

(Executive Room)

• Oliver Gail – Chief Procurement Officer, Prudential Financial
• Brian Kernan – Vice President, Indirect Procurement & Vendor Management, Republic National Distributing Company
• Rawle Howard – AVP & Chief Procurement Officer at Howard University & Howard University Hospital
• Kirk Mitchell – Director, Vendor Management Organization, BCBSA
• Mike Wheeler –  Partner – Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Re-imagining Travel & Transportation: Aligning Tech and Ops to Accelerate Value Creation

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Siddharth Saxena – General Manager and US Cluster Head – Utilities, Engineering, Construction, Operations and Airports, WIPRO
• Pierre Lanthier – Director Business Transformation, GTAA
• Christy Thomas – AVP, Technology, BNSF Railway
• David Orellana – CIO, Solistica
• Carlos Hernandez – Travel & Transportation Lead and Managing Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – THE RISE OF GBS: HOW CAPTIVES CAN DELIVER COMPETITIVE EDGE

(Executive Room)

• Peter Nag – Global Head Business Process Outsourcing, Shared Services & Transformation, Merck
• Eric Dupuy – Chief Revenue Officer, Teleperformance
• Avinash Baliga – Partner, Avasant
• Chirag Rawat– Sr. Director, Avasant (Moderator)

Closing Keynote – The Winds of Digital Change: Thriving in Perpetual Transformation

• Yuri Aguiar – Chief Enterprise Data Officer, WPP Group

Closing Remarks

• Anupam Govil – Managing Partner, and Summit Chair, Avasant

Shuttle to The Academy for evening activities

Opening Outdoor Cocktail Reception

Held at famous Hollywood music and party venue, Academy LA

VIP Dinner

Held at famous Hollywood music and party venue, Academy LA and catered by Local LA with critically acclaimed Southern California Chef and Restaurant owner, David LeFevre

Red Carpet Celebration

Held at famous Hollywood music and party venue, Academy LA featuring entertainment from LA Band, 90’s Rockshow 

BREAKFAST

Welcome Remarks

Opening Keynote – The Enterprise Odyssey: Living in the Age of AI

• Rodrigo Lima – President of Americas Enterprise, Microsoft

Plenary Keynote – Enlightened Disruption

• Kevin S. Parikh – Chairman & CEO, Avasant

Fireside Chat – ART OF DISRUPTION: TURNING INTELLIGENT DIGITAL INVESTMENTS INTO BUSINESS OUTCOMES

• RJ Hazra – IT CFO, Equifax
• Daphne Jones – Chief Executive Officer, The Board Curators
• Anupam Govil – Managing Partner, and Summit Chair, Avasant (Moderator)

COFFEE AND SNACK BREAK

Panel Discussion – Digital Transformation at Scale: Leveraging Platforms for Innovation and Growth

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Gareth Gaston – CDPO and EVP, U.S. Bank
• Jo Ann Tan – Strategic BU Leader, Capital Markets, Cognizant
• Neeraj Khanna – Head of Enterprise Global Services Strategy & Enablement, Truist
• Tom Soderstrom – Enterprise Strategist, Amazon Web Services
• Andre Sole – Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Reality Check: How can media survive the coming disruption?

(Executive Room)

• Bharat Krish – Chief Product Officer, Newsweek
• Ghalib Kassam – EVP, Chief Information Officer, Los Angeles Times
• Chad Hamilton – VP, IT, Fremantle
• Robert Joslin –Managing Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Enabling The Smart Enterprise: Harnessing AI for Industry 4.0

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Vignesh Markandan – VP, Industrial and Retail, Hitachi Digital Services
  
• Sandeep Sakharkar- CIO, GXO Logistics
• Anthony Moses – Global Head of Strategy and Innovation, Yamaha Motor Finance
• Bharat Amin – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – From Aisles to Algorithms: Navigating the Phygital Retail Experience

(Executive Room)

• Walter Yosafat – CIO, Capri Holdings
• James Whatley – CIO, Mary Kay
• Ronald Johnson – CIO, Gelson’s Market
• Fred Pond – Former CIO, Columbia Sportswear, and Avasant Distinguished Fellow (Moderator)

CXO Deep Dive – Leading in the Intelligence Age

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Richie Etwaru – Chief AI Officer, Mobeus

Research Insights – State of the Enterprise: IT Spending Trends for 2024 and Beyond

(Executive Room)

• Frank Scavo – Sr. Partner and President, Avasant Research
• Shael Roopchand – Director, Corporate Strategy, Avasant
• Dave Wagner – Senior Research Director, Avasant

Fireside Chat – The Future of Health: Harmonizing Cost and Care Through Digitalization

• Tim Skeen – EVP and Enterprise CIO, Sentara Health
• Rick Hopfer – SVP & CIO, HMSA
• Matthew Barlow – Healthcare Lead, and Managing Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

LUNCH

Panel Discussion – Leveraging Gen AI for Enabling Enterprise Transformation

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Miku Jha – Director AI ML and Gen AI, Google Cloud
• Chris Donahoe – EVP and Head of AI Strategy, Edelman Smithfield
• Vikrant Karnik – SVP, Genpact
• Amit Srivastav – Venture Partner, Fusion Fund
• Larry Godec  – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant(Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Innovation in Aerospace & Defense: Embracing New Technologies While Managing Risks

(Executive Room)

• Dan Hedsrom – VP and Chief Information Officer, Cubic Corporation
  
• Dave Whitaker – VP and CIO, General Atomics
  
• Alexandra Landeggar – CISO, Collins Aerospace
• Naresh Lachmandas – Aerospace & Defence Lead and Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Cyber-Proofing The Enterprise: Protecting from Core to the Edge

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Alexandra Landeggar – CISO, Collins Aerospace
• Trina Ford, – CISO, iHeartMedia
• Pankit Desai – Co-founder and CEO, Sequretrek
• Hiren Dave – CIO/CISO, Essen Health Care
• John Caruthers – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE: NURTURING GROWTH IN A RESPONSIBLE WAY

(Executive Room)

• Cynthia McKenzie – VP, Co-founder and Board Member, STEM Advantage
• Tembi (Sibanda) Hommes – Global Chief Data Officer, Arup
• Anish Sethi – Chief, Data Solutions Centre, UN ICC
• Chitra Rajeshwari – Executive Director, Avasant Foundation(Moderator)

Panel Discussion – DRIVING BUSINESS AGILITY: SHIFTING TO A DIGITAL OPERATING MODEL

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Ganesh Kumar – SEVP, OFG Bancorp
• Patricia Sedeno – SVP Global Finance Shared Services, Sony Music
• Richard Kabrt – Corporate Vice President, WNS North America
• Nora Osman – President/CEO of Norvana (and Fellow of Institute for Digital Transformation
• Shobhit Patnaik – Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Leveraging AI Across Industries: Invaluable Lessons From the Frontlines

(Executive Room)

• Hiten Patel – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant
  
• Steven Gerst – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant
  
• Jay Weinstein – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant
  
• Julia Bardmesser – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant
• Jim Rinaldi – Distinguished Fellow, Avasant (Moderator)

COFFEE AND SNACK BREAK

Panel Discussion – AI Powered Healthcare: Advancements, Challenges, and Opportunities

(Plenary Ballroom)

• Luke Rockenbach –  Regional CFO (North California), Providence
• Anand Nair – Healthcare Lead, UST
• Vinay Kulkarni – Vice President of Clinical Technologies, Scan
• Raj Kadam – SVP, Health Plan Operations & CIO, Liberty Dental
• Nishant Verma – Healthcare Lead and Managing Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Panel Discussion – Big Tech vs Emerging Tech: Where is real innovation happening?

(Executive Room)

• Sanjit Singh Dang, PhD – Chairman and Co-Founder, U First Capital
• Nneka Ukpai – Chief Investment Officer, Pop Venture
• Oksana (Mindyuk) Malysheva – Managing Partner/CEO, Sputnik ATX VC
• Rakesh Patro – Partner, Avasant

Fireside Chat – Re-Shaping The Future of Tech Enabled Services

• John Fremont – Global GBS and AI Lead, DXC
• Daniel Yang – Chief Customer and Innovation Officer, MGM Resorts International
• Akshay Khanna – Managing Partner, Avasant (Moderator)

Closing Keynote – The AI Enabled Innovation Era

• Yogesh Agarwal – VP, Data Center GPU Business, Nvidia

Closing Remarks

• Anupam Govil – Managing Partner, and Summit Chair, Avasant
• Samantha Rattan – Sr. Manager, Corporate Strategy, Avasant

Closing Reception