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Sponsor: Fairfax City Host: Aaron Burciaga, theBrainStem show

Brett is the Vice President of Business Development for Artificial Intelligence at NCI Inc., where he applies his expertise to expand the firm’s artificial intelligence offering and strengthens the AI presence within the technology industry and among his commercial, defense and federal government clients. Brett develops and drives technology market strategy, coordinates the day-to-day activities of the AI service offering, and collaborates across the firm to make it easier for clients to experience the benefit of AI solutions.

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Prior to joining NCI, Brett was the director of automation for Booz Allen Hamilton where he launched their RPA service into the federal market. He successfully developed automation programs for the National Science Foundation and the Veterans Administration and managed pilot efforts for the FDA, Navy and Immigration Service. Before spearheading the automation program at Booz Allen, Brett was the director of sales engineering for the federal program at IPsoft, where he launched several Department of Defense and federal pilots focused on Amelia, the artificial intelligence virtual agent. He also spent three and a half years as the global head of automation, also at IPsoft, where he refined and expanded the automation business and developed automation centers of excellence to allow large enterprise clients like IBM, AT&T, Bank of America, and Cisco to develop their own successful robotic process automation (RPA) programs.

Andrew is Chief Analytics Officer for Analytics2Go, building apps ranging from customer experience to industrial and operational areas. He is Chair of the Apache Mahout machine learning library and co-host of the Adversarial Learning podcast. His work history includes consulting, Data Engineering, Apache Software Foundation, Lucidworks and Accenture.

Mary Abbajay,President of Careerstone Group, LLC and author of Managing Up. A must read for surviving and moving up in organizations.

Mary currently serves on the Market President’s Board of BB&T Bank and is past Chairman of the Board for Leadership Greater Washington where she also chaired and led the adult Signature

program, the Youth Leadership Program and the Rising Leaders Program. She was a volunteer mentor for Mentor’s Inc., an urban youth mentoring program and served for six years on the Board of

Directors of the Woolly Mammoth Theatre and was president of the Adams Morgan Business Association.

Mary earned a master’s degree in organizational management from Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, CA. and a degree in organizational development from Georgetown University’s Organizational Development Program and the Coaches Training Institute. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Kenyon College.

In 2010, Mary was named as one of Washington Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business and was a Smart CEO Brava Award Recipient in 2017.

Karen Hardy is an American film producer, best selling and Award winning Author and international speaker. She is co-producer of the 4 time EMMY Award winning documentary, "A New Leash on Life: The K9s for Warriors Story". The film is currently available on Amazon Prime and will be shown on PBS stations nationwide in 2019!

Karen was born in Washington DC and attended the D.C. public schools. She is one of 8 siblings. Her mom only reached an 8th grade education and spent her life as a short order cook. Her father was a truck driver.

Dr. Hardy has spent her 30 year career in both the private and public sectors where she served in multiple capacities including Senior Advisor at the White House Office of Management and Budget and also spent time in retail banking. Her expertise spans organizational leadership, policy, and risk management but she is known for being a creative strategist, risk taker, and Opportunity Thinker.

Karen has written for books including the Amazon bestseller, "Mastering the Art of Success" which she co-authored with Jack Canfield (co-creator of Chicken Soup for the Soul). She is a member of the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, the International Filmmakers Academy, and the National Academy of Bestselling Authors.

She received her Doctor of Education degree in Leadership & Human Resource Development from Nova Southeastern Univ and is a graduate of Hampton University.

I'm an avid technologist. I love new trends and try to keep up with the ever-evolving internet. My background in Biology has led me to truly believe in the art of evolution. Everything changes in time. You either follow or create new trends or will be left behind.

I Started HindSite Interactive with a mere $170 to pay my way through College and over last 16 years my team and I have worked with over 300 companies large and small from all walks of life.

Frustrated with the lack easy-to-use tools to empower non-designers to speak visually, I went on to create Visme, the "Swiss Knife of Visual Content" bootstrapped to profitability within 18 months of launch and now used by over 1.8 million businesses, non-profits and individuals from over 100 countries including NASA, IBM, Manpower, and NBCUniversal helping to improve the way ideas are visualized into engaging Presentations, Infographics and other forms of visual content.

Host: Charles Britt

Maria has more than 25 years solving problems at the intersection of knowledge, technology and education. Her main areas of expertise include systems analysis, capacity development, knowledge management, project management, information audits, and curriculum development. And, she knows a thing or two about AI, ML and how it’s applied nationally and globally.

Faculty Director and Associate Professor of the Practice of the Technology Management and Systems Engineering Management Master's Programs in the School of Continuing Studies in Georgetown University. And she has taught courses in managing organizations such as “Global Innovation: The Silicon Valley Effect".

Captain Twining graduated from Long Island University, Southampton with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Biology. Immediately after graduation, she moved to Alaska to work as a Fisheries Biologist on commercial fishing boats. There, she obtained a USCG 100-Ton Masters and Diesel Engine Mechanic’s License and was working towards managing a Fishing Charter operation when she received a commission in the NOAA Corps in July 1999. Capt Twining forged her first 2 years in the NOAA Corps as a junior officer on the NOAA Ship Rainier. Though a difficult decision to move away from service at sea, CAPT Twining heard a louder calling to serve as a NOAA Aviator and earned her wings in June of 2002.

A seasoned professional in project management and former servant of the country,

#Wayne Waldon brings a unique blend of leadership experience to his current role as chief executive officer of the Reveille Group, LLC. After earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Furman University, Wayne began his journey serving in the United States

#Army for five years, leading soldiers in combat missions and rehabilitation programs before departing in 2009. He continued his career in government as an IT Program

#Manager for Fortune 100 Company, General Dynamics Information Technology. During

his tenure, Wayne managed design, construction and implementation of multi-million

dollar projects that brought information technology services and training to customers in

the health, security, intelligence and government arenas.

#military #government contracting

Creativity is not just an ideation tool. It's a way of living. When you build a creative mindset, you are not only able to generate more ideas, you are a better problem solver, collaborator, and more. That's why creative leaders are more impactful, confident, mindful, and productive. My specialty is working with leaders and teams who think creativity is impossible OR want to stay ahead of the game by maximizing their team's talent.

Adjunct Professor Leadership and Entrepreneurship, BAU International University

Facilitator and DC Organizer Tech Week

Author, Rethink Creativity

Greg is SVP of Digital at Yes&, a marketing agency in the

Washington, DC region. He was the founder of

Carousel30, a digital agency he started in 2003 which

was acquired in late 2017 by Yes&. He is an

award-winning creative director and digital strategist

who has worked with top brands, including AOL, Choice

Hotels, Coca-Cola, GEICO, Marriott Hotels, MTV,

Starbucks, Toyota and United Nations. Yes& is a leading

digital agency in the Washington DC area, providing

digital marketing and web design/development services

to clients in a variety of industries.. He is currently

serving as Vice President on the American Advertising

Federation District 2 (Mid-Atlantic Region) Board of

Directors, Chair of the American Advertising Federation’s National Innovation Committee, and the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business Marketing Industry Mentorship Board.