Michael Benassi is a Vice President of Enterprise Analytics at United Federal Credit Union. In this role, Mike leads the Data Engineering, Data Science, and Reporting & Analytics teams. These teams manage the data lifecycle from ingestion, cleansing, analysis, forecasting, and reporting, including data replication and AI modeling. Mike brings over 20 years of financial services experience in the analytics space and a Masters in Business Analytics from the University of Notre Dame to UFCU.

Brian joined AbbVie in 2018 as the head of the newly formed RAIDERS team within Research & Development’s Information Research division, focused on accelerating, scaling, and amplifying the work of AbbVie’s R&D community using Artificial Intelligence technologies like machine learning, deep learning, graph computation, and cognitive computing. Brian is a part of the leadership team building and directing the AbbVie R&D Convergence Hub (ARCH) as part of the R&D Convergence initiative and a member of the AbbVie Community of Science (ACOS) Scientific Innovation Council. Brian came to AbbVie after spending five years in technology consulting across many industries, and over a decade of additional experience before that working in trading and financial markets technology. During his consulting time, Brian was the architect of the United States’ Common Securitization Platform and a technology founder of Publicis.Sapient’s AI practice. While his primary focus is AI technologies, he was also a co-founder of the QuPharm quantum computing community and the Pistoia/QED-C Quantum Community of Interest. Brian is the current Chair of the National Science Foundation DATA Consortium Industry Advisory Board. He is a frequent presenter at conferences on topics as diverse as optical networking, quantum computing, blockchain, cognitive architecture, and other emerging technologies that are all part of digital transformation.

Brian holds a B.S. degree in Computer and Cognitive Science from Alma College and a M.S in Computer Science from the University of Chicago. He is a board member for the Chicago Innovative Executives League and for the Mundelein High School Business Incubator program. He has been involved with the Creative Destruction Lab at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School and as a panelist for the National Science Foundation Secure and Trusted Cyberspace division. Brian lives in Lake Bluff, Illinois with his wife and four children.

Debkrishna (Deb) Acharya is a founding team member of Cognida.ai, dedicated to empowering businesses through practical AI solutions to gain a competitive edge.

As the North America Market Leader at Cognida, Deb specializes in guiding business leaders on deploying ‘Applied AI’ strategies that drive revenue growth, optimize operations, and enhance customer satisfaction. With over 20 years of industry experience, Deb has consistently delivered strategic insights and executional excellence, helping enterprise clients create value across various industries and geographies.

Feroze Mohammed, CEO and founder of Cognida.ai, has been instrumental in shaping the company's vision and driving its growth. Under his leadership, Cognida.ai secured substantial seed funding, attracted a diverse client base, and expanded to a global workforce of 250. He led the development of the Zunō family of accelerators, solidifying Cognida.ai's position in the AI consulting sector. Feroze's focus on customer success, sales strategies, and operational performance has driven financial turnaround, operational improvements, and a strategic shift towards digital content and transformative projects.