SPEAKERS
Keynote Speakers
Chief Technology Officer, GE Vernova
As Chief Technology Officer for GE Vernova, Krishna works across the company's power businesses as well as the Advanced Research Center, to shape and establish the enterprise technology vision, effectively collaborating to design and implement new innovation strategies.
President of A3, Association for Advancing Automation
Jeff Burnstein is the President of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the leading North American trade group representing over 1450 global companies involved in robotics, artificial intelligence, vision, motion control and related automation technologies. Burnstein joined the association in 1983 and has held a variety of senior positions, culminating in his promotion to President in 2007. He is a frequent commentator on automation issues to the news media, policy makers and the public, and regularly speaks at global conferences on topics such the latest automation trends, the impact of automation on jobs and the future of automation beyond the factory floor. In 2023 he received the Engelberger Robotics Award for Leadership, widely considered the “Nobel Prize of Robotics.”
Chief Product Officer, Walden Robotics
Dr. David Johnson is a Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Walden Robotics. Dr. Johnson delights in building useful automation solutions for customers. Throughout his career, he has focused on transforming cutting-edge technology into practical devices. Prior to Walden, Dr. Johnson was Director of Sony’s Robotic Gastronomy project. He joined Sony after he sold Dexai Robotics, the kitchen robotics company that he founded. Dexai built food-safety-certified robotic sous-chefs which assembled complete meals in existing kitchens using customers' existing recipes and ingredients.
As CEO of Dexai, Dr. Johnson led the company through raising capital, developing its first products, and ultimately selling the business.Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Dr. Johnson led a team building a world-leading optical atomic clock, built extreme endurance autonomous helicopters, and developed (at the time) the world’s largest atomic fountain. He holds a PhD in Physics from Stanford University.
CEO, Gray Matter Robotics
Dr. Ariyan Kabir is the Co-Founder and CEO of GrayMatter Robotics (GMR), a Physical AI company. He is on a mission to build Factory SuperIntelligence (FSI): an AI-native infrastructure that curates the world's industrial knowledge, develops understanding of the underlying process physics, and creates radically new solutions to design, launch, and operate industries with superhuman performance.
Ariyan’s interest in Physical AI was shaped by the human toll of natural disasters and industrial accidents. Those experiences inspired his conviction that intelligent machines should take on dangerous, physically demanding work, while humans stay in charge of driving vision and making critical decisions. He pursued graduate research at the University of Maryland before earning his PhD at the University of Southern California, where he studied physics-informed planning and learning for complex robotic systems.
Professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
John Wen is a Professor of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). Prior to joining RPI, he worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Fisher Controls. His research interests span control theory and its applications, including robotics, manufacturing and material processing, adaptive optics, thermal management, and circadian rhythm.
At RPI, he has served in several leadership roles, including Head of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Head of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, and Director of the Center for Automation Technologies and Systems.
Technical Leader, Robotech Automation
Marc-Antoine is a robotics engineer specializing in industrial automation and advanced
manufacturing. A former member of GE’s Global Automation and Robotics Center, he has
been part of the Robotech team from the beginning, joining as its first employee. Marc-Antoine leads the robot programming and machine vision teams and has managed a wide range of projects for the company, from development and system integration to
deployment in industrial environments.
Engineering Manager, FANUC
Eric has managed FANUC robot products for external motion control for the last several years. He now leads
a group within the Robot Segment that focuses on the FANUC products that support Physical AI and Virtual
Commissioning, including Stream Motion, ROS 2, and CAM Connection.
Deputy Director, IPTO, DARPA
John-Francis Mergen assumed the role of deputy office director for the Information Processing Techniques Office (IPTO) in September 2025.
In this position, he provides technical leadership and works with program managers to envision, create, and transition capabilities that ensure enduring information advantage for the United States and its allies.
Mergen joined DARPA as a program manager in January 2020 to develop, execute, and transition programs in cybersecurity.
Before DARPA, he was chief scientist and a Senior Raytheon Fellow at Raytheon BBN Technologies. His responsibilities included maintaining excellence in cybersecurity technology development and providing technical leadership. Prior to his role at Raytheon BBN Technologies, Mergen was the Verizon Federal Networks CTO, responsible for research in the areas of telecommunications and information management.
Head of Emerging Technologies and Workloads, AWS
Adam is the Head of Emerging Technologies Go-To-Market at AWS, where he is working with customers focusing on Agentic AI for Engineering & Science. He has 25+ years experience in mid-stage technology development in hypersonics, high-speed propulsion, digital twins, and most recently agentic AI. Dr. Rasheed obtained his Ph.D. from Caltech where he studied experimental hypervelocity aerothermodynamics for orbital reentry.
He worked at GE Global Research for almost 18 years (from 2001 to 2018), before heading off to be the CTO of a startup, and then most recently at AWS.
Professor, Georgia Tech University
Vijaykrishnan Narayanan is Jae S. Lim Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Atherton Professor at The Pennsylvania State University. He is a Fellow of IEEE, ACM, AAAS and National Academy of Inventors.
His team has built several generations of embedded sensor systems deployed in commercial, defense and assistive applications. Narayanan has been recognized with several awards including the IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award, 2026 IEEE Transactions on Computer Best Paper Award. He is also active in technical leadership and was part of a team that received a commendation from the US White House for defense collaboration leadership.
Head of AI Enterprise, GE Vernova
Justin spearheads the creation and execution of GE Vernova's AI vision and strategic technology roadmap across the company. His expertise is instrumental in advancing the company's focus on Generative AI, including the deployment of advanced AI agents, multi-modal LLMs, and the development of a Responsible AI & prompt engineering framework.
Justin also works on integrating Generative AI into GE Vernova’s products, processes, and services, and previously led the Cybersecurity, Edge, Controls & Optimization team at the former GE Research organization consisting of a global team of 120+ researchers. His team delivered critical technologies such as model-based controls for wind turbines, Dispatch Optimizer for power plants, Trip Optimizer for locomotives, and Digital Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (DMRO) for aviation.
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Global Head of Manufacturing, Infosys
Jasmeet Singh is the Global Head of Manufacturing at Infosys, where he oversees the strategy roadmap and drives growth across the automotive, aerospace and defense, and industrial manufacturing sectors, globally.
With over 30 years of experience, Jasmeet is a trusted advisor to CEOs and Boards, helping organizations navigate the challenges of rapid technological disruption while unlocking business value. Prior to his current role, Jasmeet was leading the financial services business in the Americas as the Industry Head.
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CEO, Software & Controls Solutions, GE Vernova
Jaime joined Baker Hughes in 2001 based in Houston, TX and moved to GE Vernova in April 2023 with the Nexus Controls acquisition. She is currently the Software & Controls Solutions CEO, based in Longmont, CO. Over the course of her 25 years, she has held roles in Region P&L leadership, manufacturing operations, commercial, key accounts, supply chain, finance, and product line technology.
Jaime holds a master’s in supply chain management and bachelor’s in business marketing. In 2020, she received a Hart Energy award for 25 Most Influential Women in Energy and in 2021 she received recognition from Insight Magazine as the 10 Most Empowering Women in Business. Her experience has fostered a unique skill set across several functions and technologies in the energy industry, driving both horizontal and vertical connections with successful outcomes. Jaime enjoys supporting and developing women in the energy industry through mentoring and volunteering. In her free time, she enjoys spending time and playing sports with her family. She is happily married to her husband Matt, and they have two sons, Brennan 21 years old and Liam 17 years old.
CEO Kontron America
Ted Christiansen is CEO of Kontron America and a transformational leader focused on helping industrial companies improve customer experience, speed, and execution through digital innovation, automation, and operational excellence. With more than 30 years of leadership experience spanning manufacturing, industrial technology, automotive, and energy, he is passionate about helping organizations rethink how products are sold, built, and delivered in an increasingly digital world.
Member of the Board, Head of Sales SiMa.ai
Harald Kroeger is a member of the board, head of sales, and president of automotive for SiMa.ai since Jan 2023. Harald was a member of the board of Tesla and Rivian.
Mr. Kroeger served as a member of the board of management for Bosch until Dec 2021, being responsible for all of automotive besides powertrain.
Before that, he was 21 years with Mercedes-Benz, where in his career he was -amongst others- head of purchasing for electrics/electronics, head of quality, and head of development for electrics and electronics of Mercedes-Benz cars.
Mr. Kroeger holds an M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, and he holds a Diplom-Engineer in Control Engineering and a Bachelor in Economics, both from the University of Hannover.
Vice President, GE Vernova
Mike is the VP – Chief Product & Technology Officer for the GE Vernova power Conversion & Storage (PCS) business. The PSC business is focused on the low and medium voltage power elections solutions, rotating equipment, and energy storage offerings. In this role, Mike is responsible for driving the technical strategy and product development.
Mike has been with GE and GE Vernova for 30 years with time spent in both Research Center, Energy, and Renewables businesses developing products and technology. Over his career he has focused on energy conversion systems, performance technologies, product ideation and development, as well as leading efforts in understanding climate change and CO2 science. Mike holds a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Union College.
In addition to his GE roles, Mike was invited to join the United Nations IPCC (Intergovernmental Policy on Climate Change) for contributions to the Technical Assessment Report #4. In 2003 he was selected as a member of the MIT TR100, the top 100 young innovators in the world. Mike holds over 20 patents and has 5 peer-reviewed publications.
General Manager, AWS
Joseph Santamaria is General Manager of Energy & Utilities at Amazon Web Services, where he leads AWS's strategy to help utilities, oil and gas companies, and energy producers apply cloud and AI to modernize operations and accelerate the energy transition. Before AWS, he served as Chief Information and Digital Officer at PSEG, a $30B utility serving 5 million customers, where he built the company's digital and analytics roadmap from the ground up. Joseph holds an MBA and a Master of Science in Industrial Physics.
COO & CTO, congatec
Konrad Garhammer is COO & CTO at congatec and has successfully led technology and operations since 2016. Previously, he served as CTO at Saab Medav Technologies and has over 20 years of experience in complex technical projects in public and private sectors. He has a degree in electrical engineering, specializing in communications engineering, from the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich.
Deputy Asst. Director, FBI Cyber Division
Michael Machtinger has worked for the FBI since 2007 and currently serves as the Deputy Assistant Director of Cyber Division's Intelligence Branch. Previously, Michael was the FBI's lead liaison to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and was also its Chief of Terrorism Analysis. He has experience leading both analytic and target discovery efforts across a variety of threats and supervised an intelligence squad at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. Prior to his FBI service, Michael worked for the International Monetary Fund in a variety of research and technology-focused roles.