KEYNOTE SESSIONS
APRIL 10: FROM BIG DATA TO LARGE LANGUAGE: THE EXPANDING DATA UNIVERSE
9:00AM – 10:45AM
HOST
ALISTAIR CROLL
ENTREPRENEUR & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
SPEAKER
JANA EGGARS
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER NARA LOGICS
SPEAKER
DOUG LANEY
DATA & ANALYTICS STRATEGY ADVISOR, SPEAKER, AUTHOR, INSTRUCTOR
SPEAKER
DAVID BOYLE
AUDIENCE STRATEGIES
Twenty years ago, advances in computing, algorithms, and networking design catapulted information systems into the era of Big Data. No longer did we have to choose between speed, capacity, and data diversity: We could have all three. The dot-com revolution galvanized data science and gave birth to entirely new professions such as DevOps and Data Engineering. And the resulting tools forever changed how organizations make decisions.
We're in the midst of a second upheaval. Since the dawn of the Internet we've created exabytes curated, labeled, structured data. We've trained AI models on images, and it's learned to classify them—and then create its own. We've trained those models on language, and it's learned to predict it—and extract the mechanism of thought.
Where will this trajectory lead? How can we prepare ourselves? What new norms will shape society—and what behaviors must we shed? During our opening keynotes, we'll explore the journey from Big Data to modern AI. Hosted by Data Universe chair Alistair Croll, our speakers include one of the original framers of Big Data, Doug Laney; AI pioneer Jana Eggers; and Analytics and LLM expert David Boyle.
APRIL 11: HOW DATA IS PUSHING THE FRONTIERS OF INNOVATION
9:00AM – 10:45AM
HOST
ALISTAIR CROLL
ENTREPRENEUR & BEST-SELLING AUTHOR
SPEAKER
THERESA JOHNSON
PRODUCT MANAGER
AIRBNB
SPEAKER
DAVID MCRANEY
SCIENCE JOURNALIST, AUTHOR, AND LECTURER
SPEAKER
JOSEPH SIROSH
CEO, CREATORSAGI INC
FORMER CVP OF AI, MICROSOFT
FORMER VP, AMAZON ALEXA SHOPPING & SEARCH
SPEAKER
ALEXIS WICHOWSKI, PhD
PROFESSOR OF PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE AND PROGRAM DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY
Early science was a story of devoted researchers, working tirelessly for decades to move a specific branch of science forward: Joseph Priestley working on gasses; Gregor Mendel unlocking genetics. Then came the era of modern research/innovation, from Edison's labs to ARPA, Bell Labs, and Xerox Park, each applying industrial methods to progress.
Regardless of the approach, every innovation starts with a realization that something is not as it could be, followed by a search through what's possible. An observation becomes a correlation; a correlation creates a hypothesis to be tested, then proven; a breakthrough turns mainstream, and the world changes as a result.
Big Data and AI are poised to reinvent the very act of inventing. Wired's Chris Anderson predicted this in his 2008 story The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete, but it's taken fifteen years for his predictions to become reality. By finding patterns across unthinkably high dimensions, running parallel simulations that tease out the most likely candidates, and extracting meaning from data across every scientific field, scientific barriers are falling at an unprecedented rate. From generating DNA sequences to solving intractable math problems to discovering drugs, we're in a Great Acceleration.
On our second day of keynotes, we'll look at the fringes of innovation to better understand how data is giving us entirely new ways to innovate. We'll hear from AirBnB's Theresa Johnson about actual, practical implementations of AI and the Blockchain; from data infrastructure pioneer Joseph Sirosh about the changing face of innovation, and from bestselling author David McRaney about the biggest change of all—how to change our minds and keep up with the acceleration all around us.