Capital One is an American bank on a mission to change banking for good. They revolutionized the finance industry by applying information technology and statistical analysis to create customized credit card offers to customers. Speaker Lee Adcock serves as Director of Software Engineering and spends his day exploring the possibilities and potential of artificial intelligence to advance and enhance Capital One’s business, teams, and culture. 

CarMax is the nation’s largest retailer of used cars. Innovative from the very beginning, the company was the original disruptor of the automotive industry with their signature “no-haggle” prices. Disrupt Up speaker Todd Dube is the Senior Architect AI/ML, Data & Analytics Engineering at CarMax where he has spent the past 7 years developing AI and Machine Learning platforms. Thanks to Todd, CarMax now has a Data Science and Machine Learning team that’s 50 people strong.  

Gravy Analytics + Unacast is transforming our understanding of human activity in the physical world. Using state-of-the-art machine learning and artificial intelligence, Unacast analyzes location data, delivering trustworthy, reliable, and privacy-friendly insights on how people move. Speaker and Gravy founder Guy Decorte has spent his career at the forefront of innovation, including projects that use generative AI to deliver analytics in natural language.  

Heavy.AI Founder and CTO Todd Mostak built the original prototype of Heavy.AI while conducting his Harvard graduate research. After growing frustrated by the inability of conventional tools to allow for interactive exploration of big datasets, he developed a GPU-accelerated database and visual analytics platform that allowed him to analyze his data set of tens of millions of tweets on Twitter.   

One of the world’s most venerable tech companies, IBM is responsible for major innovations like the ATM, floppy disks, hard drives, the SQL programming language and more. They were early adopters of AI, producing the famous system Deep Blue that became the first machine to beat a world chess champion. Today, IBM leverages the power of AI through their own models to help customers optimize their businesses. Data scientist and AI advocate Anna Gutowska brings her unique appreciation for AI to IMB to free human resources for more complex and impactful tasks.   

Ozmo is on a mission to answer every tech support question without human intervention. They recently rolled out Ozmo Conversational Support, an AI virtual assistant that empowers users to independently resolve complex device and app issues. As Director of Innovation, speaker David Bates shapes the technical vision and develops innovative solutions that Ozmo is known for.   

Richmond Technology Council has embraced the transformative power of technology since its founding in 1989, and continues to ignite the growth of technology companies and the growth of the technology sector within the central Virginia economy. Disrupt up speaker and CEO, Nick Serfass has led the organization since 2019 where he has worked to grow programs, attract talent and position Richmond as an AI Tech Hub. 

Salesforce is a cloud-based CRM software that helps businesses wow customers with amazing service. Tableau is Salesforce’s powerful analytics platform powered by Salesforce AI. Anthony Young is leading the charge as the Director of Solution Engineering at Tableau Software, where he heads a dynamic team generating success and tangible outcomes for clients. 

Dr. Shawn Gomez is a Professor and the Associate Chair for Research in the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at UNC-Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University as well as a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Dr. Gomez’s laboratory conducts research in the broad areas of systems biology and translational AI. His work aims to enhance the development of therapies, innovative diagnostics, and clinical decision-making processes, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes. 

The US Department of Defense established the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) in 2018 to “use AI to solve large and complex problem sets that span multiple combat systems,” and create access to “every-improving libraries of data sets and tools.” Lieutenant General (ret.) Jack Shanahan will join Disrupt Up as a speaker and bring a wealth of insight he gathered as the former Director of JAIC and the first Director of the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team.