Data Tech 2026: Full Schedule

8:00am CDT

Registration, networking & coffee

Friday May 15, 2026 8:00am - 9:00am CDT

9:00am CDT

Kickoff

Friday May 15, 2026 9:00am - 9:15am CDT

(b) Cafeteria

Friday May 15, 2026 9:00am - 9:15am CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

9:30am CDT

LEHRN Panel Part I: The MSP AI and Data Scientist Job Market in 2026: Truths, Trends and (actionable) Takeaways

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(b) Cafeteria

This presentation delivers a clear-eyed analysis of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul AI and data science job market in 2026, cutting through hype to reveal what’s actually driving hiring decisions. Led by seasoned HR leaders and domain experts, it examines evolving employer expectations, the impact of automation on role design, and the growing importance of hybrid skill sets that blend technical...
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Conductor

Steve Jewell

Owner, Diamond In the Rough Recruitment Services

Steve has a progressive recruiting and human resource experience across business sectors and industries. With over 40 years of experience in commissioned, executive, and technical recruitment, Steve has experienced the evolution of recruitment and the evolving challenges of a people-focused... Read More →

Speakers

Lauren Hernandez

Talent Acquisition Manager, Medica

Lauren Hernandez is a Talent Acquisition leader with 13 years of experience navigating today’s job market from every angle: hiring, advising, and experiencing it firsthand. After a layoff, she successfully re-entered the market and secured a Talent Acquisition Manager role, giving... Read More →

Steve Lewis

CEO, Lewski Consulting LLC

Steve Lewis has spent 35 years in Human Resources, the majority of that time leading the Talent Acquisition function for various companies. He also served for 12 years as adjunct faculty at the Carlson School of Management’s Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies at the University... Read More →

Robert Richardson

HR Strategist, SAP

Robert serves as HR Tech Strategy Advisor at SAP SuccessFactors. There his domains include AI, Recruiting, Talent Management, and Sustainability. As Work Matters Podcast co-hosts Robert and Dr. Steve Hunt shared 26 episodes of actionable career advice for everyday workers. Inside... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

0 - Panel / Showcase

9:30am CDT

Building an Enterprise Foundation to Support Your AI Journey

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

As organizations accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence, many discover that success depends less on the models and tools, and more on the strength of the enterprise foundation beneath them. This presentation explores how to build a scalable, secure, and trusted foundation that enables AI to deliver sustained business value. We will touch on building blocks required to support...
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Speakers

Ryan Rosenberg, MBA

Director of Data Analytics, Fastenal

An analytics leader with over two decades of experience advancing data-driven decision-making. From business process change to performance improvement programs, go to market strategy shifts, and adoption of modern data analytics architecture.

Nick Pergande

IT Enterprise Architect, Fastenal

An Enterprise Architect with nearly two decades of experience designing and modernizing large‑scale analytics ecosystems. He focuses on building scalable, well‑governed data foundations and self‑service analytics that enable better decision‑making across the enterprise.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

2 - More Business

9:30am CDT

AI, Automation, and Quantum: Three Computing Models Walk into an Enterprise

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(e) Harriet

AI agents increasingly serve as the cognitive interface of modern enterprises, while automation platforms provide the deterministic, operational backbone. These two models often operate in tension: probabilistic AI systems excel at reasoning and adaptation, whereas automation drives predictability, repeatability, and control. This session will explore how enterprises can reconcile...
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Speakers

Jason Hunt

AI Technologist, Distinguished Engineer, IBM

Jason Hunt is an IBM Distinguished Engineer with nearly 30 years designing enterprise systems with emerging tech. His work spans Java’s early days through distributed and edge computing to today’s AI and quantum. Patent holder, Quantum Ambassador.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

9:30am CDT

Accessibility in Data Visualizations: Tips and Tricks

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(a) Theater

Interactive data visualizations and reports provide so much more insight into data for a user than a static image or tables with rows upon rows of data points. But with the changes in how we present our information, we also need to understand how all users will be able to engage with and leverage these digital assets. This is where digital accessibility comes in – ensuring that the information...
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Speakers

Barbara Monaco, MS

Data Analysis Unit Supervisor, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

I am a professional statistician and data scientist, working in a variety of fields including industrial manufacturing and the public sector. I am an avid R programmer and an advocate for accessible data visualizations and reports.

John Zaharick, MS

Data Analyst, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency

John Zaharick is a data analyst with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and has worked in data roles for 7+ years in academic labs and state government.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

9:30am CDT

evaluAIte: Where Feedback Meets Intelligence

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(g) Minnetonka

evaluAIte, winner of the United States Space Force AI Challenge in the Staff Category, is an AI-enabled evaluation analysis tool built to convert large volumes of qualitative and quantitative feedback into explainable, decision-ready insight. Organizations often collect enormous amounts of feedback, yet the process of reviewing, interpreting, and acting on that data remains manual, time-intensive,...
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Speakers

Christopher Cortes Greene, MS

Data and AI Solution Engineer, United States Space Force

Award Winning and accomplished Data & AI Solutions Engineer with 5+ years of experience building automated data pipelines, AI/ML enabled analytics, and decision support solutions across defense and enterprise environments.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

9:30am CDT

Inverse Molecular Design for Selective Adsorption

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(h) Proverb / Edison

Selective adsorption on functionalized surfaces underpins many technologies in separation, sensing, and filtration, yet rational design remains challenging because adsorption depends on many coupled factors, including surface chemistry, molecular structure, and environment. Here, we present an inverse molecular design framework that integrates generative AI models with physics‑based adsorption...
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Speakers

Andrew Abi-Mansour, PhD

Senior Principal Scientist, Donaldson

Andrew is a Computational Scientist in the Modeling & Data Science group at Donaldson Company, based in Bloomington, Minnesota. His work focuses on computational modeling, and data‑driven methods to support R&D in materials and filtration science.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(h) Proverb / Edison Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

5 - Technical

9:30am CDT

Longitudinal Framework for Measuring Long-Term Campaign Impact

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT

(d) Nokomis

Most campaign measurement frameworks rely on redemption-based metrics, which fail to distinguish true incremental impact from temporal demand shifting. We introduce the Longitudinal Measurement Framework (LMF), a causal inference–driven approach to quantify the long-term effects of campaigns on guest behavior.LMF estimates changes in Guest Lifetime Value and churn using a...
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Speakers

Swapnil Deshpande, MS

Principal Data Scientist, Target Inc

I am Principal Data Scientist at Target on the Marketing Data Science team. I specialize in applying data science to solve complex business problems and has led several high-impact initiatives across retail and supply chain domains.

Nicole Santolalla, MS

Sr. Data Scientist, Target Inc

Nicole Santolalla is a Senior Data Scientist at Target on the Marketing Data Science team, specializing in building models that predict guest lifetime value. Her work supports loyalty initiatives, including identifying at-risk audiences and measuring campaign effectiveness.

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 10:00am CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

5 - Technical

9:30am CDT

Startup Showcase & VC Panel

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 12:15pm CDT

(f) Bde Maka Ska

The Startup Showcase features pitches from startups that are doing something unique or innovative in analytics, AI, machine learning, or other emerging data technology. Each startup gets six minutes to pitch followed by a Q&A.In addition to the pitches, this session also features: "Data Tech '24 Alum: From MN Cup Winner to Market Traction -- in a 100-year-old Industry” with Michael...
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Conductor

Graeme Thickins

Board Member / Startup Showcase Organizer, MinneAnalytics

Speakers

Grant Gibson

Principal, Great North Ventures

Grant joined Great North Ventures, an early-stage VC firm, in 2023 and is now responsible for marketing, ecosystem engagement, and closing deals. He brings a unique blend of legal knowledge and business acumen to the VC industry. Grant earned a law degree from the University of St... Read More →

Garrett Lauderdale, MBA

Vice President, Idea Fund of La Crosse

Garrett joined Idea Fund in 2023. It partners with seed- and early-stage startup businesses across the region, supporting Upper Midwest entrepreneurs who are solving challenging problems with passion and drive. It brings capital, connections, and years of experience building exceptional... Read More →

Michael Peterson, MBA, MSE

Founder/CEO, Raise a Hood

In 2021, Michael Peterson founded Raise a Hood to revolutionize the automotive maintenance industry with a unique blend of AI and community engagement. His background is in engineering, business development, and disruptive solutions. In 2023, his startup won the High-Tech Division... Read More →

Pat Dillon, MBA

President & CEO, Founder, MNSBIR, Inc.

Pat Dillion leads Minnesota’s statewide effort to equip startups and small businesses with the knowledge, strategy, and support needed to compete for federal R&D funding — rooted in deep expertise in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer... Read More →

Startups

Agent Agnes

Automates customer calls for SMBs with AI phone agents. Serves home services, vet clinics, and property management — deploying custom AI agents in less than 60 seconds. The company is targeting $5M ARR by 2028. Currently raising a $300k pre-seed round.

CanaryAI

Applied intelligence that builds predictive AI for kidney care, identifying patients at risk of deterioration and readmission, enabling earlier intervention and reducing avoidable hospitalizations across chronic kidney disease, dialysis, and transplant care. Currently raising a $500K... Read More →

Gudea

A stormtracker for the Internet. Its patented predictive narrative intelligence platform equips organizations to detect emerging disinformation, identify coordinated information operations, and anticipate threats before they escalate — preventing and mitigating crises. It is currently... Read More →

Intelligible

AI agents fail on enterprise data because they don't understand it. Intelligible connects your data to AI via a database layer of reasoning primitives. It converts structured enterprise data into reusable components that AI systems reason over directly, capturing institutional knowledge... Read More →

Print Profit

A profitability platform for the global printing industry, giving owners real-time visibility and clear actions to improve performance. Acting as a smart co-pilot, it helps turn data into decisions, and decisions into profit. It has been mentored by MESA, is bootstrapped, and is profitable... Read More →

Rocket‎‎‎‎ Inventory

Rocket Inventory brings decades of enterprise warehouse management systems expertise to SMBs. It simplifies complex capabilities into an easy-to-use platform powered by real-time data, modern technology, and AI to help manage inventory and SKUs. It is not currently fundraising, but... Read More →

SaffronHealth‎‎‎‎ AI

Nearly 70% of the $5T total cost of healthcare in the U.S. is preventable. SaffronHealth addresses systemic inefficiencies by transforming fragmented data into actionable intelligence, delivering personalized, evidence-based recommendations through agentic AI. Currently raising a... Read More →

Data Tech 2026 Startup Showcase Agenda pdf

Friday May 15, 2026 9:30am - 12:15pm CDT
(f) Bde Maka Ska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

0 - Panel / Showcase

10:15am CDT

LEHRN Panel Part II: Now that we know the landscape of the AI and Data Scientist Jobscape, how do we navigate it successfully?

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(b) Cafeteria

Building on a clear understanding of the AI and data science job landscape, this presentation focuses on how to navigate it effectively in 2026. Led by experienced HR leaders and industry practitioners, it translates market realities into practical strategies for both candidates and employers. The session explores how professionals can differentiate themselves through targeted skill development,...
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Conductor

Steve Jewell

Owner, Diamond In the Rough Recruitment Services

Speakers

Lauren Hernandez

Talent Acquisition Manager, Medica

Steve Lewis

CEO, Lewski Consulting LLC

Robert Richardson

HR Strategist, SAP

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

0 - Panel / Showcase

10:15am CDT

Lessons Learned Filling a Supercomputer with Crappy (Manure) Data

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(e) Harriet

ManureDB is a manure and organic amendment database that contains over 550,000 samples developed by the University of Minnesota. Managing the agronomic, economic, environmental, and logistical challenges and opportunities of manure warranted updates to previously published manure characteristics from the early 2000s. Data use agreements, standardized data templates, and data validation measures...
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Speakers

Nancy Bohl Bormann, PhD

Researcher, University of Minnesota

Nancy Bohl Bormann is a Manure and Nutrient Management Researcher at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on the manure database, ManureDB. Previously she worked for The Maschhoffs, and she grain farms with her family.

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

10:15am CDT

Modern Data Stack Meets AI: Real-World Integration for Analytics Innovation

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

Discover how modern data stack tools and platforms can be seamlessly integrated to power analytics applications, enhanced by large language models for AI-driven insights. This session will showcase a real-world example of leveraging tools like Snowflake, dbt, Fivetran, and IBM Cognos Analytics, combined with AI for advanced analysis and decision-making. Gain practical insights into building...
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Speakers

Eric Lealos, MBA

Quantified Mechanix

Eric Lealos has 25+ years in analytics, leading successful projects at many large companies. As founder of Quantified Mechanix, he integrates technology and data to create analytics applications that improve decision-making and performance.

Daniel Engh, PhD

Data Scientist, Quantified Mechanix

Daniel Engh, Ph.D., is an analytics and data engineering expert with 20+ years of experience spanning business and academic domains. He is driven by a passion for tackling complex data challenges, uncovering deep insights, and crafting solutions that seamlessly integrate technical... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

10:15am CDT

Spreadsheet Modeling Design - Case study: Building Robust Retirement Planning Models

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(g) Minnetonka

Despite the widespread adoption of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools, we often hear “The world runs on Excel.” Today’s business climate requires Enterprise level tools, even for tools which are in the prototype stage or in production but awaiting integration into more formal and mature systems. Implementing and following standards for spreadsheet model design provides reliable...
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Speakers

Rob Rowbotham, PhD

Senior Principal Data Scientist, Grande Cheese Company

Dr. Rob transforms data into information, knowledge, and ultimately wisdom to enable better tactical and strategic decision making, centering on process creation, transformation, and communication.

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

10:15am CDT

Agent Improv

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(a) Theater

You name it, we'll build it. If a live demo feels too polished without enough opportunities for things to go wrong, let's throw out the script and do it live. We'll use build an AI agent from scratch. Then, we'll deploy it to to the world! If you are a developer or if you just want to join the chaos, this will be an exciting ride worth joining.

Speakers

Luke Schlangen, MS

Developer Advocate, Google

I am a developer advocate at Google.
I am a co-founder of Code Championship.
I believe learning follows excitement.

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

10:15am CDT

Structure Before Speed: Spec-First Engineering for High-Stakes AI

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(h) Proverb / Edison

AI coding tools are transforming how data and analytics teams build software, but speed without structure has a hidden cost. Unstructured AI-assisted development produces pipelines that fail unexpectedly, agentic systems that make decisions no one can trace, and codebases where intent is lost the moment the chat window closes. This session makes the case that spec-first engineering, defining...
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Speakers

Justin Grammens, MSS

President & Board Chair, Applied AI

Justin Grammens is the Founder and CEO of Lab651, Managing Partner of Recursive Awesome, and President and Board Chair of Applied AI, a Minnesota-based nonprofit focused on building the next generation of AI leaders.

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(h) Proverb / Edison Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

10:15am CDT

vLLM - LLM serving with PagedAttention

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT

(d) Nokomis

Serving large language models efficiently in production is a hard problem. Traditional inference engines waste up to 80% of GPU memory through KV cache fragmentation and over-allocation, leading to poor throughput and high costs. This talk dives into PagedAttention, a key innovation that borrows virtual memory paging from operating systems as a solution to this and vLLM, the open-source engine...
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Speakers

Sona Maniyan, MS

Staff Engineer - AI/ML, Thrivent

Friday May 15, 2026 10:15am - 10:45am CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

5 - Technical

11:00am CDT

Data for Agents: Building the Trusted Data Spine for AI

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(b) Cafeteria

AI agents are only as effective as the data they can securely access and accurately interpret. As organizations implement agent-based workflows, challenges like fragmented, inconsistent, ungoverned, and contextless data often hinder progress, reduce trust, and increase compliance risks. This session highlights the importance of the “Context Data Product”, a foundational element in building a...
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Speakers

Maz Chaudhri, MBA, MS

Data & AI Practice Director, AIM Consulting

Maz is a seasoned data leader with over twenty years' experience in data and AI strategies, modernizing data ecosystems, and governance. He advises Fortune 500 and mid-market clients in the Upper Midwest.

Jonathan Weiss, MS

Lead Consultant, Intelligent Data & Automation, AIM Consulting

Jonathan Weiss is a data strategy leader with 24 years of experience in helping organizations turn complex data environments into decision-ready solutions through governance frameworks, operating models, and actionable roadmaps.

Data Tech Data Spine Maz Chaudhri pdf

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

2 - More Business

11:00am CDT

Developing a new Grateful Patient score for the Vet Med Center

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(e) Harriet

The Veterinary Medical Center (VMC) identified a business need for a re-vamped Grateful Patient-like score to identify clients who are likely to make Major Gifts ($50K+) to the VMC. Their current score rated too many clients in the top bracket. Using factors that we thought were indicators of propensity to give, we developed a simple score. It seemed reasonably accurate, but the scoring system was...
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Speakers

Matthew Haas, PhD

Data Scientist, University of Minnesota Foundation

I work in Prospect Development which means I help frontline fundraisers identify people who have the interest and capacity to make philanthropic contributions to the areas of their interest at the University of Minnesota.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

2 - More Business

11:00am CDT

AI-Assisted Engineering in 2026: Workflows, Taste, and What Comes Next

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(a) Theater

This presentation will cover the bleeding edge of AI tooling for engineers and builders, from vibe coding tools like Lovable to agentic coding tools like Claude Code. As a principal software engineer specialising in AI, I will break down the workflows that have been most productive for my team and provide recommendations for when & where you should use each one, with a particular focus on...
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Speakers

Piers Concord

Principal Software Engineer, Lab651

Principal Software Engineer specializing in AI & full-stack applications. Head of Engineering at Lab651.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:00am CDT

Secure Data Collaboration: Data Cleanroom in Practice

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(d) Nokomis

As organizations increasingly collaborate on data-driven insights, privacy, security, and regulatory constraints make traditional data sharing risky and often impractical. This session introduces the Data Cleanroom concept; a secure, privacy preserving environment that allows multiple parties to analyze and collaborate on sensitive data without directly sharing or exposing raw datasets.

Speakers

Kishor Patil, MCA

Senior Manager Cloud Engineering, Best Buy

Senior Manager, Cloud Platform Engineering at Best Buy. Specializing in Google Cloud, AI/ML security, and enterprise data platform.

Vikas Jaiswal, MS

Director of Engineering, Best Buy

A highly accomplished leader with 25 years of experience in data strategy and multi- cloud architecture (AWS and GCP) across diverse business domains. Expert at bringing complex technical challenges with strategic objectives, they excel at leading global, cross-functional teams to... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:00am CDT

Beyond Rows and Columns — Building a Multi-Modal Data Lakehouse with Bedrock Data Automation and Apache Iceberg

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(g) Minnetonka

This session presents a reference architecture for a multi-modal data lake house on AWS that closes this gap. We combine Amazon Bedrock Data Automation (BDA) for intelligent content extraction with Apache Iceberg for scalable, ACID-compliant data management — turning documents, images, and media into queryable, governed datasets alongside traditional structured data.We walk through how to design...
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Speakers

Gopalakrishnan Marimuthu, MEng

Cloud Application Architect, Amazon

Gopalakrishnan Marimuthu is a seasoned Cloud Application Architect at Amazon Web Services with over 20 years of cross-domain industry experience spanning telecommunications, supply chain, banking, and healthcare.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

11:00am CDT

Enhancing Credit Risk Monitoring: Integrating Diverse Data Pipelines and Advanced Modeling

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

(h) Proverb / Edison

In the current dynamic financial landscape, effective credit risk monitoring necessitates a harmony between advanced data science techniques and human expertise. This presentation explores the development of a comprehensive credit risk monitoring system that integrates complex data pipelines alongside domain experts from finance and investment management. We will address the challenges of...
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Speakers

Linh Nguyen, MS, PhD

Senior Data Scientist, Allianz Life

I am a data scientist and statistical consultant, with a background in the social sciences. At Allianz Life, I design machine learning models and generative AI applications for business units across the organization in the financial services sector.

Marissa Munley

Data Scientist, Allianz Life

I joined Allianz Life as a data scientist in 2022, using ML and AI for process automation, scaling solutions, and value creation. I earned my BS in Math from UMN, and a Certificate in Machine Learning Engineering from Sorbonne University.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(h) Proverb / Edison Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

11:00am CDT

Zen & the Art of Mario Kart Maintenance

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT

Advancements in LLM coding models have made it easier than ever to work in a domain you know nothing about, but there are still plenty of challenges you'll run into. Follow along with me as I convert Mario Kart 64 into an immersive PC VR motion simulation experience using AI-assistants to code in a language I don't know and in a domain I've never worked in. N64 game code is not well-represented in...
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Speakers

Dr. Jimmy, PhD

Cheif AI Officer, Famelia, Inc.

Jimmy has been in AI & Data Science for over 10 years. Currently serving as Chief AI Officer for Famelia, a local startup that offers automated recipe customization to address your personal dietary needs.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:00am - 11:30am CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

11:45am CDT

A Game Theorist's Guide to AI Governance

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(b) Cafeteria

As corporations shift from standalone AI models to multi-agent systems—where a "supervisor" agent hands off tasks to specialized teammates—AI governance is evolving from worrying about individual model flaws to tackling the trickier risks of coordination. Think of it like a corporate hierarchy: delegation creates blind spots (agents handle private data, hidden reasoning steps, and tool...
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Speakers

Matthew Walz, PhD

CEO, The Jenny Project

Matthew Walz is the CEO of The Jenny Project, an enterprise-grade GenAI decision-intelligence platform. He formerly led Predictive & Scenario Intelligence at General Mills. He holds a Quantitative PhD, specializing in game theory and systems theory.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:45am CDT

From Data Strategy to Deal Value: How AI-Ready Data Environments Drive Exit Multiples

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

Why this topic?Connects data science work directly to tangible business outcomes (M&A valuations)Addresses the "so what?" question many practitioners face when justifying data investmentsLeverages decades of speaker's M&A experience that conference attendees may not have heard much onAudience takeaways?How acquirers evaluate data maturity during due diligenceThe valuation premium differential...
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Speakers

Mayank Agarwal

Managing Principal, Strategy MA

Mayank helps PE firms harness AI & data for transformational value. As a technology consultant & AI Advisory Board member, he specializes in AI due diligence, data-driven M&A integration, & building AI readiness frameworks for competitive edge.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:45am CDT

SAR Q-Learning for Multi-Regional Inventory Optimization

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(g) Minnetonka

Effective inventory management across multiple regions is often hindered by stochastic demand, inter-regional dependencies, and lead-time uncertainties. In this study, we introduce a spatially-aware reinforcement learning framework (SAR-Q-Learning) that integrates region-specific demand forecasting with multi-agent Q-learning to optimize inventory decisions across a network of warehouses. Using...
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Speakers

Jong-Min Kim, PhD

Full Professor, University of Minnesota at Morris

Dr. Jong-Min Kim is a Professor of Statistics at the University of Minnesota–Morris, USA. Since June 2025, he has also served as an Adjunct Professor at the EGADE Business School, Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:45am CDT

Score Big with the Right Data Strategy

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(d) Nokomis

Data Privacy, Consent & Your MarTech EcoSystemCompanies are collecting unprecedented amounts of sensitive data, and yet privacy regulations, consumer expectations, and supply chain accountability are shifting faster than most MarTech stacks can adapt.In this rapidly changing and AI-fueled landscape, consent and trust are increasingly important, and when used properly, can become your competitive...
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Speakers

Scotty Hagen

Partner & VP, Data Analytics, Northern

Scotty founded and served as CEO of Project 3 Consulting, a data and marketing technology consultancy specializing in analytics and Customer Data Platforms (CDP), which was acquired by Northern. He also previously co-founded two other companies.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

11:45am CDT

Are TSFMs a Magic Wand? A Deeper Dive into How to Choose the Right Model

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(h) Proverb / Edison

This talk builds on prior work presented at FASTCon 2026.Time Series Foundation Models (TSFMs) are gaining traction in forecasting, but their real-world behavior is more nuanced than the hype suggests. In our experiments, we observe that performance varies across data regimes, forecast horizons, and retraining setups—with only small differences among top models.This talk focuses on the why...
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Speakers

Sruthi Pisipati, MS

Principal Data Scientist, Boston Scientific Corporation

Sruthi Pisipati, Principal Data Scientist at Boston Scientific, leverages AI to drive innovation in medical device technology. Her interest areas include Vision, Gen AI and Forecasting domains.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(h) Proverb / Edison Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

11:45am CDT

Right-Sizing AI: Architectural Choices Beyond Model Selection

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(e) Harriet

Should you use an off-the-shelf AI service? Compose narrow tools into a pipeline? Strip an open-source model for parts? Build a chat--bot? For one SDG client, each of these has been the correct answer to a different problem. Through four short case studies spanning video, analytics, accounting, and ETL, this talk offers a practical framework for matching AI tools to problems. The core...
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Speakers

Stephen Boniface

Consultant, Solution Design Group

Steve is a software development consultant who helps teams develop modern solutions to automate and optimize user workflows.

Cameron Lis Marcott, PhD

Consultant, Solution Design Group

Cam is PhD level Data Scientist who helps SDG customers use Machine Learning and Data Science to create powerful solutions.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

11:45am CDT

Can Enterprise AI Agents Actually Collaborate? Lessons from SimRetail - A Multi-Agent AI Simulator for Enterprise-Scale Retail Assortment Planning

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT

(a) Theater

Can multiple AI agents, built across different frameworks, owned by different teams, and trained on different data sources, come together to solve an enterprise-scale problem? That's the central question SimRetail, developed at Target Corporation and accepted at AAMAS 2026 (the International Conference on Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems), is built to explore.Retail assortment planning is...
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Speakers

Sowmya Podila, MS

Senior Applied AI Scientist, Target Enterprise Inc.

Sowmya Podila is a Senior Applied AI Scientist at Target, where she led the widely recognized TrendBrain initiative, featured in RetailDive and CNBC for leveraging AI for elevating style and design of Target Owned Brands.

Andrew Yang

Senior Applied AI Scientist, Target Enterprise Inc.

Andrew is a Senior Data scientist at Target, with a strong background in machine learning, NLP, and LLMs. At Target, He currently works on agentic systems for trend analysis for commerce.

Friday May 15, 2026 11:45am - 12:15pm CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

5 - Technical

12:15pm CDT

Lunch

Friday May 15, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm CDT

(b) Cafeteria

Friday May 15, 2026 12:15pm - 1:15pm CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

1:15pm CDT

Beyond Technical Skills: Practical Habits for Effective Data Professionals

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(a) Theater

Data and analytics professionals are often promoted and praised for their technical skills. Yet many stall not because they lack capability, but because they struggle to communicate, influence, prioritize, or collaborate effectively. As AI continues to automate coding and technical execution, these human skills matter more than ever.In this session, we’ll explore the practical interpersonal and...
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Speakers

Anna Kisting

Director of Business and Clinical Intelligence, Revo Health

Anna Kisting is a healthcare analytics leader who simplifies complex processes into effective systems. As Director of Business and Clinical Intelligence, she uses data to improve clinical operations, sharpen decisions, and make work and care better.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

1 - Business

1:15pm CDT

Crowd-Sourced Truth

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

When official narratives don't match what communities are seeing on the ground, grassroots organizations turn to crowd-sourced data to fill the gaps. But good intentions alone don't produce reliable data. This talk walks through the key questions any community group should ask before, during, and after launching a collection effort.

Speakers

John Hogue, MS

AI & Analytics Strategy Advisor, Rogue Hogue

John Hogue has over a decade of AI, data and analytics leadership experience developing and enacting cohesive strategy.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

1:15pm CDT

From Batch to Streaming: Data Architecture for Context-Aware Personalization

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(g) Minnetonka

Real-time personalization requires more than fast model inference. It depends on data systems that can combine batch computation, streaming signals, feature management, and ranking logic while operating under strict latency and reliability constraints.This talk presents a production-inspired architecture for context-aware personalization, showing how batch pipelines, streaming data flows, feature...
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Speakers

Jayakumar Ramalingam

Staff Software Engineer, SiriusXM

Experienced Staff Software Engineer and cloud architect with 15+ years in cloud computing, distributed systems, and AI/ML-driven applications. IEEE member, peer reviewer, and contributor to international conference evaluation activities.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

1:15pm CDT

Practical Workflow Capture: Reduce Rollout Risk in AI Adoption Initiatives

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(d) Nokomis

Automation is only as effective as the work we automate. In AI initiatives, it’s easy to skip or shortcut confirming that we’re automating the right work in the first place. This talk argues that workflow capture, an updated and expanded take on “process mapping,” is an overlooked make-or-break prerequisite for AI readiness. It creates shared understanding and reduces rework, mis-scoped...
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Speakers

Steffen Meyer, MBA

Managing Director (Independent Consultant), Custom Lightning

Steffen Meyer is a fractional COO who builds lightweight ops for fast-changing companies in data-starved, high-ambiguity settings - helping advanced products win in the market and enabling practical AI readiness for business leaders.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

1:15pm CDT

A Beginner's Guide to Building a Recommendation System with Vector Search

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(b) Cafeteria

One of the easiest ways to have AI do some of the heavy lifting on your customer-facing website, is with a vector search based recommendation system. In this session we will focus on the implementation for building the recommendation system's components. We will start from database modeling, to building the data access layers, and on up to showing the results on the front end. We will also cover...
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Speakers

Aaron Ploetz, MS

Engineer, KillrVideo

Aaron Ploetz is an engineer for IBM. He previously led DB engineering teams for both startups and Fortune 50 enterprises and has been recognized as a Cassandra MVP. Aaron has authored a few books and is a committer on the Apache Cassandra® project.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

1:15pm CDT

The Computable Phenotype Library (CPL): Managing computable phenotypes for better real-world evidence

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(e) Harriet

Teams tasked with real world evidence generation often spend significant effort defining patient populations, clinical events, and procedures - only to manage those definitions in spreadsheets, ad hoc SQL, and scattered documentation. These approaches can negatively impact the quality of evidence generated via introduction of errors, no formal validation, and lack of proper governance.In this...
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Speakers

Spencer Stromback, PharmD, MS

Data and AI Scientist, Philips, Image Guided Therapy Devices (IGT-D)

Data Scientist/Medical Informaticist at Philips, with 5.5 years practicing as a pharmacist and an MS in Business Analytics. I build and support real-world evidence pipelines, computable phenotypes, and device-identification methods for healthcare.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

1:15pm CDT

Flow Based and Score Based Generative Models

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT

(f) Bde Maka Ska

Generative models generate objects (picture, animation, sound, etc) by iteratively converting noise into data. This is done by the simulation of ordinary or stochastic differential equations (ODEs/SDEs). The two techniques allow us to construct, train, and simulate such ODEs/SDEs with deep neural networks.

In this talk I will introduce the two methods and will give simple examples.

Speakers

Mehdi Hakim-Hashemi, PhD

Faculty in Mathematics and Statistics, Normandale Community College

I teach mathematics and statistics at community college level and do research in Generative AI.

Friday May 15, 2026 1:15pm - 1:45pm CDT
(f) Bde Maka Ska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

5 - Technical

2:00pm CDT

High-Signal Networking in a Noisy, AI-Driven Market

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(f) Bde Maka Ska

In today’s AI-driven and increasingly competitive job market, networking has evolved from a “nice to have” into a critical career skill. As applying becomes easier and more automated, standing out becomes harder. This can push more opportunities into the hidden market where relationships matter most. This session explores how to build a high-signal network that creates real opportunities,...
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Speakers

Benjamin Diaz

Community Manager, Twin Cities Data Science & Analytics

I’m a Twin Cities–based VP of Sales & Marketing at BGD Companies. I’m active in the tech and nonprofit communities, helping grow TCDSA and serving on the CreateMPLS board. I’m passionate about mentorship, connection, and creating opportunities.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(f) Bde Maka Ska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

1 - Business

2:00pm CDT

AI in Drug Discovery

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(e) Harriet

We will trace the lifecycle of a pre-clinical R&D drug discovery and the areas where AI has accelerated development as well as areas where AI is causing problems. It's never been easier to generate hypotheses, but validating them in lab is still a bottleneck. How does the industry handle a tsunami of AI generated structures?We'll discuss things like pharmacophore development,...
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Speakers

Alex Melton

VP of Engineeing, Invene

Alex has worked with organizations like Amgen, Novo Nordisk, GSK, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has a special interest in AI applications for computational chemistry and drug discovery.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:00pm CDT

From Black Boxes to Open Glass: Democratizing Marketing Mix Models with GenAI and Open-Source analytics

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(d) Nokomis

The era of relying on vendor-based proprietary and opaque ‘Black Box’ Marketing Mix models is over. By leveraging open-source analytics frameworks and Generative AI as a semantic layer, businesses can now utilize a scalable stack that can bridge the gap between complex Bayesian statistical output and actionable business strategy, making marketing analytics and science more accessible and...
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Speakers

Shakti Kothari, MS

Associate Director, Marketing Science & Analytics, Annalect (Omnicom Media Group)

Shakti Kothari is an analytics and data science leader with 10+ years of experience across procurement, CPG, media and marketing. A UMN MSBA graduate and MinneMUDAC 2018 winner, he leads marketing mix modeling projects for the US Army at Annalect.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:00pm CDT

TRASH TALKING- Smart Autonomous Connected Refuse Collection Vehicle

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(g) Minnetonka

What if garbage trucks weren’t just garbage trucks, but smart, connected systems that optimized routes, reduced emissions, and improved recycling rates? That’s exactly what we’ll be exploring—how AI and IoT are transforming waste management to be more efficient, sustainable, and intelligent.AI in Refuse Management – Optimizing operations & improving safetyIoT-Driven Connectivity –...
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Speakers

Brian Thomas, MBA

CEO, Clear Rock Technology

I lead cross functional engineering teams developing smart connected systems.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:00pm CDT

LLMs as Data Scientists: What Actually Works

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(a) Theater

Large language models are increasingly being used to write SQL, summarize datasets, and automate parts of the data science workflow. In some cases, they perform remarkably well. In others, they fail in subtle but systematic ways, including misinterpreting metrics, hallucinating joins, or reasoning inconsistently over schemas. This talk examines what actually happens when LLMs are applied to real...
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Speakers

Ben Lengerich, PhD, MS

Founder/CEO, Intelligible AI

Ben Lengerich is an Assistant Professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the founder of Intelligible. His research connects statistical modeling and foundation models. He received his PhD from Carnegie Mellon and postdoc at MIT.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

2:00pm CDT

Single, Multi, Orchestrator: Choosing the Right Agent Architecture

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

Agent architecture decisions are often made before the tradeoffs are fully understood. Reaching for multi-agent can add unnecessary coordination overhead, while stretching a single agent too far can create brittle systems that should have been split or orchestrated earlier.This session provides a practical framework for choosing between single-purpose, multi-purpose, multi-agent, and orchestrated...
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Speakers

Ahmed Ashraf Sadek, MS

Data Analytics & AI Manager, Taylor Corporation

Data and AI leader experienced in systems engineering, automation, data science, and product development. Specializes in enterprise AI with a focus on agentic systems and productionizing LLMs. Speaker and advisor on applied AI and emerging tech.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

2:00pm CDT

Why Your Model Lies (And What to Do About It): Causal Reasoning in Product Analytics

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT

(b) Cafeteria

Your model is lying to you. Not intentionally—but somewhere in your company, a model is telling you something matters when it doesn't. This talk exposes the gap between correlation and causation in product analytics, and shows you how to think causally about product decisions. Using two real-world case studies, we'll walk through why feature importance misleads you and how to design experiments...
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Speakers

Sabin Pradhan, MS

Data Scientist

Sabin is a data scientist who has worked across healthcare, consumer goods, and tech. Each industry shaped how he thinks about problems — from urgency to scale to infrastructure.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:00pm - 2:30pm CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

2:45pm CDT

Why Manufacturing Data Fails to Deliver ROI and How to Fix It

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(e) Harriet

Manufacturing organizations collect massive amounts of process data, yet many struggle to translate it into measurable financial impact. This talk explores how to bridge the gap between process engineering insights and business outcomes, using examples to show how raw manufacturing data can be transformed into actionable insights tied to cost savings, yield improvement, and operational efficiency....
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Speakers

Meade Erickson, PhD

Process Engineer, Manufacturing & Materials Analytics

Manufacturing Analytics professional focused on improving plant performance by reducing cost, increasing throughput, and optimizing OEE through data-driven insights grounded in process engineering.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

2 - More Business

2:45pm CDT

False Positives, Real Consequences: Adventures in Government ML

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(b) Cafeteria

Local government data is a machine learning goldmine – and a minefield. A false positive isn’t a bad recommendation or misplaced ad: it’s someone’s food assistance, healthcare, or housing stability on the line. Our team in Hennepin County has spent over seven years piloting classification models for these kind of high-stakes risks. We’ll cover the technical stuff – model design,...
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Speakers

Richard Bamattre, PhD

Data and Analytics Manager, Hennepin County

Richard Bamattre is a data and analytics lead at Hennepin County Human Services, where his team builds predictive models for public sector problems. He has strong opinions on what "responsible ML" actually requires

Jessie Roushar

Principal Planning Analyst, Hennepin County

Jessie Roushar is a Principal Planning Analyst with Hennepin County, where she leads cross-departmental initiatives at the intersection of data, technology, and public service. Her work focuses on aligning data governance, technology, and program strategy across health and human... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(b) Cafeteria Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:45pm CDT

From No Code to No Monitoring

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(f) Bde Maka Ska

A year ago I set a specific goal: build a production system without writing a single line of application code. I reached it. And then it kept going. I also stopped reading the generated code, stopped touching configuration files, stopped issuing CLI commands, and eventually the running system began monitoring itself and correcting drift before I was notified. This talk is the story of how each of...
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Speakers

Juan Carlos Ghiringhelli, MsC

Data Architect, State of MN

Senior software and data architect with two decades of production experience across ETLs, AI pipelines, and distributed systems. MsC in Computer Engineering and Data Science. Author of Generative Specification... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(f) Bde Maka Ska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:45pm CDT

Systematic Innovation as Context Architecture: Matrix Morphology and the Future of Model Augmentation

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(g) Minnetonka

This presentation introduces a novel paradigm for augmenting large language models—not with more data, but with better-structured reasoning. Drawing on recent benchmark evidence that structured knowledge graphs dramatically out-perform conventional augmentation architectures in both grounding quality and production cost, the presentation suggests that the next frontier in model augmentation is...
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Speakers

David Quimby, MBA

Principal, Innovation Radiation

David Quimby practices systematic innovation, experimental design, and technology forecasting. He is a patented inventor and a published author; he served as a technology analyst in artificial intelligence at Stanford Research Institute.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:45pm CDT

When AI Stops Asking and Starts Acting: The Rise of Autonomous Intelligence

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(a) Theater

For the last decade, AI has been very good at answering questions. We ask it for insights. We ask it for predictions. We ask it what might happen next. But that’s not autonomy. Autonomous intelligence begins when AI stops asking us what to do—and starts acting on trusted knowledge, in real time, within the business itself. Today, we’re at that inflection point. Not because models got...
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Speakers

Trish Lugtu, MS

Director, Data Science, Americas, Teradata

As Teradata's Americas Data Science Leader, Trish's team of data scientists helps customers drive scalable, transformative AI/ML strategies while harnessing ROI from AI. Trish holds a M.S. Predictive Analytics and a B.S. Biology.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

2:45pm CDT

From Microphone to Insight: Extracting Structured Data from Voice

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

Audio is one of the most valuable data sources your team isn't using. Not because the signal isn't there. Because getting it into a usable form has always been hard. Now we have better tooling and models.This talk covers the full pipeline: raw audio capture, preprocessing, transcription, and pulling structured insight out the other end. Decisions, action items, questions, intent. Stuff you can...
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Speakers

Jaim Zuber

Principal Engineer, Sharp Five Technology

Jaim Zuber is a principal mobile and desktop engineer focusing on voice AI systems and extracting structured insight from audio data. He sees transcription, dictation, and voice control as some of the most promising opportunities in AI today.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

2:45pm CDT

Using Utility Theory and Discrete Choice Modeling to Model Revenue Retention

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT

(d) Nokomis

We will discuss the theory and practice of utility theory and discrete choice modeling. Essentially, how consumers make decisions between different brands and within the same brand, specifically for consumer electronics. We will also discuss how we use this at Best Buy to model consumer behavior and simulate what will happen to Best Buy's revenue if we close or open a store.

Speakers

Tyler Bybee, MS

Senior Data Scientist, Best Buy

At Best Buy, Tyler specializes in turning complex data into actionable business solutions, develops strategic data science solutions, and works closely with stakeholders to bridge the gap between technical insights and business impact.

Ye Wang, MS

Senior Data Scientist, Best Buy

Data Scientist at Best Buy since 2023, specializing in market science research and model development. Focused on building data-driven solutions to support strategic decision-making and improve business performance.

Friday May 15, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

3:30pm CDT

Beyond the Hype: The Real Missing Layer in Agentic AI Analytics

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

(e) Harriet

Everyone is talking about agents, copilots, and AI-native analytics. But as enterprises move from demos to deployment, many are discovering the same thing: the missing piece isn’t another model — it’s context.This talk cuts through the noise around agentic AI and explores what a true context engine actually is, why many current approaches fall short, and how the role of the analyst is...
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Speakers

Geetesh Iyer, MS

Founding Product Manager, WisdomAI

I am the Founding PM at WisdomAI, building the Agentic AI analytics stack for the enterprise. Formerly at Apple, I built Apple’s first GenAI analytics platform and led several enterprise ML/data platforms for employees and beyond.

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(e) Harriet Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

3:30pm CDT

Physics, Not Clicks: 5 Realities of Industrial Data Science in the Age of Prompts

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

(g) Minnetonka

Agentic AI and prompt engineering are dominating the headlines, but in the industrial world, a wrong prediction doesn’t just show a bad ad or a wrong purchase recommendation—it breaks a machine. Deploying AI in physical settings involving IoT, sensor data, and engineering constraints is fundamentally different from consumer tech, and in this space, physics still outranks prompts. If data...
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Speakers

Girija Parthasarathy, PhD

Lead Data Scientist, Trane Technologies

Dr. Girija Parthasarathy is a Lead Data Scientist at Trane Technologies. She spearheads the development of advanced data science applications, and strategy, processes, and organizational capability building to deliver customer-centric solutions.

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(g) Minnetonka Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

3 - Business & Technical

3:30pm CDT

Enhancing Warranty Claims Interpretation with Large Language Models at Trane Technologies

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

(d) Nokomis

This work highlights how Trane Technologies is applying Large Language Models (LLMs) alongside broader Natural Language Processing techniques to enhance the interpretation of unstructured warranty claim narratives. The approach enables clearer insight extraction from text based warranty claims, supporting more consistent categorization and earlier visibility into emerging product issues.

Speakers

Krishna Jarugumilli, MS

Lead Data Scientist, Trane Technologies

As Lead Data Scientist at Trane Technologies, Krishna architects AI-driven solutions for complex business problems. He holds Master's degrees in Statistics (Texas A&M) and Industrial Engineering (NC State).

Wendy Foslien, MS

Senior Engineering Manager, Data Science, Trane Technologies

Wendy Foslien is a Senior Engineering Manager for Data Science at Thermo King, leading analytics initiatives to enhance product development and improve product quality in transport refrigeration/HVAC systems. She specializes in extracting insights from connected industrial system... Read More →

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(d) Nokomis Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

3:30pm CDT

From Full Deployments to Selective Releases: Safer CI/CD for Data Pipelines

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

(f) Bde Maka Ska

As data platforms scale, managing deployments across multiple teams and parallel feature development becomes increasingly complex in modern cloud platforms. Azure Data Factory (ADF), while widely used for data orchestration, relies on a full-state deployment model—forcing entire pipeline states to be promoted across environments. This creates a critical challenge: how to safely release only...
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Speakers

Sauhard Bhatt, PGD

Expert DevOps & Cloud Engineering, Delta Dental

Cloud & DevOps leader with 19+ years’ experience driving hybrid platform modernization, automation, and security in regulated sectors. Expert in Azure, CI/CD, GitOps, data pipelines, and enterprise-scale identity solutions.

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(f) Bde Maka Ska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

3:30pm CDT

From Tylenol to Cancer Drugs: Demand Forecasting for 15,000 Drugs at 26 Locations

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

(a) Theater

At Cencora, we handle more than 15,000 different medicines, from everyday staples like Tylenol to the latest treatments for cancer, all shipped out from 26 distribution centers across the country. To keep everything running smoothly, we need to create a separate demand forecast for each product at each location. This isn’t just important for the common drugs you see at the pharmacy, but also for...
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Speakers

David Bradley, PhD

Data Scientist III, Cencora

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(a) Theater Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

3:30pm CDT

The Calibration Blindspot: Why AI Models Can't See Their Own Errors

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT

Frontier AI models are achieving remarkable accuracy on standard benchmarks, but accuracy alone does not tell us whether a model knows what it does not know. In safety-critical domains like healthcare, finance, and law, a model's ability to signal uncertainty is just as important as its ability to answer correctly.This session presents the Calibration Blindspot Benchmark (CBB), an original...
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Speakers

Emmanuel Chea, MPH

Clinical Data Scientist & Founder, Lexify Health

Clinical data scientist, MPH (U of MN). 1st place, 2026 HeatMap Hackathon (BData/ABA). Founder, Lexify Health - AI platform automating clinical policy-to-SQL. 7+ years healthcare data science. Minneapolis, MN.

Friday May 15, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm CDT
(c) Alaska Best Buy HQ, 7700 Knox Ave S, Richfield, MN 55423

4 - More Technical

4:15pm CDT

Networking Social

Friday May 15, 2026 4:15pm - 6:00pm CDT

Mallards

Bring your lanyard to gain entry for complimentary food and drinks!

Friday May 15, 2026 4:15pm - 6:00pm CDT
Mallards 2300 W 80th 1/2 St, Bloomington, MN 55431

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2:45pm CDT

2:45pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

3:30pm CDT

4:15pm CDT

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