| Page 224 | Kisaco Research

Author:

Ved Upadhyay

Senior Data Scientist
Walmart Global Tech

Ved Upadhyay is a seasoned professional in the realm of data science and artificial intelligence (AI). With a focus on addressing complex challenges in data science on an enterprise scale, he boasts over 7 years of hands-on experience in crafting AI-powered solutions for businesses. Ved’s expertise spans diverse industries, including retail, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, agrotech, and socio-tech, where he has successfully productized multiple machine learning pipelines. Currently serving as a Senior Data Scientist at Walmart, Ved spearheads multiple data science initiatives centered around customer propensity and responsible AI solutions at enterprise scale. Prior to venturing into the industry, Ved earned his master’s degree in Data Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and contributed as a Deep Learning researcher at IIIT Hyderabad. His research contributions are reflected in multiple publications in the field of applied AI. 

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Ved Upadhyay

Senior Data Scientist
Walmart Global Tech

Ved Upadhyay is a seasoned professional in the realm of data science and artificial intelligence (AI). With a focus on addressing complex challenges in data science on an enterprise scale, he boasts over 7 years of hands-on experience in crafting AI-powered solutions for businesses. Ved’s expertise spans diverse industries, including retail, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, agrotech, and socio-tech, where he has successfully productized multiple machine learning pipelines. Currently serving as a Senior Data Scientist at Walmart, Ved spearheads multiple data science initiatives centered around customer propensity and responsible AI solutions at enterprise scale. Prior to venturing into the industry, Ved earned his master’s degree in Data Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and contributed as a Deep Learning researcher at IIIT Hyderabad. His research contributions are reflected in multiple publications in the field of applied AI. 

Moderator

Author:

Gayathri Radhakrishnan

Partner
Hitachi Ventures

Gayathri is currently Partner at Hitachi Ventures. Prior to that, she was with Micron Ventures, actively investing in startups that apply AI to solve critical problems in the areas of Manufacturing, Healthcare and Automotive. She brings over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience across product management, product marketing, corporate strategy, M&A and venture investments in large Fortune 500 companies such as Dell and Corning and in startups. She has also worked as an early stage investor at Earlybird Venture Capital, a premier European venture capital fund based in Germany. She has a Masters in EE from The Ohio State University and MBA from INSEAD in France. She is also a Kauffman Fellow - Class 16.

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Gayathri Radhakrishnan

Partner
Hitachi Ventures

Gayathri is currently Partner at Hitachi Ventures. Prior to that, she was with Micron Ventures, actively investing in startups that apply AI to solve critical problems in the areas of Manufacturing, Healthcare and Automotive. She brings over 20 years of multi-disciplinary experience across product management, product marketing, corporate strategy, M&A and venture investments in large Fortune 500 companies such as Dell and Corning and in startups. She has also worked as an early stage investor at Earlybird Venture Capital, a premier European venture capital fund based in Germany. She has a Masters in EE from The Ohio State University and MBA from INSEAD in France. She is also a Kauffman Fellow - Class 16.

Author:

John Wei

Venture Investment Director
Applied Ventures

John Wei is a venture investment director at Applied Ventures. He focuses on a range of deep tech areas and industry verticals, including advanced materials, semiconductor manufacturing and industrial & enterprise software. He also manages Applied Ventures’ investment activities in the Greater China region.

Prior to joining Applied, John was a key member of the SABIC Ventures investment team, where he led multiple investments in advanced materials, energy, sustainability, manufacturing and agriculture space in North America, Europe and Greater China.

Earlier in his career, John held various commercial and technical roles at The Linde Group and General Electric with experiences mostly in the petrochemical, power generation, alternative energy and oil & gas industries.

John has a Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University and a PhD from Rutgers University, both in Chemical Engineering. While at Rutgers, he also earned a Master's degree in Computer Science. In addition, John holds an MBA degree from UCLA with a focus in Finance and Entrepreneurship.

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John Wei

Venture Investment Director
Applied Ventures

John Wei is a venture investment director at Applied Ventures. He focuses on a range of deep tech areas and industry verticals, including advanced materials, semiconductor manufacturing and industrial & enterprise software. He also manages Applied Ventures’ investment activities in the Greater China region.

Prior to joining Applied, John was a key member of the SABIC Ventures investment team, where he led multiple investments in advanced materials, energy, sustainability, manufacturing and agriculture space in North America, Europe and Greater China.

Earlier in his career, John held various commercial and technical roles at The Linde Group and General Electric with experiences mostly in the petrochemical, power generation, alternative energy and oil & gas industries.

John has a Bachelor degree from Tsinghua University and a PhD from Rutgers University, both in Chemical Engineering. While at Rutgers, he also earned a Master's degree in Computer Science. In addition, John holds an MBA degree from UCLA with a focus in Finance and Entrepreneurship.

Author:

Laura Swan

General Partner
Silicon Catalyst Ventures

Laura is in charge of portfolio company management at SCV. Laura is a Managing Partner with Silicon Catalyst and the Vice President of Operations for Silicon Catalyst Angels as well as an investor with Sand Hill Angels and a founding partner of The Batchery, a tech incubator in Berkeley California.Laura earned her Master Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming (Go Pokes!).

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Laura Swan

General Partner
Silicon Catalyst Ventures

Laura is in charge of portfolio company management at SCV. Laura is a Managing Partner with Silicon Catalyst and the Vice President of Operations for Silicon Catalyst Angels as well as an investor with Sand Hill Angels and a founding partner of The Batchery, a tech incubator in Berkeley California.Laura earned her Master Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming (Go Pokes!).

Author:

Divya Raghavan

Principal
NGP Capital

Divya Raghavan is a venture investor and technology enthusiast with a diverse background in product management, software engineering, and venture capital. She currently serves as a Principal of the US investment team at NGP Capital, where her primary focus revolves around software, data, and edge infrastructure. Her expertise lies in identifying and nurturing cutting-edge startups poised to revolutionize these sectors. Divya brings solid technical acumen to venture investing.

Prior to her role at NGP Capital, Divya was a leader in software engineering at Citrix and led product management teams at SugarCRM.  In her journey towards venture investing, Divya gained invaluable experience at VC firms, including Costanoa Ventures and Samsung NEXT Ventures, where she further deepened her understanding of the startup ecosystem.

Within NGP Capital, Divya has led investments in notable companies such as Coda, Immuta, ArmorCode and Nova Labs. Her keen eye for innovation and a strong track record of successful investments have made her a trusted voice in the venture capital landscape. Beyond her professional endeavors, Divya is also an avid angel investor, continuously contributing to early product ideation and GTM, always ready to wear her product hat.

Divya received an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

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Divya Raghavan

Principal
NGP Capital

Divya Raghavan is a venture investor and technology enthusiast with a diverse background in product management, software engineering, and venture capital. She currently serves as a Principal of the US investment team at NGP Capital, where her primary focus revolves around software, data, and edge infrastructure. Her expertise lies in identifying and nurturing cutting-edge startups poised to revolutionize these sectors. Divya brings solid technical acumen to venture investing.

Prior to her role at NGP Capital, Divya was a leader in software engineering at Citrix and led product management teams at SugarCRM.  In her journey towards venture investing, Divya gained invaluable experience at VC firms, including Costanoa Ventures and Samsung NEXT Ventures, where she further deepened her understanding of the startup ecosystem.

Within NGP Capital, Divya has led investments in notable companies such as Coda, Immuta, ArmorCode and Nova Labs. Her keen eye for innovation and a strong track record of successful investments have made her a trusted voice in the venture capital landscape. Beyond her professional endeavors, Divya is also an avid angel investor, continuously contributing to early product ideation and GTM, always ready to wear her product hat.

Divya received an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Florida, Gainesville.

Author:

Krishna Rangasayee

Founder and CEO
SiMa.ai

Krishna Rangasayee is Founder and CEO of SiMa.ai. Previously, Krishna was COO of Groq and at Xilinx for 18 years, where he held multiple senior leadership roles including Senior Vice President and GM of the overall business, and Executive Vice President of global sales. While at Xilinx, Krishna grew the business to $2.5B in revenue at 70% gross margin while creating the foundation for 10+ quarters of sustained sequential growth and market share expansion. Prior to Xilinx, he held various engineering and business roles at Altera Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor. He holds 25+ international patents and has served on the board of directors of public and private companies.

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Krishna Rangasayee

Founder and CEO
SiMa.ai

Krishna Rangasayee is Founder and CEO of SiMa.ai. Previously, Krishna was COO of Groq and at Xilinx for 18 years, where he held multiple senior leadership roles including Senior Vice President and GM of the overall business, and Executive Vice President of global sales. While at Xilinx, Krishna grew the business to $2.5B in revenue at 70% gross margin while creating the foundation for 10+ quarters of sustained sequential growth and market share expansion. Prior to Xilinx, he held various engineering and business roles at Altera Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor. He holds 25+ international patents and has served on the board of directors of public and private companies.

Author:

Matthias Tan

Co-Founder
Normal Computing
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Matthias Tan

Co-Founder
Normal Computing
 

Angela Yeung

VP of Product Management
Cerebras Systems

Angela Yeung

VP of Product Management
Cerebras Systems

Angela Yeung

VP of Product Management
Cerebras Systems

Author:

Prasad Saripalli

Distinguished Engineer
Capital One

Prasad Saripalli serves as a Distinguished Engineer at Capital One, a technology driven bank on the Fortune 100 list, redefining Fintech and Banking using data, technology, AI and ML in unprecedented ways. Most recently, Prasad served as the Vice President of AIML and Distinguished Engineer at MindBody Inc - a portfolio company of Vista which manages the world's fourth-largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Earlier, he served as VP Data Science at Edifecs, an industry premier healthcare information technology partnership platform and software provider, building Smart Decisions ML & AI Platform with Ml Apps Front. Prior to this, Prasad served as CTO and VP Engineering at Secrata.com, provider of Military grade Security and Privacy solutions developed and deployed over the past 15 years at Topia Technology for the Federal Government and the Enterprise, and as CTO & EVP at ClipCard, a SaaS based Hierarchical Analytics and Visualization platform.

At IBM, Prasad served as the Chief Architect for IBM's SmartCloud Enterprise (http://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/us/en/). At Runaware, he served as the Vice President of Product Development. As a Principal Group Manager at Microsoft, Prasad co-led the development of virtualization stack on Windows 7 responsible for shipping Virtual PC7 and Windows XP Mode on Windows 7.


Prasad teaches Machine Learning, AI, NLP, Distributed Systems, Cloud Engineering and Robotics at Northeastern University and the University of Washington Continuum College.

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Prasad Saripalli

Distinguished Engineer
Capital One

Prasad Saripalli serves as a Distinguished Engineer at Capital One, a technology driven bank on the Fortune 100 list, redefining Fintech and Banking using data, technology, AI and ML in unprecedented ways. Most recently, Prasad served as the Vice President of AIML and Distinguished Engineer at MindBody Inc - a portfolio company of Vista which manages the world's fourth-largest enterprise software company after Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. Earlier, he served as VP Data Science at Edifecs, an industry premier healthcare information technology partnership platform and software provider, building Smart Decisions ML & AI Platform with Ml Apps Front. Prior to this, Prasad served as CTO and VP Engineering at Secrata.com, provider of Military grade Security and Privacy solutions developed and deployed over the past 15 years at Topia Technology for the Federal Government and the Enterprise, and as CTO & EVP at ClipCard, a SaaS based Hierarchical Analytics and Visualization platform.

At IBM, Prasad served as the Chief Architect for IBM's SmartCloud Enterprise (http://www.ibm.com/cloud-computing/us/en/). At Runaware, he served as the Vice President of Product Development. As a Principal Group Manager at Microsoft, Prasad co-led the development of virtualization stack on Windows 7 responsible for shipping Virtual PC7 and Windows XP Mode on Windows 7.


Prasad teaches Machine Learning, AI, NLP, Distributed Systems, Cloud Engineering and Robotics at Northeastern University and the University of Washington Continuum College.

Author:

Saket Agarwal

Senior Director and Head of Engineering
Uber

Saket Agarwal is a seasoned product and engineering leader with nearly 20 years of experience across top-tier technology companies. Currently, as the Senior Director and Head of Engineering at Uber, he manages a team of full-stack software and machine learning engineers/scientists, overseeing the development of customer support & engagement platforms. His work at Uber involves leading a global team to deliver innovative AI-driven solutions that enhance customer interactions across diverse user groups, while partnering across teams at Uber to shape the vision in AI/ML.

Before joining Uber, Saket played a pivotal role at Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the Director of Software Engineering, where he led teams of over 200 engineers in creating Amazon Connect, a cutting-edge AI-powered contact center solution. His career also includes significant contributions to Amazon's Alexa conversational intelligence platform, Adobe's Correspondence Management solution, D. E. Shaw & Co., and IBM, where he honed his expertise in software development, digital customer engagement products, and AI applications. Saket’s leadership style is rooted in humility, technical excellence, and a relentless drive for operational efficiency, making him a key figure in the AI and customer service technology landscape.

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Saket Agarwal

Senior Director and Head of Engineering
Uber

Saket Agarwal is a seasoned product and engineering leader with nearly 20 years of experience across top-tier technology companies. Currently, as the Senior Director and Head of Engineering at Uber, he manages a team of full-stack software and machine learning engineers/scientists, overseeing the development of customer support & engagement platforms. His work at Uber involves leading a global team to deliver innovative AI-driven solutions that enhance customer interactions across diverse user groups, while partnering across teams at Uber to shape the vision in AI/ML.

Before joining Uber, Saket played a pivotal role at Amazon Web Services (AWS) as the Director of Software Engineering, where he led teams of over 200 engineers in creating Amazon Connect, a cutting-edge AI-powered contact center solution. His career also includes significant contributions to Amazon's Alexa conversational intelligence platform, Adobe's Correspondence Management solution, D. E. Shaw & Co., and IBM, where he honed his expertise in software development, digital customer engagement products, and AI applications. Saket’s leadership style is rooted in humility, technical excellence, and a relentless drive for operational efficiency, making him a key figure in the AI and customer service technology landscape.

Author:

Arun Nandi

Senior Director and Head of Data & Analytics
Unilever

Arun is a visionary AI and Analytics expert recognized as one of the Top 100 Influential AI & Analytics leaders. He is the Head of Data & Analytics at Unilever today. With over 15 years of experience driving analytics-driven value in organizations, he has built AI practices from the ground up on several occasions. Arun advocates the adoption of AI to overcome enterprise-wide challenges and create growth. Beyond his professional achievements, Arun loves to travel, having explored over 40 countries and is passionate about adventure motorbiking.

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Arun Nandi

Senior Director and Head of Data & Analytics
Unilever

Arun is a visionary AI and Analytics expert recognized as one of the Top 100 Influential AI & Analytics leaders. He is the Head of Data & Analytics at Unilever today. With over 15 years of experience driving analytics-driven value in organizations, he has built AI practices from the ground up on several occasions. Arun advocates the adoption of AI to overcome enterprise-wide challenges and create growth. Beyond his professional achievements, Arun loves to travel, having explored over 40 countries and is passionate about adventure motorbiking.

The journey from taking a foundation model (FM) from experimentation to production is filled with choices, decisions, and pitfalls that can increase undifferentiated heavylifting and delay time-to-market. In this session, learn how purpose built capabilities in Amazon SageMaker can help ML practitioners pre-train, evaluate, and fine-tune FMs with advanced techniques, and deploy FMs with fine-grain controls for generative AI use cases that have stringent requirements on accuracy, latency, and cost. Join us to learn how to simplify the generative AI journey, follow best practices, save time and cost, and shorten time-to-market.

Author:

Ankur Mehrotra

Director and GM, Amazon SageMaker
AWS

Ankur is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.

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Ankur Mehrotra

Director and GM, Amazon SageMaker
AWS

Ankur is a GM at AWS Machine Learning and leads foundational SageMaker services such as SageMaker Studio, Notebooks, Training, Inference, Feature Store, MLOps, etc. Before SageMaker, he led AI services for personalization, forecasting, healthcare & life sciences, edge AI devices and SDKs, as well as thought leadership programs such as AWS DeepRacer. Ankur has worked at Amazon for over 15 years. Before joining AWS, he spent several years in Amazon’s Consumer organization, where he led the development of automated marketing/advertising systems, as well as automated pricing systems.