Get to know the Think
2019 speakers

Ginni Rometty
Chairman, President, and CEO
IBM

Now serving as CEO, President, and Chairman, Ginni Rometty began her career with IBM in 1981 in Detroit. She currently serves on the Council on Foreign Relations, the board of trustees of Northwestern University, as well as the board of overseers and the board of managers of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

Joe Montana
Legendary NFL Quarterback

Widely considered one of the best NFL quarterbacks of all time, Joe Montana personifies excellence and personal integrity both on and off the field. Yet the word most closely associated with him is not "winner"-it's "leader." During his career, Joe Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to four Super Bowls Championships. Montana won more than 70% of the games he started during his 16-year career.

Dr. John E. Kelly III
Senior Vice President
Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research

As SVP of Cognitive Solutions and IBM Research, Dr. John Kelly's primary focus is on IBM’s investments in enterprise artificial intelligence, cloud, security, and emerging technology.

John Donovan
CEO
AT&T Communications

John Donovan, CEO AT&T Communications, is responsible for the bulk of AT&T’s global telecommunications and video services businesses, including AT&T’s Business, Entertainment, and Technology & Operations groups.

Bob Lord
Chief Digital Officer
IBM Digital Business Group

As IBM's first Chief Digital Officer, Bob Lord's mission is to give business leaders, developers, startups, and Business Partners an unparalleled experience with IBM’s products and services.

Tiffany Pham
Founder & CEO
Mogul

Tiffany Pham is the Founder & CEO of Mogul, an award-winning platform enabling women to connect, share information, and access knowledge from each other. A coder, she developed the first version of Mogul, which now reaches millions of women per week from over 196 countries and 30,470 cities worldwide, and was named one of the 100 Most Exciting Startups by Business Insider.

Kareem Yusuf, Ph.D
General Manager, Watson IoT
IBM

Kareem Yusuf is the General Manager of Watson IoT, an IBM Business Unit focused on providing solutions that harness the power of IoT to provide insights, intelligence and innovation that help clients transform their business. He maintains an active interest in all things technical, with a particular interest in digital media and programming languages. He is a TED Speaker and also the author of “Enterprise Messaging Using JMS and IBM WebSphere.

Tony Hawk
Legendary Skateboarder & Entrepreneur
Founder, The Tony Hawk Foundation

Now the most recognized action sports figure in the world, Tony Hawk was nine years old when his brother changed his life by giving him a blue fiberglass Bahne skateboard. By fourteen he’d turned pro, and by sixteen he was widely considered the best skateboarder on earth. In 1999, he became the first skater to ever complete a 900, and shortly thereafter, teamed up with Activision to launch Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, now a billion dollar video game franchise. He has created a Tony Hawk brand that includes Birdhouse Skateboards, Hawk Clothing, and the Tony Hawk Signature Series sporting goods and toys, authored a New York Times bestseller, and his 900 Films production company launched The RIDE Channel, the most popular skateboarding destination on YouTube. His Tony Hawk Foundation has given away over $7.4 million to 609 skatepark projects throughout the United States.

Paul Cormier
Executive vice president and president, Products and Technologies
Red Hat

Paul Cormier leads Red Hat's technology and products organizations, including engineering, product management, and product marketing for Red Hat's technologies. He joined Red Hat in May 2001 as executive vice president of Engineering. Since that time, his leadership and experience in enterprise technology helped to pioneer a commercial business model for open source software, moving open source innovation from passionate communities to broad adoption from the datacenter to the cloud. Now executive vice president and president of Products and Technologies, Cormier’s responsibilities at Red Hat span leading the company’s strategic direction; business product lines; CTO office product strategy; research and development; mergers and acquisitions; and more.

Dr. Kate Darling
Research Specialist
MIT Media Lab & Harvard University

Kate Darling is a researcher at the MIT Media Lab where she investigates social robotics. Darling explores the emotional connection between people and life-like inventions, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her research anticipates difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers and the public must address as human-robot relationships evolve.

Jack McCarthy
CIO
NJ Courts

Since October, 2012, Jack McCarthy has been responsible for establishing strategies and direction for information technology in the New Jersey Courts. He began his career with the Judiciary as a probation officer, worked as a business analyst on the judiciary statewide case management systems, worked as a network analyst, led the state's Information Technology Security Division, and led the judiciary business analysis unit prior to his appointment as Judiciary CIO.

Christopher Catterfeld
CMP, CPO and Partner
Iptor Supply Chain Systems

Christopher Catterfeld (41) has more than 15 years of extensive experience transforming and managing international organizations in the technology space, most recently in CMO, Managing Director, and Board positions at global cloud software businesses. His driving factor is the injection of customer excitement creating tangible growth to top and bottom line.

Currently as CMP, CPO and Partner at Iptor Supply Chain Systems accounting for the transformation of one of the leading global ERP & Supply Chain vendors – resulting in the company’s most significant growth momentum in recent history.

Rodney Mullen
Legendary Skateboarder & Entrepreneur

Widely considered the most influential skateboarder in the world, Rodney Mullen invented the majority of the tricks done in the modern era of the sport and defended his world title an unprecedented 35 times. Rodney’s engineering background and love for Linux & Open Source inspire him to relate the seemingly disparate subcultures of tech and skateboarding, addressing both innovation and resilience in entertaining, pragmatic ways.

Taylor Richardson
Astronaut StarBright

Taylor Richardson, also known as Astronaut StarBright, is an advocate, speaker, and philanthropist with aspirations of becoming an astronaut. After visiting numerous NASA Space Centers and participating in the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Space Camp she was inspired to get more girls interested in STEM.

Arvind Krishna
Senior Vice President
Hybrid Cloud, and Director of IBM Research

As SVP of Hybrid Cloud and Director of IBM Research, Arvind Krishna leads the company’s hybrid cloud business as well as IBM’s technical strategy in core and emerging technologies.

Jim Whitehurst
President and Chief Executive Officer
Red Hat

Jim Whitehurst is president and chief executive officer of Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source enterprise IT software solutions and services, and author of "The Open Organization: Igniting Passion and Performance."

Mary O'Brien
General Manager, Security
IBM

Mary O'Brien is Vice President of Engineering at IBM Security. She leads IBM's global team of research and development professionals focused on delivering the IBM Security product portfolio. Mary has worked with IBM since 2007 and joined IBM Security as Infrastructure and X Force executive in 2013. Mary started her career with the last indigenous Semiconductor manufacturer in the UK. In 1994 she joined Motorola GSM systems division and developed her career in ASIC, PBC and Software development of telco products. Mary has 30 years of industry experience developed through tenures in the UK, US and Ireland. Currently based in Ireland, Mary earned her Bachelor of Engineering degree from Dublin City University.

Rob Thomas
General Manager, Analytics
IBM

Rob Thomas is currently the General Manager of IBM Analytics, IBM’s software unit focused on data management, data governance, data science and machine learning, business intelligence, and artificial intelligence. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of IBM’s Analytics software, including product strategy, engineering, support, services, and sales & marketing. Additionally, he has responsibility for appliance manufacturing and software development sites around the world, including the United States, Canada, Germany, Japan, China, and India.

Beth Smith
General Manager, Watson AI
IBM

As the GM of Watson, Beth Smith is responsible for the overall success of IBM Watson’s AI strategy and execution. She leads the end-to-end business including the engineering and delivery of the technology, and the global ecosystem of Watson partners and developers. Fueled by scientific innovations born out of IBM’s research and engineering teams, Watson is IBM’s flagship AI system.

Ted Chung
Vice Chairman & CEO
Hyundai Card, Capital and Commercial

Ted serves as the CEO of Hyundai Card, Capital and Commercial, the financial arm of the Hyundai Motor Group. Exceptional performance has led Hyundai Card from the bottom of the market to the industry’s top contender. Hyundai Capital has seen unrivaled volume domestically and has developed into an international financial firm entering US, UK, German, Canadian, Chinese and other global markets.

Conor Walsh
Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences
Harvard University

Conor Walsh is a Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the John A. Paulson Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and a Core Faculty Member at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. He founded the Harvard Biodesign Lab, which brings together researchers from engineering, industrial design and apparel communities to develop new robotic technologies for augmenting and restoring human performance.

Michelle Peluso
Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer
IBM

As SVP and CMO of IBM, Michelle Peluso oversees all global marketing and brand initiatives, strategy, and execution for IBM, including stewardship of thousands of marketing professionals worldwide.

Steve Smith
Former Astronaut
The Explorer's Mindset

Steve Smith is one of America’s most experienced astronauts, a Stanford MBA, and 12-year Diplomat. He has an unrivaled mix of outer space experience, technology and manufacturing knowledge, and understanding of international business and diplomacy after 35 years at IBM and NASA.

Inhi Cho Suh
General Manager, Watson Customer Engagement
IBM

Inhi Cho Suh is the GM of Watson Customer Engagement, responsible for SaaS and premise-based digital experience, marketing, order management and supply chain applications, and infusing AI, machine learning and analytics capabilities in the solutions.

Inhi joined IBM in 1998, holding executive roles that spanned IBM Collaboration Solutions (ICS), IBM Analytics Strategy & Business Development, strategic partnerships with Twitter and Box, and the acquisition of The Weather Company. A champion of diversity and inclusion, Inhi co-chairs IBM’s Global Women Diversity Initiative. She received a Bachelor of Science in Biology, History and Women’s Studies from Duke University and a Juris Doctorate from North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Volker Fischer
Senior Manager Server operations AIX and Linux for SAP
Robert Bosch GmbH

Volker Fischer is a Senior Manager at Robert Bosch GmbH where he manages an operations team that supports the server environment for the company-wide SAP landscape. Before taking the management position, Fischer developed and implemented an SAP HANA infrastructure solution based on IBM Power systems and Spectrum Scale RAID storage systems. This was the second system architecture for SAP HANA he developed, and it is now the standard implementation for running SAP HANA at Bosch.

Roberto Mancone
Chief Operating Officer
we.trade

Chief Operating Officer of we.trade Innovation DAC, the Joint Venture owned by 12 European Banks (Caixa, DB, Erste Group, KBC, Natixis, Rabobank, Societe General, UBS, UniCredit), developing, executing the strategy, designing the operating model of the company, and licensing the innovative Trade Platform based on Blockchain in 13 countries in Europe.

Heather Cole
Analytics Advisor
Lodestar Solutions, Inc.

Heather L. Cole transforms executives into Analytic Leaders so they can guide their organizations through the cultural shift required to become data and analytics-driven. Heather's entertaining and informative speeches, workshops, blogs, and executive advisory services provide clients with pragmatic methods they can implement immediately to deliver "Faster Analytics." Heather founded Lodestar Solutions and Heatherized, Inc. to share her diverse knowledge in Finance, IT, Law, Psychology, Sales and Marketing.  Heather is a Certified High-Performance Coach, licensed attorney, Scrum Master and has over 25 years of experience in Business Intelligence. She is a best-selling author, a five-time winner of the IBM Champion Award and is on the board of the Tampa Bay chapter of FEI (Financial Executives International).

Dinesh Nirmal
Vice President of Development, Analytics
IBM

Dinesh Nirmal’s development mission is to help businesses operationalize machine learning. As VP of Development, IBM Analytics, Dinesh leads ten labs in six countries; major releases during his tenure include IBM Cloud Private for Data and IBM Watson Studio, winner of multiple design awards. Dinesh is a Member of the Board of the R Consortium and an Advisor to Accel.AI.

Stacy Groves
Technical Account Executive
ComResource

Stacy Groves is an international supply chain expert with over 18 years experience and recognized as a valuable technical business integration professional. Groves managed and supported international supply chain distribution organizations worldwide in various industries such as retail, manufacturing, healthcare. Groves created cost saving, operational efficiencies, and has overseen seamless integration with supply chain entities worldwide.

Roger McNamee
Tech Venture Capitalist

Roger McNamee has been a Silicon Valley investor for 35 years. He co-founded successful funds in venture, crossover and private equity. His most recent fund, Elevation, included U2’s Bono as a co-founder. He holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. Roger plays bass and guitar in the bands Moonalice and Doobie Decibel System and is the author of The New Normal and The Moonalice Legend: Posters and Words, Volumes 1-9. He has served as a technical advisor for seasons two through five of HBO’s “Silicon Valley” series and was also responsible for raising the money that created the Wikimedia Foundation.

Roger's most recent book, Zucked - Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe, is the story of how he -- a noted tech venture capitalist, an early mentor to Mark Zuckerberg, and investor in his company -- woke up to the serious damage Facebook was doing to our society and set out to try to stop it.

Emily Calandrelli
Executive Producer, Host, Author

Emily Calandrelli is an Executive Producer and an Emmy nominated host of FOX’s Xploration Outer Space, a chief correspondent on Bill Nye Saves The World, and writer and host of Spotlight Space, a YouTube series from Lockheed Martin detailing their latest space projects. Emily speaks on the importance of science literacy, the benefits of space exploration, and challenges for women in STEM careers.

Mark Lack
Strategy Analytics & Business Intelligence manager
Mueller

Mark Lack works as a digital strategist and data scientist for Mueller, Inc. Recognized as a thought leader in the functions of analytics and data management, Mark spends his time analyzing future trends to be ready for the next big disruption. In addition, he serves as an advisor to IBM for its Analytics products.

Jeff Crose
Software Development Engineer in Test
Alaska Airlines

Jeff is a Software Development Engineer in Test who partners with development and quality assurance teams to provide high quality, right-sized test data sources for functional and performance testing. After spending nearly a decade and a half in the public sector, Jeff joined Alaska Airlines in December 2013 where he took the lead on implementing a test data management strategy for the organization. Driven by a passion for data, he has helped launch a number of mission-critical business applications and supported key airline integration efforts.

Diane Gherson
Chief Human Resources Officer
IBM

Diane Gherson is the CHRO of IBM, a global cloud, technology and services company spanning 170 countries with more than 360,000 employees worldwide. As a member of the top leadership team, she has worldwide responsibility for the company’s people and culture including HR offerings, workforce skills, leadership, and employee experience.

Marc-Antoine Auger
Master Product Owner
National Bank of Canada

Marc-Antoine Auger has been working his entire professional life (23 years) with the National Bank of Canada, serving as everything from a customer service clerk to MDM chief advisor. Now, he is in charge of a major transformation program that will change the face of the organization. Using his scientific background in physics, he helped define and promote the data-driven vision that will ensure the organization success in the new digital world.  Making sure the appropriate business data models are implemented to solve data-related issues that the organization is facing, combining business perspectives with technological know-how.

Dr. Dario Gil
COO, IBM Research and VP, AI & Quantum

Dr. Dario Gil is the Chief Operating Officer of IBM Research, a global organization with over 3,000 researchers across 13 laboratories and 21 locations devoted to advancing the frontiers of information technology. As COO, Dr. Gil is responsible for guiding the strategic agenda of IBM Research, defining IBM’s annual Global Technology Outlook, driving operations and financial plan execution, and establishing partnerships with companies and universities worldwide. As the Vice President of AI and Quantum Computing, Dr. Gil is also responsible for IBM’s global research efforts in artificial intelligence and for IBM's quantum computing program. He co-chairs the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab along with Professor Anantha Chandrakasan, Dean of the MIT School of Engineering. Dr. Gil’s research results have appeared in over 20 international journals and conferences and he is the author of numerous patents. Dr. Gil is an elected member of the IBM Academy of Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from MIT.

Reena Ganga
Senior UX Designer
IBM

Reena Ganga is a Senior UX Designer at IBM's Silicon Valley Lab, creating experiences for next-generation analytics products. She's developing new ways of interacting with data using augmented reality to help data scientists uncover insights faster. Reena previously worked in the television and travel industries, a multi-disciplinary background that helps her develop innovative design approaches.

Rich Karlgaard
Publisher and Futurist
Forbes Media

Entrepreneur–turned-Forbes magazine  publisher  and futurist,  television  commentator, private investor  and  board director,  Rich  Karlgaard is  a  respected forecaster  who  offers a  unique vantage point on the trends driving the business and investment climates. Karlgaard draws from his extensive background to deliver a fascinating assessment of today’s turbulent  economy.

Joaquin Pinto
Public Policy Manager
Roche Peru

Joaquin has an extensive career leading engagement strategies with key stakeholders at all levels. He has vast experience in Corporate Affairs & Project Management at a local and international level. He is considered to be an innovation Projects leaderand is currently Public Policy Manager at Roche Pharmaceutical's division in Peru. Joaquin's academic background includes a BoA in Political Science (Sciences-Po Paris), Master in International Affairs (Sciences-Po Paris).

Martin Jetter
Senior Vice President, IBM Global Technology Services
IBM

Martin Jetter is Senior Vice President for IBM Global Technology Services. In this role, he has worldwide responsibility for Infrastructure Services, which includes Mobility, Resiliency, Systems and Networking service lines, and Technical Support Services. Prior to this, Martin held positions as General Manager of IBM Japan, VP of Strategy and General Manager of Enterprise Initiatives for IBM Corporation, General Manager of Product Lifecycle Management, General Manager and Managing Director of IBM’s worldwide business with Siemens, General Manager of IBM Business Consulting Services in Central and Eastern Europe, General Manager of Global Business Services in Northeast Europe, and General Manager for IBM Germany. Martin also joined the Board of Directors of IBM Japan, IBM Germany and IBM Austria and continues to serve in these roles. He joined IBM in 1986 as application engineer.

Mark Foster
Senior Vice President, Global Business Services
IBM

Mark Foster is Senior Vice President, IBM Global Business Services, responsible for the strategy, client value and business performance of IBM’s consulting, systems integration, digital agency, business process outsourcing and application management services businesses across all industries.

Sastry Durvasula
Chief Digital Officer
Marsh LLC

Sastry Durvasula is Marsh's Chief Digital, Data & Analytics Officer. He is driving digital transformation at the company, including building strategic partnerships and Marsh Digital Labs, focused on advances in Blockchain, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and IoT. He was previously Enterprise Head of Data & Digital Tech at American Express and holds a Master's degree in Engineering.

Andy Powell
Chief Information Security Officer
Maersk

Andy Powell joined Maersk in June 2018 as the Chief Information Security Officer, and is accountable to the CIO and CEO for assuring all aspects of Information Security and Cybersecurity, across all brands that form part of A P Moller-Maersk. Prior to joining Maersk, Andy was head of the Cybersecurity business for Capgemini, prior to that for CSC, and in both roles, was responsible for delivering Cybersecurity solutions for clients across all sectors. Andy has spent much of his career in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF) as an Engineering Officer, and served as CIO/CISO for the RAF and was Head of Cyber Defence Operations for the UK Ministry of Defence. He is a keen runner (slow), ex-Windsurfer (too slow) and Golfer (beginner)!

Tom Rosamilia
Senior Vice President
IBM Systems

In his role as SVP of IBM Systems, Tom Rosamilia has global responsibility for IBM server and storage systems and software, as well as the company's global Business Partner organization.

Stephanie Trunzo
Global Head of IBM Cloud Garage
IBM

Stephanie is the Global Head of the IBM Cloud Garage, a network of physical, worldwide innovation hubs that foster strategic collaboration. By teaming diverse technical and design experts with clients, the Garage melds industry practices, startup culture, and IBM's expertise to create inventive solutions to real-world challenges.

Guillermo Miranda
Vice President & Global Head, Corporate Citizenship
IBM

Guillermo Miranda is VP & Global Head of IBM Corporate Citizenship. He leads IBM’s Citizenship Sustainability and Reputation (CSR) and Social Impact initiatives which drive the digital transformation of IBM's citizenship programs and initiatives to create the future. Guillermo is deeply engaged in using digital learning to transform the workforce for the future. He is passionate about the tangible benefits of diversity and inclusion.

Since 1997, he has served IBM in various leadership roles around the world, beginning in Peru and extending across Europe, Latin America, North America, Africa and the Middle East. His previous leadership roles include IBM’s Chief Learning Officer, People & Talent Head for the Digital Business Group, Regional HR VP for Africa & Middle East, among others. Guillermo holds an MBA from Deusto University (Spain), and a Law degree from the Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú. He and his family live near Washington, D.C.

Laurence Guihard-Joly
GM, Cloud Migration GTS
IBM

Laurence Guihard-Joly is GM, Cloud Migration, leading the Global Cloud Migration Factory, accountable for strategy, business performance, delivery excellence and client satisfaction, and covering of all type of migration from anywhere to anywhere, for projects small to large, across all geographies and all industries. From Data Center relocation to Cloud migration for Infrastructure, Data and Applications in hybrid and multi-cloud environments, the Cloud Migration Factory is helping client complete their journey to the cloud and achieve their business objectives.

Bob Picciano
Senior Vice President
IBM Cognitive Systems

As SVP of Cognitive Systems for IBM, Bob Picciano is responsible for reinventing the computer for the Cognitive Era, helping to drive fundamental advancements in next-generation workloads.