Big Rock Creative

Athena Demos is co-founder and CEO of Big Rock Creative (BRC), an award-winning XR experience company creating groundbreaking experiences for global clients. Big Rock Creative won the Producer’s Guild Award for Innovation, the Aurea Award for creativity, the No Proscenium award for Best VR experience of 2020, the Hermes Platinum Award, the Auggie Award for Best Societal Impact of 2022 and the Global LiveWire Creative Innovators of the Year for 22/23, Auggie for Best Indie Creator 2023, XR Women’s Trailblazer award, and most recently the Gold Telly for Best Branded Immersive Content and named in the Top 50 Business & Marketing Visionaries by Adello magazine. With over 20 years of experience producing iconic events, like the LA Burning Man Decompression Arts and Music Celebration, as well as the Art of Change Inaugural Ball for President Obama in LA, she transitioned to the metaverse to produce BRCvr presents BurnerSphere. BurnerSphere is an official virtual Burning Man Experience whose scope is unprecedented in the VR space. Athena produced internationally recognized social impact projects such as Breonna’s Garden which premiered at SXSW 2022 and Pride has no borders which was a finalist in the VR Awards. She has developed a philosophical approach to guiding humanity to build a foundational fabric for creative collaboration in the metaverse. As a result, she has been quoted in leading books, articles, delivered key notes, and spoken at leading industry events and universities across the globe.In August of 2022, 23, & 24, Athena and the BRCvr team went to Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert to film the community, art, event, and ethos in 360 and 180 3D formats to combine with the VR worlds and models they cultivated the past two years. Currently in post production, she plans to deliver a new format for storytelling that brings them all together into one participatory experience called BRCvr presents BurnerSphere. She spent 8+ years as the PM of two time Academy Award-winning documentary film company, Moriah Films.To book Athena for speaking engagements contact Athena (at) BigRockXR (dot) com

IgniteTech

Eric Vaughan, CEO of IgniteTech and GFI Software, is a visionary leader at the forefront of the AI revolution. With over 30 years of experience in the technology industry, Vaughan has founded and led three software companies, demonstrating a deep understanding of the transformative power of technology. In recent years, Vaughan has become a vocal advocate for AI-first thinking, recognizing the urgency of this paradigm shift for businesses. He believes that AI is not just an exciting development but a necessity for companies to remain relevant in the rapidly evolving technological landscape. His passion for AI is not driven by mere excitement but by a deep-seated belief that if businesses do not adapt, they risk being left behind. Vaughans commitment to AI transformation is evident in his bold initiative of AI Mondays, where the entire company dedicates one day solely to Gen AI—no calls, no visits, just pure innovation. This initiative is a testament to his belief in the transformative power of AI and his commitment to driving its adoption within his companies. Vaughans journey is a testament to the urgency of adopting AI-first thinking and the transformative power of AI in business. His leadership and vision have positioned IgniteTech and GFI Software at the vanguard of the AI revolution, demonstrating the potential of AI to transform businesses and industries.

Immersive Horizons

Atif is a XR implementation expert with four years at Shell, where he enhanced the learningexperiences at refineries through VR. After speaking on a Meta panel and various podcasts, herecognized the industrys struggle to scale XR beyond pilots. This led him to found ImmersiveHorizons, a consultancy that guides enterprises and vendors in overcoming the challenges of XRimplementation and scaling, driving real-world impact in immersive technologies. He most recentlyspoke at the XRUK conference where his presentation highlighting problems and solutions ofimplementing XR in industry was well received.

Infinite Reality

Brian Chu is Chief Product Officer at Infinite Reality, bringing over 20 years of gaming industry expertise to lead iRs SaaS product initiatives. He has played key roles in developing blockbuster titles including Fortnite, Rocket League, and Starcraft 2. His distinguished career includes serving as Chief Operating Officer at Perfect Storm Studios, Head of Product Management at Big Time Studios, Director of Product Management at Epic Games, and Director of Global Brand Management at Blizzard Entertainment. Chu is also an Adjunct Professor at Duke Universitys Pratt School of Engineering, where he teaches a Masters course on Business and Game Development. His deep experience in developing commercially successful digital products and building engaging user experiences drives iRs innovation in ecommerce and digital media experiences.

Kaseya

Fred Voccola is the Co-Founder and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for Kaseya, the leading global provider of AI-powered cybersecurity and IT management software for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to mid-size businesses (SMBs). Prior to becoming the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Fred Voccola served as Kaseya’s Co-Founder and CEO leading the company to record growth over ten years of excellence. Before Kaseya, Mr. Voccola served as president and general manager of Yodle’s Brand Networks Division, providing digital and market automation solutions to small and medium businesses. In 2016, Yodle successfully was sold to Web.com (NASDAQ: Web). Prior to that, Mr. Voccola was president of Nolio, Inc., a devops SaaS company, where he drove 100% year-over-year growth and successfully sold the business to CA Technologies. Mr. Voccola also co-founded and served as president and CEO of Trust Technology Corp., where he drove significant growth over three years prior to the company’s sale to FGI Global. Earlier in his career, Mr. Voccola co-founded and served as COO of Identify Software, substantially growing the business during his five-year tenure, culminating in a sale to BMC Software. He then served as vice president of worldwide sales and services at BMC Software. In addition, Mr. Voccola has held various management and executive roles at Intira (acquired by Divine Systems) and Prism Solutions (acquired by Ardent Software/Informix/IBM). Mr. Voccola holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from the Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

Kellanova

Brandel Kremer is a seasoned leader with over 18 years of experience driving innovation and aligning technology solutions with business objectives across global organizations. She has a proven track record of executing large-scale projects, including leading four successful Managed Service Provider (MSP) transitions, most recently managing a $4 million transition that streamlined service delivery and enhanced operational efficiency. Brandel has demonstrated expertise in SAP data operations, cybersecurity, cloud infrastructure, and process automation, leveraging tools a variety of state of the art technology tools to deliver a multitude of impactful global projects. Her leadership is underscored by a commitment to fostering collaboration, driving strategic initiatives, and delivering measurable results that support long-term business goals. Brandels dedication to excellence data analytical approach to problem solving has consistently positioned her as a trusted partner in large scale transitions. Beyond her professional achievements, Brandel is an advocate for Foster Care in Michigan; and has been a dedicated foster care parent liaison for nearly a decade.

Siemens

Mohsen Rezayat is the Chief Solutions Architect at SIEMENS DigitalIndustries Software (SDIS) and an Adjunct Full Professor at theUniversity of Cincinnati. He started his post-secondary studies inMechanical Engineering at University of California (Irvine) andcompleted it with a Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from theUniversity of Kentucky, USA. As a director of research at SDIS, hehas investigated extensively the modeling of advanced manufacturingprocesses (including Additive Manufacturing), virtual and augmentedreality industrial solutions, enterprise application integration, Semantictechnologies, Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), ArtificialIntelligence (AI), Industrial Metaverse, and Quantum Computing.Dr. Rezayat has over 39 years of industrial experience at Siemens, with over 80 technicalpublications and a large number of patents, is an ABET (Accreditation Board for Engineering andTechnology) evaluator and has served as the guest editor for the Computer-Aided Design Journal.He is the founder and member of the Board of Directors (BOD) of poverty-alleviation non-profitOMID organization, and is the Chairman of the BOD at Solergy. He is also a member of theindustry advisory boards at University of Cincinnati. His current research interests includegenerative AI and its ethical use, impact of industrial metaverse on productivity and workers,solutions for sustainable growth in developing countries, and global green engineering.

Stealth Startup

With over 15 years at the forefront of business innovation and technical consulting, Mat isknown for helping enterprises unlock new revenue streams and drive next-generation customerengagement. Currently serving as Chief AI Evangelist for a Voice AI Startup, he has pioneeredthe integration of Voice AI—encompassing speech-to-text, text-to-speech, and natural languageprocessing—into core business operations, yielding faster, smarter, and more impactfulcustomer experiences.His track record includes leading high-impact programs at Splunk, Reversing Labs, Waydev,and Mindstream.AI, where he grew developer communities, led enterprise DevOpstransformations, and spearheaded enterprise adoption of VoiceAI and new communicationplatforms. Whether designing real-time speech processing frameworks or orchestratingAI-driven workflows, Mat excels at translating cutting-edge technology into strategic,revenue-generating initiatives.A passionate advocate for emerging tools like digital twins, he believes in harnessing theirpotential to create immersive solutions that bridge physical and virtual environments. By aligningthese innovations with tangible business goals, Mat empowers organizations to improveoperational efficiency, streamline decision-making, and seize new market opportunities in ahyper-competitive landscape.

Univ. of Miami

Avi Rushinek, an Accounting Professor, is a prominent figure in the realm of AI and Machine Learning business applications. With extensive expertise in data analytics, blockchain, business intelligence, algorithmic formulation for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Trading Systems, forensic accounting, fraud examination, and mobile app development, his research spans a broad spectrum. He earned a Ph.D. in Accounting and Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A. in Accounting and Economics from Tel Aviv University. Alongside his prolific authorship and frequent presentations at Academic and Business Conferences, Dr. Rushinek’s primary focus lies in advancing AI and Machine Learning technologies for practical business applications. He advises and consults with Finance and Hi-Tech companies and is pivotal in guiding the City of Coral Gables for its Smart City Initiatives. His accomplishments have garnered prestigious awards and grants, including recognition for his work in developing fully automated blockchain cryptocurrency day-trading algorithms. His expertise extends to providing forensic accounting & computing services, expert witness testimony, and computer litigation support. His research is deeply committed to exploring methodologies for Search Engine Optimization SERP, live broadcast lecture capture streams, backtesting, and predictive algorithms geared toward transforming the business landscape with cutting-edge AI and Machine Learning solutions.

Univ. of Miami