Technology Speakers

Poppy Crum works to bridge the gap between technology and insightful, effective human interaction. As a multi-dimensional advocate of empathetic technology, she builds technologies that best leverage human physiology to enhance our experiences and how we interact with the world. Poppy serves as the Chief Technology Officer at NextSense and is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University in the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, as well as its Symbolic Systems Program. She is formerly the Chief Scientist at Dolby Laboratories. She is dedicated to the development of immersive technologies that leverage human physiology and perceptual realities to enhance our experiences and interactions in the world. She is a frequent speaker on topics related to the intersection of human experience, artificial intelligence, sensory data-science, and immersive technologies.

Jessica O. Matthews is the Founder & CEO of Uncharted, an award-winning energy and data technology company that develops infrastructure solutions for communities, facilities, and Internet of Things. The company was founded by Jessica when she was only 22 years old. Jessica’s research and career centers around the intersection of disruptive technology, renewable energy, human behavior, and the psychology of self-actualization. A dual citizen of Nigeria & the U.S., Jessica has a degree in Psychology and Economics from Harvard University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and is listed on over 10 patents and patents pending—including her first invention of the SOCCKET, an energy generating soccer ball, at the age of 19.

Neil Jacobstein is the chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Track at Singularity University, an organization whose founders hail from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation and has a goal “to educate, inspire and empower a new generation of leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.” Jacobstein shares one of the most thoughtful and up-to-date looks at the future of technology and how it will impact a variety of industries. He explores innovation, disruption, and artificial intelligence as he offers audience a glimpse into the future and its real-world applications.

Working at the intersection of psychology, neuroscience, behavior, technology, and science, Nichol Bradford’s mission is to empower human transformation and wellbeing by creating or curating new visions, opportunities, and tech-enabled tools for all. She catalyzes new ways to use technology to expand beyond our perceived limits and reach our fullest potential through her global non-profit Transformative Tech.org, working with talented researchers, founders, and investors across the globe who build wellbeing tech for human health and happiness. Bradford speaks extensively on human transformation, transformative tech, and the future of health, work, and human excellence. Using real-life examples and use cases from the latest trends in wellness technologies, she demonstrates to groups how these emerging advances can be applied to heal, upskill, and enhance human capability and benefit all of mankind.

Paul Zikopoulos is changing the way audiences are looking at their businesses in terms of sales, obstacles, and potential for growth - and the key ingredient is data! He’s been named an expert on big data by publications such as Big Data Republic, Technopedia, and Analytics Week. He is also included on multiple "experts to follow" lists around the world - including SAP’s “50 Big Data Twitter Influencers”. Paul has been consulted on this topic by “60 Minutes” and advises various universities as they develop their curriculums to match market needs. Paul has won multiple awards for his speaking in part because he has a unique ability to take the often complex world of analytics, big data, AI, data science, machine learning, etc. and reach audiences of all ages and skills levels with the right message. Paul is a Fortune 35 (IBM) Vice President focused on Analytics, an award winning writer (who has published more than 19 books and over 350 articles on various topics) and sits on the advisory board of Women 2.0 - a for profit company committed to close the gender gaps in founding, investing, and workplace leadership.

Michael (Mike) Steep is the founder and former executive director of Stanford Engineering School's Center for Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities and the former senior vice president of global business operations at innovation mega-hub, PARC Xerox. He draws on first-hand experience and anecdotes from time spent with the biggest names in Silicon Valley to instruct audiences on how to get ahead of disruptive innovation. Viewing new technology as opportunity, Mike highlights the importance of allowing innovation to trump company culture and legacies—and not the other way around.

A leading expert in robot ethics, Dr. Kate Darling is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. Forever interested in how technology intersects with society, Kate has a background in law & economics and intellectual property, she explores the emotional connection between people and life-like machines, seeking to influence technology design and policy direction. Her writing and research anticipate difficult questions that lawmakers, engineers, and the wider public will need to address as human-robot relationships evolve in the coming decades. Dr. Darling’s work has been featured in international media, and she has authored multiple academic publications and contributed to industry publications from Vogue to Die Zeit to the BBC, and in 2017, the American Bar Association honored her legal work with the Mark T. Banner Award in Intellectual Property.

When brands like Google, Starbucks, Shopify, and GE want to use technology to better connect with their consumers, they call Mitch Joel. He is the best-selling author of the award-winning business books, Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the founder of Six Pixels Group. He's also the former president of Mirum, a global digital marketing agency operating in 25 countries with close to 3,000 employees. Mitch has been called “one of North America’s leading visionaries” and the “Rock Star of Digital Marketing” by Strategy Magazine, he was listed as one of the “Speakers Worth Catching” by Forbes, and he was recognized in the highly prestigious “Top 40 Under 40”… but he's much more than that. He is a charismatic and engaging storyteller, and takes audiences on an exciting ride that helps them understand not only adapt to but succeed in the new digital, hyper-connected business environment. His speaking style is big, engaging, entertaining, educating, and eyebrow raising. Your audience will leave informed and ready to tackle the future... today.

Dex Hunter-Torricke has managed communications for leaders and organizations working at the heart of global change. From 2012 to 2016, he led the executive communications team at Facebook and served as speechwriter for Mark Zuckerberg. Prior to Facebook, he was Google's first executive speechwriter, supporting Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, CEO Larry Page, and other senior Google leaders. Before coming to Silicon Valley, he was a speechwriter and spokesperson for the United Nations. He also led SpaceX's communications team, reporting directly to Elon Musk. He is currently head of communication for the Oversight Board, the independent body that will be making decisions on Facebook and Instagram's most challenging content issues. Dex is passionate about technology, public policy, and storytelling, and in his talks, he helps leaders and organizations craft their messages.

Greg Williams is a leading authority on technology trends and how those impact business and society. As Editor at WIRED UK, Greg meets the innovators, thinkers, scientists, entrepreneurs and creatives who are changing the world and writes on a variety of subjects, including innovation, technology, business, creativity and ideas. As a journalist and author of five novels, Greg possesses a unique combination of storytelling expertise and an in-depth knowledge of the future of technology and entrepreneurship. This enables him to transform complex information into entertaining and accessible insights that prepare audiences for what’s coming next.

Alex Stamos is a cybersecurity expert, business leader and entrepreneur working to improve the security and safety of the Internet through his teaching and research at Stanford University. Stamos is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford’s Freeman-Spogli Institute, a William J. Perry Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation, and a visiting scholar at the Hoover Institution. As a Chief Security Officer at Facebook and Yahoo and a co-founder of iSEC Partners, Alex has investigated and responded to some of the most seminal events in the short history of cybersecurity and has been called the “Forrest Gump of Info Sec” by friends. He is working on election security via the Defending Digital Democracy Project and advising NATO’s Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. He has spoken on six continents, testified in Congress, served as an expert witness for the wrongly accused, earned a BSEE from UC Berkeley and holds five patents.

Michael Coates has worked in the information security space for the past 20 years, leading security at global organizations, such as Twitter and Mozilla, and protecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Coates is currently the CISO of CoinList and the CEO of the sub-entity CoinList Digital Asset Services, a leading exchange platform that is disrupting the Web 3.0 and cryptocurrency digital asset offerings. He is also a co-founder of Altitude Networks and served as its CEO before a successful exit following the company’s acquisition. Previously, Coates was the Chief Information Security Officer at Twitter. There, his team worked to protect nearly 300 million users, securing both Twitter systems and user data.