Wade Allen serves as Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer for Brinker International, Inc. where he oversees information technology, data security, and analytics. His team bridges technology and marketing to create a seamless digital experience for Chili’s® Grill & Bar and Maggiano’s Little Italy® Guests and Team Members. During his tenure, Wade served as vice president of digital Guest experience and analytics for Chili’s where he led the implementation and continued the advancement of tabletop devices, My Chili’s Rewards and Chili’s mobile app and website.

Prior to joining Brinker in 2014, Wade served as president of CouponFactory, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rockfish Interactive. He held positions as vice president of retail for Rockfish Interactive and as an account director/solution lead at the integrated marketing agency, RAPP, where he worked on a number of Brinker brands. Wade enjoys reading about emerging technology, politics, and history. Wade serves on the digital innovation advisory council for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital® and is an active member of his church. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Brigham Young University and a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from Northwestern University.

Doug Baker is a food retail industry relations vice president for the Food Marketing Institute where he facilitates professional, non-competitive collaboration among member communities across private brands, technology, and asset protection issue areas.

In addition to his oversight of the private brands council and their efficiency-driven initiatives to encourage brand owner innovation, Doug also leads FMI’s CIO Technology Board, Asset Protection Council, and joint industry initiatives, SmartLabel and Information Accuracy. Prior to FMI, Doug began his career in the food retail industry in 1984 with Fry’s Food Stores. His 30+ years in food retail have included leadership roles at Fry’s (a division of Kroger), Kraft/Nabisco and Federated Foods with focuses on retail operations, consumer packaged goods and private brand development and marketing.

Christian Beckner is the senior director of retail technology and cybersecurity at the National Retail Federation. In this capacity, Beckner leads NRF’s CIO Council, Technology Leadership Council, IT Security Council, and cybersecurity program, including the NRF Cyber Risk Exchange. He is responsible for developing strategies, programs, and activities to maintain NRF as the technology leader and convener in the retail sector.

Prior to NRF, Beckner spent five years as deputy director of the George Washington University’s Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, a think tank where he focused on cybersecurity, counterterrorism, and homeland security. He was previously an associate staff director at the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he was responsible for the coordination of oversight and legislation on a broad range of homeland security and intelligence issues. He has worked on cybersecurity and homeland security issues for close to 20 years, including positions at IBM, the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the O’Gara Company.

Originally from Washington, Beckner has a B.A. from Stanford University. He obtained his Master of Business Administration and Master of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

Martin Block serves as Executive Director of the Retail Analytics Council, an initiative between Medill School, Integrated Marketing Communications department, Northwestern University, and PRI. Block is a Professor in the Integrated Marketing Communications Department. He teaches graduate-level marketing research, sales promotion, advertising, and direct marketing courses.

Prior to joining the Northwestern faculty, Block was a Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Advertising at Michigan State University. Block is a co-author of Media Generations; Analyzing Sales Promotion; and Business-to-Business Market Research. He has published extensively in academic research journals, trade publications, and has written several book chapters. He has been the principal investigator on several federally funded research projects and has served as a consultant to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). He was featured on the NOVA program “We Know Where You Live.”

Brad Bogolea is CEO and Co-Founder of Simbe Robotics, where he is responsible for the company’s vision and execution of its leading automation solution for the retail industry. The NRF Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the National Retail Federation (NRF), has named Brad to “The List of People Shaping Retail’s Future.” Prior to Simbe, Brad spent 10 years in the energy and wireless sensor industry.

Rich Carryer serves as the Senior Vice President of Information Technology for Giant Eagle Inc. In this role, Rich is responsible for all technology that supports all areas of the company. Rich also leads Giant Eagle’s technology R&D and innovation group.

Rich has worked for Giant Eagle for 20 years in various roles all within IT. Prior to working for Giant Eagle Rich has worked at PNC and Allegheny Technologies.

Cari is currently developing and leading Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Automation at Canadian Tire, with a focus on the art and science of engaging and serving customers, employees, and suppliers by leveraging artificial intelligence technology and a human-centered approach. She has held multiple leadership roles at IBM Canada and Canadian Tire.

Tom Davenport is the President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management at Babson College, co-founder of the International Institute for Analytics, Fellow at the MIT Initiative on the Digital Economy, and Senior Advisor to Deloitte Analytics. He teaches analytics/big data in executive programs at Babson, Harvard Business School and School of Public Health, and MIT Sloan School.

Davenport pioneered the concept of “competing on analytics” with his best-selling 2006 Harvard Business Review article and 2007 book. His most recent book is The AI Advantage: How to Put the Artificial Intelligence Revolution to Work. He wrote or edited nineteen other books and over 200 articles for Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, The Financial Times, and many other publications. He is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and Forbes. He has been named one of the top 25 consultants by Consulting News, one of the 100 most influential people in the IT industry by Ziff-Davis, and one of the world’s top fifty business school professors by Fortune magazine.

Drew is a part of the team that is building the transformative data services strategy and business for Zebra pertinent to the data services platform Savanna. This includes technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain.

He has a background in developing and leveraging IoT solutions in manufacturing, retail and healthcare. He was a member of the team that disrupted the hearing healthcare industry by leveraging technology to drive automation into the manufacturing and supply chain processes. Within the 1,600 retail locations, the team developed an omnichannel strategy to enhance the in-store experience through mobile applications, WLAN, data analytics and sensors.

Albino joined Target in 2016 and he is one of the leaders of the Strategy & Innovation team. In his position, he is responsible for the implementation of cross-functional projects across Marketing, Merchandising, Product Design, and Sourcing teams to deliver on the company’s strategic roadmap.

Prior to joining Target, Albino worked for MetLife, The Coca-Cola Co as the Latin American Leader for Operational Excellence and as a consultant for McKinsey & Co.
Originally from Brazil, Albino received his B.Sc in Mechanical Engineering from Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica in 1996 and his MBA from Insead in 2001.

Mr. Gaskins directs all marketing, merchandising and procurement efforts for the Yesway brand. He leads the effort to establish a marketing and merchandising playbook to improve the organization's go-to-market strategic plan. He also helps to further cultivate the growth and stewardship of the fast-growing Yesway brand with a keen focus on ensuring the organization's social, mobile, and loyalty initiatives are best in class.

Prior to joining Yesway, he served as Chief Customer Officer for Rutter’s convenience stores & Dairy business. Mr. Gaskins holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Jerel Golub, Vice Chairman of the Board of Price Chopper Supermarkets, began his career in the supermarket industry in 1973 when, at the age of fifteen, he bagged groceries and collected shopping carts at the company’s Central Market store in Schenectady, NY. After earning his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Boston University and completing General Electric’s Financial Management Program, Mr. Golub began his full-time career with Price Chopper in 1982. He later took the time to earn his MBA degree from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, which he completed in 1985.

During his career with the company, Mr. Golub’s responsibilities have spanned the marketing, merchandising, and operational side of the business, as well as finance and administration. As Vice President of Marketing, he led the company’s efforts to use its loyalty card data and other research to better understand its customers, as well as to develop more meaningful, targeted promotional offers. On the administrative side of the business, he led a number of store acquisitions during the late ’90s and early 2000s. Named Executive Vice President and COO in 2008, he was a driving force behind the company’s efforts to refine its brand vision. He served as President of the company from 2010 to 2015, and CEO from 2012 to 2016.

Jerry’s professional activities have also extended to the broader business community. He is currently a Board member of the Food Marketing Institute (FMI), as well as a Board member of the Business Council of New York State. In the past, he served on the committee that established FMI’s Future Leaders conference, which is designed to attract, educate and inspire both current and future industry leaders. In addition, he served on the Coca-Cola Retail Research Council for North America, which completed a major study in 2011 on social media and its implications for the supermarket industry.

Jerry is also actively involved in the community. He is currently Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Albany Symphony Orchestra. In addition, he is a member of the Finance Committee of the United Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York Endowment Fund.

Kris is a researcher in the areas of human-machine interaction, context-driven information systems, and artificial intelligence. Kris currently sits on a United Nations policy committee run by the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). Prior to joining the faculty at Northwestern, Kris founded the University of Chicago’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. He received his PhD from Yale.

Shawn currently leads go to market efforts for Zebra’s SmartSight, as Director of North American. Shawn’s passion rests in brick-and-mortar and digital retail technology, operations, and customer experiences. He has been involved with store systems, e-commerce, and order management technologies for over 15 years and has served in various management and consulting roles with tier-one retailers, including TJX Cos, Staples, BJ’s, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Uniqlo (Fast Retailing).

Shawn honorably served in the Army National Guard as an infantryman and armored personnel carrier driver for eight years. Shawn earned his MBA from Babson College and a bachelor's degree in management information systems from the University of Massachusetts.

Robert Huschka is the director of Education Strategies for the Association for Advancing Automation, the umbrella organization for the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA – Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control & Motor Association (MCMA).

Robert joined A3 in 2017 and directs the team responsible for education initiatives, standards development, and certification programs. He leads research into emerging automation technologies, such as artificial intelligence, 5G connectivity, blockchain, and cloud robotics – and serves as the liaison to the association’s Strategic Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence.

Andra Keay is Managing Director and Founder of Silicon Valley Robotics, the leading non-profit robotics cluster. The process of commercializing innovation is at the heart of Silicon Valley Robotics, and lessons learned are applied globally. Andra is an expert in aligning the multidisciplinary stakeholders required in a high-tech innovation cluster and speaks regularly on the growing business of AI, robotics, and the ethical issues that emerge.

Silicon Valley Robotics is the leading non-profit robotics cluster. The process of commercializing innovation is at the heart of Silicon Valley Robotics. We take the best ecosystem practices from Silicon Valley’s history of innovation (transistors, computers, mobile, internet) and apply it to the emerging industries of robotics and AI. SVR partners with many global organizations to develop ecosystems, to teach innovation practices, to provide a landing pad for visiting companies, and to make connections with robotics and AI startups and investors.

Lov is an executive with domestic and international experience in leading telecommunications products & services. He is a thought leader and offers business, strategic and pragmatic advice in emerging technologies and solutions to customers and entrepreneurs. For instance, developing and delivering solutions enabled by 5G platform services (Video Analytics, AI/ML, and AR/VR), Software Defined Network (SDN), Cloud, and Virtualization. Lov is currently Managing Principal & Master Architect, Enterprise Innovation and 5G Solutions group leading a team at Verizon, working on 5G and the Intelligent Edge to create new value add solutions in different vertical markets including Retail, Manufacturing, Energy, Finance, and Healthcare.

Previously, Lov has worked at EMC, Lucent Technologies, AT&T and Bell Laboratories. He is an entrepreneur as well – he co-founded and was CEO of two startups in SDN and wireless technologies during his career. Lov has also held the position of Chairman and the founding Executive Director of the Multimedia Services Affiliate Forum (MSAF), an international group of telecom operators and vendors developing interoperable services. Lov is a recipient of a US patent on SDN and received several other professional awards.

Dr Samir Khuller received his MS and PhD degrees in computer science from Cornell University. An expert in graph algorithms, discrete optimization, and scheduling, he has published nearly 200 journal and conference papers, as well as several book chapters. He previously served as editor for the journals Networks, Algorithmica, and the International Journal of Foundations of Computer Science. He currently serves as chair of the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Algorithms and Computation Theory.

From 2012-17, Khuller served as the Elizabeth Stevinson Iribe Chair of Computer Science in the University of Maryland’s Department of Computer Science. Khuller’s honors include the National Science Foundation's Career Development Award and the CTE-Lilly Teaching Fellowship. He has also received the University of Maryland's Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Award as well as its Dean's Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2016, he earned the inaugural European Symposium on Algorithms Test-of-Time Award for his work with collaborator Sudipto Guha on approximation algorithms for connected dominating sets.

Daniel W. Linna Jr. has a joint appointment at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law and McCormick School of Engineering as the Director of Law and Technology Initiatives and a Senior Lecturer. Dan’s teaching and research focus on innovation and technology, including computational law, artificial intelligence, data analytics, leadership, operations, and innovation frameworks.

Dan is also an affiliated faculty member at CodeX — The Stanford Center for Legal Informatics. He joined Northwestern as a Visiting Professor of Law from Michigan State University College of Law, where he was a Professor of Law in Residence and the founder and Director of LegalRnD — The Center for Legal Services Innovation. At Michigan State, Dan taught Quantitative Analysis for Lawyers, Litigation {Data, Theory, Practice, & Process}, Entrepreneurial Lawyering, and Lawyer Ethics and Regulation in a Technology-Driven World.

Dan received his BA from the University of Michigan, received a second BA and an MA in public policy and administration from Michigan State University, and graduated magna cum laude, Order of the Coif from the University of Michigan Law School.

Han is a computer scientist and statistician, using computation and data as a lens to explore science and intelligence. His research is focused on nonparametric structure learning and representation learning. Success in this research has the potential to revolutionize the foundation of the second generation of artificial intelligence and push the frontier of the third generation of artificial intelligence. He received his Ph.D. Machine Learning and Statistics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sherif Mityas is the Chief Experience Officer for TGI FRIDAYS with oversight for the Brand’s Strategy, Marketing, Operations, Technology and Digital efforts. Mr. Mityas has more than 20 years’ experience in the retail and hospitality industries in both senior consulting and executive industry roles.

Prior to joining TGI FRIDAYS, Mr. Mityas served as the Managing Partner for JS Consulting and as the Chief Executive Officer for Hollywood Video/Movie Gallery.
Mr. Mityas received a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering from Boston University, a M.S. in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) and an M.B.A. from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Anu Penmetcha has over fifteen years of experience working with retail companies in the U.S., Canada, and U.K. Anu has worked with numerous Fortune 100 retailers helping them to grow their digital business and implement omnichannel strategies.

Currently, Anu serves as the Global Product Marketing lead for Retail at Facebook, working across sales and product teams to drive a customer-focused vision for retail. Prior to her current role, she was at HBC where she was responsible for digital merchandising, dropship, strategic planning, and driving innovation & omnichannel efforts across four banners (Saks, Saks off 5th, Lord and Taylor and The Bay). Anu holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and an MS in Computer Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Steven Keith Platt serves as Research Director of the Retail Analytics Council. Platt also serves as Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University and as Director and Research Fellow of The Platt Retail Institute, an international consulting and research firm that focuses on leveraging technology to impact the consumer experience. Central to this is building actionable data models that aid retailers and technology companies in gaining insights into their customers and operations.

Steven received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and Marketing from the Boston University School of Management. He also has a Law Degree and an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University, where he served as Articles Editor for the University’s Journal of Tax Law. He has authored many studies about retail analytics and digital communication networks, and has published articles in journals including the American Bankers Association Journal, Digital Signage Quarterly, Extended Retail Solutions, Retail Information Systems News, the Retail Solutions Providers Association Magazine, and the Retail Navigator, among many others. He has been quoted in publications including Bloomberg, Business Week, Chain Store Age, the Chicago Tribune, DSN Retailing Today, Inc. Magazine, RFID Journal, Stores Magazine, the San Jose Mercury News, Time Magazine, USA Today, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also appeared as a guest analyst on the CBS Evening News and Early Show, ABC World News, and HD News. He has also lectured at conferences around the globe.

Wesley is the Chief Operations Officer for Sunrise Technologies, a Kroger commercial technology venture company which invents and licenses Kroger advanced technologies to other companies. He also serves with Kroger Corporation as the VP of Technology Transformation, with a focus on the application of new technologies, paradigms, methods, and innovations to better serve Kroger customers.

Prior to joining Kroger, Wesley had an eighteen-year career with IBM, where he served in numerous capacities including as the Chief Technologist in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud & Cognitive computing, as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for Sensemaking, as the CTO for Corporate Strategy, as the Deputy CTO for US and NATO National Security and Defense, as Director of IOT and the Network Science Research Centers. Wesley specialized in managing high-risk projects, architectures and technologies for advanced insight in Retail, Financial Services, Oil & Gas, Energy Services, Manufacturing, and for National Defense and Intelligence domains. Throughout his tenure with IBM, Wesley was assigned by the CEO and executive staff to IBM’s largest customers as a subject matter expert to resolve their hardest business and technical issues.

Wesley holds numerous academic appointments in the fields of Cyber Security, Health Informatics, Supercomputing Applications and advanced R&D research. Wesley holds the required Federal security clearances to work on hard National Security and Defense topics for the US, UK and NATO.

Wesley graduated with an MBA from the University of Houston, an MS in Project Management from the University of Western Carolina, an MS in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MS in Technology Management from the University of Maryland, University College.

Erin Rohlfs is an Industry Solution Architect for AT&T, where she provides strategic and technical direction to address the unique business challenges of the retail industry. Erin’s combined expertise in Global IT Solutions, business, operations, and retail allows her to partner and guide clients through challenging transformations into successful and productive solutions.

Prior to joining AT&T, Erin was in management and store operations with Nordstrom for over 10 years. With her extensive management background and leadership skills, she successfully launched new stores, hired and trained top performers and implemented store information systems. Erin attended the University of Alaska Anchorage and San Diego State University, with a focus on Political Science.

Mr. Rowland has more than 38 years of engineering, manufacturing test, sales and strategy experience. Currently, Mr. Rowland is CEO of Badger Technologies, a product division of Jabil. In this role, he is responsible for driving all aspects of the sales, development, delivery and service for Badger Technologies suite of retail offerings.
Prior to Badger Technologies, Mr. Rowland spent 28 years at Lexmark where he successfully launched an engineering startup focused retail robotics (acquired by Jabil in 2017). Mr. Rowland also spent 10 years at IBM in various manufacturing test engineering, development and research roles. Mr. Rowland is a graduate of Georgia Tech with a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering.

Prof. Dr. Thomas Rudolph is a full professor of Marketing and International Retail Management and is the director of the Institute of Retail Management. He holds the Gottlieb Duttweiler Chair of International Retail Management, is head of the Retail Lab, as well as co-editor of the marketing journal St.Galler Management Review.

Prof. Rudolph taught International Marketing at the Brigham Young University in Utah, USA in 1998, Retail Marketing at the University of Florida in Gainsville, USA in 2001, and Retail Management at the ESADE Business School in Barcelona, Spain in 2006 and at Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand in 2008. He has been a professor at the University of St. Gallen since 1997.

Prof. Rudolph has gained high recognition in practice through his publications about retail differentiation and strategic retail management. Over the past years, Prof. Rudolph has published several books and scholarly articles. His latest books include Cross-Channel Management (2015), Profilierung und Kundeninspiration (2014), Modernes Handelsmanagement (2013), Fundamentals of Retailing & Shopper Marketing (2013), Strategisches Handelsmanagement (2008), and Kompetenzen für Supply Chain Manager (2007). Prof. Rudolph is a member of the editorial board of the European Retail Research. Besides his research and teaching activities, he is on the board of directors of several well-known enterprises.

Vijay is responsible for Digital Product Management for Walmart Supply Chain. In this role, he drives digital innovation and technology capabilities for customers in Integrated Demand/Supply Planning, Connected Logistics of inbound and outbound transportation, and Automated Distribution that encompasses global warehouse management solutions. Prior work experience includes positions at Home Depot and Sprint. He holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering and a Masters in Information Management from Arizona State University. He is also a graduate of the Program for Leadership Development at the Harvard Business School.

Marios is the Founder and Director of the Biometrics Center at Carnegie Mellon University and is a Research Professor at the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department and CMU CyLab.

His research is mainly focused on developing algorithms for robust face and iris biometrics, as well as pattern recognition, machine vision and computer image understanding for enhancing biometric systems performance. He received his B. Eng. in Microelectronics Systems Engineering from University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the U.K., his Master of Science in Robotics from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, also at Carnegie Mellon University.

Tarang Sethia serves as the Chief Digital Officer at 7-Eleven. His focus is on all digital consumer experiences and the stakeholders who serve them (Franchisees & Store Systems, and Field Teams). He also builds and leads the User Experience and Design Teams that support 7-Eleven International.

He received his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, an MS from the University of Texas, Dallas, and B.E. from Bhavnagar University.

B.S. in Physics / Mathematics (double major) at University of Texas. Participated in the Boston Consulting Group Tokyo Office in 2008. Worked at Washington DC and Tokyo office, promoted to Principal in 2014. He specializes in healthcare, retail, consumer goods, and distribution, and is involved in numerous projects in Japan and overseas. He was also engaged in strategic consulting projects and approach development using advanced technologies such as distribution operations, improvement of store operations and logistics using mathematical methods, and creation of customer insights based on data analysis.

As a core member of BCG's internal technology advantage group, he led the start-up of a big data utilization team. Later, he joined an AI startup company span from the University of Tokyo as the fourth member of the company. Lead the launch of AI Division. He also served as Director of the Global Consumer Intelligence Donation Course at Yutaka Matsuo Laboratory, Department of Technology Management Strategy, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo. Engaged in industry-academia collaboration efforts at the Matsuo Laboratory, education in the data science field, and creation of corporate collaboration mechanisms. Founded Laboro.AI in 2016 and appointed as CEO.

AJ Sutera is the EVP, Chief Information and Technology officer at The Finish Line, where is responsible for the leadership and long-range strategy of Finish Line’s technology, customer experience, analytics and innovation functions. Previously, he served as CTO of the Hudson Bay Company, where he was responsible for consumer experience and engagement strategies, as well as omni-channel technologies for all banners of the Hudson’s Bay Corporation including Saks Fifth Avenue, Saks Off5th, Lord and Taylor, Hudson’s Bay and Home Outfitters.
Prior to joining HBC, Mr. Sutera has held a variety of executive technology positions in organizations including JetBlue Airways, General Electric and Volvo North America.

Mr. Sutera is a graduate of Montclair State University with B.S. degrees in Accounting and Finance, as well as advanced degrees from Stevens Institute of Technology.

Charlotte Tsou has more than 17 years of business experience, including 15 years in the retail banking and financial service industry, with a special emphasis in consumer lending and credit card marketing strategy and product management. Her core expertise is in analytics problem solving applied in setting strategies for consumer facing international corporations. As Senior Vice President at HSBC Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Tsou currently heads up the Analytics and CRM function in the Latin Americas Region. She is focused on transforming the organization by centralizing the analytics resources, commercializing the data-driven strategies, building digital platforms, developing customer insights, and driving revenue growth for the region. She leads a team of 150+ analysts and data scientists across five countries.

Prior to joining HSBC, Tsou led a Mortgage to Consumer CRM function for Principal Mortgage (Citi Mortgage), responsible for direct-to-consumer lead generation and optimization. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing integrated marketing program for both the contact center and digital channels. Before joining Principal Mortgage, Tsou was a Funding Manager with a Venture Capital firm in New Jersey.

Dr. Vijay Viswanathan serves as a Director of the Retail Analytics Council, an initiative between Medill School, Integrated Marketing Communications department, Northwestern University and PRI. Viswanathan obtained his Ph.D. from Emory University in 2010, and is an Associate Professor and IMC Department Chair at Northwestern University.

Professor Viswanathan’s research focuses on topics related to marketing such as consumer decision making, media consumption and brand portfolio management. While he has worked on qualitative research projects, his work generally involves the use of quantitative econometric and time-series models. Viswanathan has published his research in Media Psychology, International Journal of Communication, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing Analytics, Journal of Brand Management, International Journal of IMC, and Journal of Telecommunications System and Management.

Deborah Weinswig is the CEO and Founder of Coresight Research, a provider of research and advisory services to retailers and investors. Coresight Research specializes in disruptive technologies reshaping today’s retail landscape and has a global presence spanning the US, Europe and Asia, including deep expertise in the China market. From 2014 to early 2018, Weinswig served as the founding Managing Director of Fung Global Retail and Technology (FGRT), the think tank for Fung Group. Previously, Weinswig was Managing Director and Head of the Global Staples & Consumer Discretionary team at Citi Research.

Weinswig was ranked #1 Analyst by Institutional Investor for 10 years in a row. She was named one of the Top 50 Retail Influencers by Vend in both 2016 and 2017 and received the Asia Retail Congress Retail Leadership Award in 2016. She was recognized by LinkedIn as a top Voice in Retail in 2017 and 2018.

Weinswig serves on the board of directors for Goodwill Industries New York/New Jersey, GUESS?, Inc., Kiabi, Street Soccer USA and Xcel Brands, Inc. She is on the advisory board of the World Retail Congress and Retail Analytics Council. She advises companies such as EnterWorks, Fashwire, Nanopay, RetailNext, Rubin Singer, Smartzer and Trivver. She mentors through several accelerators, including Alchemist Accelerator, The Cage (powered by The Lane Crawford Joyce Group), Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator, Grand Central Tech, New York Fashion Tech Lab, Plug and Play, Revtech Ventures, Techstars, TrueStart (UK) and XRC Labs.

Weinswig is a Certified Public Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Wolcott is an Adjunct Professor in Executive Education at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and formerly a visiting professor at the Keio Business School (Japan). Wolcott won Teacher of the Year from Kellogg's EMBA program in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017. He serves on the Digital Advisory Board of ZF, the German global industrial enterprise; Open Innovation Lab of Norway; and H-Farm, the leading digital innovation ecosystem in Italy. Wolcott is also a managing partner with Clareo, a growth strategy consultancy serving senior executives at global corporations such as Exelon, BHP Billiton, Castrol, Johnson Controls, Owens Corning and others.

Wolcott is a regular contributor to Forbes regarding the impact of technology change on business, leadership, and society. His book with Dr. Michael Lippitz, Grow From Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation (McGraw-Hill, 2010) shares a decade of research and has been published in Chinese and Japanese. Wolcott's work has appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, strategy+business, The Harvard Business Review, TheHill.com, Quartz.com, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, Business Week, The Financial Times (European Edition), The New York Times and numerous overseas publications. He is a frequent speaker at events worldwide.

In 2003, Wolcott founded the Kellogg Innovation Network (KIN), a network of senior executives dedicated to driving sustainable innovation, now an independent organization known as The World Innovation Network (TWIN). TWIN's annual summit, TWIN Global, takes place in September and includes leaders from around the world who collaborate around issues of significance for their organizations and for humanity (www.twinglobal.org). Wolcott is also an active angel investor in enterprises such as crowdfunding leader Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com), student loan innovator Lumni (www.lumni.net), legal documentation platform Page Vault (www.page-vault.com/), healthcare data and analytics providers SA Ignite (www.saignite.com) and ClearCare Online (exited to Battery Ventures in 2016; www.clearcareonline.com), cybersecurity provider MagicCube (www.magiccube.co) and international art exposition EXPO Chicago (www.expochicago.com).

Wolcott received a BA, European and Chinese History; and an MS and Ph.D., Industrial Engineering & Management Science, Northwestern University.

Dr. Robert Zhang, is Co-Founder and President of CloudMinds Technology, where he is responsible for the company’s global business and product strategies, operations, and strategic partnerships. Prior to co-founding CloudMinds, Robert worked as Head of Service Strategy and Operations for Samsung Telecommunications America.

Robert earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Computational Mechanics and M.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois, an M.S. in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and a B.S. from Tongji University, China.