AI Tennessee Summit Agenda: January 28, 2026
8:30 AM – 4:30 PM CT
Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Vasileios Maroulas
Associate Vice Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Director, AI Tennessee
Opening Strategic Framing
Daniel Diermeier
Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
Keynote: Winning the AI Race: The Tennessee Advantage
Lynne Parker
Former Principal Deputy Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and Associate Vice Chancellor Emerita, University of Tennessee, Knoxville and National AI Leader
Framing REmarks: The State's AI Direction
Jim Bryson
Commissioner of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee, and Co-Chair, TN AI Advisory Council
AI in Tennessee's Industry
Stuart McWhorter
Deputy Governor and Commissioner, State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
Why Communities Will Drive American AI Competitiveness
Keith Strier
Senior Vice President, Global AI Markets, AMD
Panel: Winning the AI Race: What Industry Needs from Tennessee
Ines Voellinger
Digital Transformation and AI Innovation Strategist, Volkswagen of America, Inc
Majed Saadi
CTO, Hitachi Vantara Federal
Jeff Hughes
Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.
Quincy Byrdsong
VP for Research Operations, Ballad Health
Saeed Zamiri, Ph.D.
Director, Data Science and Operations Research, FedEx
Moderator
Nathan Buttrey
Senior Advisor to TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, Office of Innovation
University Presidential Talk
Bill Hardgrave
President, University of Memphis
The Intersection of Science and AI
Susan Hubbard
Deputy Director for Science and Technology, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Lunch + Remarks from Senator Bo Watson
Bo Watson
Senator, Tennessee General Assembly
Panel: Building Capacity: Data Centers and Energy for AI
Manu Sivaraman
Senior Vice President of New Nuclear and Transmission Projects, Tennessee Valley Authority
Janet Rehberg
President and CEO-Elect, EPB
Jeff Olson
VP of Business Development & Finance, Kairos Power
Todd Ailes
COO, Consolidated Nuclear Security / Y12
Brent Mayo
General Manager, xAI
Moderator
Kristin Darby
Chief Information Officer, State of Tennessee
University Presidential Talk
Donde Plowman
Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Panel: Scaling AI Partnerships for Regional Impact
Beth Howen
Divisional President, NTT Data
Doug Vargo
VP, National AI and Alliance Lead, CGI
Dr. Peter Buckley
Chancellor, University of Tennessee Health Science Center
Jamie Thomas
Chief Client Innovation Officer, IBM
Ronak Shah
Director of Higher Education and Research, NVIDIA
Moderator
Brandon Gibson
COO, Office of the Governor of the State of Tennessee
Reflections on AI Workforce Development
Deniece Thomas
Deputy Commissioner, State of Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development
Panel: Research, Talent, and Translation: Higher Ed’s Role in TN’s AI Economy
Brian Noland
President, East Tennessee State University
David L. Butler, Ph.D.
Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, Middle Tennessee State University
Philip Oldham
President, Tennessee Tech University
Dr. Robbie Melton
Provost, Tennessee State University
Randy Boyd
President, University of Tennessee System
Moderator
Dr. Jesse Spencer-Smith
Associate Dean for Partnerships and Innovation for the College of Connected Computing, Vanderbilt University