AI Tennessee Summit Agenda
March 25: 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
8:30 a.m. Registration and Networking
9:00 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Dr. Vasileios Maroulas
Associate Vice Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Director, AI Tennessee
9:12 A.M. Opening Strategic Framing
Donde Plowman
Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
9:24 A.M. 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
9:51 a.m. Framing REmarks: The State's AI Direction
Jim Bryson
Commissioner of Finance and Administration, State of Tennessee, and Co-Chair, TN AI Advisory Council
10:08 a.m. AI in Tennessee's Industry
Stuart McWhorter
Deputy Governor and Commissioner, State of Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
10:27 a.m. Networking Break
10:57 a.m. Panel: Building Capacity: Data Centers and Energy for AI
Manu Sivaraman
Senior Vice President of New Nuclear and Transmission Projects, Tennessee Valley Authority
Todd Ailes
COO, Consolidated Nuclear Security / Y12
Evann Freeman
Vice President of Government and Community Relations, EPB
Evan Cummings
Senior Director of Business Development, Kairos Power
Moderator
Kristin Darby
Chief Information Officer, State of Tennessee
11:48 a.m. Panel: Research, Talent, and Translation: Higher Ed’s Role in TN’s AI Economy
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
12:35 p.m. Lunch + Presentation on Presidential AI Challenge
Dr. Josh Rosenberg
Haslam Family Professor & Associate Professor of STEM Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Reid Jackson
Computer Science Educator & AI Program Lead, L&N Stem Academy
Dr. Emily Holtz
Assistant Professor of Elementary Education Theory and Practice in Teacher Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville
1:52 p.m. Panel: What Industry Needs from Tennessee
Ines Voellinger
Digital Transformation and AI Innovation Strategist, Volkswagen of America, Inc
Majed Saadi
CTO, Hitachi Vantara Federal
Quincy Byrdsong
VP for Research Operations, Ballad Health
Ken Dircks
AI Solutions Lead for State & Local Government, EY
Moderator
Nathan Buttrey
Senior Advisor to TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter, Office of Innovation
2:39 p.m. University Presidential Talk
Daniel Diermeier
Chancellor, Vanderbilt University
2:51 p.m. Panel: Scaling AI Partnerships for Regional Impact
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
Jack Wells
Director of Higher Education and Research Computing, NVIDIA
Aleta Jeffress
Chief Technology Officer, NTT DATA, State, Local and Education
Moderator
Brandon Gibson
COO, Office of the Governor of the State of Tennessee
3:38 p.m. Networking Break
4:05 p.m. University Presidential Talk
Bill Hardgrave
President, University of Memphis
4:17 p.m. Presentation: Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Stephen Streiffer
Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
4:27 p.m. Closing Remarks
Dr. Vasileios Maroulas
Associate Vice Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Director, AI Tennessee