Visionary Headliners, Rockstars &
Fab Facilitators

Elaine helps companies turn frontier technologies into durable engines of growth. With more than two decades leading innovation at Nike, American Express, and Airbnb, she builds scalable frameworks that translate emerging tech into real enterprise value. Today, she advises Fortune 1000 leaders, VC-backed founders, and private equity firms on anticipating market shifts, mobilizing ecosystems, and enabling responsible, enterprise-scale AI adoption that accelerates competitive advantage.

Lutz is shaping the future of IT at Daimler Truck North America. By directing cultural change through digital activation, his visionary IT strategy, “Building the Intelligent Company,” guides digital transformation at DTNA, positioning the organization at the cutting edge of technology. Lutz champions IT Leadership, disruptive ideas and innovation by re-imagining the way business is done.

Joe has three decades of experience in the Aerospace and Defense field executing projects and roles from the research side to the larger business and strategy. This research and development role has given technical depth Joe’s current responsibility as Space Strategic Partnerships Lead for Space in the Ignite organization. Responsibilities include owning SBIR/STTR portfolio, as well as working OTA and CRAD opportunities along with University Sponsored research. These activities are to identify, and champion emerging technology from sources outside of Lockheed Martin ecosystem for our Space business platforms supporting our DoD and NASA customer programs.

Jenny is is responsible for leading end-to-end technical strategy and execution for the global PepsiCo beverage business. She has a PhD in Exercise Physiology and Sports Nutrition and has held a range of Research and Development over her nearly 20 years in the CPG industry. Over this time, Jenny established a range of partnerships and built external ecosystems to solve internal challenges and build stronger technical understanding of consumers, science, and engineering.

Sobhan manages 40% of Plug and Play’s business in verticals across Mobility, Insurtech, Fintech, Enterprise & AI, Health, Energy and Real Estate. With a background as a business analyst, Sobhan joined Plug in Play in late 2014 taking on a role as a Business Development Manager for Strategic Partnerships eventually launching a new program to connect leaders and startups in the Mobility industry. Since then, Sobhan has formed and led multiple innovation divisions as well as building and overseeing a growing Business Development team.

With over two decades of portfolio and innovation management experience, David is a leader in helping executives achieve better growth results. He holds a Ph.D. in organizational decision making from Stanford University, is a Fellow with the Society of Decision Professionals (SDP), and always has chocolate within arm’s reach (especially at workshops).

Dan has over 25 years of experience in product management, innovation management, and corporate strategy, holding senior roles at Oracle, FICO, and now Mastercard. In his current role, Dan oversees Mastercard’s award-winning startup engagement program, Start Path, driving partnerships and investments with growth-oriented tech companies. Dan is an advisor for several companies and serves as a Fellow for Mastercard’s Policy Center for the Digital Economy.

Dr. Salinas is an innovator at the crossroads of medicine and technology, advancing the future of healthcare through strategic leadership and digital transformation. With 20+ years of global experience, including roles at Salesforce, Stryker, Pfizer, and Best Buy Health, he has helped organizations rethink commercial models and improve patient outcomes. Now serving as Adobe’s Head of Industry Strategy for Healthcare and Life Sciences, he partners with leading organizations to design impactful, tech-driven solutions. A frequent speaker and thought leader, he continues to shape the conversation on the future of health.

Matt spearheads Innovation Partnerships, leveraging the global ecosystem’s potential to drive PG&E’s innovation goals forward. With two decades of experience in commercializing climate change technologies, he has tackled some of California’s most critical environmental issues, including water management, energy efficiency, soil health, and reducing income inequality.

Omid is a healthcare leader with experience across care delivery, product management, and payer innovation. At Elevance Health, he led innovation, built the operating model, and scaled programs delivering nine-figure value, tripling run-rate impact, and launching AI-enabled growth initiatives. He previously drove the digital transformation of CareMore Health & Aspire and led product at Altegra Health, building solutions used by major plans and health systems. He is faculty at UCLA Anderson, teaching the Business of Healthcare, and focused on making care simpler, proactive, predictive, and personalized.

An industry veteran with nearly 15 years of experience in the field, Doug leads the innovation practice at SmartOrg. He has helped over 80 organizations build and grow innovation programs through his work at Planview Spigit and a leading research organization.