The Annual All-Day CT Digital FutureFest
CHECK OUT THE FINAL AGENDA
Join us Thursday, June 4th for our second annual Digital FutureFest in Stamford CT. Organized by the CT Digital Forum, the event convenes senior-level leaders for a full day of discussion and networking to explore the digital forces shaping our global economic future.
9:00am - 6pm at the UConn Stamford Campus including breakfast bites, box lunch and cocktail hour.
21st century digital technologies are reshaping our world at a speed that dwarfs all human history. And our 2026 program is built for the moment we’re in.
The rapid convergence of AI, blockchain, cyber security and quantum computing is complicating today’s decision-making environment — partly because a breakthrough in one area accelerates both the opportunities and the vulnerabilities in others.
JUNE 4th AGENDA
🕒 8:00am - 9:00am
REGISTRATION, BREAKFAST AND NETWORKING
🕒 9:00am - 9:15am
WELCOME
Jarvis Cromwell, CEO & Co-founder, CT Digital Forum
🕒 9:15am - 9:45am
THE RISE OF AUTONOMOUS CAPITAL
Richard Walker, CEO, Inveniam.io
How will institutional finance adapt to capital that can think, decide, and move on its own—powered by AI agents operating on verified data and executed through blockchain-based infrastructure?
🕒 9:45am -10:30am
FUTURE OF ON-CHAIN FINANCE
Sebastian Bea, President, Reserve One
Emily Goodman, Partner, FS Vector
Paul McCaffery, MD, Digital Asset Head, KBW | Stifel
John Wu, President, Ava Labs
How are financial institutions responding to the high-stakes, high impact shift into tokenized assets, decentralized networks, and a growing demand for digital assets?
🕒 10:30am - 11:15am
AI GOVERNANCE ISSUES FACING BOARDS AND C-SUITE
Joan Amble, Corporate Director, Zurich, Booz Allen
Robin Elkowitz, EVP, Citizens Financial
David Hendrickson, National Assoc of Corporate Directors
Byron Loflin, Global Head of Board Advisory, NASDAQ
How can corporate boards fulfill their fiduciary/oversight duties and manage the risks and opportunities as AI tools are rapidly deployed across the enterprise?
🕒 11:15am -12:00 noon
ALLOCATING CAPITAL AT THE DIGITAL FRONTIER
Erin Arvelund, Former Managing Editor, Pensions & Investments
Zach Pandl, Head Of Research, Grayscale
Rich Shorten, Silvermine Capital
Sal Ternullo, CEO, SVRN
How some investors across private wealth, family offices, endowments, pension funds are combining long holdings with options, yield overlays, and other specialized crypto strategies to capture gains across market cycles.
🕒 12 noon - 1:00pm
BOX LUNCH, NETWORKING AND WORKSHOPS
- Book signing, CEO Ready by Byron Loflin and Mark Thompson
- AI Women's Lunch, led by Linda Albright
- Hands-On Workshop: What AI Can and Can't Do, Led by Sandeep Mangaraj at Aileron Group
- Crypto Bootcamp (multiple faculty)
🕒 1:00pm - 1:45pm
FINDING SATOSHI: FILM TALK
William D. Cohan, NYT Bestselling Author & Investigative Journalist
Tyler Maroney, Private Investigator, Quest Research & Investigations
Robbie and Andy, The Rollup Podcast
Bob Dewey, Host, Exploring Prosperity
Join journalist William D. Cohan and P.I. Tyler Maroney as they take you behind the scenes of their four year investigative journey to find the mysterious creator of Bitcoin.
🕒 1:45pm - 2:30pm
HUMAN (RE)ORGANIZATION IN THE ERA OF AI
Matthew K. Cross, Founder and CEO, Leadership Alliance
Michael Castine, Global Head of Financial Services, ZRG Partners
Vicky Kuang, Investor, Draper Associates
A discussion about the road ahead as corporate leaders wrestle with new forms of competition, restructuring headcount, navigating white-collar automation, sourcing new kinds of executive talent, and training employees to partner with hyper-efficient, AI tools and agents.
🕒 2:30pm - 3:00pm
1% OF GLOBAL GDP: THE UNPRECEDENTED SCALE OF THE AI SEMICONDUCTOR SUPER-CYCLE
Angus Shillington, Research Analyst & Portfolio Manager, VanEck
The case for why the historic, multi-billion-dollar surge in semiconductor capital expenditure and data center infrastructure by cloud hyper-scalers is driving a permanent, structural "intelligence revolution."
🕒 3:00pm - 3:30pm
AFTERNOON NETWORKING BREAK / WORKSHOPS
Meet the Recruiters (new skills for financial services leadership)
- Michael Castine, MD, Co-Lead, Global Financial Services, ZRG
- Rahul Kapur, MD, Global Head of Fintech, ZRG
- Ken Lubin, MD, ZRG
Bitcoin Sucks for Miners, which is why Jerry Tang pivoted to AI Data Centers
- Jerry Tang, CEO Atlas Cloud, CEO TigerDC
🕒 3:30pm - 4:00pm
PLAYING CATCH-UP: THE US-CHINA ROBOTICS RACE
Kal Deutsch, Founder, Batchery & AI Collective — CT Lead
Randy Howie, Co-Founder, New York Robotics
Ford CEO Jim Farley’s wake-up call after visiting China’s fully autonomous "dark factories" underscored a major industrial gap that urgently begs the question: how can the U.S. execute a public-private capital strategy to catch up to China's lead in advanced robotics, physical AI, and autonomous logistics?
🕒 4pm-4:30
HOW AI IS UPENDING CYBER RESILIENCE FOR ORGANIZATIONS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
Christopher Hetner, Cyber Risk Advisor, World Wide Technology, Moderator
Jeff Brown, Chief Security Advisor, Financial Institutions, Microsoft; former CISO, State of Connecticut
Detective Matt Hogan, Cyber Crimes Unit, Connecticut State Police & US Secret Service Task Force
On top of widespread corporate underinvestment, organizations now face a terrifying reality where open-source AI models automate mass extortion and hyper-realistic identity theft; this session exposes potentially fatal flaws in today's cyber strategies for corporations and governments and maps out ways to defend against a growing automated onslaught.
🕒 4:30pm - 5:00pm
STATE, SCALE, AND SOVEREIGNTY: STABLECOINS AND THE RISE OF AGENTIC COMMERCE
Diana Oreto, Head of Research, Global Blockchain Business Council, Moderator
Debra Brookes, Chief Risk & Compliance Officer, Wyoming Stable Token Commission
John D'Agostino, Strategy Head, Coinbase Institutional
Jeffrey Wallis, CEO, N3XT
How will next-generation banking models, state token frameworks, and institutional giants (both tradfi and digital) reshape commercial infrastructure, and what happens when we transition from basic digital dollar transfers to more autonomous, machine-to-machine commerce?
🕒 5:00pm - 6:00pm
COCKTAIL HOUR
Our events draw from NY Tri-state — one of the world’s deepest concentrations of institutional capital, HNW, & financial services.
Past Attending Organizations
Partial List
Why Attend?
Cutting-Edge Insights – Engage with world-class speakers and thought leaders at the forefront of digital technology and finance.
High-Level Networking – Connect with senior executives, investors, and digital pioneers in an exclusive environment.
Actionable Knowledge – Gain insight and knowledge into rapidly development trends necessary to help you navigate and capitalize on today's rapidly transforming digital economy.
Interactive Workshops & Panels – Come and engage with fellow leaders on topics critical to the success of the global economy - blockchain, digital assets, AI, digital banking, cybersecurity, quantum computing, and more.
No Hype, Just Substance: Our mission is to build the digital ecosystem and foster thoughtful discussion, debate and discernment - without the self-serving promotion that often surrounds these technologies.
Who Should Attend?
✔ Financial professionals, corporate leaders & investors seeking insights into the future of money, markets, commerce and culture.
✔ Tech leaders & innovators driving the next wave of digital transformation.
✔ Regulators & policymakers navigating the changing digital landscape.
✔ Entrepreneurs & startups looking to forge partnerships and accelerate growth.
About the Organizers:
The CT Digital Forum is the leading event of its kind in Connecticut, with a global following of over 5,000 engaged individuals. We curate exclusive, by-invitation events that bring together executive-level leaders from top institutions, investment firms, and innovative companies to explore the future of money, markets, commerce, society, and culture. The Digital FutureFest builds on this foundation, offering greater reach, opportunity and impact for all participants.
Thank you to our Sponsors and Partners
In conjunction with CT Tech Week
CT Tech Week is a statewide initiative organized by Realist Lab, a Connecticut-based nonprofit supporting entrepreneurs and startup ecosystems. Taking place June 1–5, 2026, CT Tech Week brings together founders, artists, performers, investors, students, policymakers, and industry leaders through events focused on technology, entrepreneurship, AI, digital assets, robotics, workforce development, and economic growth across Connecticut