2026 Chicago AI Week Summit

​Chicago AI Week 2026 (June 25–26, 2026) marks the fourth edition of this premier gathering of global AI leaders from industry, government, and academia. Building on the success of the past three years, which welcomed 1000+ attendees for a week-long program featuring over 100 sessions and 300 speakers, this year’s event will further elevate dialogue on scaling responsible AI adoption across industries.

​The 2026 edition is powered by AI 2030 in collaboration with 1871 and partners, and is supported by a distinguished Chicago AI Council featuring leaders from both the public and private sectors across a wide range of industries.

​Responsible AI Day brings together global leaders to showcase AI in action—focused on deployed solutions in security, safety, and governance. The emphasis is on execution at scale: how organizations are managing risk, ensuring trust, and operationalizing AI in real-world environments.

​Select Responsible AI startups will pitch directly to investors and enterprise leaders, accelerating solutions from innovation to global deployment.

​Industry Day spotlights AI delivering measurable impact across financial services, healthcare, public sector, and logistics. Leaders will share how AI is being implemented today—driving efficiency, resilience, and growth—and how these solutions are scaling across systems, institutions, and markets.

​DAY ONE — WOMEN IN AI FORUM at Morningstar on June 24

​Opening Remarks
Flo Wright — Chief Data Officer, State of Illinois
Betsy Ziegler — CEO, 1871
Anusha Dwivedula — Director of Product Management, Analytics, Morningstar
Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030

​Women Driving Responsible AI Across Industries
Moderator: Marie Roker-Jones — Women in AI and NYC Partnerships Lead, AI 2030
Hyunzoo Chai — SVP, Head of Enterprise Automation, Oaktree Capital Management
Anne Lee — CTO, AI Research Lab, Bell Labs Solutions Research, Nokia Bell Labs
Swetha Sekhar — Member of Technical Staff, OpenAI
Mari Velonaki — Professor; Director, National Facility for HRI Research, UNSW

​How Women Leaders Are Building What Comes Next
Moderator: Veronica Canton — Partner, Pierson Ferdinand LLP
Meltem Singh — Managing Partner, Gartner
Anitha Yeddula — Sr. Director, Application Development, Capital One
Smriti Kirubanandan — Managing Director, Enterprise AI Transformation, Innovaccer

​Women at the Center of Chicago’s AI Transformation
Moderator: Daniela Muhaj — Director, Research and Technology Initiatives, Georgetown University
Lena Mass Cresnik — Chief AI Officer; Managing Director, Rockefeller Capital Management
Diya Wynn — Responsible AI Lead, Amazon Web Services
Alicia Hawley — Of Counsel, e-Discovery Analysis & Technology, K&L Gates

​Closing the AI Leadership Gap: Collaboration, Capital, and Career Pathways for Women
Moderator: Jennifer Dickey — AI/Privacy Attorney, Dykema
Aja Carr Favors — First Deputy Corporation Counsel & Head of Privacy & AI, City of Chicago
Mary Grygleski — VP of Global, Western Hemisphere, The AI Collective
Marisa Mann — Co-Chair, Chicago AI Council

​AI 2030 Healthcare Working Group Meeting
Moderator: Nancy Maher — CTO/CIO, AIva Health Tech

​AI 2030 Women in AI Working Group Meeting
Moderator: Marie Roker-Jones — Women in AI and NYC Partnerships Lead, AI 2030

​Chicago AI Council Meeting
Moderator: Lisa Wong — Co-Chair, Chicago AI Council, AI 2030

​DAY TWO — RESPONSIBLE AI DAY

​Welcome & Opening Remarks: Chicago as Responsible AI Hub
Andy Ruberg — General Manager, Microsoft
Betsy Ziegler — CEO, 1871
Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030

​Keynote Fireside: Building the Responsible AI Capital — Illinois’ Vision for the Future of AI

​State of Illinois

​AI, Quantum, and the Next Computing Frontier: Illinois’ Opportunity to Lead
Moderator: Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030
Gene E. Robinson — Executive Director & CEO, Discovery Partners Institute, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Hanhee Paik — Director, Quantum Algorithm Centers, IBM
Meera Raja — SVP, Deep Tech, P33
Kate Waimey Timmerman — CEO, Chicago Quantum Exchange
Harley Johnson — Chief Executive Officer, Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park
Jakub Szefer — Associate Professor, Northwestern University

​Regulating AI Without Borders: Toward Global Alignment on Safety, Trust, and Accountability
Moderator: Arry Yu — Executive Director, Convergence: Tech Policy Institute
Sabeen Malik — Chief Global Policy Officer, Rapid7
Aja Carr Favors — First Deputy Corporation Counsel & Head of Privacy & AI, City of Chicago

​The Human Blueprint: When AI Builds Itself, Dignity Must Be Built In

​Moderator: Arthur Zards, Founder, Lab Z

​Giorgio Natili, Senior Director, Head of AI Engineering (Oracle Cloud Support), Oracle; AI 2030 Senior Fellow

​The Open Source AI Operating Model: Strategy, Risk, and Implementation
Moderator: Ben Christensen — Head of Partnership, AI 2030
Farbod Tavakkoli — Data Scientist, AT&T

​From Data to Intelligence: Building Trusted Knowledge Foundations Across Industries
Moderator: Sean O’Brien — CTO, Found AI
Amit Shivpuja — Director of Data Product and AI Enablement, Walmart
Jessica Yeats — Principal Data Scientist, Autonomous Vehicles, NVIDIA
Arjun Ravi Kannan — Director of Data Science Research, Capital One Financial

​Governing Systems Across the Implementation Lifecycle
Moderator: Donna Haddad — Executive in Residence, Governance, Risk & Emerging Technology, Northwestern University
Liza Levitt — VP, Deputy General Counsel, Platforms, Responsible AI, Emerging Technology, Intuit
Joe Peedikayil — North America Enterprise AI, Analytics & Data Transformation Leader, Banking & Capital Markets, Accenture
Kristof Horompoly — Head of AI, ValidMind

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​From Chicago to the World: Backing Responsible AI Innovators
Betsy Ziegler — CEO, 1871
Luke Tanen — President and CEO, Chicago Innovation
Ted Souder — Co-Founder/CEO, Quoin.ai
Ranga Bodla — Vice President, Field Engagement and Marketing, Oracle NetSuite
David Trier — CEO, ModelOp
Chris Deutsch — Founder, Lofty Ventures

​From Models to Systems: Engineering Production-Grade AI
Moderator: Anusha Dwivedula — Director of Product Management, Analytics, Morningstar
Giorgio Natili — Senior Director, Head of AI Engineering, Oracle Cloud Support, Oracle; AI 2030 Senior Fellow
Swetha Sekhar — Member of Technical Staff, OpenAI

​Scaling the AI Workforce: An Executive Roundtable on Credentials, Talent Pipelines, and Economic Mobility
Moderator: Anastasia “Tracy” Raissis — Head of Strategy, AI 2030
Julio Rodriguez — Deputy Director, Office of Employment and Training, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, State of Illinois
Bamshad Mobasher — DePaul AI Institute, DePaul University
Muddassir Siddiqi — President, College of DuPage
Shweta Srivastava — Sr. Director, Global Talent Management, Microsoft
Tonya Amankwatia — Head of AI 2030 Institute, AI 2030

​Keynote Fireside & Closing Remarks: A Call to Responsible AI Leadership
Moderator: Dorri McWhorter — President & CEO, Executives’ Club of Chicago
Clark Cully — Division Chair, DeVoe School of Business, Technology & Leadership, Indiana Wesleyan University; Former Deputy CDO, U.S. Department of Defense
Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030

​DAY THREE — AI INDUSTRY DAY

​Opening Remarks
AI 2030, 1871 & Partners

​From Chicago to the World: Shaping the Future of Responsible AI

​Gilbert Villegas — Alderman, 36th Ward, City of Chicago

​The New AI Operating Model for Banking

​Moderator: Anastasia “Tracy” Raissis — Head of Strategy, AI 2030
Prashant Mehrotra — EVP, Chief AI Officer, U.S. Bank

​AI Across the Specialty Care Continuum: Aligning Pharma, Specialty Pharmacy, and Payers
Moderator: Eshaa Gogia — Data Science Consultant, CGI
Anne Michelle Cruz — Vice President of Technology, Walgreens
Adrienne Kline — Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
Caitlin Malone — Sr. Director, Data Science AI Innovation Lab, Health Care Service Corporation

​Operationalizing AI in Healthcare: From Breakthrough Research to Better Patient Care
Daniel Zikovitz — Head of Siemens Healthineers Global AI COE, Siemens Healthineers

​Leading AI Transformation: What CEOs and Directors Need to Operationalize Now

​How States Are Turning AI into Better Services
Moderator: Josh Richards — Chief Commercial Officer, Pacific Peering
Flo Wright — Chief Data Officer, Department of Innovation & Technology, State of Illinois

​No Margin for Error: AI in Financial Systems at Scale
Moderator: Archana Lamoureux — VP, Head of Corporate Digital Solutions, Northwestern Mutual
Shanthi Gudavalli — Senior Executive Director, JPMorgan Chase
Nick Schmidt — Chief Technology and Innovation Officer, SolasAI
Sandeep Maira — Managing Director, AI and Data, Accenture

​Public Sector AI, Real Economic Impact: Illinois’ Blueprint for Responsible Growth
Moderator: World Business Chicago
Adam Robert Sutherland — Worldwide Public Sector Strategy Lead, AWS Generative AI Innovation Center, AWS
Kristi Dula-Ferguson — Deputy Director, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, State of Illinois
Regina Heyward — SVP for Economic Opportunity, Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago

​Insuring the AI Economy: Risk, Trust, and Intangible Value in the Age of AI
Moderator: Lisa Wang — Chicago AI Council
Jesus Gonzalez — Deputy Global Practice Leader, Intangible Assets, Aon
Caspar de Wijkerslooth — Managing Director, Insurance, Microsoft
Vidur Nayyar — VP of AI, ParetoHealth

​Stablecoins, Smart Contracts, and AI: The New Stack for Global Finance
Moderator: John Bender — Partner, K&L Gates
Chris Tyrrell — Managing Director, Head of Digital Assets Risk and Controls, Services, Citi
Jyoti Ponnapalli — VP, Head of Applied AI, Frontier Internet

​Chicago’s AI Identity: Where AI Moves From Frontier Labs to the Real Economy
Moderators: Mike Hyzy and Xiaochen Zhang
Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030

​Closing Panel: Building the Future of Physical AI — Responsible Innovation for Machines That Act
Moderator: Xiaochen Zhang — Executive Director, AI 2030
Nancy Amato — Abel Bliss Professor & Director, Siebel School of Computing and Data Science, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Chris “Xiangzhe” Chen — Co-CEO of FF AI-Robotics; Head of Global User Ecosystem, Faraday Future
Mari Velonaki — Professor; Director, National Facility for HRI Research, UNSW

​Together, the two days convene a cross-sector ecosystem to move beyond ideas and into deployment, investment, and scale—advancing Responsible AI as a cornerstone of the global economy.

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​Become an AI 2030 Member:

​https://ai2030.org/apply-to-be-a-member/

​Hosted by

​AI 2030 www.ai2030.org
AI 2030 is a global initiative committed to mainstreaming Responsible AI by 2030. Through cross-sector collaboration, capacity building, and inclusive programming, AI 2030 empowers leaders, organizations, and communities to harness AI for the benefit of humanity.

​FinTech4Good: www.fintech4good.co
FinTech4Good is a global innovation and investment platform that connects startups, industry leaders, and investors to co-create solutions for a better world. With a focus on sustainable finance, digital economy, and emerging technologies, FinTech4Good champions responsible innovation with global impact.

​In Partnership With

​About 1871 https://1871.com/

​The Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center, dba 1871 is a 501c3 organization that exists to inspire, equip, and support people from all backgrounds to build and innovate extraordinary businesses.