Archives: Speakers

Mark Muro is a senior fellow at Brookings Metro and author of the Brookings research mapping AI readiness across U.S. metro areas, which places Washington in the top tier of “Star Hubs” behind only San Francisco and San Jose. His work provides the independent, third-party validation of the District’s AI market that anchors this program’s data segment.

Varun Sivaram is founder and CEO of Emerald AI, a Washington, DC company turning energy-hungry data centers into flexible grid assets, backed by roughly $68 million from investors including NVIDIA’s NVentures, Eaton, GE Vernova, Salesforce, Samsung, and In-Q-Tel. He previously served as chief strategy and innovation officer at Ørsted, CTO of ReNew, and as a senior U.S. diplomat at the State Department.

Stephen N. Miller is the District of Columbia’s seventh Chief Technology Officer and leads DC’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, winner of the inaugural AI 50 Award from the Center for Public Sector AI. Under his leadership, DC became the first major U.S. city to require Responsible AI training for its government workforce, giving him a first-in-nation vantage point on how the city regulating AI also deploys it.

Jessica Fulton is a senior fellow at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, the Washington, DC think tank focused on the economic advancement of Black communities, where she previously led the policy program. An economist with prior roles at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth and the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, she brings an independent workforce, labor, and talent-equity perspective to the District’s AI economy.

Marcus Finley is founder and CEO of FIN Digital, a Washington, DC digital product and AI development agency. Known as “The AI Professor,” he helps owners, CEOs, and CMOs integrate AI into their businesses to improve productivity and profitability, and is an experienced speaker and instructor on applied AI and technology delivery.

Vanessa is a scientist and entrepreneur with extensive experience across the biopharmaceutical and healthcare sectors. She began her career at Scotland Yard before joining LGC Group and later IQVIA, where she worked with leading biopharmaceutical and biotech companies across drug development, registration, market access, and commercialization. She has secured registration for several orphan and first-in-class medicines and previously served as Chief Commercial Officer of a leading clinical-trial technology company.

Vanessa serves on the Enterprise Advisory Board of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’s CW+, the Board of UCL’s Global Business School for Health, and formerly served on the Board of Cambridge Judge Business School. She holds a PhD in Cardiovascular Genetics from UCL, an MBA from the University of Cambridge, and a Master’s in Market Access from the University of Lyon.