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AI Ready or Risky?

An Executive Working Session for Leaders Pursuing AI Initiative

HOSTED BY: 
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LOCATION:
Northeastern University 8th Floor EXP 815 Columbus Avenue, 8th floor. Boston, MA 02120
Northeastern University 8th Floor EXP 815 Columbus Avenue, 8th floor. Boston, MA 02120
8:30 AM–12:00 PM
  
Oct
  
1
  
2026
  -  
  
  

Is your AI initiative ready to move forward?

Your organization has identified an opportunity for AI. The harder question is whether the business is ready to turn that opportunity into measurable value.

AI Ready or Risky? is an executive working session for C-level leaders actively evaluating, piloting, implementing, or scaling an AI initiative. Bring one specific AI initiative and pressure-test it with Northeastern and industry experts across four dimensions.

Hosted by
Sponsored by
Featured as part of
Nada Sanders
Emcee & Moderator

Nada Sanders

Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management
Fellow, Decision Sciences Institute
D'Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University

Professor Sanders will guide the morning's conversations and working sessions and moderate the fireside conversation with Tom Davenport and Usama Fayyad.

Pressure-test your initiative across four dimensions

Business Value & ROI

Is the initiative solving the right problem, and is the path to measurable value clear?

People Readiness

Does your organization have the skills, ownership, and support needed for adoption?

Data Readiness

Is the necessary data available, usable, trustworthy, and ready to support the initiative?

Governance & Access

Are the right controls in place for access, security, accountability, and responsible use?

How the Morning Works

The morning begins with a fireside conversation featuring Tom Davenport and Usama Fayyad on moving from AI experimentation to measurable business value.

You'll then work in a small executive cohort as expert teams rotate through the room, applying the four readiness dimensions directly to your initiative. Throughout the morning, you'll capture your findings on an AI Readiness Card, creating a practical view of what's ready, where risk remains, and what needs to happen next.

What You'll Leave With

  • A completed AI Readiness Card for your initiative
  • A clearer view of where you're ready to move forward and where gaps remain
  • Expert guidance across business value, people, data, governance, and security
  • A focused set of priorities and next steps
  • New connections with executives navigating similar AI decisions

Who Should Attend

Designed for C-level and equivalent enterprise leaders with decision-making responsibility for an active AI initiative.

Executive-only. For C-level leaders pursuing an active AI initiative. Attendance is limited to preserve the small-group, interactive format.

Northeastern University Speakers

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Agenda

8:30 am
Arrival, Breakfast, Networking & Meet the Experts
Connect with fellow executives and meet experts from Northeastern University, Kiteworks, and Concentric AI who will contribute perspectives throughout the morning.
9:00 am
Welcome & AI Readiness Framework
Get oriented to the morning's working format, the AI Readiness Card you'll use to pressure-test an active AI initiative, and ConferenceConnector, which will help you identify and connect with relevant peers throughout the event.
9:10 am
Fireside Conversation: Turning AI Investment into Business Value
Nada Sanders moderates this executive conversation with Usama Fayyad and Tom Davenport about moving from AI experimentation to measurable value. Explore how leaders identify and prioritize the right initiatives, define meaningful outcomes, evaluate ROI, and determine what should be validated before committing further investment.
10:05 am
Lightning Talk: Kiteworks
A security and data-governance perspective on protecting sensitive information as AI moves from experimentation into enterprise use.
10:15 am
Integrated AI Readiness Lab: Expert Rotations

Participants will remain in three small executive cohorts while expert teams rotate among them. Every participant will work with all three expert groups, pressure-testing their AI initiative across three interconnected areas of readiness.

10:15–10:35 Rotation 1 10:35–10:55 Rotation 2 10:55–11:15 Rotation 3
Expert Groups

Business Value & People Readiness

Dan Koloski
Dan Koloski
Roux Institute
Berkeley Almand-Hunter
Berkeley Almand-Hunter
Northeastern University

Translate the business priorities explored in the fireside conversation into execution. Examine organizational ownership, workforce capabilities, adoption, and what needs to be true for an AI investment to deliver its intended value.

Data Readiness

Omer Alis
Omer Alis
AI Solutions Hub
Jithin Veeragandham
Jithin Veeragandham
AI Solutions Hub

Assess whether your data and technical environment can support your AI initiative, including data quality, availability, infrastructure, and other dependencies that can determine whether an initiative succeeds.

Governance & Access

Thulasi Tholeti
Thulasi Tholeti
Responsible AI Practice
Meredith McFadden
Meredith McFadden
Responsible AI Practice

Identify the governance, responsible AI, security, and access considerations that need to be addressed as an AI initiative moves from concept toward implementation.

11:15 am
Lightning Talk: Concentric AI
A practitioner perspective on understanding and securing the sensitive data that organizations increasingly rely on to power AI
11:25 am
AI Readiness Synthesis: Priorities & Next Steps
Bring together insights from the fireside conversation, lightning talks, and expert discussions. Participants will complete their AI Readiness Card, identifying their initiative's strongest area of readiness, most significant gap or risk, key unresolved decision, and highest-priority next action.
11:55 am
Closing Priorities, Connections & Next Step
Close the morning with key takeaways, next steps, and opportunities to continue conversations with experts and fellow executives through ConferenceConnector.
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Catia Pereira
Director - America Sales Engineering
Kiteworks
Usama Fayyad
Sr. Vice Provost for AI & Data Strategy – Sr. Advisor to the president & Professor of the Practice, Khoury College for Computer Science
Northeastern University
Jithin Veeragandham
Data Scientist, AI Solutions Hub
Northeastern University
Omer Alis
Director, AI Solutions Hub
Northeastern University
Madhu Shashanka
Chief Scientist and Co-Founder
Concentric AI
Nada Sanders
Distinguished Professor of Supply Chain Management Fellow Decision Sciences Institute D’Amore- McKim School of Business
Northeastern University
Meredith McFadden
Research Scientist, Responsible AI Practice, Northeastern University
Thulasi Tholeti
Research Scientist, Responsible AI Practice at Northeastern University
Zach Blattner
Director of Partner Products and Programs
Liz Kohler
Managing Director of Strategy, Operations, and Growth
The Roux Institute
Emily Avery Miller
Teaching Professor in English
Northeastern University
Sulagna (Dia) Ghosh
Founder
Joint Family
Yafeng Wang
Assistant Teaching Professor, College of Engineering
Northeastern University
Tomo Lazovich
Assistant Professor of the Practice, AI Governance and Policy
Brown University
Prudence Lam
PhD Candidate
Northeastern University
Steven Geofrey
Associate Teaching Professor, Coordinator of Creative Coding
Northeastern University, College of Arts, Media, and Design
Smit Desai
Assistant Professor in the College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD) at Northeastern University
Weiyan Shi
Assistant Professor
Northeastern University, ECE & Khoury Computer Science
Melanie Tory
Director, Human Data Interaction Research
Northeastern University
Mahsan Nourani
Assistant Research Professor
Northeastern University
Berkeley Almand-Hunter
Technical Director of Partner Products
Tom Davenport
President’s Distinguished Professor of Information Technology and Management
Babson College
Piotr Sapiezynski
Assistant Research Professor
Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Don Fallis
Professor of Philosophy and Computer Science
Northeastern University
Andrea De Souza
Chief Corporate Development Officer
Qubit Pharmaceuticals
Vance Ricks
Associate Teaching Professor of Philosophy and Computer Science
College of Social Sciences and Humanities and Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Zara Muradali
National Managing Principal, Life Sciences
Grant Thornton Advisors, LLC
Ayan Paul
Research Scientist
The Institute for Experiential AI
Nicholas Judson
Associate Leader - Energy Systems Group
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
Lynée Turek-Hankins
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dartmouth College
Qi “Ryan” Wang
Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Northeastern University
Sai Ravela
Principal Research Scientist, Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS)
MIT Center for Computational Science & Engineering
Stephen George
VP of System Operations and Market Administration
ISO New England
Graham Turk
Regulatory Program Manager
Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA)
Galen Nelson
Chief Climate Officer
Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC)
Jinye Zhao
Principal Energy Market Analyst
ISO New England
Andrea Staid
Principal Technical Leader in the Energy Systems and Climate Analysis Group
EPRI
Jessica Trancik
Professor
MIT Institute for Data, Systems, and Society
Ryan McGranaghan
Data Scientist and Research Scientist
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Caroline Routh
Recruitment & Engagement Manager
Sean Martin
Business Development Manager
The Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University
Chris Torina
Director of Entrepreneurship
The Roux Institute at Northeastern University
Jim Reavis
CEO
Cloud Security Alliance
Gemma Galdon-Clavell. Ph.D.
CEO
Eticas.ai
Gian Corrado, MD
Director, Emergency Sports Medicine & Senior Associate Athletic Director and Chief Medical Officer
Massachusetts General Hospital & Northeastern University
Alycia Markowski
Clinical Professor
School of Clinical Rehab Sciences
Daniel Davis, MD
Senior Medical Director, Continuing Health
Atrium Health
Sammy Assefa, Ph.D
Senior Vp, Head of AI
US Bank
Mike Pollastri
Senior Vice Provost
The Roux Institute at Northeastern University
Micheal Wan
Research Scientist
The Institute for Experiential AI
Christian Reich
Professor of Practice
Bouvé College of Health Sciences
Saeed Amal
Research Professor
Northeastern University
Vito Quaranta
Professor of the Practice, Pharmaceutical Sciences
Northeastern University
Agata Lapedriza
Principle Research Scientist
The Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University
Jessica DiBiase
MPH and Data Analyst
Maine Health
Stuart Middleton
Associate Professor
University of Southampton
Angela Hosking
Dean and CEO
NU-Charlotte Campus
Gopal Ramchurn
CEO
RAiUK
Donnie Mitchem
Director, Behavioral Health Services
Outpatient Therapy & Community Services
Danny F. Scalise II
Public Health Director
Burke County Public Health
John Manning
Emergency Medicine Physician
Atrium Health
Matt Lewis
Founder, CEO and Chief Augmented Intelligence Officer
LL Mental
Arezoo Movaghar
Assistant Professor, Pediatrics
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Robert Leeman
Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Sciences
Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University
Amanda Choflet
Dean, School of Nursing
Bouvé College of Health Sciences at Northeastern University
Alisa Lincoln
Director, Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research
College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Northeastern University
Rafael Mestre
Lecturer
University of Southampton
Christine Zazzaro
President And Chief Executive Officer
McLeod Centers for Wellbeing
Liz Scharnetzki
Faculty Scientist I
MaineHealth
Ignacio Sarasua
Solution Architect
Nvidia
Aynsley Bernard
Principal Data Scientist
Kooth PLC
Aminat Adebiyi
Research Scientist
IBM Research
Trinity Coakley
Health Science and Psychology Student
Adam Woolley
Director of Assessment, Clinical Professor, Pharmacy and Health Systems Science
Elizabeth Mynatt
Dean of Khoury College of Computer Sciences
Sylvain Jaume
Director, School of Computer Science and Data Analytics
University of New England
Erin O'Neill
Candidate for M.S. in Health Informatics
Doug Sawyer
Medical Director
Maine Medical
Karen Huhn
Professor of Physical Therapy and Program Director
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
David Harder
Professor & Director
University of Maine Institute of Medicine
Dan Koloski
Head of Learning Programs, Roux Institute and Professor of the Practice, College of Professional Studies
Northeastern University
Connie Yowell
Senior Advisor to the Provost
Northeastern University
Justin Manjourides
Associate Professor of Public Health and Health Sciences
Northeastern University
Aarti Sathyanarayana
Assistant Professor in Health Science and Computer Science
Northeastern University
Jeanne Latourelle
Senior Vice President, Precision Medicine
Aitia
John Brownstein
SVP and Chief Innovation Officer
Boston Children’s Hospital
Colleen Hole
Innovation Strategic Advisor
Atrium Health/Advocate Health
Jens Rueter
Chief Medical Officer; Medical Director
The Jackson Laboratory; Maine Cancer Genomics Initiative
Predrag Radivojac
Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean of Research, Khoury College of Computer Science
Northeastern University
Jason Springs
Co-founder & CEO
Endpoint Health
Timothy Ruchti
Director Algorithms
Nihon Kohden Digital Health Solutions LLC
Isaac Kohane
Professor & Chair, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Harvard Medical School
Patricia Geli
Co-founder, Managing Director, and COO
C10 Labs
Crystal Brown
CEO & Co-Founder
CircNova
David Levine MD, MPH, MA
Associate Professor and Clinical Director
Mass General Brigham
Marinka Zitnik
Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Informatics
Harvard Medical School
Larry Brilliant
CEO
Evity.AI
Rasu B. Shrestha
Chief Innovation and Commercialization Officer
Advocate Health
John Halamka
Dwight and Dian Diercks President
Mayo Clinic Platform
Hoda Sayed-Friel
Former Executive Vice President
MEDITECH

Watch Highlights from the Event

Check out the full playlist here.

Attendee Testimonials

Location: Northeastern University 8th Floor EXP 815 Columbus Avenue, 8th floor. Boston, MA 02120

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