2026 TECHNOLOGY TRANSFORMATION
CONFERENCE AGENDA

8:30 AM – 9:30 AM

Registration Open  |  Exhibit Hall Open  |  Breakfast and Networking

9:30 AM – 9:45 AM

Welcome and Opening Remarks

• Kelly Schulz, Chief Executive Officer, Maryland Tech Council
• Secretary Coker, Maryland Department of Commerce

9:45 AM – 11:10AM

SME Sessions

9:45 AM – 10:30 AM

AI for Your Business – Hype Versus Reality

Andersen Consulting will share experiences from working with our clients and discuss how AI is different from previous tech revolutions. The session will explore what this means for your business now, in the immediate future, and in the near term, including how much time organizations have to adapt. Attendees will also examine whether it makes sense to make a big bet or take a more cautious, risk-mitigating approach to AI adoption.

• Dale Fedun, Partner, Head of Technology Transformation, Andersen Consulting

10:30 AM – 10:50 AM

MedTech

• Ivan George, Assistant Admin Dir (MISTCenter), Department of Surgery/Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Expert Speaker (TBA)

10:50 AM – 11:10 AM

AI Without the Hype: How Chat Agents Really Work and How to Use Them Well

AI tools like ChatGPT are everywhere but most people misunderstand what they actually do. In this session, we will break down how modern AI and large language models really work, debunk common chat agent myths, and explore their quirks and limitations. You will walk away with practical prompting techniques and real world guidance you can apply immediately without the hype or fear.

• Mo Ezderman, Director of AI, Mindgrub

11:10 AM – 11:50 AM

Quantum Technologies in Business Today

Quantum technologies are moving beyond research labs and into early commercial use, but they are only applicable to a specific class of problems at this stage. This session explores how businesses are beginning to use quantum technologies across areas such as optimization, simulation, sensing, communications, materials science, and post-quantum cryptography, with a focus on where value is being tested today and where near-term innovation is opening new possibilities. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of current use cases, the types of business challenges best suited for early experimentation, and how Maryland’s unique quantum ecosystem positions organizations to engage with these technologies.

Moderator:

• Jason Michael Perry, Founder & CEO of PerryLabs

Panelists:  

• Kimberly Mentzell, Director of Cybersecurity, Lead for Emerging Technologies, Maryland Department of Commerce
• Rick Muller, Senior Vice President, Federal Technical and Government Customer Engagement Lead, IonQ
• John Sawyer, Director, Strategic Research Initiatives at University of Maryland, Executive Director,  Mid-Atlantic Quantum Alliance

11:50 AM – 12:30 PM

Networking Break and Roundtables with Speakers

• Roundtable 1: MedTech
  • Ivan George, Assistant Admin Dir (MISTCenter), Department of Surgery/Anesthesiology and Critical Care, Johns Hopkins Medicine
    and Expert Speaker (TBA)

• Roundtable 2: AI for Your Business – Hype Versus Reality
  • Dale Fedun, Partner, Head of Technology Transformation, Andersen Consulting

• Roundtable 3: AI
• • Mo Ezderman, Director of AI, Mindgrub

• Roundtable 4: Quantum

12:30 PM – 1:30 PM

Networking Lunch

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

Keynote Fireside Chat

Gautam Mukunda will lead a fireside chat with Kelly Schulz, MTC’s Chief Executive Officer, where he will share his take on bold leadership, disruptive innovation, and making tough calls, skills today’s tech leaders need amid fast-moving change. His perspective, shaped by work across academia, industry, national security, and media, offers practical guidance for executives, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Click here to read his full bio.

• Gautam Mukanda, Yale School of Management Lecturer / Executive Fellow / Author of two books, ‘Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World’ and ‘Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter’
• Kelly Schulz, Chief Executive Officer, Maryland Tech Council

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

SME Sessions

2:30 PM – 2:50 PM

Advancing the Space Industrial Base through Technology Partnerships

NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) Program leads the development of communication and navigation technologies that enable NASA missions near Earth, at the Moon, and throughout the solar system. SCaN’s deputy program manager, Greg Heckler, will share two examples of how SCaN has partnered with Maryland space leaders, other government organizations, and the space industry to advance technologies that impact both NASA missions and everyday life.

• Greg Heckler, Deputy Program Manager for Capability Development, NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation Program

2:55 PM – 3:30 PM

Engineering the Transformation: How AI, Automation, and Zero Trust Are Rebuilding IT and Security Operations

Technology transformation is no longer theoretical. It is happening inside real environments, and teams are being forced to rethink how they build, operate, and secure modern systems.

This mainstage panel brings together engineering and operations leaders from Arctic Wolf, Pixee.ai, Xemplify IT, and Advantage Technology to discuss how AI, automation, and Zero Trust principles are being applied in practice across IT and security operations. The conversation will focus on what is actually changing on the ground, where automation delivers real value, where it falls short, and why foundational elements like endpoints, identity, and operating models matter more than ever.

This is a practitioner-led discussion designed to give both technical and non-technical audiences a clear, honest view into how modern organizations are engineering transformation without marketing hype.

• Chris May, Vice President of Security and Growth, Advantage.Tech
• Barqat Bari, Founder & CEO Xemplify IT
• Arshan Dabirsiaghi, CTO & Co-founder, Pixee.
• Christopher Fielder, Field CTO, Arctic Wolf

3:30 PM – 4:30 PM

Cocktail Reception

3:50 PM – 4:30 PM

Cocktail Reception and Roundtables with Speakers

• Roundtable 1: Keynote
  • Gautam Mukunda, Yale School of Management Lecturer / Executive Fellow / Author of two books, ‘Picking Presidents: How to Make the Most Consequential Decision in the World’ and ‘Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter’

• Roundtable 2: Cybersecurity
  • Chris May, Vice President of Security and Growth, Advantage.Tech
  • Arshan Dabirsiaghi, CTO & Co-founder, Pixee.
  • Christopher Fielder, Field CTO, Arctic Wolf

• Roundtable 3: NASA
  • Greg Heckler, Deputy Program Manager for Capability Development, NASA’s Space Communications and Navigation Program

• Roundtable 4: AI Beyond the Hype: What Actually Changed—and What Didn’t
  AI is everywhere today—but much of what is discussed is hype rather than clarity. While AI itself is not new, technologies like Generative AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) are, and this distinction matters for how businesses make long-term decisions.

  In this roundtable, we will discuss:
  •  What is genuinely new in AI, and what is not
  •  The difference between Consumer AI and Business AI, and why the same expectations don’t apply
  •  The reality of building Business AI with a very limited number of LLM and API providers
  •  How enterprise API behavior and feedback differ from consumer tools like ChatGPT
  •  Whether everything should be built with GenAI—or only where LLMs are truly strong
  •  The role of data ownership and control: if organizations don’t fully control their data, can AI realistically deliver control?

  This will be an open, executive-level discussion focused on practical understanding rather than tools or vendors.
  

  • Gokhan Erodogdu, Founder and CEO, CloudOffix