KEYNOTES

Blake Moret
Chairman & CEO
Rockwell Automation

Blake Moret is Chairman and CEO of Rockwell Automation, the world’s largest company dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation. As CEO, Blake is dedicated to delivering the company’s strategy to bring the Connected Enterprise to life. Under his leadership, Rockwell Automation integrates control and information to help make industrial companies and their people more productive and the world more sustainable. Blake is accelerating the Rockwell Automation strategy by focusing on understanding customer needs and their best opportunities for productivity, combining our technology and domain expertise to deliver positive business outcomes, and simplifying our customers’ experience. Key to this strategy is Rockwell’s culture, the foundation for the company’s accelerated profitable growth.

Tessa Myers
Sr. Vice President Intelligent Devices
Rockwell Automation

Tessa Myers is senior vice president, Intelligent Devices. She is responsible for leading strategy, people and talent development, and the worldwide growth of the segment, which includes drives, motion, safety, sensing, industrial components, and configured-to-order products that are the foundation of smart production systems. Since joining Rockwell Automation in 1999, she has built global industry expertise with leadership roles in sales, channel and partner management and business unit and product development across hardware and software, working in the U.S., Canada and Singapore. With a passion for developing talent and culture, she is the executive sponsor for the ADVANCE Young Professionals employee resource group.

Cyril Perducat
Chief Technology Officer
Rockwell Automation

Cyril Perducat is senior vice president and Chief Technology Officer. Cyril and his team focus on growing Rockwell’s already broad technology offering and expanding what is possible in the industrial automation space. He charts the company’s technology roadmap, our reusable intellectual property library, and research related to core technology. Cyril has developed innovative solutions to enhance manufacturing technologies. He has an extensive background as a technology strategist, particularly in systems, software, networks, and solutions businesses. Cyril joined Rockwell Automation after 25 years with Schneider Electric. He has a passion for innovating and building teams, and implementing successful outcomes based in effective change management.

Dean Kamen
Founder
DEKA Research & Development Corporation

An inventor, an entrepreneur, and a tireless advocate for science and technology, Dean Kamen’s roles as inventor and advocate are intertwined—his own passion for technology and its practical uses has driven his personal determination to spread the word about technology's virtues and by so doing to change the culture of the United States.

Dean is the founder and president of DEKA Research & Development Corporation. Examples of technologies developed by DEKA include the HomeChoice™ portable dialysis machine, the iBOT™ Mobility System, the Segway™ Human Transporter, a DARPA-funded robotic arm and the Slingshot water purifier.

One of Dean's proudest accomplishments is founding FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), an organization dedicated to motivating the next generation to understand, use and enjoy science and technology. This year FIRST® will serve more than 2,500,000 young people, ages 6 to 18, in more than 113 countries around the globe.

Judson Althoff
Chief Commercial Officer
Microsoft

Judson Althoff is executive vice president and chief commercial officer at Microsoft. He is responsible for the sales strategy, execution and revenue growth of the company’s commercial business, which spans enterprise, public sector, small and medium businesses, services, developer and partner communities in more than 120 regional and national subsidiaries globally. Althoff is passionate about co-innovating with customers to democratize and scale digital experiences across their organization — from the boardroom to the factory floor — and in the marketplace. Under his leadership, Microsoft has posted uninterrupted commercial cloud revenue growth, powered by close partnerships with customers that are driving business outcomes through digital transformation.

Nick Thompson
CEO
The Atlantic

Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic and the former editor-in-chief of WIRED. He is a former contributor for CBS News and a cofounder of The Atavist, a National Magazine Award–winning company that was sold to WordPress. Thompson previously served as editor of NewYorker.com and as a senior editor at WIRED. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race. He is currently building SpeakEasy.ai to encourage people to engage in positive and productive conversations, alongside writing a book on the way the mind of a runner works.

Anousheh Ansari
CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation

Anousheh Ansari, Chairman of Prodea Systems has decades of entrepreneurial success and a lifelong passion for groundbreaking technologies. Recognized as the first female private space explorer, she became the fourth private explorer and first person of Iranian heritage to venture into space.

Her family's sponsorship of the Ansari XPRIZE, a $10 million award for the first non-governmental organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks, made history in 2004 under legendary aerospace designer Burt Rutan.

Prior to founding Prodea Systems, Anousheh co-founded, served as CEO, and chaired the board of Telecom Technologies, Inc. Her visionary leadership led to significant growth, including three pivotal U.S. patents and a merger with Sonus Networks, Inc., a prominent IP-based voice infrastructure provider.

A living example of the American Dream, Anousheh emigrated to the U.S. as a non-English-speaking teenager. She earned a bachelor's degree in electronics and computer engineering, a master’s degree in electrical engineering, and is now pursuing a master's degree in astronomy.

Beyond her business achievements, Anousheh is dedicated to enabling social entrepreneurs to bring about radical change globally. She works with a number of non-profit organizations, including the Ashoka Foundation in support of social entrepreneurs.

Ali Bessette
Manufacturing Engineer and FIRST Robotics Competition Alum

Ali Bessette, a New England biotech manufacturing engineer, epitomizes STEM dedication. She champions inclusivity in STEM and actively engages in K-12 robotics programs. As a First Robotics Competition (FRC) alum, Ali's robotics roots run deep. She's a former First Lego League coach, mentor, and Robotics Institute of Maine board member, nurturing young minds in science and tech. Beyond mentoring, she embraces the role of emcee at global FRC events, with a focus on the vibrant New England Region.