AI in the Boardroom: Navigating the Challenge of Ethical, Regulatory, and Operational Risks & Opportunities

Overview

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Panelists

Brian Allen Bank Policy Institute Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology & Cybersecurity Risk Management

Brian Allen is the Senior Vice President of Emerging Technology Risk Management for BITS at the Bank Policy Institute, where he leads initiatives on AI, cybersecurity, fraud, and operational resilience. He collaborates with industry executives to address technology challenges such as governance, board risk oversight, and emerging risks driven by rapid innovation. As a senior advisor to the AI RegRisk Think Tank, Brian drives thought leadership and best practices for AI across regulated industries. Prior to joining BITS, he served as Chief Security Officer at Time Warner Cable—a Fortune 100 critical infrastructure provider—and led EY’s cyber risk management program efforts, advising boards and C-suite executives on their oversight obligations. His contributions extend to key industry groups, including roles in Comm-ISAC and the Comm and Financial Sector Coordinating Councils, and he sits on the NIST AI Safety Institute Consortium. Brian is also a published author and serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut. 

Kush Varshney IBM, IBM Fellow based at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center

Kush R. Varshney is an IBM Fellow responsible for innovations in AI governance. He leads the worldwide IBM Research strategy for human-centered trustworthy AI. He was a visiting scientist at IBM Research - Africa, Nairobi, Kenya in 2019. He was the founding co-director of the IBM Science for Social Good initiative from 2015-2023. He and his team created several well-known open-source toolkits, including AI Fairness 360, AI Explainability 360, Uncertainty Quantification 360, and AI FactSheets 360 as well as the Granite Guardian model family. He independently-published a book entitled 'Trustworthy Machine Learning' in 2022, available at http://www.trustworthymachinelearning.com.

Mechie Nkengla PhD CEO, Chief AI & Data Strategist, Data Products LLC

Dr. Mechie Nkengla is a leading AI and Data strategist with over two decades of experience driving transformation across business, academia, and government. As Chief AI & Data Strategist at Data Products LLC, she pioneers AI-driven innovation, aligning technology with business strategy to unlock growth and efficiency. A former director at EY’s AI & Analytics Global Center of Excellence, she holds a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics and multiple patents. She serves as a member of the Illinois AI and NLP Task Force, is a board member of i.c.stars championing ethical AI and workforce equity and is a former Chair of the CompTIA AI Advisory Board. A sought-after speaker and thought leader, Dr. Nkengla brings a rare blend of deep expertise and real-world impact—when she’s not hiking, dancing, or enjoying seafood. 

Matt Konwiser Regional CTO, IBM; AI Advisory Council Member, Global Technology Industry Association

Matt Konwiser is currently a field CTO with IBM and a member of the AI council with the GTIA. He has three decades of experience in the IT sector. His background includes network infrastructure, telecommunications, data center design, and cybersecurity. For the past 6 years, Matt has been focused on Artificial intelligence and its impacts on humans, including appropriate use of Ai, ethics and bias issues, workforce changes, and sustainability awareness. Matt’s professional experience includes roles in marketing, services, product management, and field technology at three large IT organizations. 

Moderator

Lalit Panda Managing Partner, Versento; Interim Global CIO, Netceed

Lalit has been a CxO heading the Technology or Supply Chain functions in companies of all sizes across 8 industries. He has worked in large public consumer product companies like Altria Harman and Sony as well as PE and VC backed companies in the $1-6B range like Tronox, Denon and Netceed. Leading digital and operational transformations has been his forte and passion. He has degrees in Supply Chain Management from MIT, Business Management from the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad and a B.Tech.(Hons) from National Institute of Technology, Calicut. He speaks regularly at industry conferences and has written blogs and articles in various industry and business journals. He is the co-chair of the Technology and Industrial SIGs at the Executive Forum and is also the co-chair of the Programs Committee at the PDA NY chapter. 

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A Special Thanks to Our Sponsor, IBM for generously hosting this event. 

Thank you to our National Sponsors!

 

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