Past Events

Revolutionizing Healthcare: AI-Driven Innovations & Precision Medicine

This dynamic and insightful panel discussion explored groundbreaking advancements in AI-driven healthcare. The event hosted at Portal featured exclusive insights from Chicago's foremost healthcare AI innovators from Abridge, Portal Innovations, Prenosis, and Tempus. ​

​Speakers:
Daniel Gloede, Vice President, Finance and Operations, Abridge

Ashish Uppala, Senior Director, Head of Engineering and Product, Portal Innovations

Bobby Reddy Jr., CEO and Co-founder, Prenosis

Jonathan Ozeran, Vice President, Generative AI, Tempus

Pete Wilkins, Founder, Omaxn and Managing Partner, HPA

Remaking Fast Food with AI: McDonald's Strategic Deployment of Generative AI - with McDonald’s

Technexus Venture Collaborative hosted an illuminating session where we delved into the transformative integration of Generative AI within McDonald's operations. Participants discovered how this global fast-food leader effectively harnessed cutting-edge AI technologies to revolutionize customer engagement, streamline operational efficiency, and drive substantial growth.

​Speaker: Michelle Gansle, Chief Data, Analytics & AI Officer, McDonald’s

McDonald's logo with golden arches and red text

The Brave New World of Data and AI - A Fireside Chat for VC and Startup Leaders with Databricks

This event shared exclusive insights into Databricks' strategic vision for AI innovation, emerging trends shaping the future of technology investment and detailed how Databricks works with VCs and startups to bring credits, hands-on support and GTM expertise as they build data and AI applications with Databricks. An open Q&A session addressed burning questions from this VC and startup founder-only audience.

Speaker: Steve Sobel, Databricks Global leader for Startups and Venture Programs

Databricks logo with red stack icon

Revolutionizing Business Ops with Generative AI: Exploring HR, Procurement, and Customer Support Solutions at Scale - with IBM

In this session, we explored how companies use Generative AI at scale to enhance their business operations.

Speaker: Madison Gooch, Vice President, watsonx, IBM

IBM logo with horizontal stripes, black letters on white background.

Real-world Examples of Implementing Generative AI at Scale - with Databricks (Sponsor: West Monroe)

In this session, we explored real-world examples of how Databricks has assisted organizations in deploying Generative AI at scale. The event was sponsored by West Monroe and hosted at their Chicago HQ office.

​Speaker: Franco Patano, Global Product Specialist, Databricks

Databricks logo with icon of stacked layers and 'databricks' text

Harnessing Generative AI for Enterprise Growth - with Intel

​In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept but an ever-present reality, participants discovered how enterprises are seeking to leverage Generative AI (Gen-AI) to drive innovation and maintain a competitive advantage.

​Speaker: Tony Toulouse, Vice President - IT Architecture and Infrastructure Services, Intel (postponed)

Intel logo in blue text with a small blue square above the letter 'i'.

Optimizing Data Supply Chains from End-to-End - with Morningstar

Morningstar is one of the world’s leading providers of financial data. In this fireside chat, we discussed some of the ways that Morningstar is pursuing a human-powered and AI-enabled data mesh operating model.

​Speaker: Lee Davidson, Chief Data & Analytic Officer, Morningstar

Generative AI in Retail: Real-Life Examples and Best Practices - with Microsoft

Retailers are at a crucial turning point in today's fast-paced world of technological advancements. In this session, we discussed how the introduction of generative AI presents an exciting opportunity to transform the retail industry by achieving better business outcomes and improving productivity across the board, from shopping experiences to store associate workflows and supply chain operations.

​​Speaker: Mike Edmonds, Sr. Director of Strategy, Global Retail, Consumer Goods & Gaming Industries, Microsoft

Implementing GenAI: Blueprint for Business Transformation - with McKinsey & Co.

This session detailed he transformative power of AI as we delved into the success stories of companies that have revolutionized aspects of their business through cutting-edge AI applications.

​​Speaker: Mani Gopalakrishnan, McKinsey & Company