Media & Information

Esteemed specialists working in the fields of media education, digital media, multimedia and radio services

Eric Riz

Eric Riz

Eric is a recognized authority in the advancement of AI and digital transformation with a career marked by impactful projects with global giants such as Disney and Kellogg’s. His expertise in Microsoft 365 has consistently driven transformative change, enhancing corporate efficiencies and aligning technology with strategic business goals.

He is at the forefront of helping organizations adopt Microsoft Copilot and AI-driven tools to unlock new levels of productivity. His work emphasizes how generative AI can transform collaboration, decision-making, and enterprise strategy by embedding intelligence directly into daily workflows. By guiding enterprises through Copilot readiness, governance, and adoption, Eric ensures AI is deployed responsibly and at scale.

Equally central to his work is a strong focus on cybersecurity and risk management. He has deep expertise in deploying Microsoft’s security and compliance stack, including Defender, Sentinel, Intune, and Purview, to protect organizations from evolving digital threats. His strategies enable enterprises to strengthen defenses, safeguard sensitive information, and build resilience against cyber risk while maintaining compliance with global standards.

Eric’s operational acumen is rooted in his ability to define and implement robust corporate technology strategies for Fortune 500 companies. His strategic insights are regularly sought after by industry leaders, and he has shared his expertise on platforms such as Fox Business, The Globe and Mail, Entrepreneur Magazine, and The Huffington Post.

In addition to his client work, Eric is a pivotal figure in the tech community. He serves on the Microsoft Cloud Advisory Board, helping shape the future of AI and cloud computing. His contributions have been recognized with six Microsoft MVP awards, underscoring his commitment to innovation and excellence. As a Judge for the Microsoft Imagine Cup, Eric also mentors the next generation of tech leaders, advancing both AI adoption and security practices.

Based in Toronto, Eric balances his professional life with passions as an avid cyclist and hockey enthusiast, bringing the same drive and dedication to his personal pursuits as he does to advancing Copilot, cybersecurity, and enterprise transformation.

Eric is a recognized authority in the advancement of AI and digital transformation with a career marked by impactful projects with global giants such as Disney and Kellogg’s. His expertise in Microsoft 365 has consistently driven transformative chang... Show more

Vinodh Kumar

Vinodh Kumar

Microsoft MCT, Blogger and a Data Enthusiast

Microsoft MCT, Blogger and a Data Enthusiast Show more

Adi Stein

Adi Stein

Meet Adi! Adi is a multi-disciplinary master: She manages the App & AI and cloud services across Southeast Europe, holds a degree in software engineering, launched startups, managing startups competitions, won global competitions and is a passionate innovator. This diversity gives her the unique ability to communicate complex technologies in a compelling way to tech and non-tech audiences alike and makes her a sought-after public speaker.

Adi is also a global speaker on AI technologies, developers productivity and entrepreneurship. She empowers companies and startups to innovate with generative AI for building cutting-edge applications at scale.

Adi has a wealth of experience in the tech industry, from corporate to startups, having held various roles in product management, software engineer, CEO, innovation, entrepreneurship, and AI domain. She previously worked as an innovation manager at Microsoft R&D CTO office, where she led market research and developed business models for new tech ventures. She also worked at Over.ai, which was acquired by Vonage, and as a product manager for AI products.

Adi is startups founder. Growing two ventures in the brain computer interface for gaming and wellness domain, ignited her mission to encourage more women to start their own ventures. Adi launched and managed Ben-Gurion University innovation hub for entrepreneurs, and in the last 7 years, she manages Merage alumni network (an Israeli network of 1000 startup CEOs selected to the prestigious Merage program) and the Merage startup competition (Granting $100K to entrepreneurs above the age 45 or women at any age), and volunteer in various women empowerment initiatives.

Adi is a dynamic and engaging speaker who is always willing to share her experiences and insights with others.

Meet Adi! Adi is a multi-disciplinary master: She manages the App & AI and cloud services across Southeast Europe, holds a degree in software engineering, launched startups, managing startups competitions, won global competitions and is a passionate ... Show more

Durga Krishnamoorthy

Durga Krishnamoorthy

Durga Krishnamoorthy is a Digital Product Management Leader with 12 years of experience in Retail, AI and Financial Services. Backed by strong academics from Carnegie Mellon University, she brings her experiences from Fortune 500 Brands such as Cognizant, Kroger, Petco, TikTok and EY to thought leadership at Forbes, IEEE research and alike. She serves as a Board Member for a US-based Product Management Community.

Always love to give back through mentoring, writing, and speaking about the evolving role of Product leadership in shaping business and societal outcomes. Reach out to me at durga.krish33@gmail.com or setup time on https://adplist.org/mentors/durga-krishnamoorthy

Durga Krishnamoorthy is a Digital Product Management Leader with 12 years of experience in Retail, AI and Financial Services. Backed by strong academics from Carnegie Mellon University, she brings her experiences from Fortune 500 Brands such as Cogni... Show more

Andrea Mondello

Andrea Mondello

I lead Withum’s Data & AI practice, helping organizations modernize their operations and unlock the full value of analytics and automation.

My background blends 25+ years in business advisory, process optimization, and analytics, giving me a unique perspective on how organizations can adopt Power BI, Microsoft Fabric, and AI-enabled tools strategically.

Key areas of expertise:
• AI adoption strategy for business leaders
• Building BI Centers of Excellence that scale
• Process mapping workshops that uncover hidden inefficiencies
• Advisory support tailored to healthcare, legal, NFPs, and finance

My mission is simple: help leaders leverage AI to translate complexity into clarity and data into strategy.

I lead Withum’s Data & AI practice, helping organizations modernize their operations and unlock the full value of analytics and automation. My background blends 25+ years in business advisory, process optimization, and analytics, giving me a uniqu... Show more

Sandeep Voona

Sandeep Voona

Visionary & Digital Transformation Expert

Sandeep Voona is a 2025 award-winning Digital Transformation expert recognized as "The Most Influential Personality in Digital Transformation" by CXO Time, with additional honors including the Global Recognition Award for Innovation in Enterprise Software Development and Globee Gold Award for Artificial Intelligence. As Senior Principal Product Manager at ServiceNow, he architected the Zero Copy ERP solution that reduced integration latency by 60% and deployed globally across SAP, Oracle, and Workday platforms.

Sandeep has built his career transforming technical innovation into measurable business outcomes. A Senior Member of IEEE (top 10% globally), he serves on the IEEE-USA AI Policy Committee while continuing his legacy of enterprise innovation. His tenure at SAP saw him migrate hundreds of enterprise customers to cloud platforms while being twice selected for the exclusive SAP Catalyst program. Now at ServiceNow, he continues developing telemetry-driven products that significantly reduce delivery cycles while serving global enterprise clients.

Beyond corporate achievements, Sandeep demonstrates exceptional leadership through mentorship, achieving top 1% performance on topmate.io with 150+ monthly sessions guiding professionals into AI and product management careers. He co-founded Pan-Asians@SAP, organically growing it to 5000+ global members and influencing inclusive recruitment policies. As a startup mentor through SAP.iO, he has guided companies from Pre-Seed to Series A while serving as a judge for Unicorn Events (world's largest startup pitch contest), Globee Awards, and The Stevie Awards.

Visionary & Digital Transformation Expert Sandeep Voona is a 2025 award-winning Digital Transformation expert recognized as "The Most Influential Personality in Digital Transformation" by CXO Time, with additional honors including the Global Recog... Show more

Annalinde Singh

Annalinde Singh

Annalinde's main area of passion is bringing humanness into the workplace. She adores trying new things out. She is a connector of and with people. She's worked as an analyst, facilitator, musician, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach across various industries, and is also a published poet. Her favourite communication methods include emojis and GIFs. 😉

Annalinde's main area of passion is bringing humanness into the workplace. She adores trying new things out. She is a connector of and with people. She's worked as an analyst, facilitator, musician, Scrum Master, and Agile Coach across various indust... Show more

Jonathan Joel Mentor

Jonathan Joel Mentor

Jonathan Mentor is the CEO of Successment, a RevOps consultancy powering startup revenue growth across Latin America and the U.S. He writes the syndicated Digital Nomad Weekly column and was a Dominican nominee for the UN World Summit Award. As a mentor with Techstars, Parallel18, and Black Ambition (Pharrell), Jonathan shapes scalable ventures at the intersection of data, innovation, and narrative power.

Jonathan Mentor is the CEO of Successment, a RevOps consultancy powering startup revenue growth across Latin America and the U.S. He writes the syndicated Digital Nomad Weekly column and was a Dominican nominee for the UN World Summit Award. As a men... Show more

Brandon T Bande

Brandon T Bande

Since 2020 Brandon has been actively engaging with and speaking to the developer community on tech and non-tech related issues. Having presented to mixed and diverse audiences , Brandon delivers electrifying talks that aim to inspire , inform and engage audiences. His talks has ranged from physical and online workshop sessions to panels and keynotes. Some of the events he has been part of include DevFest Harare (Zimbabwe) , DevFest Kitwe and DevFest Lusaka (Zambia) and , BuildwithAI Bonny Island (Nigeria ), Mozilla Festival Zambia , PyCon Zimbabwe and PyCon Africa (South Africa).

As a community lead and builder , Brandon has contributed to the revitalisation of Google Developer Groups Harare , spreading and mentoring student tech communities through Applied Machine Learning Days Africa , Zindi and he previously served as a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador and a vice-president for Students for Exploration and Development of Space Midlands State University.

Since 2020 Brandon has been actively engaging with and speaking to the developer community on tech and non-tech related issues. Having presented to mixed and diverse audiences , Brandon delivers electrifying talks that aim to inspire , inform and eng... Show more

Lesley Cordero

Lesley Cordero

Lesley Cordero is currently a Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead at The New York Times. She has spent the majority of her career on edtech teams as an engineer, including Google for Education and other edtech startups.

In her current role, she is focused on observability, shared platforms, and building excellent teams by setting reliability vision & strategy across The Times, improving our observability footprint, and cultivating culture that builds with the most vulnerable employees in mind first. She shows care for others by holding them accountable to the best versions of themselves – and by buying them the occasional bubble tea.

Lesley Cordero is currently a Staff Software Engineer, Tech Lead at The New York Times. She has spent the majority of her career on edtech teams as an engineer, including Google for Education and other edtech startups. In her current role, she is... Show more

Tomasz Osmanowski

Tomasz Osmanowski

I started my journey in software development in 2002, inspired by Stephen Prat's book "C++ Primer Plus" when I was 13 years old. Today, as a Regional Fujitsu Distinguished Engineer, I lead IT projects from proof of concept through to delivery and maintenance phases. My experience spans various business sectors, including retail, legal, and defense, and encompasses frameworks such as .NET, Angular, React, and SQL, as well as platforms like Azure, AWS, and Kubernetes (K8s).

I am a Microsoft MVP and a Microsoft MCT. I mentor students from high school and up through an education program I created myself, with its products now thriving independently thanks to collaboration within our TechMentoringPL group. I strongly believe in the benefits of lifelong learning and sharing knowledge, aiming to make IT less intimidating for young adults, future tech leaders - this is the goal of the TechMentoringPL group. To keep my skills sharp, I am currently pursuing the Executive Education program at UC Berkeley Haas.

I started my journey in software development in 2002, inspired by Stephen Prat's book "C++ Primer Plus" when I was 13 years old. Today, as a Regional Fujitsu Distinguished Engineer, I lead IT projects from proof of concept through to delivery and mai... Show more

Nick Proud

Nick Proud

I’m a CTO, Microsoft MVP and technology leader working within the RPA space, delivering software that enhances day-to-day processes.
I create videos about C# and .NET on YouTube and I am currently the Head of Software Development at NexBotix

I’m a CTO, Microsoft MVP and technology leader working within the RPA space, delivering software that enhances day-to-day processes. I create videos about C# and .NET on YouTube and I am currently the Head of Software Development at NexBotix Show more

Peter Örneholm

Peter Örneholm

Peter Örneholm is the CTO at Budi Auktioner, dedicated to helping companies reduce waste and embrace reuse through smart digital tools. With over 15 years of experience in Microsoft-related technologies, he leverages the power of cloud solutions like Azure to drive innovation and sustainability. Peter's mission is to create impactful solutions that enable businesses to adopt more circular and sustainable practices.

Peter Örneholm is the CTO at Budi Auktioner, dedicated to helping companies reduce waste and embrace reuse through smart digital tools. With over 15 years of experience in Microsoft-related technologies, he leverages the power of cloud solutions like... Show more

Samuel Kehinde Ayo

Samuel Kehinde Ayo

Sam Ayo is a seasoned and highly skilled hands-on AI/ML engineer with years of experience in software, data, and AI consulting. He has a proven track record in the design, development, and deployment of machine learning systems, enterprise-scale data products, and multi-phased AI solutions.

With a background in economics, mathematics and AI, Sam Ayo is a 3-time AI hackathon winner and has been heavily involved in building ML solutions across various cross-industry fields, including Media & Advertising, IoT, Retail, and Energy.

Sam Ayo's expertise and achievements have earned him speaking opportunities at prestigious events. He was honoured by the Federal Minister for Digital Economy and Innovation, Dr Bosun Tijani at the National AI Strategy Conference 2024 in Abuja.

Sam Ayo has spoken at so many top AI conferences and workshops including AIFest, the Nigeria Computer Society [the global body for computer science in Nigeria, where he shared insights on the intersection of AI and business impact], DataFest, Data Science Conference Europe, OscaFEST, GDG DevFest, AWS westAfrica, including the Microsoft Student Learn Community, delivering a talk on leveraging AI for real-world applications to aspiring technologists.

In addition to these engagements, Sam Ayo has been a featured speaker at the Ehingbeti Summit for technology, a renowned conference that brings together thought leaders and industry experts to discuss technological advancements and their impact on various sectors. At the Ehingbeti Summit, Sam Ayo provided valuable insights into the transformative power of AI and data science in driving innovation and sustainable development.

As a versatile and dynamic professional, Sam Ayo is renowned for his results-driven leadership. He thrives on complex problem-solving, creating value streams across product delivery lifecycles, and delivering outstanding results that help companies take their data strategy from plan to prototype to profitability.

Beyond his professional accomplishments, Sam Ayo is dedicated to knowledge sharing and collective growth. He actively engages in community mentorship, open-source development, meetups facilitation, technical writing, and research, contributing to the advancement of AI and data science.

With his deep expertise, commitment to excellence, and passion for sharing knowledge, Sam Ayo is a sought-after speaker and a valuable asset in driving innovation and success in the field of AI engineering and data science.

Sam Ayo is a seasoned and highly skilled hands-on AI/ML engineer with years of experience in software, data, and AI consulting. He has a proven track record in the design, development, and deployment of machine learning systems, enterprise-scale data... Show more

Tim Damen

Tim Damen

Driven by the mission to make people's lives easier, Tim Damen actively advocates for and builds a web that serves everyone equally. Tim is a frontend developer, web accessibility specialist, and engineering manager from Amsterdam, the Netherlands 🇳🇱. With over a decade of experience, primarily at major financial institutions, Tim has spoken at various conferences and meetups. He also hosts "focustrap," a podcast about digital accessibility.

Driven by the mission to make people's lives easier, Tim Damen actively advocates for and builds a web that serves everyone equally. Tim is a frontend developer, web accessibility specialist, and engineering manager from Amsterdam, the Netherlands 🇳... Show more

Mark Heckler

Mark Heckler

Mark Heckler, MBA is the Senior Director of Field Engineering at Moderne.
He has worked with key players in numerous industries and organizations to develop, deliver, and maintain critical capabilities securely, on time, and on budget. Mark is an open source contributor, author of Spring Boot: Up and Running (https://bit.ly/springbootbook), and a licensed, instrument-rated pilot.

Mark Heckler, MBA is the Senior Director of Field Engineering at Moderne. He has worked with key players in numerous industries and organizations to develop, deliver, and maintain critical capabilities securely, on time, and on budget. Mark is an o... Show more

Ricardo Ferreira

Ricardo Ferreira

Ricardo leads the developer relations team at Redis. He built a successful career in DevRel working for companies such as AWS, Elastic, and Confluent.

Before DevRel, he had built deep expertise in distributed systems, databases, and data streaming over the past 20 years. Ricardo's career began with a decade-long focus on software engineering, coding with Java, and mastering development best practices. After this, he shifted his focus to solution architecture. In this role, he specialized in databases, in-memory data grids, and big data systems.

Ricardo leads the developer relations team at Redis. He built a successful career in DevRel working for companies such as AWS, Elastic, and Confluent. Before DevRel, he had built deep expertise in distributed systems, databases, and data streaming... Show more

Craig Walls

Craig Walls

Craig Walls is an engineer with Broadcom, Java Champion, Alexa Champion, and the author of Spring AI in Action, Spring in Action, and Build Talking Apps. He's a zealous promoter of the Spring Framework, speaking frequently at local user groups and conferences and writing about Spring, Alexa, and Generative AI. When he's not slinging code, Craig is planning his next trip to Disney World or Disneyland and spending as much time as he can with his wife, two daughters, 1 bird and 2 dogs.

Craig Walls is an engineer with Broadcom, Java Champion, Alexa Champion, and the author of Spring AI in Action, Spring in Action, and Build Talking Apps. He's a zealous promoter of the Spring Framework, speaking frequently at local user groups and co... Show more

Guro Faller

Guro Faller

Solution architect from Norway with a passion for vintage clothing and good customer experiences. Guro has worked for 10+ years with Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. Her background is varied, with experience in retail, fashion, financial services, marketing, and event management.
Guro is part of organizing multiple community events, such as the Nordic Summit.

Solution architect from Norway with a passion for vintage clothing and good customer experiences. Guro has worked for 10+ years with Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform. Her background is varied, with experience in retail, fashion, financial services... Show more

M. Mustafa Bolat

M. Mustafa Bolat

Mustafa Bolat is a Microsoft MVP in Excel and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with over 15 years of experience in data analytics, Excel, SQL, and Power BI.

He has trained more than 100,000 professionals in over 1,500 companies, authored the book Excel’in Kök Hücresi, and published top-viewed SQL and Power BI courses.
As the founder of BYMMB Bilgi Akademisi, Mustafa is passionate about empowering individuals and organizations to become data-driven.

He regularly speaks at events, delivers bootcamps, and creates content for a community of over half a million learners worldwide.

Mustafa Bolat is a Microsoft MVP in Excel and a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) with over 15 years of experience in data analytics, Excel, SQL, and Power BI. He has trained more than 100,000 professionals in over 1,500 companies, authored the bo... Show more

Ambili Thottathil

Ambili Thottathil

Ambili is a Principal Consultant in Analytics with Rittman Mead Consulting LTD with an industry experience of around 19 years. Her special focus is on Oracle Analytics, Oracle Digital Assistant, Oracle Database, Big Data and Graph DB primarily. Ambili is a passionate trainer who has trained many batches in Oracle DB development, Oracle Big Data and Oracle Analytics Cloud as a passion. Ambili has been a frequent Speaker at various international Oracle user group conferences since 2017 and is certified as an Oracle Cloud Platform Enterprise Analytics Professional, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Digital Assistant Professional and Oracle Certified Professional in Oracle Database Development. She is also a certified associate in Oracle Machine Learning using Autonomous Database, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Oracle Cloud Data Management. She has also been actively blogging and taking frequent webinars in her organisation forums.
In her own words, she is an IT Professional by career, a Speaker by passion and an Artist by soul!

Ambili is a Principal Consultant in Analytics with Rittman Mead Consulting LTD with an industry experience of around 19 years. Her special focus is on Oracle Analytics, Oracle Digital Assistant, Oracle Database, Big Data and Graph DB primarily. Ambil... Show more

Shakir Majeed Khan

Shakir Majeed Khan

Shakir Majeed Khan / SMK ( MCT) has been into PowerPlatform / SharePoint / Office365 evangelism from 15+ years. Starting his career in 2007, he quickly switched to SharePoint technology in 2008. From there onwards, he spends days in and out working and advocating for Microsoft Technologies. Shakir has presented in numerous events such as

Singapore Power Platform User Group,
Melbourne D365 and power platform User Group,
Adelaide Office 365 User Group,
Sydney PowerApps Flow User Group,
M365 Friday California,
SWISS Power Platform 365 Saturday,
M365 Chicago,
Office365 Virtual Marathon,
Light up Conference,
Global Automation Bootcamp,
Power Platform Pakistan
Global Power Platform Bootcamp - Pakistan,
SharePoint Techies UserGroup,
SharePoint Saturday Dubai,
SharePoint Saturday Srilanka,
Microsoft Reactor events,
Microsoft Innovation Center Karachi
PAF-KIET,
University of Technology Sydney (UTS),
Macquire University,
Muhammad Ali Jinnah University (MAJU),
Department of computer Science (UBIT-KU),
FAST University

He is an active contributor on his Blogs (http://shakirmajeed.com/) and YouTube (https://tinyurl.com/SMKGeekSpeak)

Shakir Majeed Khan / SMK ( MCT) has been into PowerPlatform / SharePoint / Office365 evangelism from 15+ years. Starting his career in 2007, he quickly switched to SharePoint technology in 2008. From there onwards, he spends days in and out working a... Show more

Daniele Frasca

Daniele Frasca

Daniele is an AWS Serverless Community Builder. Daniele is focusing on building and architecting serverless applications at scale. Daniele is architecting media services for millions of users in his current role, leveraging a multi-region architecture with the AWS Serverless service. Daniele is sharing his ideas on his blog, and he is pushing the limits using Rust to get the extra milliseconds required to give better experiences to final customers.

Daniele is an AWS Serverless Community Builder. Daniele is focusing on building and architecting serverless applications at scale. Daniele is architecting media services for millions of users in his current role, leveraging a multi-region architectur... Show more

Sean Killeen

Sean Killeen

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Sean is a Microsoft MVP with 15+ years of experience as a technical leader across commercial, non-profit, and federal clients. He's currently the VP of Innovation and Products at SCT Software; prior to that, he spent many years in consulting leading teams and leaders. He once completed a modernization project that industry analysts called "more complex than the moon landing". He has also been a trainer for the CSD Certification via ScrumAlliance and for the ICP-TST/ATA certifications via ICAgile. Aside from loving his work way too much, there's a good chance he's enjoying/stressing about being a new dad, sipping great beer, exploring the Arlington area, or singing somewhere. You can find him on Twitter at @sjkilleen or blogging not nearly often enough at SeanKilleen.com. He doesn't bite; say hi!

Originally from the Philadelphia area, Sean is a Microsoft MVP with 15+ years of experience as a technical leader across commercial, non-profit, and federal clients. He's currently the VP of Innovation and Products at SCT Software; prior to that, he ... Show more

Joshua Johnson

Joshua Johnson


Joshua Johnson is an American technology executive who serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of TREE Industries, a company founded in September 2017 and headquartered in Washington, Missouri, specializing in sustainable AI innovation to address environmental challenges through ethical, eco-friendly artificial intelligence solutions focused on accessibility, privacy, and open-source technologies. As CTO since the company's inception, Johnson architects next-generation emerging technologies and AI solutions, leading TREE Industries' efforts to integrate sustainability first principles into AI development for global problem-solving, including advancements in voice-powered tools, 3D avatars with open-source AI assistants, and collaborative virtual beings. His notable public contributions, documented since 2017, include spearheading the release of TREE's first video game, Ultimate Disc Golf, in December 2019; developing a voice-powered virtual production tool using Unreal Engine and open-source AI in February 2020; creating the first 3D avatars integrated with the Mycroft AI assistant in March 2021; launching a desktop control skill for Mycroft AI in June 2021; and developing BlenderGPT, an AI tool for generative 3D modeling, which was featured in NVIDIA's 2023 SIGGRAPH keynote, all emphasizing ethical and environmentally conscious tech innovation. Johnson is further distinguished in the field by his role in collaborations, such as TREE Industries' partnership with Fable on AI-driven projects, and his co-founding of Geppetto AI to advance real-time AI applications.

Joshua Johnson's early career in the technology sector began with roles focused on web development and software engineering, laying the foundation for his later work in AI and sustainable technologies. Alongside his role at TREE Industries, he founded and continues to lead eClarity Web Solutions, where he serves as CEO, assisting businesses and individuals in developing modern content management system (CMS)-powered websites. In this position, Johnson specialized in technologies such as Joomla!, CSS, HTML, JavaScript, PHP, Flash AS3, and HTML5, gaining expertise in web design and development over several years.These early experiences honed his skills in programming and digital solutions, enabling him to tackle more complex technical challenges in subsequent roles. Although specific timelines for his initial positions are not widely documented, his work at eClarity represented a key period of skill development in software engineering and client-facing tech services before transitioning to executive leadership in AI innovation.

Leadership at TREE Industries

Joshua Johnson was appointed as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of TREE Industries upon its founding in September 2017, where he has led the technical direction since inception. In this executive role, Johnson has focused on initial team-building efforts and aligning the company's technological vision with sustainable AI goals aimed at addressing environmental challenges through ethical and eco-friendly solutions. Key leadership milestones under Johnson's tenure include overseeing the expansion of research and development (R&D) activities from 2018 onward, such as the company's joining of the Greater North County Chamber of Commerce in February 2018 to foster industry collaborations and the development of innovative AI tools, including a voice-powered virtual production tool using Unreal Engine and open-source AI in February 2020. By 2021, his strategic guidance contributed to further R&D growth, exemplified by the creation of 3D avatars integrated with Mycroft AI in March 2021, the release of a desktop control skill for Mycroft AI in June 2021, and the prototyping of an AI virtual being capable of real-time 3D art generation in August 2021 as part of TREE Industries' entry into The Culture DAO. These efforts highlight Johnson's role in hiring key engineers and forming partnerships with environmental and tech organizations to scale sustainable AI initiatives. Johnson's strategic initiatives have emphasized eco-friendly practices, including the implementation of sustainable operations in data centers and AI development processes, though specific budgets remain undisclosed in public records. His leadership has driven organizational growth, positioning TREE Industries as a leader in green AI technologies headquartered in Washington, Missouri.

Innovations in AI Sustainability

As CTO of TREE Industries, Joshua Johnson leads efforts to integrate sustainability principles into AI development, focusing on ethical and eco-friendly artificial intelligence solutions.

Key Projects and Initiatives:

Joshua Johnson has led several AI-driven projects at TREE Industries since joining as CTO in 2017, aligning with the company's vision for sustainable AI innovation to address environmental challenges through ethical and eco-friendly solutions. One notable initiative is the development of Ultimate Disc Golf, a video game incorporating AI and machine learning elements, launched in December 2019. This project aimed to advance accessible gaming technologies while exploring AI applications in simulation and real-time environments, with Johnson discussing its integration of AI for enhanced user experiences during a 2020 podcast interview. The effort contributed to TREE Industries' broader portfolio in ethical AI for entertainment, though specific environmental impact metrics were not publicly detailed. In 2021, Johnson oversaw the creation of DeepSpeech-based automatic speech systems for games, focusing on open-source AI to enable voice interactions in virtual environments. This initiative sought to promote affordable and privacy-focused AI tools, developed as part of TREE's commitment to socially responsible technology, with outcomes including prototypes for real-time 3D art creation. The project underscored ethical considerations in AI deployment for gaming industries.[More recently, in 2024, Johnson collaborated with Fable on an AI project bringing the Sam Altman saga to life through advanced chatbots, emphasizing innovative storytelling via eco-friendly AI practices. According to a Forbes article, these chatbots represented non-traditional applications, highlighting TREE Industries' role in sustainable AI collaborations that minimize computational waste. The partnership demonstrated measurable advancements in ethical AI for narrative simulations. Additionally, under Johnson's leadership, TREE Industries advanced the Unreal Agent plugin in 2025, an open-source AI copilot for Unreal Engine 5 that automates tasks like level design and content generation to optimize development workflows. This tool aims to reduce energy-intensive manual processes, supporting green AI goals through efficient, real-time integrations, with its GitHub release fostering community-driven sustainable innovations.

Industry Influence:

Joshua Johnson has exerted influence in the sustainable AI sector through his thought leadership and participation in high-profile industry events. As CTO of TREE Industries, he spoke at the AI Film and Games Festival in San Francisco in 2023 and GatherVerse Summit 2025.This engagement underscores his role in promoting ethical AI practices that align with environmental goals, as TREE Industries emphasizes "Sustainability First" in its operations. In advisory capacities, Johnson serves as the Interoperability Committee Lead at The Culture DAO since April 2022, contributing to standards development in emerging technologies, including AI interoperability that supports sustainable applications. Johnson's contributions extend to open-source initiatives that advance sustainable AI tools. Under his technical guidance at TREE Industries, the company developed and released open-source projects such as 3D avatars integrated with Mycroft AI, a voice-powered virtual production tool using Unreal Engine and open-source AI, and a desktop control skill for Mycroft, all launched between 2020 and 2021 to make advanced technologies more accessible and environmentally responsible. These efforts have been adopted in communities focused on conversational AI, promoting energy-efficient offline processing solutions that reduce computational waste. Additionally, TREE's early involvement in open-source speech systems like DeepSpeech has influenced game development and AI applications with lower environmental footprints.Through these activities, Johnson has shaped industry discussions on sustainable AI, as evidenced by his commentary in media outlets like Forbes, where he highlighted innovative AI collaborations that prioritize ethical and eco-friendly advancements. His work has contributed to TREE Industries' promotion of AI adoption among local businesses via chamber of commerce memberships, fostering wider sectoral shifts toward sustainability.

Joshua Johnson is an American technology executive who serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of TREE Industries, a company founded in September 2017 and headquartered in Washington, Missouri, specializing in sustainable AI innovation to addr... Show more

Jason Rivera

Jason Rivera

Jason Rivera is a Collaboration Architect in the Philadelphia area and author of Building Solutions with the Microsoft Power Platform. Jason is the organizer of M365 Philly and the Tri-State Office 365 User Group (https://www.meetup.com/tsspug/) which both typically meet in Malvern, PA. Jason has been a long time blogger (https://sharepointlessons.wordpress.com/), writing about various topics in SharePoint, Power Platform, AI, and the Microsoft Cloud.

Jason Rivera is a Collaboration Architect in the Philadelphia area and author of Building Solutions with the Microsoft Power Platform. Jason is the organizer of M365 Philly and the Tri-State Office 365 User Group (https://www.meetup.com/tsspug/) whi... Show more

Maros Kutschy

Maros Kutschy

Maroš Kutschy works as a QA Technical Lead at Ness Digital Engineering in Košice, Slovakia. His focus is on automation testing and leadership. His hobby involves enhancing both his soft and hard skills, including technical and core competencies. He is a public speaker at conferences and speaks about negotiation, habits, and communication in software testing and development in agile teams. He was speaking at conferences in Prague, Tallinn, Leipzig, Budapest, Cracow, Munich, Vienna, Bucharest, Bratislava, Sofia, Copenhagen , Frankfurt, and Malaga. He likes exercising in the gym, reading books and listening to audiobooks about leadership, business, and management, and attending basketball matches where his two sons are playing.

In 2021 I was speaking at:
- Testingmind Test Automation & Digital QA Virtual Summit 2021 – Session about ‘Visual UI testing with Percy’ - Online
- SEETEST 2021 Conference - Session about ‘Visual UI testing with Percy’ - Online
- PNSQC2021 Conference - Session about ‘Visual UI testing with Percy’ - Online

In 2022 I was speaking at:
- Automation Guild 2022 Conference – Session about ‘Automation Testing Mindset and Habits’ Online
- Testing United 2022 Conference in Prague, Czech Republic – Session about ‘Visual UI testing with Percy’
session recording: https://vimeo.com/695473694
- Nordic Testing Days 2022 Conference in Tallinn, Estonia – Session about ‘Automation Visual UI Testing’
session recording: https://youtu.be/3eI8OLWoBLA?si=crgefiJTjFWfZDAj
- UNICOM - Agile, DevOps and Testing: People, process and technology – Session about ‘Analysis of 'Automation Test Results' – Online
- TACON 2022 Conference in Leipzig, Germany – Session about ‘Stoic Automation Testing’
- Testing Stage 2022 Conference – Session about ‘Analysis of 'Automation Test Results' – Online
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47GghEIcjK0&t=1514s
- HUSTEF 2022 Conference in Budapest, Hungary – Session about ‘Stoic Automation Testing’
session recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhx19cpvJ_g&t=950s
- Test Dive 2022 Conference in Cracow, Poland - Session about ‘Stoic Automation Testing’
session recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c47e6chcPrg

In 2023 I was speaking at:
- Automation Guild 2023 Conference – Session about ‘How to Train Your Automation Engineer’ Online
- Software Quality Days 2023 Conference in Munich, Germany – Session about ‘Stoic Automation Testing’
- HalfStack Vienna 2023 Conference in Vienna, Austria - Session about ‘Stoic Automation Testing’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htKKeVrY0Po
- SEETEST 2023 in Bucharest, Romania – Session about ‘How to Test Digital Twins’
- SANAE BEER.EX 2023 in Bratislava, Slovakia – Session about ‘How to Test Digital Twins’
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rmpt_O3190M&t=682s
- 10th UCAAT - User Conference on Advanced Automated Testing - online presentation, session about 'How to Test Digital Twins'

In 2024 I was speaking at:
- ‘QA Challenge Accepted 2024’ Conference in Sofia, Bulgaria, talk about ‘Artificial Intelligence in Automation Testing’ https://www.youtube.com/live/vxsYpfqLKDA
- ‘Test Dive 2024’ Conference in Cracow, Poland, talk about ‘Artificial Intelligence in Automation Testing’
- 'Danish Software Testing Board Conference - Test & Kvalitet 2024' Conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, talk about 'Nonviolent Communication in Software Testing'
- 'Software-QS-Tag 2024' Conference in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, talk about 'Nonviolent Communication in Software Testing'

In 2025 I was speaking at:
- 'Stackconf 2025' Conference in Munich, Germany, talk about 'The Power of Small Habits in Agile Teams'
- 'J On the Beach 2025' Conference in Malaga, Spain, talk about 'The Power of Small Habits in Agile Teams' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BktGIZPG5Z8&t=276s

Maroš Kutschy works as a QA Technical Lead at Ness Digital Engineering in Košice, Slovakia. His focus is on automation testing and leadership. His hobby involves enhancing both his soft and hard skills, including technical and core competencies. He i... Show more

Tarun R Jain

Tarun R Jain

I am Tarun Jain, Founding Engineer at a Stealth Startup and YouTuber with 4.06K+ subscribers on AI with Tarun. A two-time Google Summer of Code alum (2023 at caMicroscope, 2024 at Red Hen Lab) and Google Developer Expert in AI. I'm an active speaker in the PyCon APAC region. Spoke at EuroPython, PyCon: Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Australia.

Portfolio: https://tarunjain.netlify.app/

I am Tarun Jain, Founding Engineer at a Stealth Startup and YouTuber with 4.06K+ subscribers on AI with Tarun. A two-time Google Summer of Code alum (2023 at caMicroscope, 2024 at Red Hen Lab) and Google Developer Expert in AI. I'm an active speaker ... Show more

Ancelia Patrao

Ancelia Patrao

I’m Ancelia Patrao, a passionate tech innovator and advocate for leveraging AI to create meaningful and impactful software solutions. As a public speaker and active community leader, I love sharing insights on how generative intelligence is revolutionizing the way we build, code, and solve real-world challenges. With hands-on experience in developing AI-powered applications and contributing to open-source projects, I’m dedicated to empowering the next generation of developers with practical tools and creative inspiration to build smarter, more efficient tech.

I’m Ancelia Patrao, a passionate tech innovator and advocate for leveraging AI to create meaningful and impactful software solutions. As a public speaker and active community leader, I love sharing insights on how generative intelligence is revolutio... Show more

Leszek Michalak

Leszek Michalak

For over nine years, Leszek Michalak has been a data professional within large-scale corporate environments. His career trajectory began in data analysis, evolved through business intelligence development, and for the past five years, has been focused on specialization in data engineering.

He operates at the intersection of managing complex legacy systems and architecting modern data solutions. His main focus is designing and implementing systems with thoughtful architecture, operational simplicity, and unwavering reliability.

For over nine years, Leszek Michalak has been a data professional within large-scale corporate environments. His career trajectory began in data analysis, evolved through business intelligence development, and for the past five years, has been focuse... Show more

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