The Road from SC25: Actionable Insights for the Year Ahead in HPC, AI, and Quantum
December 2nd, 2025
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Online
December 2nd, 2025
9:00 AM - 10:00 AM PST
Online
About the Session
SC25 set the stage for 2026, unveiling a wave of new technologies, trends, and breakthroughs. Now, it's time to translate the conference buzz into actionable strategy.
Join Jay Boisseau, Director of the Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community, as he leads a special round-table with prominent HPC leaders to dissect the most significant observations and insights from the conference. This session will move beyond a simple recap of announcements to analyze the deep implications of what we saw in High-Performance Computing, Artificial Intelligence, and Quantum Computing.
Following the analysis, the panel will share their forward-looking recommendations for the year ahead, offering specific, practical advice for technology vendors, applications developers, and the customers and users navigating this rapidly evolving landscape. This is your opportunity to understand the strategic shifts and effectively plan for what's next in advanced computing.
Speakers
Jay Boisseau
Advanced Computing Strategist, Google Cloud
Jay Boisseau is an advanced computing strategist at Google, where he manages a strategic initiative to make Google Cloud the best platform for scientific/technical computing and leads the Google Cloud Advanced Computing Community. He is an experienced leader in HPC and advanced computing technologies, with 30 years of experience developing and leading programs in academia and industry. His previous experience includes founding and leading the Texas Advanced Computing Center to global prominence, and providing strategic planning and special projects in HPC at Dell Technologies. Jay also leads the Austin Forum on Technology & Society, founded the Austin AI Alliance, and is the lead founder and owner of Remedy bar in Austin (where he conducts lots of tech meetings and events so it aligns). He earned his doctorate from UT Austin in astronomy, which led him into supercomputing and technologies.
Giri Chukkapalli
Distinguished Engineer, Nvidia
Giri Chukkapalli is a distinguished Engineer in Datacenter, HPC and AI division of Nvidia. His roles involve understanding trajectory of applications and algorithms in HPC and AI and influence the Nvidia Architecture roadmap. In addition, He is a technical lead to some Key HPC and AI partners such as DoE and DoD Labs, RIKEN and others. He had a long Carrier in HPC spanning more than two decades, working at SDSC, Sun Micro Systems, Cray and Broadcom before joining Nvidia. Giri holds Ph.D from University of Toronto.
Fernanda Foertter
Executive Director, High-Performance Computing and Data Center, University of Alabama
Fernanda Foertter is the executive director of the High-Performance Computing and Data Center at the University of Alabama, helping to develop the new HPC center that will substantially expand the university’s capacity for advanced computing, data science, and AI. With over a decade of experience in HPC, she has held positions at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and NVIDIA. Fernanda Foertter holds a M.S. in Materials Science Engineering from University of Florida, and a B.S. in Physics from Florida International University.
Bob Sorensen
Chief Analyst for Quantum Computing, Hyperion Research
Bob Sorensen is Hyperion Research's Chief Analyst for Quantum Computing. Bob’s areas of expertise include analysis of advanced computing hardware, architectures, interconnects, and performance metrics for both classical and quantum systems. Before joining Hyperion Research, Bob worked 30 plus years for the U.S. Federal Government as a Senior Science and Technology analyst covering global advanced computing developments to support senior-level U.S. policy makers including those in the White House, Department of Defense, and Treasury. Bob has a BSEE from the University of Rochester and a MSCS from the George Washington University. He strongly prefers C to Python.