Keynote Speakers

Industry Keynote: Khalifeh Al Jadda

Director of Data Science, Google

In his keynote presentation, Dr. Al Jadda will share real-world examples of how Google and major enterprises leverage AI to solve complex business challenges, discuss lessons learned from deploying AI systems at scale, and provide insights on responsible AI implementation, emerging enterprise AI trends, and bridging the gap between academic research and industry applications.

Bio: Khalifeh Al Jadda, Ph.D. is Director of Data Science at Google, where he builds AI-powered solutions to help small- and mid-sized businesses compete online. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Georgia, specializing in machine learning and data mining applications for cancer research and other healthcare challenges.

Prior to Google, Dr. Al Jadda served as Sr. Director of Data Science at The Home Depot, where he led teams that transformed the company's recommendation engine to AI-based systems, deployed vector search capabilities, and published over 20 research papers while establishing 10+ university research collaborations. He previously led data science R&D at CareerBuilder, developing language-agnostic semantic search engine.

Dr. Al Jadda founded the Southern Data Science Conference (now Optimized AI Conference) and created ATLytiCS, a nonprofit focused on analytics for community service, demonstrating his commitment to leveraging data science for social impact.

Academic Keynote: Gautam Pant

Professor of Business Administration, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

In his keynote presentation, Dr. Pant will share his vision for the future of AI research in Information Systems, discussing emerging research directions, bridging academic research with real-world implementation, and providing strategic guidance for young scholars on successful publication strategies and identifying high-impact research opportunities.

Bio: Gautam Pant is Professor of Business Administration and Area Chair for Information Systems, Operations, Supply Chain, and Analytics at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research uses machine learning, AI, and network/text analytics to reveal how firms innovate, compete, and collaborate using large-scale data from the web, patents, supply chains, and interfirm networks. His work has been published in leading business journals, including Information Systems Research, Journal of Management Information Systems, and Production and Operations Management, as well as leading CS venues. Dr. Pant serves as Senior Editor for Information Systems Research (ISR).