Event Summary
**This event will be held in person only.
Join us for a high-energy mock debate featuring some of Austin’s top technology, business, and community leaders. Moving beyond simple "pro vs. con" rhetoric, this event will use a competitive format to tackle the most pressing questions of the year, including the possibility of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the true economic ROI of enterprise AI, the societal impact of AI and workforce transformation, and the cultural impact of synthetic media on human creativity. A core focus of the session is the "Governance Paradox"—the tension between the urgent need for rapid innovation and the ethical concerns related to safety and privacy. This interactive, intellectual competition concludes with a networking reception for attendees to further discuss these issues with the debaters and each other.
Speaker
Numa Dhamani, Head of Machine Learning, iVerify
Numa Dhamani is the Head of Machine Learning at iVerify, co-author of Introduction to Generative AI (Manning Publications), and a Lecturer at the University of Texas at Austin. She is a natural language processing expert with domain expertise in trust, safety, and security. Numa has developed machine learning systems for Fortune 500 companies and social media platforms, as well as for start-ups and nonprofits. She has advised industry leaders and organizations, served as the Principal Investigator on the United States Department of Defense’s research programs, and contributed to multiple international peer-reviewed journals. She is also deeply engaged in the technology policy space, supporting think tanks and nonprofits with data and AI governance efforts. Numa is passionate about working towards a more secure digital world, building responsible artificial intelligence, and advocating for transparency and accountability in technology. She holds degrees in Physics and Chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin.
Bryon Jacob
Bryon Jacob is an independent technology advisor and AI strategist based in Austin, Texas, where he works with early-stage startups on technology strategy, AI implementation, and fundraising. He previously served as Chief Technology Officer at data.world, leading the company through a successful acquisition, and spent a decade at HomeAway (now VRBO), from just after founding through its IPO and acquisition by Expedia. Bryon's AI expertise began in graduate school at Case Western Reserve University, where he studied both symbolic AI and machine learning. He has authored widely cited research on how knowledge graphs can improve large language models' accuracy over structured data, and is a founding board member of the Austin AI Alliance.
Byron Reese
Byron Reese is a longtime serial entrepreneur who has started a half dozen companies over the past thirty years. He is the author of several bestselling science books. His AI book, The Fourth Age, sold 500K copies in 14 languages. He holds numerous technical patents and is the former host of what was the #1 AI podcast, Voices in AI. Byron is currently CEO of an AI startup called PhotoOp AI. He and his wife have resided in an old Victorian home in Georgetown for a quarter of a century where they homeschooled their four children.
Attendance Instructions
In-person
Join us at ACC Rio Grande: Building 3000 where you will be checked in at the front. Parking map here! Street parking is free after 6 pm.
In-person attendees, please join us from 5:15 to 6:15 for networking and food. We look forward to chatting with you face-to-face!