Inderpal Bhandari is the IBM Global Chief Data Officer, where he has leveraged his extensive experience to lead IBM’s data strategy to ensure IBM remains the number one AI and hybrid cloud provider for the enterprise. Under his leadership, the Cognitive Enterprise Blueprint was created, a roadmap for IBM’s clients on their own transformation journeys.

Inderpal brings to IBM more than 20 years of experience in leadership roles at such leading companies as Cambia Health Solutions and Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions. Prior to joining IBM, Inderpal served as Senior Vice President and Chief Data Officer of Cambia Health Solutions where he led the development of Cambia’s data strategy and drove the transformation of the company’s consumer experience strategies.

Prior to that, Inderpal served as Vice President of knowledge solutions and Chief Data Officer at Express Scripts/Medco Health Solutions, where he was responsible for maximizing the utility of the company’s data and its readiness to respond to emerging market trends. Before that, he founded Virtual Gold, growing the company into an international market leader for analytics in call centers and professional sports.

Inderpal is an expert in transforming data into business value and improved customer experiences by delivering strategic, innovative capabilities that use analytic insights to enable growth and productivity. In 2017, he was named U.S. Chief Data Officer of the Year by the CDO Club and has been featured as an industry expert by Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, US News & World Report, CNN and FOX.

Inderpal earned his Master of Science Degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Massachusetts and holds a PhD in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Lalit Thakur is a data executive that leads complete data lifecycle, spanning from data management & analytics to data science and monetization.

During his career, spanning over a decade in data space, Lalit has driven data strategy, led data standards and championed migration of data platforms from conventional to modern frameworks.

He enjoys being at the intersection of business strategy, technology, and data.

Currently at American Tire Distributors (ATD), he is focused on delivery of enhanced data and analytics capabilities.

In this role, he is driving the build of a modern data and analytics organization in order to deliver data driven decisioning capability.

Prior to ATD, Lalit served at Novant Health as VP of analytics and before that in a global role as VP & Chief of Data at Solera.

In those roles he has built digital backbone for the organization and has driven mission to lead & execute the strategy to monetizing globally disparate data.

He has mentored & volunteered in several hackathons, not-for-profit organizations as well as individual mentees.

Lalit has been on several panels and presented on variety of data related topics.

Lalit holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and an Undergraduate degree in Mechanical
Engineering.

In an era of disruptive technologies and a myriad of innovation challenges, Dr. Liliana Horne empowers start-ups, government agencies, and Fortune 500 organizations through major transformations and complex enterprise architectures.

Liliana is the IBM Director of AI Accelerator, which has enabled $350M in revenue since 2019, along with a diverse portfolio of 20+ data and AI assets and solutions. Her strategic thinking and passion for harnessing leading technologies to accomplish core business goals align perfectly with the team’s mission. Liliana brings together deep expertise in technical, application and network optimization solutions, as well as client solutions.

Attaining an MIT Post-Graduate Certificate in Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence and a Ph.D. in Information Systems, Liliana successfully developed the “Client-Side Mobile Evil Twin Attack Detection (CSMETAD)” application and published her doctoral dissertation “Development of a Client-Side Evil Twin Attack Detection System for Public Wi-Fi Hotspots based on Design Science Approach.”

Previously, as Client Solutions Executive at IBM, Liliana led global, large-sized teams to advance enterprises and government agencies to become agile by adopting new technologies. As a future-focused technology leader, she led complex transformation projects, designed clear IT strategy and roadmaps, and strengthened network and information security.

For a global hospitality organization, Liliana developed a net new $15M cloud-managed High-Speed Internet Access service product from scratch, which grew hotel revenue by 22% and improved customer experience. For the Puerto Rico Department of Education, she drove the network modernization initiative at 750 schools, which reduced cost by 50%.

Earlier, as a Growth Executive and Application & Network Optimization Solutions Leader, Liliana added to the top- and bottom-line growth by boosting the enterprise sales pipeline by 60% and closing $10M in revenue in the first year.

Liliana served as a National Practice Leader and was entrusted with building and running a net new line of business for IBM. Here, she led go-to-market, strategic partnerships, and pricing strategy. As Principal, she supported clients’ growth by delivering scalable and resilient architectures, modernizing systems and networks, and cutting-edge engineering infrastructures.

Liliana operated as the Acting CIO, leading the US DOJ-sponsored multiyear Life Sciences digital transformation initiative for the anti-terrorism and human rights forensic services division. Here, she developed a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), including automated workflows, modern data management, and secured networks.

Liliana is married to a successful business executive and has a 12-year-old daughter who is a rising robotics inventor and entrepreneur. She is proficient in English and Spanish and loves yoga, biking, swimming, and hiking.

Linda F. Powell is the Enterprise Deputy Chief Data Officer at Bank of NY Mellon. She has over 20 years of experience in the finance industry including commercial banking, banking supervision, and supporting economic research. She spent most of her career with the Federal Reserve System. She was also the Chief Data Officer at the Treasury Department’s Office of Financial Research and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In 2018 she joined Citibank as the Global Head of Data Governance, Data Reporting, and End User Computing and joined Bank of NY Mellon in 2021. She has published several papers on the topics of data standards, metadata, and data strategy. She has a B.A. in Economics from Rutgers University and an M.S. in Quantitative Finance from George Washington University.