| Page 235 | Kisaco Research
Autonomy
On-Device ML
Robotics
Industrial Edge
Panelists

Author:

Aditya Agarwal

Director, Robotics
Nimble Robotics

Aditya Agarwal

Director, Robotics
Nimble Robotics

Author:

David Tischler

Developer Relations Engineer
Edge Impulse

David is a Developer Advocate at Edge Impulse, helping the community learn about the shift from the cloud to the edge, and how running AI/ML workloads on tiny devices is 100% achievable. In his spare time, David loves horsepower, drinks way too much coffee, and is an extreme recycler.

David Tischler

Developer Relations Engineer
Edge Impulse

David is a Developer Advocate at Edge Impulse, helping the community learn about the shift from the cloud to the edge, and how running AI/ML workloads on tiny devices is 100% achievable. In his spare time, David loves horsepower, drinks way too much coffee, and is an extreme recycler.

Author:

Sakyasingha Dasgupta

Founder & CEO
EdgeCortix

Sakya is the founder and Chief Executive officer of EdgeCortix. He is an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologist, entrepreneur, and engineer with over a decade of experience in taking cutting edge AI research from ideation stage to scalable products, across different industry verticals.  He has lead teams at global companies like Microsoft and IBM Research / IBM Japan, along with national research labs like RIKEN Japan and the Max Planck Institute Germany. Previously, he helped establish and lead the technology division at lean startups in Japan and Singapore, in semiconductor technology, robotics and Fintech sectors. Sakya is the inventor of over 20 patents and has published widely on machine learning and AI with over 1,000 citations. 

Sakya holds a PhD. in Physics of Complex Systems from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, along with Masters in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Edinburgh and a Bachelors of Computer Engineering. Prior to founding EdgeCortix he completed his entrepreneurship studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

Sakyasingha Dasgupta

Founder & CEO
EdgeCortix

Sakya is the founder and Chief Executive officer of EdgeCortix. He is an artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning technologist, entrepreneur, and engineer with over a decade of experience in taking cutting edge AI research from ideation stage to scalable products, across different industry verticals.  He has lead teams at global companies like Microsoft and IBM Research / IBM Japan, along with national research labs like RIKEN Japan and the Max Planck Institute Germany. Previously, he helped establish and lead the technology division at lean startups in Japan and Singapore, in semiconductor technology, robotics and Fintech sectors. Sakya is the inventor of over 20 patents and has published widely on machine learning and AI with over 1,000 citations. 

Sakya holds a PhD. in Physics of Complex Systems from the Max Planck Institute in Germany, along with Masters in Artificial Intelligence from The University of Edinburgh and a Bachelors of Computer Engineering. Prior to founding EdgeCortix he completed his entrepreneurship studies from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

As AI adoption accelerates, securing sensitive data during inference has become a critical challenge, particularly in regulated and privacy-sensitive environments. Fully Homomorphic Encryption (FHE) enables computation on encrypted data without ever exposing the underlying information, making it a breakthrough for secure, private LLM deployments. This session explores how FHE can be practically applied to scale large language models (LLMs) while maintaining strict data confidentiality. Dr. Walden "Wally" Rhines will cover recent advancements, performance innovations, and real-world use cases demonstrating how FHE unlocks scalable, privacy-preserving AI.

Data Privacy & Governance

Author:

Dr. Walden “Wally” Rhines

Board of Directors
Cornami

WALDEN C. RHINES is President & CEO of Cornami. He is also CEO Emeritus of Mentor, a Siemens business, focusing on external communications and customer relations. He was previously CEO of Mentor Graphics for 23 years and Chairman of the Board for 17 years. During his tenure at Mentor, revenue nearly quadrupled and market value of the company increased 10X.

Prior to joining Mentor Graphics, Dr. Rhines was Executive Vice President, Semiconductor Group, responsible for TI’s worldwide semiconductor business. During his 21 years at TI, he was President of the Data Systems Group and held numerous other semiconductor executive management positions.

Dr. Rhines has served on the boards of Cirrus Logic, QORVO, TriQuint Semiconductor, Global Logic and as Chairman of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (five two-year terms) and is currently a director. He is also a board member of the Semiconductor Research Corporation and First Growth Children & Family Charities. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the IEEE and has served on the Board of Trustees of Lewis and Clark College, the National Advisory Board of the University of Michigan and Industrial Committees advising Stanford University and the University of Florida.

Dr. Rhines holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science and PhD in materials science and engineering from Stanford University, a master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and Honorary Doctor of Technology degrees from the University of Florida and Nottingham Trent University.

Dr. Walden “Wally” Rhines

Board of Directors
Cornami

WALDEN C. RHINES is President & CEO of Cornami. He is also CEO Emeritus of Mentor, a Siemens business, focusing on external communications and customer relations. He was previously CEO of Mentor Graphics for 23 years and Chairman of the Board for 17 years. During his tenure at Mentor, revenue nearly quadrupled and market value of the company increased 10X.

Prior to joining Mentor Graphics, Dr. Rhines was Executive Vice President, Semiconductor Group, responsible for TI’s worldwide semiconductor business. During his 21 years at TI, he was President of the Data Systems Group and held numerous other semiconductor executive management positions.

Dr. Rhines has served on the boards of Cirrus Logic, QORVO, TriQuint Semiconductor, Global Logic and as Chairman of the Electronic Design Automation Consortium (five two-year terms) and is currently a director. He is also a board member of the Semiconductor Research Corporation and First Growth Children & Family Charities. He is a Lifetime Fellow of the IEEE and has served on the Board of Trustees of Lewis and Clark College, the National Advisory Board of the University of Michigan and Industrial Committees advising Stanford University and the University of Florida.

Dr. Rhines holds a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the University of Michigan, a Master of Science and PhD in materials science and engineering from Stanford University, a master of Business Administration from Southern Methodist University and Honorary Doctor of Technology degrees from the University of Florida and Nottingham Trent University.

As the adoption of generative and agentic AI accelerates, the challenges for memory as a key enabler of AI/ML processing architectures continue to grow. Balancing the demands for ever greater bandwidth and capacity with the needs of power efficiency, thermal management and increased reliability is increasingly difficult. Continued advances in high performance HBM and GDDR memories, and mainstream DDR and LPDDR memories, remains a strategic industry imperative. In addition, a suite of new technologies including multiplexed modules (MRDIMM), CXL and processing in memory are needed to meet upcoming AI requirements. In this panel, we’ll discuss the evolution of memory technologies and the challenges the industry faces on the road ahead for future AI chips and systems.

 

Memory

Author:

Steven Woo

Fellow and Distinguished Inventor
Rambus

I was drawn to Rambus to focus on cutting edge computing technologies. Throughout my 15+ year career, I’ve helped invent, create and develop means of driving and extending performance in both hardware and software solutions. At Rambus, we are solving challenges that are completely new to the industry and occur as a response to deployments that are highly sophisticated and advanced.

As an inventor, I find myself approaching a challenge like a room filled with 100,000 pieces of a puzzle where it is my job to figure out how they all go together – without knowing what it is supposed to look like in the end. For me, the job of finishing the puzzle is as enjoyable as the actual process of coming up with a new, innovative solution.

For example, RDRAM®, our first mainstream memory architecture, implemented in hundreds of millions of consumer, computing and networking products from leading electronics companies including Cisco, Dell, Hitachi, HP, Intel, etc. We did a lot of novel things that required inventiveness – we pushed the envelope and created state of the art performance without making actual changes to the infrastructure.

I’m excited about the new opportunities as computing is becoming more and more pervasive in our everyday lives. With a world full of data, my job and my fellow inventors’ job will be to stay curious, maintain an inquisitive approach and create solutions that are technologically superior and that seamlessly intertwine with our daily lives.

After an inspiring work day at Rambus, I enjoy spending time with my family, being outdoors, swimming, and reading.

Education

  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • M.S. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • Master of Engineering, Harvey Mudd College
  • B.S. Engineering, Harvey Mudd College

Steven Woo

Fellow and Distinguished Inventor
Rambus

I was drawn to Rambus to focus on cutting edge computing technologies. Throughout my 15+ year career, I’ve helped invent, create and develop means of driving and extending performance in both hardware and software solutions. At Rambus, we are solving challenges that are completely new to the industry and occur as a response to deployments that are highly sophisticated and advanced.

As an inventor, I find myself approaching a challenge like a room filled with 100,000 pieces of a puzzle where it is my job to figure out how they all go together – without knowing what it is supposed to look like in the end. For me, the job of finishing the puzzle is as enjoyable as the actual process of coming up with a new, innovative solution.

For example, RDRAM®, our first mainstream memory architecture, implemented in hundreds of millions of consumer, computing and networking products from leading electronics companies including Cisco, Dell, Hitachi, HP, Intel, etc. We did a lot of novel things that required inventiveness – we pushed the envelope and created state of the art performance without making actual changes to the infrastructure.

I’m excited about the new opportunities as computing is becoming more and more pervasive in our everyday lives. With a world full of data, my job and my fellow inventors’ job will be to stay curious, maintain an inquisitive approach and create solutions that are technologically superior and that seamlessly intertwine with our daily lives.

After an inspiring work day at Rambus, I enjoy spending time with my family, being outdoors, swimming, and reading.

Education

  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • M.S. Electrical Engineering, Stanford University
  • Master of Engineering, Harvey Mudd College
  • B.S. Engineering, Harvey Mudd College

Author:

Taeksang Song

CVP
Samsung Electronics

Taeksang is a Corporate VP at Samsung Electronics where he is leading a team dedicated to pioneering cutting-edge technologies including CAMM, MRDIMM, CXL memory expander, fabric attached memory solution and processing near memory to meet the evolving demands of next-generation data-centric AI architecture. He has 20 years' professional experience in memory and sub-system architecture, interconnect protocols, system-on-chip design and collaborating with CSPs to enable heterogeneous computing infrastructure. Prior to joining Samsung Electronics, he worked at Rambus Inc., Micron Technology and SK hynix in lead architect roles for the emerging memory controllers and systems. 

Taeksang received his Ph.D. degree from KAIST, South Korea, in 2006. Dr. Song has authored and co-authored over 20 technical papers and holds over 50 U.S. patents.

 

Taeksang Song

CVP
Samsung Electronics

Taeksang is a Corporate VP at Samsung Electronics where he is leading a team dedicated to pioneering cutting-edge technologies including CAMM, MRDIMM, CXL memory expander, fabric attached memory solution and processing near memory to meet the evolving demands of next-generation data-centric AI architecture. He has 20 years' professional experience in memory and sub-system architecture, interconnect protocols, system-on-chip design and collaborating with CSPs to enable heterogeneous computing infrastructure. Prior to joining Samsung Electronics, he worked at Rambus Inc., Micron Technology and SK hynix in lead architect roles for the emerging memory controllers and systems. 

Taeksang received his Ph.D. degree from KAIST, South Korea, in 2006. Dr. Song has authored and co-authored over 20 technical papers and holds over 50 U.S. patents.

 

Author:

Sean Derrington

Group Product Manager, Storage
Google

Sean is Group Product Manager, Storage at Google Cloud and joined with over 25 years of storage experience, specializing in AI and storage infrastructure and enterprise applications. Before Google, he was Sr. Director, PM at Exablox, where he helped launch the company. He also held various PM/PMM roles at Veritas/Symantec. Sean holds two B.S. degrees, including one in Material Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Sean Derrington

Group Product Manager, Storage
Google

Sean is Group Product Manager, Storage at Google Cloud and joined with over 25 years of storage experience, specializing in AI and storage infrastructure and enterprise applications. Before Google, he was Sr. Director, PM at Exablox, where he helped launch the company. He also held various PM/PMM roles at Veritas/Symantec. Sean holds two B.S. degrees, including one in Material Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Software Infra

Author:

Aswini Atibudhi

Distinguished Architect
Walmart

Aswini is a Distinguished Architect at Walmart Global Tech, with over 22 years of IT experience in designing scalable AI/ML, micro frontend, microservices, and cloud applications. His professional expertise encompasses diverse domains including  e-commerce, finance, telecom and healthcare meticulously developed through his tenure at Walmart, Cisco, Equinix, Finastra, and TCS. Over seven years at Walmart, he has been a founding member of critical platforms like Last Mile Delivery, Fleet Management, MerchOne, Supplier Portal and several others. As a recognized expert in generative AI, Aswini specializes in leveraging machine learning and large language models to create transformative digital experiences, including personalized content generation and AI-driven customer engagement.

He has received numerous awards including Walmart’s Innovation Award, Equinix’s Top Performer Award, and Cisco’s Group Race Award. With many certifications in AI, machine learning, and cloud technologies, he stays at the forefront of innovation. Known for his strategic insights, Aswini has a proven ability to deliver transformative AI solutions across industries. 

Aswini Atibudhi

Distinguished Architect
Walmart

Aswini is a Distinguished Architect at Walmart Global Tech, with over 22 years of IT experience in designing scalable AI/ML, micro frontend, microservices, and cloud applications. His professional expertise encompasses diverse domains including  e-commerce, finance, telecom and healthcare meticulously developed through his tenure at Walmart, Cisco, Equinix, Finastra, and TCS. Over seven years at Walmart, he has been a founding member of critical platforms like Last Mile Delivery, Fleet Management, MerchOne, Supplier Portal and several others. As a recognized expert in generative AI, Aswini specializes in leveraging machine learning and large language models to create transformative digital experiences, including personalized content generation and AI-driven customer engagement.

He has received numerous awards including Walmart’s Innovation Award, Equinix’s Top Performer Award, and Cisco’s Group Race Award. With many certifications in AI, machine learning, and cloud technologies, he stays at the forefront of innovation. Known for his strategic insights, Aswini has a proven ability to deliver transformative AI solutions across industries. 

As AI infrastructure outgrows tightly coupled systems, we’re witnessing a shift toward openness and modularity in designing full-stack solutions for AI. In this session, we’ll examine the rise of Software-Driven Fabrics (SDF) , a programmable, vendor-neutral control plane for modern AI networking. SDF makes real-time data coordination across heterogeneous accelerators and fabrics possible, offering a new, democratized model for GPU scalability and network resiliency.

Software Infra

Author:

Prashanth Thinakaran

Distinguished AI Infrastructure Engineer
Clockwork Systems

Prashanth Thinakaran is a Distinguished AI Infrastructure Engineer at Clockwork Systems, a pioneer in nano-second precise network telemetry and software-driven resilience that addresses the unprecedented scale, performance, and reliability Modern AI workloads demand from GPU clusters. In this role, he partners with AI Infrastructure teams at enterprises, hyperscalers and neoclouds to increase their visibility into issues impacting cluster uptime and optimize their availability and utilization with Clockwork’s solution. 

Previously, he helped AI-native companies build on cloud-based GPU platforms, providing deep technical guidance on distributed training and inference, multi-node scaling, and performance tuning across complex infrastructure stacks. His Neocloud experience bridged the gap between product engineering and customer enablement, helping fast-moving teams adopt best practices in massive-scale model deployment and operations. Prior to that, Prashanth played a pivotal role at Cerebras Systems -  a market leader in high-speed inferencing, - in the design, and deployment of Condor Galaxy 1, a Wafer-scale supercomputer. His work enabled rapid deployment timelines and seamless scaling of AI infrastructure across globally distributed data centers designed for both Inference and Training.

Prashanth also holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from Penn State, where his research focused on high-performance computing and cloud systems. His academic work has been published in top-tier venues including USENIX NSDI, ACM Middleware, ICDCS, and ACM SoCC. He has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed papers and a book chapter, and served as a reviewer for journals such as IEEE TPDS and TCC. During his Ph.D., he held teaching roles in systems programming, and computer architecture, and collaborated with Intel, VMware, and Adobe Research through internships, solving systems challenges at the intersection of academia and industry.



Prashanth Thinakaran

Distinguished AI Infrastructure Engineer
Clockwork Systems

Prashanth Thinakaran is a Distinguished AI Infrastructure Engineer at Clockwork Systems, a pioneer in nano-second precise network telemetry and software-driven resilience that addresses the unprecedented scale, performance, and reliability Modern AI workloads demand from GPU clusters. In this role, he partners with AI Infrastructure teams at enterprises, hyperscalers and neoclouds to increase their visibility into issues impacting cluster uptime and optimize their availability and utilization with Clockwork’s solution. 

Previously, he helped AI-native companies build on cloud-based GPU platforms, providing deep technical guidance on distributed training and inference, multi-node scaling, and performance tuning across complex infrastructure stacks. His Neocloud experience bridged the gap between product engineering and customer enablement, helping fast-moving teams adopt best practices in massive-scale model deployment and operations. Prior to that, Prashanth played a pivotal role at Cerebras Systems -  a market leader in high-speed inferencing, - in the design, and deployment of Condor Galaxy 1, a Wafer-scale supercomputer. His work enabled rapid deployment timelines and seamless scaling of AI infrastructure across globally distributed data centers designed for both Inference and Training.

Prashanth also holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from Penn State, where his research focused on high-performance computing and cloud systems. His academic work has been published in top-tier venues including USENIX NSDI, ACM Middleware, ICDCS, and ACM SoCC. He has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed papers and a book chapter, and served as a reviewer for journals such as IEEE TPDS and TCC. During his Ph.D., he held teaching roles in systems programming, and computer architecture, and collaborated with Intel, VMware, and Adobe Research through internships, solving systems challenges at the intersection of academia and industry.



Systems Optimization
Memory
Moderator

Author:

Marc Evans

Director of Business Development & Marketing
Andes Tech

Marc Evans is a semiconductor executive with deep expertise in CPU and DSP IP and SoC architecture. At Andes Technology USA, he leads branding, go-to-market strategy, and strategic partnerships for Andes and its high-performance RISC-V subsidiary, Condor Computing.

He began his career in processor and memory system design at Amdahl, Hewlett-Packard, and Rambus, and was an early R&D team member at Tensilica. He later held leadership roles at Tensilica and CEVA, driving IP adoption across global accounts. Marc holds a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Marc Evans

Director of Business Development & Marketing
Andes Tech

Marc Evans is a semiconductor executive with deep expertise in CPU and DSP IP and SoC architecture. At Andes Technology USA, he leads branding, go-to-market strategy, and strategic partnerships for Andes and its high-performance RISC-V subsidiary, Condor Computing.

He began his career in processor and memory system design at Amdahl, Hewlett-Packard, and Rambus, and was an early R&D team member at Tensilica. He later held leadership roles at Tensilica and CEVA, driving IP adoption across global accounts. Marc holds a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Author:

Volker Politz

CSO
Semidynamics

Volker Politz is the Chief Sales officer at Semidynamics, responsible for all IP sales and business development activities as well as product marketing. Prior to this, he was VP sales at Roviero, held EU Sales and Global Auto Business management positions in Verisilicon and worked as IP sales manager in Synopsys Europe. He was Vice President of Product and Segment Marketing at Imagination Technologies. He is an international marketing, business development and management executive with over 30 years’ experience in semiconductor and technology companies. He also held roles and responsibilities in Europe, Asia and the United States with experience built from engineering, marketing, sales, and general management positions at Hitachi and Renesas. He has broad know-how in vertical domains such as digital multimedia, broadcast technologies, automotive, industrial, mobile, security and AI. Volker holds a Masters engineering degree in communication electronics from Fachhochschule Konstanz, Germany and an MBA from Open University, United Kingdom.

Volker Politz

CSO
Semidynamics

Volker Politz is the Chief Sales officer at Semidynamics, responsible for all IP sales and business development activities as well as product marketing. Prior to this, he was VP sales at Roviero, held EU Sales and Global Auto Business management positions in Verisilicon and worked as IP sales manager in Synopsys Europe. He was Vice President of Product and Segment Marketing at Imagination Technologies. He is an international marketing, business development and management executive with over 30 years’ experience in semiconductor and technology companies. He also held roles and responsibilities in Europe, Asia and the United States with experience built from engineering, marketing, sales, and general management positions at Hitachi and Renesas. He has broad know-how in vertical domains such as digital multimedia, broadcast technologies, automotive, industrial, mobile, security and AI. Volker holds a Masters engineering degree in communication electronics from Fachhochschule Konstanz, Germany and an MBA from Open University, United Kingdom.

Author:

Ian Smythe

VP Product Marketing
Baya Systems

Ian Smythe is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Baya. He recently joined Baya and brings over 25 years of international experience leading business groups and technology teams. Ian has a background in developing and implementing marketing strategies for major technology companies.

Before joining Baya, Ian was Vice President of Product Marketing at Arm, where he served on the leadership team and oversaw all product marketing activities across business areas. He led the team responsible for messaging around Arm’s recent IPO.

Ian has built relationships within the compute ecosystem and has extensive experience working with partners to understand changing compute needs that inform future product strategies. His expertise spans multiple market sectors and technologies, including CPU, graphics, data centre, mobile, automotive, IoT and Edge, open-source software stacks, and AI.

He began his tenure at Arm in 2009 as Director of Marketing for the Media Processing Group (MPG), focusing on the development and launch of the Arm Mali GPU, which became the world’s best-selling GPU. Prior to this, Ian held senior roles in marketing and engineering at companies which include a leading semiconductor vendor and a DSP start-up.

Ian Smythe

VP Product Marketing
Baya Systems

Ian Smythe is the Vice President of Product Marketing at Baya. He recently joined Baya and brings over 25 years of international experience leading business groups and technology teams. Ian has a background in developing and implementing marketing strategies for major technology companies.

Before joining Baya, Ian was Vice President of Product Marketing at Arm, where he served on the leadership team and oversaw all product marketing activities across business areas. He led the team responsible for messaging around Arm’s recent IPO.

Ian has built relationships within the compute ecosystem and has extensive experience working with partners to understand changing compute needs that inform future product strategies. His expertise spans multiple market sectors and technologies, including CPU, graphics, data centre, mobile, automotive, IoT and Edge, open-source software stacks, and AI.

He began his tenure at Arm in 2009 as Director of Marketing for the Media Processing Group (MPG), focusing on the development and launch of the Arm Mali GPU, which became the world’s best-selling GPU. Prior to this, Ian held senior roles in marketing and engineering at companies which include a leading semiconductor vendor and a DSP start-up.

Author:

Ian Ferguson

VP of Business Development
SiFive

Ian Ferguson

VP of Business Development
SiFive

The AI landscape is undergoing a monumental shift. After a decade where AI flourished in the cloud, scaled by hyperscalers, we are now entering the era of Physical AI. Physical AI is poised to touch every facet of our lives. Imagine industrial processes with unprecedented precision, diagnostic tools in medicine and machinery that offer deeper, more accurate insights, and robotic and automotive platforms transformed by intelligent, agentic AI.

Author:

Krishna Rangasayee

Founder and CEO
SiMa.ai

Krishna Rangasayee is Founder and CEO of SiMa.ai. Previously, Krishna was COO of Groq and at Xilinx for 18 years, where he held multiple senior leadership roles including Senior Vice President and GM of the overall business, and Executive Vice President of global sales. While at Xilinx, Krishna grew the business to $2.5B in revenue at 70% gross margin while creating the foundation for 10+ quarters of sustained sequential growth and market share expansion. Prior to Xilinx, he held various engineering and business roles at Altera Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor. He holds 25+ international patents and has served on the board of directors of public and private companies.

Krishna Rangasayee

Founder and CEO
SiMa.ai

Krishna Rangasayee is Founder and CEO of SiMa.ai. Previously, Krishna was COO of Groq and at Xilinx for 18 years, where he held multiple senior leadership roles including Senior Vice President and GM of the overall business, and Executive Vice President of global sales. While at Xilinx, Krishna grew the business to $2.5B in revenue at 70% gross margin while creating the foundation for 10+ quarters of sustained sequential growth and market share expansion. Prior to Xilinx, he held various engineering and business roles at Altera Corporation and Cypress Semiconductor. He holds 25+ international patents and has served on the board of directors of public and private companies.

Author:

AK Karan

VP, Advanced Engineering & Innovation
Baxter International

A.K. Karan is the VP of advanced engineering & innovation at Baxter International, a leading medical device supplier. Karan joined Baxter in 2021 and currently leads the strategy for the company’s automation, digital-transformation, and operational-excellence processes. Prior to joining Baxter, Karan held a variety of leadership roles spanning engineering, operations and digital transformation.    

AK Karan

VP, Advanced Engineering & Innovation
Baxter International

A.K. Karan is the VP of advanced engineering & innovation at Baxter International, a leading medical device supplier. Karan joined Baxter in 2021 and currently leads the strategy for the company’s automation, digital-transformation, and operational-excellence processes. Prior to joining Baxter, Karan held a variety of leadership roles spanning engineering, operations and digital transformation.    

Author:

Saba Gurusubramanian

CTO
Virya Autonomous Technologies

Saba Gurusubramanian leads engineering, product, and technology at Virya Autonomous Technologies (part of the Maini Group), where he focuses on building intelligent mobility solutions for people and material movement in controlled environments.

With over 14 years of experience in the automotive and mobility sector—including 12 years in the U.S. leading powertrain, active safety, ADAS, and autonomy programs—Saba has taken multiple systems from concept to production across global OEM platforms. His core expertise lies in systems engineering, with a strong foundation in rapid prototyping, system architecture, functional safety, HW/SW integration, and software-defined vehicle development.

He has led large, cross-functional teams across domains such as sensing, perception, localization, planning, controls, embedded systems, powertrain, UI/UX, and telematics—bridging deep tech with scalable real-world deployment.

An engineer at heart and automotive technologist by passion, Saba is driven by a vision to make mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable through innovation.

Saba Gurusubramanian

CTO
Virya Autonomous Technologies

Saba Gurusubramanian leads engineering, product, and technology at Virya Autonomous Technologies (part of the Maini Group), where he focuses on building intelligent mobility solutions for people and material movement in controlled environments.

With over 14 years of experience in the automotive and mobility sector—including 12 years in the U.S. leading powertrain, active safety, ADAS, and autonomy programs—Saba has taken multiple systems from concept to production across global OEM platforms. His core expertise lies in systems engineering, with a strong foundation in rapid prototyping, system architecture, functional safety, HW/SW integration, and software-defined vehicle development.

He has led large, cross-functional teams across domains such as sensing, perception, localization, planning, controls, embedded systems, powertrain, UI/UX, and telematics—bridging deep tech with scalable real-world deployment.

An engineer at heart and automotive technologist by passion, Saba is driven by a vision to make mobility safer, smarter, and more sustainable through innovation.

In this session, learn how Amazon SageMaker HyperPod delivers a highly resilient and performant infrastructure purpose-built for training foundation models at scale. We will explore the latest HyperPod innovations that leading AI model development organizations such as Perplexity, Stability AI, and Hugging Face leverage to build state-of-the-art models. You will also discover how to efficiently build your own foundation models that work on your private data by customizing Amazon Nova or popular open-weight models like Llama. Whether you're fine tuning a model or building one from scratch, Amazon SageMaker AI makes it fast, cost-effective and scalable.

Software Infra

Author:

Sumit Thakur

Senior Manager, AI Product Management
AWS

Sumit Thakur

Senior Manager, AI Product Management
AWS