Panelists:

Enrico Pontelli, Ph.D.

Dean of College of Arts and Science & Senior Advisor for AI

New Mexico State University

Enrico received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from NMSU, a Master in Computer Science from the University of Houston and a Laurea cum Laude in Computer Science from the University of Udine (Italy). He currently serves as the Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at NMSU as well as the Senior Advisor for AI. He currently chairs the New Mexico AI Consortium. He is the author of over 300 peer-reviewed publications and the PI or co-PI of extra-mural funding for over $20M. He is the recipient of a NSF CAREER award. His areas of research interest cover a broad range of topics in Computer Science, including logic and constraint programming, knowledge representation and reasoning, bioinformatics, assistive technologies and computer science education. He is passionate about broadening participation in computing. He is the founder and director of the Young Women in Computing program, launched in 2006, which served over 20,000 students in the last 20 years. He serves in the leadership team of the Computing Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institutions (CAHSI) and he is the lead of the Southwest region of the CAHSI Includes Alliance. He is the founding director of the NMSU Center of Research Excellence in Smartgrid Technologies (iCREDITS).

Jerry Prochazka

CEO

Strategy & The Machine

Jerry Prochazka is the founder and CEO of Strategy & The Machine, an AI consulting practice based in Las Cruces that works with small and medium businesses across the region on practical AI integration: where it fits in their operations, where it doesn't, and how to translate the technology into measurable value.

Before founding Strategy & The Machine, Jerry held senior executive roles in the global technology industry. He served as People Director at Riot Games during the years it earned a spot on Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work For, scaling the organization from 450 to over 2,200 employees. He went on to become Chief HR Officer at Wargaming, leading people operations across 14 global offices. He began his career with 9 years at Accenture, advising Fortune 500 clients on talent strategy, organizational design, and product development.

Jerry is also the founder of Ganymede Games, a Techstars Boulder graduate that shipped its first title to Steam and partnered with Amazon Gaming and vVv Gaming, which he founded in 2007.

He completed Stanford GSB's Executive Program, holds an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago, and a BS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Old Dominion University. He spent 12 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear engineer and surface warfare specialist.

Locally, Jerry serves as Treasurer of Film Las Cruces, on the board of Earthshot, and as an advisor to Scale Up New Mexico TechSprint.

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