Programme 2024
AtlanTec Conference 16 May 2024
Thursday 16 May Morning
Sarah McInerney is a radio and television broadcast journalist with RTÉ. She presents Prime Time on RTÉ One, the national broadcaster’s flagship current affairs show, and co-hosts RTÉ Radio One’s Drivetime on weekday evenings, a fast-moving current affairs programme covering the key political and topical issues of the day.
Before moving to RTÉ, Sarah was the host of Newstalk Drive, which won IMRO Current Affairs Show of the Year in 2017. She was also awarded IMRO News Broadcaster of the Year 2017.
Prior to her career in broadcast, Sarah was political correspondent with The Sunday Times for eight years, and later wrote a political column for the paper.
She is author of Where No-One Can Hear You Scream, a book about women who were killed or disappeared in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains, published by Gill Books in 2008.
Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, President University of Galway
Sharon Walsh, SVP of Technology, Fidelity Investments and itag Chair
Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh:
Ciarán became the 13th president of Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway in January 2018. Previously, he was Professor of Accounting and Dean of Business at UCD. Ciarán has drove the development of University of Galway’s strategic plan, Shared Vision, Shaped by Values, focusing on collaboration and guided by core principles and has a significant impact on the University as President.
Sharon Walsh:
Senior Vice President Technology at Fidelity Investments, Sharon leads an organisation of 250+ technologists delivering technology solutions for Asset Management out of Ireland.
Sharon joined Fidelity Investments in 1997 in Boston and has held a range of technology leadership positions across several of Fidelity’s US businesses before returning to work for Fidelity in Ireland in 2013. After several years involved with itag’s board and holding the position of vice-chair, Sharon was appointed Board Chair this year.
Peter Scott, Next Wave Institute
Peter has given university courses and numerous appearances around the world. In February 2020 he spoke to Britain’s House of Lords on the future of AI, and delivered a TEDx talk to a thousand people in British Columbia, Canada. His third TEDx talk, on why AI might need to have empathy, was released in July 2023.
His weekly podcast, “Artificial Intelligence and You” tackles three questions: What is AI? Why will it affect you? How do you and your business survive and thrive through the AI Revolution? In July 2022, his book also called “Artificial Intelligence and You” was released.
His Next Wave Institute coaches executives how to futureproof their careers and businesses. Peter is now working with schools on retooling their educational methods and content to adapt to AI.
Is technology working for you, or are you working for technology? Peter peels back the layers on our tech-heavy lives, exposing paradoxes in our relationship with time, and challenges us to exploit AI not as a mere tool but as a transformative force to create a meaningful and optimistic future of work.
Andrew Ayres, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
technologies to spur their transformation and change agenda. In his work, Andrew is able to draw from his extensive knowledge and experience spanning a broad range of related areas, such as Transformation, Edge to Multi-Cloud Technologies, Big Data and Artificial
Intelligence – to advise boards and their teams on their optimal paths to success. In recognition of his expertise, he currently holds the position of Discussion Leader at HPE’s Customer Innovation Centre in London.
Moderator: Linda Devenney, Fidelity Investments
Panel Members: Andrew Ayres, Michelle Concannon, Signify Health,
Ronan Conlon, Rent The Runway, Fergal Lyons, Centripetal
From Data to Intelligence: Harnessing the Power of AI
Moderator: Linda Devenney, Vice President Data Architecture at Fidelity Investments
Linda has worked in roles spanning data architecture, data analysis, and data engineering in the financial services industry for the past 26 years. In her current role in Fidelity as Vice President of Data Architecture, She is responsible for developing Fidelity’s Enterprise AI/ML Data Strategy. This strategy focuses on providing enterprise data architecture guidelines & best practices on how data should be managed within the AI/ML Lifecycle. As an advocate for data, Linda is actively involved in learning & development across the organisation. She regularly delivers training & knowledge sharing sessions to associates and provide mentorship to associates who are interested in advancing their career in data architecture.
Panel Members
Andrew Ayers currently works as a Master Strategist for UK & Ireland at Hewlett-Packard Enterprise – one of the world’s most innovative technology companies – where he advises clients, across a range of industries, on how they should leverage people, processes, and technologies to spur their transformation and change agenda. In his work, Andrew can draw from his extensive knowledge and experience spanning a broad range of related areas – such as Transformation, Edge to Multi-Cloud Technologies, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence – to advise boards and their teams on their optimal paths to success. In recognition of his expertise, he currently holds the position of Discussion Leader at HPE’s Customer Innovation Centre in London.
Ronan Conlon is Senior Director of Engineering and site lead at the Rent the Runway in Galway. He is an Information Technology graduate from University of Galway and the Irish Management Institute, with over 20 years of experience scaling enterprise software teams. His role includes overseeing Galway site operations for Rent the Runway alongside a technology role focusing on consumer engineering and ecommerce innovation.
Michelle Concannon is the Technology Leader at Signify Health Ireland (a CVS company) & Global SVP of Technology for Oak Street Health, another arm of the recently established CVS Healthspire brand that brings together CVS’s Healthcare Delivery, pharmacy & health services solutions. Signify & Oak Street’s technology teams delivery end to end solutions that support a large ecosystem of clinical staff care for older adults on Medicare (US federal Health Insurance Programs) through a combination of in home health assessments & in office visits. A purpose driven leader, she is passionate about building talented teams and great products using great technology, fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture. Michelle’s career path showcases a remarkable ability to navigate diverse leadership roles across continents as a Galway-native with over 25 years of international experience as both a hands-on software engineer and leader of global product engineering & AI teams across Ireland, the US, EMEA and Asia. She has held senior leadership roles at Microsoft, Optum, and Cisco across engineering, data, AI & product prior to her current position at Signify Health. Michelle holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems from University of Limerick, a Master’s degree in Computing from Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology & Nanodegree in Machine Learning.
Fergal Lyons, is senior Director of Product Marketing with Centripetal. Fergal has an extensive background in technology with proven expertise bridging needs of enterprise customers and sales teams with engineering and product development. Expertise in managing enterprise accounts and strategic software business. He has a track record of increasing revenue year upon year through building and maintaining outstanding customer relationships. He is a strategic thinker with strong ability to match technology with customer needs.
Keith Griffin, Cisco
Keith Griffin is a VP & Cisco Fellow in the collaboration Group focused on AI and Machine Learning in the office of CTO. He is also the GM & Site leader for Cisco in Galway, Ireland where he is based. Keith formed Collaborations AI/ML technology strategy in 2016 and helped to form Cisco’s Responsible AI framework from initial machine learning data privacy through to today’s responsible AI framework for generative AI and large language models.
He leads technology scouting for Collaboration M&A and investments, Cisco’s Collaboration IP, Patent and Research strategy and has been Cisco’s top inventor for collaboration technology for over ten years.
Overview: A new wave of AI has emerged. Generative AI fuelled by large language models (LLMs) has captured not just the imagination of technologists but has directly impacted the public view of artificial intelligence. The opportunities presented by generative AI are immense and so are the risks. This session will focus on both to help navigate a path to the most effective use of generative AI in enterprise environments.
Paul Healy, Skillnet Ireland
Paul is the Chief Executive of Skillnet Ireland, the agency responsible for spearheading workforce development for the enterprise sector and for driving innovation and competitiveness through industry-led upskilling. Paul has 20 years executive level experience spanning the private and semi-State sectors, specialising in the development and implementation of organisation strategy, public affairs, corporate governance and human resource development. Paul is a member of Ireland’s National Skills Council and the National Training Fund Advisory Group. Paul qualified with a degree in economics and holds an MBA from Dublin City University. He is a respected commentator on skills for industry.
Overview: Developing talent means embracing upskilling and innovation. A highly skilled workforce is central to Ireland’s national competitiveness. As the government business support agency responsible for workforce development, Skillnet Ireland supports around 22,500 businesses annually through the provision of enterprise-led training and workforce learning.
“Now is time to double down on talent, engaging more companies in the upskilling of their teams, and increasing the investment in Ireland’s greatest asset, its people.” Paul Healy
Allyship in Action: Fostering Innovation and Creativity through Diversity of Thought
Moderator: Emer Kelly, Avaya
Liam McDwyer, Genesys, Lorna Martyn, Fidelity Investments, Laura Mackin, Liberty IT, Gillian Harfort, 30% Club
Moderator: Emer Kelly
Emer Kelly, is Director, Contact Center Solutions Integration and Performance, Avaya.
- Lorna Martyn, SVP Fidelity Investments Ireland Regional Chair and Senior Vice President, Technology. Technology Ireland board member, Junior Achievement Ireland non executive director, Irish American Partnership board member.
- Liam McDwyer, Vice President, Customer Success and Services, Digital & AI, Genesys
- Laura Mackin Director of Communications & Marketing, Liberty IT
- Gillian Hartford, Country Executive at 30% Club Ireland sponsored by Matheson LLP
Thursday 16 May Afternoon
Mamoona Ashgar, University of Galway
Dr. Mamoona Asghar currently holds an academic position at the School of Computer Science, University of Galway, Ireland. She has over a decade of post-PhD lecturing and R&D experience in Ireland, UK, and Pakistan. She is a former Marie Curie (MSC) Career-Fit Research Fellow and Lecturer at Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest (TUS), Athlone, Ireland (2018-2021). She is an active researcher, and her interdisciplinary research interests include Cybersecurity, Machine Learning, Computer Vision, GDPR, Visual Data Processing / Analysis, and the Internet of Things.
Dr. Asghar’s contributions to the academic community have been recognized through various prestigious funding awards. Notable among these are the MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2022, an INTERREG NWE Grant in 2023, and an IRC PhD Funding in 2024. She has mentored and guided 6 PhD students to successful graduation, showcasing her commitment to nurturing the next generation of scholars. Currently working with a team of 2 postdocs, and 4 PhD students at the University of Galway.
Conor Hynes & Ivo Garais, TitanHQ
Cyber Resilience in the AI and Cloud Era: Identifying and Mitigating Emerging Threats
Moderator: Veronica Rogers, Atlantic Technological University
Panel Members: Conor Hynes, TitanHQ, Mamoona Asghar, University of Galway,
Seamus Quinn, Intuity, Geraldine Powderly, SkySpecs
Panel Discussion
Cyber Resilience in the AI and Cloud Era: Identifying and Mitigating Emerging Threats
Moderator: Veronica Rodgers
Veronica is a lecturer at Atlantic Technological University and a member of the itag Cyber Forum. Veronica Rogers is a lecturer in ATU Sligo since 2019 and teaches cyber security modules across a range of programs. Veronica has over 15 years’ experience working in the Computing Industry in a variety of roles (infrastructure, analyst/programming roles etc..) and specialized in the cyber security field (in particular web application security) for approximately 8 years. She holds a Hons Degree from IT Sligo in Computing and a MSc in Forensics and Security from DCU. Veronica is one of the Chapter leads for Cyber Irelands North-West chapter.
Séamus Quinn, Head of Cyber Security at CyberContego (An Intuity Company).
Séamus embarked on his tech career in the late 1990s, founding the managed service provider myITdepartment in 2003. This venture merged with Intuity Technologies in 2021. Presently, Seamus spearheads CyberContego, the cybersecurity arm of Intuity, dedicated to assisting SMEs with their cybersecurity requirements.
Geraldine Powderly VP of Global Information Security at SkySpecs
Geraldine Powderly is the Vice President of Global Information Security at Skyspecs, bringing over 20 years of industry experience to the role, with the last 12 years dedicated exclusively to cybersecurity. At Skyspecs, she is responsible for securing the company’s products and data, which encompass machine learning and IoT devices.
Thursday 16 May Afternoon
Laura Brodahl, Wilson Sonsini
Laura Brodahl is a senior associate in the EU data regulatory practice of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Based in Brussels, she specializes in advising clients on digital regulatory issues. Beyond GDPR compliance, Laura has expertise in a wide range of data regulations including the GDPR, the Digital Services Act, the developing AI Act and NIS2.
Laura regularly provides strategic and practical guidance to data driven sectors both as all-around counselling and in their interactions with supervisory authorities. She has considerable experience advising on innovative technologies, including in FinTech and Open Banking, gaming, and biometrics. She is recognised in the Legal 500 and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E). Laura above all prides herself on having a true passion for her practice.
Overview: Gain practical strategies for incorporating regulatory expectations into your AI lifecycle and insight into some key areas of interest in this developing area. Leave with a clearer understanding of immediate actions, pitfalls to avoid, and anticipated developments as the AI field progresses.
Moderator Sarah King, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Catherine Enright, Valeo, Paul Fadden, Ticketsolve, Katie Nic Gabhann, Cisco
Lightning Presentations
How to put AI into Operation
Moderator: Sarah King
Sarah is a seasoned Software Engineer who exemplifies technical expertise, leadership and a passion for innovation. With over 15 years of experience in the tech industry, she enjoys new challenges and is currently leading a team in the development of customer self-serve problem solving and service up-scale opportunity using chatbots and machine learning technologies.
Dr Catherine Enright, Software Team Manager at Valeo and member of the itag AI Forum.
Dr Catherine Enright is a Senior Expert and Principal Perception Architect at Valeo, the world’s leading provider of driving assistance systems to automotive manufacturers. The Tuam laboratory is Valeo’s global hub for AI based computer vision solutions. Catherine and the Tuam team are at the forefront of the huge changes taking place not only in AI but also in automotive as the software defined vehicle becomes a reality.
Paul Fadden, Managing Director at Ticketsolve, overseeing the company’s strategic direction. He helps ensure that the Ticketsolve team delivers an exceptional customer experience and world-class product features. Ticketsolve has embraced GenerativeAI in Customer Service, Product Engineering, and Core Product Features. He regularly speaks on organizational leadership development, strategic management, and innovation.
Katie Nic Gabhann, Engineering Manager at Cisco.
With over 20 years in the tech industry and 14 years at Cisco, Katie Nic Gabhann is a Galway native known for her expertise in AI, collaboration technologies, collaboration endpoints, messaging, and asynchronous communication. Passionate about leading high-performing teams, she puts people first. She truly believes in the power of collaboration to drive innovation and sees herself and her team as an embodiment of this. A leader in the Cisco Webex Suite AI team, she spearheaded the application of generative AI features into the Webex Application, bringing these to market swiftly, solidifying her reputation as a forward-thinking leader in the field of AI. When not transforming how teams collaborate and work using AI, she can be found transforming the performance of the U6 and U8 camogie teams of Liam Mellows.
Each panel member will provide a lighting presentation ‘3 best things we did, and the biggest pitfalls’ before the panel discussion begins.
Moderator: Peter Scott, Next Wave Institute
Brian Hanly, Brightbeam, Emir Munoz, Genesys, Laura Brodahl, Wilson Sonsin
Prof Michael Madden, University of Galway & Prof. Paul Buitelaar, Insight
Panel Discussion
How to Prepare for a Future with AI
Moderator: Peter Scott
Peter is a futurist, coach, and consultant helping people from all walks of life understand and leverage artificial intelligence. After receiving a master’s degree in computer science from Cambridge University, he moved to California to work for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and now lives on Vancouver Island. Peter has given university courses and numerous appearances around the world.
He is host to weekly podcast “Artificial Intelligence and You” and his company, Next Wave Institute coaches’ executives how to futureproof their careers and businesses. Peter is now working with schools on retooling their educational methods and content to adapt to AI.
Panelists
Brian Hanly, Brightbeam
Brian Hanly is the co-founder and CEO of Brightbeam. Brightbeam helps enterprises gain advantage through AI by transforming how humans and technology collaborate to deliver superior experiences, drive innovation and enable unparalleled productivity. Brian is passionate about helping companies and employees be the best they can be, he has set Brightbeam’s mission to “Be the most helpful company in the world”.
Emir Munoz
Emir Muñoz is a Senior Manager in Machine Learning at Genesys. He leads various R&D projects in the areas of contact centre optimisation, and conversational AI building out Predictive and Generative AI solutions responsibly. He received his PhD from the University of Galway, and before Genesys he worked for Fujitsu Ireland, Yahoo! Labs, and as a computer science lecturer in Chilean universities.
Prof. Michael Madden is the Established Professor of Computer Science in the University of Galway, and the Head of School of Computer Science. He has been working throughout his academic career in artificial intelligence research, starting with his PhD in Machine Learning in the 1990s. He leads the Machine Learning Research Group, which he set up in 2001, and he also teaches on Deep Learning and AI topics. His research focuses on new theoretical advances in machine learning, motivated by addressing practical applications in medicine, engineering, and science. This has led to over 100 publications as well as 4 patents and a spin-out company. He has spent time as a Visiting Research Scientist in University of Helsinki, University of California Irvine, and UC Berkeley.
Prof Paul Buitelaar – Paul Buitelaar is Professor in Data Analytics and Deputy Director of the Data Science Institute at the University of Galway where he leads a team in Natural Language Processing. He is co-Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in AI and co-PI of the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics. His research interests are in the development and use of Natural Language Processing methods for knowledge extraction and semantic-based information access. He has been leading a large number of national and EU funded projects in this area as well as leading collaborative projects on these research topics with companies such as Fidelity Investments, Huawei and Accenture.
Thursday 16 May Afternoon
Unleashing the Potential of Cloud: Insights from Industry Leaders
Frank Callaly, Neueda
Frank is a software engineer and enterprise architect based in Galway Ireland with over 15 years of experience working with, and leading, development teams to deliver large-scale high-performance software systems. With a background in Electronic Engineering at the University of Ireland, Galway. Frank began his career primarily in the areas of Java web applications, mobile telecoms networks and AI/ML. Frank has lead teams designing software that has been deployed in mobile networks, including Tier 1 networks, across the globe.
Frank has worked with the BIO-inspired research group at the University of Galway exploring reconfigurable hardware solutions in the area of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Deep Learning, working with the Si-Elegans consortium on a ground-breaking Artificial Intelligence project.
Frank is currently Director of Product Development with Neueda Technologies, where he leads innovation in products to support Enterprise upskilling and technology transformation. Neueda provides training and upskilling consultancy services to global enterprise organisations across the technology and finance sectors, including a number of tier 1 banks.
Overview: In this talk, we will delve into concepts and practices for leveraging Event Driven Architecture in the development of cloud-native applications. The talk will cover topics such as orchestration and choreography, the fundamentals of event-driven architecture, CQRS, the nature of events and their impact on system state, event sourcing, common EDA patterns, and the importance of adopting an “event-first” mindset. The talk will also explore the utilization of cloud services and tools tailored for event-driven architecture.
Sachin Sadasivan, Siemens
Sachin is an experienced Cloud Software Architect at Siemens, with over two decades of expertise in software development, architecture, and technical leadership. He possesses a deep passion for software design, development, deployment, troubleshooting, and site reliability engineering, and finds great fulfilment in working with cloud technologies, programming, and artificial intelligence.
Overview: In this talk, we will delve into concepts and practices for leveraging Event Driven Architecture in the development of cloud-native applications. The talk will cover topics such as orchestration and choreography, the fundamentals of event-driven architecture, CQRS, the nature of events and their impact on system state, event sourcing, common EDA patterns, and the importance of adopting an “event-first” mindset. The talk will also explore the utilization of cloud services and tools tailored for event-driven architecture.
Marc Blain, Rent the Runway
Marc Blain is a Senior Site Reliability Engineer within the Platform Engineering team of Rent The Runway. Marc’s expertise lies in seamlessly integrating cloud-native architectures, ensuring that systems are not only scalable but also resilient and cost-effective.
By implementing efficient CI/CD pipelines and fostering a culture of self-service, Marc has been a key stakeholder in driving Rent The Runway’s success.
Eamon Keane, Storm Technology
Passionate about technology and its role in transforming business outcomes and day-to-day experiences for employees, Eamon Keane is a Senior Software Engineer at leading Microsoft Business Technology Consultancy, Storm Technology. A champion of AI technologies, Eamon builds on his extensive experience delivering solutions on Azure, Dotnet and Angular to design and implement business applications that incorporate the very best of AI, to drive maximum client impact.
Tavi Nolan & Alan Serhan, Fidelity Investments
Alan Serhan is a Cloud Engineer currently working at Fidelity Investments in Galway for the past two years. At Fidelity, Alan has worked in several projects, leveraging Fidelity’s cloud platforms to drive innovation and efficiency, and advocate for development best practices.
Tavi Nolan is a Cloud Engineer with a passion for cloud technologies who has been with Fidelity Investments for the past two years, working primarily in the serverless space.
Overview: This presentation will explore how Fidelity is leveraging an internal developer portal to accelerate the software development process in the cloud. How this developer-focused and innovative approach has eliminated redundant work, fostered collaboration, and accelerated developer productivity will be showcased. How the cloud has enabled us to scale and adapt quickly to our evolving industry will also be highlighted. Join Alan and Tavi to learn more about their journey and challenges overcome as well as the significant improvements they’ve made and seen in the developer experience and speed of development.
Friday 17th May 2023
Regional Tech Spotlight – Leaders Event
AtlanTec Tag Rugby World Championship
DATE: Friday 19th May
TIMES: Blitz from 18:00 till late
COST: €120 per team (min 7 players, max 10 players – mixed format min 3 ladies)
Prize Giving, Food & Beer
Whether your company is a seasoned tag rugby campaigner or ready to take part in their first tag tournament, the AtlanTec Tech Tag Rugby World Championship is the perfect event to kick start your Tag Rugby Season.
Your team is guaranteed at least 2 x 10 minute matches (weather permitting). Most teams will also then qualify for a further knockout game, where they have a chance of winning a prize.
Après AtlanTec Tag Rugby Party
After the final join us for the prize giving, final wrap up party for this year’s AtlanTec Festival with music, burgers, beer and other entertainment especially selected for Techies!
BOOK your Team today. Email us at info@itag.ie
