The first Next speakers are revealed. Get early-bird tickets through Aug. 15 – Info Advertisement

Sophia Amoruso  Founder and CEO  Girlboss

Sophia Amoruso is the Founder and CEO of Girlboss, a digital-native brand and community redefining success for millennial women. Her 2014 New York Times Bestseller “#GIRLBOSS,” which chronicled her early life as well as her experience as the Founder of fashion empire Nasty Gal, was adapted into a scripted TV series that premiered on Netflix in 2017. Sophia is also the author of “Nasty Galaxy” and the “Girlboss Workbook.”

Jason Mars  Co-Founder and CEO  Clinc

Dr. Jason Mars is co-founder and CEO of Clinc. He is a professor of computer science at the University of Michigan where he directs Clarity Lab, one of the top labs in the world to be trained in A.I. and system design. He is an active part of the IBM Watson Conversational System Research Center and participates in ongoing collaborative research with Intel and the National Science Foundation. Jason has devoted his career to solving difficult real-world problems with A.I., computer vision, and natural language processing at scale.

Prior to University of Michigan, Jason was a professor at UCSD. He also worked at Google, Intel, and IBM. Jason’s work building the world’s first open-source platform for constructing large-scale A.I. and deep learning-based Intelligent Personal Assistants (IPAs) has been recognized globally and continues to have a significant impact on industry and academia. He was recently recognized as one of the top 10 most innovative CEOs in Banking. Jason holds a PhD in Computer Science from UVA.

Sharmeen Browarek  Senior Director of Viewer Engagement  Twitch

David Shing  Digital Prophet  Oath

David Shing is Oath’s Digital Prophet. He works across the globe to identify new opportunities for the business and assist in building the external profile of Oath. He regularly speaks, discussing the latest marketing trends and providing his insight on the evolving digital landscape and where he believes it is headed in the future. By night he is an accidental singer-songwriter.

Crystal Rose   Co-Founder and CEO  Sense

Crystal Rose is co-founder and CEO of SENSE, a decentralized messaging protocol on the blockchain and Sensay, a Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence (A.I.) and communications platform. She raised $30M in capital with prominent institutional VCs and most recently with completing a successful ICO for the SENSE digital token (makesense.com).

Crystal founded three companies across technology and media sectors, including AdTech, social media and artificial intelligence. Crystal previously founded a digital interactive agency producing apps, enterprise applications and e-commerce solutions for brands. She then co-founded two technology startups, both of which build platforms to enhance humans with automation with the most recent company centered around machine learning and conversational interfaces.

Crystal is passionate about building A.I. responsibly to augment and uplift humans, rather than replace them. Her life mission is disrupting the future of work by decentralizing jobs and creating a world of entrepreneurs, in which any human is their own enterprise. Along this mission she is the Chairman of Restart Week, a philanthropic organization for the benefit of underserved countries through technology and capital. She was previously the Founder of LA Startup Week, an annual 5-day series of events celebrating entrepreneurs and startups in Los Angeles and the Code for America Brigade in Los Angeles (Code for LA) supporting open government and civic hacking for the Mayor’s Office.

Delane Parnell   Founder and CEO   PlayVS

Delane Parnell is currently the Founder and CEO of PlayVS, the venture-backed startup building the infrastructure for high school esports. Prior to starting PlayVS, Delane worked at IncWell Venture Capital where he became the youngest black venture capitalist in The United States. Delane was then part of the early team at Rocket Fiber that raised $31M and focused on retail strategy directly with the CEO. While at Rocket Fiber, Delane founded Rush Esports, an esports team that was acquired by Team Solomid.

In 2017, Delane was introduced to Peter Pham and Mike Jones of Science where Delane founded PlayVS. In April 2018, PlayVS announced their exclusive partnership with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) to collaborate on the national rollout of esports in high schools. In June of 2018, the company announced a $15M Series A led by NEA, the largest ever for a black founder in the consumer internet industry. PlayVS’ inaugural esports season will commence in October 2018.

Ralph Santana  Executive VP and Chief Marketing Officer  Harman

Ralph Santana is EVP and CMO of HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. He drives all aspects of HARMAN’s worldwide marketing strategy and is responsible for overseeing Huemen, HARMAN’s world-class design agency focused on designing human-centered technology. Under Ralph’s leadership, HARMAN has built one of the most powerful audio brand portfolios in the industry. He sits on the Board of Directors of Dollar General, a value retailer based in Tennessee.

Before joining HARMAN in 2013, Ralph served as SVP and CMO for Samsung North America, and he previously served in multiple international and domestic leadership roles at PepsiCo.

Ralph holds a BA in English Literature from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Brian Braiker   Editor  Ad Age

Josh Golden  President and Publisher  Ad Age

Josh Golden was named Publisher of Ad Age in June 2016. His appointment marks the first time in the 88-year old publication’s history that the leader’s role was selected from outside the industry to drive the brand’s vision and growth.

Golden is responsible for the evolution of Ad Age, the most iconic media brand in the marketing landscape. Widely heralded as the best in the field, Ad Age drives the trends, insights and perspectives that fuel the success of the world’s top marketers. He oversees the entire portfolio of Ad Age’s signature offerings, including Creativity, Data Center and Ad Age Events.

Golden’s early history is in the film and television space where he worked for the prosecution on the largest trials of the last century including both O.J. Simpson and Menendez brothers. There, he was solely responsible for concept development and production of hundreds of video and photo assets that were used in the courtroom.

He now lives in Westchester with his wife and two children.

Jackie Ramsey  General Manager of Revenue and Client Partnerships  Ad Age

Jackie Ramsey is the General Manager-Revenue and Client Partnerships for Ad Age. She oversees the Ad Age sales team and is responsible for driving revenue across the brand by creating new ways to engage with the audience of advertising, marketing and media professionals.

Previously, Ramsey served as the Ad Director for Ad Age where she managed the sales team across all platforms. Prior to that, she served as Eastern Sales Director of Sunset at Time Inc. Ramsey has also served as Publisher of Bauer Media’s Teen Group overseeing brand sales for J14, M and Twist. She has also held several positions within the Hearst Corp.’s sales and marketing divisions.

Nat Ives  Executive Editor  Ad Age

Nat Ives is executive editor at Ad Age. He first joined Ad Age in 2005 as a reporter on the publishing beat. He previously helped cover the media and ad industries as a news assistant at The New York Times and reported on commercial real estate for Institutional Investor newsletters. He graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in 2001.

Jeanine Poggi Reporter Ad Age

Jeanine Poggi covers the TV industry, specializing in how broadcast and cable networks and distributors are adopting to the changes in the world of TV advertising. For her TV coverage, she is a recipient of the 2015 Jesse H. Neal Awards for “Best Range of Work By a Single Author.” Jeanine has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg News and Charlie Rose, among others. Prior to joining Ad Age in 2012, she spent six years covering the retail and media industries and other financial sectors for Women’s Wear Daily, Forbes and TheStreet. She was named a 2010 Strictly Financials fellow at the Reynolds Center for Business Journalism.

Tony Magee  Founder Lagunitas Brewing Company

Tony Magee is the founder of the Lagunitas Brewing Company. He was born in Chicago, IL and studied design at IIT in Chicago and music composition at Northern Illinois University. In 1987, he moved to San Francisco and after home-brewing on his kitchen stove for 8 months, he opened the doors to the Lagunitas Brewing Company in the fall of 1993. Lagunitas has been in business for 25 years, with a brewery in Petaluma, CA and a second location in Chicago, IL. They have a brewpub in Seattle, WA and a Community Center exclusively run for the use of non-profits in Portland, OR. They recently announced their third location in Azusa, CA, which will open in 2018. Tony has been a proponent of the cannabis industry and a consumer for most of his life.

Randall Wilkinson  CEO  The Wilkinson Group

Randall Wilkinson is a co-founder and CEO of The Wilkinson Group, a company deeply invested in the future of fresh bread. Its robotic Wilkinson Mini Bakery makes possible continuous, in-store baking of delicious, all-natural bread throughout the day as it engages directly with shoppers. The disruptive technology decreases cost and shrinks the environmental impact of current bread production by making the central factory and fleet of bread delivery trucks unnecessary.

Prior to his current role at The Wilkinson Group, Randall was the founder or co-founder of three diverse companies in travel, skincare and media that he led from startup to ultimate acquisition by different multinational companies.

Also a physician with 20 years of clinical practice, he has a particular awareness of the growing importance of improving what we eat and envisions a future where his company can help lead the way.

Randall firmly believes entrepreneurial success is often the result of piecing together seemingly unrelated knowledge and life experience. He’s constantly searching for information, engaging widely on topics ranging from marketing to blockchain, life extension to bread recipes.

With his wife, Susan, he lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho where the region’s lakes and mountains offer superb opportunities for skiing…whether on water or snow.

Jess Carbino  Sociologist   Bumble

Dr. Jess Carbino is Bumble’s Sociologist and renowned relationship and online dating expert. Dr. Carbino, who’s often referred to as “Dr. Jess,” has been called “the Dr. Ruth of the swipe right generation” by The New York Post.

As Bumble’s Sociologist, her primary responsibility is to improve Bumble’s user experience through understanding their needs and behavior.

Dr. Jess received her PhD in sociology from UCLA. Her doctoral research broadly focused on sex, dating and relationships. She was recently named one of the 100 Most Creative People by Fast Company magazine. Her work has been featured in major news outlets and TV programs including The New York Times, Good Morning America, Nightline and CNN.

Dr. Jess is a native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and attended Emory University, where she received her undergraduate degree with High Honors. Prior to joining Bumble, Dr. Jess spent three years working as Tinder’s in-house sociologist.

Kass Dawson  Global Head of Marketing Communications  SoftBank Robotics

Kass Dawson is the Global Head of Marketing Communications at SoftBank Robotics, managing the development and execution of all strategic and tactical plans for external and internal communications. He works in conjunction with SoftBank partners to ensure that communications strategies, messages and executions are aligned with brand and business priorities.

Before SoftBank Robotics, Dawson worked at Facebook as the Global Head of Vertical Marketing for the automotive industry, where he drove the company’s strategic vision to maximize automotive business around the world. Prior to Facebook, Dawson held a variety of leadership roles with advertising and technology leaders like Mercedes-Benz and Jumpstart Automotive Group.

Claudia Mata   Co-Founder  Vertly

Claudia Mata is the co-founder of Vertly, a plant-based, clean beauty line that focuses on the natural wellness properties of CBD (the non-psychoactive component of cannabis). After relocating from New York City to the San Francisco Bay area in 2016, Mata immersed herself into an herbalism education, which she then merged with her husband’s background in cannabis to create what is now Vertly. Prior to this, Mata worked in fashion editorial in NYC for 11 years, most recently as the Accessories and Jewelry Director at W Magazine. She still continues her role as the Contributing Jewelry Editor at Elle Décor with a monthly column.

Mata is based in Northern California, where she lives with her husband (Vertly co-founder and wellness expert Zander Gladish) and their two children.

Amy Emmerich Chief Content Officer  Refinery29

Amy Emmerich is the chief content officer at Refinery29, the leading digital-media and entertainment company focused on women. She has more than 20 years of experience developing content and programming for brands including Refinery29, MTV Networks, Travel Channel, and Vice Media. An Emmy award-winning producer, she has a full spectrum of production and development experience across platforms, including linear television, digital video, and social media, and is committed to creating a dialogue that matters most to a new generation of powerful women.

As CCO, Amy oversees all Refinery29 content and is focused on driving strategy and expanding distribution across channels as the brand scales globally. Under Amy’s leadership, Refinery29 has launched numerous franchises including Reclaim Your Domain, scored exclusives with leading female voices including Cecile Richards and has launched several new content brands including Short Cuts, Riot and Strong Opinions Loosely Held. In 2016, Refinery29 launched the Shatterbox Anthology Series, a short film initiative where female directors realize their creative visions and reach new audiences. The films have premiered at festivals globally, including Cannes, Sundance, and SXSW.

Brian Braiker  Editor  Ad Age

Brian Braiker is the Editor of Ad Age, the most iconic media brand in the marketing landscape. Braiker brings his uniquely informed, approachable tone and digitally savvy point of view to Ad Age as the brand continues its evolution as the voice of the media, communications and marketing industries.

Chris Pierantozzi Executive Creative Director 

Chris built the department on the key principal that the fundamental marriage of data and creativity is ushering in an entirely new advertising era. Utilizing tactics like data mining , flexible storytelling, and integrating AI, it’s a creative group with a foothold in science.

Chris has a unique background. He grew up in the world of computer science and data analysis. So the perspective that he brings to the digital creative world is quite different then the rest of the industry.

Prior to becoming ECD, Chris served as both CD and ACD at the agency.

Before joining Saatchi LA, Chris was a Senior Art Director at TBWAChiatDay. He also spent time at RPA as an Art Director, working on the Honda account.

In addition to his automotive experience, Chris has created noteworthy campaigns for brands including Walmart, Asics, Playstation, and Gatorade. Chris graduated from University of Pittsburgh with a degree in computer science and minor in mathematics.

Or Shani  CEO and Founder  Albert

Or is CEO and founder of Albert Technologies Limited, makers of Albert, the world’s first and only fully autonomous digital marketer.

Or and a team of 80 data scientists, engineers, and mathematicians spent years reverse engineering the logic, intuition and decisions that marketers make during multi-channel digital marketing campaigns. The result is a completely self-driven digital marketer that doesn’t just replicate what his human colleagues do, but works at a pace and scale not possible by even the largest marketing teams.

Or now works closely with AI early adopters at brands like Harley-Davidson, Dole and EVISU to gain firsthand insights into how human-machine teams are collaborating, and how AI is setting new standards and best practices for marketing.

Luke Sherwin  Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer  Casper

Luke is the steward of Casper’s creative identity. Luke identified an opportunity to illustrate sleep—an industry that had previously lacking in creativity—in a more recognizable lifestyle context. Luke grew up in England and moved to the U.S. to attend Brown University, where he received his B.A. He founded one of the school’s largest student run businesses and honed his entrepreneurial vocabulary on the debate team. Before Casper, Luke worked in brand strategy and development roles in the art, digital publishing, and tech worlds in London and New York City.

Sunayna Tuteja  Director of Emerging Technologies, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships  TD Ameritrade

A life-long learner, Sunayna is working on her JD at Stanford Law with a focus on the impact and influence of disruptive technologies, and the future of jurisprudence. Partnering with the Stanford Innovation Lab she works closely with the start-up and VC community and helping to advance public and corporate innovation.

Dana Anderson  Chief Transformation Officer  MediaLink

Dana Anderson is an intrepid explorer whose curiosity about people and what motivates them has propelled some of the world’s most beloved brands. She unleashes the power of a brand through four fundamental constructs: creativity, transformation, inspiration and powerful storytelling.

As Chief Transformation Officer of MediaLink, Dana applies her expertise, wit and wisdom to Fortune 500 marketers, helping them unearth new approaches to innovation, applying transformational thinking to enduring plans, seeking fresh inspiration in a brand’s promise and crafting compelling narratives that touch the hearts and minds of consumers.

Dana brings to her clients a rare mix of business intelligence developed as a global marketer combined with go-to-market ingenuity honed as an agency CEO. One of the more commanding and engaging voices in the marketing space right now, she has guided multiple organizations successfully through periods of profound disruption.

Prior to joining MediaLink in April 2017, Dana was Chief Marketing Officer at global snacking powerhouse Mondelēz International. There she led the brand equity, strategy, marketing, media, data and digital teams that powered such iconic brands as Oreo, Cadbury, Milka, BelVita and Trident.

She joined Mondelēz International in 2012 when Kraft Foods separated its global snack food business from its grocery business. Dana had served as SVP of marketing strategy and communication for Kraft since 2009.

Ad Age calls her one of the “100 Most Influential Women in Advertising” and Business Insider named her one of the most innovative CMOs in the world. In 2015, she was on the Forbes list of Top 50 CMOs and was named “Woman of the Year” (She Runs It).