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SUMMARY:Panel Discussion: The Next AI Builders Are Already Here
DESCRIPTION:**Overview**\nOrganizations frequently discuss the skills they want from entry level AI talent. Far less often do we ask students what they are already building. \nThis panel shifts the focus from employer expectations to student reality. Moderated by [Jena Zangs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenaz/)\, Chief Data and AI Officer at the University of St. Thomas\, the session features graduate and undergraduate students actively working with AI across disciplines. \nPanelists will share how they are using AI in coursework\, research\, internships\, entrepreneurship\, and personal projects. They will discuss what tools they rely on\, how they are learning beyond the classroom\, and how they view the evolving expectations of entry level roles. \nThis conversation offers Applied AI leaders a rare opportunity to hear directly from emerging AI builders and to better understand how student capabilities are developing in real time. \n**Agenda**\n6:00pm – 6:30pm: Networking – food & drinks\n6:30pm – 8:00pm: Presentation & discussion\n8:00pm: Networking at [Lake Monster Brewing](https://www.lakemonsterbrewing.com/) \n**Meet Our Featured Speakers**\n**Esse Komlanvi: Graduate Student**\n[Esse Komlanvi](https://www.linkedin.com/in/essekom/?locale=en_US) is an AI and business analytics professional building technology that expands opportunity in underserved communities. As a Graduate student at the University of St. Thomas she founded Nuse\, a voice-first AI platform designed to help women entrepreneurs in emerging economies manage their businesses\, access financial education\, and unlock funding. With a background in IT consulting\, data analytics\, and digital transformation\, Esse focuses on making artificial intelligence practical\, inclusive\, and human-centered. Her work sits at the intersection of AI\, financial inclusion\, and women’s economic empowerment. She is passionate about ensuring that AI is not only innovative\, but also equitable and accessible to those who are often left out of traditional tech systems. \n**Arthur Kennedy: Graduate Student**\n[Arthur A. Kennedy](https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthurakennedy/) is a Master’s candidate in Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas\, where he builds applied AI solutions and collaborates on real-world projects across data analytics and machine learning. After completing his undergraduate degree in computer science\, Arthur chose the AI program to deepen his technical expertise and move beyond using tools to understand and develop intelligent systems. He has worked with proprietary datasets\, trained and fine-tuned models in specialized domains\, and contributed to campus hackathons and AI community events that connect industry challenges with student builders. Arthur is passionate about expanding what it means to be an AI practitioner and empowering his peers to translate academic learning into practical impact. \n**Jena (moderator): Chief Data& AI Officer**\n[Jena Zangs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenaz/) is the first Chief Data & AI Officer at any higher ed institution in Minnesota\, she specializes in moving organizations beyond AI hype into production-ready\, governed\, and scalable systems. She leads enterprise AI strategy\, modern data platforms\, and applied innovation spanning infrastructure\, AI\, and machine learning\, with a focus on trust. Her work has been recognized with an AWS Education Champion Award and a Top 50 Data & Analytics Team honor. A Lovable Global Buildathon Winner\, Jena brings a builder’s mindset to every engagement\, bridging executive strategy with hands-on implementation. \n**Sponsors**\nThis event is sponsored by [Lab651](https://lab651.com/) & [Recursive Awesome](https://recursiveawesome.com/)
URL:https://minnestar.org/calendar2/panel-discussion-the-next-ai-builders-are-already-here/
LOCATION:Lab651\, 550 Vandalia St #231\, St Paul\, MN\, 55114\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=-05:00:20260331T140000
DTEND;TZID=-05:00:20260331T160000
DTSTAMP:20260404T061504
CREATED:20260302T211852Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20260330T212215Z
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SUMMARY:AI in Product: Applied AI - AI Governance Panel Discussion
DESCRIPTION:**Overview**\n**Applied AI: What Actually Works** brings together experienced leaders across product\, data\, security\, and business to cut through the noise and talk honestly about using AI in real organizations. This panel will focus on practical lessons\, real-world failures\, and actionable best practices for leaders navigating AI adoption today. Expect candid stories\, concrete frameworks\, and an interactive discussion designed for executives and operators who want to move forward with clarity\, confidence\, and control. \n**Agenda** \n* 2:00pm – 2:30pm: Arrival and networking\n* 2:30pm – 2:45pm: Announcements and round-room introductions\n* 2:45pm – 3:30pm: Featured panel\n* 3:30pm – 4:00pm: Your impromptu discussion topics\n* 4:00pm onwards: Continued networking at Monster Brewing \n**Meet Our Featured Panelists** \n**[Sacha Sweeney-Newman](https://www.linkedin.com/in/sachasweeneynewman/)**\n*Founder Atlasticity*\nSacha is a cloud and AI business strategist and co-founder of Atlasticity\, an AWS Advanced Tier Partner focused on helping organizations modernize responsibly and extract real value from emerging technologies. With deep experience across AWS cloud operations\, managed services\, migration\, and applied AI\, Sacha regularly advises executive teams on how to move from experimentation to production—with low disruption of modernization.\nOutside of work\, Sacha runs almost entirely on creativity\, curiosity\, and controlled chaos. She’s passionate about serving people in need and constant growth—whether that’s in business\, mindset\, or life in general. That growth mindset is tested daily while juggling four daughters\, an impressive 34 nieces and nephews\, and—at last count—nine “outside” cats (it’s a long story!).\nShe’s also a firm believer in saying yes to fun while being gloriously mediocre with old and new hobbies alike: wake surfing on the lake in the summer\, heroic but inconsistent attempts to keep a golf ball on the fairway\, and monthly appearances at Billiards & Bytes\, where tech conversations are seriously great but pool skills are optional.\nAs today’s moderator\, Sacha will guide the panel toward actionable insights and real lessons learned from the field. \n**[Norman Owens](https://www.linkedin.com/in/normanowens/)**\n*Senior Solution Architect – AWS*\nNorman Owens helps customers get the most out of the AWS cloud. He has acquired deep expertise with traditional AI/ML tools by building solutions for customers\, and supplementing this activity with a Master’s of Science in AI/ML.\nAs a proud University of Minnesota alum\, Norman enjoys working with students to help them reach career starts faster. He is curious about what is working in today’s gloomy job market and is always willing to take a first appointment via LinkedIn. Norman is grateful to be able to help future leaders now.\nNorman recently acquired his 12th AWS certification and is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his AWS Gold Jacket.\nOutside of work\, Norman is supporting the youngest of his two children through university and is proud to enjoy the achievements of all three adult children. \n**[Jena Zangs](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenaz/)**\n*Chief Data & AI Officer\, University of St. Thomas*\nJena Zangs is a Chief Data & AI Officer who helps education leaders move beyond AI hype into real-world impact. At the University of St. Thomas\, she leads enterprise AI strategy\, governed data infrastructure\, and applied innovation focused on trust\, usability\, and outcomes that matter. Her work has been recognized with an AWS Education Champion Award and a Top 50 Data & Analytics Team honor. With a masters in data science\, Jena brings a builder’s mindset to every opportunity\, showing how educators and institutions can design AI that supports people\, not replaces them. \n**[Megan C. Starkey](https://www.linkedin.com/in/megancstarkey/)**\n*Founder and CEO – RBD*\nMegan C. Starkey is the founder and CEO of RBD.\, an AI advisory firm helping mid-size organizations build capabilities for the AI era. She has spent two decades helping global organizations like Target\, General Mills\, Chase\, and IBM turn emerging technology into business performance. She is the author of The Intelligence Organization:\nRedesigning the Firm to Outcompete in the AI Era and creator of the Starkey ModelTM\, a use case prioritization framework. She is a founding member of AI Circle and holds credentials from Harvard Business School and MIT. \n**Sponsors**\nThis event is sponsored by [Lab651](https://lab651.com/) & [Recursive Awesome](https://recursiveawesome.com/) \n**Organizers**\nThis event is part of the community interest groups series at Applied AI\, where community members power sessions for niche interest areas through the Applied AI platform. \nThis event is organized and hosted by [Cameron Gross](https://www.linkedin.com/in/camerongross/)\, [John DeBauche](https://www.linkedin.com/in/johndebauche/)\, and [Beth-Alison Berggren](https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethalisonb/).
URL:https://minnestar.org/calendar2/ai-in-product-applied-ai-ai-governance-panel-discussion/
LOCATION:Lab651\, 550 Vandalia St #231\, St Paul\, MN\, 55114\, United States
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DTSTART;TZID=-06:00:20260305T180000
DTEND;TZID=-06:00:20260305T200000
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SUMMARY:LLM Implementation Insights: Manufacturing & Software Case Studies + EU AI Act
DESCRIPTION:**Overview**\nA practical\, comparison-driven session on what actually happens when LLM projects go to production—across two very different environments: a regulated international medical company and a mid-sized software company. We’ll distill the key implementation takeaways\, share patterns that worked (and the ones that didn’t)\, and close with a clear\, non-lawyer intro to what the EU AI Act means for teams building and deploying AI systems. \nYou’ll leave with: \n* A checklist of “production reality” lessons learned from two real implementations\n* A simple EU AI Act primer: risk categories\, obligations\, and what to do next as builders \n**Agenda**\n6:00pm – 6:30pm: Networking – food & drinks\n6:30pm – 8:00pm: Presentation & discussion\n8:00pm: Networking at [Lake Monster Brewing](https://www.lakemonsterbrewing.com/) \n**Meet Our Featured Speaker**\n[Jakub Orczyk](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jakub-orczyk-14a3a72/) is a Managing Partner and Board Member at [VM.PL Software House](https://vm.pl/). The company delivers AI/ML solutions for manufacturers and other companies\, drawing on cross-market experience in the EU (especially the DACH region) and the United States. The company’s experience spans industrial tech (semiconductors)\, healthcare\, financial services\, and more\, with hands-on\, ROI-focused applied AI/ML case studies. \n**Sponsors**\nThis event is sponsored by [Lab651](https://lab651.com/) & [Recursive Awesome](https://recursiveawesome.com/)
URL:https://minnestar.org/calendar2/llm-implementation-insights-manufacturing-software-case-studies-eu-ai-act/
LOCATION:Lab651\, 550 Vandalia St #231\, St Paul\, MN\, 55114\, United States
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