Part journalist, part historian, and all shrewd political observer, Ronald (Ron) Brownstein explains the complexities of American politics with lucid precision. As a CNN Senior Political Analyst, Senior Editor for the Atlantic, and Contributing Editor for National Journal, he produces sharp analysis on politics, policy, the electorate, media, healthcare, energy, the press' impact on Americans, and the range of issues informed by his strong sense of American political and national history. Brownstein provides an insider’s look into politics and the media and has twice been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He is also the author of seven best-selling books, and his articles on politics, public policy, and culture have appeared in myriad of major publications and on many broadcast news outlets.

Michael (Mike) Steep is the founder and former executive director of Stanford Engineering School's Center for Disruptive Technology and Digital Cities and the former senior vice president of global business operations at innovation mega-hub, PARC Xerox. He draws on first-hand experience and anecdotes from time spent with the biggest names in Silicon Valley to instruct audiences on how to get ahead of disruptive innovation. Viewing new technology as opportunity, Mike highlights the importance of allowing innovation to trump company culture and legacies—and not the other way around.

Neil Jacobstein is the chair of the Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Track at Singularity University, an organization whose founders hail from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation and has a goal “to educate, inspire and empower a new generation of leaders to apply exponential technologies to address humanity’s grand challenges.” Jacobstein shares one of the most thoughtful and up-to-date looks at the future of technology and how it will impact a variety of industries. He explores innovation, disruption, and artificial intelligence as he offers audience a glimpse into the future and its real-world applications.

Named one of the "40 Most Influential Minds in Tech" by TIME magazine, Vivek Wadhwa is a Distinguished Fellow at Carnegie Mellon University Silicon Valley. Based in Silicon Valley, he researches exponentially advancing technologies that are soon going to change our world. Wadhwa has held appointments at Duke University, Stanford Law School, Harvard Law School, and Emory University and is a faculty member at Singularity University. He is a globally syndicated columnist for The Washington Post and the author of four books on the intersection of technology and society.

Nick Bilton, Special Correspondent for Vanity Fair and former Lead Technology Writer for the New York Times, is a journalist, designer, UI specialist, technologist, author, hardware hacker, and researcher. Bilton has worked in many industries within the context of design, research and development, and technology. He is also the author of Hatching Twitter and I Live in the Future: & Here’s How It Works, which explores the effects of new technology on our brains. With highly visual presentations, he addresses innovation, the future of media, technology, and society and how technology affects our work and minds.

Mark has been working in Silicon Valley for over 30 years and has worked on over 1,000 venture capital transactions. He has significant experience in applying the law to the issues raised by new technologies, such as open source software, blockchain, IoT and domain names. For example, in 1994, he assisted Network Solutions, Inc. in developing the first domain dispute resolution system which is still the basis for the system in use today. His clients range from Fortune 500 such as Oracle Corporation and Sony Corporation to unknown startups. Currently, he and his team work with over 50 startups. He has worked across a wide variety of industries, including software (in particular open source software), blockchain, IoT, semiconductor, consumer electronics, content licensing (from music to characters), and medical devices.

David Hume Kennerly has been a photographer on the front lines of history for more than 50 years. At 25 he became one of the youngest winners of the Pulitzer Prize in Journalism. He has photographed ten U.S. Presidents, covered thirteen presidential campaigns, served as a contributing editor for Newsweek magazine for ten years, and was a contributing photographer for Time & Life Magazines. American Photo Magazine named Kennerly “One of the 100 Most Important People in Photography.”

Reflecting his interdisciplinary training in American Studies, which combined the fields of history, literature, and economics, Professor Kennedy's scholarship is notable for its integration of economic and cultural analysis with social and political history. His 1970 book, Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger, embraced the medical, legal, political, and religious dimensions of the subject and helped to pioneer the emerging field of women's history. Over Here: The First World War and American Society (1980) used the history of American involvement in World War I to analyze the American political system, economy, and culture in the early twentieth century. Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War (1999) recounts the history of the United States in the two great crises of the Great Depression and World War II.