Institute for AI presents Align & Engage 2026. The event will feature two keynotes (one from academia and the other from industry), lightning round of research talks from select IAI Faculty members, and themed breakout sessions. It provides an opportunity to get to know your peers, alumni, faculty, and AI industry leaders over food and drinks.

AGENDA

[2:00pm] Doors open...

[2:10pm] Opening Remarks

[2:15 - 3:30pm] Keynotes

Maribeth Gandy Coleman
Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), Georgia Tech

The IPaT Way for AI: Putting People Before Technology

Artificial intelligence is transforming nearly every sector of society, but successful AI innovation requires more than powerful models. This keynote explores "The IPaT Way," a people-centered approach that begins with understanding communities, needs, and lived experiences before designing technical solutions. Through examples from Georgia Tech's Institute for People and Technology, we examine how human-centered design, trust, accessibility, transparency, and community engagement can guide AI research from discovery to real-world impact.

Maribeth Gandy Coleman is a Regents' Researcher and Director of Research for the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) at Georgia Tech, and serves as Georgia Tech's inaugural Assistant Vice Provost for Research Faculty. She holds a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech, and her research applies wearable computing, augmented reality, and AI to develop human-centered solutions. She also works with community organizations, government agencies, and companies to bring Georgia Tech's research capabilities to real-world needs.

Hemant Soni
Digital Transformation Lead, Capgemini

AI-Powered Transformation in the Industry: Real-World Use Cases, Business Challenges, and the Path to Enterprise Value

This session explores how applied AI is driving measurable business outcomes in telecommunications and QSR industries. Through real-world use cases in customer experience, network operations, demand forecasting, personalization, and automation, it examines the challenges of scaling AI, including data readiness, governance, and adoption. Attendees will gain practical insights into transforming AI innovation into sustainable enterprise value and competitive advantage.

Hemant Soni is a technology and product leader specializing in AI-driven digital transformation across the Telecommunications, Media, and Technology (TMT) sector, with more than 22 years of experience at Capgemini, Evalueserve, and Vodafone. He joined Capgemini in 2017 to lead AI-centered transformation for one of the largest private telecom operators in the U.S. His work focuses on AI platform architecture and customer experience optimization. He is also an active mentor in product management and AI.

[3:30 - 3:45pm] Networking Break

[3:45 - 4:45pm] Lightning Talks

• Adrienne Hoarfrost, Assistant Professor, Department of Marine Sciences, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences
• Shanjukta Nath, Assistant Professor of Agricultural & Applied Economics, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences
• Chao Huang, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, College of Public Health
• Geng Yuan, Assistant Professor, School of Computing, Franklin College of Arts & Sciences

[4:45 - 5:30pm] Breakouts & Report outs

• AI & Society (Lead: Usree Bhattacharya, Christian Turner)
• Agentic AI for Health Sciences (Lead: Eugene Douglass, Kyle Johnsen)
• Physical AI for Agricultural Sciences (Lead: Guoming Li, Ramviyas Parasuraman)