University of Cincinnati

05/12/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/12/2026 08:46

Strong data, stronger AI defines 2026 Analytics and AI Summit

Strong data, stronger AI defines 2026 Analytics and AI Summit

Center for Business Analytics and AI event emphasizes human-centered AI

9 minute read May 12, 2026 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on LinkedIn Share on Reddit Print Story Like

More than 400 attendees gathered at the Sharonville Convention Center in suburban Cincinnati on May 5 for the UC Center for Business Analytics and AI's 14th annual Analytics and AI Summit.

The 2026 Summit invited attendees to experience keynotes from 84.51° and Microsoft, a panel discussion, 15 breakout sessions, multiple networking gatherings and a closing social - all centered on how meaningful AI begins with strong, strategic data foundations.

Executive Director Georgette Angulo-Ramirez and Academic Director Dungang Liu, PhD, welcomed guests and carried the day's theme forward, encouraging participants to pause and reflect on what "AI-ready" meant for their teams or organizations and which part of their company's culture, data, governance and processes require strengthening before AI can truly create value for them.

Lindner students played a key role in the success of the 2026 Analytics and AI Summit.

"Strong data and stronger AI is a mantra for human-centered AI transformation," said Angulo-Ramirez.

Liu encouraged attendees to look to the center for collaboration, with its network of academic and industry experts bringing knowledge to the forefront of action, driving insights and supporting pathways to change.

"Bring us your ideas, your bold questions and your disruptive thinking," he said.

AI's building blocks

Milen Mahadevan, president and CEO of 84.51º and Kroger's chief data and AI officer, served as the morning keynote speaker. In his address - and during a subsequent fireside chat with Mike Fry, PhD, professor and senior director of Lindner centers and institutes - Mahadevan conveyed practical, experience-based leadership insights from 84.51º's AI journey. He highlighted the foundational decisions, operational choices and leadership alignment required to drive AI impact and return on investment.

Mahadevan outlined six building blocks for a strong AI foundation: data readiness, leadership, operating model, governance, talent strategy and reinvention.

Mike Fry (left), PhD, professor and senior director of Lindner centers and institutes, with Milen Mahadevan, president and CEO of 84.51º and Kroger's chief data and AI officer, during the fireside chat portion of Mahadevan's keynote.

"AI will not wait for any of us to be ready. The winners won't be organizations with perfect plans, but ones that understand what works for them. Build the foundation, build momentum and keep adapting."

In one of his closing remarks, Mahadevan advised students to incorporate human-centered skills into their AI toolkit and to blend traditional coursework with immersive learning and peer-to-peer interaction.

"We need more intangibles than tangibles. We need to focus on leadership qualities, empathy and real emotion."

Leadership panel talks human-centered AI

Scott Dust, PhD, associate dean of partnership development, moderated a panel of industry leaders - Patrice Borders, JD (AmplifyEI), Jennifer Craddock (Great American Insurance Group) and Tara Marotti (Burke Inc.) - who discussed what it means to remain human-centered as AI continues to reshape the workplace.

Craddock said that leaders should be mindful of the downstream effects of AI implementation and how it can affect employee engagement.

"Leaders are treating this like just another process or technology change, and it's more than that. It's a mindset and belief shift. I think that's the piece leaders often miss and need to remember," she said. "We're not just asking people to change processes or use different tools. We're asking them to change the way they think and perform."

From left: Associate Dean of Partnership Development Scott Dust, PhD; Patrice Borders, JD (AmplifyEI); Jennifer Craddock (Great American Insurance Group); and Tara Marotti (Burke Inc.) during the human-centered AI panel.

Borders stressed the importance of creating safe spaces for employees to communicate concerns.

"Their discernment should not be categorized as dissent or a lack of innovation. We have to make sure we are attentive and intentional about how we say things and what we say," she said.

Marotti highlighted the need for leaders to be curious and empathetic.

"Ask the questions and put yourself in somebody else's shoes: 'What are we trying to get this tool to do? How is it going to serve us? How relevant is it in the marketplace?'" she said. "These are all questions we must ask ourselves."

A new AI framework

Lindner graduate Ryan Rosensweig delivered the afternoon keynote address.

The afternoon keynote was delivered by Ryan Rosensweig, BBA '09, MDES '11, director of business strategy, Cloud & AI Platforms, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Microsoft. Rosensweig explained that organizations are moving beyond isolated AI pilots toward a new reality: AI as a core operating capability that reshapes work, customer engagement and innovation. Rosensweig cited four pillars of the "frontier transformation framework."

"When we look across industries, it breaks down to the organizations that are deploying AI to enrich the employee experience, reinvent the way they are interacting with customers, reshape business processes and bend the innovation curve. Frontier organizations are infusing AI directly into the way people work."

Rosenweig theorized that AI adoption is at an inflection point, with the hurdle no longer being access to technology, but the ability to scale it with clarity, confidence and control.

2026 Analytics and AI Summit speakers right arrow down arrow

Keynote Speakers

  • Milen Mahadevan, President and CEO, 84.51º. "Becoming AI-Ready: Leadership Lessons from 84.51º"
    • Facilitator: Mike Fry, Professor, Senior Director of Centers & Institutes, Lindner College of Business
  • Ryan Rosensweig, MDes, Director of Business Strategy, Cloud & AI Platforms, Healthcare and Life Sciences, Microsoft. "Becoming a Frontier Firm: From AI Experiments to Enterprise-Scale Impact"

Panel Discussion

  • Topic: "Becoming Human-Centered: Leadership, Trust, and the Courage to Lead in the Age of AI"
    • Facilitator: Scott Dust, Associate Dean, Lindner College of Business
    • Panelists
      • Patrice Borders, JD, Founder & CEO, AmplifyEI
      • Jennifer Craddock, Business Process Consulting Director, Great American Insurance Group
      • Tara Marotti, President & CEO, Burke, Inc.

Tracks

Marketing

  • Emily Hartmann, End-to-end Marketing & Growth Leader. "From Prompt to Performance: Using Data & AI to Build Creative That Actually Works"
  • Haley Coldiron, Account Director, Numerator. "Reimagining Account Strategy & Planning with AI"
  • Michael Howard, Founder & CEO, Nichefire. "The Cultural Zero Moment of Truth: Using AI and Data Science to Predict What Consumers Will Do Next"

Community & Ethics

  • Patrice Borders, JD, Founder & CEO, AmplifyEI. "AI + EI (Emotional Intelligence): What Leaders Need Now"
  • Daniel Peat, PhD, Assistant Professor-Educator, Lindner College of Business and Andrew Cullison, Executive Director, Ethics Center, University of Cincinnati. "Just Because We Can Doesn't Mean We Should: Ethical Leadership, Workforce Skills, and AI in Dialogue"
  • Andre Curtis-Trudel, PhD, Director, Center for Humanities and Technology, University of Cincinnati and David Reeves, Chief of Staff, Office of Councilmember Meeka D. Owens, City of Cincinnati. "The Hidden Human Costs of AI: Social, Environmental and Civic Perspectives"

Manufacturing & Retail

  • Prateek Shrivastava, Senior Manager, Advanced Analytics-Supply Chain, Cummins, Inc. "Stop Cleaning Unproductive Data, Start Building Knowledge: The "Question-First" Blueprint for Industrial AI"
  • Kate Cullen, Sr. Director, Discovery Experience Product, Kroger. "Racing to Win: Competing with Real-time Data & AI"
  • Eli Moore, VP of Data Strategy, Burke, Inc., and Kris Ewing, Global Head of Data Science and Stewardship, NielsenIQ. "Better Together: How Organizations Can Amplify the Value of AI with Data and Semantics."

Health

  • Laurah Turner, PhD, Associate Dean, Artificial Intelligence & Educational Informatics, University of Cincinnati. "Designing Reusable AI Assistants: Moving Beyond One-Off Prompts"
  • Lan Nguyen, Digital Marketing Manager, LinkedIn. "Don't Be the 60%: A Modern Pharma Marketer's Analytics Playbook"
  • Zachary Heck, Privacy, Security, and AI Partner, Taft Law. "Healing or Halting: Navigating the Legal Landscape of AI in Healthcare"

Finance

  • Or Zabludowski, Co-Founder & CEO, Flexor. "From Noise to Clarity: Turning Unstructured Financial Data into AI-Ready Context"
  • Kevin Anderson, Principal Product Owner AI Transformation, Fifth Third, and Evan Hunter, Director, AI Engineering, Fifth Third. "From Prompts to Production: Building Agentic AI Systems That Actually Work"
  • Anna Goldhahn, PhD, Director of Institutional Insights & Behavioral Science, Prudential. "AI, Survey Fraud, and the Incentive Problem: Rethinking How We Collect Human Data"
Thank you to the 2026 Analytics and AI Summit sponsors right arrow down arrow

Gold Sponsors

  • Centric
  • Procter & Gamble
  • Vaco by Highspring

Silver Sponsors

  • Burke, Inc.
  • Bitwise
  • Ingage

Bronze

  • CincyAI for Humans
  • The Circuit

Featured image: 2026 Analytics and AI Summit speakers with Center for Business Analytics and AI staff. Photos/Boonrise.

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