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Mani Gopalakrishnan is a Partner at McKinsey & Company in Chicago, where he leads Digital and AI Transformation engagements across the Consumer sector. He brings deep expertise in AI strategy, data architecture, and large-scale organizational transformation.

Prior to McKinsey, Mani served as VP of Digital Transformation and Chief Learning Officer at Kraft Heinz, where he co-led one of the most ambitious corporate digital transformations in the CPG industry — standing up 30+ agile pods across Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing, delivering $400M in measurable impact with a path to $700M. He built Kraft Heinz's data and AI ecosystem from the ground up, launched a corporate university, and co-founded an internal incubator that produced an AI-powered food intelligence platform.

Today, Mani advises Fortune 500 companies on GenAI strategy, data platform design, and enterprise AI capability building — helping leaders move from ambition to execution in the age of AI.

Dr. Serena H. Huang brings over 10 years of Fortune 100 AI leadership to her work — not theory, but lived experience implementing AI at scale. She led analytics and HR technology at PayPal, founded Kraft Heinz's AI ethics council and built governance frameworks across a global manufacturing enterprise, and led transformation projects at GE when the company had 300,000 employees, navigating the complexity, change management, and organizational politics that determine whether transformation succeeds or stalls.

Today, Dr. Huang partners with Fortune 100 leaders and boards to deploy AI that drives measurable results while building trust and capability. She is the author of The Inclusion Equation: Leveraging Data & AI for Organizational Diversity and Well-being (Wiley, 2025), as seen in Fast Company, Barron's, and CNET. Her mission: make AI work for people, not the other way around.

Jeremiah Stone is the Chief Technology Officer at SnapLogic, where he spearheads the application of artificial intelligence to technology integration, process automation, and business transformation. He is a seasoned expert in creating advanced technology products that harness AI's full potential to address real-world business challenges.

Before his tenure at SnapLogic, Stone was the CTO at Ontrak, a predictive digital healthcare company. Prior to Ontrak, he was the CTO for software at GE's Energy Management business unit, where he drove the use of artificial intelligence to improve reliability in the power sector. Stone also served as Vice President of Natural Resource Industries and Sustainability Solutions at SAP. His career began at the National Center for Atmospheric Research as a programmer and systems administrator, contributing to the development of systems for predicting clear-air turbulence and improving aviation safety.

Stone graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado with a degree in Mathematics and holds a Master's degree in Information and Data Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kelly Lafnitzegger is AIG's Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer. She leads AIG's global human resources organization with responsibility for aligning AIG's talent strategy with the company's strategic and operational objectives. In this role, Ms. Lafnitzegger oversees talent acquisition and management, learning and development, compensation and benefits, culture and inclusion, and global corporate citizenship.

Ms. Lafnitzegger joined AIG from GE Vernova, where since 2022, she led the separation management office to support the company's spin-off from GE. Previously, over the course of her more than 30-year career at GE, Ms. Lafnitzegger held a series of human resources leadership roles across multiple industries and through various business cycles and transformations in GE's Corporate, Capital, Healthcare, Global Research, Transportation and Power divisions.

Ms. Lafnitzegger holds a bachelor's degree in Finance from Fairfield University and a master's degree in Human Resources Management and Organizational Behavior from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. She is a member of the advisory board for the Charles F. Dolan School of Business at Fairfield University.

Deborah J. Wall, PhD, MPhil, MBA is an AI Value Realization consultant and fractional Chief AI Officer who helps regulated enterprises convert AI investment into measurable P&L impact. Over 25+ years of Fortune 100 leadership at Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, Prudential, and New York Life, she founded Morgan Stanley Wealth Management's Advanced Analytics function, compressed Prudential's underwriting cycle from 35 days to 5 seconds, and led enterprise-scale AI transformation across a global banking franchise.

Most recently Chief Product Officer at Finexus Inc., she now advises mid-market financial institutions on AI governance, measurement, and value realization. Her measurement framework is grounded in doctoral research: she holds a PhD and MPhil in Applied Management Decision Science and an MBA in quantitative marketing.

She teaches the AI for Business Transformation certification with the University of Michigan College of Engineering's professional education program, as well as workshops for the Association of National Advertisers on AI Value Realization through Data-Driven Transformation, and is co-author of AI Transformation Strategy for Executives (Anthem Press, forthcoming).

Christian Barry is Managing Principal at The Croton Group, where he helps leadership teams achieve and sustain high performance through disciplined learning and continuous improvement. A practitioner across four GE leadership eras, he spent nearly a decade as an executive leader at GE Crotonville — serving as GE's global leader of customer education, engaging CxOs and government ministers across Energy, Aerospace, and Healthcare industries worldwide. He later served as GE Healthcare's Chief Learning Officer, leading L&D for an $18 billion business with 50,000+ employees.

Prior to GE Crotonville, Christian built expertise in learning and leadership through roles at GE Healthcare, McKinsey & Company, and the U.S. Navy Submarine Force — where he learned process rigor, leadership under pressure, and resilience. He is an Associate Certified Coach credentialed by the ICF, holds an Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from Georgetown University, and teaches in the executive education program at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business.

Leiza Brock is a Principal at The Croton Group with over three decades of experience at General Electric. As a senior leader at GE Crotonville, she played an instrumental role in shaping the learning strategy behind GE's most significant transformation — with deep expertise in designing leadership development programs that align with organizational objectives and drive measurable business results.

Throughout her career, Leiza navigated complex organizational challenges across high-growth periods, acquisitions, and transformative turnarounds. At GE Corporate, she developed and managed multiple entry-level leadership programs across finance, IT, and commercial functions. She was a key architect of the prestigious Corporate Leadership Staff program and oversaw learning for the Corporate Audit Staff — both cornerstone programs in developing GE's future leaders. She brings a holistic, human-centered perspective to leadership development, grounded in the belief that sustainable organizational success comes from creating environments where people feel heard and empowered to contribute their best thinking.

Candyce Penteado is a recognized expert in leadership development, team dynamics, and experiential learning — known for helping leaders and senior teams unlock capacity, navigate complexity, and accelerate meaningful growth. As the founder and Managing Partner of The People Side, she leads a global consulting firm of more than 50 practitioners, delivering engagements that touch thousands of the world's top leaders every year.

Candyce's roots run deep with GE. After joining the company in 1998 and partnering with Crotonville to consolidate learning curriculum, she went on to become a Crotonville faculty member for over a decade — serving as lead instructor for flagship programs including Foundations of Leadership, the Leadership Development Course, and the Executive Leadership Challenge. She has designed and delivered award-winning development programs for McDonald's, Boeing, and Target, and is frequently called upon by senior executive teams facing moments of transition or transformation.

Today, Candyce and her team — many of whom are Crotonville alumni — carry forward the best of GE's development philosophy while bringing fresh energy and relevance to today's most pressing leadership challenges. She is also the author of Finding Your Z and the host of The Leadership Living Room podcast.

Kate Bouyain is Managing Partner of The People Side and a thought leader in learning organization transformation, organizational effectiveness, and leadership development. Her 25+ year career spans HR strategy, compensation, and generalist work alongside deep expertise in learning and leadership — across not-for-profit healthcare and Fortune 500 companies including GE and Boeing.

Kate joined GE in 2005 through its prestigious HR Leadership Program, spending her first years as an HR Business Partner before shifting to her passion for developing leaders. In 2012, she moved to GE Crotonville, where she played a strategic role in GE's learning transformation — centralizing all functional and leadership development and ensuring global delivery of core programs across every GE business worldwide.

Today, Kate leads a team of 50 global consultants at The People Side, building on Crotonville's approach to experiential learning to help leaders shift mindsets and expand into higher levels of capacity and growth. She is ACC certified and specializes in vertical development using the Leadership Circle Profile.

Stephanie Broaders is Founding Partner at Spark Well Consulting, where she designs and delivers high-impact learning, executive coaching, and HR consultation. She combines decades of global talent and leadership development experience — including a formative career at GE — with a passion for helping leaders unlock their purpose and reach new levels of impact.

As a senior leader at GE Crotonville, Stephanie directed a program to shift company culture and equip the most senior executives with the mindset and tools to drive performance through Lean principles. In her time at GE, she led leadership development and professional skills training for a 15,000-person global employee base, spearheaded an accelerated leadership program for future executives, and in her final role, led talent management and succession planning for a 2,000+ employee, $18 billion P&L.

Stephanie is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach and a member of Marshall Goldsmith's 100 Coaches community. She also serves as Program Director at UNC Executive Development, where she partners with organizations to bring world-class learning to their leaders.

Ginny Ertl is a global leadership consultant with over 40 years of experience helping CEOs and their teams develop strategy, implement organizational change, and build executive capability. Prior to founding ConsultingWorks in 2013, she spent 24 years at GE in executive roles spanning change management, culture shaping, executive leadership education, talent management, and organizational development at GE Crotonville, GE Corporate, and GE Capital.

At Crotonville, Ginny was a member of the "Re-imagining Crotonville" team and served as Director of Executive Leadership Development — where she created GE Leadership Explorations, Crotonville's first leadership education platform for GE Officers, and championed the launch of GE's FastWorks simplification initiative. Earlier in her GE career, she served as VP of Learning and Development for GE Money, building and leading a global L&D organization delivering leadership and commercial training to employees across more than 50 countries.

Ginny is a Smithsonian Laureate for innovation in training technology and instructional design, and currently serves as course leader for Leading Change at the California Institute of Technology Future Skills Academy.