Analytics Summit
Held in the spring, this flagship event brings internationally-recognized speakers from notable organizations to Cincinnati to present on a wide variety of analytic topics.
Analytics Summit 2025
The Analytics Summit 2025 will explore the theme "Follow the Money." Nothing indicates marketplace feeling of direction like spending patterns. By tracking funding, acquisitions, and resource allocation, individuals and businesses can anticipate future trends and align their strategies accordingly. The keynote talks will investigate where investors and businesses are placing their bets on transformational technologies.
Join us May 6, 2025, at the Sharonville Convention Center for a full day conference. Learn from three outstanding keynote speakers and pick from a selection of five topic- and industry-focused track sessions with three speakers in each.
Contact Tim Cholvat for details on speaking or sponsoring at the Analytics Summit.
Keynote Speakers
Shashank Saxena, Managing Partner at Sierra Ventures
"Digital Transformation 2.0 - The Next Wave of AI"
Shashank Saxena is a Managing Partner at Sierra Ventures, specializing in enterprise software investments. Previously, he co-founded and served as CEO of VNDLY, a Cincinnati-based Vendor Management System acquired by Workday in 2021. With a background in IT management and leadership roles at Fortune 25 companies like Citi and Kroger, Shashank has a proven track record in corporate strategy and digital transformation.
Ethan Swan, Software Engineer
"Moving Faster, Without Breaking Things: Investing in Effective Tools and Processes That Don't Become a Burden"
Ethan Swan is a data scientist turned software developer with a decade of experience across industries and company sizes. In his keynote, Ethan will explore how growing technical organizations can invest in internal tools, training, and project management processes to boost efficiency without creating new burdens for their teams. Drawing from experience across startups and mature enterprises, the talk highlights strategies to avoid common pitfalls like poorly documented tools, outdated training, and overly complex workflows, ensuring these investments truly support productivity.
"Advanced Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Fireside Chat"
Advanced Analytics and Artificial intelligence are revolutionizing how organizations interact with their customers, enabling more personalized, efficient, and insightful engagements. This fireside chat with Jude Schramm, Chief Information Officer of Fifth Third Bancorp, is hosted by the Dean of the Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati, Marianne Lewis. Exploring innovative strategies for leveraging Advanced Analytics and AI to enhance customer relationships, they offer unique perspectives on how to harness these methods to create meaningful customer experiences, stay competitive in a dynamic market, and build long-term loyalty.
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Jude Schramm serves as chief information officer (CIO) for Fifth Third Bancorp. In this role, he is responsible for defining the strategic technical roadmap for the company, driving modernization and leading teams focused on enterprise information technology, line of business products and artificial intelligence. Before joining the Bank in 2018, Jude served as CIO for GE Aviation, where he was responsible for leading IT strategy and digital transformation. In previous roles at GE, Jude led IT for the Aviation Services and Commercial divisions. He also worked on numerous cross-division programs as a Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean Leader. Jude began his career at GE in 2001 as a developer, and, over 17 years there, held roles of increasing responsibility. Jude also is an alumnus of Ernst & Young LLP, where he served as a senior consultant.
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Marianne W. Lewis is dean at the Lindner College of Business, University of Cincinnati and prior at Cass (now Bayes) Business School, City University of London. Her latest book Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problem, published by Harvard Business Review, received the 2023 Thinkers50 Breakthrough Award. Lewis has been recognized among the world’s most-cited researchers in her field (Web of Science) and received the Decade Award (2021) from the Academy of Management Review. Her work also appears in such media outlets as Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Newsweek, and MarketWatch.
About Past Analytics Summits
Thornton May
Futurist and Author at The Digital Value Institute
"Analytics & YOUR Future"
As the opening keynote, Thornton will answer “What can you, a proud member of the University of Cincinnati “analytics community” do TODAY to ensure that thirty years from now YOU will have realized the full promise of YOUR amazing potential?” Analysts are the hidden super-heroes of our collective future. It’s time to celebrate how WE are going to change the world
Richard Harknett
UC Ohio Cyber Range Institute
“Algorithmic Agency: Organizational Adaptation in a World of Fluidity”
His closing keynote will talk about how it’s not about the code or the data collection itself, but the role and responsibility you assign algorithms (including artificial intelligence, or AI) in your organization. His keynote will give an overview of the uneven regulation that applies in this area which is coming in fits and starts, but will also argue that this will only partially impact how your organization adapts and leverages these opportunities in the future.
Tools and Techniques
Leading the Way
This track focuses on innovative approaches for strategy, foresight, leadership, and organizational development needs to support data and analytics. Topics could include research, innovation, collaboration with industry and institutions, or policy and decision-making.
Speakers:
- Kelly Cohen, Brian H Rowe Endowed Chair and Director, AI Bio Lab, Digital Futures.
"Towards an AI Future which is Responsible and Ethical" - Mehmet Saglam, Johnson Associate Professor of Finance, University of Cincinnati
"Can Generative AI Help Predict Asset Returns?" - Bill Nicholson, Assistant Professor-Educator, University fo Cincinnati
"Are You Smarter than an AI Model? Exploring Contents and Provenance of Generative AI Benchmarks"
The AI Revolution
The AI revolution encompasses the rapid development and deployment of AI-powered systems and applications that have the potential to significantly change how we live, work and play. This track considers the transformative impact of artificial intelligence technologies on various aspects of industry, institutions, and everyday life. work, and interact.
Speakers:
- Michael Howard, CEO, Nichefire
"Predicting the Pulse of the World: Understand Culture with Generative AI & Predictive Analytics" - Satoru Hayasaka, Data Scientist, Knime
"LLMs In a Low-Code Environment – Is it Possible?" - Kristy Wedel, Senior Manager Data Science, Abbott
"The Future of AI: A Roadmap for Ethical and Accountable Artificial Intelligence"
Tell the Story
This track contemplates how using data and visualizations to communicate a compelling narrative about key insights is the way to convey complex information in a way that is easily understandable and engaging for the audience. Topics could include data visualization, storytelling and related.
Speakers:
- Alexandra Castillo, Vice President and Chief Data and Analytics Officer & Jenna Burget, Sr Business Intelligence Analyst, UC Health
“Prescribing Insights: A Data-Driven Tale in Healthcare Storytelling” - Christopher Chin, Data Storytelling and Presentation Trainer, The Hidden Speaker
"Data Storytelling is Hard: Let AI Make It Easy" - David Ciommo, Data Visualization Principal
"Data Storytelling: The Cognitive Journey to Data Literacy"
Industry
Data and Analytics Essentials in Industry
This track considers how data analytics has become an essential tool for the industry, offering valuable insights that help operators optimize operations, understand customer behavior, and improve overall business performance.
Speakers
- Dave Cherry, Executive Advisor, Cherry Advisory
"Beyond the Buzz: Crafting a Business-Centric Analytics Strategy for True Digital Transformation Impact" - Nan Jararam: CEO and Founder, CoStategix & Jeremy Henry: Vice President of Technology, CoStrategix
"Proactive Data Quality Management and Observability for AI Success" - Financial Panel: Rob Carnell, Huntington Bank, Shanna Anderson, Fifth Third Bank, Myra Chen, Capital Group
Leadership/Organizational Effectiveness
Digital Transformation Through Analytics
What does it take to drive the organizational transformation necessary to become a data-driven enterprise? This track has leaders talking about how to build and execute a Data & Analytics strategy. – staffing, organizing, training, technology platforms, data engineering, cross-functional collaboration, etc.Are you a data leader, data scientist, analyst, or engineer with a passion for sharing your knowledge?
Speakers:
- Vivek Anand, Pricing Analytics Expert
"Machine Learning Applications in B2B Price/Revenue Optimization" - Sarah Denman, Vice President, Data Science-Merchandising Analytics, 84.51
"Kroger Analytics Evolution Through Tech and Talent"
Partner with Us
- Submit a speaker proposal: We are open to submissions from analytics experts and trainers who would like to speak at our events. Speaker proposal form
- Sponsor: We are seeking event sponsors who want to connect with the analytics and data science leaders and professionals who attend our events. Several sponsorship options are available.
- Participate: Are you a startup technology, analytics, machine learning or AI company? Contact us to learn how you can participate in these events.
To inquire about any of the above, contact Shannon Memory.