AI Symposium on Design and Governance
April 4, 2025 | 10:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
University of Maryland, Van Munching Hall
7699 Mowatt Lane, College Park, MD 20742
As AI reshapes the world, business and policy leaders face high-stakes decisions. The Smith School's AI Symposium gathers top thought leaders building real-world AI solutions for a day of insightful talks, discussions and networking.
The second annual AI Symposium on Design and Governance will feature firsthand insights from business leaders who will share opportunities, challenges, and strategies to harness AI’s full potential.
Featured Speakers
Svetlana Bender
VP of Artificial Intelligence & Behavioral Science
Guidewell
Svetlana Bender is VP of Artificial Intelligence & Behavioral Science at Guidewell/Florida Blue where she leads a team that blends behavioral & data sciences to create innovative AI and tech-enabled solutions and improve health outcomes. Prior to this, she spent almost a decade in finance in various roles in New York and London at UBS Wealth Management, Allianz Global Investors, Troika Dialog, Bear Stearns and Financial Dynamics. Svetlana has a B.S. in International Economics from Boston University, M.S. in Economics from City, University of London and a Ph.D. in Behavioral Science from University of Warwick.
Soheil Feizi
Founder & CEO
RELAI
Soheil Feizi is the Founder and CEO of RELAI (relai.ai), a startup focused on advancing AI reliability. He is also an Associate Professor in the Computer Science Department at the University of Maryland, College Park. Dr. Feizi earned his Ph.D. from MIT and completed postdoctoral research at Stanford University. He received the 2025 Presidential Early Career Award (PECASE)—the highest honor granted by the U.S. government to early-career scientists and engineers—alongside numerous other distinctions, including the ONR Young Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, ARO Early Career Program Award, two best paper awards, the Ernst Guillemin Thesis Award, a teaching award, and over twenty research awards from national agencies and industry partners. Dr. Feizi’s work has been featured in major outlets such as The Washington Post, BBC, MIT Technology Review, Bloomberg, and The Wire. In 2024, he testified before the U.S. House’s Bipartisan Task Force on AI, underscoring his commitment to ensuring the safety and reliability of AI technologies.
Jenn Gennai
Partner and Head of Responsible AI
T3
Jen Gennai is Partner and Head of Responsible AI at T3. Jen founded the Responsible Innovation team at Google, tasked with integrating ethical considerations into AI development. Her team worked with product and engineering teams, leveraging expertise in ethics, human rights, user research, racial justice, and gender equity to validate that Google’s AI products align with commitments to fairness, privacy, safety, and societal benefit. She co-authored Google’s AI Principles in 2017, which serve as the ethical charter guiding the development and deployment of AI across the company. These principles include commitments to fairness, accountability, privacy, and avoiding harmful or biased outcomes. Jen’s contributions to AI ethics have made her a prominent figure in the field, recognized for her efforts to balance innovation with ethical responsibility. Her work has been highlighted in various forums and conferences, underscoring her influence in shaping responsible AI practices. Jen has degrees in Management Science and Information Systems Studies at Trinity College, Dublin.
Alexandra Moylan
Privacy and AI Governance Attorney
Baker Donelson
Alexandra P. Moylan is a shareholder in Baker Donelson's Baltimore office and a member of the Health Law Group and the Data Protection, Privacy and Cybersecurity Team. Alex is a seasoned healthcare and business attorney with a track record of representing major medical systems, healthcare providers, life science companies, and other businesses. Her experience spans clinical research and development, contracting, privacy compliance, professional liability, and enterprise risk management, including risk assessments and mitigation strategies. Alex advises businesses on governance and risk management policies specific to Artificial Intelligence and provides corporate education on AI. Beyond her legal practice, Alex has a B.S. in Political Science/English from the University of Maryland and a J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and is a native Spanish speaker with family in Puerto Rico and El Salvador.
Evan Sekeris
Chief Model Risk Officer
Capital One
Evan Sekeris is Capital One’s Chief Model Risk Officer. He joined in 2024 from MUFG Americas, where he served as the Head of Non-Financial Risk. Before that, he worked as the Head of Model Validation at PNC Bank. Evan started his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston as a Financial Economist in the supervision department and went on to create the Quantitative analysis team at the Richmond Fed. After the Fed, Evan spent nearly a decade as a consultant at Aon and Oliver Wyman advising clients on Non-Financial Risk issues. He is a recognized thought leader in risk management known for his contributions in operational risk. Evan is an editor at the Journal of Operational Risk and an advisor to the GARP FRM program. He has an M.A. in Economics from Université catholique de Louvain and a Ph.D. in Economics from UCLA.
Agenda
| 10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks, Balaji Padmanabhan, Center for AI in Business |
| 10:45 a.m. - 11:15 a.m. | AI in Healthcare: Experiences and Lessons, Svetlana Bender, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence and Behavioral Science at Guidewell |
| 11:15 a.m. - 11:45 a.m. | Responsible AI, Safety and AI Governance, Jen Gennai, Partner and Head of Responsible AI at T3 |
| 11:45 a.m. - 12:15 p.m | Designing Reliable and Trustworthy AI Systems, Soheil Feizi, Founder and CEO at RELAI |
| 12:15 p.m. - 12:55 p.m. | Lunch |
| 12:55 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. | Open Q&A/Discussion with Attendees |
| 1:15 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. | Current State of Global AI Regulation and Guidance for Firms, Alexandra Moylan, Privacy and AI Governance Attorney at Baker Donelson |
| 1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. | AI in Financial Services: A Model Risk Management Perspective, Evan Sekeris, Chief Model Risk Officer at Capital One |
| 2:15 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. | Smith School Professors Panel Discussing:
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| 3:00 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. | Closing Remarks and Open Q&A/Discussion with the Audience |
All In On AI
Smith is going all in on AI. Our faculty members are among the best in the business, and their cutting-edge research has been making an impact across industries—from accounting to baseball—for years.
Past Event
Learn more about our first symposium and discover how Smith is building upon its AI thought leadership.
