This free event is Sponsored by Daniel and Robyn Ives, American Inference, AristAI, BoodleBox, Gartner, and Penn State Applied Research Lab

About the Event

On March 19, 2026, The Dan and Robyn Ives AI Innovation Day & Case Competition will bring together students, faculty, staff, and industry leaders to explore the transformative impact of Generative AI in business education and beyond. Hosted at Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, this event will offer keynote addresses, interactive sessions, networking opportunities, and an undergraduate case competition where student teams share pitches for their AI-driven solutions to a real-world business case. Throughout the day, attendees will gain insights from top industry experts.

The event culminates in the Student Case Competition, where teams pitch AI-driven business solutions to a panel of judges that include many of the day’s featured speakers.

Click here to register
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Event Schedule

Event Schedule
Item Time Location

Exclusive Student Sessions

  • Daniel Ives, Wedbush Securities
  • Robyn Ives, Accounting Advisor and Consultant
  • Carolyn Mulhern, Palantir
  • David Steinberg, Zeta Global
  • Daniel Berman, AlixPartners
  • Amanda Showers, Gartner
  • Mike Rollings, Gartner
  • France Hoang, BoodleBox
  • Jess Awtrey, BoodleBox
  • Tony Zhang, Arist AI
  • Tawnya Means, Inspire HigherEd
  • Raymond Kusch, American Inference
  • Clarke Moyer, Penn State Applied Research Lab
  • Alec Simin, Penn State Applied Research Lab
 9:00am Various Locations;
Details Here

Welcome and Opening

Corey Phelps
John and Karen Arnold Dean, Smeal College of Business
 10:15am Atrium

Speaker Session 1

Daniel Ives
Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, and Smeal Alumnus
 10:30am Atrium

Speaker Session 2

David Steinberg
CEO of Zeta Global
 11:05am Atrium

Speaker Session 3

Carolyn Mulhern
Executive Vice President of Manufacturing at Palantir, and Smeal Alumna
 11:40am Atrium

Lunch

 12:15pm Atrium

Speaker Session 4

Amit Kukreja
YouTube personality behind Amit Investing
 12:35pm Atrium
(via Zoom)

Speaker Session 5

Mike Rollings
Distinguished VP Analyst, Gartner
 12:55pm Atrium

Women in AI Panel

Carolyn Mulhern
Executive Vice President of Manufacturing at Palantir, and Smeal Alumna
Amanda Showers
Enterprise Account Executive at Gartner
Tawnya Means
Founding Partner & Principal at Inspire HigherEd
Jess Awtrey
Senior VP Sales, BoodleBox
 1:30pm Atrium

Speaker Session 6

France Hoang
Founder & CEO, BoodleBox
 2:15pm Atrium

Speaker Session 7

Raymond Kusch
CEO and Founder, American Inference
 3:00pm Room 110

Case Competition

 3:30pm Room 110

Networking and AI Showcase

Join us for refreshments and networking while exploring innovative AI projects from Smeal faculty, staff, and undergraduate and graduate students. Browse the showcase, connect with presenters, and learn how AI is being applied across business education and research.

Faculty Presenters

  • Sergey Naumov & Keran Zhao: Context-Aware AI Assistant — A Privacy-Preserving Framework for Institutional Knowledge Access
  • Jue Wang: SkillLedger
  • Michelle Darnell: AI Podcasts as Catalysts for Active Learning
  • Sajay Samuel: Financial Statement Analyzer

Staff Presenters

  • Carrie Marcinkevage: Talk to Me — Syllabot and Studybot Level Up Learning
  • Vincent Gan: SWIFT — A Socratic AI Interface for Scaffolding Entrepreneurial Critical Thinking

Student Presenters

  • Yogitha Harohalli Rajeswara: Strategic Coordination in the U.S. Fresh Food Supply Chain — Mitigating the Energy-Waste Paradox via Cost-Sharing and Subsidies
  • Matthew Schultz: Enabling the Transition from Analog Logistics Network Analysis (LNA) to Digitized Logistics Web Synthesis (LWS) for Expeditionary Operations
  • Ethan Werner: Velocity Network
  • Markos Jonathan Ktorides: AI-Enhanced Fashion Marketing Campaign
  • Chynna Kelly: Using AI Without Crossing the Line — Responsible Career Prep for Students
  • Michael Brogno: AI Stock Market Intelligence Platform
  • Ryan Einzig: Penn State Applied AI Club & Smeal AI Hub
  • Joseph Li: Smeal Artificial Intelligence Advisor
  • Wenlan Yu: AI-Powered Mobile App Idea Generation Platform
  • Joyce Kapoor: Tap
  • Joel Torres: PropFlow
  • Sunaina Cariappa Balyatanda: Thinking Faster — An MSCM Student’s AI Toolkit
  • Samantha Fernandez: AIVIONT
  • Haniya Raheel: AI-Powered Job Market Intelligence for Curriculum and Career Planning
  • George Quarranttey: AI Concept-to-Application Learning Platform
 5:00pm Atrium

Why Attend?

  • Network with AI Experts: Meet industry leaders in A.I.-related fields.
  • Explore AI Innovations: Learn how AI is transforming business education and industry applications.
  • Cheer on Future Leaders: Support top student teams as they present groundbreaking AI solutions.
  • Shape the Future: Be part of discussions that consider the impact and implications of AI beyond automation and into teaching, learning, and the future of business and industry.