21may8:00 AM2:15 PMSummer SolsticeCode Red: AI at the Crossroads - Technology, World Economics, and Conflict

Event Details

As artificial intelligence accelerates beyond the pace of policy, markets, and diplomacy, the world faces a defining inflection point. This year’s Innovate@UCLA Summer Solstice brings together industry thought leaders, technologists, economists, geopolitical strategists, and innovators to confront the most consequential questions of our era: Who controls AI? and who gets left behind?

From algorithmic warfare and autonomous weapons systems to AI-driven economic disruption and the race for technological supremacy, the forces reshaping global power are moving faster than any single institution can govern.

This event examines the collision of three tectonic forces:

The rise of generative AI and autonomous system

The fracturing of the global economic order

Intensifying competition between nation-states for technological and informational dominance

Attendees will engage with real-world scenarios at the intersection of Silicon Valley and the geopolitical stage: How do technologies born in defense and space programs migrate into the commercial enterprise? When information itself becomes a weapon, deployed on battlefields and in corporate boardrooms with equal precision, what does that mean for the organizations and leaders in this room? And as autonomous systems move from concept to operational reality, what are the implications for every industry that depends on infrastructure, data, and trust?

Through the keynotes, curated panel discussions, and networking sessions, attendees will grapple with these stakes firsthand — and be challenged to think beyond the algorithm toward the human, economic, and ethical consequences of the choices being made right now.

What to Expect:

8:00 AM – Breakfast and Networking

8:30 AM – Program Begins

Opening Keynote – “AI-Accelerated Cyber-Enabled Economic Warfare – The New Frontier of Global Power”
- Snehal Antani, CEO & Co-founder, Horizon3.ai

Panel Discussion – “The Double-Edged Sword“
- Moderator: Greg Moore, Vice President, CIO, KB Home
- Panelist:
  - Shivani Desai, Principal Director of Applied AI and Advanced Infrastructure, The Aerospace Corporation
  - Chris Elliot, SVP Cyber Threat Management, LPL Financial
  - Vikash Sharma, Head of Product, DirecTV

Student Innovation Hub
- Live demonstration of the UCLA Student Innovation Hub platform and student-led innovation initiative, led by Lucy Avetisyan, Associate Vice Chancellor & CIO, UCLA, and UCLA student innovators
  - America Montanez, Ashita Singh, Samantha Leung

Fireside Chat – “War, AI and the Future Power”
- Philippe Kassouf, Founder & CEO, CHIRP Robotics
- In conversation with Ghalib Kassam, EVP, Chief Information & Security Officer, Los Angeles Times

Structured Networking Sessions
- Facilitated by Theresa Miller, Innovate@UCLA Women in Technology (WIT) Chair, and members of the WIT Committee
- Facilitated interactive networking experience featuring guided questions, audience participation, and real-time engagement activities

Panel Discussion – “The Invisible War: AI, Adversarial Threats & the Fight for Enterprise Resilience”
- Moderator: Deepika Manglani, VP, Product & Program Management, Los Angeles Times
- Panelist:
  - Jagjit Dhaliwal (JD), Head of Partnerships, GenAI ISVs, Amazon Web Services
  - Los Angeles Field Office Counterintelligence Strategic Partnership (CISP) Program Coordinator, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)

Closing Keynote – “In the Age of AI — Mathematics as a Vehicle for Dual Use Technology”
- Professor Andrea L. Bertozzi, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, UCLA

1:15 PM – Lunch & Networking Reception

2:15 PM – End of Event

Register Here

Event Chair

Ghalib Kassam
Programs Event Chair, Innovate@UCLA
EVP CIO & CISO, Los Angeles Times

Time

May 21, 2026 8:00 AM - 2:15 PM(GMT-07:00)

Location

UCLA University Club

480 Charles E. Young Drive East

Calendar GoogleCal

09jun12:00 PM1:00 PMInnovate@UCLA Career Exchange #2Modern Career Progression (and Transition) Tactics

Event Details

Join Innovate@UCLA Career Exchange for our second virtual session on Tuesday, June 9, 2026, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM.

“Modern Career Progression (and Transition) Tactics” with Christine Sandman Stone, CEO, Deliver At Scale.

30+ years leading tech teams in the Fortune 500, award winning content creation, and a hobby of getting women in tech new roles and promotions… Christine brings her pragmatic (and tested) advice to our group.

You’ll leave the call with new tactics – tactics to be a top performing manager, identifying and getting time with a sponsor, navigating a restructure or layoff, redefining yourself into a new role, telling your story simply and powerfully and more.

Company goals are agile, team workplaces in many cases are hybrid, and we all have complex company environments to navigate. The modern working landscape has changed. To directly address these issues, join us to learn about creative, modern tactics for career progression. We guarantee you will leave this event with at least one new tactic to use right away.

And… Bring along your toughest, most hard-hitting questions and prepare for an insightful discussion as we focus on elevating your career.

About Speaker

Christine’s career is in tech; she advises executives and cohorts of leaders to get better results, designs and leads workshops, provides managers and mentees with tools to flourish, and has transformed technology teams at high profile international corporations including McDonald’s, Volkswagen, Dell, Groupon, and numerous start-ups.

Chicago-based, she is a highly regarded speaker and advisor, a parent of four and a to mentor hundreds through the Chicago Innovation Women’s Mentoring Co-op, AnitaB, the Chicago Executives Club, the Chicago Professional Women’s Club, ARA Mentors, Chi Tech Academy, Illinois Science and Tech Coalition, and others.

Her most recent award-winning book focuses on modern management tactics to help managers and leaders deliver – The Modern Management Mentor: Next Level Tools for New Managers. Her first book focused on working parent hacks – The Parent Track: Work-life balance hacks to elevate your career and raise good humans.

Register Here