From Hype to the Real World: Making AI Work for Complex Businesses

Description

GABA and Orange County AI are delighted to invite you to an engaging panel discussion, bringing together three unique perspectives: academic innovation, manufacturing leadership, and enterprise strategy. Our experts will cut through the AI hype to offer practical, actionable insights on how to successfully adopt, deploy, and scale intelligent systems across high-stakes environments.

While AI chatbots and text generators continue to dominate the headlines, the next massive frontier for artificial intelligence is transforming physical manufacturing and traditional enterprise operations. Turning the promise of AI into reality requires more than just smart technology, it demands rethinking how we work, managing new business risks, and bridging the gap between cutting-edge research and complex, real-world execution. 

Key Topics of Discussion 

Cutting Through the Hype: How to manage executive expectations, deliver tangible ROI, and handle the hidden timelines of getting your company's legacy systems and data ready for AI. 

From Digital to Physical: The unique challenges and massive operational rewards of using generative AI to rethink complex enterprise processes and manufacture custom physical products at scale. 

Managing Risk and "Graceful Failures": How to build resilient workflows that can absorb inevitable AI mistakes without halting operations, and how to teach AI systems to know their own limits. 

The Innovation Race: Who has the advantage in this new industrial era, agile startups building from scratch, or established enterprises armed with decades of historical data? 

Panelists

Sergei Azernikov, PhD 
Senior Vice President of Software Development, Glidewell Laboratories 

A leader in applying AI directly to precision manufacturing. He spearheaded a massive digital transformation at Glidewell, leading a software organization that successfully automated 100% of the laboratory’s custom 3D crown designs, drastically reducing turnaround times from weeks to hours. 

Lukas N.P. Egger 
Vice President of Product Strategy & Innovation, SAP Signavio 

A global expert in AI-driven business transformation. He specializes in re-engineering large-scale enterprise workflows, helping organizations separate AI hype from practical value and establishing frameworks for safe, scalable technology adoption. 

Stephan Mandt, PhD 
Professor of Computer Science and Statistics, UC Irvine
AI Startup Founder Director of the UCI Center for Machine Learning 

Also an expert advisor to a new AI-driven manufacturing startup, he specializes in making AI more reliable for high-stakes environments, focusing on how to transition cutting-edge academic research into practical, application-ready solutions. 

Session Chair

Hans-Martin Will, PhD
Chief AI Officer, LegalMation 

A technology executive and product leader specializing in the implementation of AI across complex business domains. With leadership experience at Amazon, Microsoft, and SAP, he excels at translating advanced technology into foundational business infrastructure and scalable enterprise applications.

In Partnership with