Tech 101 Education Session – Artificial Intelligence

Companies of all sizes and across industries are consistently challenged when navigating the complexities of technology solutions that can help their organizations grow while saving time and money – and minimizing risk. Bridging the gap between business needs and understanding and investing in customized technology solutions is more important than ever. From cybersecurity issues and cloud integration, to maximizing CRMs that enhance the customer experience, to data center management, and more.

The Chester County Economic Development Council’s Innovative Technology Action Group (ITAG) is pleased to present a “Tech 101” educational series aimed at demystifying the intricacies of the technology landscape and helping IT professionals, risk managers, regulatory administrators, and c-suite executives to better understand the ever-evolving tech ecosystem.

Join us for this pilot session to learn from thought leaders at Bridgepointe Technologies, Comcast, and Wawa as they discuss how their organizations are harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence.

Who Should Attend:

• IT professionals
• CFOs and finance professionals
• Compliance and risk management leaders
• Data analytics professionals
• Cybersecurity team members
• CX & CCaaS team leaders
• Executives of growing businesses

This “must attend” educational session will be beneficial for companies across industries that want to grow their business through effective technology solutions that deliver cost savings and enhanced operational efficiencies.

The Chester County Economic Development Council’s Innovative Technology Action Group (ITAG) is pleased to present this educational session along with other partners driving economic growth across our region.

About the Presenters:

• SCOTT KINKA – Chief Strategy Officer, Bridgepointe Technologies, Inc.

For 25 years, Scott has been a tech entrepreneur, most recently as Founding Partner and CTO of Evolve IP, helping to lead the firm from funding to private equity investment. Philadelphia 40 under 40 in 2013, Top IT Innovator in 2014 and Top Tech Disruptor in 2017. Recognized Technology Expert having appeared on CBS and Fox news, as well as featured in USA Today, CIO Magazine, Business Week, and Inc.

• PARTH THAKER – Executive Director, AI Strategy and Emerging Technology, within Strategic Development, Comcast Cable

PARTH THAKER’s work within the Strategic Development group of consists of future-focused entrepreneurs answering “what’s next” for Comcast and its customers, via partnerships, investments, and new ventures. Parth’s team helps lead growth and product strategy initiatives and he is currently leading the company’s focus on AI strategy and business development. Prior to Comcast, Parth worked at Deloitte in a strategy and new ventures team and Deutsche Bank in mergers and acquisitions focused on the technology, media, and telecommunications sectors. Parth started his career as a full-stack software engineer. Parth has an MBA in Finance from Columbia Business School, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering degrees from the University of Virginia.

• ERIC BARNES – H.R. Information Systems Manager, Wawa, Inc.

Before becoming the H.R.I.S. manager for Wawa, Eric was the Manager of Enterprise Engineering and was responsible for the design and specifications for the company’s various technology platforms and services. He was also the lead managing technologies in the creation of Wawa’s mobile application where he was responsible for the design and implementation of the core infrastructure for the mobile platform. Through this work effort, Eric introduced over 54 new technologies to Wawa helping to lead the company into the digital age.

Prior to joining Wawa, Eric was the Retail PCI Network Architect/Sr. Retail Technology Consultant for Sunoco and was responsible for the design, management and support of Sunoco’s credit card and loyalty networks as well as other related retail technology systems, such as point-of-sales and back-office financial systems.

Through his career, Eric has developed an extensive knowledge in retail technologies, software, and systems development. Using his skills and talents he has been able to cultivate highly productive teams to implement these business technologies and to support them to scale.

Eric earned his MBA from West Chester University where he graduated with honors along with certifications in Finance/Business, Entrepreneurship and Project Management, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M – Corpus Christi, TX. He holds a number of certifications including Agile Professional and Product Owner as well as a number of points-of-sale and back office technologies.