Heather Brunner – Keynote Speaker

Chief Executive Officer & Chairwoman
WP Engine

As Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine, Heather Brunner has steered WP Engine through hyper-growth into global technology leadership. WP Engine is home to many of the WordPress community's most beloved brands including WP Engine, Flywheel, Local, Advanced Custom Fields, and Genesis.

Heather has led the expansion of WP Engine from an Austin start-up to a global brand with 1200+ team members around the world with hubs in Austin, Brisbane, Limerick, London, Omaha, and Krakow to now serve millions of customers in more than 150 countries. A 30 year technology veteran, Heather has generated billions in enterprise value, delivered growth, and led business strategy for privately funded new ventures and Fortune 500 companies.

James Carwell

Vice President, Technology
CesiumAstro

James Carwell is Vice President of Technology at CesiumAstro, where he leads the organization's next-generation space communications technology. With nearly three decades of leadership experience in aerospace, defense, and telecommunications, he has helped scale CesiumAstro’s engineering and manufacturing operations while driving innovation and operational excellence.

James previously held various engineering leadership roles at Cincinnati Electronics, EN Engineering, and L3Harris. In those positions he contributed to major space programs ranging from Near Earth Orbit missions to Deep Space Missions to Mars and beyond. He holds an MBA from Xavier University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, and is passionate about building high-performing teams and advancing the future of space technology.

Amir Husain

Chairman
WorldQuant Foundry

Founder
Argon Mechatronics

Amir Husain is a serial entrepreneur, veteran AI technologist, and author based in Austin, Texas. He has received widespread acclaim for his pioneering work, including recognition as Austin Business Journal’s Top Entrepreneur, inclusion in Austin’s 40 Under 40, and UT Austin’s highest honor, the Presidential Citation. His ventures have been featured on CNBC’s Fastest Growing Companies lists and have earned numerous other international recognitions.

Amir serves as Chairman of the venture incubator WorldQuant Foundry and holds board positions in several Foundry startups leveraging exponential technologies to solve significant problems. He is also the Founder and Board Member of Argon Mechatronics, a humanoid robotics company, and SpecFive, a mesh networking company.

whurley

Founder
& Chief Executive Officer
Strangeworks

whurley is an Eisenhower Fellow, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the first Ambassador to CERN and Society, founding partner of the CERN Entrepreneurship Student Programme (CESP), recipient of the IEEE Entrepreneur Achievement Award for Leadership in Entrepreneurial Spirit, and co-founder (with the United Nations ITU & UN Women) of EQUALS; The Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age.

He currently serves as co-founder and General Partner at Ecliptic Capital, and founder and CEO of Strangeworks, a quantum computing startup in Austin, Texas.