Keynote Sessions

AI-Assisted Large-Scale Decision Making for Societal and Technological Challenges

The fusion of machine learning and optimization has the potential to achieve breakthroughs in decision making that the two technologies cannot accomplish independently. This talk reviews a number of research avenues in AI-Assisted Decision Making, including the concept of optimization proxies and end-to-end learning and optimization. The benefits of these new scientific advances are demonstrated on a number of fundamental societal challenges in energy, supply chains and manufacturing, and transportation.

Bio: Pascal Van Hentenryck is the director of the NSF AI Institute for Advances in Optimization, the A. Russell Chandler III Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology and its Associate Chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Several of his optimization systems have been in commercial use for more than 20 years for solving logistics, supply-chains, and manufacturing applications. He has also deployed pilots of on-demand multi-modal transit systems in Michigan and Georgia. His current research focuses on AI Engineering, and, in particular, on fusing machine learning, control, and optimization for tackling challenging problems in energy systems, supply chains and manufacturing, and mobility. Van Hentenryck is a fellow of AAAI and INFORMS, and the recipients of numerous teaching awards.

Enterprise Innovation in the Face of Market Volatility

In the ever-evolving landscape of supply chain management, decisions made that are responsive, relevant, and responsible have become paramount. Volatility and uncertainty are a reality, as are long and complex value chains, so agility is essential to responding at the speed of business. Relevant responses must be timely and intelligent, calling for maturation in decision-making, powered by AI and optimization but also insights from behavioral sciences. Executives are expected to deliver resilience while also balancing people, planet, and profits, so our supply chains must also be responsible. This session will provide real-world examples drawing upon industry expertise to illustrate how to employ these strategies to inspire and guide organizations to navigate today’s supply chain challenges with confidence and purpose.

Bio:  As Chief Strategy Officer, Anne is responsible for advancing Kinaxis strategic perspective to add continued value to customers. Her team delivers the strategic roadmap, thought leadership, as well as strategic program and change management. Recognized in analytics and digital transformation, Dr. Robinson has extensive experience managing supply chains for global organizations. At Verizon, she was responsible for the strategic vision of the global supply chains, driving excellence through analytics and process innovation. Previously, Anne managed analytics and business performance teams for Cisco’s supply chain. Dr. Robinson is a Fellow and past president of INFORMS, seasoned industry speaker, and recipient of the 2020 Starr Excellence in Production and Operations Management Practice Award. In 2021, she joined the Creative Destruction Lab as a Supply Chain Mentor. Anne has a BScH from Acadia University, MASc from the University of Waterloo and MSc and PhD in Industrial Engineering from Stanford University.