Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to add $6-8 trillion to global GDP in the coming years, according to research announced at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos. With AI reaching a crucial inflection point of widespread societal impact, leaders must move swiftly to capitalize on this innovative technology and gain a competitive advantage. In the first event of our series, “Talking AI with Teradata and Accenture,” we bring an executive perspective to the AI challenges leaders are facing now—from building an AI strategy that’s aligned with your business goals to leveraging the technologies that help you accelerate AI value and outpace your peers.
In this special LinkedIn Live event, “Executive Outlook: Staying Competitive in the Era of AI,” Lan Guan, Chief AI Officer at Accenture, and Vedat Akgun, PhD, Vice President, Data Science & AI at Teradata, will address key topics, including:
Vice President, Data Science & AI, Teradata
Vedat Akgun, PhD, is Vice President of Data Science & AI in the marketing organization at Teradata. In his role, he uses his depth and breadth of experience in AI/ML to plan, implement, and manage Teradata's overall AI marketing strategy and leads AI thought leadership. Akgun has more than two decades of hands-on practitioner experience in AI/ML, delivering actionable, intuitive, and impactful advanced analytical capabilities in major industries, including finance, telecommunications, supply chain, pricing and revenue management, retail, and transportation and logistics. He holds a PhD in industrial engineering with a specialization in operations research from the University at Buffalo.
Chief AI Officer, Accenture
Lan Guan is the Chief AI Officer at Accenture. In this role, she advises cross-industry C-suite clients to develop and implement data and AI strategies and products with strategic goals of helping them grow in the new era of generative AI. She also leads Accenture’s Center for Advanced AI, the AI epicenter that enables enterprises to capture and create value from their AI investments by leveraging deep AI experts, differentiated scalable assets and solutions underpinned by data prowess and industry knowledge, and market-leading thought leadership and research. During her 20-year tenure in Accenture’s consulting business, Lan brings deep expertise in transforming data into actionable insights and plans to maximize market opportunities for clients. She specializes in data strategy, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, machine learning, cloud architecture, and robotics. Lan is a member of Accenture’s Global Management Committee.
Lan holds an MBA degree in Computational Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a PhD (ABD) in Quantitative Econometrics from Wayne State University. Lan has been awarded over twenty patents in AI-related areas including content recommendations, digital marketing and sales optimization. She is an Adjunct Faculty with Data Science Institute at Columbia University.