Opening Plenary

Accelarating Technology Disruption

Digital disruption is changing the world around us, breaking down traditional barriers to market entry, creating new business models, and leading to new solutions to global challenges. Dr. Arvind Krishna will examine core technologies that are making this possible. He will discuss how AI is transforming industries and society and how blockchain is revolutionizing business transactions through trust and security. He will examine how these and other technologies will radically accelerate discovery in science and engineering.  He will illustrate advancements in each of these areas with examples of IBM Research projects and collaborations. Finally, Dr. Krishna will share his perspectives on what it takes to sustain a successful and impactful scientific career in an era of disruptive innovation.

Bio

Arvind Krishna is senior vice president, Hybrid Cloud, and director of IBM Research. In this role, he leads the company’s hybrid cloud business, including strategy, product design, offering development, marketing, sales and service. He also helps guide IBM’s overall technical strategyin core and emerging technologies including cognitive computing, quantum computing, cloud platform services, data-driven solutions and blockchain.

Previously, Arvind was general manager of IBM Systems and Technology Group’s development and manufacturing organization, responsible for developing and engineering everything from advanced semiconductor materials to leading-edge microprocessors, servers and storage systems.

Earlier in his career, he was general manager of IBM Information Management, which included database, information integration and big data software solutions. Prior to that he was vice president of strategy for IBM Software. He has held several key technical roles in IBM Software and IBM Research, where he pioneered IBM’s security software business.

Arvind has an undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is the recipient of a distinguished alumni award from the University of Illinois, is the co-author of 15 patents, has been the editor of IEEE and ACM journals, and has published extensively in technical conferences and journals.