Waves Innovation SummitPepperdine's Inaugural Waves Innovation Summit
Speakers From:
The AI Race is Coming to Malibu
Established in 2025, the Waves Innovation Summit is a student-led, campus-wide event designed to strengthen the connection between technology, entrepreneurship, and the Pepperdine community. By bringing together industry leaders, founders, and students, the summit creates a space where ideas, innovation, and opportunity converge.
At the Waves Innovation Summit, attendees explore the technologies and ventures shaping the future—from artificial intelligence and emerging startups to the evolving intersection of business and innovation. Through keynotes, panels, and collaborative discussions, students gain direct exposure to the people and ideas driving the next generation of technological progress.
Together, we aim to build a stronger bridge between the worlds of innovation and the Pepperdine student body—empowering students to learn, connect, and take part in shaping the future.
Meet Our 2026 Lineup
All speakers are confirmed in-person.
Eric Egland
AI SME
Cisco
Anthony Kennada
Founder & CEO
Goldenhour
Cristie Zellmer
Marketing Operations
OpenAI
Mike Umbro
Principal
Fieldview Capital
Carolyne Hobson
Product Marketing
NVIDIA
Robert Beck
Vice President
ICONIQ
Parker Lowrey
CEO
Syntrologie
Jonathan Pearce
IP Attorney
SoCal IP
Steven Lesky
Senior Financial Analyst
Waymo
Rebecca Collins
Technical Sourcer
Ryan Alimo
CEO
Opal AI
Heather Chen
Product
Blizzard Entertainment
Dan Leaf
CEO
GUGLI
Sasi Kannan
President & Co-Founder
Datanetiix Solutions
Eleazar Eskin
Department Chair
Computational Medicine UCLA
Masoud Hussain
Business Development Manager
Syntrologie
Austin Bishop
AI Product
Shipt
Achuta Kadambi
Associate Professor
UCLA
Mia Levy
Research Scientist
HRL Labs
Patrick Lucey
Chief Scientist
StatsPerform
Ulysse Saltiel
Associate
Armada
Yinsheng Zhou
Member of Technical Staff
OpenAI
Sean Wu
Rhodes Scholar, Graduate Student
Oxford
Tina Austin
AI Policy Advisor
CA Dept of Ed
Noah Egland
Founder
CalStem
Deborah Crown
Dean
Pepperdine Graziadio Business School
Fabien Scalzo
Director
Keck Data Science Institute
Summit Schedule
A full day of keynotes, fireside chats, panels, and breakout sessions designed to inspire, educate, and connect.
Arrival + Networking
Coffee / Check-in
Welcome & Opening Remarks
The Future of AI Innovation
Keynote- Eric Egland
Building the Next Generation of AI Companies
Fireside Chat- Parker Lowrey
- Jonathan Pearce
Powering the AI Economy: Investing in the Next Generation of Energy & Compute
Fireside Chat- Mike Umbro
- Ulysse Saltiel
Spotlight: Eleazar Eskin
Spotlight- Eleazar Eskin
Lunch
Mendocino Farms
The End of Marketing
Keynote- Anthony Kennada
The Future of AI in Sports
Fireside Chat- Carl Mergele
- Fabien Scalzo
Inside the AI Revolution
Industry Panel- Cristie Zellmer
- Carolyne Hobson
- Robert Beck
Break
Breakout Sessions — Part I
BreakoutTransition
Breakout Sessions — Part II
BreakoutClosing Remarks & Thank You
Explore Our Breakout Sessions
Dive into focused discussions led by industry experts, founders, and technologists across four curated tracks designed for every interest and skill level.
Enterprise AI in Applied Sciences brings together leading voices at the frontier of applied artificial intelligence, including medicine, sports analytics, space systems, digital pathology, and computational imaging. From physics-informed computer vision research to AI-driven precision oncology, autonomous spacecraft navigation, sports performance analytics, and deep learning-powered virtual histology, the session showcases how enterprise AI is moving beyond theory to deliver transformative impact across the scientific disciplines. Attendees will gain an interdisciplinary perspective on the opportunities, challenges, and real-world breakthroughs that emerge when cutting-edge AI meets the complexity of applied science.
Part 1
- Achuta Kadambi
- Mia Levy
- Ryan Alimo
- Tina Austin
Part 2
- Patrick Lucey
- Yinsheng Zhou
- Sean Wu