SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

SPEAKERS AT THE ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE – STRATEGIES

THAT ENABLE TECHNOLOGY TRENDS CONFERENCE – NOVEMBER 21, 2024

Praveenkumar Ambhore, Senior Enterprise Architect, Panduit

Praveenkumar Ambhore (Praveen) is a Senior Enterprise Architect, at Panduit Corporation. Praveen is responsible for providing EA support to multiple business functions such as engineering, and entire supply chain management including planning, procurement, manufacturing, logistics and distribution. He works closely with business leadership within the organization to ensure alignment between IT and Business to drive priority strategy initiatives.

Praveen has worked in multiple discrete manufacturing industries and IT consulting firms to drive transformation initiatives in Product lifecycle management, manufacturing digital transformation and adoption of next gen technologies.

John Barnett, Enterprise Architect, Large Enterprise Company

John Barnett is a seasoned IT professional with over 30 years of experience in the IT industry, including more than a decade spent in Enterprise Architecture. Focused on driving business and digital transformation initiatives within large organizations such as Walgreens Boots Alliance, Health Care Service Corporation, and Motorola Mobility, his expertise lies in bridging the gap between business and technology strategy, ensuring alignment to maximize the value of IT investments. Currently, John is a member of the Enterprise Architecture team at the holding company of a major food and beverage production and distribution organization. John is a proud Saluki having received his BA in Computer Science from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

Sugato Bose, Senior Director, IT Architecture, Medline Industries

Bio coming soon!

Christopher Coats, Sr. Enterprise Architect, NORC at the University of Chicago

Christopher (Chris) has 25 years of experience in technology that aligns closely with the evolution of enterprise applications, from traditional “racked” servers and equipment to modern hybrid-cloud and serverless environments. During recent engagements with Uptake and JPMorganChase, the focus has been on deploying resilient secure architecture that ensures continuity and availability of essential services while enforcing security and compliance requirements across the enterprise. The current focus for NORC at the University of Chicago is developing and deploying a cohesive product portfolio to be consumed by municipal and governmental agencies and the research partners they collaborate with to enhance collaboration and data sharing. Chris has extensive experience designing and deploying Windows enterprise environments, managing datacenter buildouts and leading a team in product development. Chis has more than 20 certifications from Vendors such as VMWare, Cisco, Microsoft, and AWS in addition to vendor neutral certifications, including a CISSP. His formal education includes a BS in network operations and security from Western Governors university and the CTO program at the Wharton School. Chris enjoys cycling and bicycle building in his limited free time.

Logan Chung, Global Solutions Architect, Equinix

Over 20+ years in IT. Solutions architect at Equinix for 5 years – work closely with clients to develop hybrid and multi-cloud architectures, optimize network performance, and ensure secure, scalable ecosystems. Cover strategic Midwest based customers in financials, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc. Assist with HPC and AI deployments in Equinix.

Tom de Ridder, Product Manager, ValueBlue

Tom has a deep knowledge of a variety of IT related subjects like networking, administration, software development, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, Business Intelligence, databases, data management, deployment, security, integration and Enterprise Architecture. He knows what, when and where while advising customers on envisioning, implementing and practicing IT architecture. Tom can connect technical and functional needs within the realm of IT Service Management and beyond. 

Rajitha Gangishetty, Sr. Manager, Solutions Architect, Hilton

Rajitha brings over two decades of experience spanning various industries in the IT sector. She leverages Enterprise architecture principles to help companies design and implement scalable solutions that align with their strategic objectives and operational requirements. Her passion lies in providing data-driven insights and solutions that facilitate better decision-making and enhance user experience.

Shaye Robeson, Sr. Director of Enterprise Architecture, US Cellular

Shaye Robeson currently serves as Senior Director of Enterprise Architecture for UScellular, the fourth-largest wireless carrier in the United States. Responsible for designing the company’s enterprise-technology investment strategies, Shaye leads a team of Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, and Infrastructure Architects who implement traditional and digital solutions providing CRM, billing, call center, retail, eCommerce, and B2B capabilities in support of 5 million subscribers. Prior to his time at UScellular, Shaye held several technology executive roles at a number of mid-sized companies in the wireless and fintech industries, and also served as CTO and cofounder of aKos Corp – the technology startup who launched the USA’s first cash-based mobile money transfer service.

Tony Sina, Sales Engineer, ValueBlue

Tony Sina is a Sales Engineer at ValueBlue with extensive experience in financial services and fintech, specializing in translating complex technical concepts into business value. Tony spent fifteen years working in major financial institutions and cutting-edge fintech startups. His insights on leveraging enterprise architecture for business transformation stem from his deep understanding of financial services technology landscapes and his commitment to driving innovation in this rapidly evolving industry.

Di Wang, Head of Enterprise Architecture, NORC at the University of Chicago

I am an Enterprise Architecture leader with significant experience in Fortune 40 companies. I truly believe the most effective role for enterprise architecture is to cast and communicate the vision and design the framework driving enterprise-wide initiatives, simultaneously building cultures within the organization to leverage the power of communities.

My passion is to partner with both business and IT stakeholders to leverage technologies to enable, enhance and differentiate business capabilities. And my expertise is to find balance between strategic objectives and tactical solutions.

Over the course of my career, I’ve built my knowledge across the full spectrum of architecture domains including business, application, data, and technology. Most of my career has been in healthcare, with some experience in insurance, retail and finance as well.

I am an earnest learner and eager adopter of new technologies. On the other side of the coin, I appreciate the value of existing business systems and focus on transforming legacy applications with pragmatic approaches without losing principles and vision.