Sri Ambati is the founder and CEO of H2O.ai. A product visionary who has assembled world-class teams throughout his career, Sri founded H2O.ai in 2012 with a mission to democratize Al for anyone, anywhere, creating a movement of the world’s top data scientists, physicists, academics and technologists at more than 20,000 organizations worldwide. Sri also regularly partners with global business leaders to fund Al projects designed to solve compelling business, environmental and societal challenges.

Most recently, Sri led the initiative o2forindia.org, sourcing O2 concentrators for more than 200 public health organizations in Tier 2 cities and rural communities in India during the Delta wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to save thousands of lives. His strong “Al for Good” ethos for the responsible and fair use of Al to make the world a better place drives H2O.ai’s business model and corporate direction.

A sought-after speaker and thought-leader, Sri has presented at industry events including Ai4, Money2020, Red Hat Summit and more, is a frequent university guest speaker, and has been featured in publications including The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, IDG and the World Economic Forum and has been named a Datanami Person to Watch.

Before founding H2O.ai, Sri co-founded Platfora, a big data analytics company (acquired by Workday) and was director of engineering at DataStax and Azul Systems. His academic background includes sabbaticals focused on Theoretical Neuroscience at Stanford University and U.C. Berkeley, and he holds a master’s degree in Math and Computer Science from the University of Memphis. Sri is inspired by his two daughters and genius wife.

Janna Wagoner is a dynamic and accomplished technology executive with over 14 years of experience at Fifth Third Bank, where she has led transformative initiatives across commercial, consumer, enterprise, and risk IT. Janna is known for her strategic leadership in technology transformation, organizational change, and execution excellence. Throughout her career, Janna has held a variety of impactful roles, her diverse experience reflects a deep understanding of the banking ecosystem and a relentless drive to improve how technology powers the business.

Janna brings a continuous improvement mindset to every challenge, thriving in ambiguity and complexity. Her “banker first” approach—grounded in her finance background and insatiable curiosity about the business—sets her apart from traditional technology leaders. She is passionate about building strong relationships with business and strategic execution partners, a skill often referred to as her “superpower.” Janna believes that trust and connection unlock creativity and innovation, and she leads with empathy, clarity, and purpose.

Atlantic Union Bank, located in Virginia and beyond, offers a wide range of financial solutions including checking accounts, savings accounts, business loans and more. We believe people have a right to expect more from the companies they do business with – and they can expect more from Atlantic Union Bank

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated is a $208 billion asset regional bank headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Founded in 1866, Huntington offers comprehensive banking, payments, wealth, and risk management services to individuals, businesses, and municipalities. With 971 branches across 13 states, Huntington also operates select businesses in extended geographies.

Santander US is a diversified financial business with a strategic focus on retail and consumer banking, commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, and wealth management. It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Madrid-based Banco Santander, a leading global banking group with 176 million customers across Europe, North America, and Latin America.

First Horizon Corporation is a leading regional financial services company, dedicated to helping clients, communities and associates unlock their full potential with capital and counsel. Headquartered in Memphis, TN, the banking subsidiary First Horizon Bank operates in 12 states concentrated in the southern U.S.

In college, Christiana Riley was a French and Italian major who loved all things international.

So when an opportunity arose after graduation to work for a New York City-based company with multinational clients, she took it. It didn’t matter that the job was an analyst role at the boutique investment bank Greenhill or that her background was in Romance languages.

“I’m the accidental banker,” Riley told American Banker. “But my real passion and the reason I was driven toward banking … was because of the truly global nature of this industry.”

In an era where Wall Street is being reshaped by technology and regulation, Ericka Leslie, COO of Goldman Sachs’ global banking and markets (GBM) division, has made a career out of mastering fast-paced change.

Her mandate spans the firm’s entire investment banking and trading apparatus, including FICC, equities and the capital solutions group. And it’s been a busy and profitable few years. GBM accounted for $34.94 billion in net revenues in 2024 – 16% higher than 2023, Goldman said.

Early this year, UMB Financial Corporation closed on its $2 billion acquisition of Heartland Financial, the largest such deal in its 111-year-old history. The acquisition boosted Kansas City, Missouri-based UMB’s assets by over 30%, to approximately $68 billion, and grew its presence from eight to 13 states. 

Uma Wilson’s role in managing product development, technology and operations at UMB Bank means she and her team have been in an “extremely heavy lifting” mode throughout the acquisition process, Wilson said.     

“The initial review of all the different systems and different products and offerings from Heartland Financial Institution came out of my team,” she explained.