Mackenzie is the Global Startup Evangelist at AWS. His days are spent traveling the globe to meet startups, share their stories, and connect engineering teams together. Every day there are a large number of startups launching on AWS across every imaginable industry. It’s Mackenzie’s mission to find stories of startups that are helping to improve the world and share these stories with a wide audience.
Prior to joining AWS, Mackenzie was the Head of Technical Operations at Betterment, the world’s largest independent robo-advisor based in NYC which manages over $8B in assets. Mackenzie was a founding engineer and Head of Technical Operations at Oscar Health, an insurance startup also based in NYC, helping to grow the company to over 400+ employees.
With a robust foundation in technology and a dynamic career in the Media and Entertainment industry, Janine Bailey has evolved from a software engineer to a solutions architect, and now serves as a Senior Leader in Customer Solutions Management at Amazon Web Services (AWS). In her current role, Janine oversees customer solutions for two of the largest global media and entertainment accounts, leveraging her expertise to drive innovation and deliver tailored solutions that meet complex client needs. Originally from South Africa, she brings a diverse, international perspective to her work, now based in Miami. Her journey through various facets of the tech industry has equipped her with a unique blend of technical acumen and strategic insight, allowing her to effectively bridge the gap between technology and business.
Allyson (Ally) Gormley is the Director of Global Operations, Remote Broadcast & Production at Riot Games. Elevated to her current role in September 2022, Ally oversees the development, general operations, and staffing of Riot’s innovative global circuit of Remote Broadcast Centers (RBCs) powered by AWS, launched under the name “Project Stryker.”
In her role, Ally oversaw the construction and launch of the first RBC in the Swords region of Dublin, Ireland, securing and renovating a 50,000-sq.-ft. former night club into a state-of-the-art broadcast facility supporting live esports events around the world. Following the launch of the Dublin RBC, Ally quickly pivoted to lead the development of Riot’s second RBC, located in the Greater Seattle, WA, USA area which was completed in late 2023.
A 10-year veteran of Riot Games, Ally has risen from serving as executive assistant supporting numerous Riot executives across North America and EMEA. During that time, she served as a dual Chief of Staff for both Riot’s global esports and EMEA enterprise division, leading a team of 24 across Europe in administrative, IT, real estate and frontline operations.
Memnon CEO Heidi Shakespeare is the driving force behind the company’s mission to preserve, make discoverable, and provide access to the world’s content. A well-known industry figure, Heidi has an unwavering commitment to innovation which has put Memnon at the forefront of AV migration and archiving.
Under Heidi's leadership, Memnon is well-positioned to continue its success whether it's expanding into new international markets or reaffirming Memnon as the global leader in mass media migration.
Having already showcased her adventurous spirit by travelling the world as a trapeze artist, Heidi has held key leadership positions at the likes of Iron Mountain, ARN (Australian Radio Network) and Bonded Services Group where she's gathered her vast experience in driving sales growth within the media and entertainment sector.
Lesley Silverman is the Head of New Technology at leading global talent, entertainment and
sports company UTA. Silverman was UTA’s first full-time Digital Assets agent and has helped
launch over a dozen non-fungible token (NFT) projects for clients including Halsey, Kaskade,
ThankYouX & Hans Zimmer, Haas Brothers, Felipe Pantone and Klutch Sports Group, among
others. She also represents creators and artists such as ThankYouX, Deadfellaz, and Diana
Sinclair.
As Silverman leads the exploration into emerging technologies, she also delves into the interplay
between AI, media and entertainment. She recently hosted UTA’s AI Symposium during 2023 LA
Tech Week, as well as an AI x Media Salon during the 2024 Milken Conference.
Silverman previously helped launch UTA’s Fine Arts Division and worked as an agent
representing artists such as Judy Chicago and Ai Weiwei and corporate clients such as
Microsoft and Rosewood Hotel Group. She also supported UTA Artist Space, an exhibition venue
in Beverly Hills that is committed to showcasing art by globally recognized talent.
Prior to joining UTA, Silverman worked as an art attorney at Glaser Weil and as an employment
litigator at Littler.
Outside of UTA, Silverman is a member of the Hammer Collective at Los Angeles’ Hammer
Museum and volunteers with Wags & Walks animal rescue.
Swati Karkun Sen is Senior Vice President, Product & Strategy for NBCU News Group. In this role, Swati drives strategy, product vision, technology and innovation, and executes cross functional initiatives globally across the News Group, which includes NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC. A transformational business leader, Swati has driven a portfolio of successes in enterprise-wide media strategy, technology, and operations. She has also been recognized as a visionary and change leader, and has most recently been involved in
implementing initiatives to support growth, streamlining, and efficiencies in a dynamic global media environment. Prior to her current role, Swati was VP of Strategic Initiatives at NBC News where she drove the restructuring of the News technology & engineering organizations, self-serve research, artificial intelligence/machine learning in operational workflows, vendor image acquisition, and the DC bureau move. Before that, Swati was Director, Digital Media Ingest Operations where she led a team of operators responsible for ingesting feed and tape content for News, and digitizing archives. Her team captured close
to a 1000 hours of feeds daily into multiple platforms 24*7, and digitized over 100,000 hours of rich NBC News archival footage. Swati has also led the PMO (Project Management Office) across her group. Swati began her career at GE as part of the Information Management Leadership Program (IMLP). During this 2 year program, she assumed various leadership roles across GE Contractual Services, Wind Energy, Technology Services Group, and Capital, and ultimately joined NBC News in the summer of 2007. Swati graduated from the Indian School of Business with a Master of Business Administration degree, double
majoring in Finance and Information Technology. She also has an undergrad degree in Computer Science and Engineering. Swati is passionate about mentoring and is currently a mentor at the New York Chapter of WICT (Women in Cable Telecommunications). Originally from New Delhi, Swati now resides on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband, 2 daughters, and 2 dogs.
