Charlie Fink writes a weekly technology column for Forbes covering AI and XR, and co-hosts The AI/XR Podcast. He is the author of the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017) and Convergence: How the World Will Be Painted With Data (2019). Fink teaches emerging media at Chapman University in Orange, CA, and at Arizona State University’s graduate program in Narrative and Emerging Media in Los Angeles. In 2024, he co-founded Cinemation AI with film director Rob Minkoff. Fink's forty-year career at the intersection of storytelling and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation, where he famously conceived the idea for The Lion King and subsequently became the studio’s youngest creative vice president. Fink's work in immersive media began in 1992 as COO of Virtual World Entertainment, a groundbreaking location-based VR company founded by Tim Disney. In 1995, he was recruited by AOL to serve as Senior Vice President and Chief Creative Officer of AOL Studios. After selling his subsequent venture-backed startup, eAgents, to American Greetings Interactive for whom Fink served as President and Chief Creative Officer (2000–2004), acquiring its two biggest competitors, Blue Mountain and eGreetings. Fink spent a decade as Producer and Chairman of the New York Musical Festival, which nurtured Broadway hits "Title of Show," "Next to Normal," and "Guttenberg!"

Katya Alexander is a producer who specializes in Indie Filmmaking and new technology. Katya achieved critical acclaim with "Pretty Problems", a film that emerged as the SXSW 2024 audience winner and one of the top selections on Hulu. Beyond the silver screen, her involvement in Sphere, Las Vegas, underscores her commitment to supporting both tech teams and filmmakers, bridging the gap between innovation and storytelling. Now, Katya Alexander is the President of Pillars, an AI production studio that has the goal of putting these tools into the hands of creatives. As she embarks on her next ventures, Katya Alexander wants to create the entertainment that people want.

Nik Kleverov, an Emmy-grade storyteller, is CCO of Native Foreign, a renowned agency celebrated for its innovative approach to brand storytelling and design. From his viral AI-powered film for Toys"R"Us to the iconic Narcos title sequence for Netflix, Nik’s work highlights his expertise in merging creativity with technology. He is a leading voice on how AI is reshaping the future of storytelling.

Larry Cutler is the Chief Technical Officer and Co-Founder of 10x Emmy-award winning and leading independent animation studio Baobab Studios, which sits at the intersection of tech, gaming, and Hollywood. Baobab is partnered with Google AI and two other top-tier tech AI firms. They've earned a reputation for having top creative talent (e.g., MADAGASCAR writer/director, MOANA producer), that leads in AI and real-time tech, architecting breakthrough applications of machine learning for storytelling and games. Larry’s AI and tech media insights have been shared as keynotes for SxSW, SIGGRAPH, GDC, and Digipro. As CTO of Baobab Studios, he has propelled AI and UGC creator platforms (e.g,. Roblox) industries forward with expertise in Gen Z and Alpha consumer behavior. Baobab has a track record of creating value from IP transmedia (e.g., created hit Roblox games and turned the IP into series/film with Disney+, Netflix, Max series and books). They are creatively led by Eric Darnell, director of all 4 MADAGASCAR films ($3.5B box office) and Osnat Shurer, producer of MOANA (#1 streamed movie, $2.5B box office). Baobab is backed by Disney, Comcast, and Chernin. Their projects (Disney, Netflix, Max, Roblox, VR) have attracted talent such as Oprah, John Legend, Ali Wong, Daisy Ridley, Kate Winslet, and more. Their board includes luminaries like Ed Catmull, the Pixar co-founder. Cutler brings deep technical leadership over the past two decades in animation, machine learning AI, real-time technology, animation creation and development. He serves on the Digital Imaging Technology Subcommittee for the Oscar Technical Achievement Awards.  He was most recently the Vice President of Solutions at Metanautix, a big data, machine learning startup (acquired by Microsoft). Prior to that, Larry served as DreamWorks Animation’s Global Head of Character Technology working on films such as SHREK 2, SHREK THE THIRD, HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, and MEGAMIND. Larry began his career at Pixar Animation Studios as a Technical Director on films such as MONSTERS INC, TOY STORY 2, and A BUG’S LIFE. Larry holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer science from Stanford University.

Jason Zada, founder, Secret Level: Jason Zada is an award-winning storyteller and director. In 2016, his first theatrical feature film, The Forest was released into theaters by Focus Features. Previously, Jason was most recognized for the Emmy Award-winning cinematic personal experience ‘Take This Lollipop’, which has been seen by over 100 million people all over the world. The film gathered 13 million Facebook Likes, making it the fastest growing FB app of all time. Jason’s unique blend of multi-screen storytelling landed him in Adweek/Creativity’s Top 50 most influential creative personalities of 2012. Starting at an early age, Jason was attracted to non-traditional storytelling. Creating Super8 films, programming text adventures on his Commodore 64 and video games formed a strong foundation as both an avid geek and storyteller. During the 1990’s Jason spent time telling stories in CD-ROMs and on the Internet. In the fall of 2000, Jason started the digital advertising agency Evolution Bureau and over the next 8 years grew EVB into a 65-person, world-renowned agency. This led to the holding company, Omnicom, to acquire a majority stake in the company. As a commercial director, Jason has worked with some of the most prominent advertising agencies in the world, such as Weiden + Kennedy, Crispin Porter Bogusky, Sid Lee, Leo Burnett, Saatchi & Saatchi, RPA, Y&R, Draftfcb, Kaplan Thaler and Grey on a variety of digital and broadcast projects. A lover of telling stories in front of strangers, Jason is often asked to speak at a variety of industry events including Cannes, South by Southwest and FITC. Jason’s work has appeared in New York Times, Forbes, Fast Company, Adweek, Shoot Magazine, Communication Arts, IndieWire, Contagious and a variety of other film and advertising publications.

Jeff Gipson is a director and creative leader at the intersection of storytelling, technology, and emotional design. He began his career designing over 70 skateparks around the world—including builds for the X Games, Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory on MTV, and the largest concrete skatepark in Northern Europe. That foundation in architecture and spatial design eventually led him to studios like Pixar, Laika, and ultimately Disney Animation, where his passion for immersive worldbuilding found a new medium.At Disney Animation, Jeff directed the studio’s first virtual reality short, Cycles, which won a Lumiere™ Award in 2019, followed by Myth: A Frozen Tale, which premiered with Frozen 2 and was named 2020 AIXR VR Film of the Year. His film credits at Disney include Frozen, Big Hero 6, Zootopia, Moana, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Wish. As head of the Innovation and Immersive Experiences Team, he helped advance the studio’s use of VR, AR, AI, and other emerging tools to push the boundaries of how stories are told and experienced.Jeff went on to become Creative Director at Universal Pictures, where he led immersive and mixed reality experiences for iconic franchises such as The Office, Blumhouse, Halloween Horror Nights, Universal Monsters, Kung Fu Panda, and WICKED. His work spanned VR, AR, spatial audio, and AI-driven entertainment, including several projects inside Meta Horizon Worlds and the Blumhouse Immersive Cinema App.Today, Jeff serves as Creative Director at Operative Games, a studio pioneering AI-native storytelling and emotionally intelligent characters. There, he leads the creative vision across narrative, design, and visual development, shaping the tone, worldbuilding, and character performances for AI-driven interactive stories. He works closely with actors to craft dynamic, voice performances that bring digital characters to life with authenticity and depth. His focus is on creating experiences that feel as emotionally rich and narratively grounded as film or television.Jeff is also a member of the Television Academy’s Animation & Emerging Media Programming Peer Groups, where he helps shape the future of storytelling across new platforms.