Digital Hollywood: The AI & Entertainment Summit

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026

8 – 8:50 PM Eastern Time Zone

Session I: A Virtual Event

The Intelligence Economy: Demand & Investment in AI, Compute, Energy & Software

Let's first familiarize ourselves with the notion of "Compute" as a descriptor of the baseline of our future economy. "Compute" represents the fundamental infrastructure that underpins the AI-driven world, encompassing the complex interplay of hardware, software, and energy. So that a city, region, country or group of countries strategically develop their economies around the notion of "Compute," that strategy will indicate the readiness of that entity to provide services to its populations and compete within this vision of the modern world. And what of the critics who warn of AI's insatiable energy appetite? The industry has answered decisively — every Data Center will develop and fund its own energy source, selling surplus power directly back into the consumer grid. AI doesn't drain the grid. It feeds it. We are entering a Re-Defined World and the Compute-driven global economy is its foundation.

Speakers:

Paul Lekas, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), Moderator

David Higley, Partner, Perella Weinberg

Laura Martin, Managing Director, Senior Internet & Media Analyst, Needham & Company

Speakers to be announced

Diana Colella is executive vice president of Autodesk’s Entertainment & Media vertical solutions group. In this role, she manages product, strategy and execution for the company’s portfolio servicing the film, TV and games industries. Colella has been with Autodesk for more than 20 years occupying a range of leadership roles, including head of product management and worldwide support. She has extensive experience in strategically transforming business models, creating new product offerings and optimizing processes on a global scale. Most recently, she served as vice president in Autodesk’s Business Strategy and Marketing group, leading the M&E and AutoCAD businesses, which represent more than $1B in annual recurring revenue. In this role, she drove the company’s strategy for digital conversion of non-compliant users and launched One AutoCAD. She is the executive sponsor of the Autodesk Women’s Network.