Leila Amirsadeghi, Principal Program Manager, Industry Solutions Engineering, Microsoft: Leila joined the Industry Solutions as Principle Program Manager, driving innovation and solving business problems using AI, AR, VR, MR, with Microsoft’s most strategic customers. Prior to this, Leila was Principal Product Manager on Microsoft Mesh where she helped build and launch the product to market, and Product Manager on AltspaceVR, Microsoft’s metaverse and mixed reality platforms. With over 25 years in entertainment, digital product development, and production, Leila has created content and built products across mobile, web, OTT, AI, AR, VR, and the metaverse, as well as launching award-winning integrated campaigns for brands and startups. She’s worked on major franchises including Halo, Star Wars and X-Men, and has worked with some of the world’s most innovative companies including, Disney, Red Bull, Comcast, Sky Broadcasting, Mattel, Two Bit Circus, Chevron, Warner Bros, AREA15, Takeda, Live Nation, Accenture, Citi, Meow Wolf, Activision, Universal Studios, and the World Economic Forum. Leila has worked on large-scale physical and virtual productions, including Burning Man, Lightning in a Bottle, and the multi award-winning BRCvr, has launched several immersive and location-based experiences, and was co-creator of the Unreal Garden, the world's first mixed reality consumer LBE experience. Leila started working on immersive and interactive projects in 2007, AR in 2008, and gaming in 2009. Leila is co-author of the book “A Handbook of Research on the Global Impacts & Roles of Immersive Media”, founder of XR consultancy MESH, and a member of Spatial Activations. Leila sits on the Boards of Cloudtree Ventures, Enklu, and Vibes + Logic, is a member of AIXR’s LBE Advisory Board and the NAB Insight Advisory Group, and as one of the early pioneers of the metaverse, Leila continues to push the boundaries of what is possible across the physical and digital worlds. Leila is a veteran Burner of 20 years and Black Rock Ranger.

Joanna Popper  was the Chief Metaverse Officer at leading entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA). Based in Los Angeles, Popper led emerging technology and metaverse initiatives for the agency and its clients. Popper joined CAA in 2022 from HP, where she led its XR initiatives for Go-To-Market, overseeing the launch of award-winning technology, such as the HP Reverb G2 VR headset (winner of Red Dot Design Award, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award) and HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition (winner of VR Hardware of the Year, Entertainment Technology Lumiere Award, Red Dot Best of the Best, CES Innovation Award, IF Design Award). While leading HP’s VR go-to-market, the business grew 10x to a multi-million dollar business. Previously, she was Executive Vice President of Media & Marketing at Singularity University, a NASA-based, Google-backed organization founded by Ray Kurzweil and Peter Diamandis to train leaders on the future of technology including artificial intelligence, VR/AR, robotics, blockchain, and digital biology. She was also the Vice President of Marketing at NBCUniversal, where she worked across properties, including television, film, digital, and parks, and launched top-rated hits in primetime, music award shows, sports, news, daytime, and more for Telemundo. She started her career as an investment banker in New York and Brazil and then a consultant at McKinsey & Company. She served as Executive Producer on BREONNA’S GARDEN, FINDING PANDORA X, and FIGHT BACK, the award-winning immersive content, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, and SXSW. FINDING PANDORA X won Venice’s Golden Lion for Best Immersive Experience and SXSW’s best Virtual Cinema Award. BREONNA’s GARDEN received awards and recognition for social impact from PGA Innovation, Unity, Auggie, Filmgate, and Aurea. FIGHT BACK won an audience award at Venice. She was selected as “50 Women Can Change the World in Media and Entertainment,” ”25 Pioneers in the Metaverse,” “Top 50 Original Thinkers in VR,” “Top Women in Media: Game Changers,” “Top Women in Media: Industry Leaders,” “Digital It List,” and “101 Women Leading the VR Industry.” She has sat on numerous boards and in advisory roles including as Metaphysic Board Observer, the Coalition for the Women in XR Fund, Unity Charitable Fund Advisory Board, Vidcon Industry Advisory Board, AIXR Steering Committee and CES Consumer Technology Association AR/VR Working Committee. Popper graduated from Northwestern University with a Bachelor’s degree, and The Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania with an MBA. 

Aaron Luber, Director, Partnerships, Google: Aaron leads the Business Development and Partnerships team for Google's Labs efforts, the early innovation group within Google that is helping incubate and graduate long term bets Google is making in AR/VR, Blockchain, Future of Work and AI/ML Aaron has been at Google for over 10 years and has helped to launch and commercialize a number of 0 to 1 efforts across YouTube, Daydream, ARCore, Google Lens -- all supported by major partnerships across hardware, content, platform and brand partners.

Ted Schilowitz, Futurist, Paramount Global: Ted spends his time and pursues his passion in a unique role in the entertainment industry. Ted works across the leadership and the technology teams across Paramount Global, including CBS, CBS Sports, Paramount Pictures, Paramount Plus, MTV, Nickelodeon, BET, PlutoTV and Comedy Central, exploring emerging tech for entertainment with an emphasis on Virtual and Mixed Reality and Web 3.0/ MetaVerse pursuits. Prior to joining Paramount, Ted was the Futurist at 20th Century Fox, where he worked on the evolving art, science and technology of advanced interactive visual storytelling. He was part of the creation team for the Martian VR and Wild VR experiences, which premiered at CES and Sundance as groundbreaking projects that pushed the envelope of Virtual Reality storytelling, Ted was part of the creation teams for the Alien, Planet of the Apes and Predator VR experiences at Fox, and at his current home at Paramount Pictures, he’s been instrumental in bringing the Grease Mixed Reality experience, the Light as a Feather mixed reality experience and the Quiet Place Virtual Reality experience to life. Ted was an integral part of the product development team at Red Digital Cinema as the company’s first employee. The Red One and Epic cameras have made a significant impact on the Motion Picture Industry, winning a Sci-Tech Academy award. Many of the world’s biggest movies are now being shot with these ultra high resolution digital movie cameras. Ted is one of the founders and creators of the G-Tech product line of advanced hard drive storage products. As one of the most recognized brands in that industry, they are implemented worldwide at the highest levels on cinema, episodic television, sports and news production. In his role as Chief Creative Officer at Barco Escape, he spearheaded an experimental immersive cinema project for movie theaters worldwide. Titles include Paramount Pictures Star Trek Beyond and 20th Century Fox Maze Runner & Maze Runner 2. Before being part of the founding teams at Red Digital Cinema and G-Tech, Ted was on the team that developed and launched the Macintosh desktop video division of AJA Video Systems, creating professional video products in tandem with Apple. These products are used on a massive scale worldwide for video production and post at the highest levels, on many of the world’s biggest movies, TV series and sporting events. Ted has presented worldwide at numerous conferences on the advancements in next generation visual experiences for the movie, television and, interactive entertainment industries. He’s been featured in Wired, Variety, NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Hollywood Reporter, NBC, CNET, Studio Daily, Videography, Film and Video, DV Magazine, TV Technology, HD Video Pro, Engadget, Gizmodo, Millimeter, American Cinematographer, MacWorld, Post Magazine, Popular Science, and countless other publications discussing his areas of passion and exploration. In 2019, Ted was honored at the Variety Hall of Fame event with the Variety Innovation Award.

Pearly Chen is a Vice President at HTC VIVE with a unique operator-investor role on the forefront of immersive technologies. She first joined HTC as Chief of Staff to Cher Wang, the company’s founder/Chairwoman, working closely with the executive team on strategic business management, global engagement and board affairs since 2012. She then helped establish and lead HTC’s early-stage investment program Vive X which has since its founding in 2016 invested in more than 100 innovative startups globally. She also led the growth of the world’s first VR content subscription service Viveport Infinity through prolific partnerships with content creators around the world, as well as the creation of VR for Impact program. She serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on VR/AR, Academy of International Extended Reality’s Advisory Council, and the Communications Committee of the XR Association. Pearly represented Cher Wang during her tenure representing Taiwan at APEC Business Advisory Council between 2009-2015, chairing its various working groups including Finance and Economic Working Group, SME & Entrepreneurship Working Group, and ABAC Women’s Forum, collaborating with business and political leaders across the Asia Pacific region to form policy recommendations and often speaking at global forums on innovation and women leadership. Prior to HTC, Pearly was an Investment Professional at Goldman Sachs, providing investment advisory and portfolio management services to its Asia Pacific clients. A dynamic, high energy, multilingual global citizen, voracious reader, avid traveler, competitive triathlete, aspiring healer and mother of 3 girls, Pearly currently lives in South Florida with her family and makes it her life’s goal to leave behind a positive legacy for future generations.

Charlie Fink, Metaverse Consultant, Forbes Columnist, Author, Adjunct: Charlie Fink writes the weekly Forbes column “This Week in XR" and co-hosts its eponymous companion podcast. He is the author of the upcoming Dissecting the Metaverse (Fall 2022), Remote Collaboration and the Future of Work (2020), and the critically acclaimed AR-enabled books Charlie Fink’s Metaverse (2017), and Convergence, How The World Will Be Painted With Data (2019). He teaches XR at Chapman University Film School in Orange, CA. Fink's forty year career at the convergence of popular culture and technology began at Walt Disney Feature Animation in 1987 where he famously came up with the idea for “The Lion King" and became the studio’s youngest creative Vice-President. Fink's work in technology began in 1992 when he joined Tim Disney’s pioneering location-based VR company, Virtual World Entertainment, as its COO. In 1995, AOL recruited him to be Senior Vice President & Chief Creative Officer of AOL Studios (1995-1999). Fink was President of American Greetings Interactive and Blue Mountain (2000-2004). His other experience includes exits from several startups and running the New York Musical Festival. Fink's consulting clients include both tech giants and start ups trying to find their place in the rapidly evolving metaverse ecosystem.