Dean Abbott is President of Abbott Analytics and currently is the Bodily Bicentennial Professor in Analytics at UVA Darden School of Business. He is an internationally recognized thought leader and innovator in data science and predictive analytics with more than three decades of experience solving a wide range of private and public sector problems. Mr. Abbott is the author of Applied Predictive Analytics (Wiley, 2014) and coauthor of The IBM SPSS Modeler Cookbook (Packt Publishing, 2013).

Gary Anderberg has worked in developing predictive analytic applications for workers' compensation insurance since 2007. He is a recognized expert in the use of PA outputs for guiding the handling of complex claims to drive improved claim outcomes. He is the "godfather" of the Waypoint system and its key role in improving overall decision making and the more effective use of claim resources at Gallagher-Bassett. He will speak to the business case for a system like Waypoint and the corporate cultural and practice issues involved in socializing potentially complex PA system outputs with deeply entrenched work patterns at the end user level. He knows first-hand how the most brilliant PA applications can founder when output and practice cultures clash.

Richard Boire's experience in predictive analytics and data science dates back to 1983, when he received an MBA from Concordia University in Finance and Statistics. 

His initial experience at organizations such as Reader’s Digest and American Express allowed  him to become a pioneer in the application of predictive modelling technology for all database and CRM type marketing programs. This extended to the introduction of models which targeted the acquisition of new customers based on return on investment.

With this experience, Richard formed his own consulting company back in 1994 which is now called the Boire Filler Group, a Canadian leader in offering  analytical and database services to companies seeking solutions to their existing predictive analytics or database marketing challenges.

Richard is a recognized authority on predictive analytics and is among a very few, select top five experts in this field in Canada, with expertise and knowledge that is difficult, if not impossible to replicate in Canada. This expertise has evolved into international speaking assignments and workshop seminars in the U.S., England, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. 

Within Canada, he gives seminars on segmentation and predictive analytics for such organizations as Canadian Marketing Association (CMA), Direct Marketing News, Direct Marketing Association Toronto, Association for Advanced Relationship Marketing (AARM) and Predictive Analytics World (PAW).  His written articles have appeared in numerous Canadian  publications such as  Direct Marketing News, Strategy Magazine, and Marketing Magazine. He has taught applied statistics, data mining and database marketing at a variety of institutions across Canada which include University of Toronto, George Brown College, Seneca College, and currently Centennial College. Richard was  Chair at the CMA's Customer Insight and Analytics Committee and  sat on the CMA's Board of Directors from 2009-2012. He has chaired numerous full day conferences on behalf of the CMA (the 2000 Database and Technology Seminar as well as the  2002 Database and Technology Seminar and the first-ever Customer Profitability Conference  in 2005. He has most recently chaired the Predictive Analytics World conferences in both 2013 and 2014 which were held in Toronto.

He has co-authored white papers on the following topics: "Best Practices in Data Mining" as well as "Customer Profitability:  The State of Evolution among Canadian Companies."  In Oct. of 2014, his new book on "Data Mining for Managers-How to use Data (Big and Small) to Solve Business Problems" was published by Palgrave Macmillian.  In March of 2016, Boire Filler Group was acquired by Environics Analytics where his current role is senior vice-president of innovation.

John Elder chairs America’s most experienced Data Science consultancy. Founded in 1995, Elder Research has offices in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and Washington DC. Dr. Elder co-authored 3 award-winning books on analytics, was a discoverer of ensemble methods, chairs international conferences, and is a popular keynote speaker. John is occasionally an Adjunct Professor of Systems Engineering at the University of Virginia.

Sergo leads global efforts in enterprise technology architecture, analytics, and systems road mapping at Crawford & Company. His responsibilities include providing direction and leadership for development of business intelligence technology and statistical, data mining, and predictive analytic models for claim operations and client stewardship. Sergo has 16 years of technology industry experience; he has proven success in increasing maturity of enterprise technology architecture and in wide adoption of advanced analytics and business intelligence at organizations of various sizes; he earned a master's degree in management science and a bachelor's degree in applied mathematics and computer science.

Tom Kern is a Risk Modeling Manager at Paychex, Inc. Under the Risk Management umbrella, Tom helps to coordinate and execute a wide range of projects centered on predictive modeling, optimizing processes in all departments from sales strategy to internal operations and mitigating risk throughout the company.

Tom joined Paychex in 2012. Prior to Paychex, Tom was a Predictive Modeling Analyst with a large digital marketing agency, servicing major clients in the financial services, insurance, and automotive industries. He holds a MA from Boston University in Applied Statistics, and a BA from Boston University in Applied Mathematics. Tom is a four-time PAW speaker.

When Natalie was in 4th grade, she created an idea that became a national commercial for Tide.  Having peaked on the creative side at such a young age, she decided to dedicate the rest of her advertising career to helping business leaders make better marketing decisions based on data and research.

And dedicated she has been. Her resume reads like a Fortune 500 wish list: PwC, IBM, CoreMetrics, Dell, Humana, and The Richards Group.  Her core competencies include everything from pricing and marketing mix modeling to decision science management and data science. But wait, there’s more: Natalie has also invented and patented multiple marketing optimization models, teaches Big Data at conferences, and hosts her own blog celebrating the confluence of mathematics and marketing.

Senior Vice President and Practice Leader at Environics Analytics, Rupen Seoni leads a practice area that includes the public sector, health care, energy and not-for-profits. He brings to his position over twenty years of experience in marketing analytics, working with organizations of all sizes to unlock the value of information in decision-making and business strategy. He specializes in helping organizations understand population trends, segmentation and performance benchmarking. Rupen earned a master’s degree in urban planning and held positions with Nielsen, Compusearch, Campbell Soup and CIBC prior to joining Environics Analytics. For the last two years, he has appeared on CTV’s Canadian and U.S. federal election coverage as a commentator on voter demographics in key races.

As Chief Data Scientist at Hopper, Patrick Surry analyzes flight data to help consumers make smarter travel choices. Patrick is recognized as a travel expert and he frequently provides data-driven insight on the travel industry and trends.

Patrick’s research and commentary have been featured in outlets such as New York Times, USA Today, Bloomberg Businessweek, TIME, and many others. Patrick also regularly appears on various broadcast stations to offer travel insight and tips.

Patrick holds a PhD in mathematics and statistics from the University of Edinburgh, where he studied optimization based on evolutionary algorithms, following an HBSc in continuum mechanics from the University of Western Ontario.

You can also follow Patrick on Twitter at @PatrickSurry.

SVP, Research & Data Insights at Shift Paradigm and active member of the CMA Insights Council, Emma has over 25 years experience helping organizations with the strategic use of customer data to drive business results. Her work has spanned a variety of industries in B2C and B2B, including those who market to intermediaries (like brokers).She is a recognized expert in her field and is a highly sought-after speaker, judge, panelist, and frequent contributor to industry publications.