Lauren Burke-McCarthy is a Sr. Data Scientist, Strategy at Further, where she builds models and systems that improve understanding of user needs, enhance products, and discover opportunities. She began her data science career in the retail space, developing solutions across several areas including supply chain, inventory management, and enterprise business.

Outside of work, Lauren is an active member of both local and larger tech communities. As the Director of Operations of Women in Analytics, a global community that promotes visibility to women making an impact in the analytics space, her primary focus lies in strategy and community growth. She hosts the WIA After Hours podcast and is an Instructor of Business Analytics at Denison University's Denison Edge.

Lauren is an avid supporter of initiatives that foster enthusiasm for STEM and encourage the development of creative problem-solving skills. She serves as a Core Advisor on the Midwest Big Data Hub's Community Advisory Panel, a member of TECH CORPS' Regional Steering Committee, Chair of COSI's KINETIC Board, and a member of the scikit-learn Communication Team. She is the recipient of the inaugural Ohio Trailblazers Award, celebrating women transforming Ohio tech.

Micki Boland is a global cybersecurity warrior, architect, and evangelist with Check Point Software Technologies Office of the CTO. A practitioner with over 20 years in ICT, cybersecurity, and emerging technology innovation, Micki holds ISC2 CISSP, Master of Science in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin, and MBA with Global Security Concentration from East Carolina University. She is currently in MIT program for No Code AI/ML. Micki is a United States Army veteran. Micki frequently writes cybersecurity articles for Cybertalk.org, has contributed to articles for WSJ, Dark Reading, Silicon Angle, Decipher, Security Boulevard, and speaks frequently with the broadcast media and radio shows regarding cybersecurity for and in emerging technology, the global threat landscape, tips and resources for enterprise organizations and consumers, Dark Web research, Deepfake technologies and threats, cybercriminal gangs, cloud security, and DevSecOps. Her focus over the last few years is AI based proactive threat intelligence (ML/NN/deep learning), and Generative AI, helping organizations adopt GenAI without trading off security, and ways to leverage GenAI to stay ahead of the adversary.

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