Disney Data & Analytics Conference (DDAC)

Achille Ettorre

Achille Ettorre is a strategist at speaker and author helping organizations bridge the gap between AI theory and real-world transformation. As the author of The Digital Advantage, he equips leaders with a field-tested approach to aligning culture, data and technology to drive sustainable results. Achille brings a rare blend of boardroom strategy and frontline execution, shaped by his work with Fortune 500 brands like Loblaw, national AI advisory boards and entrepreneurial ventures like GTA Equipment Rentals. He currently serves on the Board of Advisors for the Smith School of Business and the National AI Business & Industry Leadership Team (BILT), where he helps shape the future of AI education, workforce development and responsible innovation.

Andrew Wright

Andrew Wright, a Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development principal, develops advanced technologies to improve the work of fellow Imagineers and Cast Members. With 19 years at Disney, he has contributed to diverse analytic and emerging technology teams. Prior to Disney, Andrew worked in financial services and consulting. He holds a degree in foreign affairs and graduate degrees in business and applied statistics. Andrew lives in Southern California with his wife and their retired rescue greyhound.

Baris Sarer

Baris is the Global Leader of Deloitte’s AI Practice for the Technology at Media & Entertainment and Telecom (TMT) industries. With over 20 years of experience, he advises C-suite executives on data-driven strategies and intelligent technology investments. Baris is a recognized thought leader, frequently contributing to industry forums and publications. He has led complex programs to scale AI, monetize data and maximize technology return on investment. Currently, he focuses on unlocking AI’s potential in the TMT sector. Before Deloitte, Baris held leadership roles in wireless communications companies across research and development, operations and sales, managing global projects and advising clients worldwide.

Brian Walters

Brian Walters, Professional Engineer, is senior manager of the Modeling, Simulation, and Training Tools (MST) team within Global Engineering and Technology (GE&T) at Disney Experiences. The MST team develops simulation, training, data acquisition and analytics tools for Disney Parks worldwide. Brian graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering and a Master of Science in engineering management.

Cara Dienes

During her tenure with Disney at Cara Dienes has delivered pricing, inventory control and forecasting capabilities to businesses across the enterprise. These solutions empower decision-makers with techniques from statistics, optimization, simulation and machine learning into applications. Beyond delivering solutions, Cara seeks to empower team members and develop analytics leaders of the future. Prior to joining Disney, she worked in systems engineering in the defense industry. She holds a doctorate in industrial engineering from Iowa State and is currently Vice President, Decision Science Application Development, Sustainment & Operations.

Cassie Kozyrkov

Cassie Kozyrkov is the Chief Executive Officer of Kozyr and the founder of Decision Intelligence. As Google’s first Chief Decision Scientist, she helped lead its transformation into an AI-first company, personally training over 20,000 Googlers and influencing 500+ initiatives. Today, she advises global organizations like NASA, Meta and Gucci on AI strategy. A dynamic speaker with deep technical expertise and theater-trained charisma, Cassie has captivated audiences in 40+ countries, including at the United Nations and World Economic Forum. She’s a LinkedIn Top Voice, Forbes AI cover star and a celebrated author with millions of readers. Cassie holds degrees in economics, statistics, psychology and neuroscience.

Chris Szydlo

Chris Szydlo’s team designs shelf and customized learning experiences about Disney’s approach to uplevel business professionals and organizations. With over 30 years of Disney experience in strategic and creative roles at Chris leverages his vast Disney network to transform business and leadership insights into powerful content that consistently receives extremely high positive participant ratings. Prior to Disney, he was a master model builder and GM of the LEGO Imagination Center. Chris has a bachelor’s degree, specializing in education, from Rensselaer.

Christopher Fults

Christopher Fults facilitates professional development courses for individuals and learning events for groups. He has held roles at Disney Imagination Campus, operations leadership in transportation and training content development manager at National Geographic, where he collaborated with explorers to amplify their grant work. Before Disney, Christopher taught English in Tennessee and earned his master’s degree in curriculum and instruction and bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary education. He is pursuing his doctorate in organizational leadership and learning at Vanderbilt University.

Eric Siegel

Eric Siegel, Ph.D., is a former Columbia University professor who helps companies deploy machine learning. He is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Gooder AI, the founder of the long-running Machine Learning Week conference series, the instructor of the acclaimed online course “Machine Learning Leadership and Practice – End-to-End Mastery,” executive editor of The Machine Learning Times and a frequent keynote speaker. He wrote the bestselling book, “Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die,” which has been used in courses at hundreds of universities, as well as “The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment.” Eric’s interdisciplinary work promotes a stronger, more collaborative partnership between technology and business. At Columbia, he won the Distinguished Faculty award when teaching the graduate computer science courses in machine learning and artificial intelligence. Later, he served as a business school professor at University of Virginia Darden.

Frederick Zahrn

Frederick Zahrn is a director of decision science transformation within Disney Decision Science & Integration (DDSI). He leads a team producing prototypes and pilots in support of business decision making across the company in technical domains including optimization at causal inference, simulation, machine learning, statistics and decision analysis. Prior to starting his Disney career in 2010, Fred completed his Master of Science in operations research and doctorate in industrial engineering from Georgia Tech.

Haley Smith

Haley is a senior resorts revenue management analyst with a passion for Disney at analytics and solving complex problems. Known for asking thoughtful questions and uncovering actionable insights, she brings analytical expertise, hospitality experiences and creative thinking to her work. Her curiosity and love for learning drive continuous improvement and meaningful results.

Jeff Hollan

Jeff Hollan is Director of Product at Snowflake for Cortex AI Agents and Apps. His team is focused on how agents and AI can be built with secure and instant access to enterprise data at scale. He has also led the teams around Python and Snowpark. Previous to Snowflake, Jeff was Director of Product at Microsoft Azure running the cloud web app and serverless organization. Jeff is always tinkering and building and loves to demo exciting technology and work with the community on how technology can unlock new value for every organization.