With over 25 years of experience in technology leadership, Trent Gillespie demystifies and harnesses the power of generative AI to help organizations drive growth and unlock new opportunities for innovation.

In today’s fast-paced business environment, leveraging generative AI isn’t just a trend—it’s a game changer. AI is causing business leaders to face the largest disruption of their careers, but few have the knowledge or experience to navigate the challenge successfully.

Trent Gillespie helps simplify and demystify the complex, dynamic landscape of AI. Drawing from decades of experience in tech innovation and hands-on application of AI, Trent shares invaluable insights and actionable strategies that can be put in place immediately. Audiences walk away from his keynotes empowered to turn AI potential into prosperity.

With a global perspective on AI and technology, Trent’s journey encompasses years of unrivaled expertise and transformative insights. His leadership prowess is epitomized by his near-decade as a Senior Technology Leader at Amazon. There, he championed Amazon’s worldwide growth across every business and geography, masterminded Alexa’s global privacy and compliance blueprint, and steered the revolutionary Last Mile Technology—the backbone of Amazon’s delivery mechanism. Today, Trent is CEO of the VC-funded startup Stellis.AI, helping organizations of all sizes and types adapt to the AI revolution, and harness its power to drive growth. Trent stands as a beacon in the AI landscape, offering transformative keynotes and training sessions that empower businesses to catalyze prosperity.

Don Sarno is the Senior Vice President of Digital Enterprise for Sonepar Americas. Don joined Sonepar in 2017 as the Vice President of Applications Development. In this role, he focused on creating scalable, best-in-class solutions across Sonepar to support operational transformation. Don expanded this role to include Digital in 2020, rolling out and driving adoption of new solutions created directly for and with B2B electrical customers. 

Don’s expertise, intelligence and proven leadership within the IT and Digital organization made him a natural fit to lead Sonepar’s Digital Enterprise in North and South America. Since 2022, Don’s vision and leadership have guided the digital enterprise transformation, helping Sonepar pursue their vision of being the world leader in offering omnichannel experiences in the B2B electrical and industrial markets. Don also focuses on planning and implementation of enterprise IT systems in support of business operations to improve cost effectiveness, service quality and business development.

Don received his B.S. from the University of Colorado in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He lives in Denver, Colorado, and enjoys coaching and watching soccer, horse riding, and bowling.

With a profound passion for technology and its potential to transform business and society, Noelle Russell has dedicated her career to helping organizations uncover the possibilities artificial intelligence presents to their businesses, and guiding them through the intricacies of AI adoption. In her daily work Russell advises companies across industries on how to integrate emerging technologies — including AI, Web3, and the Cloud — into their operations and workplace strategies. She is an award-winning technologist with an entrepreneurial spirit who has led innovative tech teams at Accenture, NPR, Microsoft, IBM, AWS, and Amazon Alexa, and is among the world’s leading voices on data and AI literacy.

Among her accolades, Russell has recently been honored with the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional award for Artificial Intelligence, as well as VentureBeat’s Women in AI Responsibility and Ethics award. In 2023, she was named one of DCA Live’s “New Power Women of DC Tech” and one of the Association of Latino Professionals for America’s “Latinas to Watch.”

Paul is an accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience in Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC/R and Waterworks distribution. He currently serves as President and Chief Executive Officer at DSG. His previous executive positions include President and COO of a Midwest based wholesale distributor specializing in HVAC/R, plumbing and waterworks products. Prior to that, he spent 19 years in senior management roles in both the U.S. and Canada for a large global plumbing distributor.

Paul serves as an independent director for The Bostwick-Braun Company, serves on the AD LLC board as well as the AD IESD board, and is the current Chairman for the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED). Octavio has a 20+ year track record of successfully leading the deployment of business-enabling technologies. As Vice President of Professional Services for Intershop North America, Octavio serves as chief product evangelist and as a trusted advisor to client leadership.  He is responsible for defining a path to success for our customers looking to establish or modernize their B2B e-commerce business operations and technical architecture. This includes matching business goals, budget, timeline, and integration requirements to Intershop’s capabilities and professional services.

Alex has spent the past 13+ years bringing technology solutions to distributors and manufacturers. In 2018, Alex was recognized by Distribution Trends, 40 under 40. With an emphasis on digital transformation, Alex has helped thousands of organizations to adopt profit driving strategies and processes. Today, Alex serves as Continuum’s CEO and Founder, on a mission to solve the challenges related to returns and warranties inside the multi-party reverse logistics supply chain. 

Andy is a senior executive with experience leading progressive organizations to deliver business value and results. While serving on executive management teams, grew this experience by appointment to varied strategic roles including operations, business development, marketing, HR, communications and process improvement within eCommerce software companies and digital agencies. A client-centered professional known for building world-class organizations with strong and sustainable cultures spanning the Americas and Europe. Leader and strategist with a strong financial acumen who enables organizations to achieve superior competitive advantage at a reasonable cost. Seasoned at cultivating strong partnerships to deliver high impact results. Specialties: strategic leadership, digital transformation, marketing, sales executive, business development, eCommerce, coaching, The Challenger Sale, Intershop Commerce Management, Intershop Order Management, Intershop Product Information Management, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Exact Target, web analytics, CRM, salesforce.com, Salesforce Sales Cloud, mentoring, customer loyalty, sales growth, team building, talent management, sales training, territory management, Agile, transformation, portals, cloud, predictive analytics, data management, business intelligence, BI, social media, SEO, IOT, progressive web apps, PWA, Java, AI, machine learning, ML, enterprise mobile, mobility, cloud, SAP, SAP Commerce, SAP Hybris, .Net, Hybris, Magento, Demandware.

Wayne Teigen is the Regional Director at Intershop and a B2B eCommerce strategist with over 15 years of global experience helping distributors navigate the complexities of scaling their digital operations. As AI reshapes B2B commerce, Wayne specializes in leveraging AI-powered personalization to drive smarter product discovery, enhance customer experiences, and remove operational bottlenecks that limit growth.

At the AI Summit for Distributors in Chicago, Wayne is here to connect with industry leaders, share insights on the real-world impact of AI in sales operations, and discuss how advanced technologies—combined with the right strategy—can unlock new opportunities for growth. If you’re exploring how AI can optimize your digital commerce channel, be sure to connect with him at the event.

Cory is a distinguished expert in SaaS product management, with a wealth of experience as VP of Product at Optimizely and prior to that as a Director of Product at DocuSign. She excels in driving complex, cross-functional projects to successful launch through a collaborative, design-thinking approach. Cory’s passion for learning, mentorship, and fostering a positive work environment make her an inspiring speaker and leader in the tech community.

Deana Stanton is a seasoned Total Rewards executive with a strong track record in designing and implementing innovative compensation and benefits strategies for global, publicly traded companies. She has deep M&A experience, having recently led the HR function through a major public company acquisition. As Vice President of Compensation at Kyndryl, she drives the strategy, design and execution of compensation programs aligned with best practice and long-term business growth across 60+ countries. With a career spanning finance, technology, and other industries, she brings extensive experience in executive compensation, strategic development, and navigating complex regulatory landscapes.

Tracy Deuell possesses over 35 years of experience in the technology sector that spans various industries including distribution, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and business services. As a CIO/Technology Consultant, he has successfully assisted multiple companies with the development, execution, and delivery leadership of their transformation initiatives. He currently serves as the Interim CIO/VP of IT at Bostwick Braun, an industrial supply distributor based in Toledo, OH, which services several states.

Mr. Deuell is dedicated to implementing artificial intelligence strategies to enhance operational efficiency and improve interactions among systems, employees, and customers. He is currently driving an AI roadmap strategy for Bostwick which includes Sales Order Automation, Purchase Order/Accounts Payable automation, inventory/demand forecasting, pricing optimization, and sales forecasting analytics.

Eric Hills is the CEO and Founder of WrangleWorks. He has provided executive leadership and unbounded innovation in front-office enterprise software for 30 years. He has worked in Austin and Silicon Valley for large, market-leading firms and SaaS pioneers. He has a chemical engineering degree from Clemson and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. Hills began his career as an officer onboard a nuclear powered, ballistic missile submarine. His experience and passion for advanced analytics inspired him to start WrangleWorks. Built to address the weak link in digital initiatives, dirty data, the Wrangles platform enables businesspeople to automate data work, driving productivity and scalable business impact.

Janet is a Board member and Audit Committee Chair for private companies and most recently served and both CFO and CIO for Stericycle, a public company in the regulated healthcare waste industry. She combines her collaborative and transparent leadership style with her unique synthesis of finance and IT expertise to drive shareholder value. She is a respected and engaging thought leader who speaks on profitability, cash generation, artificial intelligence, IT, data, and governance.

In 2023, Janet was named to 2023 Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Leaders in Finance List and was awarded the 2023 Bronze Stevie Award for Technology Executive of the Year. In 2022 Janet won the 2022 Chicago Enterprise CIO of the Year ORBIE Award, the Chicago SIM CIO+ of the Year Award and was a finalist for the Chicago FEI CFO Public Company Award.

Justin Johnson is the founder and CEO of Motivate, an AI-driven sales process automation platform for B2B distributors. Motivate empowers inside sales teams to reduce quote and order times by more than 50%, while its patent-pending eCommerce module has been shown to boost distributor online sales by more than 300%. A seasoned tech entrepreneur, Justin has a proven track record in B2B distribution and manufacturing solutions, having successfully built and sold multiple high-growth software companies, including LeadMethod (acquired by Revalize, backed by TA Associates) and MightyRep (acquired by Blue Agave). Justin is a regular contributor to technology and sales process automation thought leadership for B2B manufacturers and distributors.

Octavio has a 20+ year track record of successfully leading the deployment of business-enabling technologies. As Vice President of Professional Services for Intershop North America, Octavio serves as chief product evangelist and as a trusted advisor to client leadership.  He is responsible for defining a path to success for our customers looking to establish or modernize their B2B e-commerce business operations and technical architecture. This includes matching business goals, budget, timeline, and integration requirements to Intershop’s capabilities and professional services.

Adam Honig hates CRM. And yet, Adam is the CEO and founder of Spiro, a breakthrough AI-powered CRM designed for distributors and manufacturers. You might be scratching your head at this but join him as he discusses how Spiro’s AI-driven platform overcomes the limitations of the CRM tools you’ve unfortunately grown to know. Learn how Spiro automates data entry, provides comprehensive customer insights, and recommends proactive actions to help your company move at the speed and scale necessary to remain competitive today.

Sahitya Senapathy is the CEO of Endeavor.ai, an AI sales order automation solution for distributors. Before founding Endeavor.ai, Sahitya led AI teams at Palantir, where he implemented Generative AI at Fortune 500 manufacturing and distribution companies. He was also a founding team member of AWS AI research building Amazon Q, the infrastructure for Amazon’s LLM-like ChatGPT. He was the youngest-ever government contractor in American history, joining the U.S. Air Force at 16 years old and building autonomous drones with a secret-level clearance. Sahitya has been featured in Business Insider, Fortune, Axios and more.

David graduated from Boston College’s Carroll School of Management in 1990. He began his career at AWISCO NY, a New York City industrial gas and welding supply distributor, where he gained experience in industrial distribution. In 1995, he joined Computers Unlimited (CU) a full-service software development company, working in sales, marketing, and development before becoming president in 2014. This year marks his 30th anniversary at CU.  CU is headquartered in Billings, Montana and employs over 170 professionals.