Jake Alamat serves as Senior Vice President of Home and Life Business at Silicon Labs. In this role, Jake is responsible for the delivery of intelligent, wireless solutions central to IoT products widely used in daily life including smart lights, voice assistants, portable medical devices, HVAC controls, smart appliances, and more. With more than 20 years of industry experience at NXP and Texas Instruments, Jake has served in multiple leadership roles focused on embedded processing and analog semiconductor solutions. His career experience spans consumer, mobile, automotive, industrial and infrastructure end markets. Prior to joining Silicon Labs in September 2019, Jake served as Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Connectivity at NXP Semiconductors. Jake holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in computer engineering from Michigan State University.

A 24-year company veteran, Melissa Andresko is Chief Brand Ambassador at Lutron Electronics, the world leader in smart lighting and smart shading control systems for residential and commercial spaces. A dynamic communications strategist, Melissa has spent most of her career driving the adoption of smart home products through various communications vehicles. She frequently appears on national and local news programs and podcasts as a smart home expert and speaks at multiple events and conferences annually, sharing her expertise in the areas of the smart home user experience and product adoption. In her role as Chief Corporate Brand Ambassador, Melissa serves as Lutron's company spokesperson and is responsible for corporate communications, including executive communications and employee communications, employee, customer, and media events, public relations, and celebrity and industry relations. Melissa was named "One of the Most Powerful Women in Consumer Technology" by Dealerscope magazine in 2018. In 2019, she was awarded the Women in Consumer Technology Legacy Award, citing her industry contributions spanning two decades, as well as CE Pro magazine's Masters Award. Melissa serves on the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) Executive Board and is a member of the CTA Board of Industry Leaders, Smart Home and Accessories Division Boards, and is a CTA Foundation Trustee. With a passion for mentoring and advancing women in the technology field, Melissa mentors women at all career levels to help them become the best version of themselves. Melissa holds bachelors' degree in journalism and political science from Moravian University in Bethlehem, PA. She and her husband, Ross Mabon, reside in Pennsylvania.

John Butrim serves as ADT’s Vice President of Multifamily, Builder and HOA and has more than 15 years of smart home and security experience. In this role, John is responsible for driving the vision, growth, and go-to-market of these three verticals. Over the past 4 years, John has led the transformation of ADT Multifamily from enterprise security solutions to being a fully integrated smart home platform, capped off with the 2022 acquisition of IOTAS. The combination of IOTAS, and other ADT offerings like Solar, and Safe by ADT provides a safe, smart, and sustainable solution for Multifamily owners and operators. John is passionate about advancing ADT’s DEI efforts and is a member of the Black Business Employee Resource Group (BERG). He received his B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Loyola University of Baltimore and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A Baltimore native, John now resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL with his wife, son, and Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Tim Eskew is a highly accomplished Director of Residential Electronic Products at Schlage where he is responsible for Schlage’s portfolio of connected home products, cloud platform, mobile software and industry partnerships. Prior to joining Schlage, Tim has lead product, business development, and partnerships in a range of industries including connected fitness, embedded wireless, and smart meeting. Always curious, Tim is passionate about solving customer problems through innovative products, software, and services.

Eric Harnischfeger is a Senior Product Manager with Kwikset (Assa Abloy), responsible for the brand’s multifamily electronic access control portfolio. He has over ten years of leadership experience in the professional integrated security market, having prior product management ownership over numerous commercial security portfolios with Bosch Security Systems. Having been with Assa Abloy for three years, he has recently spearheaded the introduction of Kwikset UNITE, the brand’s first entry into the multifamily electronic access control marketplace. Eric lives with his wife, two young children, and large orange cat in Rochester, NY.

Arsham Hatambeiki serves as Senior Vice President, Product & Technology at Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI), where he is responsible for technology and product groups across climate control, entertainment, and smart home markets. Hardware and software products including Tide smart climate control family, nevo.ai virtual assistant platform, and QuickSet Cloud™ powering over half a billion smart devices globally. Hatambeiki joined UEI in 2004. As a lead system architect for home connectivity, he designed a suite of high-end home control and automation products for both consumer and CEDIA markets. In 2008, Hatambeiki became Director of Advanced Technology, leading innovation in communication technologies for connected entertainment products. These innovations are now foundational in the smart home. He helped develop award-winning products, earning a 2017 Emmy® Award for Contextual Voice Navigation Technologies, and participated in industry alliances shaping the smart home's future. Hatambeiki holds a Master of Science degree in Computer and Communications Engineering, and research background in areas of data communication networks and security, artificial intelligence and optimization algorithms.

Yoon Ho Choi, President, Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA)

As Group Vice President of Platform+, Travis currently leads operations for VIZIO’s rapidly growing Platform+ Business which includes VIZIO Ads and Inscape. He joined VIZIO from Rakuten Marketing where he served as Senior Vice President of Client Services managing over 1500 performance marketing clients. Travis has led multiple award-winning organizations including the Advertiser Perceptions Highest Rated Media Brand for Advertiser Satisfaction in the U.S. at YuMe and mThink’s Best Affiliate Network for service and innovation each and every year he was at Rakuten. Prior to moving into ad tech, Travis was at Intel Corporation where he held a number of strategic marketing and media positions including oversight of all media spending for consumer campaigns globally. Travis holds a BS, Computer Science from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the University of Southern California.

Lon Huber serves as senior vice president of pricing and customer solutions for Duke Energy. In this role, he oversees key customer functions spanning economic development, rate design, wholesale contracts, large customer accounts, load analytics, and regulatory enablement. Prior to joining Duke Energy, Lon worked with state utility commissions, clean technology companies, and consumer advocates on tackling some of the most critical challenges facing the electricity industry. Lon has received numerous awards for his creative solutions, including awards from Public Utilities Fortnightly, the top honor from the Energy Storage Association as well as Utility Dive’s Innovator of the Year award.

Hagan Kappler is the co-founder and CEO of Daisy, the first national brand in home and small business technology installation and services. Prior to Daisy, Hagan was the CEO of Threshold Brands, a private equity backed home and commercial services company with nine brands and over 550 locations. Prior to Threshold, Hagan led ServiceMaster Clean and Merry Maids, a $1B+ home and commercial services businesses with thousands of franchisees across the globe, and supported the $1.6B sale of ServiceMaster Brands to Roark Capital. Hagan led corporate development at Ingersoll Rand/Trane, a $23B HVAC and industrial company. She led the launch of Blonde Roast at Starbucks. She has extensive strategy and M&A experience, including McKinsey & Company, as well as Goldman Sachs. Hagan holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Williams College and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia. Hagan has four children and lives in Newport Beach, California.

Amalia Katz-Doron, Head of Strategic Marketing, Intuition Robotics

Abe is responsible for the management and development of several Alarm.com solutions, including security hardware integrations, energy management and home automation. Since joining the company in 2012, he has worked across both service provider and customer experiences to deliver dependable technology that connects people with the things they care about most.

Wolfgang Kirsch has 25+ years of experience in consumer electronics retailers across Europe. Before heading Shelly Group AD, Wolfgang Kirsch held a senior position at MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group until 2018, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. After driving expansion into numerous countries, he was most recently responsible for the development of own brands, the digitalization of the retail business, and the linking of online and offline channels across 14 countries, among other things. After leaving MediaMarktSaturn, Kirsch supported international corporations and medium-sized companies in their digital transformation and the development of direct-to-consumer businesses through his own consulting company, as an external consultant at McKinsey & Company, and on behalf of private equity companies. In parallel, he has contributed his experience to start-ups such as the retail-as-a-service provider Vaund and the sustainable coffee producer Vitaboni. As CEO of Shelly Group AD, Wolfgang Kirsch focuses on the development and expansion of Shelly Group's business through sales and marketing in the respective countries.

Casey is Director of the Business Development team at Josh.ai focusing on the company's go-to-market initiatives, strategic partnerships, and emerging growth opportunities. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Business Administration, has previous experience in the tech startup space, and is especially passionate about the convergence of technology and user experiences. A former collegiate athlete, Casey enjoys staying active and continuously honing new skills.

Agnes Lorenz leads brand and partnership support at Zooz and The Smartest House, a popular e-commerce site for home automation products. Her role has focused on bridging consumer needs with innovative hardware and software solutions within the Z-Wave technology. Zooz has brought over 45 end devices to market in the past 5 years alone and continues adding quality products to their portfolio. Agnes is an active member of the Marketing Committee within the Z-Wave Alliance, where she recently started a new Z-Wave integration initiative.

Meghan McConomy is an experienced marketing professional with a proven track record in go-to-market strategy, partner marketing, business development, and product innovation in the energy industry. She is currently Senior Director of NRG Consumer Brand Strategy, having served in successive roles at NRG since 2013. Meghan’s tenure at NRG has led to her current role, leading a team that develops the brand strategy for NRG’s consumer brands. This includes understanding the consumer mindset and trends, assessing the competitive landscape, defining customer segment targets, and mapping toward future growth opportunities for NRG Consumer. She also works closely across teams to ensure the consumer brands deliver a seamless customer experience while achieving key business metrics. Prior to NRG, Meghan received her M.B.A. from Emory University in Atlanta. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, attending sporting events (mostly Little League and youth soccer), volunteering, and planning new outdoor adventures.

Nick Millette led the creation of Hubspace, Home Depot’s new Smart Home platform, and is responsible for the development and strategic sourcing of Home Depot’s proprietary branded products in the Smart Home category. As the Product Development Merchant for Smart Home, Nick is responsible for the strategy on how The Home Depot's proprietary brands enter the Smart Home space.

As a leader at Connectivity Standards Alliance, Michelle works to promote the Alliance, its mission, standards, and solutions, and drive the growth and success of IoT for the benefit of our members, consumers, and the marketplace at large. As a former executive in the telecom, energy & professional services industries, she has built and led teams across marketing, strategy, brand, customer experience, and go-to-market. With 25+ years of industry and consulting experience, she brings a wealth of experience, perspectives, and a passion for the Alliance’s mission to build the foundation and the future of IoT.

Laura is a co-founder and CEO of GrandCare Systems, a touchscreen and sensor-based technology platform designed to improve independence and enhance remote supports for older adults and individuals living with disabilities. She has over 20 years of experience in the remote monitoring, agoing and connected health industry. In 2015, she founded LMC a boutique marketing and consulting agency with a technology and senior housing niche. Laura has been featured in Forbes magazine for social media, was a 2012 "Top 40 under 40", Top 100 Women in M2M in Connected World and recipient of the ‘Flame Award for Innovation and Leadership’ in 2011. She was a 2020 Rotarian of the Year, a 2023 Paul Harris Award winner, WI Innovation Awards finalist and a 2022 Women in Consumer Technology Legacy recipient. She frequently volunteers with the Carlsbad Rotary and Cal State San Marcos business program. She lives in southern California with her husband, two boys and three dogs.

Greg leads Business Development for Johnson Controls’ Intrusion business, where with his team, they are creating a portfolio of smart products that provide safety, security and automation to homes and businesses around the world.

Poonam Narang leads the Product Management team for the Residential segment at Schneider Electric, where she drives strategy for innovation and growth. With over 15 years of experience in Market Intelligence, Strategy, Sales, and Project Management, Poonam has a proven track record of success. Prior to her current role, she led the Product Management team for Motor Management applications within Schneider Electric’s Power business. Throughout her six-year tenure at Schneider Electric, she has also contributed to Product Management, Strategy, and Innovation for the Power business in North America. Poonam’s extensive expertise and leadership continue to propel Schneider Electric’s mission forward.

Keith Puckett, Founder and CEO, Ubiety Technologies

Avi Rosenthal has been in the connected device industry for over 25 years. He is the currently the Managing Partner of BlueConnect Partners (formally bluesalve), a full-service consulting firm to the Consumer Products and Connected Device industries. He has held numerous leadership roles within the IoT industry at Nortek, Legrand, Evolve and Superna among others. He currently serves as the Chairperson of the Z-Wave Alliance, and as the chair of the Trade Policy working group of the CTA. Through his deep connections with manufacturers, dealers, and retailers, he has the insights and resources needed to develop, market and manufacture products and services for the IoT Industry. A patented inventor, he has developed over a hundred connected products. He is the recipient of the prestigious CTA Mark of Excellence Leadership Award.

Braeden Scheer is the vice president of product management for SmartRent. He oversees product strategy and development, leading teams to design SmartRent’s best-in-class technology. Prior to joining SmartRent, he served in product management roles at Elevate, an Elm Street Technology company. He has a Bachelor of Science in business management from Grand Canyon University.

Paulus Schoutsen is the president of the Open Home Foundation and the founder of Home Assistant, a smart home platform with a focus on local control and privacy and also the #1 most active open source project in the world.

Michael Siemann leads Resideo's Energy Sciences team, where he drives the strategic development of innovative energy management solutions and shapes the future of residential HVAC and utility Demand Response (DR) programs. With a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, specializing in Thermal, Fluid, and Energy Sciences, he combines deep technical expertise with over a decade of leadership in the energy industry. At Resideo, Michael oversees the Connected Savings platform, a Distributed Energy Resource Management System (DERMS) that manages hundreds of thousands of connected devices across dozens of utility programs nationwide. This platform has been instrumental in enhancing grid reliability, saving tens of millions of dollars, and minimizing blackouts during grid emergencies. As Chair of the Energy Management Task Force in the Home Connectivity Alliance, he champions industry standards to simplify DR for appliance and HVAC manufacturers. An innovator with several patents in energy management, Michael continually explores new frontiers in energy efficiency. His "mad scientist" approach extends to his own California home, where he experiments with dozens of smart and energy devices. Outside of his technical work, he is a member of Resideo’s ESG Council, contributing to environmental initiatives and corporate sustainability.

Eric Villines brings over 20 years of experience in communications, consumer branding, and reputation management. As Head of Global Communications for Anker Innovations, he manages global communications strategy for its brands, including Anker, the world’s #1 mobile charging brand, and eufy, a leader in home automation and security. An accomplished author and speaker, Eric’s career spans diverse industries, including entertainment, consumer technology, energy, government affairs, and financial services. Outside of work, he enjoys skiing, surfing, traveling, and supporting nonprofits focused on human rights and environmental conservation.

Paul Williams serves as the Global Managing Director of the Home Management Solutions Business Unit for Nice and leads the worldwide strategy and business for the connected home in this role. Paul has over 20 years of executive leadership in the connected home space and his career spans start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Paul previously served as Nice North America’s Chief Product Officer where he led the product management teams and developed the product strategy and product roadmaps of all products / solutions for Nice in North America. Prior to joining Nice, he was at GE Lighting in the role of GM of Product Management and Growth where he was charged with reimagining lighting solutions. In three years, Paul’s team created a DIY smart home ecosystem with innovative products and scaled the consumer mobile app, taking it from just 30,000 users to more than 2 million. During his 14+ years of executive leadership at Control4, a manufacturer of smart home solutions, he was instrumental in building the company from a startup to IPO with double-digit, year-over-year growth.

Founder and CEO of Homey, on a mission to create better smart homes. Homey builds a powerful, versatile, user-friendly and privacy-first operating system for smart homes. Available as cloud-based service via the Homey app, or completely local on the company's flagship universal hub Homey Pro. Thanks to its universal hubs and open app platform, Homey can interact directly with devices on local APIs, cloud-based APIs, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Matter, Thread, BLE, KNX-IP, 433MHz RF and Infrared, truly unifying smart home across standards.

Jake Alamat serves as Senior Vice President of Home and Life Business at Silicon Labs. In this role, Jake is responsible for the delivery of intelligent, wireless solutions central to IoT products widely used in daily life including smart lights, voice assistants, portable medical devices, HVAC controls, smart appliances, and more. With more than 20 years of industry experience at NXP and Texas Instruments, Jake has served in multiple leadership roles focused on embedded processing and analog semiconductor solutions. His career experience spans consumer, mobile, automotive, industrial and infrastructure end markets. Prior to joining Silicon Labs in September 2019, Jake served as Vice President and General Manager of Automotive Connectivity at NXP Semiconductors. Jake holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in computer engineering from Michigan State University.

Always wanting to stay one step ahead of his kids and technology, Greg is passionate about the connected home industry and how it can bring tangible value to people and businesses everywhere. Greg joined Calix in 2018 and leads the solution partnership team. Calix is the leading FTTx provider of software and hardware solutions to the regional service provider market in North America and around the globe. Today, Calix supports over 1,800 Fiber based ISPs, enabling them to bring best-in-class turn-key solutions to market through strategic solutions partners. After investing well over $1B in building a world-class fiber software platform, the Calix ecosystem allows ISPs to easily deliver and launch new fully managed services in a fraction of the time creating long term value for end-subscribers. So far, Calix has launched and announced 11 different managed services via partnerships across several categories with more to come.

Mark Benson is the Head of Samsung SmartThings U.S. Mark oversees SmartThings’ growth and development strategy, furthering its mission to achieve mass smart home adoption with a unified and intelligent home experience. Prior to SmartThings, Mark held executive leadership roles at several technology companies across industries ranging from software development to design and manufacturing. Mark is a recognized speaker on the value of connected products to users and businesses and has authored several technical papers on strategic planning, organizational behavior, competitive strategy, product management, software engineering leadership, data analytics, and information security. Mark is also the author of The Art of Software Thermal Management for Embedded Systems (Springer 2014). Mark earned a Master of Science in Software Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Bethel University.

Elizabeth Brandel, Senior Director of Business Development, ecobee

Kurt Busch is the chief executive officer of Syntiant Corp. He has extensive experience in product development, having driven the successful launch of new products, ranging from SaaS and semiconductors for telecom and broadcast video to consumer electronics and data center systems. Prior to Syntiant, he was president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors at Lantronix (NASDAQ: LTRX). Mr. Busch is an engineering hall of fame inductee of the University of California at Irvine, where he earned Bachelor of Science degrees in electrical engineering and biological science. He holds a Master of Business Administration from Santa Clara University.

John Butrim serves as ADT’s Vice President of Multifamily, Builder and HOA and has more than 15 years of smart home and security experience. In this role, John is responsible for driving the vision, growth, and go-to-market of these three verticals. Over the past 4 years, John has led the transformation of ADT Multifamily from enterprise security solutions to being a fully integrated smart home platform, capped off with the 2022 acquisition of IOTAS. The combination of IOTAS, and other ADT offerings like Solar, and Safe by ADT provides a safe, smart, and sustainable solution for Multifamily owners and operators. John is passionate about advancing ADT’s DEI efforts and is a member of the Black Business Employee Resource Group (BERG). He received his B.A. in Marketing and Finance from Loyola University of Baltimore and his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. A Baltimore native, John now resides in Fort Lauderdale, FL with his wife, son, and Rhodesian Ridgeback.

Naveen Chhangani, SVP & Chief Product Officer, ADT

Jonathan Coffey is the vice president of product management for SmartRent, the leading provider of smart home and property operations solutions for the rental housing industry. In his role, he oversees product management and strategy, leading SmartRent's teams to design and maintain the Company's best-in-class products.

Nick English serves as CEO, North America for Kaadas Smart Solutions, leading the company’s expansion operations by leveraging strong manufacturing & engineering capabilities to bring high-quality, innovative products to a new market. English is an accomplished executive with successful experience running organizations & building and leading high-performance Operations, Sales and Management teams.

Shira Gershoni is the Vice President of Product Management for Asurion the world's leading provider of tech care and connected home services. Shira drives digital and retail product development while also overseeing end-to-end service delivery and customer experience. She has created market-leading eCommerce and SaaS products in over 40 states and regulations across North America and Europe. From digital solutions to brick-and-mortar, Shira leads large-scale products and a global team of product talent. She is most passionate about identifying business growth opportunities, shaping successful products, and establishing solid relationships with clients & stakeholders.

Nancy Goldberg started her professional career in 1982 as an independent athlete (Rock Climber and Snowboarder) and pursued this competitive life until 1992. Nancy Goldberg then started a new and challenging career path in the media & entertainment industry (“M&E industry”). For 6 years she worked in different companies, starting as a line producer and an investment analyst. In 1999, Nancy Goldberg joined Technicolor Inc. as a financial analyst for the Home Entertainment division. During her 5-year tenure, she became VP Operational Finance, Creative Services and negotiated strategic acquisitions and partnerships in the US and Europe for the post-production market within the M&E industry. From 2004 to 2008, Nancy Goldberg was with Ascent Media Group LLC where, in her final role as VP, Corporate Development, she had global responsibilities that included integrated digital service offerings, negotiating strategic partnerships and developing market opportunities with the major film studios, production companies and sports franchises. After 18 months as a VP Strategic Business Development for RealNetworks, Inc., Nancy Goldberg worked for Technicolor, Inc. from 2010 to 2015 as SVP Global Strategic Accounts where she was responsible for all sales and marketing activities for her major studio customers and developed business models enabling new technologies and services for content protection, distribution and consumption activities. In 2015, Nancy Goldberg joined Deluxe Entertainment Service Group Inc. as SVP Head of Global Strategic Accounts where she served as primary account manager for Warner Bros and 21st Century Fox, as well as OTT providers such as Netflix, Amazon, Apple and Google. Additionally, Nancy Goldberg had oversight for the transition of a portion of Warner Bros technical in-house operations to Deluxe.

Arsham Hatambeiki serves as Senior Vice President, Product & Technology at Universal Electronics Inc. (UEI), where he is responsible for technology and product groups across climate control, entertainment, and smart home markets. Hardware and software products including Tide smart climate control family, nevo.ai virtual assistant platform, and QuickSet Cloud™ powering over half a billion smart devices globally. Hatambeiki joined UEI in 2004. As a lead system architect for home connectivity, he designed a suite of high-end home control and automation products for both consumer and CEDIA markets. In 2008, Hatambeiki became Director of Advanced Technology, leading innovation in communication technologies for connected entertainment products. These innovations are now foundational in the smart home. He helped develop award-winning products, earning a 2017 Emmy® Award for Contextual Voice Navigation Technologies, and participated in industry alliances shaping the smart home's future. Hatambeiki holds a Master of Science degree in Computer and Communications Engineering, and research background in areas of data communication networks and security, artificial intelligence and optimization algorithms.

Wolfgang Kirsch has 25+ years of experience in consumer electronics retailers across Europe. Before heading Shelly Group AD, Wolfgang Kirsch held a senior position at MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group until 2018, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. After driving expansion into numerous countries, he was most recently responsible for the development of own brands, the digitalization of the retail business, and the linking of online and offline channels across 14 countries, among other things. After leaving MediaMarktSaturn, Kirsch supported international corporations and medium-sized companies in their digital transformation and the development of direct-to-consumer businesses through his own consulting company, as an external consultant at McKinsey & Company, and on behalf of private equity companies. In parallel, he has contributed his experience to start-ups such as the retail-as-a-service provider Vaund and the sustainable coffee producer Vitaboni. As CEO of Shelly Group AD, Wolfgang Kirsch focuses on the development and expansion of Shelly Group's business through sales and marketing in the respective countries.

Lily Knowles has served as our SVP of Sales, Marketing and Customer Care since June 2020. Previously, Knowles served as Arlo’s SVP of Marketing and Customer Care from January 2018 to June 2020. Before joining Arlo, Knowles was the Senior Vice President of Marketing at VIZIO where she led all aspects of marketing across all of VIZIO’s product lines and services, including corporate marketing, product marketing, retail marketing, and digital marketing. Knowles has held senior marketing, NPI and GTM leadership roles with consumer electronics and technology companies including Fabrik, Linksys, and Universal Electronics. She holds an MBA from the University of California, Irvine, and a B.A. of Biochemistry from Azusa Pacific University.

Jenny Lytle is the Vice President and General Manager of Access Control Solutions at Chamberlain Group. With more than 15 years of experience in growth strategy, product management and innovation, Jenny leads the Liftmaster multi-family access control hardware and software portfolio and the Facility Enterprise software business. Prior to joining Chamberlain Group, Jenny led the Global Product & Pricing at Performance Health, a Madison Dearborn Partners Portfolio Company. Previously, she spent 7 years at The Boston Consulting Group. She began her career as a private equity investor and as an investment banking analyst for JPMorgan. Jenny holds an MBA with honors from The University of Chicago-Booth School of Business and holds a B.S. in Finance from The University of Illinois.

As a co-founder of SkyBell, Desiree plays a crucial role in steering the company’s strategic operations. Celebrating SkyBell’s 10 years in business in June 2023, Desiree has overseen the professional installation of over 2 Million Video Doorbells through the security industry. Desiree expertly leads SkyBell’s supply chain management and contract manufacturing, while overseeing the development and launch of SkyBell Connect, the company’s proprietary back-office system that overseas all deployed devices. Additionally, in her capacity as SkyBell’s Principal Executive. Desiree focuses on nurturing existing customer relationships, steering Customer Support, and supervising Order Fulfillment. Before setting the foundation for SkyBell, Desiree served as Chief Operating Officer at Location Based Technologies, a firm renowned for its GPS tracking solutions.

As the Senior Vice President, Business Development and Strategic Marketing for Resideo, Linsey identifies potential partnerships, technology innovations and solutions to provide comfort, security, energy efficiency, control and life-saving monitoring to customers worldwide. She also serves on the board of directors of the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA), where she plays a vital role in shaping the future of smart home connectivity and interoperability. A lifelong learner who is passionate about driving the technology and energy industries forward, Linsey can offer insights into topics including energy transition, incubating and growing SaaS businesses, advancing women in tech and the practical application of artificial intelligence for business value creation.

Blake Miller is the Founder of Homebase.ai, a resident experience and connected building solution for the multi-family housing industry, which was acquired by Quext in September 2023. He also hosts The Future of Living Podcast. Prior to founding Homebase, Blake was a Partner at Think Big, a startup incubator in Kansas City, MO, where he led the incubator program, investing in and advising early-stage startups. In 2012, Blake spearheaded the Kansas City Smart City Initiative, a public-private partnership led by Cisco, deploying smart city technologies in Downtown Kansas City, MO. This project created one of the world's largest smart cities and earned a 2017 Edison Award for innovation. Blake has been honored as the Tech Connector of the Year by the KC Tech Council and a Next Gen Leader by the Kansas City Business Journal. He speaks nationally and serves as a board member, advisor, and mentor to startups.

As a leader at Connectivity Standards Alliance, Michelle works to promote the Alliance, its mission, standards, and solutions, and drive the growth and success of IoT for the benefit of our members, consumers, and the marketplace at large. As a former executive in the telecom, energy & professional services industries, she has built and led teams across marketing, strategy, brand, customer experience, and go-to-market. With 25+ years of industry and consulting experience, she brings a wealth of experience, perspectives, and a passion for the Alliance’s mission to build the foundation and the future of IoT.

Tony Nicolaidis: Chief Commercial Officer at Origin AI Tony Nicolaidis is the Chief Commercial Officer at Origin AI, a role he assumed in January 2023 after serving as the Chief Revenue Officer since August 2022. Known for his dynamic approach in the B2B sector, Tony excels in strategic planning, scaling sales and customer success teams, and aligning marketing strategies with revenue goals. His expertise in establishing data-driven SaaS revenue metrics has been pivotal in communicating progress to key stakeholders. Before joining Origin AI, Tony was the Chief Revenue Officer at Successware from June 2020 to August 2022, where he spearheaded sales and customer success strategies to drive company growth. He also contributed his expertise as a Startup Advisor to various construction startups, advising on value proposition and commercialization from January 2020 to June 2020. Tony's earlier career includes over two decades at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc., where he held several key positions, including General Manager - Construction Technology Group and Vice President of Marketing and Product. His journey there showcased his versatility and leadership across various domains. Tony holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland and an MBA from Loyola University, Maryland. His educational background, combined with his extensive professional experience, makes him a knowledgeable and inspiring speaker, particularly in the fields of sales, business development, and customer success.

Jim is responsible for the company’s product strategy, including product market positioning, new product go-to-market initiatives, product research and development, and the management of product-related partnerships. Prior to his role as Chief Product Officer, Jim served as Vice President of Product Development at Vivint, where he helped pioneer and bring to market many security and smart home innovations, including the first fully integrated smart home panel to integrate cellular connectivity and touchscreen technologies. Jim also led the strategy and development of Vivint’s video camera line, including the Vivint Doorbell Camera and other video products. Jim holds more than 50 patents for security and smart home technology innovations. Before Vivint, Jim served as a program manager at Northrop Grumman, where he managed security upgrade initiatives for missile defense systems. Jim received a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Brigham Young University and an MBA from the University of Colorado.

Richard Plummer, Senior Director (Home Services), AIG

Aaron is the Chief Marketing Officer at Rachio, the trailblazing smart-yard technology company leading the way in sustainable water use. With over two decades of experience in brand-building, product development and campaign execution — particularly in the tech and IoT spaces at companies like Nanit, Canary and BlackBerry — Aaron is elevating Rachio to the forefront of the Smart Yard industry, advancing the brand’s mission to bring the smart home outdoors through conservation and connection.

Keith Puckett, Founder and CEO, Ubiety Technologies

As part of the Cox Communications Residential Sales and Marketing executive leadership team, Vickie is responsible for the long-term vision and strategy for the Multifamily and New Build segments. Cox Communities is responsible for building high trust, long-term relationships with builders, owners, property managers, and consultants to act as their the “Trusted Advisor” in supporting them with optimizing rents, occupancy, and net operating income. They accomplish this by conducting joint research, developing specialized technology and automation solutions, and supporting owners in future-proofing their properties with technology. Her organization consists of Strategy, Operations and Sales Execution while influencing Cox’s specialized product roadmap. Her team is known for innovation, strategic partnering, and growth. Prior to her role at Cox, Vickie held various executive roles leading Strategy, Operations, and Sales at Fortune 500 companies such as Time Warner Cable, BellSouth, and Sprint.

Kate Rojas is Head of Marketing at Pepper, the leading IoT platform that enables brands, manufacturers, retailers and service providers to deliver smart home solutions to their customers. The US-based Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) with real-time video streaming provides an easy and cost-effective way for businesses to quickly launch and monetize products and services. Before joining Pepper, Kate was Head of Marketing for Notion, previously a Comcast company.

Laura Tajima oversees ecosystem partnerships at Uplight working closely with OEMs, implementers and technology companies to advance Uplight product roadmap and drive to utility outcomes. Prior to Uplight, Laura was Deputy Director at the Building Electrification Institute where she advised city governments on equitable building electrification policies. Laura also worked as a Senior Advisor for the NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability to develop and analyze impacts of building decarbonization policies including the building performance standard and energy efficiency ratings. She holds a Masters of Science from Columbia University in Sustainability Management.

Vikram is a technologist with over 25 years of experience including 15 years in enterprise cybersecurity. Vikram founded Nandi Security in the consumer cybersecurity space after realizing that enterprise scale cybersecurity and privacy tools will be needed given the explosion of smart devices in homes. Vikram is also Vice-Chair of the Sub-committee on Human Centricity that focuses on privacy issues under the IEEE Cybersecurity for Next-Gen Connectivity Systems group. On the academic side, Vikram has 3 Masters degrees in the fields of Mathematics from Indian Institute of Technology (Chennai), Computer Science from University of Missouri - Columbia and Business Administration from Cornell University.

Will West is the CEO of Oliver IQ. Will has been involved in the world of Home Automation for decades. He and his partner Eric Smith have created 5 industry leading and award winning companies together. A nice capstone to those awards was their receipt of the CEDIA Lifetime Achievement designation; an honor given to only a select few that have helped shape the industry. Will and Eric created Control4 and along with Mark Morgan, Glen Mella and many others, grew the Company to become the global leader in home automation. They successfully took the Company public in 2013. In 1998, he co-founded iBAHN with Eric Smith. Under Will’s leadership the company became the worldwide leader in broadband services for business travelers serving millions of customers in thousands of hotels. Prior to founding iBAHN, Will was CEO, and co-founder of PHAST Corporation, a manufacturer of high-end home automation equipment. Like his subsequent companies, PHAST became the leader in its field under his direction. Will's other professional experience includes Proctor and Gamble, the FSLIC, and Wasatch Advisors. He holds a degree in Finance from the University of Utah, and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also holds the CFA designation. Will served as the chairman of the board of the Utah Capital Investment Corporation (the State of Utah's "Fund of Funds") where he served for close to 10 years. He served two terms as the Chairman of the Board for the Utah Technology Council (UTC) helping to create one of the most respected state technology associations in the Country. Along with his other commitments to the local community, Will sat on the Governor’s Economic Council and served multiple terms as Chairman of the Leonardo, Utah’s premier Science, Art, and Technology Museum. Will was also appointed to the Governing Board of the Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR). Will has been repeatedly named to Utah Business Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential People in the State. He was twice named Utah Valley Entrepreneur of the Year, and was named the Ernst and Young Master Entrepreneur Of The Year® in the intermountain region. He was also honored as the CEO of the Year by the Utah Technology Council.

Paul Williams serves as the Global Managing Director of the Home Management Solutions Business Unit for Nice and leads the worldwide strategy and business for the connected home in this role. Paul has over 20 years of executive leadership in the connected home space and his career spans start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. Paul previously served as Nice North America’s Chief Product Officer where he led the product management teams and developed the product strategy and product roadmaps of all products / solutions for Nice in North America. Prior to joining Nice, he was at GE Lighting in the role of GM of Product Management and Growth where he was charged with reimagining lighting solutions. In three years, Paul’s team created a DIY smart home ecosystem with innovative products and scaled the consumer mobile app, taking it from just 30,000 users to more than 2 million. During his 14+ years of executive leadership at Control4, a manufacturer of smart home solutions, he was instrumental in building the company from a startup to IPO with double-digit, year-over-year growth.

Matt is an entrepreneur, innovator, and the Co-Founder and CTO of Ivani where he leads the technical team and drives overall technical strategy. With over eighty granted patents and many pending applications, he has a wealth of experience creating intellectual property. Throughout his career, Matt has driven various market innovations in both the defense and commercial sectors. After graduating from Olin College of Engineering, he has added an MBA alongside other professional certifications both in Systems Engineering and TRIZ.

INDUSTRY EXPERTISE: Connected Health, Connected Home Technologies and Services, Connected Entertainment Products and Services. Jennifer manages the research department and Parks Associates' process for producing high-quality, relevant, and meaningful research. Jennifer also leads and advises on syndicated and custom research projects across all connected consumer verticals and guides questionnaire development for Parks Associates’ extensive consumer analytics survey program. Jennifer is a certified focus group moderator, with training from the Burke Institute. Jennifer earned her PhD in religion, politics, and society and an MA in church-state studies from Baylor University. She earned her BA in politics from the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

Jason Paris joined Parks Associates as an analyst studying international telephone, cable, and satellite providers and is now a member of the business development team. Jason graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a BA in psychology and government. After working for the Texas House of Representatives, Jason spent the previous seven years in New York City working with portable and enterprise healthcare technologies.

Parks Associates mission is to help companies navigate the changing consumer technology landscapes through data-driven market insights, extensive consumer and industry intelligence, and executive conferences. With over two decades of dedication to the company, Elizabeth Parks, President and Chief Marketing Officer, has been instrumental in shaping its growth and success, along with the continued focus of delivering timely and quality industry and consumer insights on the broadband, entertainment, connected home and SMB industries. Elizabeth's commitment to Parks Associates' overarching mission is unwavering. Parks Associates provides clients with the most comprehensive consumer and industry research and analysis to empower businesses to make informed decisions in an ever-evolving landscape. Elizabeth's journey with Parks Associates began after graduating with a BA in psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives in Plano Texas with her husband and three children.

Ross Rubin is a contributing analyst at Parks Associates and the founder and principal analyst at Reticle Research Ross has focused on innovation in the technology, media and telecom markets for over 20 years. Prior to founding Reticle Research, he was executive director and principal analyst at The NPD Group. Prior to NPD, he founded and managed the consumer access and technology service at Jupiter Research (acquired by Forrester Research), where he served as vice president and chief research fellow. He has contributed to and been quoted by leading publications and media outlets hundreds of times. Ross is a graduate of Cornell University.