UCLA Anderson Easton Technology Management Center

Yesterday was a powerhouse of ideas, insights, and networking at Exit Hours and our Founders Mixer at UCLA! ??? At Exit Hours, we dove deep into Gumshoe Ventures founder Joshua Y. Lee's experiences in corporate, VC and as a 9x founder, equipping entrepreneurs with insight into navigating their own startup journey. The event also featured a pitch by Damoros, an all-in-one watch trading platform. Special thanks to Gumshoe Ventures for partnering with us to create such an empowering space! Later, our Founders Mixer brought together an energetic crowd of startup enthusiasts, sparking conversations that we know will turn into future collaborations (or maybe even the next big venture!) Thank you BakerHostetler, UCLA Anderson Easton Technology Management Center and the Venture Accelerator UCLA Anderson School of Management for sponsoring the event! Huge kudos to UCLA Anderson School of Management, California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA and UCLA Technology Development Group for hosting as well. For founders looking to continue their growth, here are key UCLA resources to explore: ? Venture Accelerator @ UCLA Anderson School of Management— A transformative cohort-based program for early-stage startups and their founders ?? California NanoSystems Institute at UCLA— A hub where interdisciplinary research translates into market-ready solutions ?? NSF I-Corps at UCLA Samueli — Program created by the National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2011 to facilitate the transition of academic research to market. ?? UCLA Ventures— Supports UCLA-affiliated startups, faculty, students, staff and alumni via a variety of programs that serve innovators at all stages of development Big thank you to everyone who joined us! Let’s keep building, supporting, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible. If you missed this one, stay tuned—more to come soon! ???? #UCLAStartups #Entrepreneurship #VentureCapital #Networking #ExitHours #FoundersMixer

A big thank you to our impressive speakers who shared the many AI use cases in almost every sector at the recent UCLA Anderson Easton Technology Management Center Innovate Conference. AI creating new products, new ventures and growth opportunities for enterprises of all types! A summary of key messages in this article.

As part of our annual UCLA Anderson Easton Technology Management Center Innovate Conference, I had the distinct honor of sitting down with Anderson alumna, Gail Carpenter (’98), CFO/VP Finance -Amazon Worldwide Amazon Stores to discuss her role at Amazon and the work they’re doing to incorporate AI and robotics, and the positive impact on customers, transportation and logistics. --better customer experience and lower costs!

MaryAnn Patel, SVP of Product Management at Salesforce shares her insights on interviewing at Salesforce UCLA Anderson School of Management

We were thrilled to welcome MaryAnn Patel, SVP Product Management at Salesforce, to UCLA Anderson School of Management for our annual Innovation conference. In a post-event interview, MaryAnn Patel, shares her insights on product management.

Still feeling energized from UCLA Anderson's Innovate Conference last week! Huge thanks to @Terry Kramer and the @Easton Technology Management Center for hosting an insightful conversation about AI, innovation, and the future of retail. The students’ energy and thoughtful questions were a great reminder of why I’m so optimistic about the future. Proud to support Anderson's mission of shaping tomorrow's business leaders. #Innovation #Leadership #UCLA

UCLA Anderson School of Management Innovate Conference ?? Last week, on campus, some of the brightest minds in AI and tech came together. Hearing insights from leaders at Amazon, OpenAI, Google, and Salesforce was incredible. One big takeaway, it’s this: AI isn’t about being cutting-edge for the sake of it. It’s about delivering real value. A few important things to keep in mind... ? AI isn’t replacing you—it’s your ultimate co-worker. It’s here to take the grunt work off your plate so you can double down on what humans do best: creativity, judgment, and big-picture thinking. ?? Curiosity = Your Competitive Edge. A beginner’s mindset is a superpower. The winners? Those who can learn, unlearn, and pivot at the speed of change. ?? The future isn’t waiting. The pace of AI-driven change is only accelerating. Adaptability isn’t optional. ?? Break the silos or get left behind. AI is forcing deeper, smarter collaboration across teams. The companies that lean into this shift will be the ones that will pull ahead. ?? AI literacy isn't optional. If you can use email, you can learn AI. And soon, knowing how to leverage AI will be just as critical. A huge thank you to these brilliant minds for sharing their expertise: MaryAnn Patel SVP, Product Management Sales Cloud Salesforce (and UCLA Anderson alum ???? David Sasaki Head of Analytics OpenAI Ganesh Shankar Director of Product Management, Content Safety Google Gail Carpenter CFO/VP Finance Amazon Worldwide Stores ( also UCLA Anderson Alum ???? ) Thank you Terry Kramer for bringing these conversations to life, and moderators Cy Khormaee and Sharon Olexy for expertly guiding the discussions And ensuring we all walked away with actionable insights. ?? Which of these takeaways resonates most with you? Anything you’d add? #AI #Innovation #UCLAAnderson #FutureOfWork

?? Thank you, Terry Kramer and the team at Easton Center, for an outstanding UCLA Innovate Conference 2025! ?? As always, the lineup of speakers—#OpenAI, #Google, #Salesforce, #Amazon, #Attentive—was top-notch. ???? It was exciting to see that the conversations on stage ?? align closely with the real-world AI & innovation projects we’re working on at #Softeq across various industries. ?? A key takeaway: 2025 is shaping up to be the year of AI Agents! The momentum around AI-powered automation and decision-making is stronger than ever. Looking forward to seeing how these advancements unfold! ?? #AI #Innovation #UCLAInnovate2025 UCLA Anderson School of Management

This weekend was a blend of learning, reflection, and inspiration. Between the UCLA Anderson's INNOVATE conference and my EMBA class, we had the chance to hear from some of the most influential leaders in tech and leadership development. At the INNOVATE conference, facilitated by Prof. Terry Kramer and sessions with Gail Carpenter (Amazon), MaryAnn Patel (Salesforce), Ganesh Shankar (Google), and David Sasaki (OpenAI), the insights into AI-driven innovation were enlightening. The conversation was less about AI technology itself and more about how companies need to adapt rapidly to leverage AI for real-world impact. From Amazon’s speed in execution to Google’s focus on modular AI systems, it was clear that the real challenge is how we execute in an ever-changing landscape. A highlight was hearing Yvonne Wassenaar, ex-CEO of Puppet and a board member at several tech companies, speak about her career journey, leadership principles, and how she navigated pivots in her life. Her words on resilience, leadership presence, and even parenting were incredibly impactful. We also had an energizing session with Coach Val (Valorie Kondos Field), whose entertaining and inspiring talk about mindset in navigating new territories and team culture left us reflecting well beyond the session. In addition to these incredible talks, we had Prof. John Ullmen, whose class on leadership presence was eye-opening. His session made me reflect deeply on the importance of self awareness and defining our own growth path as leaders. It reminded me that true leadership isn’t just about being at the top; it’s about inspiring others, rallying teams, and fostering a culture of trust and collaboration. This weekend reinforced the idea that true leaders don’t just manage—they inspire, guide, and uplift those around them. They lead with purpose, not just vision. And that’s something I will carry forward in both my personal and professional journey. Grateful for the opportunity to learn from such diverse leaders, and excited to continue growing and evolving as a leader myself. #Leadership #AI #Inspiration #UCLAAnderson #EMBA

An incredible set of learnings from today’s UCLA Anderson Easton Technology Management Center Innovate Conference focused on AI driven products and services. A special thank you to our incredible speakers: Gail Carpenter, CFO at Amazon Worldwide Stores, MaryAnn Patel, SVP Product Management at Salesforce, Ganesh Shankar at Google, David Sasaki from OpenAI with moderators Cy Khormaee and Sharon Olexy who were all insightful and high impact. Key takeaways: expanding product capabilities in an AI driven world including personalization, ease of interaction and accessibility, significant expansion of use cases and adoption in almost every sector during the past 6 to 12 months and notable changes in the future of work that will drive further adoption by boosting employee productivity and safety, but also an imperative for leaders to ensure AI training in organizations to ensure broader gains for employees, customers, partners and the enterprise itself. Being AI savvy, intellectually curious regarding technology and customer needs will be at a premium!