Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) services can help enhance customer experiences, boost employee efficiency, assist with creativity and content creation, improve business operations, and accelerate innovation by delivering digital services faster and at lower costs. Taking a “think big” approach and executing on thoughtful roadmap planning to leverage machine learning for data discovery, mastering, governance, and protection allows agencies to “start small” and deliver value quickly and safely. These data foundations also provide the foundations for responsible GenAI and enhanced worker and constituent experience.

Session Recommended for: All.

John Larson will share insights into the adoption of Artificial Intelligence through collaborations with academic institutions and startups, fostering a research-focused culture that propels AI forward while addressing the unique challenges and opportunities in Hawaii. From supporting the federal government to protecting natural resources, we’ll see how Booz Allen’s AI initiatives are making a tangible impact.

Session Recommended for: All.

AI is transforming industries and societies across the globe. To harness its full potential, it is crucial to understand how AI impacts various sectors and what unique challenges and opportunities it presents. This panel session brings together distinguished leaders from Hawai‘i’s private sector, public sector, non-profit, and defense to discuss the evolving landscape of AI.

Session Recommended for: All.

The world of AI is buzzing with potential, and organizations are increasingly curious about how to leverage its power. But navigating the implementation process can be challenging. This session offers a glimpse into World Wide Technology’s (WWT) experience as we explore the exciting landscape of AI.

Session Recommended for: All, Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

Accelerating the adoption of AI and GenAI requires a culture of responsibility. Just as AI and GenAI prototypes and pilots support learning and improvement, in certain cases, piloting AI governance and risk management can make sense as well. This session covers an overarching framework, steps to operationalize, with examples from the private sector and public service agencies, so that attendees can consider their own operating environments and Hawaii’s unique needs, ultimately to support scaled innovation.

Session Recommended for: All, Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

Explore how deploying AI securely and responsibly within your organization can improve data accuracy, expedite decision-making, and drive innovation within your organization and the unique geo-political, Indo-Pacific environment. Join SMX to learn how to establish secure foundations, ensure data privacy, produce unbiased outcomes, and maintain trust. This session will cover key considerations, essential skillsets, and strategies for unbiased AI deployments. Additionally, we will discuss overcoming the proof-of-concept hurdle to create actionable, production-ready services leveraging GenAI.

Key Takeaways:

• • Establishing secure foundations for AI deployment
  • Ensuring data privacy and maintaining trust
  • Producing unbiased AI outcomes
  • Developing essential skillsets for AI implementation
  • Transitioning from proof-of-concept to production-ready services

Session Recommended for: All, Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

In today’s rapidly evolving AI landscape, ensuring ethical and responsible AI practices is critically important. We will explore the concept of Responsible AI and delve into the essential elements required to implement an AI governance framework.

Session Recommended for: All, Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

In this workshop, we dive into the world of practical chatbots and their integration into knowledge management systems. We will conduct live demonstrations of GenAI technology to showcase LLMs and customizations. This workshop is designed for professionals eager to leverage the power of AI to enhance their organization’s information ecosystem.

Session Recommended for: Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

Learn why the states of CA, NV, AZ and HI have chosen Amorphic, powered by AWS, to automate siloed data and get real-time answers from legacy systems. Learn how the State of CA is saving $37M, the State of Nevada is breaking their data silos for real-time public health data and reporting, how the State of AZ is using Amorphic GEN AI and BEN BI to improve operational efficiency and how the State of HI is using Amorphic too.

Session Recommended for: Department Leadership & Legislature.

Historically, public sector data, IT, and security teams have grappled with the following challenges concerning the unification and democratization of data + AI:

• • Scaling and speeding up data access and processing
  • Securing and governing data
  • Monitoring Performance & Safety of AI Models
  • Mitigating Data + AI risks

Discover how Databricks and its partners tackle these challenges through the Data Intelligence platform and the Lakehouse architecture. Databricks is assisting education and government leaders in harnessing the full potential of their data, thereby delivering real-time decision-making capabilities to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and bolster security across their ecosystem.

Session Recommended for: Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

This session will explain the scope and benefits associated with AWS Local Zones (LZ). We aim to highlight how our customers can leverage this newly launched infrastructure offering in Honolulu to meet low latency and data residency requirements. We will also show a live demo on how to launch a compute instance (ec2) in the Honolulu LZ and demonstrate the impact it will have on latency within the islands to improve application performance.

Session Recommended for: Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

This discussion will explore best practices and lessons learned for AI upskilling efforts at a large technology company and at Department of Defense (DOD) organizations and how it benefited the workforce. The session will also discuss recommendations for implementation at companies and government organizations across the industry. The panel will include leaders from Booz Allen Hamilton and a DoD AI sector or Chief Digital and AI Office (CDAO).

Session Recommended for: Professionals seeking to upskill.

Learn the basics of Generative AI: what is GenAI, how does it work, where do I get started? You will see demos and real world uses for boosting your productivity, enhancing digital marketing, and elevating your social media presence. We will demo AI tools, including writing assistants, document and content generation, and AI-powered image creation.

Session Recommended for: Professionals seeking to upskill.

Simplify your organization’s journey to leverage AI for business value . This session covers a structured approach as a mental model for building AI capabilities across people and processes – from envisioning use cases to operationalizing ML workflows on AWS. Through prescriptive guidance, best practices, and real-world examples gain guidance on evolving your AI maturity through the framework’s well-defined path, demystifying workforce, operational, and technical enablers for sustainable AI adoption.

Session Recommended for: Technical Workers seeking to upskill.

Hear about progress being made to build Hawaii’s IT talent pipeline and learn how you can engage with Hawaii DOE, federal grants (Good Jobs Hawaii), and IT career pathway efforts.

Session Recommended for: All, Business Leaders, Technical Leaders.

Amazon’s approach to innovation has remained consistent – start with the customer, and work backwards from their needs, whether that is on the retail world, cloud or the latest GenAI technology. To support long-term innovation at speed and scale and keep the customer at the center of everything we do, Culture of Innovation is organized around four interdependent elements: Culture, Mechanisms, Architecture, Organization.

Session Recommended for: All, Entrepreneurs, Business Owners.

Attendees welcome to bring laptops to this hands-on demo.

Please set up your free account on Claude.ai before the session.

This introductory session will demystify Claude for entrepreneurs, showcasing its potential as a powerful AI assistant. Participants will learn how to effectively interact with Claude, understanding its capabilities and limitations. The session will cover best practices for crafting prompts, maintaining context, and leveraging Claude for various entrepreneurial tasks such as brainstorming, market analysis, and content creation. Through live demonstrations and hands-on practice, attendees will gain practical experience in integrating Claude into their workflows, ultimately learning how to harness AI to enhance their productivity and creativity in business endeavors.

Session Recommended for: All, Entrepreneurs, Business Owners.

Attendees welcome to bring laptops to this hands-on demo.

Please set up your free account on Claude.ai before the session.

This hands-on workshop will empower entrepreneurs to rapidly bring their ideas to life without writing a single line of code. Leveraging AI tools, including Claude, participants will explore the entire prototyping process from ideation to testing. The session will cover using AI for generating product concepts, creating user stories, and designing interfaces. Attendees will learn to utilize no-code platforms in conjunction with AI to build interactive prototypes, conduct user testing, and iterate based on feedback. Through real-world case studies and a practical exercise, entrepreneurs will gain the skills to create, refine, and validate their product ideas efficiently, accelerating their path to market success.

Session Recommended for: All, Entrepreneurs, Business Owners.

Hawai‘i innovation, rooted in unique cultural insights and community-focused strategies, offers a powerful alternative to the typical innovation playbook. This talk introduces the “8 Hawaii Innovation Mindsets”—a set of transformative principles that guide local business owners and entrepreneurs to harness AI and turn data into dollars. We’ll explore how these mindsets, deeply connected to Hawaii values and environmental stewardship, can help you use data and AI to thrive. You’ll learn how to attract the right customers, create resonant experiences, and turn these connections into lasting, profitable relationships.

Whether you’re running a small business, a startup, or an established enterprise, by the end of this session you’ll have a clear understanding of how to apply these mindsets to outpace competitors, grow your business, and achieve lasting success—all while staying true to your values and the unique strengths of your community.

Session Recommended for: All, Entrepreneurs, Business Owners.