| Page 42 | Kisaco Research

Author:

Vinesh Sukumar

VP of Product Management for AI
Qualcomm

Vinesh Sukumar currently serves as VP of Product Management for AI at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc (QTI).  In this role, he leads AI product definition, strategy and solution deployment across multiple business units.

He has about 20 years of industry experience spread across research, engineering and application deployment. He currently holds a doctorate degree specializing in imaging and vision systems while also completing a business degree focused on strategy and marketing. He is a regular speaker in many AI industry forums and has authored several journal papers and two technical books.

Vinesh Sukumar

VP of Product Management for AI
Qualcomm

Vinesh Sukumar currently serves as VP of Product Management for AI at Qualcomm Technologies, Inc (QTI).  In this role, he leads AI product definition, strategy and solution deployment across multiple business units.

He has about 20 years of industry experience spread across research, engineering and application deployment. He currently holds a doctorate degree specializing in imaging and vision systems while also completing a business degree focused on strategy and marketing. He is a regular speaker in many AI industry forums and has authored several journal papers and two technical books.

Optimized Infrastructure

Author:

Nikhil Tyagi

Senior Manager, Wireless Device Innovation Strategy
Verizon

Nikhil Tyagi is a recognized leader in next-generation technology, with a proven track record at the intersection of AI infrastructure, wireless innovation, and immersive computing. As Senior Manager of Wireless Device Innovation at Verizon, he leads strategic initiatives for breakthrough device categories that integrate AI, XR (AR/VR), and advanced connectivity.

Previously, Nikhil held key roles at Humane, Meta, and Apple, where he helped shape pioneering AI and XR experiences—from developing on-device intelligence for ambient computing, to architecting scalable XR systems and wearable platforms. His cross-functional expertise spans edge AI, spatial computing, and system-level wireless design, making him a pivotal voice in the evolving landscape of AI-driven interfaces."

Nikhil Tyagi

Senior Manager, Wireless Device Innovation Strategy
Verizon

Nikhil Tyagi is a recognized leader in next-generation technology, with a proven track record at the intersection of AI infrastructure, wireless innovation, and immersive computing. As Senior Manager of Wireless Device Innovation at Verizon, he leads strategic initiatives for breakthrough device categories that integrate AI, XR (AR/VR), and advanced connectivity.

Previously, Nikhil held key roles at Humane, Meta, and Apple, where he helped shape pioneering AI and XR experiences—from developing on-device intelligence for ambient computing, to architecting scalable XR systems and wearable platforms. His cross-functional expertise spans edge AI, spatial computing, and system-level wireless design, making him a pivotal voice in the evolving landscape of AI-driven interfaces."

Systems Optimization

Author:

Apala Guha

Principal AI Architect
Microsoft

Apala Guha is Principal AI Architect at Microsoft. In her current role, she studies AI model architectures and analyzes their behavior and performance on GPUs. With these insights, she co-designs SoCs, systems and compilers for Azure AI. In the past, she was part of AI hardware development at Tenstorrent and Lightmatter. She has a PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Virginia and has held several academic research positions on accelerator compilers.

Apala Guha

Principal AI Architect
Microsoft

Apala Guha is Principal AI Architect at Microsoft. In her current role, she studies AI model architectures and analyzes their behavior and performance on GPUs. With these insights, she co-designs SoCs, systems and compilers for Azure AI. In the past, she was part of AI hardware development at Tenstorrent and Lightmatter. She has a PhD in Computer Engineering from University of Virginia and has held several academic research positions on accelerator compilers.

Author:

James Kelly

VP Market Intelligence & Innovation
Open Compute Project

James joined the OCP Foundation staff in 2024 as VP Market Intelligence and Innovation, working with technology leaders in the community and augmenting the foundation’s directional strategy, innovation efforts and marketing. His contributions to the OCP proceed from over two decades of experience in technology research, engineering, product management and marketing.

James Kelly

VP Market Intelligence & Innovation
Open Compute Project

James joined the OCP Foundation staff in 2024 as VP Market Intelligence and Innovation, working with technology leaders in the community and augmenting the foundation’s directional strategy, innovation efforts and marketing. His contributions to the OCP proceed from over two decades of experience in technology research, engineering, product management and marketing.

Author:

Pyungsu Han

VP & CTO
Qualitas Semiconductor

Pyungsu Han is the Vice President and CTO of R&D at Qualitas Semiconductor.
He holds a Ph.D. from Yonsei University and previously worked at LG Electronics.
With deep expertise in high-speed interconnect technology, he leads cutting-edge R&D initiatives and drives strategic growth in the semiconductor industry.

Pyungsu Han

VP & CTO
Qualitas Semiconductor

Pyungsu Han is the Vice President and CTO of R&D at Qualitas Semiconductor.
He holds a Ph.D. from Yonsei University and previously worked at LG Electronics.
With deep expertise in high-speed interconnect technology, he leads cutting-edge R&D initiatives and drives strategic growth in the semiconductor industry.

Optimized Infrastructure
Gen AI
Agentic AI

Author:

Jeongkyu Shin

CEO
Lablup

Jeongkyu Shin is the founder of Lablup Inc. and has made significant contributions to open-source projects over the past two decades, including his lead developer role in the Textcube Project. He has served as an AI expert at Google Developers Experts since 2017 and was active in the Innovative Steering Board of the Northeast Asia Open Source Software Promotion Forum until 2022. In recognition of his contributions to the technology industry, he was awarded the prestigious Industrial Service Medal by the Korean government in 2024. Additionally, Jeongkyu supports startup companies as a technical mentor at Google for Startups Accelerator.

He holds a Ph.D. in Statistical Physics from POSTECH, where his research focused on complex systems, agent-based models, and computational neuroscience. Throughout his career, Jeongkyu has led machine learning and open-source projects in various companies and labs, specializing in text classification, entropy-related information compression, and contextual search. Since 2015, he has been developing Backend.AI, an open-source, hyper-scalable AI infrastructure platform (available at https://www.backend.ai).

Jeongkyu Shin

CEO
Lablup

Jeongkyu Shin is the founder of Lablup Inc. and has made significant contributions to open-source projects over the past two decades, including his lead developer role in the Textcube Project. He has served as an AI expert at Google Developers Experts since 2017 and was active in the Innovative Steering Board of the Northeast Asia Open Source Software Promotion Forum until 2022. In recognition of his contributions to the technology industry, he was awarded the prestigious Industrial Service Medal by the Korean government in 2024. Additionally, Jeongkyu supports startup companies as a technical mentor at Google for Startups Accelerator.

He holds a Ph.D. in Statistical Physics from POSTECH, where his research focused on complex systems, agent-based models, and computational neuroscience. Throughout his career, Jeongkyu has led machine learning and open-source projects in various companies and labs, specializing in text classification, entropy-related information compression, and contextual search. Since 2015, he has been developing Backend.AI, an open-source, hyper-scalable AI infrastructure platform (available at https://www.backend.ai).

Storage
Systems Optimization