KEYNOTEDay 1

Fireside Chat: The Past, Present, and Future of AI

March 23, 2026 4:45 PM – 5:15 PM Fletcher Hall 30 min

Session Recording

About This Session

An intimate conversation between Igor Jablokov and Mark Hinkle exploring AI's journey from research curiosity to enterprise transformation.

keynote fireside-chat ai-history enterprise

Speakers

Igor Jablokov

Founder · Pryon

Igor Jablokov is the founder and chairman of Pryon, a Raleigh-based AI company focused on making enterprise knowledge accessible through natural language systems. Before Pryon, he built Yap, one of the earliest cloud speech platforms, which was acquired by Amazon and helped shape the technology behind Alexa.Earlier, as a Program Director at IBM, he led early work that foreshadowed Watson and co-developed an early multimodal browser. Jablokov holds a B.S. in Computer Engineering from Penn Stat...

Mark Hinkle

Founder · The AIE Network

Mark Hinkle has over 30 years of experience in technology, open source, and enterprise software. He served in executive roles at Citrix and The Linux Foundation, spearheading innovative programs in cloud computing, DevOps, and early internet usage. Over the past two years, he has trained thousands of professionals on how to use AI for real-world impact—ranging from beginners to C-suite executives. Mark publishes TheAIE.net , a newsletter network with more than 250,000 subscribers dedicated to...

All Things AI 2027

April 18–20, 2027 · Atlantic Union Bank Convention Center, Raleigh, NC

Learn more

Back to all sessions