It’s a well known adage that the winners of gold rushes were the ones selling the picks and shovels instead of those chasing gold. Today’s AI revolution is no different. As the industry rushes toward LLMs and generative AI, a critical question emerges for the next generation of engineers: How do you build a stable, long lasting career that outlasts the latest hype cycle?

In this session, University of Iowa alumnus Tyler Jensen reflects on his 15-year journey from these very same classrooms to leading engineering teams at the heart of the AI revolution. Tyler will deconstruct the "Shovel Seller" philosophy—focusing on the foundational infrastructure, scalability, security and platform reliability that allow AI to function at scale. Attendees will learn how to identify "load-bearing" career opportunities, why the fundamentals of software engineering are more valuable now than ever, and how to build a long lasting career in a rapidly shifting technological landscape.

  Crusoe AI | Senior Software Engineering Manager

With over a decade of experience at Microsoft, Tyler led engineering projects and teams across Windows Phone, Xbox Live, and Azure AI Platforms. Most recently, he served as a Principal Software Engineering Manager for Azure AI Search, the vector database powering ChatGPT at scale. In this role, he led security and platform architecture for sovereign and air-gapped clouds supporting critical national defense initiatives.

During a mid-career break in 2016, Tyler moved to Thailand to co-found SpareChange, a fintech startup focused on community giving. He served as CTO and later Chief Software Architect following its acquisition by Roundit Financial Technologies.

Tyler holds both a BS (2010) and MS (2011) in Computer Science from the University of Iowa, where he was named Teaching Assistant of the Year under Dr. Alberto Segre and the inaugural research assistant for StarExec under Dr. Aaron Stump. He also served as Vice President of Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) at Iowa, reviving the organization in 2008 from a period of inactivity and estabilishing the first few university computing conferences.

Now at Crusoe, Tyler applies his decade of cloud and security expertise by leading engineering teams and security strategy for AI platforms powered by clean energy.

Growing up on an Iowa farm, I learned early how deeply technology shapes everyday work, especially in places that don’t look “technical” at first glance. When I arrived at the University of Iowa expecting to study 3D modeling, I instead found my way into informatics and human–computer interaction.  Through research with Professor Juan Pablo Hourcade, I learned to analyze real human needs, design with empathy, and ground technology in the lived experiences of the people who use it. That HCI mindset carried me from Iowa to Seattle and ultimately into a career focused on designing systems that honor both human judgment and operational complexity.

At Microsoft, I've applied HCI and design‑thinking principles across domains from Windows applications and mixed reality to cloud infrastructure and AI‑powered media workflows. These experiences continually reaffirm that solving meaningful business problems requires more than technical capability; it demands a deep understanding of human behavior, organizational context, and the constraints of real-world work. Design thinking provides a framework to integrate people’s needs with technological possibilities and business realities, even as the tools and platforms evolve around us.

In this talk, I’ll share how those principles now shape my approach to agentic workflows, aka the systems where AI agents participate directly in business processes. Drawing on real examples from customer care, anomaly detection, and AI‑enabled media operations, I’ll discuss how HCI helps us identify where agents truly add value, how business processes must evolve to incorporate agentic actions, and why human validation remains essential for trust and accountability. By centering the people who perform the work, we can design agents that augment expertise rather than replace it, streamline decision‑making without removing nuance, and reshape workflows in ways that deliver measurable business impact. Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of how HCI and design thinking guide the creation of agentic systems that are responsible, reliable, and deeply aligned with real-world operational needs.

  Microsoft | Principal Technical Program Manager

Kelsey Huebner is a Principal Technical Program Manager (TPM) at Microsoft, where she leads multidisciplinary engineering teams creating innovative solutions for media and telecommunications clients. A native of southeast Iowa, she studied Art and Informatics (BA 2012) with a minor in computer science at the University of Iowa. There, her research with professor Juan Pablo Hourcade used touch-screen technology to help children with autism communicate more effectively. In 2014 she joined Microsoft, initially working on Xbox gaming platforms, then advising media and streaming customers on cloud and AI innovation. Now marking over a decade at the company, Kelsey continues to champion human-centered design and responsible AI, shaping the future of intelligent systems.

Some of the most consequential AI work in the world doesn’t happen at startups or tech giants—it happens behind the fence. In this talk, I’ll share my personal journey from undergraduate study at the University of Texas at Austin, through graduate school at the University of Iowa, to a career working on national security challenges at Los Alamos National Laboratory. I’ll provide context on LANL’s history and mission, and I’ll describe how AI is being developed and applied in high-consequence settings today. Along the way, I’ll discuss what distinguishes national-security AI from commercial and academic work, including the emphasis on trust, robustness, and mission impact over hype. For students who want to build more than apps and optimize more than clicks, national security offers a different kind of challenge.

  Los Alamos National Laboratory | Global Security AI Program Manager

Dr. Geoffrey Fairchild serves as Acting Deputy Director of the National Security AI Office (NSAIO) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL); he supports the strategic growth of LANL’s AI priorities, including the Genesis Mission, internal and external investments, and public/private partnerships. He joined LANL in 2012 as a Graduate Research Assistant and has been staff since 2015. His research focus has been on using AI/ML/data science techniques to solve real-world activity-based intelligence problems for applications like disease modeling, information dynamics modeling, and patterns-of-life analysis and anomaly detection for the U.S. Intelligence Community, Department of Defense, and Department of Energy. From 2020-2024, he served on a small team of rotating LANL staff members that provided scientific advising to the U.S. Strategic Command War Plan Evaluation Division (J59). He holds dual B.S. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin and holds an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Iowa.

In any field with a visual medium, there is a critical interplay between technological design and innovation, and creative aesthetic. They provide feedback where the technology has the potential to empower the artist to achieve their vision while the needs of the artist inspire the development of new technologies. I explore a career crossing between technical and artistic roles, and the benefits gained by integrating experience in both areas.

  Walt Disney Animation Studios | Head of Computer Graphics

Ernest Petti was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio where he received a BS in Engineering Physics and Computer Science from John Carroll University. He then moved to Iowa to start his career as a Software Engineer at Rockwell Collins developing prototyping software for cockpit displays. He received his MS in Computer Science from the University of Iowa, focusing in computer graphics. In 2000 he made the big leap to Walt Disney Animation Studios in Los Angeles. He worked in the Technology group on Lighting tools and Disney’s XGen. He then transitioned into production and has served as a supervisor in Lighting, Look Development, and the General TD group. He is currently the Head of CG based in Vancouver where he is responsible for guiding the studio-wide decisions that impact the CG Departments, department heads, and pipeline. He lives in Coquitlam, BC with his wife, three kids, and their dog, Obi.

Selected Film Credits
Zootopia • Ralph Breaks the Internet • Big Hero 6 • Wreck-It Ralph • Tangled • Bolt • Meet the Robinsons • Chicken Little • Kangaroo Jack