Event Agenda

Build Your Workforce from Within: Apprenticeship Strategies for Wire Harness Employers

As wire harness manufacturers face growing workforce shortages, skills gaps, and pressure to retain qualified employees, Registered Apprenticeship offers a practical strategy for building talent from within. In this interactive workshop, Victoria Hawkins and Cami Marcom will introduce Global Electronics Association’s newly launched Wire Harness Assembly Registered Apprenticeship occupation and explain how employers can use apprenticeship to train new hires, upskill incumbent workers, strengthen retention, and create a reliable pipeline of skilled talent.

Participants will learn how the program combines structured on-the-job learning, industry-aligned technical instruction, mentorship, and recognized credentials while allowing employers to adapt training to their operational needs. The session will also highlight available funding and incentive opportunities that may help offset training, wage, and program implementation costs.

Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how Registered Apprenticeship works, the support available through Global Electronics Association, and the practical steps needed to determine whether apprenticeship is right for their organization. 

Victoria Hawkins is the Director of Workforce Funding & Partnerships at the Global Electronics Association, where she leads initiatives that connect electronics employers with grants, workforce training, and Registered Apprenticeship opportunities. With extensive experience in program development, financial stewardship, and cross-sector collaboration, she works with employers, educational institutions, workforce agencies, and funding partners to develop sustainable solutions that strengthen the industry’s talent pipeline. Victoria is passionate about expanding access to high-quality career pathways and leveraging strategic partnerships and funding to advance workforce innovation and employer success.

Cami Marcom is the Manager for Apprenticeships & Workforce Programs at the Global Electronics Association, where she leads the implementation and growth of workforce training, funding, and Registered Apprenticeship programs for electronics employers. With more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit management and development, Cami brings expertise in program administration, stakeholder engagement, and strategic planning. She works closely with employers, apprentices, and workforce partners to simplify program participation, strengthen talent pipelines, and expand access to industry-recognized training and career pathways. Cami is committed to building collaborative solutions that help employers develop and retain a highly skilled workforce.

Fearless Pricing: How To Command the Prices You Deserve

Do you price from fear or from confidence? Do you price to win business or do you price not to lose? Even with a perfect pricing strategy, margins still shrink in the face of out-of-control discounting and fear-based pricing.

The biggest obstacle to pricing success isn’t competition, customers, insufficient business knowledge, lack of strategy, or lack of sophisticated cost and pricing analysis. It’s a set of self-limiting beliefs, habits, and behaviors that sabotage pricing success.
In this fast-paced, engaging presentation, Casey will demystify the real causes of underpricing to launch you onto a path to improve pricing, command what you deserve, and dramatically increase profits.

Casey Brown is a 25-year pricing geek with a passion to help leaders, entrepreneurs, and sellers command the prices they deserve. She’s helped >1,000 companies generate >$1 billion in incremental profits.
In her signature keynote and her best-selling book Fearless Pricing,

Casey demystifies customer tactics and arms audiences and readers with practical, ready-to-implement steps to negotiate fearlessly, price confidently, and make more money. Her TED talk has been viewed over 4 million times.

Casey founded Boost Pricing to help companies sell at higher prices. She holds degrees in Chemical Engineering, Spanish, and Business. She lives in Ohio with her family.

Closing the Automation Gap in Harness Manufacturing: A Practical Look at Tactile Robotics

High-mix wire harness manufacturing remains one of industry's most stubbornly manual processes. Contact-rich steps like connector insertion, taping, and multi-conductor cable prep have resisted traditional automation. This session looks at where tactile-driven robotics is already capable today, where it's headed, and how to think about the economics and workforce impact for a typical harness operation.

Kavan McEachern is CEO and cofounder of Ontologen, an American company building tactile intelligence for robotic manipulation, with a focus on wire harness manufacturing. He was previously a founding engineer and Head of AI at ZeroFox (grew from $0 to $250 MM ARR).

AI Demystified: A Practical Playbook for Building Competitive Organizations

Artificial intelligence is transforming every industry, but the organizations that will lead in 2030 won't simply have access to the best AI tools—they'll have the culture, strategy, and execution to deploy them effectively. While many organizations are still trying to understand the basics, market leaders are already using AI to improve operations, increase productivity, and gain a competitive advantage.

Drawing on his experience leading the Forbes AI Group and advising global leaders, Austin Ambrozi cuts through the hype to provide a practical roadmap for AI adoption. This session bridges the gap between strategy and execution, introducing a proven four-phase AI Implementation Protocol that helps organizations move from experimentation to scalable implementation. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of how to identify high-impact AI opportunities, launch low-risk pilot projects, prepare for the future of AI-driven commerce, and build a culture that embraces change—all without disrupting day-to-day operations.

Whether you're just beginning your AI journey or looking to scale existing initiatives, this session will provide actionable strategies to help your organization move from uncertainty to confidence and from AI curiosity to measurable business results.

Key Takeaways

• Understand the AI Implementation Protocol—a practical four-phase framework for successfully adopting AI. 
• Identify high-impact opportunities to improve efficiency, productivity, and decision-making with AI. 
• Learn how to launch low-risk pilot projects that demonstrate measurable ROI before scaling across the organization. 
• Prepare your organization for emerging trends, including AI agents and the future of AI-enabled commerce. 
• Build a culture that embraces innovation and positions your organization for long-term competitive advantage. 

Austin Ambrozi is an internationally recognized AI strategist, keynote speaker, technology entrepreneur, and business advisor who helps organizations transform artificial intelligence from a source of uncertainty into a competitive advantage. As the leader of the Artificial Intelligence Group for the Forbes Business Council and a member of the AI Council for United World Leaders, Austin works alongside CEOs, executives, presidents, and prime ministers to explore the practical implementation of AI across business, government, and society.

Drawing on years of experience building AI-powered technology companies, Austin bridges the gap between cutting-edge innovation and real-world application. As Managing Partner of Autonomi and Chief Operating Officer of Doxci, an AI-powered intelligent document processing platform, he has helped organizations automate complex workflows, eliminate administrative bottlenecks, and unlock new opportunities for growth through artificial intelligence. His work centers on helping leaders move beyond experimentation and build AI strategies that deliver measurable business results.

Austin has delivered keynote presentations and executive briefings for organizations including NASA, the World Economic Forum in Davos, and audiences across North America, Europe, and the Middle East. His engaging presentations are known for cutting through the hype surrounding AI and providing practical, actionable frameworks that leaders can immediately apply within their organizations. Rather than focusing on technical complexity, Austin helps audiences understand how AI is changing industries, reshaping workforces, accelerating innovation, and redefining competitive advantage.

Whether speaking to Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, healthcare systems, financial institutions, manufacturers, educational organizations, or industry associations, Austin customizes every keynote to the unique challenges and opportunities facing his audience. His sessions combine compelling storytelling, real-world case studies, and strategic insights to help leaders confidently navigate digital transformation while keeping people at the center of innovation.

Austin's mission is simple: to demystify artificial intelligence, help organizations adopt it with confidence, and equip leaders with the strategies they need to thrive in a rapidly changing world. Audiences leave with a deeper understanding of where AI is creating value today, what changes lie ahead, and how to turn technological disruption into lasting competitive advantage.

The Economic Forces Defining 2027

The global economy enters 2027 at a consequential turning point. Inflation is moderating but not disappearing. Interest rates, trade policy, geopolitical tensions, labor constraints, and shifting consumer behavior are reshaping the outlook. At the same time, accelerating investment in AI, data centers, energy, and advanced manufacturing is creating new sources of growth while disrupting established business models.

In this timely keynote, Global Electronics Association chief economist and futurist Shawn DuBravac examines the forces defining the year ahead and separates the structural shifts from the short-term noise. This session will explore where economic momentum is building, where vulnerabilities remain, and how changes in technology, capital investment, global trade, and the workforce will affect organizations across industries. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of the 2027 economic landscape, the signals that deserve their attention, and the strategic options leaders should be building now.

As Global Electronics Association’s chief economist, internationally recognized thought leader, global futurist and trendcaster, Shawn DuBravac works to expand Global Electronics Association’s research program and provide insights on the biggest issues facing the $2 trillion global electronics industry, including supply chain resiliency/uncertainty, trade wars, skilled workforce shortage, and the expanding role of electronics in the global economy.

For more than a dozen years, DuBravac served as chief economist for the Consumer Technology Association, a U.S. trade association representing more than 2,000 consumer tech companies. More recently, he has provided consulting, research, and advisory services to clients on topics including digital transformation, business model disruptions, and global supply chains. He is also the author of the New York Times best seller, “Digital Destiny: How the New Age of Data Will Transform the Way We Work, Live, and Communicate,” and has appeared in Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post and more. DuBravac is a member of the National Association of Business Economists and currently serves as the president of the Conference of Business Economists.

DuBravac has taught at the George Washington University School of Business, American University’s Kogod School of Business, the George Mason University School of Business, Marymount University School of Business, and the University of Mary Washington. He holds economic degrees from Brigham Young University and George Mason University.