Applied AI & Data Science in the Physical Economy

Name: Applied AI & Data Science in the Physical Economy
Start: 2026-04-10T08:30:00-05:00
End: 2026-04-10T16:15:00-05:00
Location: Best Buy Corporate Headquarters

Schedule

Fri Apr 10 2026 at 08:30 am to 04:15 pm

UTC-05:00

Location

Best Buy Corporate Headquarters | Bloomington, MN

AI & Data Science in the Physical Economy
https://minneanalytics.org/fastcon-2026/
Current approved talks: (although there are a lot of advanced & terminal degrees below, this is not an academic conference. We just attract really smart people. Same with the participants)
Alice Nadeau, PhD, Senior Data Scientist, C.H. Robinson
The Road Not Taken: Counterfactual Analysis for Freight Emissions Savings
Tess Kornfield, PhD, Neuroscience, VP, Data Science and Strategic Insights, ThredUp
A Dive into the Data at the Heart of ThredUp's Secondhand Marketplace
Claire Zoellner, PhD, Director of Data Science, iFoodDS
Beyond Scanning: Tracing Lot Codes with Probabilistic Engines
Michael Edwards, MBA, Systems Administrator, Groome Industrial Service Group
Creating descriptive narration at scale using Python + SLM
Nathan Miller, Product & Business Operations Consultant, Astra Ops
Applying Trading Desk Analytics to Food Supply Chain Innovation
Sruthi Pisipati, MS Data Science, Principal Data Scientist, Boston Scientific
Are TSFMs a Magic Wand for Forecasting?
Jie Ding, PhD, Professor & CEO, UMN & MorphMind
AI Agents for Transforming Data-Driven Agriculture and Supply Chain Operations
Mara Jorgensen, MS, CEO, Technical AgTech Product Leader, Strategic Consulting Corp
AI Enablement: A Framework for Ag Business Innovation
Ahmed Ashraf, Sadek, MS Data Science, Data Analytics Manager, Taylor Corporation
Building AI-Powered Freight Audit Pipelines
Brian Fitch, Phd, MSx2, VP - Digital Transformation & Analytics, Barr Engineering
AI at Two Frontiers: Internal Transformation and Client-Centric Innovation
Deepak Joshi, PhD, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University
Application of Earth Observation data and AI for Crop Hail Damage Assessment and on-farm decisions
Ganesh Kumar Suresh, MS, Agile Product Delivery Manager , Sara Plus - ( DSI Distributing Inc )
Sprint to Insight: Applying Agile to Data-Driven Vehicle Software Supply Chains
Brandon Nordell, Data Scientist, C.H. Robinson
Applications of Alternative Fuels in Third-Party Logistics
Rob Rowbotham, MS, PhD, Senior Principal Data Scientist, Grande Cheese Company
From Excel to an Enterprise Level Application integrated with an ERP - Case study: Building a Robust Production Planning System to feed MRP in an ERP
Kate Kuehl, Software Engineer, FieldKit / Silicon Savannah Solutions
How small robotics and AI can enable polyculture through modified precision agriculture
Ryan Ambrose, Director - Finance Process, Data, and Technology, Mortenson
From Reports to Intelligence: Empowering Finance with AI, Governance, and Insight.
Elizabeth Buescher, PhD, Principal Scientist, Soil & Plant Research, Land O' Lakes
Visualizing Plant-Product Interactions: 3D Point‑Clouds Guide On‑Farm Placement
Shrey Pareek, PhD, Computer Vision Capability Lead, Cargill
RGB Vision in Food Processing: From Classical CV to Deep Learning
Ryan Wolbeck, MS, Head of AI & MLE Platform, Kraft Heinz
Operational AI in Action: Computer Vision for Manufacturing Lines at Kraft Heinz
Laura Rose, MS Econ, Senior Staff Data Scientist, Forecasting, Hinge Health
From Startup to S-1: The Evolution of Forecasting at Hinge Health
Arushi Mehan, PhD '26, Data Scientist, Fulfillment Analytics Solutions, Best Buy
Leveraging Data for Optimal Order Fulfillment at Best Buy
Iva Rashkova, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of St Thomas,
Profit Meets Wellness: Using Data Analytics to Design Sustainable Food Product Lines
Garrett Swindlehurst, PhD, R&D Manager, Modeling & Simulation, General Mills
Driving Digital Innovation through Fast-Paced Experimentation
Ali Rashid Niaghi, PhD, Co-founder, Akra Consulting
Innovation vs. Reality: Why Great Agricultural Ideas Struggle in Practice
Priya Narula, Humphrey Policy Fellow, Co-Founder, Neighborhood Forest
Scaling Sustainability Through Simple, Repeatable Systems
Kyong Song, MS EnvE, Senior Data Scientist, Barr Engineering
From Dashboard to Dialog: AI Agents as the Interface to Real-Time Data
Mason Greseth, MS, Computer Science Data Scientist, CHS
From ChatCHS to TraderChat: Scaling Enterprise AI Cost‑Effectively
Brett Brohl, MBA, Managing Partner, Bread & Butter Ventures
A Decade of Food System Investing: Why Supply Chain AI Finally Makes Sense
Steffen Meyer, MBA, Managing Director, Custom Lightning
Practical Workflow Capture: Reduce Rollout Risk in AI Adoption Initiatives
Scott Nieman, Supply Chain Architect, Land O'Lakes
AgGateway Traceability API - The foundation to track Commingled Raw Agricultural Commodities
Huimin Liu MS, MA, Senior Data Scientist Best Buy
Improve New SKU Launch Success through Early-Stage Demand Forecasting
Hillary Drake, MBA, Founder & CEO, Liminal Network
Where's my order? Automating WISMO in legacy tech stacks
Charlie Murray, Founder/President, Watt Window
From Industrial Machine Data to Operator Action: A Case Study
Mo Ollenburger, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Institute on the Environment
From zero to good enough - answering important questions with messy data
Hans Wucherpfennig, Sustainability Manager of Operations, Donaldson Company
Setting and implementing Scope 1&2 GHG goals in a large manufacturing organization
Kaisa Taipale, PhD, Senior Quantitative Strategist/Analyst, Cargill
Cycles in Food and Business: How Ecology, Economics, and Tech Interact
Ben Allinder, MS, Director of Technology, Planboo
Using Data to Unlock Smallholder Access to Carbon Credit Revenue
Sravanthi Kondoju, Data Platform Lead, Target
Reliability by Design: Preventing Supply Chain Data Pipeline Disruptions with Synthetic Testing
Raghav Pavan, Karumur, MS, PhD, Data Science Lead, Target
A Practical Guide to Assortment Segmentation for Supply Chain Flow Path Optimization
Don Raleigh III, Revenue Operations, Evolve Payment
Fintech, Payments, and Innovation Across the Agricultural Supply Chain
Benjamin Bengfort, PhD, CEO and Co-Founder, Rotational Labs
AI Driven Supply Chain Risk Analysis
Startup Showcase
We'll feature from 8 to 10 Startups in this space.
Ben Messerly, PhD ML AI and Data Engineer, Solution Design Group
Modern Blend: Right-Sizing a Honey Optimization Pipeline with Python and Power Apps