FemTech Titans: The Women Leaders Trailblazing AI

Join us for an engaging discussion as we delve into the ever-evolving landscape of Responsible AI. To thoroughly explore the realm of Responsible AI, we are pleased to present a panel discussion centered around three core principles: empathy, fairness, and transparency. Virtual Patent Gateway (VPG) will host this exceptional panel of industry leaders who will provide invaluable insights.

Join us for the live discussion titled "FemTech Titans: The Women Leaders Trailblazing AI," which will be available for viewing on LinkedIn and Facebook. Our esteemed panel includes the following distinguished speakers:

· Shawnna Hoffman, President of Guardrail Technologies

· Reny Vargis, Partner specializing in Insurance, AI & Data at Deloitte, UK (pending approval)

· Anessa Allen Santos, Founding Attorney at Intellilaw

· Meredith Schoenfeld, Associate Solicitor at the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) (pending approval)

· Dina Blikshteyn, Partner and AI Practice Co-Chair at Haynes & Boone, LLP, will moderate this panel.

Shawnna Hoffman:

Shawnna Hoffman President of Guardrail Technologies, a leading tech company focused on Enabling Responsible Technology. Her recent episode of VPG's Virtual Water Cooler Chat Interview, Trailblazing Ethical AI was released on August 1, 2023.

Previously, Shawnna served as the Chief Technology Leader, Legal Strategy & Operations of Dell Technologies. Prior to Dell Technologies, she was the ServiceNow Technology Workflows Manager and Predictive AIOps Federal Lead and was at IBM in Digital Transformation & Strategy in positions including Co-Leader of the Global Watson AI Legal Practice. She is a sought-after Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain Subject Matter Expert and has spoken at the United Nations at Blockchain for Impact (2018) and the UN Data Forum (2020 and 2021). Shawnna was appointed Chair of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) Distributed Ledger Technology and Market Infrastructure Subcommittee for 2018 – 2020.

In 2019, she testified in front of the CFTC on “Blockchain Privacy & Confidentiality” and on “The Current State of Blockchain Adoption.” In 2017, she was awarded the Certificate of Leader Development in National Security and Strategy by the U.S. Army War College.

Reny Vargis:

Reny is a Deloitte Partner, leading the UK Insurance AI business where she focuses on driving and embedding the use of AI, data, and automation across different parts of the insurance journey including customer engagement, ESG and servicing. She also has a particular wider focus working with Life and Pensions companies throughout her career, having supported them on large transformation programmes for the past 13 years.

She also focuses on driving innovation through new products and services disrupting the traditional Insurance business processes. She works with various major cloud providers and AI based solutions to partner and deliver the new next generation of services.

Meredith Schoenfeld:

Meredith Schoenfeld is an Associate Solicitor at the USPTO. Ms. Schoenfeld is a founding member of the USPTO’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Emerging Technology (ET) Working Group. This working group is comprised of AI experts from across the agency and has been responsible for several initiatives at the USPTO. Ms. Schoenfeld also acts as a government liaison to the National AI Advisory Committee (NAIAC). During her time at the Solicitor’s Office, Ms. Schoenfeld has done two detail assignments, acting as an intellectual property advisor to the DOC, Office of the Secretary and to the CHIPS R&D Office, which was founded as part of the CHIPS & Science Act legislation.

Meredith Schoenfeld joined the Solicitor’s Office in 2012 from Los Alamos National Laboratory, where she concentrated on patent prosecution, licensing, and portfolio counseling. Prior to working in Los Alamos, Meredith was an associate at Finnegan LLP, where she focused on intellectual property litigation. Meredith holds a B.S.E. from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from Georgetown University.

Dina Blikshteyn:

Dina Blikshteyn is a partner in the Intellectual Property Practice Group in the New York office of Haynes Boone and is a co-chair of the firm’s extensive artificial intelligence practice.

Dina’s practice focuses on post grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, preparing and prosecuting domestic and international patent applications in the technology and AI space, and counseling on new AI technologies, including generative AI. Dina speaks on a broad range of IP and AI topics across the nation, hosts the firm’s AI Chats podcast and her articles appear in legal and technology publications across the Internet.

Coreena Brinck:

Dr Coreena Brinck is a European and UK patent attorney who has worked with innovators and inventors for over 20 years both in-house and in private practice, working with clients of all sizes mostly in the physics, communications, med-tech, and green-tech sectors. She has seen first hand how rapidly AI and ML innovations are pervading human society and strongly advocates ethical AI. She has previously supported clients using AI in fields as diverse as electrical grid energy distribution, battery management, digital twin IIoT for smart factories and engineering systems, autonomous vehicle and vessel systems, and health management and screening.

In July 2023, Coreena joined Intuicell AB, a Swedish Artificial General Intelligence start-up (and a former client) as part of a portfolio career move which allows her also to take on patent drafting and prosecution for new clients across the UK and in Scandinavian countries via Two-IP, an innovative full-service IP firm based in the UK.