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Welcoming and Opening Remarks With Anna | Build Better 2025

Setting the stage for the future of manufacturing—leveraging innovation, AI, and strong team culture to accelerate product development. Speakers: Anna-Katrina Shedletsky (CEO at Instrumental)

Innovation in the Arsenal: New Tactics for Achieving Capacity in Defense Manufacturing | Build Better 2025

With multiple hot conflicts around the world and increasing pressure to be more efficient with taxpayer dollars, innovation in defense manufacturing is critical. This session dives into the operational constraints slowing down defense manufacturing and how visionary leaders are breaking those bottlenecks. Moderator: Erin Price-Wright (General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz). Speakers: Keith Flynn (SVP of Production at Anduril), Dan Magy (CEO at Firestorm Labs), Mike Sternowski (Operation Director of Advanced Manufacturing & NPI at L3Harris), Tim Murnin (Head of Industry & Partner Strategy at AWS)

Limitless Acceleration: The Frontier of Schedule Velocity in NPI and Production | Build Better 2025

There’s no such thing as agile hardware but the smartest teams are proving you can get a lot closer. This session unpacks the levers behind ten times faster ramps from AI driven root cause analysis to radical supply chain transparency. If you’re still waiting for stability before you ship you’re already behind. Let’s talk about what it really takes to go fast and not break everything in the process. Moderator: Heatherly Bucher (Director at Strategic Alliances at Arena). Speakers: Zach Scott (Head of Hardware at Backbone), Tony Aghazarian (Consulting COO at Archer and more)

The Frontier of Truth: Radical Data Transparency Between CMs and Brands | Build Better 2025

Everyone says they want collaboration until it’s time to open the data. This session explores how the best EMS brand relationships are built on shared truth, not just shared timelines. Moderator: Sam Weiss (CTO at Instrumental). Speakers: Andrew Schuermann (CEO at Arch Systems), Srinivas Mellacheruvu (Head of Manufacturing Quality at Backbone), Morgan Teachworth (Former SVP of Engineering at Cisco)

The Frontier of Electronics Complexity: The Many Bottlenecks of AI Compute Infrastructure

The FPYs for AI servers are dreadfully low, and no one’s talking about it. Designs are complex, often customized, and produced in higher volumes with shorter timelines than ever before. This discussion will unpack what causes low FPYs and how visionary leaders are forging a new path to process control with technology. Moderator: Alon Ben-Shoshan (CBO at Instrumental). Speakers: Todd Steele (Principal Technical Program Manager at AWS), JP Fricker (Chief System Architect and Co-Founder at Cerebras), Alvin Clark (Sr AI engineer, Global Developer Relations at NVIDIA)

Outsourced: Industry Perils of Delegating Too Much of Product Innovation and Ownership

In the rush for speed and efficiency many teams have outsourced the very things that used to be their competitive edge. This panel challenges that trend with leaders who’ve seen what happens when you give away too much too early. Moderator: Bill Carter-Giannini (Engineering Leader at Joinery). Speakers: Miguel Christophy (VP of Hardware at Oura), Garrett Bastable (COO at Whoop), Sree Chenincherry (Head of Operations at Logitech)

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