brAIn Hub 2025 Speakers
Pioneering AI Possibilities for Regional Growth
The MAWDB and it’s partners are pleased to present the 2025 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit speakers and moderators.
Register now:
https://brAInHub2025.eventbrite.com
Learn from AI experts and practitioners on how AI can enhance your personal and professional life, and fuel economic resilience and growth.
The AI Summit aims to spark innovation, efficiencies, networking, and regional growth by leveraging the vast capabilities of AI.
Speakers and moderators are listed in order of appearance in the schedule.
Jeffrey Kaplan
Director, Venture Asheville
CEO, Optimist Ventures
Jeffrey Kaplan is an award-winning entrepreneur, published author, and professional speaker on the topics of entrepreneurial development and startup ecosystems. Serving as the Director of Venture Asheville, Jeffrey’s portfolio of startups impact the Asheville market by creating over 400 jobs, raising over $60M investment dollars, and earning over $110M in revenue. Taking an unconventional approach to founder and startup ecosystem development earned Jeffrey an International Economic Development Council Gold Ranking for Innovation and Impact, an appointment by Governor Roy Cooper to the NC Board of Science, Technology, and Innovation, and listed as one of 2022’s Business NC “Trailblazers”. The underlying philosophy and methodology can be seen in his 2022 TEDxAsheville talk, “How to Build a Better Entrepreneur.”
Prior to leading Venture Asheville, Jeffrey founded and worked for a number of startups spanning ed-tech, healthcare, pet-tech, a dating site, and one internet-connected kegerator.
Dr. John Gossett
President
A-B Tech Community College
Dr. John D. Gossett joined A-B Tech Community College as its seventh president in July 2020. He previously was president of McDowell Technical Community College in Marion.
Gossett’s career in higher education began as a Business Administration instructor and department chair at Mayland Community College. He also served Mayland as Assistant Vice President for Academic Services, Associate Vice President for Workforce Development, Director of Research and Planning, and Vice President of Student Development. He joined McDowell Tech in 2012 as Vice President for Learning and Student Services and became its president in 2016.
Gossett serves on the Economic Development Coalition Board for Asheville and Buncombe County, the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board, the Goodwill Board of Directors, and the YMCA of Western North Carolina Board. He has served on numerous local, regional, and statewide boards and committees in support of community college education and economic development initiatives, and currently on the Programs Committee in support of the NC Community College System Strategic Plan. His professional interests include community and small business development, as well as leadership development for staff and students.
Gossett holds a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Tennessee, an M.B.A. from Appalachian State University, and an Ed.D. in Adult and Community College Education from North Carolina State University. His doctoral dissertation focused on the role of community colleges in economic development.
Jeff DeBellis
Director of Economic & Policy Analysis
NC Dept. of Commerce
Jeff DeBellis is the Director of Economic & Policy Analysis in the NC Department of Commerce’s Labor & Economic Analysis Division. In this role, he leads a team of analysts and economists in conducting research and developing insights and data tools on North Carolina’s economy and labor market. He advises local and state leaders on workforce and economic development trends and in the development of the state’s strategic economic development plan. His responsibilities also include researching job and industry trends such as automation and AI; conducting economic impact analyses; managing and growing the state’s career information system, NCcareers.org; and producing various publications, dashboards, and resources to help North Carolinians make informed economic decisions. Before joining the Department of Commerce in 2012, Jeff worked in research roles for nearly 15 years with NC’s Small Business & Technology Development Center and RTI International.
Maggie Smith
Research Analyst in the Labor and Economic Analysis Division (LEAD)
NC Dept. of Commerce
Maggie Smith is a Research Analyst in the Labor and Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. She brings over 15 years of experience in research and data analysis to her role. Prior to joining LEAD, Maggie was a Research Analyst for the Economic Development Coalition of Asheville-Buncombe County and a Research Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Smith’s educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Kent State University, followed by a Master of Science in Psychology and a Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience from Binghamton University.
Dr. Beth Stewart
Vice President of Instructional Services
A-B Tech Community College
Dr. Beth R. Stewart is a distinguished administrator with over 15 years of senior leadership experience at community colleges. She currently serves as the Vice President of Instructional Services at A-B Tech. Dr. Stewart holds an Ed.D. from Vanderbilt University, an M.A. in Mass Communication from Stephen F. Austin State University, and a B.A. in Communication from Henderson State University.
Dr. Stewart has launched several key educational initiatives, including the Pathway Project, which dramatically improved first-semester success, retention, and graduation rates for transfer students. She has also spearheaded the revitalization of the Emergency Services Division, enhancing equipment and community relations. She currently leads an initiative to integrate AI into the curriculum and to use AI to reduce faculty and staff workload.
Additionally, Dr. Stewart is a seasoned educator, teaching subjects from public speaking to self-defense. She champions diversity, equity, inclusion initiatives, and work-life balance. In her personal life, she is a 6th degree black belt, Chief Instructor, and Association Sergeant-at-Arms in the Southeastern Kenpo Karate Association, enjoys outdoor activities, and plays Dungeons & Dragons. She is a native of Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas.
Dr. Chris Harshman
Vice President of Operations & Chief Information Officer
A-B Tech Community College
Cris Harshman serves as the Vice President of Operations and Chief Information Officer at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College. With over two decades of leadership in higher education technology and operations, Cris has led institution-wide transformation efforts spanning instructional design, infrastructure modernization, data-informed strategy, and enterprise technology implementation.
Cris brings a systems-thinking approach to institutional change, often guiding projects that intersect compliance, innovation, and culture. His work includes campus-wide AI literacy initiatives, the integration of generative AI into faculty and staff development, and the implementation of digital tools that improve student onboarding, automate regulatory reporting, and support instructional delivery. He has led the adoption of hybrid instructional models, modernization of student systems, and the creation of sustainable operational strategies across IT and facilities.
A certified PMP, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Prosci Change Practitioner, Cris holds a J.D. from Temple University and a B.A. in Political Science and Philosophy from Elon College. He is a graduate of the North Carolina Community College Leadership Program and a co-author of IT Change Management: A Practical Approach for Higher Education.
Dr. Tim Scapin
Instructional Designer, Educational Technologist, Instructor
Haywood Community College
Dr. Tim Scapin is an Instructional Designer & Educational Technologist and instructor at Haywood Community College. He is the co-director of the Artificial Intelligence Community of Practice (AICoP) through the NC Student Success Center and the Director of Partnerships and Sponsorships with the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN). Dr. Scapin is a graduate of the Educational Leadership doctoral program at Appalachian State University, where he now serves as Affiliate Faculty. He has conducted immersive technology research overseas and recently published a book, Leveraging Technology to Enhance Equitable Teaching: A Community College Case Study.
Jim Brooks
Educational Technology Specialist
Brevard College
Jim Brooks is the Educational Technology Specialist at Brevard College, where he focuses on integrating emerging technologies, especially artificial intelligence, into teaching and learning. With a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in technology, Jim has spent years exploring the practical applications of AI in higher education. He is passionate about making learning more accessible and effective for students and educators alike. Based in Brevard, North Carolina, Jim also volunteers with a local non-profit (Through the Trees) that refurbishes and distributes computers to community members and serves on the local rescue squad.
James Everett
Professor, Director, Coordinator
Brevard College
James Everett, assistant professor of English, is Director of First Year Writing and Coordinator of the Integrated Studies Major at Brevard College. He has published poems in The Global South and storySouth, and is the recipient of a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg poetry prize. He has served as a presenter for the Mississippi Writer’s Workshop and is a former poetry editor for the Yalobusha Review. He lives with his wife and three daughters near Asheville, North Carolina.
Erica Anderson
Deputy Executive Director
Land of Sky Regional Council
Erica Anderson, AICP, joined Land of Sky Regional Council in the spring of 2010. She has been serving as the Economic & Community Development Director since 2013, and was also named the Deputy Executive Director in 2023. Originally, from Maine, near the Northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, she has over 20 years of experience working with rural and urbanizing communities to implement appropriate development initiatives in the fields of community development, transportation, recovery, and economic development. She leads the Planning, Transit, and Transportation Divisions in personnel, budget, strategic partnerships, and project development and management. Erica is a Returned Peace Corps Morocco Volunteer and holds a master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Virginia Tech University and B.S. from Colorado State University.
Robert Hiett
Executive Director
Upper Coastal Plans Council of Governments
Robert Hiett is a recognized leader, speaker, and trainer for public sector artificial intelligence (AI). He has earned more than 20 specialized certifications in areas ranging from advanced prompt engineering to machine learning. In addition, Mr. Hiett has professional certifications in AI Engineering and Generative AI Engineering, and he uses his expertise to explore and implement AI solutions for his region.
Mr. Hiett led efforts to develop the first regional enterprise grade AI platform designed for a council of governments (COG) in North Carolina, and half of the UCPCOG member governments are currently participating in the platform. He led the effort to create the first generative AI (GenAI) virtual assistant for an Area Agency on Aging (AAA) in the United States, and it provides advice and resources to senior citizens and/or their caregivers. In addition, he recently created the UCPCOG AI Academy to train local government leaders on generative AI, and to equip them with the knowledge and skills needed to integrate AI into their operations.
Beyond his work in government, Mr. Hiett is an author, speaker, and thought leader in public sector AI. He routinely writes on LinkedIn and Substack and produces educational content on YouTube. Mr. Hiett has also written two books, The Public Sector Survival Guide for ChatGPT and Zero to Hero: ChatGPT Prompting in 30 Days, to help public sector workers gain prompt engineering skills. In addition, Mr. Hiett is often asked to speak or train other public sector professionals on AI topics.
Mr. Hiett has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Georgia College & State University and a master’s degree in public administration from Grand Canyon University. Mr. Hiett served in the U.S. Army Reserve, Corps of Engineers, attained the rank of Captain, and was honorably discharged when his service concluded.
Jonathan Feldman
Chief Information Officer
Wake County
Jonathan Feldman is Chief Information Officer for Wake County, NC, home to Raleigh and Research Triangle Park. An award winning speaker, writer, and government CIO, he has been recognized for leading through emerging technology to make a positive impact on the communities he serves. He has been named County Executive of the Year by GoldenGov; Public CIO of the year by NC Tech; has been awarded a Frost & Sullivan CIO Impact Award; and has been included in Government Technology’s Top 25 Dreamers, Doers, and Drivers. He is frequently listed among top CIO and IT practitioners. Jonathan is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of cloud computing, digital transformation, and civic tech, with Forbes calling his efforts “IT done right.”
Jonathan’s success leading government technology led him to co-author Code for America’s book, “Beyond Transparency” with Tim O’Reilly and others. His column with InformationWeek magazine, which won an American Society of Business Publication Editors award, started many industry conversations about positive IT transformation. He has spoken all over the world about government technology, the future of work, data and performance, leadership, and digital transformation, and is often quoted in the media about these topics. He is active on social media at jfeldman.bsky.social and on LinkedIn.com/in/1jfeldman.
Nathan Ramsey
Executive Director
Land of Sky Regional Council
Nathan is the Executive Director of Land of Sky Regional Council and Director of the Mountain Area Workforce Development Board serving Buncombe, Henderson, Madison, and Transylvania Counties. Prior to these roles he was a Business Services Representative for the North Carolina Department of Commerce and a practicing attorney with the Blanchard Law Firm. Nathan served in the NC House from 2013 to 2014 and as Chairman of the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners from 2000 to 2008. Nathan serves as a board member of the NC Housing Partnership, NC Governor Josh Stein’s Rebuilding WNC Advisory Committee, NC Child, NC School of Science and Mathematics Board of Trustees, Development District Association of Appalachia, Mission Health, Kids Voting NC and the First Step Farm of WNC. He is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Asheville and University of Tennessee College of Law. Nathan is a member of the NC State Bar.
Marc Hoit
Vice Chancellor for Information Technology, Chief Information Officer
NC State University
Dr. Marc Hoit is the Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and CIO at NC State University. Hoit held numerous administrative positions at the University of Florida including Interim CIO, Director of Student PeopleSoft Implementation, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Administration and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering. He is a Professor of Structural Engineering in the Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering Department at NC State. Hoit received his B.S. from Purdue University, M.S. and Ph.D. from University of California, Berkeley. He was the PI for DIGGS, an international standard XML schema for transferring transportation
information and data, funded by the Federal Highway Association. His structural engineering research developed the computer program, FB-MultiPier, which performs nonlinear analysis of bridge piers, superstructure and pile foundations subjected to dynamic loading.
Dr. Hoit has been dedicating effort towards facilitation in supporting strategic plan development as well as training others to facilitate. His initial training was in 1995. Since then, he has led the development of strategic plans for many engineering groups including the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), Infrastructure Advancement Institute (IAI), American Segmental Bridge Institute (ASBI), American Association of Environmental and Environmental Science Professors (AEESP). He and his training partner created the Facilitri.org organization to help in leadership development and train others to facilitate including IAI, Structural Engineering Institute (SEI) and others.
Drew Pollick
Founder & CEO
CraftHR Solutions
Drew Pollick, Founder & CEO of Asheville-based Craft HR Solutions, leverages his Fortune 500-level HR expertise to guide small and mid-sized businesses through today’s evolving workforces. With extensive experience advising leaders across diverse industries and organization sizes, Drew has built a firm uniquely positioned to understand the fundamental drivers of a business and strategically align HR programs for high performance, particularly in the age of AI. Craft HR Solutions is increasingly vital in the fractional HR landscape as organizations identify talent gaps, retool their workforces, and raise performance expectations. Drew holds an MBA from Boston College, an MA in Higher & Postsecondary Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a BS in Chemistry from John Carroll University. He founded Craft HR with a passion for empowering small and mid-sized business leaders to strategically leverage HR to build high-impact organizations.
Steve Weese
Instructor / Computer Technologies Department
A-B Tech Community College
Stephen Weese has been teaching computer courses for over 20 years. When he was 10 years old, his father got a Commodore 64, and that was the beginning. He has a Bachelors in Computer Science and a Masters in IT, as well as an MCSE, MSCD, and A+. He has helped develop the new Artificial Intelligence program at A-B Tech for the last two years.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenweese/
One day, in the near future, AI will become more intelligent than humans. What will happen on that day? When is it predicted to occur? Stephen enjoys expounding on what our future of humans and artificial beings will look like.
Dr. Abdallah S. Abdallah
Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering
School of Engineering + Technology
Western Carolina University
Dr. Abdallah is an Associate Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Western Carolina University, a position he began in January 2025. Before joining WCU, he served at Penn State Erie – The Behrend College from 2017 to 2024, first as an Assistant Professor and later as a tenured Associate Professor. During his time at Penn State, he founded and directed the Internet of Things Research Lab (IoT@Behrend) and focused on wireless networks, IoT, video streaming, signal processing, and applied machine learning. His work bridges academic research and industry applications, supporting product development and technological innovation. He is also a certified deep learning instructor with NVIDIA’s Deep Learning Institute (DLI). Furthermore, Dr. Abdallah is the Founder and CEO of SabryTech.com, an LLC that provides consulting services across a range of technological fields, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), and power and clean energy.
Before transitioning to academia, Dr. Abdallah gained extensive industry experience. He worked at Intel Corporation as an embedded systems software engineer at their production facility in Aloha, Oregon. He also completed graduate internships at Intel, focusing on wireless and telecom standards, and at Broadcom Inc., where he contributed to interoperability testing for LTE devices. Additionally, he spent seven years as a freelance embedded systems engineer between 2005 and 2012. As an active researcher, Dr. Abdallah is a regular author and reviewer for IEEE journals and conferences. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a member of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE). Dr. Abdallah earned his M.Sc. in 2007 and his Ph.D. in 2016 in Computer Engineering from Virginia Tech. He received his B.Sc. in Computer Engineering in 2003 from the Arab Academy for Science & Technology (Alexandria, Egypt). His favorite book is “Ego is The Enemy” by Ryan Holiday.
Aidan O’Brien
Co-Founder
Hellion Studios
Aidan O’Brien, MBA is the co-founder of Hellion Studios, where he combines his background as an NCAA athlete, entrepreneur, and technologist to build practical AI solutions that empower people to create, automate, and innovate. Guided by a “working backwards” approach, Aidan and his team focus on making advanced automation accessible and useful for organizations of all sizes-helping the Asheville region and beyond unlock new efficiencies and growth. He’s passionate about democratizing AI, documenting and systemizing processes, and turning high-agency ideas into real-world impact for businesses, educators, and the broader community.
Presenting with Aidan will be with Danny Ibarra.
Danny is a developer at Hellion Studios, where he combines expertise in web development, automation, and AI to create innovative business solutions. Proficient in multiple programming languages and automation platforms l, he specializes in building efficient workflows and AI-driven systems. Danny leverages tools including ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini to streamline operations and solve complex technical challenges. Danny is passionate about applying AI to solve real-world problems, continuously grow my technical skills, and drive innovation in everything I work on.
www.linkedin.com/in/danny-ibarra-dev
Eli Etherton
Founder & Cat Herder
Silicon Dojo
“Eli the Computer Guy” has worked in tech since the 90’s starting in US Army Electronics Repair, earning his MCSE in 2000, building up a computer services company, and creating a tech education YouTube channel with over 1 million subscribers. The current problem he’s trying to solve for is how to provide high quality interactive technology education regardless of financial status or physical location of students.
Outspoken, sharing, and caring all come to mind when you hear his passion for education.
Land-of-Sky Regional Council’s Mountain Area Workforce Development Board and leaders from area educational institutes and businesses worked diligently planning this 2025 event! We’re also in process of scouting locations for the 2026 event and beyond. If you are intersted in presenting, please do reach out to us.
Please email barbarad@landofsky.org or mark@landofsky.org if you are interested in participating or sponsoring.
