Keynote: After the Gold Rush

Event Overview

AI has been called everything from the next industrial revolution to the latest wave of tech snake oil. The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between. We see value is generated when AI is used to enhance workflows, not replace them.

Join Kurt Wagner, Bloomberg journalist and author of "Battle for the Bird," and Lutz Finger, AI entrepreneur and Visiting Senior Lecturer at Cornell’s SC Johnson College of Business, for a grounded discussion on where AI is truly creating value. They’ll explore what’s working in AI today — especially where workflows, AI, and human expertise intersect — and why Lutz decided to sell his own AI startup as part of that shift toward sustainable value creation.

This conversation looks beyond the buzzwords to highlight how thoughtful AI integration is driving meaningful change for businesses and builders alike.

What You'll Learn

How to interpret the data behind AI startup successes and failures — and what it reveals about the true investment potential of the current AI boom
Evidence-based insights into proven strategies and approaches that drive AI startup success
Real-world lessons from the frontlines of building, scaling, and selling an AI venture in today's competitive landscape

Speakers

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Kurt Wagner

Author and Journalist

Bloomberg

Bio

Kurt Wagner is an award-winning business and technology journalist covering social media for Bloomberg, where he has worked since 2019. He published his first book, “Battle for the Bird: Jack Dorsey, Elon Musk, and the $44 Billion Fight for Twitter’s Soul,” in 2024.

Kurt has been covering social media since 2013 and previously worked at Recode, Mashable, and Fortune. He grew up near Seattle, went to college at Santa Clara University, and now lives in Denver with his wife and two kids.

*photo credit for Kurt Wagner headshot: David Paul Morris

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Lutz Finger

Visiting Senior Lecturer

Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Bio
Certificates Authored

Visiting Senior Lecturer, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

Lutz Finger is a Silicon Valley technologist and Cornell faculty member with 20+ years of experience building AI-driven products and platforms at Google, LinkedIn, and Snap. He is a serial entrepreneur (R2Decide, acquired in 2025; Fisheye Analytics, acquired in 2013) and currently leads AI strategy at XGEN AI, developing next-generation generative retail solutions.

Finger teaches several courses on AI and product development. His eCornell certificate program provides an end-to-end guide to using AI to create measurable business value, and has helped executives worldwide move from AI ideas to real implementations:

Finger is also a frequent Forbes contributor on AI and the future of commerce. He is a Venture Partner at Cherry Ventures, serves on multiple advisory boards, and has advised and invested in data-centric companies across the United States and Europe. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and an M.S. in Quantum Physics from TU Berlin.

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