Virginia Tech will host the 2025 Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Annual Summit — VirginiaAI: Charting the Future of AI in Virginia — in Alexandria, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1. 

More than 200 technology, business, and government leaders from across the commonwealth will attend to drive new research, attract investment, and position Virginia as a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) innovation. 

“This year’s summit could not be more timely, as artificial intelligence rapidly shapes the future of industry, government, and society. We are thankful for the distinguished speakers and provocative topics that are helping us explore AI’s promise and challenges.” said Al Grasso, chair of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine.

The conference chairs are T.M. Murali and Naren Ramakrishnan, both professors of computer science at Virginia Tech. Ramakrishnan is also a core faculty member with the Institute for Advanced Computing and director of the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics.

“The goal of this summit is to explore the reasons for the palpable excitement about AI and discuss the substantial challenges that remain to be addressed,” said Murali, who also directs the NSF COMPASS Center for pandemic prediction and prevention. “Speakers will cover policy, implementation, and regulatory challenges that arise when deploying AI systems in the field,and address ethical concerns about AI and how to create public trust about these systems."

Summit discussions will highlight cutting-edge research at Virginia universities on topics spanning science, engineering, and medicine. Panels will address building AI infrastructure in Virginia and making the commonwealth a national leader in AI. A key session will include dynamic, TED-style talks from speakers from across Virginia’s public and private sectors.

Arvind Narayanan, professor of computer science and director of the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University, will give the opening keynote, “What is AI?”

Other highlights include Virginia Del. Michelle Lopes Maldonado, who represents the 20th House District in Northern Virginia and chairs the General Assembly's Technology and Innovation Caucus as well as its AI work group subcommittee, who will present on “AI, Technology, and the Workforce.” The morning keynote on Oct. 1 will feature Mark Sendak from Duke University, who will discuss “AI and Medicine (How will Healthcare Change?).”

Additional Virginia Tech researchers and program directors participating in the two-day conference include:

  • Ruoxi Jia, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering 
  • Lingjia Liu, professor of electrical and computer engineering and a core faculty member at the Institute for Advanced Computing
  • Luiz DeSilva, executive director of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative
  • Pinar Yanardag-Delul, assistant professor of computer science
  • Anuj Karpatne, associate professor of computer science

Mehul Sanghani, founder of Octo and Virginia Tech alumnus whose generosity supports the Sanghani Center, will participate on a panel on “Making Virginia a National Leader in the AI Industry.”

The Sanghani Center, Institute for Advanced Computing, and College of Science are sponsoring the summit. To view the full agenda or register to attend, visit the website. 

“I also want to extend my gratitude to the universities, state government agencies, and industry partners who join in this conversation and for making this gathering such a powerful reflection of collaboration and shared purpose across the commonwealth,” Grasso said.

For questions about the summit, please contact Nat Draper at ndraper@vasem.org.

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