Speaker Connects are an opportunity to join a limited number of attendees for an intimate discussion with SXSW Speakers. Come brainstorm new ideas and engage in conversation in this unique format. Advance sign-up is required, and access is limited to Interactive and Platinum badge holders. Please stay tuned to sxsw.com for updates to the RSVP process in late February.

Annie Hardy’s expertise ranges from product strategy and marketing to innovation and research for companies in multiple industries. As Global AI Architect and Futurist in Cisco’s Global Partner Engineering team, she reverse-engineers the art of the possible into meaningful actions Cisco Partners can take today, to deliver on the promise of technology in a way that creates a more inclusive future for all.

Prior to joining Cisco, Ms. Hardy founded zeet insights, where she led a team that delivered exceptional work clients loved, across multiple technology segments including SaaS, infrastructure, artificial intelligence, energy, and smart mobility. But tracing back to the beginning of her professional experience, her career actually began in social work, resulting in a human-centered focus that she has carried into companies across multiple verticals across over two decades of professional experience.

Having filed her first Artificial Intelligence patent at Cisco, Ms. Hardy currently sits on Cisco’s Applied AI Patent Committee, the Responsible AI Champions team, and the NIST US AI Safety Institute Consortium. She is the Editor of Cisco's Analytics and Intelligent Automation blog, sits on the board of the non-profit Global Impact Initiative, and represents Cisco on the Board of the International Society of Service Innovation Professionals (ISSIP). Ms. Hardy has a B.A. in Communication Arts and Spanish from Austin College and is certified in the practice of Strategic Foresight by the University of Houston.