Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 8 – 9 a.m. | Dreyfus University Center, Laird Room (2ND floor)
AI in 2026: Tokens, Agents & the New Intelligence Economy
Artificial intelligence is evolving at an unprecedented pace, reshaping how businesses compete, innovate, and create value. Explore the economics of frontier AI models versus increasingly capable open-source alternatives, the rise of AI agents, the impact of model distillation on competition, and the growing geopolitical tensions influencing AI development. Gain a practical understanding of the trends driving the next wave of AI—and what they mean for your organization’s strategy, workforce, and competitive advantage.
Free Registration!
Meet the Presenters
Ibrahim Said Ahmad, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Computing and New Media Technologies at UW–Stevens Point, working on large language models, evaluation, and cultural alignment. Previously a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Northeastern University’s Institute for Experiential AI, he has released widely used open-source datasets and models, and co-organizes SemEval, one of the field’s benchmark competitions for language models — work recognized with best-paper awards at ACL and ACII in 2025. He is a co-founder of HausaNLP and Arewa Data Science, and has collaborated with Google Research and Oracle.
Tomi Heimonen, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Computing and New Media Technologies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and an expert in human-centered design and interaction technologies, with a current focus on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence, ethics, and user experience. As a former department chair of CNMT, he led the development of the university’s new undergraduate program in Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Heimonen’s research and teaching interests cover various areas of human-centered design of emerging technologies – evidenced for example by his recent course, “Prototyping with AI,” which introduced students to AI tools and techniques for rapid application development. He has also collaborated with industry partners such as Marshfield Clinic Research Institute, KONE, Konecranes, and Valmet Automation on applications of interactive technologies. Beyond academic research, Dr. Heimonen has given several popular talks on AI and its applications to local community groups.
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