June 11 – 12, 2026
Boston, Massachusetts
The Age of Agents:
Progress and Peril in Commercial Deployments of Agentic AI
Agents promise to build upon the progress of large language models and leverage massive data, smart work flows, and specialized tools to autonomously pursue objectives delegated by humans or other agents. The opportunity to unlock significant value in both digital and physical agents (e.g., robots) is unprecedented, but so are potential harms. In addition to LLM challenges of bias, brittle, and baroqueness, agents that are delegated responsibilities have the potential to create financial, reputational, and even physical damage. Accordingly, advancing responsible agents is imperative to unlock their full potential. This panel will explore a range of commercial and industrial applications of agents in multiple domains including aerospace, financial services, healthcare, and cybersecurity. The panel will consider the growth of AI agents that are beginning to deliver differentiating value in uses cases that include product and service design, manufacturing, supply, finance, sales, and customer service. A broad set of perspectives from expert practitioners will share practical lessons learned on how to create trusted foundations to enable rapid and secure development of agents at scale. Panelists with real-world agent experience will share how they mitigate risks of goal misalignment, miscommunication, and malperformance (including failures in confidentiality, integrity and availability) to achieve quantitative benefits of agents such as speed to market, personalization, productivity, and affordable scale.
Panelists
Dr. Mark Maybury, VP, Lockheed Martin, Moderator
Frank Ferrante, CEO, Forward Edge ASIC, Fabless Microelectronics Design Company
Julie Fitton, VP and CISO, Analog Devices
Cliona Molony, Chief Data Officer and Data Scientist, VP R&D, IDEXX
Steve MacLellan, President Blue Sky and Board Director, ACSC
Panel Bios
Dr. Mark Maybury is the vice president, Commercialization, Engineering & Technology for Lockheed Martin, responsible for leading efforts to commercialize dual-use products and services across the corporation. Dr. Maybury’s prior roles include first chief technology officer for Stanley Black & Decker, Chief Scientist of the U.S. Air Force, Chief Technology and Chief Security Officer at MITRE and Director of the National Cybersecurity FFRDC. He serves on boards and advises Defense Science Board, LMEvolve, AstrisAI, Forward Edge ASIC, Internet Sciences, Halo.Energy, Nano surfaces, and the Advanced Cybersecurity Center. His past board service includes over 30 national studies, READY Robotics, Object Management Group, Air Force Scientific Advisory Board, Intelligence Science Board and Homeland Security S&T Advisory Committee. Dr. Maybury is a Fellow of both the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
Since 2022, Frank Ferrante has served as Vice President of Worldwide Automotive Sales and Marketing at Wolfspeed, driving advancements in silicon carbide semiconductor technologies for electric vehicle manufacturing. Frank previously held leadership roles at Intel, overseeing critical semiconductor programs in foundry services, military aerospace, and government initiatives. With deep experience in strategic supply-chain resilience and advanced manufacturing, Frank actively advises policymakers on strengthening U.S. manufacturing infrastructure through initiatives such as the CHIPS Act, enhancing sustainability and innovation in American semiconductor manufacturing.
Julie Fitton is Chief Information Security Officer at Analog Devices. She is an expert in Information Security and the development and execution of comprehensive programs and strategies to govern enterprise risk, with a focus on the IT industry. Fitton is experienced in leading large teams of cross-functional professionals comprised of internal resources and consultants. Fitton is a Member of the Board of Directors at bankHometown. Previously, she served as Vice President, Chief Security Officer at Stanley Black & Decker, Inc.
Cliona Molony currently serves as the Chief Data Officer and VP of R&D at IDEXX, a position held since September 2022. Prior to this role, Cliona was the Global Head of Data Science at Sanofi from January 2018 to June 2022, where responsibilities included building AI and digital data products across various functions including Commercial Performance and Real World Evidence. Cliona’s experience also encompasses serving as Sr. Director and Head of Computational Biomedicine at Pfizer, leading a Data Science group focused on genetic and clinical data integration, as well as roles at Merck and Rosetta Inpharmatics emphasizing precision medicine and statistical genetics. Cliona’s academic background includes a B.Sc. from McGill University and a Ph.D. in Biomathematics, Bioinformatics, and Computational Biology from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Steve MacLellan is a founding partner of Blue Sky Management & Research, a Cambridge, Massachusetts strategic advisory company. Blue Sky works with technology companies to help them maximize their potential and help create the future. Steve worked most recently for Fidelity Investments in Boston for over 26 years. At Fidelity, Steve was the Senior Vice President responsible for cyber security and global information security solutions. Steve also worked for BayBanks (now Bank of America), Charles T. Main Engineers, and John Hancock in technology and IT management roles. Steve is a founder of SecuritiNet, a start-up focused on securing eHealth transactions across US providers. Steve also operates Blue Sky Management & Research that provides angel venture capital funding to early stage start-ups. Mr. MacLellan is a respected IT leader with over 39 years of deep technical and effective management experience with a reputation for innovation, problem solving, and solution delivery. Mr. MacLellan has worked for several leading US financial services companies including Fidelity Investments, John Hancock, and Bank of America (formerly Bay Banks). His global consulting work covers the US, Europe, Africa, and China.
Created and maintained by Ballos Associates