Daniela Rus

The financial implications of adopting AI can be daunting, especially when it isn’t clear which of the latest emerging technologies will benefit an organization or just become a money sink. Daniela Rus, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and the MIT AI Accelerator, brings leaders and executives a critical look at the economic considerations crucial to making informed AI investments. The co-founder of multiple technology startups, including Liquid AI, Themis AI and Venti Technologies, Rus’ accessible and clear presentations provide a critical analysis of AI investments and guide leaders on choosing technologies that offer true value for money. She also explores how not all AI solutions are worth the cost, providing a framework for assessing the economic viability of AI projects. Audiences walk away with practical tools and insights for avoiding costly pitfalls, enabling them to focus on AI applications that promise real financial benefits and enhance their competitive edge.

Imagine a future where intelligent machines elevate our work, life and environment. A globally renowned researcher studying how to integrate tech into the fabric of our lives, Daniela Rus reveals the expansive possibilities of AI, robotics and computing in shaping a more inclusive and efficient future. In this inspiring session, she explores how forward-thinking organizations can use AI not just for economic gain but as a catalyst for broad societal benefits. She provides a visionary outlook on creating sustainable, innovative solutions that extend beyond profit and focus on the global good. Attendees will leave inspired to drive change within their industries, equipped with the knowledge to leverage AI for sustainable growth and innovation, ensuring their actions today help forge a better tomorrow.

Sustainability is increasingly becoming a critical goal for all sectors, making the environmental impact of AI more important than ever to organizations. Daniela Rus, one of the world’s top AI researchers and director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, uncovers the often-overlooked aspect of AI’s energy consumption, its implications for climate change and strategies for creating sustainable solutions. Highlighting innovative approaches for reducing the ecological footprint of AI tools – including how to design energy-efficient AI systems that can run reliably on robots, sensors and other edge devices – Rus reveals how to integrate environmentally friendly practices with technological advancements such as physical intelligence. The co-founder of Liquid AI, Rus uses vivid examples drawn from her experience building energy-efficient AI to deftly demonstrates how to develop products that balance innovation and environmental responsibility. With new strategies to harmonize technological advancement with environmental stewardship, attendees leave with a better understanding of the energy challenges of foundational AI models. Leaders and teams return to their organizations equipped to ensure AI initiatives support achievable sustainability objectives.

Artificial intelligence is leaving the cloud and entering the world, not as abstract code but as a property of physical systems themselves. According to Daniela Rus, director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, this is the promise of “physical AI” – intelligence that is compact, adaptive, embodied and inspired by the dynamics of living systems. In this fascinating presentation, she explains that such AI could make our technologies more efficient, trustworthy and human-centered, while also forcing us to confront profound questions. Rus explores several of these questions, including what it means when intelligence no longer sits apart from the world but is woven into its fabric, and whether physical AI will become a foundation for resilience and care or bind us to technologies we cannot escape or control. Learning how AI’s power to understand text, images, signals and other information makes physical machines like robots intelligent, attendees leave with a firm grasp of the true paradigm-shifting potential physical intelligence can offer.