Everyone has an AI strategy. Fewer have AI results. As the hype cycle matures, the real story of AI adoption is playing out not in Silicon Valley keynotes but in university research labs, regional economies, and the industries Americans depend on daily — healthcare, education, workforce development. And increasingly, it's playing out in places like Austin.
Texas is uniquely positioned in this moment: a massive innovation economy, growing AI talent pipeline, and policymakers asking the right questions about how to build markets that actually work for people. This panel brings together three practitioners working the adoption problem from different angles — higher education and enterprise strategy (Ayham Boucher, Cornell), corporate experience moving into market-building in healthcare and dependent care (Rebecca Mark, Hella Strategic), and regional AI capacity building and policy (Austin Carson, SeedAI) — for a frank conversation about what's working, what's not, and what Texas can teach the rest of the country about turning AI potential into AI reality.
Ayham Boucher is the Executive Director of AI Strategy and Enablement at Cornell University, where he leads the institution’s AI strategy and innovation initiatives in support of education, research, and administration. He also serves as an AI advisor to Fortune 100 companies and supports AI-driven startups as an advisor at Armory Square Ventures. In addition, he co-chairs an AI Innovation Accelerator comprising more than 80 U.S. and global institutions.
Rebecca Mark is the Founder of Hella Strategic, which is based out of Austin, TX and works with founders who have the technical chops and the conviction to serve the markets that matter most to Americans' lived experience. This includes healthcare delivery, dependent care, and the future of work, where the economics often don't align with current venture models -- But where markets must be built. Rebecca as two decades across government, startups, and the Fortune 500 -- she served in Congressional leadership, created Government Relations for GM's former autonomous car subsidiary Cruise, lobbied for Microsoft, mentored First Round Capital portfolio companies, and introduced Product Lifecycle Management as a Corporate Strategy initiative for Cloudera.
Austin Carson is Founder and CEO of SeedAI, a nonpartisan nonprofit at the intersection of AI policy and practical AI adoption. With over a decade at the center of AI policy, he leads initiatives spanning regional capacity building, workforce development, and AI governance. Core SeedAI programs include AI Across America, which supports local AI ecosystems; Accelerate Science Now, a 70+ member coalition advancing AI for scientific discovery; and AI Primer, an education series for policymakers.
Carson previously established NVIDIA’s D.C. government affairs presence. Prior to that, he served as Legislative Director for Chairman Michael McCaul, where he championed major cybersecurity legislation, co-founded the Congressional Tech Staff Association (500+ members), led the High Tech and Cybersecurity Caucuses, and was a founding fellow of the Internet Law and Policy Foundry.
