Mind & Machine at SMU: The Economics of AI

A Conversation on AI Economics, FinOps & the Future of How We Build MIND AND MACHINE AT SMU A Conversation on AI Economics, FinOps & the Future of How We Build Be where DFW decision-makers define their AI investments. The companies shaping their AI strategy for 2027 are making decisions right now. This is the room where those conversations start. DESCRIPTION Mind & Machine’s Special Edition at SMU focuses on the economics behind enterprise AI, including FinOps, token economics, infrastructure, governance, ROI, and the real cost of scaling AI. The conversation is changing from: “How do we use AI?” to: “What does AI actually cost, what value are we getting from it, and how do we build an operating model that can scale?” As AI becomes embedded across the business, leaders are facing new questions around model consumption, agentic workloads, cloud costs, security, financial accountability, and infrastructure strategy. Mind & Machine DFW and Southern Methodist University are bringing that conversation to Dallas. This forward-looking event brings together executives, operators, investors, and practitioners who are thinking several moves ahead about the financial and operational architecture of AI. We’ll explore questions including: • How will AI budgets evolve as models become infrastructure? • How should leaders measure AI ROI? • What happens when agents consume resources at scale? • Which workloads belong on large models versus smaller, specialized infrastructure? • How can organizations control AI costs without sacrificing performance? • What governance and financial frameworks should be built now? This is the conversation to have before you need it. Expect approximately 200 owners, operators, executives, technology leaders, investors, and practitioners from DFW and beyond. THE KEYNOTE Amy Chaney SVP, Technology COO — Global Technology, Cybersecurity, Risk & Control, Citi President, Information Systems Security Association Amy Chaney is a global technology, cybersecurity, risk, and transformation executive with more than 25 years of experience spanning artificial intelligence, automation, cloud, cybersecurity, identity, third-party risk, enterprise modernization, and large-scale organizational change. Her career includes senior leadership roles at Citi, Huntington National Bank, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America, where she has worked alongside CIOs, CISOs, technology organizations, business executives, and boards on technology strategy, risk, investment prioritization, modernization, and transformation. Amy currently serves at Citi in Global Technology, Cybersecurity, Risk & Control, where her work includes AI, machine learning, automation, technology modernization, control improvement, and enterprise risk. THE PANEL Our panel brings together leaders working directly across AI infrastructure, enterprise transformation, cloud economics, security, investment, resource allocation, and scale. Together, they bring experience from organizations including Palo Alto Networks, Slalom, TAHO Labs, Single Fin, Single Fin Ventures, AWS, Docker, Snap, and Facebook. Zack Tembi — Moderator Chief Executive Officer, Single Fin Managing Partner, Single Fin Ventures Zack brings both the enterprise technology and investor perspectives to the conversation. As CEO of Single Fin, he works across digital transformation, cloud optimization, data security, digital workspaces, and enterprise infrastructure. As Managing Partner of Single Fin Ventures, Zack invests in emerging technology companies and has involvement across organizations including Cerebras Systems, Cribl, Openlayer, AegisAI Security, Doppel, LOKKER, and others. His experience across enterprise technology, AI infrastructure, venture investing, and high-growth companies gives him a unique vantage point for guiding a conversation about where the economics of AI are heading. Daryan Dehghanpisheh — Panelist North America’s GTM Leader for AI Security, Palo Alto Networks Daryan is a senior technology and strategy executive with more than 20 years of experience across AI, machine learning, enterprise technology, business strategy, and security. At Palo Alto Networks, he leads North America’s go-to-market efforts for AI Security, helping advanced organizations build and deploy secure, trusted AI and agent solutions. Before joining Palo Alto Networks, Daryan co-founded Protect AI and held AI/ML leadership roles at Amazon Web Services, along with senior strategy and technology positions at Intel and other major organizations. Todd Smith — Panelist Co-Founder & CEO, TAHO Labs Todd Smith leads TAHO Labs, where the focus is helping organizations run AI and high-performance computing workloads more efficiently on the hardware they already own. TAHO Labs builds software designed to fit workloads to available hardware in real time, helping organizations improve execution, resource utilization, and cost efficiency across infrastructure. Before founding TAHO Labs, Todd held senior operations and technology leadership roles at Docker, Snap, and Facebook, with responsibility spanning P&L, financial forecasting, revenue operations, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data engineering, technology operations, and large-scale organizational growth. Bryan Tharpe — Panelist Senior Director, Cloud-Build & Go-to-Market, Slalom Bryan Tharpe is a senior technology leader with more than 20 years of experience across enterprise modernization, cloud platforms, software engineering, developer enablement, and AI solutions. At Slalom, Bryan has led multi-year, multimillion-dollar technology programs and overseen cloud platforms ranging from smaller deployments to environments consuming $5 million–$10 million+ annually in cloud services. His current focus includes Agentic AI development practices, combining emerging AI patterns with deep experience in software engineering and enterprise technology. Additional Panelist — Coming Soon One additional panelist will be announced shortly. Follow Mind & Machine DFW on LinkedIn for upcoming speaker announcements. WHAT WE’LL EXPLORE The conversation will move beyond AI demos and individual tools to examine the economics underneath enterprise adoption. Expect discussion around: • AI FinOps and financial accountability • Token and model consumption • Cloud and infrastructure economics • Agentic AI workloads • Compute utilization • Foundation models vs. smaller models • AI ROI and financial measurement • Governance and enterprise risk • Resource allocation • Scaling AI without scaling waste The goal is simple: Give leaders a clearer framework for making better AI investment decisions before the economics become the problem. THE EVENING 3:30 — Opening and Sponsors 3:45 — Panel Discussion + Audience Q&A 4:30 — Break 4:45 — Keynote 5:30 — Networking Reception (90 minutes) Venue: EY Gallery, Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX TICKETS This event has a set capacity of 200 attendees. PARKING For information about parking will be sent 1 week prior to the event. ABOUT MIND & MACHINE DFW We are one of the fastest-growing, vendor-neutral AI communities in DFW built specifically for business leaders and decision-makers. Our monthly programming delivers real-world AI use cases designed for immediate application. Our university partnerships are where we zoom out, exploring what's on the horizon and what leaders need to be thinking about today to be ready for what's next. No vendor bias. No hype.