Business and technology leaders from across Ohio and beyond are gathering in Columbus on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 19-20, for the third annual AI Rising Conference at the Ohio Union, a two-day event built around a theme organizers call “AI Gets Real.” The conference focuses on real-world uses of artificial intelligence rather than speculation about where the technology might go someday.
The speaker lineup reflects how broadly AI has spread into everyday Ohio business. Sessions feature presenters from AWS, Walmart, Nationwide, Safelite, White Castle, Westfield Insurance and Humana, along with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, whose work includes AI applications supporting unemployed Ohioans. Organizers say the mix is deliberate: large employers, insurers, retailers and a state agency are all wrestling with the same adoption questions.
Monday’s workshop program offers hands-on instruction in AI agents, context engineering, infrastructure automation and human-centered workflows. The sessions are aimed at practitioners who are expected to put the tools to work inside their own organizations, not just hear about them from a stage.
Ryan Frederick of Transform Labs delivers the opening keynote on the next five years of operational AI, while Kritika Sharma of Walmart speaks on building and scaling AI solutions inside large organizations. The program closes with a leadership discussion featuring Melanie Kolp of Nationwide, Susan Carroll-Boser of White Castle and Nada Aried of Safelite on what successful implementation actually looks like.
Other sessions cover business automation, enterprise implementation, healthcare applications, workforce impacts, human oversight and the challenges of scaling AI responsibly. That last theme runs through the whole agenda: presenters are expected to talk as much about guardrails and oversight as about capability.
Now in its third year, AI Rising is a Columbus-based conference connecting business leaders and technology professionals with the people building and implementing AI solutions. Holding it at the Ohio Union puts the event in the middle of Ohio State’s campus and within easy reach of the downtown employers who send many of its attendees.
For Columbus, the conference is another marker of the region’s growing technology footprint, bringing hundreds of practitioners into the city for two days of workshops and talks. Registration and the full agenda are available through the conference website, and sessions continue through Tuesday.
Photo: Robert Chriss, CC BY-SA