AI in 2026: Using AI Agents in Business

Jessie Huard

Senior Copilot Solutions Engineer at Microsoft
Jessie_Huard@LinkedIn

• Bio: Jessie Huard is a Senior Copilot Solutions Engineer at Microsoft, dedicated to helping colleges, universities, and students unlock the full potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot. With a passion for empowering learners, educators, and administration through technology, Jessie delivers interactive sessions that make studying, research, and collaboration more efficient and engaging.
  
  In her role, Jessie focuses on equipping students and faculty with practical skills to integrate Copilot into everyday academic workflows—whether it’s drafting essays, analyzing data, or streamlining group projects.
  
  Her training programs simplify complex tools, making advanced AI features accessible and easy to use for learning and teaching.
  
  Jessie brings extensive experience from previous roles at Microsoft, including Teams Technical Specialist and Business Sales Specialist. This background enables her to share real-world insights and hands-on strategies that help students and institutions succeed in a digital-first world.
  
  As a lifelong learner herself, Jessie holds an Associate of Arts degree from Massasoit Community College, continued her studies at Bridgewater State University, and is currently pursuing a Business Management degree at the University of Phoenix. Her academic journey fuels her commitment to supporting students in achieving their goals through innovative technology
  
  
• Session Details: Join us for a 60-minute session designed for students and faculty to explore the power of AI with Microsoft Copilot—no paid license required! Discover how to use Copilot Chat for research, writing, and productivity, and learn how to design custom Copilot Agents using Agent Builder.
  
  The session includes hands-on building time and a live Q&A, giving you practical experience and answers to your questions. Perfect for anyone curious about AI tools that can enhance learning.

Jay Leiner

Head of Applied Intelligence Group
nCino
Jay_Leiner@LinkedIn

• Bio: Jay Leiner brings over twenty years of technology leadership to the intersection of AI and financial services. As Head of the Applied Intelligence Group at nCino—the worldwide leader in cloud banking serving 2,700+ financial institutions—he drives the strategies that help banks transform their operations through intelligent automation and streamlined project delivery.
  
  Jay established and currently directs the Applied Intelligence Group at nCino, an initiative that has transformed nCino’s software delivery into an AI-first approach which dramatically reduced project implementation time from between eight and twelve months to just four months—a 50%+ timeline reduction, which includes an over 75% decrease in hours.
  
  Additionally, Jay grew nCino's Solution Architecture team from six to twenty professionals, building the technical foundation for the company's largest enterprise clients.
  
  Before joining nCino, Jay served as Vice President and Technology Manager at California Bank of Commerce, where he led the bank's digital transformation, including its nCino implementation. This provided him the rare perspective as both a banking technology executive and fintech solution provider. His work on cloud-based banking solutions has been featured in KMWorld Magazine (2015).
  
  Jay is passionate about making AI practical and accessible and believes that hands-on experience is the fastest path to understanding how these technologies create business value. He looks forward to sharing this passion with the next generation of AI professionals.
  
  

Ben Manfredi

Manager, Solution Architecture
nCino
Ben_Manfredi@LinkedIn

• Bio: Ben is a 2017 Graduate from the UNCW Cameron School of Business and is currently a Manager of Solution Architecture at nCino.
  
  At nCino, Ben has been instrumental in deploying consumer lending solutions that leverage automation and intelligent workflows to streamline the origination of consumer loans.
  
  His hands-on experience using AI tooling to deliver regional and enterprise level projects makes him particularly well positioned to discuss AI’s practical applications in software development and implementation
  
  
  
• Session Details: Discover how AI agents are transforming enterprise software delivery at scale. Jay Leiner, who leads the Applied Intelligence Group at nCino, will share how they have cut implementation timelines by 50% (from 8-12 months to 4 months) using agentic AI capabilities.
  
  This session takes you inside nCino's AI transformation journey, exploring three critical dimensions: how AI agents streamline internal project delivery, how AI is empowering employees to work beyond their technical skillsets, and the specific agentic capabilities that reduce complexity in client software implementations.
  
  You'll see real-world examples of AI agents autonomously analyzing configurations, generating holistic recommendations across disparate knowledge bases, and orchestrating multi-step workflows—the same patterns driving nCino’s transformation as an AI company.
  
  What makes this AI transformation unique is how agents are democratizing expertise across nCino's workforce. Solution architects who previously spent weeks manually researching best practices now leverage agents that synthesize insights from product documentation, implementation playbooks, customer case studies, and regulatory requirements—all in minutes. Business analysts without deep technical backgrounds now configure complex workflows with AI-generated recommendations that consider security implications, performance optimization, and maintainability.
  
  These agents don't just automate tasks; they elevate every employee's capability by providing contextualized intelligence drawn from the collective knowledge of thousands of implementations.

Brian Simmons

CoFounder and CEO
Converge AI
Brian_Simmons@LinkedIn

• Bio: Brian Simmons is a product and technology leader focused on applying AI to real operational work. He is currently the CEO of Converge AI, where he is building AI assistants that replace manual insurance workflows and help agencies scale capacity without adding headcount. Previously, Brian served as Chief Product and Technology Officer at Fondo, where he led product, engineering, and AI-driven automation across bookkeeping and tax operations. Across multiple companies, Brian has built and scaled workflow software by deeply embedding with teams, mapping real processes, and turning them into durable systems. His work centers on AI as an operating layer for modern businesses, not just software tools.
  
  
• Session Details: This session introduces AI agents as a new class of digital workers and explores how leadership must evolve from managing people to orchestrating human–agent teams. Participants will gain practical guidance for integrating agents into everyday workflows to succeed in this new operating model.