2025 Trusted Tech Summit & Awards Ceremony

In this award presentation and acceptance, Greg Levesque, CEO and co-founder of Strider Technologies, explains how strategic intelligence is becoming essential to defending the innovations of the free world. As adversaries deploy sophisticated intelligence operations against Western companies and universities, Greg describes an “espionage tsunami” threatening critical technologies across AI, quantum, and advanced manufacturing. He outlines how Strider uses advanced AI and open-source intelligence to help democracies secure their supply chains, protect economic security, and ensure that the technologies shaping the future remain grounded in freedom, trust, and shared democratic values.

In this award acceptance and remarks, Aaron Slodov—CEO of Atomic Industries—explains how applied artificial intelligence is transforming U.S. manufacturing and accelerating America’s re-industrialization. From his background as a physicist to firsthand struggles building domestic supply chains, Aaron shares why AI applied to real-world industrial processes—not just theoretical models—is the decisive frontier in global competition. He outlines Atomic’s mission to move products from design to production faster, cheaper, and at scale, and why winning this race is essential to America’s economic strength and technological leadership in the 21st century.

In this award presentation and acceptance, Mark LaVerghetta, Co-Founder & Director, ReElement Technologies explains why securing critical mineral independence is essential to America’s energy security, defense readiness, and technological leadership. Born from Purdue University innovation, ReElement is pioneering next-generation refining and purification of rare earths and battery materials—scaling rapidly across the United States and allied nations. The remarks highlight how sustainable innovation, allied collaboration, and strategic investment are rebuilding resilient supply chains and ensuring the trusted tech stack is anchored in transparency, integrity, and freedom for the 21st century.

In this panel moderated by Drew Maloney, leaders from government, industry, and allied partners unpack the hard truth behind the AI race: compute needs power—and power needs speed. Carla Sands, Tarun Chhabra, Yuki Shimizu, and Representative Young Kim discuss what it takes to build AI infrastructure at scale, from modernizing the grid and accelerating permitting to securing critical minerals with trusted partners like Japan. The conversation connects energy dominance to national security, highlights the urgency of staying at the AI frontier, and lays out how allied investment, resilient supply chains, and practical policy can keep the free world in the lead.

In this panel, Heather Nauert moderates a candid conversation with Ron Ash, Joseph Larson, Brandon Remington, and James Roscoe on what it will take for the United States and its allies to win the global AI race—and set the standards that shape the digital future. The discussion explores how government and industry can move faster together, promote “buy American” AI abroad, and avoid the Huawei-era trap of warning allies without offering trusted alternatives. From workforce adoption and interoperability to smarter regulation and practical export promotion, the panel lays out a roadmap for building a trusted, democratic AI ecosystem that scales across allied nations.

In his keynote address, Keith Krach argues that the defining struggle of the modern era is freedom versus authoritarianism, with technology as the primary battlefield. Drawing on his leadership of the Clean Network, he introduces the Trust Doctrine—grounded in rule of law, transparency, and human dignity—and announces the launch of the Global Trusted Tech Network, a worldwide alliance designed to ensure that emerging technologies advance freedom, security, and shared prosperity across the democratic world.

In this keynote, Michelle Giuda – CEO of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State – shares the mindset that turns ordinary groups into elite teams.

Drawing on her journey from two-time reject to two-time NCAA team captain, Michelle delivers a powerful message about the discipline, urgency, and purpose required for America to perform at its highest level – and secure our freedom and prosperity in the 21st century.

This is a call for all of us to rise and perform as the elite team America needs right now.