Breakfast Event At NAB Show 2026
Date: Monday April 20 2026
Time: 0730 for 0800 start
Venue: Siegels Bagelmania, 252 Convention Center Dr, Las Vegas, NV 89109
Four Ways AI Will Change The Media And Entertainment Industry
Abstract:
As AI moves from experiment to everyday experience, media and entertainment leaders are asking a new question: is our infrastructure ready for AI at scale? From real-time voice translation and hyper-personalized viewing to context-aware mixed reality experiences and AI-driven ad insertion, AI is reshaping the entire content lifecycle — not just the edit bay.
In this intimate breakfast session, technology leaders will explore how new AI-augmented services will emerge and scale. We’ll examine how to design an AI-ready content architecture that spans ingest, preparation, transformation, distribution, and archive. You’ll see how a healthy storage foundation and strong data preparation practices can reduce latency, accelerate time-to-air, and improve viewer experiences — without turning every project into a bespoke science experiment.
We’ll begin with a short perspective from Everpure (formerly Pure Storage) on emerging AI services and infrastructure patterns for media and entertainment, then shift to an interactive panel with industry experts who are putting these ideas into practice today. You’ll leave with a clearer view of where AI can add value in your own pipeline, which infrastructure decisions matter most, and how to move from proof of concept to production with confidence — at NAB Show, where media, entertainment, and storytelling converge.
Speakers
Moderator: Patrick Lopez
Global Telecom Field CTO
Everpure
Biography
Patrick Lopez is Global Telecom Field CTO at Everpure. He is based near Toronto.
He has over 25 years’ experience building, launching and operating telecoms businesses in startups, mid-sized and tier one multinationals.
He currently sits on the board of directors of CENGN (Center for Next Generation Networks).
Prior to Everpure, he was global VP of Product Management for 5G products at NEC, where he managed the product strategy and planning, corporate development, and growth of NEC telecom business, including Open RAN, Packet Core and automation, orchestration.
Prior to NEC, he was global VP of Networks Innovation at Telefonica group where he led the teams that invented Open RAN and deployed the first telco Edge Computing. He also extensively worked with Bell Canada and Deutsche Telekom for their Telco Cloud and Edge computing strategy and implementation.
Brandon Johnson
Senior Manager, Solution Architecture Telco, Media, & Entertainment | Red Hat
Biography
With over 20 years of experience driving technology transformation across several different verticals including Telco, Media and Entertainment.
Brandon has led critical initiatives at the intersection of hybrid cloud, automation, and open source. He has spent the past decade at Red Hat collaborating with global telcos and partners to design scalable, innovative solutions for wireline and wireless networks.
Currently, he leads a team focused on cable and media, working closely with Red Hat’s customers and partners in that vertical.
Charlie Lawhorn
AVP, Innovation & Transformation
WWT
Biography
Charlie is helping reshape the modern enterprise.
By bridging the gap between process design and AI innovation, he and his team at World Wide Technology empower organizations to turn digital strategy and innovation into measurable execution, ensuring long-term value in an increasingly automated world.
Sree Sankar
Global Head, Product Strategy & BD, AI-Grid
NVIDIA
Biography
Sree is a visionary product leader with over a decade of experience guiding high-impact AI and machine learning initiatives across industries such as retail-tech, e-commerce, and enterprise SaaS.
She's deeply passionate about building AI agents, co-pilots, and generative AI products that amplify human potential and deliver real-world value.
She excels at bridging advanced technology innovations with tangible business outcomes and exceptional customer experiences.