Todd Aetherwyn

Senior Director Enterprise Intelligence & Operations
UPSIDE Foods

Todd Aetherwyn is the Senior Director of Enterprise Intelligence & Operations at UPSIDE Foods, where he leads cross-functional teams integrating AI, data systems, business operations, and technical infrastructure to reimagine the future of food. With more than 15 years of experience spanning strategy, organizational change, operations improvement, and enterprise systems, Todd brings a systems-level lens to building resilient, high-performance teams in complex and emerging industries.

A biomedical engineering graduate turned innovation catalyst, Todd’s career includes leadership roles at Zendesk, UCSF Health, and Epic, where he spearheaded strategic programs that shaped culture, scaled teams, and improved outcomes across healthcare and tech. He is a certified project manager, Lean faculty member, and a passionate advocate for combining technology with human-centered systems. Outside of work, Todd’s path is equally dynamic – he's a novelist, dancer, and Aikido practitioner, reflecting a lifelong commitment to creativity, discipline, and transformative practice.

Overwhelmed by Choice: How to Deploy AI in an era of radical innovation

Session Goal: equip an audience of Dirs/VPs from trailblazing companies with the best strategies and tactics for setting effective AI deployment roadmaps. Help them be industry-leading while applying limited capital wisely.

Format: a facilitated discussion (60min) in front of an audience of 50-150 change-makers from start-ups or innovation groups within larger companies. These are people with budget power and/or influence to buy AI tools but are not (mostly) AI tool creators themselves

Presenters: 2-3 people who can speak to the challenges the audience faces in choosing AI tools in terms of strategic selection, fatigue in choice and change, and deployment.