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Dr. Maya Ackerman

Dr. Maya Ackerman

Expert on Computer Creativity, WaveAI CEO & Computer Science Professor

World renowned AI Researcher and entrepreneur,Dr. Maya Ackerman,   

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Bio

Full Bio

World renowned AI Researcher and entrepreneur, Dr. Maya Ackerman, named “Woman of Influence” by the Silicon Valley Business Journal, is a leading expert on Creative AI. She is frequently invited to speak on creativity in the age of AI, as well as how to overcome gender and racial biases in entrepreneurship ecosystems. Maya is a vibrant and engaging speaker, who inspires her audiences to be more creative in their own lives, and bring greater fairness and equality to their organizations. Interviews with Dr. Ackerman appear on NBC News, New Scientist, Forbes, Grammy.com, and international television stations across the globe. A sought-after speaker, she has appeared on many top stages, including at the United Nations, IBM Research, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and Samsung.

Dr. Ackerman’s early career focused on fundamental research in Machine Learning, publishing highly cited research on cluster analysis during her PhD studies at the University of Waterloo. Following her Postdoc at Caltech, Maya refocused her research on Computational Creativity. This led her to become CEO/Co-Founder of WaveAI, which is transforming the music industry through AI systems that deepen and expand the creative capabilities of artists across the globe. In recent years, Ackerman has published impactful research on bias in venture capital, which has been utilized by the US Congress and Amnesty International.

Dr. Ackerman is the recipient of awards from the Association of Computational Creativity, Office of Naval Research, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, Shanghai Yangpu Global Competition, the Startup Conference and more. Since 2007, she has published over forty-five peer-reviewed research publications and has been on the program and reviewing committees of twenty different AI journals and conferences.

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Topics

Topics

Human Creativity in the Age of AI

Gender & Racial Bias In Venture Capital

Unleash Your Inner Artist with Creative AI

Can Computers Be Creative?

Commercializing Creative AI: Opportunities & Challenges

The Landscape of Musical AI

Videos

Videos

Dr. Maya Ackerman - "Bias in Venture Capital" Lightning Talk
Songwriting Made Simple | Interview with Dr. Maya Ackerman

Books

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The American Psychological Association was thrilled to have Dr. Antonia Novello as our speaker for the 2024 APA Convention. Dr. Novello was fantastic, and her presentation was a tremendous success. Thank you, Peter, for all your hard work in making this event such a resounding success.

American Psychological Association

For our annual Native American Heritage Month celebration, PDA Group arranged for John Echohawk to join us for a virtual moderated discussion. The program was thoughtful, engaging, and highly impactful for our audience of lawyers and professional staff. We are grateful for their partnership and look forward to working with them again.

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Investcorp Strategic Capital Group

It was an absolute privilege to have Dr. Sanjay Gupta as our keynote speaker for the 2026 GME Leadership Conference. He delivered an outstanding address that resonated deeply and left a lasting impression on everyone in the room. The entire planning process was seamless and collaborative. It was a pleasure working together, brainstorming suggestions, and ultimately selecting the perfect fit for our event. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience.

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Salt Lake Community College

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Ferris State University

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