SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ --  HardwareCon, the premier conference for hardware innovation, announces its first speaker for the 2019 event – themed Connecting AI, Machine Learning and Data through Hardware. Dr. Ashwin Ram, Technical Director of AI in the Office of the CTO for Google Cloud will be the opening keynote for the event, taking place on April 17th and 18th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.

Top line sponsors for the event include: Xilinx/Avnet, AutoDesk, Dragon Innovation, Whipsaw, Rush Order, Microchip and Savvy Print Solutions.

"Hardware, as an eco-system, is in an exciting phase of growth and innovation," says Greg Fisher, co-founder of HardwareCon and CEO of Berkeley Sourcing Group, a development and manufacturing firm that has worked with over 1,000 hardware startups in the past 14 years. "Hardware startups are on the rise around the world and established multinational businesses are also innovating, launching physical products that take advantage of today's connected world. This year's conference is about combining these worlds to get deals done to accelerate this growth and create new opportunities."

"AI is getting liberated – it is coming out of the tech companies and research labs and is rapidly entering daily life", says Dr. Ashwin Ram, Technical Director of AI, Google, "AI is paving the way toward the creation of more intelligent hardware devices, as well playing a large role toward collecting, organizing and analyzing large amounts of data. I am excited to keynote HardwareCon as the timing is perfect with hardware industry leaders now poised to learn more about how the burgeoning ubiquity of AI is going to affect their businesses moving forward."

Dr. Ram currently focuses on bringing Google AI to the world through deep personalized engagement with the leadership of top companies to reimagine their businesses by leveraging the power of AI.

He also works with Google's AI teams to drive new technologies and capabilities that address customer needs. Ashwin is a distinguished AI researcher, technologist, and entrepreneur. Prior to joining Google, he was Senior Manager of AI Science for Amazon Alexa. While there he led cross-functional R&D initiatives to create advanced Conversational AI technologies for intelligent agents, including the university-facing Alexa Prize competition.

He is considered one of the foremost leaders in the AI space and will bring a forward-looking perspective to the HardwareCon stage.

The 2019 HardwareCon lineup includes investors, innovators, thought leaders, strategics and successful startup founders. In addition to main stage and breakout room sessions, HardwareCon hosts entrepreneurs and startups in "Hardware Boulevard" on the exhibit hall floor. The event also features a pitch contest featuring top hardware startups from around the world via the Hardware Massive ecosystem. This year the pitch contest will be held in partnership with the AlphaLab Gear Hardware Cup.

HardwareCon is your opportunity to learn about the latest technology and business trends in AI, Machine Learning, Robotics, IoT, Blockchain, Product Design and more. Attendees will hear from leading Fortune 500 hardware brands such as Google, Dragon Innovation, Autodesk, Xilinx/Avnet and will have the opportunity to connect & collaborate with top investors while interacting with the most promising startup companies from across the global hardware ecosystem.

To learn more about participating, sponsoring or attending HardwareCon, please visit http://www.hardwarecon.com HardwareCon is presented by Hardware Massive.

SOURCE HardwareCon