Alex Castrounis is the founder and CEO of Why of AI, a book author on AI, and a professor of AI for Northwestern University's Kellogg & McCormick MBAi program. He has over two decades of experience advising startups to Fortune 100 companies on using data, analytics, and AI models to drive business growth and customer success.

Alex is also a former INDYCAR engineer, race strategist, and data scientist who drove winning results for teams such as Andretti Autosport in world-renowned races, including the Indy 500. His experience applying analytics to make smarter, data-driven decisions in racing now helps businesses gain and maintain a competitive advantage in their industry.

Mrs. Bianco provides personalized service and is the point of contact for municipal stakeholders and large customers. She focuses on improving customer experience and maximizing customer satisfaction and customer advocacy. She has expertise in regulations throughout the enterprise.

Mrs. Bianco began her career at New Jersey American Water in 2006 as a Network Operations Administrator and was promoted to Operations Specialist then Supervisor before being named the Senior Field Operations Supervisor in 2010, responsible for supervising the T&D Department. In 2021 she was promoted to Major Account Manager, and shortly after promoted to Regional Manager, Major Accounts. In this role she continues serving as a liaison for our largest customers while managing a team of major account managers. Throughout her career with American Water, Ms. Bianco has helped the training and development of new hires, served as the subject matter expert for new systems and technologies, and has built important relationships with key stakeholders across our service territory.

Bashir Bseirani, CEO/CTO of avertra, believes that at the heart of innovation lies the power to simplify. Guided by this principle, he has spent decades in the utility sector driving the creation of transformative technology for highly regulated, citizen-centric industries. Blending empathy, science, strategy, and technology, he is dedicated to delivering exceptional experiences for both customers and employees. His philosophy of human-centric technology stems from a genuine commitment to deeply understanding human needs, ensuring every solution not only solves real-world problems but does so with simplicity and clarity that ease everyday challenges.

Alex leads the Energy Markets, Sales, Product, Marketing, Customer Care, and Customer Strategy business units. He is a passionate advocate for customer centricity after spending 20 years in the financial services industry in strategic, operational and transformation delivery roles across Canada and the northeastern United States.

Prior to joining Manitoba Hydro, Alex was responsible for defining and delivering new ways to enhance the customer experience and improve financial advice for Canadian Personal Banking at TD Bank. He also served as District Vice-President for 20 retail branches in Burnaby and Coquitlam, B.C. and as the Associate Vice-President for the Pacific Region Support Office for B.C. and Yukon.

Alex has a Master in Business Administration from the Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, and Honours Bachelor of Arts from the University of Western Ontario. He is a board member of the Canadian Gas Association and is Vice-Chair for Electricity Canada’s Customer Council.

Melissa graduated from the University of South Florida in Tampa with her bachelor's in accounting in 2001 and her Master of Accountancy in 2004. She obtained her Certified Public Accountant and Project Management Professional certifications and started at Tampa Electric and Peoples Gas (TECO) in February 2010 in the auditing group, moving to various positions within the organization before settling in Customer Experience in 2017. Since then, Melissa has led the development of TECO’s Customer Experience strategy, CE Strategy Council, Customer Commitment Training, Customer Digitalization strategy, and Voice of the Customer program with the goal of creating a customer-centric culture at TECO and providing a world class customer experience for TECO’s customers. In her free time, Melissa enjoys reading, weightlifting, running, and volunteering within the communities where she lives in and works.

Brent Craige is a Director of Utilities Intelligence, where he delivers utilities actionable insights to drive customer experience improvements. Mr. Craige is also responsible for assisting clients to prioritize initiatives based on their Voice of the Customer data. Before joining J.D. Power, Mr. Craige led the business performance team for New Jersey Natural Gas where he was responsible for improving customer experience utilizing customer satisfaction and customer service operational data. Mr. Craige earned a master’s degree in business administration from Tulane University.

Prior to joining New Jersey Natural Gas, Mr. Craige held several Customer Experience management, strategic planning and sales operation roles at Hewlett Packard. Throughout his career, he has led large operational and customer experience teams and has a record of delivering improved customer experience and operational excellence.

As Customer Experience Manager at Clark Public Utilities, Cameron leads the utility’s customer research program. His work involves synthesizing research findings with business and community data to create a holistic understanding of the customer experience. A key focus of Cameron’s work is making complex data meaningful and accessible to employees across all levels to help bridge the gap between customer expectations and business operations, fostering a customer-centric approach throughout the organization.

Kenzie Dennis is an AI Business Manager at Entergy. She recently joined Entergy to evaluate how AI solutions, both built in-house and purchased, can improve customer experience.

Kenzie’s background covers roles in product marketing and corporate strategy, supporting finance and legal solutions. Most recently, she was creating strategies to add AI to tax technologies.

A proud Louisianian, Kenzie holds an MBA from Tulane University and a bachelor's degree from Louisiana State University. She is excited to share her insights and experiences, helping convey the evolving landscape of technology and its impact on the corporate world, particularly in the utility sector.

Scott Engstrom is the co-founder and Chief Customer Officer of GridX, the energy industry’s leading enterprise rate platform provider. He oversees the organization's customer success, sales and business development functions and is responsible for ensuring a seamless experience across every touchpoint of the customer journey. Scott has more than 25 years of experience focusing on the utility and power industry, including as a portfolio manager with some of the world’s largest and reputable financial institutions. He is passionate about evangelizing the role of rate analytics and engagement in achieving utility decarbonization goals.

John Hazen is Managing Director, Utilities Intelligence at J.D. Power. He is responsible for working with utilities across the United States to help them understand the importance of customer satisfaction and how to improve their customers’ experience.

Mr. Hazen joined J.D. Power in 2008 as director, Voice of the Customer. Prior to that, he was the director of Guest Services at the Disney Internet Group. Previously, he led award-winning call center sites for Saturn, DirecTV and OnStar. He also has international experience in managing offshore teams.

Mr. Hazen earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Western Michigan University.

Andrew Heath is Vice President, Utility and Technology, Media & Telecom (TMT) Intelligence at J.D. Power.

Dr. Heath has more than 30 years of experience working within the services and utility sectors in both the United States and the UK. He leads the J.D. Power Sustainability Leadership Program. Prior to joining J.D. Power in 2011, he was the director of customer satisfaction services at E Source. Prior to that, he was CIO at Powergen, now E.ON, where he developed the company’s UK e-business strategy.

Dr. Heath received a bachelor’s degree in management science from the University of Lancaster and a Ph.D. in management science from Imperial College, London.

Tom is a business and technology leader with over 30 years of global business transformation experience, spanning enterprise software, consulting, ecommerce and retail, and SaaS, in large companies and fast-growing technology startups. He has a track record of driving top line growth and scaling businesses through tech operations and developing great leaders.

Tom is currently COO at Promise. Promise transforms how government agencies manage payments and benefits distribution, using advanced technology to streamline income verification and enable flexible payment plans.

Previously Tom was COO at Carta, a San Francisco based equity management platform that manages over two trillion dollars in equity for more than 35,000 companies and 5,000 investment funds. Tom led the sales, marketing and customer operations teams.

Prior to Carta, Tom was CEO of Hootsuite, a Vancouver based social media management SaaS company. Tom replaced Hootsuite's founder as CEO, modernized the company's operating model, and grew the company from $180m to $240m. He also built an independent, IPO-ready board by recruiting four diverse, independent directors, led the company through an IPO process with JP Morgan, built out a new leadership team, acquired two companies, and improved the company gross margin by double digits.

Prior to Hootsuite, Tom was the first COO at Zendesk (ZEN), a publicly traded SaaS customer experience company, where he was responsible for Global Operations, Sales and Customer experience, IT, Security and Compliance, and Data and Analytics. During his tenure, the company grew from $200M to $1B revenue.

Prior to Zendesk, Tom held CIO positions at Gap Inc. (GPS) and L Brands (VSCO and BBWI). At Gap ($17B), Tom built a global inventory operating model and technology platform in addition to transitioning the IT organization from an outsourced and managed services model to an inhouse agile model. At L Brands ($10B), Tom led a comprehensive transformational project, resulting in the creation of a new platform and operating model to successfully support the L Brands aggressive global growth strategy for Bath and Body Works and for Victoria’s Secret.

Earlier in his career, Tom spent 12 years in management consulting with Ernst & Young (now Capgemini) working with multinational consumer brands on large transformation initiatives including directing global ERP implementations across finance, supply chain, and HR. Tom spent three years based in Copenhagen, managing all of E&Y’s consulting work across the Coca-Cola bottling system in Europe and the Middle-East.

Tom holds a B.S. degree in System Science from the University of West Florida.

Bio coming soon. 

Dr. Charles E. Moreland was named JEA’s chief customer experience officer in December 2024. In his role, he oversees JEA's residential and business customer support, customer revenue, and communications and outreach teams.

Dr. Moreland has devoted his 30-plus year career to public service, serving the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department and City of Jacksonville before coming to JEA. Under Mayors Peyton, Brown, and Curry, he was promoted through the ranks at JFRD to director/fire chief. For the city, he served as the director of community and international affairs and as the deputy chief administrative officer, where more than 2,000 employees served under his leadership.

Dr. Moreland earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Edward Waters, a bachelor’s in emergency management from Barry University, and a master’s in public administration and a doctorate in education from Nova Southeastern University. He also is a 2008 alumnus of Leadership Jacksonville.

Amit Rastogi is an IT Applications Senior Director at a Tampa Electric Company, where he oversees customer experience technology and IT PMO strategy. With over two decades of experience driving digital transformation, Amit specializes in building omnichannel solutions, AI-driven self-service, and customer-centric IT programs. His recent initiatives include deploying Copilot agents for IT PMO training and customer self-service, as well as leading efforts to design a true 360° customer view through AWS Connect. Passionate about innovation and measurable impact, Amit bridges business and technology to deliver experiences that delight customers while advancing operational excellence.

Mary M. Rodino is a Managing Director of Sales, Global Business Intelligence at J.D. Power. In this role, she has business development and account management leadership responsibilities for several industry practice areas, including Utilities and TMT (Telecom, Media, and Technology). Her team is responsible for new business development, revenue growth, multiyear sales contracts, and account management.

Ms. Rodino has more than 25 years of leadership experience across several industries. Prior to joining J.D. Power in 2013, she was Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of Sales at Comcast Business. Earlier, she was Chief Sales Officer at Cancer Treatment Centers of America.  Ms. Rodino has also served as Senior Vice President of Sales at InterCall and as Vice President and General Manager at OnePoint Communications (Verizon)—a start-up Telecommunications CLEC. Additionally, she spent 15 years at AT&T in a variety of sales, marketing, and operations roles, and the last three years as a Sales Vice President and General Manager for Global Accounts.

Ms. Rodino has served on the Board of Directors for Opportunity International, LaSalle Senior Center-Board Chair, and the YWCA of Chicago-Executive Committee. She is currently involved with Compassion International, Opportunity International, and the Immigration and Refugee Committee at Old St. Pat’s Church in Chicago. Ms. Rodino received a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois-Medical Center and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Urbana (cum laude).

Lauren Slepian is the Director of Customer Insights and Performance at American Water, leading initiatives to understand and enhance customer experiences and delivering on the company's promise to its water and wastewater customers across the U.S. With nearly 20 years of experience in strategy, corporate communications, and stakeholder engagement, she works to foster innovative practices in collaboration with American Water's state teams. As a civic leader, Lauren serves on the board of the Camden (NJ) Special Services District, supporting American Water's corporate neighborhood, as well as USA Field Hockey's Judicial and Ethics Committee.

Mark Spalinger is a Director of Utilities Intelligence at J.D. Power. He is responsible for delivering actionable insights and thought leadership to utilities across the United States to help them understand the importance of customer satisfaction and how to improve their customers’ experience.

Previously at the company, Mr. Spalinger served as a Senior Consumer Insights Analyst, Research Manager, Research Supervisor, Research Specialist and Research Associate within the Utility Practice. He joined J.D. Power in 2006.

Mr. Spalinger received a bachelor’s degree in sociology from California State University Northridge.

Coming soon

Jon Sundberg is Director, Digital Solutions at J.D. Power. He manages a portfolio of digital research studies across a variety of industries, including automotive, insurance, utility, and financial services. With nearly 10 years of digital research experience, Jon is passionate about good digital experiences and keeping up with current digital trends. He spends much of his time translating study results into actionable insights for clients.

Jon earned a Master of Business degree in management and organizational behavior from California Lutheran University and a Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University.

Ramah Vaughn is a Director of Utilities Intelligence, where he delivers actionable insights to utilities across the country to improve customer satisfaction. Mr. Vaughn is also responsible for helping clients prioritize initiatives based on voice-of-the-customer data.  

Before joining J.D. Power, Mr. Vaughn led the customer insights team for Baltimore Gas & Electric where he was responsible for fielding research and improving customer experience.

Mr. Vaughn earned a bachelor’s degree in information science from Morgan State University. 

Coming soon