AI: The Catalyst for Change in Industries

Welcome to the 3rd Annual Tri-Valley AI Summit!

We are thrilled to invite you save the date for our upcoming event on Wed Aug 20 2025 from 4-7 pm (Pacific Daylight Time) hosted the City of Dublin and Patelco, at Patelco's Corporate Headquarters at 3 Park Place, Dublin, CA 94568.

The summit will open with an opportunity for networking. Throughout the networking portion of the event, experts will be available to lead discussions about AI in industry with a variety of industries represented. This will be followed by a panel discussion about the topic, “AI: The Catalyst for Change in Industries, ” featuring panelists from energy, education, health care, and national security.

This will be followed by a networking reception. Invited participants include CIOs, IT leaders, business leaders, investors, entrepreneurs from the Tri-Valley, Silicon Valley, and greater Bay Area.

About the Host

About Patelco Credit Union

Dublin, Calif.-based Patelco Credit Union is a not-for-profit credit union committed to serving the financial health and well-being of its membership. With more than 450,000 members, primarily in and around northern California, Patelco is dedicated to improving its members’ financial health and well-being by offering personalized solutions, advice, and expertise that empower members to live their best financial lives. Founded in 1936 with $500 in assets by Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company employees, Patelco now has more than $9 billion in assets. For more information, visit https://www.patelco.org/.

About the Organizers

About Startup Tri-Valley

Startup Tri-Valley is an initiative to grow and strengthen our region by helping more startups succeed. We do this by connecting founders and innovators to a tightly networked ecosystem of resources built specifically for science-based startups. The initiative is sponsored by the Tri-Valley cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton, the Town of Danville, and i-GATE Innovation Hub partners Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National Laboratories. To learn more, visit https://startuptrivalley.org.

About i-GATE Innovation Hub

i-GATE Innovation Hub is a non-profit organization focused on increasing economic prosperity through entrepreneurship in the Tri-Valley. i-GATE provides startup incubation resources through Daybreaks Labs and connects the regional innovation ecosystem through the Startup Tri-Valley initiative. To learn more, visit https://igatehub.org.

City of Dublin, California

From a population of approximately 14,350 in 1982, the City of Dublin has become a highly diverse city with a resident population of nearly 73,000, and a thriving community with over 2,100 businesses.

About the Moderator & Panelists

The Moderator

Mr. Stephen Lee

Mr. Lee is a Founding General Partner at Carbide Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm specializing in AI-enabled B2B software in the US and Japan. His investments include Bifrost AI, Treasure Data, OMerFit (acquired by Braze), QuEra, and Liven. Previously,Stephen led Strategy and Partnerships at Treasure Data, helping grow revenue from $5M to over $150M and leading its acquisition by Arm. He also worked in Microsoft’s strategy team, leading new ventures for Skype, and has been a venture investor with five IPOs and several successful exits to companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Arm, Broadcom, and GE. Stephen holds a B.A. in Political Economies from UC Berkeley and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School. He resides in Pleasanton, CA, with his family.

The Panelists

Mr. Leland Ellison 

Leland Ellison is the Simulation and Modeling Lead at Pacific Fusion and a member of the company’s founding team. Pacific Fusion is developing a novel fusion reactor technology aimed at delivering safe, scalable, carbon-free electric power. The company has secured over $900 million in capital commitments and is targeting a demonstration of net facility energy gain by the end of the decade. 

In his role, Leland leads the development of physics modeling tools that inform the design of fusion targets and the surrounding chamber environment. His work spans large-scale physics simulations as well as AI models that accelerate design cycles and improve predictive accuracy. 

Leland began his career in physics as an undergraduate researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder and earned his Ph.D. from the Princeton Program in Plasma Physics. He later joined Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, where he helped develop cutting-edge physics codes for some of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, contributing to the first laboratory demonstration of fusion ignition. He also spent time at Sutter Hill Ventures as a research associate, supporting early-stage startups and gaining perspective on innovation at scale. 

A proud Tri-Valley resident, Leland enjoys exploring the local hills on his road bike and refueling at the area’s many outstanding restaurants.  

Mr. Nikesh Kotecha 

Mr. Nikesh Kotecha is an accomplished Adjunct Professor at the Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection Operations at Stanford Medicine. With a comprehensive career spanning academia, industry, and non-profit sectors, Mr. Kotecha brings extensive expertise from basic research to clinical application in healthcare. 

Currently, he serves as the Head of Data Science at Stanford Healthcare (SHC), where he is responsible for establishing and leading a team dedicated to developing and deploying AI-guided models into clinical and operational workflows. 

 He remains actively involved in the community, collaborating with community cancer clinics and the StartX accelerator, further demonstrating his commitment to advancing healthcare innovation. He welcomes discussions on strategy, operations, data science, advising, investing, and incentive alignment within the healthcare landscape.

Dr. Dyrell Foster 

Dr. Dyrell Foster has been an administrator in the California Community College system for over 20 years. He is a student-centered leader, with a proven track record of advancing educational access, equity, student retention, and success. He is collaborative in his approach to implementing institutional practices, behaviors, and policies that provide a positive climate on campus and effectively addresses the diverse needs of students. 

As President of Las Positas College, Dr. Foster is committed to providing strong leadership with a high degree of integrity, passion, and commitment to fully serving our students in a growing and supportive community. Dr. Foster is passionate about cultivating effective partnerships and promoting innovative approaches to enhancing student success outcomes for the students at Las Positas College. 

Being the first in his family to attend college, Dr. Foster received his Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration from the University of Southern California, his Master of Science in Counseling: Student Development in Higher Education from California State University, Long Beach, and his Bachelor of Science in Applied Behavioral Science from the University of California, Davis, where he served as co-captain of the UC Davis Aggies football team.  

He and his wife, Tami, have two young children, Maylea and Daylen.