Bridge the AI Gap in Manufacturing Conference

Micaela Bomhack leads the third-generation family ownership group as President and CEO of Rite-Hite and Chairman of our family office, SixSibs Capital. Rite-Hite is a world leader in the manufacture, sale, and service of a broad array of industrial products designed to improve safety, security, productivity, energy savings, and environmental control.

Micaela comes from 10 years of experience leading several divisions and M&A at the company. She aims to drive strategic visioning and planning as the organization continues to grow and expand around the world. SixSibs Capital seeks to invest in companies with a long-term hold philosophy. Currently, I serve on the boards of both the Rite-Hite and SixSibs Foundation. Her passion lies in education-related issues, specifically scholarship and mentorship.

Micaela supports a variety of scholarship programs in the Milwaukee region, including All-In Milwaukee, an organization that provides financial and wraparound supports for students to help them succeed in higher education. As our company continues to grow, it is important to me to focus and align our corporate giving and professionalize both foundations.

She resides in Milwaukee, WI, with her husband and their four children. They love most sports, with lots of passion for basketball, golf and volleyball.

Micaela holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a BA in Economics from the University of Chicago.

Stephen Gold has served as President and CEO of Manufacturers Alliance since March 2011. Over the past three decades, he has represented U.S. manufacturers in a variety of senior-level roles in nonprofit membership organizations, including in government relations, communications, and operations. Mr. Gold is presently a contributing columnist for IndustryWeek, and has served as an occasional guest columnist for The Washington Times. He regularly writes on topics such as the geopolitical challenges, automation and technology advances, workforce and demographic challenges, and public policy.

Prior to his current position as the Alliance’s President, he held the position as Senior Vice President of Operations for the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) from 2006 - 2011, where he provided management oversight of the trade association's 50 business units, member recruitment and retention, international operations, business development, and meeting planning. While at the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) in the early 2000s, Mr. Gold helped launch NAM’s Campaign for the Future of U.S. Manufacturing and served as executive director of the Coalition for the Future of U.S. Manufacturing. He specialized in regulatory law in the 1990s, working at a D.C.-based firm in the consumer product safety practice group and in energy and environmental issues in the government relations practice group.

He has served on the Board of Directors of NAM’s Council of Manufacturing Associations, on the Board of Trustees of The Manufacturing Institute, and on the Alumni Board of the George Mason University School of Law, including a stint as president. Presently he serves as treasurer on the Board of Directors of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW).

Mr. Gold received a J.D. from George Mason University School of Law (cum laude), an M.A. in history from George Washington University, and a B.S. in history from Arizona State University (magna cum laude). 

Chris Stevens is President of US Automation for Siemens Digital  Industries, where he helps manufacturers turn automation, software, and AI into measurable business outcomes on the shop floor. His teams partner with operations and IT/OT leaders to move beyond pilots and deliver at scale by connecting data, people, and machines to lift throughput and yield, stabilize quality, and reduce energy intensity while protecting safety and compliance in mission critical events.

As a trusted industry voice, Chris focuses on production grade AI that is governed, observable, and reversible, augmented by workforce copilots that make complex systems intuitive for frontline teams. Before leading US Automation, his career began in automotive assembly and test systems. He then spent over two decades in Siemens’ industrial software business, where he ultimately served as Vice President for strategic verticals.

Chris holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan State University and lives in the Detroit metro area with his family.

Joe Hamann is the Executive Director of the Connected Systems Institute (CSI) at UWM, with mission to enable the future manufacturing workforce and accelerate economic development of manufacturers through education, technology advancement, and advanced manufacturing knowledge leadership. Joe also leads UWM’s work at the Microsoft AI Co-Innovation Lab on campus at UWM in the CSI. 

He started his career in R&D at Xtalic Corporation and transitioned to Regal Rexnord Corporation, where he advanced to the role of Senior Director of Global Engineering. Joe has extensive career experience in leading complex technical initiatives in manufacturing, continuous improvement programs, and industry-university collaborations, with a passion for coaching and mentoring early career engineers and future leaders. He earned BS, MS, and PhD degrees in Materials Science and Engineering from University of Wisconsin Madison and an MBA from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Matt Adamczyk is a Director and Technologist at Microsoft, where he connects emerging technologies such as quantum computing and next generation AI with regional innovation ecosystems. Matt is in-residence at TitletownTech where he serves as an advisor, engaging with the startups that TitletownTech invests in. Matt brings over a decade + of technical experience at Microsoft to these endeavors and has played a pivotal role in shaping Microsoft's innovation investments across America. He holds degrees in computer science and math from the University of Iowa and an MBA from UW-Green Bay where he also now serves on the Council of Trustees.

Samantha Batey leads the delivery of agentic architectures — AI that can reason, coordinate, and act — helping organisations move beyond isolated use cases towards production-scale execution. Her work brings together distributed systems, data engineering, the semantic layer, decision capture, and permissions to create governed decision systems that deliver measurable operational and commercial outcomes.

Previously, as an FDE at Palantir, she worked hands-on with some of its most complex commercial and government customers, taking high-stakes problems from ambiguity through to deployed production systems. That experience shaped her perspective on AI: while models are advancing rapidly, value ultimately depends on how that capability is designed, integrated, governed, and operationalised within real-world constraints. She is particularly focused on how agentic systems evolve into multi-agent, production-grade execution layers.

Her background spans M&A in financial services, work at the intersection of intelligence and counter-terrorist financing, commercial and engineering leadership across major technology companies, and scaling high-growth technology startups.

This experience has shaped a leadership style grounded in systems thinking, operational discipline, commercial judgement, and the ability to build teams and capabilities that deliver consistently in complex, high-stakes environments.

Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Dickson was the Chief Information Officer at Generac Power Systems. Prior to that, he held successive and increasing roles of responsibility such as Interim Chief Information Officer and Strategic Technology Consultant for Astreya, as well as Vice President, Digital Business Platform with Laureate International Universities, Vice President, IT Operations – Digital Innovation & Strategy with Motorola Solutions, and Divisional CIO, Emerging Technologies and User Experience with Dell. Mr. Dickson began his career with IBM in the Raleigh-Durham area.

Brian Fifarek is the “MacGyver” of supply chain digital transformation, helping Fortune 200 companies achieve the art of the possible by connecting vision, existing resources, legacy systems, and emerging technology to turn complex problems into simple, scalable solutions.

He brings a unique perspective that integrates Digital, IT, and Supply Chain expertise to deliver results today that change the game for tomorrow. He creatively integrates legacy IT systems with purpose-built software to drive world-class performance, advanced data platforms to accelerate speed and agility, and AI/ML to create competitive advantage.

He empowers global, cross-functional teams that people want to join—and where they want to stay—by elevating customer focus, fostering individual autonomy, and creating an environment where people can do their best work. Exceptional at navigating organizational matrices, he aligns stakeholders, influences across functions, and builds the momentum required for enterprise-level transformational change.

He takes great pride in creating “Miyagi moments”—those pivotal experiences that enable individuals, teams, and cultures to embrace and accelerate digital transformation.

He has led transformation initiatives across Supply Chain, Procurement, Engineering, Operations, R&D, Quality, Sustainability, and Finance, onboarding more than 14,000 professionals onto a unified digital ecosystem. He has championed enterprise adoption of game-changing AI and data platforms from Palantir, Microsoft, Dassault Systèmes, and Kinaxis, connecting people, processes, data, and technology to unlock measurable business value.

Amanda Arena is a senior business leader focused on helping organizations navigate large-scale transformation at the intersection of people, technology, and strategy. She works with executives, HR leaders, and boards to design and implement innovation- and data-driven talent strategies that enable organizations to adapt, perform, and grow in rapidly changing environments.

Her background spans more than a decade of experience in complex organizational change, governance, and rewards, with a strong track record of translating technical concepts into practical, people-centric solutions. Amanda is particularly interested in how artificial intelligence and emerging technologies can unlock new ways of working, enhance decision-making, and reshape the employee experience. She partners with leaders to explore and deploy AI use cases responsibly, with a focus on change management, skills, and governance.

Amanda holds an MBA and a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, and she completed MIT’s “Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy” certification program. She is also actively pursuing coursework in agentic AI to deepen her understanding of next-generation AI architectures and their impact on organizations.

In addition to her client and advisory work, Amanda frequently contributes to industry discussions on innovation, organizational transformation, and the future of work. She is based in the Philadelphia region and is committed to advancing inclusive, human-centered approaches to technology adoption and change.

Mark Booth is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Perdue Farms. In this capacity, Mark is responsible for all enterprise-wide IT activities, including infrastructure and architecture, application development, reengineering business processes, operations, and support. He leads the overall business technology strategy, creating the vision and leading the execution of changes necessary to support the profitable growth and competitive positioning of the company.

Mark has over 30 years of IT infrastructure, application development, and CIO experience in his new role. Prior to joining Perdue Farms, Mark was SVP and CIO for Reyes Holdings. He’s also held senior technology leadership roles with Maytag Corp. and Whirlpool Corp.

Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a master’s degree in computer resources and information management from Webster University.

Philipp Leutiger is a Senior Partner at Roland Berger, leading the Digital Platform in North America.

For over six years, he served in the C-suite of a global industrial company, where he was responsible for the digital transformation of the manufacturing footprint, logistics network, go-to-market strategy, and all support functions. His work has included building an innovation pipeline, scaling innovations, engaging with the open innovation community, and developing and accelerating platform strategies.

Alongside his operational role, Philipp has experience in innovation and transformation across various industries, including digital pure plays, automotive, automotive suppliers, heavy industries, energy, utilities, and aerospace. He combines expertise in digital strategy and technology with a deep understanding of change management.

Philipp holds a business degree from the Leipzig Graduate School of Management in Germany.

Heiko Will is Chief Digital & Information Officer at MSA, where he leads IT, data strategy, and software development. He is responsible for MSA’s technology roadmap and digital architecture for products and internal systems. Since 2013, Heiko has driven MSA’s digital transformation, building a global software team and launching cloud-based solutions. He holds a Ph.D. and master’s degree in Computer Science from Freie Universität Berlin.