The WBUR Festival: Full Schedule

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11:45am EDT

Work Rewired: How AI is Changing Jobs and Business

Friday May 29, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT

Booth Theatre @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Enterprise AI leaders reveal how companies are deploying AI today, what roles will evolve or disappear and practical strategies for workers and managers to adapt — offering a roadmap for thriving in the AI-driven workplace of tomorrow.

Speakers

Ashley Maceli

VP of AI Solutions & Readiness, Eastern Bank

Ashley Maceli leads AI strategy at Eastern Bank, driving AI literacy and responsible adoption to support operations and improve customer experience. She joined the bank in 2017 as a Software Engineer and became Head of AI in 2025, where she oversees enterprise-wide AI strategy, governance, and i... Read More →

Jen Stave

Executive Director, HBS AI Institute

Jen Stave is the Executive Director of Harvard Business School's AI institute and a Partner at Keystone's AI Navigator Practice.

Dr. Stave’s work sits at the intersection of data, AI, change management, workforce transformation, and organizational effectiveness and her perspectives on the future of digital labor are featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Economist. She has served on the st... Read More →

Andrew Hogue

VP, Head of AI, Duolingo

Andrew Hogue is VP, Head of AI at Duolingo, responsible for building an AI-first product, team, and brand. Previously, he was Director of AI Engineering at Google Workspace, where he led the development of frontier AI features across the product and platform. He also led engineering at Blue Apro... Read More →

Scott Kirsner

Columnist, MassLive & Tech Correspondent, WBUR Morning Edition

Scott Kirsner has spent more than 25 years working as a business journalist and contributing editor at the Boston Globe, Wired Magazine, Fast Company, The New York Times, Variety, and other publications. His books include Innovation Economy: True Stories of Startups, Flame-Outs, and Inventing the... Read More →

Friday May 29, 2026 11:45am - 12:30pm EDT
Booth Theatre

Technology

2:15pm EDT

Powering A.I.: The True Cost of the Data Center Boom

Friday May 29, 2026 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT

Booth Theatre @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Policymakers, industry experts and journalists explore how the surge in AI infrastructure translates into jobs and investment. Their conversation also confronts why some state and local leaders are pushing back on proposed data centers among concerns including accompanying environmental challenges.

Speakers

Daniel Goetzel

Harvard Fellow & President, Chalant Strategies

Daniel Goetzel is a Fellow at Harvard and the president of a boutique innovation and economic development consulting firm that advises AI infrastructure companies, venture funds, universities and governments on economic development and innovation strategy. He has published extensively on how cities... Read More →

Ari Peskoe

Director, Harvard Electricity Law Initiative

Ari Peskoe is the Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. He writes and teaches about the regulation of companies that generate, deliver, and sell electric power. With Eliza Martin, he co-wrote a report entitled Extracting Profits from the Public: How Utility Ratepa... Read More →

Ella Nilsen

Climate Reporter, CNN

Ella Nilsen covers climate-related policy from the White House, Congress, and agencies.

She joined CNN from Vox where she covered the White House and the Biden administration’s climate and infrastructure plan.

She also covered Congress and the 2018 and 2020 elections. Prior to Vox, she reported on Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump in the 2016 primary at the Concord Monitor... Read More →

Friday May 29, 2026 2:15pm - 3:00pm EDT
Booth Theatre

Technology

3:30pm EDT

Spark or Slowdown?: Creativity in the Age of AI

Friday May 29, 2026 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT

Booth Theatre @ 820 Commonwealth Ave, Brookline, MA 02446, USA

Writers and teachers explore how AI tools are reshaping creative work and deep thinking – but does our increased use of AI amplify human imagination or risk dulling our capacity for original thought?

Speakers

Sasha Stiles

Poet & Artist

Sasha Stiles is a Kalmyk-American poet and artist whose work uses language to explore what it means to be human in a more-than-human age. A pioneering voice of the generative era, she advances poetic intelligence – the synthesis of emotion and algorithm – as a vital artistic medium of our... Read More →

Cloe Axelson

Senior Editor, Cognoscenti

Cloe Axelson is the senior editor of WBUR’s opinion page, Cognoscenti.

Cloe first came to WBUR in 2015, as a contributor — her very first piece for Cog was an essay about women’s soccer. Two years later, in 2017, she joined Cog’s staff as an editor. Since then, she’s worked with hundreds of writers, produced dozens of pieces for radio, and written... Read More →

Jane Rosenzweig

Director, Harvard College Writing Center

Jane Rosenzweig is the director of the Harvard College Writing Center. She writes the newsletter Writing Hacks and publishes the newsletter The Important Work, which features reflections by educators about teaching in the era of generative AI. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Los... Read More →

Ann Handley

Bestselling Author & Entrepreneur

Ann Handley is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author of 3 books, including the forthcoming ASAP: As Slow As Possible. A writer, speaker, and entrepreneur, she explores creativity, communication, and human judgment in a culture obsessed with speed.

Friday May 29, 2026 3:30pm - 4:15pm EDT
Booth Theatre

Technology

11:45am EDT

2:15pm EDT

3:30pm EDT

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