Executive Dinner

DineshKumar Lakshmanan is Senior Director of Engineering at IPSY, leading the Core Services Engineering organization and overseeing mission-critical platforms including subscription management, commerce infrastructure, inventory, personalization, and ERP integrations. He drives technology transformation, platform modernization, and global team growth across onshore, nearshore, and offshore models. DineshKumar has led high-impact initiatives such as the seamless integration of BoxyCharm and a company-wide operational efficiency program, achieving $2M+ in cloud cost savings through Kubernetes, serverless infrastructure, and auto-scaling strategies. Previously at PayPal, he scaled the global payments platform to support 120M+ daily transactions and implemented enterprise-wide data governance and architectural standardization. Known for architecting scalable, high-volume platforms and building high-performing engineering teams, Dinesh aligns technology strategy with business objectives, drives operational excellence, and delivers measurable ROI while fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and resilience.

Stephen Chen is an entrepreneurial technologist with a demonstrated track record of developing innovative solutions that strategically align business objectives with cutting-edge technology. His expertise spans a range of domains, including data science, software engineering, cybersecurity, and digital marketing. With a rich background encompassing defense, commercial, and nonprofit sectors, Stephen brings a diverse skill set and operational excellence to the table. His unique blend of experience instills the discipline of large organizations into startups while reintroducing the agility of startups to larger enterprises. In addition to his corporate endeavors, Stephen has garnered significant exposure in board and advisory roles, particularly in the nonprofit and educational sectors. He has served as a board member and currently holds an advisory position for Here To Serve, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting families facing childhood cancer. Stephen maintains an active involvement in local schools, exemplified by his advisory council for the cyber security program at California State University, Chico.

Manjeet Singh loves two things: AI and Fitness. By day, he is Senior Director of Product Management for Agentforce AI, building next generation AI platforms. He has previously led product teams at ServiceNow and high growth startups. Beyond tech, he is a fitness coach and a long-term practitioner of health and fitness. He runs a nonprofit community, Agile Fitness, with over 300,000 members. He writes and speaks about AI and fitness, believing the best systems, human or artificial, are built to improve continuously.

John Jankowski is a technology and cybersecurity executive with over 20 years of experience delivering enterprise IT solutions. As Head of Information Technology at endpoint Clinical, he oversees IT strategy, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and SaaS operations, ensuring alignment with business goals and regulatory compliance. John has led enterprise application implementations, cloud migrations, and process optimizations while maintaining standards including PCI, SOX, GDPR, and GxP. Known for building high-performing teams and driving innovation, he combines strategic thinking with strong communication and problem-solving skills to create secure, scalable, and efficient technology environments.

Steve Zalewski is a cybersecurity executive and advisor with extensive experience providing retained CISO, security consulting, and advisory services across healthcare, utilities, and international retail sectors. He serves as a virtual CISO for organizations needing part-time or interim leadership, advises venture capital firms and early-stage security startups, and delivers international cybersecurity training. Steve’s expertise spans enterprise security strategy, incident response, risk and compliance management, security program design, and board-level governance. He is the former CISO at Levi Strauss & Co and has held senior security roles at Pacific Gas & Electric and Kaiser Permanente, as well as engineering leadership positions in storage networks and enterprise operating systems. He holds multiple patents, CISSP, CISM, and CRISC certifications, co-hosts the CISOSeries Defense-in-Depth Podcast, and frequently speaks at industry events.