In the first quarter of 2026, 81% of all global venture capital funding went to AI startups, and AI tech-related stocks accounted for 42% of the S&P 500. Those numbers, shared by Matt Seitz, executive director of the AI Hub for Business at the Wisconsin School of Business, set the tone for the inaugural “Ground Truth: AI for Business Summit,” a two-day conference at the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Memorial Union.
Created and sponsored by the AI Hub for Business, the summit emphasized the importance of making AI actionable. The 260 attendees from 95 companies gathered to hear from 43 speakers representing academia and global companies including Google, Medtronic, Deloitte, and Accenture, each sharing how their organizations are deploying AI and the lessons they have learned in the process.
In his welcoming remarks, Dean Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy described AI as both “evolutionary and revolutionary.”
“Our core belief at the Wisconsin School of Business is that AI will complement leaders, not replace them,” he said. “Our job is not to produce mere technologists. It’s to develop bilingual leaders, the professionals who understand AI, but more importantly, understand where it fits into the world of business, into the world of human judgment, and into society.”
Sambamurthy shared with the audience that the summit’s title, “ground truth,” comes from machine learning.
“It’s the reliable data used to test and train models. It’s the antidote to speculation and hallucination—that’s what we want this event to be. This is a rare opportunity to cut the noise, focus on what’s real, and leave with something you can use.”
Karen Sauder, president of Google’s Global Client and Agency Solutions, gave the summit’s opening address on how AI is rewriting business strategy. Based in Chicago, Sauder oversees over $50 billion of Google’s global business.
“Our core belief at the Wisconsin School of Business is that AI will complement leaders, not replace them.”
—Dean Vallabh “Samba” Sambamurthy
“This is the day of the super-empowered consumer,” Sauder said. “They’re no longer asking us at Google for simple things; they’re asking very specific, long-context questions. They want what they want, and part of that is during the process of discovery, and part of that is when they’re getting closer to decisioning.
So how do you flip your marketing paradigm from demanding just a browsing mentality to really getting consumers what they want in a well-researched way?” Sauder asked the audience.
Additional keynote speakers included Ramayya Krishnan, dean emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University; Kristen Berman (BBA ’06), CEO and co-founder, Irrational Labs; Nassar Nizami, CIO, Exact Sciences; and Rob Bradford, vice president, Kimberly-Clark.
Lightning talks—such as “AI in Retail Merchandising” from Jonathan Kuether, partner at Bain & Company, and “From Incubation to Scale in Artificial Intelligence” from Mahka Moeen, Skillrud Family Chair in Business, Management and Human Resources, at WSB—offered quick, actionable insights into AI’s expanding role in enterprise productivity and innovation.
The “AI and the Customer” panel led by Neeraj Arora, Arthur C. Nielsen, Jr. Chair in Marketing Research and Education at WSB, explored how AI is changing the way companies understand and engage their customers.
UW–Madison students also attended the summit. A panel of undergraduate, graduate, and recent alumni participated in the breakout session, “AI for the Next Generation,” sharing their advice on navigating careers in an AI-driven business landscape.
During her address, Sauder told the audience about a quote she keeps on her desk. “‘Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.’ Don’t be overwhelmed. Think about what it is for your organization that’s going to give them one step forward and maybe one step towards some more inspiration about the opportunity that lies ahead for all of us.”