Opportunities Conference Keynote Discussion
Join Beyond Barnard for the Fall 2026 Opportunities Conference Keynote Discussion: AI, the Liberal Arts, and the Future of Work. Lunch will be served. The event is open to participants in the 2026 Leadership Assembly and the Opportunities Conference.
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping our understanding of what constitutes "white collar," and will likely redefine career trajectories and possibly entire industries. How are employers and thought leaders presently preparing for tectonic shifts in the labor market? How must liberal arts institutions like Barnard continue to innovate to prepare graduates for lifelong success in a range of industries? What does the future of gatherings like the Opportunities Conference — dedicated to supporting and advancing women in their careers by fostering community and connection — look like? Join us for a panel of industry leaders and experts as we talk about a theme that is present in the minds of so many in higher education and across fields.
Maryam Banikarim '89 (moderator): Maryam Banikarim is a convener, an Emmy Award-winning storyteller, and the host of The Messy Parts, a podcast that pulls back the curtain on what "making it" actually looks like. Drawing from her own journey through the messy reality behind success, Maryam creates a space for honest conversations about the struggles, pivots, and hard-won victories that shape extraordinary careers. As a seasoned C-suite executive with over 25 years of experience, Maryam has driven growth and transformation for global organizations including Fortune Media, Nextdoor, Hyatt, Gannett, NBCUniversal, and Univision.
Debbie Lovich '89 (Managing Director & Senior Partner, Boston Consulting Group): Debbie has spent the last half of her 30+ year consulting career working across industries and countries on the human side of transformation. She does the hard work of changing cultures and leader behaviors from the C-suite to the front line to enable sustained value creation. After COVID-19, Debbie led BCG’s thinking on the future of work. As GenAI is reshaping work, organizations and industries, Debbie is showing her clients how being employee-centric will enable them to get the most value from these new technologies. Debbie has also applied her expertise internally at BCG, where she led the development and rollout of the firm’s global predictability, teaming, and open communication (PTO) program, an initiative implemented to improve BCG’s culture and employee work–life balance. She has been a frequent contributor to Forbes, as well as Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review and a TED speaker. She is the author of the recent book Making Work Work (Penguin).
Amanda Arena (Partner & Commercial Solutions Leader - AI Transformation, Aon): Amanda is a leader in AI transformation and workforce innovation, helping executives, boards, and HR leaders navigate the intersection of artificial intelligence, human potential, and business strategy. She has worked with hundreds of organizations, from startups to Fortune 50 companies, to develop AI-enabled workforce solutions and prepare for the future of work. A frequent speaker, writer, and podcast guest, Amanda is known for advocating responsible AI adoption that creates value not only for organizations, but also for employees and communities. Her work challenges leaders to look beyond short-term efficiency gains and consider AI's impact on workforce wellbeing, resilience, and long-term growth. As a working parent and champion of inclusive access to AI, Amanda believes organizations have a responsibility to ensure that technological advances expand opportunity rather than deepen existing inequities.
Annie Dean is a global transformation leader and future of work expert, named to Forbes’ Future of Work 50 for “bringing facts and focus to the conversation.” She was VP of Workplace and Global Head of Team Anywhere at Atlassian, leading future of work strategy, real estate, workplace experience, and organizational effectiveness. Annie also founded Atlassian’s Teamwork Lab, a behavioral and data science group researching AI and teamwork. Previously, she was Director of Remote Work at Meta, guiding leadership through shifts in work models and talent strategy. Annie’s thought leadership has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Fast Company, helping organizations navigate technological change with a human-centered approach.
Smaranda Muresan is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Barnard College of Columbia University. Before joining Barnard in 2024, she was a Research Scientist at the Data Science Institute at Columbia University. Her research focuses on human-centric Natural Language Processing for social good and responsible computing. She develops theory-guided and knowledge-aware computational models for understanding and generating language in context (e.g., visual, social, multilingual, multicultural) with applications to computational social science, education, public health and creativity support. Recently, her research interests include explainable models and human-AI collaboration frameworks. She served as a board member for the North American Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics (NAACL) 2020-2021, as a co-founder and co-chair of the New York Academy of Sciences’ Annual Symposium on NLP/Dialog/Speech (2019-2020) and as a Program Co-Chair for SIGDIAL 2020 and ACL 2022.
Confirmed attendees will receive an email with additional details. Questions can be sent to beyondbarnard@barnard.edu.