Subject Matter Expert
Mary Purk is a visionary leader dedicated to advancing the applications of artificial intelligence and analytics to benefit enterprises, consumers, and society. As the Co-Founder and former Executive Director of AI at Wharton research center, Mary has been at the forefront of AI innovation, bridging academia and industry to solve complex business challenges.
Mary is a prominent speaker and scholar in generative AI research, co-authoring the 2024 Wharton AI Adoption Report (link) and currently is a visiting scholar at The University of Illinois Chicago. Recently, she expanded Wharton’s influence in the AI/technology space through collaborative industry research projects, the creation of the popular Wharton AI Horizons webinar series and creating several Industry Advisory Boards. She launched AI academic conferences, the analytics accelerator and the AI start-up challenge. She is a sought after thought leader among academics, professionals, and students across industries, leveraging AI to drive meaningful impact.
As a champion for diversity and inclusion in data science, Mary co-founded Penn’s Women in Data Science conference. Previously, Mary served as the first Executive Director of the now Kilts Marketing Center at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she played a key role in advancing marketing and retail analytics research and industry partnerships.
In addition, Mary contributes her expertise to the Department of Homeland Security’s SAGE program and is a selected member of the OpenAI Community Forum, as well as contributing editor to the Journal of AI, Robotics & Workplace Automation and avid podcaster with a new series AI EmpowerHER.
Earlier in her career, Mary held senior leadership roles at Nielsen, Information Resources, Accenture, and was a lecturer at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mary is a proud alum of University of Illinois and the University of Chicago Booth.
