Kerrie Holley, a 2025 inductee into The National Inventors Hall of Fame for his pioneering work in Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) — the foundational technology that enabled today's cloud computing software as a service. His career spans from the era of punch cards to today's AI-driven landscape, having been a pioneering leader through every major computing paradigm: mainframe, client-server, Internet, mobile, cloud, and now AI with LLMs and Generative AI.

Retired IBM Fellow (IBM's highest technical leadership position) and IBM's first African American Distinguished Engineer. Former Google senior executive, VP/CTO at Cisco, and SVP and first Technology Fellow at United Health Group (UHG), Optum.

Having witnessed and led through every major technology revolution, I've seen how each paradigm shift democratizes innovation. Today's AI revolution is the most powerful yet. My work enabled "future-proofing" for organizations, ensuring they can respond swiftly to changing technology needs by restructuring software into new solutions rather than expensive rewrites. Now, AI does the same for individual inventors — it levels the playing field like never before.

Rick Hamilton has spent the past 25 years at the intersection of innovation, intellectual property, and emerging technologies. With over 1,060 issued U.S. patents, he is ranked among the most prolific inventors in history, and was formerly the most prolific inventor in IBM’s history.

Rick's career has focused on turning breakthrough ideas into real-world technologies—spanning artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and emerging clinical technologies. He built enterprise-wide innovation programs, created invention and patent programs for a Fortune 10 company, advised global companies on IP strategy, and led teams pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with AI.

In this course, along with Kerrie Holley, Rick will share practical frameworks and personal insights into fundamental invention processes, how AI is reshaping these processes, and how you can harness these emerging tools to create and leverage meaningful, defensible innovation in today's fast-moving world.