Early in his career David worked as both a hardware engineer and software engineer, focusing on IBM mainframes. During the birth of the PC in 1981 he became IBM's first official "technology evangelist", traveling the world, updating customers on IBM's software strategy and relaying customer requirements back into IBM's development labs. David has also been involved with the internet since before the release of the first Web browser, and keynoted the Internet Superhighway Summit in 1995.

Most recently David managed the IBM Extreme Blue innovation laboratory in Austin Texas and the IBM Solutions Experience Lab, also in Austin. Today he is leading IBM's evangelism efforts around Web 2.0 technology and helping coordinate the Web 2.0 standards efforts of various IBM development teams.

Scott McNealy, 52, is chairman of the board of directors of Sun Microsystems, a company he co-founded in 1982 and chairman of Sun Federal Inc. From 1984 to 2006, McNealy served as chief executive officer and chairman at Sun, steering the Company to constant innovation in open, network computing.

In his 22 years at the helm, McNealy grew Sun from a Silicon Valley start-up to a leading provider of network computing infrastructure with 37,900 employees worldwide, all while positioning the Company as the model of corporate integrity. In 1986, he took Sun public, creating one of the most notable publicly traded technology companies.

McNealy has overseen the Company's deployment of world-class products. Today, Java powers over 3.5 billion devices; Sun's Solaris is one of only three remaining operating systems in the marketplace; the Niagara chip is a leading, high performance, low power, sustainable technology; and the world's most advanced multi-core system, SPARC, is taking market share.

Seeing the impact of the network on security and privacy long ago, McNealy responded by building security into every Sun product.
McNealy's vision and business acumen have made him one of the most influential and widely quoted leaders in the complex, fluid and fast-moving IT industry. His leadership and determination have enabled Sun to outpace its peers, to grow while others have collapsed, to leverage market opportunities in good economies and bad, and to claim the leadership mantle as one of the world's great technology companies.

McNealy has helped set the industry agenda through his vision of network computing which has served as a guide and barometer for the direction and pace of technology innovation. And, for more than a decade, he has been advancing Sun's slogan, The Network Is The Computer -- a succinct statement of the company's vision of seamless connectivity that is now driving the Participation Age.

McNealy never shies away from controversial issues in the industry. His tenacity and willingness to address tough issues head on has earned him respect and admiration. In 1999, McNealy predicted that "software will all go free," and the market is now moving in that direction. He also foresaw the service provider movement, predicted the rise of business models based upon free software, evangelized thin client architectures and predicted grid computing. And, McNealy's belief in innovation and commitment to R&D, even in a tough economic climate, helped Sun weather the storm of the dot.com collapse, leaving the Company well positioned to compete in today's marketplace.

A champion of Sun's 24-year old strategy to share, McNealy is always fighting for openness and choice: "Without choice, you have no innovation. Without innovation, you have nothing."

In his ongoing role as Chairman of the Board and his role as Chairman of Sun Federal, Inc., McNealy continues to put his leadership and vision to work for Sun. He is a strong advocate for open and competitive business practices and is furthering his commitment to education, working with Curriki, a global education and learning community dedicated to delivering global access to knowledge.

McNealy graduated from Harvard in 1976 with a BA in Economics and received an MBA from Stanford in 1980. He is an avid hockey player and a single digit handicap golfer. He is married and is the father of four boys.

Daniel Pink is a best-selling author and an expert on innovation, competition, and the changing world of work.

His latest book, A Whole New Mind, charts the rise of right-brain thinking in modern economies and explains the six abilities individuals and organizations must master in an outsourced and automated world. Reviewers have described the book as “an audacious and powerful work,” “a profound read,” “right on the money,” and “a miracle.” Several publications named it one of the best business books of the year. A Whole New Mind has sold more than 100,000 copies in the U.S. – and has been translated into 12 languages.

Dan’s first book, Free Agent Nation, about the rise of people working for themselves, was a Washington Post best-seller and a business best-seller in the U.S. and Canada. Publishers Weekly said that the book “has become a cornerstone of employee-management relations.”

His articles on work, business, and technology appear in many newspapers and magazines—including The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Slate, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a Contributing Editor. Dan has provided analysis of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks. And as an independent business consultant, he's advised start-up ventures and Fortune 100 companies on recruiting, innovation, and work practices.

A free agent himself, Dan held his last real job in the White House, where he served from 1995 to 1997 as chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore. He’s also worked as an aide to United States Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich, an economic policy staffer in the United States Senate, a legal researcher in India, and a latrine builder in Botswana.

He received a BA, with honors in linguistics, from Northwestern University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and a JD from Yale Law School.

Dan lives in Washington, D.C. with his wife and their three children. He is now at work on his next two books, which will be published in 2008 and 2009.

Read Dan Pink at Wired.com:

Revenge of the Right Brain
What Kind of Genius Are You?
The Book Stops Here

Don Russo is a Group Vice President at Oracle Corporation with responsibility for Global Financial Services Strategy and Solutions. Don’s experience includes over 30 years in the software industry split evenly between working for major Financial Institutions and consulting and solutions selling to the industry. Don served as Vice President at Salomon Brothers and then at Merrill Lynch, where he worked in both finance and IT and was responsible for key systems such as Finance, Credit, Risk Management and support for Trading Operations. Don also spent many years in consulting at Andersen, Booz-Allen & Hamilton and at Oracle.

Don started Oracle’s industry consulting business in Financial Services in North America 14 years ago and has been viewed over the years as the driving force behind Oracle’s growing Financial Services solutions set. He also had Industry consulting responsibility for all of the Service Industries in North America, as well as a number of Sales support roles. Don helped start the Industry Business Unit in North America three years ago to drive Industry solutions sales and strategy and has been responsible for all Service Industries in North America. He then took on global responsibility for both the Financial Services and Professional Services (Business Services, Engineering and Construction, Travel/Transportation) industries. This included overall responsibility for global Industry Strategy and Direction as well as managing global industry solutions teams. Most recently Don has helped launch Oracle’s Global Financial Services Business Unit formed as part of the i-flex acquisition. Don has an MBA from the Wharton School and a BA from Boston College.

Rod Smith is an IBM fellow and Vice President of the IBM Emerging Internet Technologies organization, where he leads a group of highly technical innovators who are developing solutions to help businesses “Take Web 2.0 to Work.” In his many years in the industry, Rod has moved IBM - and the industry - to a rapid adoption of technologies such as Web services, XML, Linux, J2EE, and various wireless standards. As an IBM Fellow, Rod is helping lead IBM's strategic planning around Web 2.0 technologies and practices, with a focus on how these technologies can bring real business value to IBM's customers.