Krista Wharton is on a mission to prove that AI's greatest power is unlocking human potential.

As Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML) Senior Product Manager for Amazon's Last Mile Delivery Training & Programs, Krista leads one of the most consequential training transformations happening right now. Whether they're drivers, walkers, or e-bike delivery — if an Amazon package is getting to your door, that delivery person completed Amazon's training program before hitting the road. All 400,000+ of them, annually, across North America — each employed by one of Amazon's independent Delivery Service Partners.  Krista and her AI Innovation teams are dismantling the one-size-fits-all training model and replacing it with something far more ambitious: truly personalized learning on a massive scale. In practice, that means up to 10,000 delivery drivers a day, each receiving an AI experience tailored to them in real-time — one that rapidly unlocks experiential hands-on learning through Virtual Reality, driving simulators, and real-life scenarios that stick.

But here's where Krista's work gets genuinely rare. Through Agentic AI — her system of specialized AI agents — she’s not just building the future of training; she's upskilling Amazon’s operational teams to build AI alongside her. In a world where adaptability, judgment, and learning agility have become the defining human advantages, Krista is making a bold bet: the next wave of AI innovation won't only come from Silicon Valley. It'll come from the people who know the work from the inside out. She's upskilling Amazon’s non-technical teams to ship production-ready AI agents at an enterprise level— proving that the skills we need to thrive in the AI era aren't just technical. They're deeply, irreducibly human.

A proud Nashvillian who knows a thing or two about finding the right note, Krista brings equal parts grit and strategy to the XR frontier. Her talk will give you real tangible advice — not theory — for building Agentic AI systems that make humans sharper, drive enhanced learning outcomes — and yeah, get packages to your door faster too.