Auxiom Community Appreciation Event
This high-impact event features:
- Keynote sessions that will give you tools for tackling AI issues today
- Panel of business leaders and experts who are navigating today's AI opportunities
- Complimentary breakfast and time for networking
- WEDS. SEPTEMBER 23 | 8-11:30 AM
- GREAT OAKS COUNTRY CLUB
777 Great Oaks BLVD.
Rochester, MI 48307
RSVP by September 16, 2026
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Keynote Speakers
Aaron Salko & Kelly Johnson
Human Performance Strategists, Stratum 9
When everyone has access to the same AI, the same information, and increasingly the same capabilities, what separates the best from everyone else? STRATUM 9 Human Performance Strategists Aaron Salko and Kelly Johnson explore why the AI revolution may ultimately become a human performance revolution—and why the organizations that win will be those whose people can outperform with it.
Ashok Sivanand
Principal, Nous
If everyone on your team got 10x more productive with AI tomorrow, would your business be worth 10x more? Ashok Sivanand, founding Principal at Nous, says the honest answer for most mid-market companies is no, and the bottleneck isn’t the technology or tools. Bring a pencil. You will leave this session with identifying one AI opportunity, and one experiment to run this week to build momentum and progress.
Panel
AI in Action: The Mindset Behind the Moves
This panel brings together people who are genuinely pushing AI forward, not just using it, but shaping how it's applied. Attendees will get an inside look at how these innovators think, adapt, and stay ahead, offering a practical playbook for building that same edge in their own work.
Speaker Bios
Curtis Hays
CEO, Collideascope
Curtis Hays is the founder of Collideascope, a diagnostic-first digital agency built on a simple principle: understand the system before trying to improve it. Drawing on 16 years in IT—including a decade running a managed services company—and 13 years in analytics and paid media, Curtis now leads a 12-person team working alongside more than 20 specialized AI agents they have built into the agency’s operations. He co-hosts the marketing podcast Bullhorns & Bullseyes and writes about how leaders can use AI to sharpen judgment, challenge assumptions, and redesign the way work gets done. His central belief: AI amplifies what already exists inside a business—which is why the tool itself is often the smallest part of the result.
Kelly Johnson
Human Performance Strategist, Stratum 9
Kelly Johnson is the Co-Founder of STRATUM 9 and a Cultural Performance Specialist focused on how human behavior shapes the way teams communicate, connect, and perform. She combines performance science with practical strategies to help leaders build trust, strengthen relationships, improve communication, and create cultures of psychological safety, where people can perform at their highest level. Known for making complex human dynamics relatable and actionable, Kelly gives audiences tactical tools to change how they show up, and ultimately change the culture around them.
Todd Loiselle
CIO, National Food Group
Todd Loiselle is Chief Information Officer at National Food Group, a food distributor serving schools, corrections, and commissaries, where a dozen live AI initiatives target the bottlenecks that slow the business. AI does the work, but a person signs off on every step that matters. His AI Champions program has turned AI from an IT initiative into a daily tool across the company. Todd brings nearly 30 years of enterprise technology leadership, including a CIO role at Mastronardi Produce and 13 years at Masco Corporation, and was named Small Cap CIO of the Year in 2023.
Everett Michaud
VP of Operations & Technology, Auxiom
Everett Michaud is Vice President of Operations and Technology at Auxiom. His career has spanned Air Force missile electronics, global infrastructure leadership at Fortune 500 Kelly Services, and co-founding CliqBit, an iOS social media startup. He was instrumental in building the managed services practices at Analysts International, Centaris, and New Era Technology, and led a national audit of Wells Fargo’s help desk services. A former VP of the Detroit chapter of Help Desk Institute (HDI), he has spent the last 18 months shipping AI into operations — internal tools, process and document workflows, and LLM APIs in production — with a builder’s and programmer’s view of where it has the most impact.
Shatica McDonald
Managing Director, Accenture
Shatica McDonald is Accenture’s Michigan Office Managing Director, helping clients harness technology, data, and AI to drive enterprise reinvention. She partners with organizations to responsibly scale AI, transform how work gets done, and create sustainable business value and growth. As a recognized leader in AI-driven transformation, Shatica is passionate about preparing businesses and people to thrive in the future of work.
Aaron Salko
Human Performance Strategist, Stratum 9
Aaron Salko is the CEO of STRATUM 9, a human performance strategist, and author of The 9th Stratum: Your Guide to High Performance. Using the STRATUM 9 framework, he challenges conventional thinking about performance by showing leaders and teams how to turn human behavior, skills, and daily habits into measurable competitive advantage. Known for a direct, high-energy, tactical approach, Aaron gives audiences practical strategies they can immediately apply to perform, lead, and execute at a higher level.
Ashok Sivanand
Principal, Nous
Ashok Sivanand is the founding principal at Nous, where he works alongside mid-market owners to find where value is leaking in their operations and to place bets alongside them on fixing it. He built and sold Integral, a 50+ person practice that helped Ford, Honda, and Rocket Mortgage redesign how they build technology. He learned lean and theory of constraints on manufacturing floors, driving a forklift before writing software for GM and Suzuki plants. He was recognized in Crain’s Detroit Business “40 Under 40” in 2024.
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