Kenney Crooks
2026 Speaker

Kenney Crooks

NG Fellow

Northrop Grumman

About

Kenney Crooks is the Northrop Grumman (NG) Fellow for Reliability, Maintainability and Testability (RM&T) and Lifecycle Model Based Sustainment (MBS) in NG’s Aeronautics Sector (NGAS). He serves as the Digital Transformation Office (DTO) Enterprise lead for Digital Product Support and NGAS Product Owner for Model Based Sustainment as part of the company’s Digital Transformation initiatives. Crooks previously held roles as Senior Engineering Manager for NG Strike Division and Lead Reliability Engineer on Strike, E-2D, Triton, NATO AGS, UK AWACS. He has supported several other programs with his technical expertise across the company in his 15-year career. In industry, He serves as Chair for Reliability and Logistics Working Group for Military Operations Research Society (MORS). He is a SAE voting committee member for industry standards for Reliability and Maintainability (R&M). He represents NG at the annual Department of Defense (DoD) R&M Roundtable forums that is hosted by Office of Under Secretary of Defense, Research and Engineering (OUSD R&E). Crooks is a published author in IEEE on topics of Supportability, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI/ML), Robust Asset Tracking, and Condition Based Maintenance (CBM+) Strategies. He holds a US Patent resulting from his work at NG. Crooks holds a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology Management from Barry University and Master’s degree in System Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology.

2026 Sessions

Oct 144:20 PM5:05 PM
Main StagePanel

(Panel) Beyond Immersive: How AI is Reshaping Enterprise Today and Tomorrow

Atrium Ballroom A

AI adoption has accelerated across nearly every enterprise function, but moving from experimentation to production-grade systems requires disciplined execution. In this panel, industry innovators share how they’re deploying AI today, measuring value, and managing risk, cost, and complexity over time. Rather than surveying trends, the discussion focuses on practical approaches to cost-effective experimentation, safe implementation, and robust governance. Hear how organizations are integrating AI into existing systems and workflows, building internal capabilities, and balancing automation with human oversight. Topics include: Use case selection : High-impact opportunities aligned with data, talent, and business goals Types of AI : Choosing the right approach (predictive models, computer vision, NLP, generative, agentic, physical AI)  Data readiness : Preparing, labeling, and governing data to ensure quality, accessibility, and security Model development & integration : Build, buy, or hybrid; training models and embedding into workflows Lifecycle management : Versioning, monitoring, and continuous improvement Risk & safety : Implementing human-in-the-loop and managing bias, drift, errors, hallucinations, and harmful outputs through validation, monitoring, and guardrails Infrastructure & cost : Scaling inference across cloud, on-prem, edge; optimizing performance, energy use, and cost Governance & responsible AI : Establishing policies for traceability, accountability, and regulatory compliance; aligning with organizational values Workforce readiness : Upskilling employees, building trust, and embedding AI into daily operations Measuring impact : Linking model performance to business outcomes like productivity, cost savings, and quality Scaling adoption : Standardizing tools and processes for reliable, repeatable deployment Use cases : Automation, workflow optimization, customer support, predictive maintenance, quality inspection, personalization, software development, cybersecurity, and more What’s next : Convergence of AI with XR, robotics, and digital twins; early agentic systems and autonomous workflows