2025 Keynote Speakers

William CHappell, VP of Mission Systems, Microsoft
Chappell

The Evolution of Innovation: The Dawn of Reasoning Agents in Chip Design

Monday, June 23

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) has long been a beacon for technological foresight and innovation in the semiconductor industry. As we look beyond 2025, the landscape of chip design is poised for another transformative leap with the advent of reasoning agents. This evolution builds upon the foundational milestones set by the Electronics Resurgence Initiative (ERI), which revitalized U.S. semiconductor research, and the integration of cloud computing for silicon. The emergence of Generative AI (GenAI) heralds a new era of creativity and efficiency in design processes across multiple domains.
In this keynote, we will explore how reasoning agents are set to revolutionize the semiconductor industry by offering unprecedented capabilities in problem-solving and decision-making. These agents, drawing inspiration from scientific methodologies in other domains, promise to enhance the precision and speed of design, automate manual tasks, while also fostering a collaborative environment between human designers and AI systems. We will delve into the practical applications of these agents, showcasing their potential to streamline complex design challenges, drive innovation, and increase productivity.
The DAC continues to play a crucial role in this journey, serving as a platform for sharing insights, fostering collaboration, and setting the stage for the next wave of technological advancements. By embracing the synergy between AI and human expertise, we are not only shaping the future of microelectronics but also redefining the boundaries of what is possible in chip design. Join us as we navigate this exciting frontier and explore the opportunities that lie ahead.

Michaela Blott, Senior Fellow, AMD Research
Blott

Session Title To Be Announced

Tuesday, June 24

ABOUT: Dr. Michaela Blott is a Senior Fellow at AMD Research. She heads a team of international scientists driving groundbreaking research into AI, from robotics to computer architectures, model optimizations and green AI. 
Her journey includes a Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin and a Master's degree from the University of Kaiserslautern, Germany, and brings over 25+ years of experience in leading-edge AI, computer architecture and advanced FPGA design, in research institutions (ETH Zurich and Bell Labs) and development organizations. 
She is highly active in the research community as industrial advisor to numerous EU projects and research centres, serves on technical program committees and her contributions to the field were further recognized through multiple Women in Tech Awards.

Jason Cong, Volegnau Chair for Engineering Excellence Professor, UCLA Computer Science Department
Cong

Session Title To Be Announced

Wednesday, June 25

ABOUT: Jason Cong is the Volgenau Chair for Engineering Excellence Professor at the UCLA Computer Science Department (and a former department chair), with joint appointment from the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. He is the director of Center for Domain-Specific Computing (CDSC) and the director of VLSI Architecture, Synthesis, and Technology (VAST) Laboratory.  Dr. Cong’s research interests include novel architectures and compilation for customizable computing, synthesis of VLSI circuits and systems, and quantum computing.  He has over 500 publications in these areas, including 19 best paper awards, and 4 papers in the FPGA and Reconfigurable Computing Hall of Fame.  He and his former students co-founded AutoESL, which developed the most widely used high-level synthesis tool for FPGAs (renamed to Vivado HLS and Vitis HLS after Xilinx’s acquisition).   He is member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Fellow of ACM, IEEE, and the National Academy of Inventors.   He is recipient of the SIA University Research Award, the EDAA Achievement Award, the IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal for “fundamental contributions to electronic design automation and FPGA design methods”, and the Phil Kaufman Award for “sustained fundamental contributions FPGA design automation technology, from circuit to system levels, with widespread industrial impact

 

Conference Sponsors

THANK YOU TO OUR INDUSTRY PARTNERS

Siemens
ChipAgentsAI
Synopsys
Keysight