Featured AI Summit Speakers
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Brought to you by the State of Utah through the Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity, the Utah Department of Commerce, the Nucleus Institute, and the Office of Artificial Intelligence Policy.
Spencer J. Cox
18th Utah Governor
Gov. Spencer J. Cox is a husband, father, farmer, recovering attorney, and Utah’s 18th governor. He also served as the 2023-2024 chairman of the National Governors Association, opens in a new tab.
Gov. Cox has a long track record of public service, serving as a city councilmember, mayor, county commissioner and state legislator before being appointed as Utah’s lieutenant governor in 2013. He was sworn in as governor on Jan. 4, 2021.
During his first term in office, Gov. Cox cut $1.1 billion in taxes, implemented landmark changes in water law, water conservation and infrastructure planning, locked in record funding for education and teachers, enacted universal school choice and secured funds for affordable housing. A long-time advocate for suicide prevention and mental health resources, he’s become a national voice on protecting youth from the harms of social media. He also signed early education and workforce program funding, launched the One Utah Health Collaborative, and expanded opportunities for women, diverse communities and those living in rural parts of the state.
With a focus on solutions, Gov. Cox promotes respect in politics and innovation in government, works across party lines to find common ground and regularly participates in hands-on service projects. These elements were the foundation of his NGA Chair’s Initiative, “Disagree Better: Healthy Conflict for Better Policy.”, opens in a new tab
A sixth-generation Utahn, Gov. Cox was born and raised in Fairview, a town of 1,200 in the center of the state. He met First Lady Abby Palmer Cox at age 16 and they married after he returned from serving a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Mexico. He attended Snow College, Utah State University and the Washington and Lee University School of Law, then clerked for U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart and worked at a Salt Lake City law firm. Several years later, Gov. Cox and First Lady Cox moved back to Fairview to raise their four children – Gavin, Kaleb, Adam, and Emma Kate – on the family farm. The governor and first lady currently reside in the Kearns Mansion, also known as the Governor’s Mansion, in Salt Lake City.
Sessions
Margaret Woolley Busse
Commissioner, Utah Department of Commerce
Margaret Woolley Busse was appointed by Governor Spencer Cox in January 2021 to serve as a member of his cabinet as the Executive Director of Utah’s Department of Commerce. Thus far in her tenure, she has worked on regulatory reform, streamlining the regulatory process, and reducing regulatory fees. Specifically, she worked with legislative partners to create the new Office of Professional Licensure Review (OPLR). The first of its kind in the nation, OPLR takes a systematic approach to reviewing Utah’s professional licensing regulation in order to find ways to reduce the licensure burden as well as increase access and decrease cost for consumers of professionally licensed services. OPLR’s first review resulted in the passage of a groundbreaking new law that will vastly increase Utah’s behavioral health workforce through regulatory reform in order to address Utah’s mental health crisis.
In addition, Ms. Busse is leading efforts to create streamlined pathways for foreign-credentialed immigrants and refugees to obtain professional licenses, enabling them to work at their trained skill level here in Utah.
Under the direction of Governor Cox, Director Busse has played a key role in holding social media platforms accountable for their harm to minors by helping to craft appropriate legislative measures and through the Department of Commerce's lawsuits against TikTok and Meta. Under her leadership, the Department of Commerce published proposed rules for age verification and parental consent to operationalize Utah's groundbreaking new social media law, which the department is charged with enforcing.
Finally, in partnership with Utah’s legislative leadership, Ms. Busse is driving forward an innovative approach to artificial intelligence that will help Utah to ensure it is protecting the public, encouraging innovation, and enabling it to observe and learn about how to regulate effectively. The approach includes the creation of the new Office of Artificial Intelligence (OIAP), which is tasked with both providing regulatory relief to qualifying AI-focused companies and making regulatory policy recommendations through its policy learning lab.
Ms. Busse serves as a member of the One U Responsible Artificial Intelligence External Advisor Committee and a member of the Talent Ready Utah Board. In 2024, she was named a Most Influential Woman by Utah Business Magazine, was the recipient of the Cyber Pioneer Award from the Utah Bar Association, was a finalist for 2024 Utah Women in Tech award, and awarded RevRoad’s Championing Women in Business recognition.
Before her appointment to Commerce, Ms. Busse was an adjunct faculty member for BYU’s Political Science Department and an advisor to social impact organizations. Ms. Busse also served for several years as the Associate Director of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School, where she developed an alumni impact investing program and worked on issues such as the future of work, opportunity, prosperity for all, and educational improvement. In addition, Ms. Busse worked as a strategy consultant at the Bridgespan Group and spent several years at the U.S. Treasury Department as a Presidential Management Fellow. Ms. Busse developed her passion for public service by serving for many years in leadership roles in local government.
Ms. Busse is the recipient of Utah Business’s 2024 Most Influential Women award, Women Tech Council’s 2024 Women in Tech Award finalist, and the Utah Bar Association’s 2024 Cyber Pioneer Award. She holds an MBA from Harvard University, a master’s degree in Public Policy from Brigham Young University, and a bachelor’s degree in both Public Policy and Economics from Brigham Young University, where she graduated cum laude and with university honors. She is a Utah native, and she and her husband, Franz, have five children, ages 11 to 21.
Sessions
Jefferson Moss
Commissioner, Governor's Office of Economic Development
Jefferson Moss was appointed by Governor Spencer Cox in May 2025 to serve as the Executive Director of Utah’s Governor's Office of Economic Opportunity.
Moss was previously the Associate Commissioner of Innovation, Commercialization and Economic Development at the Utah System of Higher Education and Managing Director of the Utah Innovation Fund. In this capacity, he led USHE’s involvement in the major economic development efforts and was responsible for overseeing the strategic initiatives and day-to-day operations at the Innovation District at The Point and coordinating innovation efforts throughout Utah. Moss also served as AVP of central advancement at UVU and the COO for the UVU Foundation. In these positions, he launched the UVU Wolverine Fund, a student-run venture capital fund, and the Excellence and Innovation Initiative. Prior to UVU, Moss served as a wealth strategist at Key Bank and Credit Suisse and launched several successful businesses. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Master of Business Administration from Brigham Young University. He also served in the Utah House of Representatives as well as on the Utah State Board of Education and the Saratoga Springs City Council and Planning Commission.