AI is transforming how organizations innovate, solve problems, and create value-and at Ascend, we're fortunate to have leaders helping shape that future every day.

We're proud to share that Sweta Sinha, Director of AI Engineering & Machine Learning at Ascend, recently received the Enterprise AI Leadership Award at the Kansas City AI Club's inaugural Women in AI Awards, which honors women across the Kansas City metro whose work is helping shape how AI is built, adopted, and led.

From emerging practitioners to executive leaders guiding AI within organizations, the Women in AI Awards celebrate impact across industries and career stages-and Sweta's Enterprise AI Leadership Award recognizes leadership in AI strategy, governance, and adoption within large organizations.

"I'm honored to receive the Enterprise AI Leadership Award, which reflects the work, partnership, and commitment of so many people across Ascend's AI journey," Sweta said. "I'm grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with talented colleagues and to be part of a Kansas City AI community that is committed to learning, innovation, and responsible AI leadership."

Nate Ryan, managing principal architect at Ascend, said Sweta's leadership has helped position Ascend to be at the forefront of responsible AI adoption through her work advancing AI strategy, governance, and implementation.

"Sweta and her teams are the backbone of our AI initiatives by establishing best practices, monitoring and implementing the tools and resources to allow AI integration into our business products," said Nate. "She played a crucial role in helping to establish the AI Governance board that puts Ascend in a maturity level with AI that few companies actually practice, and she has played a key role in helping teams explore emerging technologies while maintaining a strong focus on security, ethics and delivering meaningful business value."

The Kansas City AI Club has grown into one of the region's most active AI communities, bringing together practitioners, executives, students, and AI enthusiasts to learn, collaborate, and advance AI adoption across Kansas City. More than 5,000 people have participated in nearly 40 events since the organization was founded in 2023.

Beyond Ascend, Sweta is a recognized voice in the broader AI community. She recently presented a session at the Kansas City Developer Conference (KCDC) on building trustworthy agentic AI systems, following her talk last year at KCDC on transforming business processes through multi-agent AI systems. Drawing on real-world experience, she shared insights on how teams can build safety, governance, and human oversight directly into AI agents that plan, decide, and act.

Congratulations, Sweta, on this well-deserved recognition and thank you for the expertise, vision, and leadership you bring to Ascend.