Speakers

Omar Vieira retired after serving in the Navy for 24 years as an active-duty US Navy SEAL. Upon graduation of class 219 at Basic Underwater Demolition / SEAL (BUD/S) School in October of 1998, he was assigned to SEAL Team FOUR in Virginia Beach executing recurrent and emergent special operations missions in the jungles of Central and South America.

Commissioned as a Naval Special Warfare Officer in 2005, Omar served at multiple SEAL teams and special operations commands where he led SEALs through hundreds of combat missions, including direct-action operations, clandestine missions, and special reconnaissance across declared and undeclared theaters of war. He later held senior leadership positions within joint and combined special operations organizations, addressing complex operational challenges across the CENTCOM, AFRICOM and SOUTHCOM command areas of responsibility.

Omar was awarded the Legion of Merit for exceptionally meritorious service as a ground force commander during a highly sensitive, no-fail operation critical to the national defense of the United States. He also received two Bronze Star Medals with Valor devices for heroic actions against enemy forces that directly saved the lives of his teammates.

Following his military retirement in 2021, Omar transitioned into counter-human trafficking operations with a nonprofit organization. He later founded his nonprofit organization, Alliance Rescue, Inc. in 2024, where he leads operational teams that work alongside host-nation law enforcement agencies to identify trafficking networks, locate victims, and support the apprehension of suspected human traffickers. Across his work with Operation Underground Railroad and now Alliance Rescue, operations under his leadership have contributed to the recovery of more than 400 victims and the arrests of more than 180 suspected traffickers.

Born in Puerto Rico, Omar is the son of a U.S. Army Command Sergeant Major. He spent much of his childhood in North Carolina, Georgia, and Germany. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Military Science from Utah Valley University in 2005.

Omar met his wife, Vicky, in Puerto Rico through their families. They are the parents of two children.

Jeff Morris is a technology and product management leader with more than 20 years of experience driving digital transformation, enterprise technology strategy, and product innovation across financial services, SaaS, e-commerce, and data-driven platforms.

As a Senior Digital Product Manager at Charles Schwab, Jeff has led high-impact initiatives involving compliance and audit reporting, enterprise API modernization, business intelligence and analytics solutions, and technology integrations. He specializes in aligning business objectives, customer needs, and technology capabilities to deliver measurable results.

Prior to Schwab, Jeff held product leadership, consulting, and technology management roles across organizations ranging from startups and family-owned businesses to large public companies, including Ancestry.com, SuperValu, and Hubbell Incorporated. Throughout his career, he has launched digital products, developed strategic roadmaps, led cross-functional teams, and implemented large-scale data and customer management solutions.

Known for his strategic mindset, analytical approach, and passion for innovation, Jeff is committed to leveraging data, emerging technologies, and continuous improvement to solve complex business challenges and enhance customer experiences.

Outside of work, Jeff enjoys spending time with his family, serving in his church and community, and pursuing interests in reading, genealogy, travel, and photography.

Rita is a corporate transactional and privacy attorney with Howard & Howard Attorneys PLLC. Rita advises businesses across industries ranging from technology and healthcare to banking, manufacturing, aviation, and professional services. She is widely recognized for helping organizations build practical legal and governance frameworks that support innovation, growth, cybersecurity resilience, and regulatory compliance.

Rita advises clients on a broad range of enterprise matters, including technology transactions, software licensing, corporate governance, commercial contracting, mergers and acquisitions, and risk management. With deep experience in privacy law compliance, she works with organizations helping to design and operationalize compliant and strategically planned privacy programs, navigate the complex intersection of data protection, vendor relationships, and emerging technologies, ensuring that privacy and innovation advance together.

Matt Bentley is a digital data architecture specialist at Loop Horizon, with over 15
years’ experience spanning client-side roles at large enterprises and, for the past 6
years, agency-side work with some of the world’s biggest brands.

His focus is the full data stack: data layer design, client and server-side tag
management, and the quality assurance layer that makes any of it trustworthy, built
extensively on ObservePoint.

More recently, that’s meant putting AI agents on top of governance data itself, turning
raw audit output into weekly analysis and direct answers for stakeholders, work he’ll
be sharing at EDGE.

Matt is driven to move data and analytics out of a supporting role and into direct
revenue generation for his clients.

Sarah Cooper is Senior Manager of Digital Data Governance and Compliance at Marriott International where she focuses on establishing and enforcing governance around how Marriott is collecting and using customers’ digital data. Based in the Washington, DC area, Sarah has been in the Digital Analytics space for 25 years.

Torie Ketcham is a Product Data Compliance Manager at Marriott International. She focuses on ensuring that user privacy choices are properly respected across Marriott’s digital ecosystem, by enforcing cookie compliance in every region where the company operates. She oversees data collection issues, cookie categorization and quality assurance, and works across product teams to develop data privacy strategies on all of Marriott’s websites. Torie is a native of the Washington, DC area, and lives in Bethesda, MD with her family.

Chris Cutts is a digital strategy leader with more than two decades of experience helping organizations transform how they connect with customers through technology, data, and digital experience. At The Standard, he leads digital initiatives that improve customer engagement, optimize web experiences, and drive measurable outcomes.

Throughout his career, Chris has built and led high-performing teams responsible for enterprise website platforms, digital marketing, search optimization, analytics, accessibility, and customer experience programs. He has guided digital transformations for major financial services organizations, consistently bridging business objectives and technology execution.

Before his career in digital leadership, Chris served in the United States Navy’s submarine force where he developed the discipline, technical expertise, and problem-solving skills that continue to shape his leadership today. That experience instilled a lasting commitment to teamwork, accountability, and sound decision-making under pressure.

Known for a practical, results-oriented approach, Chris is passionate about solving complex digital challenges, developing strong teams, and creating customer experiences that are both meaningful and measurable. His expertise spans digital strategy, SEO, analytics, governance, accessibility, and enterprise web platforms, making him a respected voice on digital transformation, leadership, and customer experience.

Amy Lewis is an Associate Director in BRG’s Privacy and Data Protection practice, where she advises global organizations on building effective privacy programs to minimize exposure to regulatory and litigation risks. With a focus on emerging technologies and digital ecosystems, Amy helps clients navigate the complex intersection of digital marketing, analytics, and compliance.

At BRG, she helps clients address the legal and operational challenges of website tracking, third-party cookies, and behavioral advertising. Her work includes designing and implementing practical controls that align with global privacy laws such as GDPR, CCPA, and other evolving frameworks. Amy is particularly effective at translating legal requirements into actionable strategies for cross-functional teams—including marketing, IT, and compliance—ensuring that privacy is embedded into digital experiences from the ground up.

Amy has spoken on topics related to data ethics, consent management, and the future of digital compliance. Her work empowers organizations to innovate responsibly while minimizing exposure to regulatory scrutiny and class action litigation.

John Pestana, co-founder and CEO of ObservePoint, has established himself as a visionary leader in the digital analytics sector. With a keen understanding of the digital landscape, John has successfully guided ObservePoint to become the leading player in web governance solutions, providing automated website and analytics tag verification services. Before ObservePoint, he co-founded Omniture, which became a pivotal force in online marketing analytics before its acquisition by Adobe in 2009. John holds a degree in Business Management from Brigham Young University and is in the Silicon Slopes Hall of Fame. This prominent Utah-based non-profit recognizes leaders in innovation and community improvement. His entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to innovation continue to drive his company’s growth and influence in optimizing online data accuracy and reliability.

Aaron Vail is a web analytics implementation specialist at Salesforce, bringing 10 years of experience navigating complex data challenges across the retail, entertainment, banking, and software industries. His core focus is building robust data pipelines leveraging Google Marketing Platform, and creating the automated QA methodologies that make that telemetry trustworthy. Recently, that has meant using ObservePoint to turn reactive debugging into proactive governance, strictly enforcing consent protocols and preventing data leakage at scale. Aaron is dedicated to his craft, driven to build analytics infrastructure that respects user privacy without compromising the accurate data the business needs to drive decisions.