Speakers

An armchair discussion on what the future of AI will look like for you.
Tuesday, November 18, 2025, 6 P.M.
YU Museum & The Center for Jewish History

David Magerman

David Magerman is the co-founder and managing partner of Differential Ventures, a seed-stage VC fund that specializes in AI, machine learning, and data science. Previously, he spent the entirety of his career at Renaissance Technologies, widely recognized as the world’s most successful quantitative hedge fund management company. With a PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University and over 25 years of experience in data-driven research and innovation, Dr. Magerman has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities in this domain.

Dr. Magerman states that his mission is to empower the next generation of entrepreneurs and researchers who are advancing the frontiers of AI and data science. He has leveraged his expertise and network to provide his portfolio companies with capital, mentorship, and access to strategic partners. Prior to Differential, Dr. Magerman was a founding member and head of production of the equities trading group at quantitative hedge fund. David Magerman is passionate about applying data science and machine learning to solve real-world problems and create positive impact.

Magerman is the founder and President of Tzemach David, known as the Kohelet Foundation in the United States. Through his foundation, he has supported Jewish education in Philadelphia, the United States, and Israel since 2009. He has supported a number of philanthropic initiatives: The Kohelet Fellowships, The Kohelet Prize, The Yeshiva Lab School at Kohelet Yeshiva, the Philadelphia Jewish Day School Collaborative, The Smart School Initiative, and many others. Privately, he has funded a number of projects through Koren Publications, including the Ani Tefilla Educational Siddur Series, the Magerman Shabbat Chumash, the Sacks Tanakh project, the Children's Tanakh Series, and the Steinsaltz Tanya. He is also a supporter of Momentum Unlimited, Partners in Torah, the Orthodox Union, Chabad, Yeshiva University, and a number of other Jewish organizations.

Dr. Magerman featured in FinTech Leaders on the risks of building with Generative AI

Pablo Hernandez-Lagos

Pablo Hernandez-Lagos holds a PhD from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, serves as the MBA program director, chairs the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Department, and is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at the Sy Syms School of Business at Yeshiva University. He engages with governments and firms both within the U.S. and worldwide sharing his insights on leadership and economic growth.

Dr. Hernandez-Lagos's academic work focuses on critical topics such as the screening of experts from non-experts who use generative AI to impress investors and recruiters, the technological competition between the U.S. and China, political trust and trustworthiness in the U.S., the joint attainment of prosperity and security that shapes our civilization, among other applications. His work has been published in top academic journals, including The American Political Science Review, Nature, The Journal of Urban Economics, The Quarterly Journal of Political Science, Experimental Economics, and The Review of Corporate Finance Studies. General-interest outlets such as Harvard Business Review, The Financial Times, Bloomberg, The Hill, Politico, The Brookings Institution, and The Times of India feature his work. Prior to YU, Dr. Hernandez-Lagos taught Leadership and Corporate Finance at New York University.

Dr. Hernandez-Lagos featured in the Boston Globe on AI in the hiring market.

Jointly sponsored by the Office of Alumni Affairs, Sy Syms School of Business and the Katz School of Science and Health