Michael Hammond is responsible for overseeing the daily operations and long-term strategic vision of NexLevel Advisors. NexLevel Advisors, the premier mortgage strategic advisory firm, specializes in business strategy, branding, marketing, social media and PR.

NexLevel Advisors helps companies move audiences, generate leads, drive sales and ignite powerful brand stories.

A seasoned technology executive, Hammond brings over two decades of leadership, management, marketing, sales and technical experience. Hammond now dedicates himself exclusively to helping other businesses achieve extraordinary levels of success.

Hammond is only one of 60 individuals to earn the prestigious Certified Mortgage Technologist (CMT) designation, which is presented to information technology professionals in recognition of their industry experience, professional education and knowledge of the unique technological needs of the real estate finance industry. He was also recognized as:

• Named “TECH TRENDSETTER” by Housing Wire
• Named “LENDING LUMINARY” by Progress In Lending
• Awarded “SALES, MARKETING & PR TRAILBLAZER” by Progress In Lending
• Recognized as “TOP 50 MOST CONNECTED Mortgage Professionals” by Mortgage News Network

In addition, Hammond is Host of the Fintech Hunting Podcast and is viewed as a thought leader within the mortgage industry. He has been published hundreds of times in leading real estate finance publications such as Mortgage Banking Magazine, Housing Wire, Tomorrow’s Mortgage Executive, National Mortgage News, National Mortgage Professional and Today’s Lending Insight. He is a recognized speaker who regularly presents at national and state mortgage association conferences and other industry related events.

Hammond received a B.S.B.A. in Marketing from Xavier University and earned a law degree from Michigan State University. Michael is the former Chairman of the Board at Catholic Vantage Financial. In addition, Hammond is an Executive Mentor at Xavier University and serves on the marketing advisory board at Xavier University.

In the current role, he is heading the AI Center of Excellence for ICE, to oversee and streamline all AI initiatives aligning with the AI vision and strategic direction of ICE aiming at fostering greater synergy, collaboration, and alignment across ICE.
 
The purpose of the AI Center of Excellence is to innovate without compromising on required governance guardrails. For AICoE, Anand created the process for gathering innovative ideas, while prioritizing process and solution implementation for the same, along with a platform to run AI experiments and collaborate. 

He has more than two decades of experience in technology and have been with NYSE since 2007. He has played pivotal roles in many large-scale system modernizations and migrations including NYSE’s flagship multi-asset class trading system called ‘NYSE Pillar’.

In the recent times, he modernized the largest ultra-low latency high throughput market data consolidation systems in the world, ‘OPRA’ - OPRA consolidates the Options market data for all US Options exchanges in real-time and handles more than 150 billion messages on an average every single day within a latency of 20 usec. He also led the teams to build the first full blown application running in the Cloud for ICE and NYSE - NYSE Surveillance application, a complex real time big data system processing over 650 billion messages every single day to find patterns to ensure firms are trading following the rules. 

In the new role, he is leveraging his two decades of experience in the technology field and leadership to drive innovation for the company in the exciting new area of AI.

Neil Sahota is the CEO of ACSI Labs, United Nations (UN) AI Advisor, IBM Master Inventor, part-time Professor at UC Irvine, author of best seller, Own the A.I. Revolution, and contributing author of Innovative Leadership & Followership in the Age of AI. With 20+ years of business experience, he works with organizations to create their core business strategy, enter new markets, and develop next generation products/solutions powered by emerging technology. His work experience spans multiple industries including legal services, healthcare, life sciences, retail, travel and transportation, energy and utilities, automotive, telecommunications, media/communication, and government. Moreover, Neil is one of the few people selected for IBM's Corporate Service Corps leadership program that pairs leaders with NGOs to perform community-driven economic development projects. For his assignment, Neil lived and worked in Ningbo, China where he partnered with Chinese corporate CEOs to create a leadership development program.

In addition, Neil partners with entrepreneurs to define their products, establish their target markets, and structure their companies. He is a member of several investor groups like the Tech Coast Angels, advises venture capital funds like Miramar and CerraCap, and helped create the UN’s Innovation Factory, a global program for social impact entrepreneurs. Neil also serves as a judge in various startup competitions and mentor in several incubator/accelerator programs.

He actively pursues social good and volunteers with nonprofits. Neil cofounded the UN's AI for Good Initiative and is actively helping them build out their ecosystem of strategic partnerships. He is currently helping the Zero Abuse Project prevent child sexual abuse as well as Planet Home to engage youth culture in sustainability initiatives.