Emerging Technology Leader
Recognizes innovation in technology, systems and platforms that power the future of toys and entertainment, including AI, data science and the advancement of live-selling, social commerce and DTC ecosystems.
Ashley Dreyer
Just Play
Sr. Director Insights & Analytics
Ashley has transformed the way Just Play leverages data by building internal systems to track and analyze critical sales information across cross-functional teams. Leveraging her previous experience in sales and product development, she developed new global forecasting processes and reporting tools that improve accuracy and enable strategic decision making. Her ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights has helped strengthen planning across the company. Her innovative approach to systems and analytics has helped Just Play operate efficiently and proactively.
Azhelle Wade
The Toy Coach Inc.
Founder & CEO
In January 2023, Azhelle Wade became one of the toy industry’s first educators to publicly teach AI, launching a podcast episode on using ChatGPT for toy concept generation. She has since spoken on AI at CHITAG/POPWeek annually. Seeing AI’s potential early, she built TheToyMatchmaker.com, an AI-powered platform using OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity to match toy products with retail partners based on data. The platform replaces time-consuming research with a faster system, and early users call it “a valuable tool” and “a time saver” for finding quality B2B sales leads.
Breanna Taylor
Spin Master
Sr. Lead of Business Excellence & Global Delivery Owner
Breanna Taylor is an exceptional facilitator of technology and data integration, enabling Spin Master’s commercial goals and strategic objectives across three critical areas: (1) Social Commerce, where she led TikTok Shop and DTC integration to unlock new growth, cost savings, and proof-of-concept for future social-led launches; (2) eCommerce and 3rd‑party technology, where she advanced marketplace, dropship, data, and digital shelf capabilities that improved performance and decision-making; and (3) M&A and enterprise operations, where she drove Melissa & Doug integration, master data and governance redesign, and major system and operational upgrades, materially reducing risk and enabling scalable, future‑ready commercial capabilities.
Bri Lovett
Hasbro, Inc.
VP, Product Management, Wizards of the Coast
Bri Lovett has advanced Wizards’ global analytics capabilities by building scalable point-of-sale data infrastructure across fragmented retail ecosystems, unlocking critical sell-through visibility and enabling more agile, data-driven commercial strategies. Under her leadership, key initiatives have modernized the technology stack for both internal teams and local game stores, improving efficiency and usability. She brings a strong product vision and deep understanding of player and retailer needs, consistently delivering innovative systems that enhance decision-making and strengthen Wizards’ retail and DTC ecosystem.
Fiona Hardie
Amazon
Manager, Vendor Management
Fiona pioneered AI application and adoption across Amazon's Retail organization, leading transformative technology initiatives that delivered measurable impact. She championed the development of multiple AI-powered workflows that automated weekly business insights and core business functions, training thousands and scaling usage across thousands of employees, and saving them tens of thousands of hours while improving the quality of outputs. Through her work, Fiona established herself a thought leader at the forefront of AI-enabled commerce, partnering with business and tech teams to identify and prioritize opportunities, prioritize features, define business requirements and establish feedback loops for fast product delivery and continuous improvement.
Isabel Body
ZURU
Jr. Data Scientist
When the team gained access to TikTok's trending data in November 2024 - one of only 8 businesses globally - Isabel saw an opportunity to use the data to drive decisions across product, retail, and content. She built an insights engine from scratch, giving ZURU market-leading advantage to move at the pace of culture. outcome: 3 new brands greenlighted with one on track for US$20M in year one, Inspiring viral content that generated hundreds of millions of impressions Deepened ZURU’s partnership with Walmart where they use ZURU's proprietary technology to shape how they use trends to inform inventory, marketing and site merchandising.
Tamara Gutverg Levin
Mattel
Product Manager, Digital Experiences, Mattel Digital Studios
Tamara has led several breakthrough AI initiatives at Mattel. She originated PersonaGPT (now VibeTestingGPT), a synthetic insight tool that enables teams to test concepts earlier and more efficiently, now on track for company-wide rollout. She also conceived and drove Project Quill, aligning 30+ stakeholders to develop a personalized AI storytelling concept that earned executive and Board-level support. Additionally, she helped establish foundational AI product discovery practices through early initiatives like Gamemaster, bringing structure, speed, and strategic clarity to ambiguous, first-of-their-kind opportunities.
