Leveraging AI to Enhance Effectiveness in Administration, Analytics, and Leadership - September 25

Natalya Maisel, PhD, is the Division Manager for the Division of Clinical Informatics and Digital Transformation (DoC-IT) and the Director of Strategic Initiatives and Operations for the Department of Medicine at UCSF. She received her PhD from UCLA and has conducted research on topics such as physician satisfaction with electronic health records. She is a key contributor to the Department of Medicine’s initiatives to integrate AI into administrative processes.

Jon Rueter is the Associate Dean for Financial Affairs at the UCSF School of Medicine, where he serves as the School’s senior financial strategist. With more than two decades of experience in research administration, clinical revenue management, and strategic financial planning—all at UCSF—Jon oversees financial operations, reporting, planning, analysis, and compliance management for the School. As head of the Dean’s Office Financial Affairs Unit, Jon leads a team of over 20 professionals and collaborates with department chairs, organized research unit directors, chief administrative officers, and UCSF Health and campus partners to advance financial strategies, systems, and tools. His work supports the School’s tripartite mission of research, education, and patient care while shaping institution-wide financial infrastructure. Previously, Jon served as Director of Research Administration & Revenue Management in the Department of Medicine, where he managed $360 million in annual research expenditures and $185 million in clinical revenue. He has led campus-wide initiatives to improve business intelligence, financial transparency, and AI-enabled decision support, as well as efforts to reduce clinical trial activation time and optimize financial operations across UCSF.

Aaron Tabacco, PhD, has been leading people through growth and change in some of life’s most challenging contexts for over thirty years. He is currently the Director of Staff Experience at the UCSF Department of Medicine and a Berkeley Certified Executive Coach. Aaron is known across many organizations and populations for his talents in executive coaching, leadership and organizational development, mediation, and public speaking. A former professor of nursing and senior program administrator, he enjoyed simultaneous roles in clinical practice, education, and research. He is an internationally published and regarded scholar in the areas of the neurobiology of learning and behavior across the lifespan. His current innovation work is focused on the concept and practices of “quantum presence.”

As a graduate and coaching faculty member of the Berkeley Executive Coaching Institute (BECI), Aaron’s approach to his clients centers upon high-level presence, emotional authority, and personal authenticity. In 2022, Aaron founded his private coaching practice, The Lucus Group, LLC, which provides both individual and cohort coaching engagements to senior professionals across industries and the globe. He is also a Certified Edgewalker™ Coach.

Outside of his professional work, Aaron is an author, avid reader, student artist, musician, and the father of three young adult sons with whom he explores the awe-inspiring geography of the Pacific Northwest. He makes his home in Vancouver, WA, and travels frequently to the San Francisco Bay Area for work.