GDC 2025
Executive Reception

Senior Vice President of Engineering at Niantic, leading development of the company's spatial computing platform. Bringing AR to life in some of the world's most successful mobile games like Pokémon GO, and building the most precise 3D map of the world.

Alicia Berry currently supports the Peridot teams and IP as the Executive Producer. Prior to this, she ran the Technical Program for Niantic, launching 4 games and the Lightship Platform, including the Visual Positioning System. Prior to Niantic, she led the Technical Program of launching Oculus and Facebook Social VR applications and games at Meta. Before that, she was a Senior Producer on Nexon's DomiNations and Bethesda's Elder Scrolls online. She got her start as the COO of a dot com, DVDEmpire, in the early aughts.

Dr. Evie Powell is a games programmer and researcher specializing in immersive experiences and natural user interfaces. She is the project lead for Pokémon Go’s Pokémon Playgrounds. Her background includes working on natural user interfaces and Kinect technology at Xbox (Microsoft), developing technology solutions to assist with spinal fusion surgery at Proprio, and creating augmented reality experiences at Niantic.

With a unique career in extended reality, Dr. Powell leverages her expertise in research and systems design to craft meaningful experiences that help people learn, play, and work in new ways. She earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where her research focused on socially pervasive game experiences and context-aware gaming.

Hugh drives innovation in augmented reality at Niantic and leads strategic initiatives to launch Niantic’s latest platforms and bring engaging AR experiences to a wider audience. Before stepping into his current role, Hugh made a significant impact as Director and Head of Business Development & Strategic Partnerships, where he built key collaborations that helped expand Niantic’s AR reach.