A system for executing an artificial neural network having a plurality of interconnected nodes, the system includes a memory storing weight values of the neural network. The memory can be configured to a store node value and a mask bit value for each of the plurality of nodes of the neural network. Further the system can include multiply and accumulate (MAC) units to perform operations for determining node values. The system includes a control unit circuitry that, during execution of the neural network, dynamically controls operations of the MAC units to cause a reduction in a number of calculations to be performed by the MAC units. The control unit circuitry causes the MAC units to perform operations involving a subset of the plurality of nodes to avoid performing operations involving nodes of the plurality nodes that are outside of the subset.