Gary Marcus, scientist, bestselling author, and entrepreneur, was CEO and Founder of the machine-learning startup Geometric Intelligence, recently acquired by Uber, and is known for his provocative and bold claims in artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and cognitive science. Trained by Steven Pinker, he received his PhD at MIT at age 23. His professional research, published in leading journals such as Science, Nature, Cognition, and Artificial Intelligence, has focused on the foundations of cognition in humans, animals and machines, spanning fields from developmental psychology to neuroscience to genetics to artificial intelligence. A special interest has been on the challenge of endowing machines with common sense.

He is also well-known for his writing for the general public, including frequent essays and op-eds for The New Yorker and The New York Times. His books include The Algebraic Mind, The Birth of the Mind, Kluge: The Haphazard Evolution of the Human Mind, The New York Times Bestseller, Guitar Zero and The Future of the Brain: Essays By The World’s Leading Neuroscientists.

In a 2012 essay for The New Yorker, he was perhaps the first person to publicly criticize deep learning, drawing on arguments he developed in his 2001 technical book The Algebraic Mind. More recently, in a 2018 arXiv article, Deep Learning: A Critical Appraisal, he asked whether deep learning might be “approaching a wall.” The challenges he laid out there were covered everywhere from The
New York Times to Wired to The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal.

In another provocative 2012 essay, Moral Machines, Marcus was the first to adapt “trolley problems” to driverless cars, anticipating much recent research on the ethics of AI. His next book, REBOOT: Getting to AI We Can Trust, to be published by Pantheon in Fall 2019, co-authored with Ernie Davis, calls for a fundamental rethinking of current approaches to artificial intelligence.

Dr. Kai-Fu Lee has spent more than three decades at the cutting edge of artificial intelligence research, development, and investment in both the US and China. He’s the chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on developing the next generation of Chinese high-tech companies. Previously, Dr. Lee was the president of Google China and a senior executive at Microsoft, SGI, and Apple. Co-chair of the Artificial Intelligence Council at the World Economic Forum, he has a bachelor’s degree from Columbia and a PhD from Carnegie Mellon. Dr. Lee is the author of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-seller AI Superpowers, which examines the role of the US and China in the future of artificial intelligence, as well as its impact on society. His latest book, co-authored with award-winning science-fiction writer Chen Quifan, is called AI2041: Ten Visions for Our Future. It presents a roadmap to educate and explore the opportunities and challenges presented by AI over the coming decades.

Stuart Russell is a pioneer in the understanding and uses of artificial intelligence (AI), its long-term future, and its relation to humanity. He also is a leading authority on robotics and bioinformatics.

Stuart Russell is the author or coauthor of three books on knowledge, reasoning, and machine learning, including the standard textbook on artificial intelligence. Stuart Russell is a professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC-Berkeley and Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery at UC-San Francisco.

Artificial intelligence. AI is a machine’s ability to perceive its environment and use that information to maximise its chance at succeeding at some goal. All of the technologies behind artificial intelligence are evolving at exponential rates and are just now beginning to rocket up the curve. Soon artificially intelligent machines will be doing things we can barely conceive, in virtually every area of human business, life, and culture. Few people understand this future better than Stuart Russell, who wrote the standard textbook on AI (with coauthor Peter Norvig), now in its third edition.

Robotics. Stuart Russell is also a leading researcher in the practical applications of machine intelligence. If AI is the brain of the machine of the future, the robot is its body. Robots are taking over more and more functions that once required a human actor, with far-reaching consequences — and opportunities — for people, businesses, and society as a whole. He has focused recently on the threat of autonomous weaponry.

Biological information. As an Adjunct Professor of Neurological Surgery, Stuart has been researching computational physiology, with a current focus on Intensive Care Unit monitoring systems. He is a leader in the development of technologies that make sense of biological data and that apply this information in ways that advance human health.

Credentials. In addition to the positions already mentioned, Stuart Russell holds the SmithZadeh Chair in Engineering at UC-Berkeley and is Vice-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Council on AI and Robotics. He is the recipient of many awards and held the Chaire Blaise Pascal in Paris from 2012 to 2014. He is a researcher at a number of research centers, including the Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research Lab (BAIR), the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM), and the Synthetic Biology Institute (SBI). He is the founder and Vice-President of Bayesian Logic, Inc., a data analysis start-up under contract with the UN to build a new Nuclear Test Ban Treaty global monitoring system.

DR. WERNER VOGELS, CTO, AMAZON.COM

Dr. Werner Vogels is Chief Technology Officer at Amazon.com where he is responsible for driving the company’s customer-centric technology vision.

 As one of the forces behind Amazon’s approach to cloud computing, he is passionate about helping young businesses reach global scale, and transforming enterprises into fast-moving digital organizations.

 Vogels joined Amazon in 2004 from Cornell University where he was a distributed systems researcher. He has held technology leadership positions in companies that handle the transition of academic technology into industry. Vogels holds a PhD from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and has authored many articles on distributed systems technologies for enterprise computing.

On his blog, all things distributed, Werner shares insights and thought leadership content on a range of topics, such as cloud computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, as well as his annual technology predictions.

Yoshua Bengio is Full Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Operations Research, head of the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA), CIFAR Program co-director of the CIFAR program on Learning in Machines and Brains,  Canada Research Chair in Statistical Learning Algorithms. His main research ambition is to understand principles of learning that yield intelligence. He supervises a large group of graduate students and post-docs. His research is widely cited (over 80000 citations found by Google Scholar in September 2017, with an H-index of 101).

Yoshua Bengio is currently action editor for the Journal of Machine Learning Research, associate editor for the Neural Computation journal, editor for Foundations and Trends in Machine Learning, and has been associate editor for the Machine Learning Journal and the IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks.

Thomas Wolf is co-founder and Chief Science Officer (CSO) of Hugging Face where he has been at the inception of the open-source, educational and research efforts.

Thomas enjoys creating open-source software that makes complex research, models and datasets widely accessible (for instance by creating the Hugging Face Transformers and Datasets libraries). When he’s not building OSS libraries, he can be found pushing for open science in research in AI/ML, trying to lower the gap between academia and industrial labs through projects like the BigScience Workshop on Large Language Models (LLM) which leads to the BLOOM experiments, model and dataset. His current research interests revolve around LLM accessibility and measuring and overcoming present limitations of Large Language Models. He also enjoys writing and filming educational content on AI, ML and NLP, including writing the reference book “Natural Language Processing with Transformers” published at O’Reilly with amazing co-authors, writing (not often enough) in his blog and recording (also not often enough) educational videos like The Future of Natural Language Processing.

A pioneer in teleoperated and autonomous robot systems across applications such as surgery, space exploration, disaster rescue and self-driving cars, Carol is a multi-faceted innovator working across a broad spectrum of transformative industries. In her current tenure as Co-Founder of DeepMusic.ai, Carol and her team are shaping the future of music to figure out how and where AI can assist creatives and utilize human strengths to build something novel. From founding TinkerBelle Labs to design low-cost medical tools and Squishybotz for educational, storytelling robots; to leading a robot outreach program for more than 1,000 low-income students as part of her tenure as instructor at Johns Hopkins University – Carol is a true advocate for underrepresented groups in tech through her unparalleled community work.

Athina Kanioura is Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at PepsiCo. PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $86 billion in net revenue in 2022, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo’s product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales.

An accomplished innovator and transformation leader, Kanioura oversees PepsiCo’s end-to-end strategy to win both as a total company and in key markets, including our digitalization strategy. She also leads company-wide transformation—ensuring that our scale is leveraged as we focus on accelerating profitable growth and identifying areas of cost efficiency and optimization—in addition to overseeing Data Products, Platforms, and Talent. 

Prior to joining PepsiCo, Kanioura was the Chief Analytics Officer and Global Head of Applied Intelligence at Accenture, where she specialized in applying AI and analytics to drive business value. During her 15 years at Accenture, Kanioura grew the Applied Intelligence function from a subspecialty to a global group at the forefront of scale business transformation. She also ran Sales and Customer Analytics globally and drove the company’s offerings in customer relationship management and personalization. 

Kanioura specializes in transforming businesses with emphasis on data and technology, and brings many years of practical experience globally in industries such as telecomms, oil and gas, financial services, and consumer packaged goods, having worked with companies such as Mondelez, Unilever, P&G, Reckitt Benkiser, Phillip Morris, and Adidas.

Kanioura is a member of the Royal Statistical and Economics Society, where she contributes to shaping government policy around how data is used by bodies like the IMF. She also sits on the board of the Institute of Marketing Sciences and is a keen educator who has held lectureships at UMIST (UK), Imperial College London (UK), and the University of Sheffield (UK), where she also earned her PhD in Econometrics and Quantitative Economics.  Kanioura is based in Purchase, N.Y

Robert Silvers was confirmed by the Senate as the Under Secretary for Strategy, Policy, and Plans on August 5, 2021. He is responsible for driving policy and implementation plans across all of DHS’s missions, including counterterrorism; cybersecurity, infrastructure security, and resilience; border security and immigration; international affairs; and trade and economic security. Mr. Silvers also Chairs the Forced Labor Enforcement Task Force, the Cyber Safety Review Board, and oversees the Supply Chain Resilience Center.

Mr. Silvers previously served in the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama-Biden Administration as Assistant Secretary for Cyber Policy. In that role he oversaw private sector engagement, federal government incident response, and diplomatic outreach pertaining to cybersecurity and emerging technology. Mr. Silvers also previously served as DHS’s Deputy Chief of Staff, managing execution of policy and operational priorities across the entire Department.

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Silvers was a partner at the law firm Paul Hastings LLP, where his practice focused on cybersecurity and data privacy, government security review of foreign investments, and investigations and litigation at the intersection of law and national security. After graduating law school, he clerked for Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Silvers holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. He taught as an adjunct professor in the M.S. in Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy Program co-offered by the NYU Law School and NYU Tandon School of Engineering.

Professor Simon See is currently the Solution Architecture and Engineering Director, Chief Solution Architect and Global Head for NVIDIA AI Technology Center, NVIDIA Corporation.   He is also an Adjunct Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Conventry University, and Universitas Indonesia (UI).  He is also an distinguish fellow in Fudan University.  Previously Professor See is also the Chief Scientific Computing Advisor for BGI (China) and has a position in Nanyang Technological University (Singapore) and King-Mong Kung University of Technology (Thailand).  Professor See is currently involved in a number of International computational,  mathematical science  projects and  national AI initiatives.   Recently Professor  Simon has been appointed as the Executive Director of the ASEAN Applied Research Centre (AARC).   His research interests are in the area of High-Performance Computing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computational Science,  Applied Mathematics and Simulation Methodology.    Professor See is also leading some of the AI initiatives in Asia Pacific. He is a Steering Committee member of NSCC’s flagship High Performance Computing Conference Supercomputing Asia (SCA) since March 2018. He has published over 200 papers in these areas and has won various awards in the field.

Professor See is a Fellow member of IET, Chairman of TaskForce of IEEE’s CIS Neural Networks Technical Committee, a member of SIAM, IET, AAAI, SCS, and also on the Advisory Team of AIP (AI Professional Association), International Advisory Board of Institute of Operations Research & Analytics (IORA), Advisory Team of Machine Intelligence and Data Analytics Research Centre (MIDARC), School of Computing Sciences (India) and Board of Studies, MS Tech Programs of Mahindra University, Editorial Board Member of Journal of Computational and Cognitive Engineering (JCCE), and the committee member of more than 50 conferences.

Professor See graduated from the University of Salford (UK) with a Ph.D. in electrical engineering and numerical analysis in 1993.   Prior to joining NVIDIA, Professor See worked for SGI, DSO National Lab. of Singapore, IBM, International Simulation Ltd (UK), Sun Microsystems and Oracle.  He is also providing consultancy to a number of national research and supercomputing centers.

Dave is a scientist, inventor, and entrepreneur whose work emphasizes the role of machine learning and AI, especially with respect to time-series data, search and optimization in program space, and decision making under uncertainty. He is Chief Science Officer at X and runs a team of mathematicians and machine learning experts working on early stage projects. He co-founded several companies, including Cerebellum Capital, which was an asset management company powered by an auto-ML system that discovered trading strategies. He also invested in and advised a number of startups in the data science and wearables space. He previously worked at Bodymedia, where he ran the machine learning team and several advanced development projects. Over the years, he’s helped start a number of other businesses. Personally, he’s a husband, father, snowboarder, passionate player of soccer and bridge, a puzzle nerd, a burner, and a travel-lover. He runs robot & programming clubs for his two kids to help them & friends get a deeper tech education. He got started down his path at Stanford University (1994: BS Symbolic Systems, BA Psychology) and completed his official education at UC Berkeley (2003: PhD EECS with a focus on Artificial Intelligence). He feels very lucky to have been interested in AI & ML well before it was cool.

Dr. Raul Villamarin Rodriguez, Vice President of Woxsen University, is a Cognitive Technologist and Adjunct Professor at Universidad del Externado, Colombia. He serves as a member of the International Advisory Board at IBS Ranepa, Russian Federation, and holds positions on the Advisory Boards of PUCPR, Johannesburg Business School, SA, Milpark Business School, South Africa, PetThinQ Inc, and SpaceBasic, Inc. Additionally, Dr. Rodriguez is a Visiting Professor at Uni. del Rosario and an Expert at UNESCO.

Divya Chander, MD, PhD is a physician, neuroscientist, futurist, and entrepreneur. She is a practicing anesthesiologist with specializations in neurosurgery, ENT, and critical care. While on the Anesthesiology Faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine, she taught the residency neuroanesthesia curriculum for 8 years. Dr. Chander is also a data scientist with expertise in neural signal processing, and has developed algorithms to automate tracking of states of consciousness. Her research interests center around mapping consciousness (using optogenetics and EEG), how consciousness will be altered by human augmentation, and how mapping consciousness in humans may enable us to recognize it in non-human, intelligent beings (both on and off-planet, e.g. through partnerships with organizations like SETI). Dr. Chander is also Chair of Neuroscience at the Singularity Group, a Silicon Valley think tank and education institution for data and technology acceleration, applications, and ethics. She serves as medical, science, and technology advisor and board member to a number of companies in the medical, space life sciences, and neurotechnology spaces. Dr. Chander is also a passionate advocate for data and biometric rights, especially neurorights and neurosovereignty. In that capacity, she has advised global organizations and governments, and serves as medical advisor to the Extended Reality Safety Initative (XRSI.org). Dr. Chander founded Lucidify, a continuous remote brain monitoring platform, for the detection of delirium and other altered state of consciousness to support brain health. While Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Geotech Center, and now, at the Stimson Center Loomis Innovation Council, she has been collaborating with industry and governments to foster good data and technology policy choices for key stakeholders around the world in the area of data trusts, data security, public health, and pandemic resilience. Finally, Dr. Chander also contributes to space life sciences and medicine. A finalist for astronaut selection and an alumnus of the International Space University, Dr. Chander has performed remote simulations of trauma rescues, anesthesia and surgery in Mars analogue settings.  

Philippe Rambach is the SVP, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer of Schneider Electric.

Philippe Rambach joined Schneider Electric in 2010 through the acquisition of AREVA. He has more than 20 years of experience in strategy, innovation, and business responsibility in many industries.

He is a graduate of Ecole Polytechnique in France and has held various leadership roles in Industrial Automation. Most recently, as SVP Industrial Automation Commercial, he has led the commercial organization with strong results and impact. He has an international career background and is currently based in France, reporting to the Chief Digital Officer, Peter Weckesser.

Lambert Hogenhout is Chief Data and AI at the United Nations Secretariat. He is also an author, keynote speaker and advisor on AI and responsible use of technology. He has 25 years of experience working both in the private sector and with international organizations such as the World Bank and the United Nations. He leads governance and strategy in the areas of data and AI and oversees its practical implementation. He has published on data privacy, data governance, the societal implications of technology and responsible use of AI.

We are thrilled to introduce Cihangir Kocak, an expert in business strategy and AI advisory. He is known for creating opportunities and building strong ecosystems that empower businesses to thrive. Cihangir has successfully guided numerous organizations through the challenges of digital transformation and strategic business development. He is appreciated for his ability to simplify complex concepts and inspire actionable insights. Cihangir is passionate about enabling business growth in the AI industry for HP, its customers, and partners, ranging from emerging startups to established enterprises.

Recognised in the UK and globally for innovation leadership and the development and application of technologies, including AI, Kerry was formerly head of service development and innovation where she designed and worked on implementation of new organisational and service models (digitisation, automation, AI, upskilling and culture change).

A trained machine learning developer, and also working on the non-tech side of AI development and implementation, inckudibg deceloping actionable ethics principles, Kerry is an award-winning innovator. Kerry was a finalist for the AI-Conics AI for Implementor of the Year, a forner strategic advisor to the Alan Turing institute on the development of its latest 5 Year Strategy and is listed in the top 100 women in AI Ethics globally.

Kerry is a member of the International Data Science Foundation and the Responsible AI Institute.

Kerry is a member of the AI Advisory Group at the Confederation of British Industries, supported the British Standards Institute develop global AI Standards and provides Board-level counsel on AI to businesses, organisations, AI start-ups, including in the UK, USA and Africa.

Kerry is a passionate advocate of social mobility in AI and provides free coaching to those from under represented communities, those who need a hand up, and with upskilling.

Appointed in 2023, Una Shortt is currently the group Chief Data Officer and Senior Vice President of Data & Performance.

Una joined Schneider Electric in 2004 and has enjoyed a dynamic career in Software & Data Engineering, Data Architecture & Governance, working with talented individuals & teams globally.

Una began her Data career during an internship in 1998, writing data quality routines in manufacturing. When she graduated with a BSc in Computer Systems in 2000, development of Enterprise Application Interfaces, Business Reporting and low level coding in Capital Markets followed. From there she began her Schneider Electric career joining APC in 2004, with a mission to grow BI & Analytics Development, Data Engineering, Business Analysis and Project Management.

She defined the first Analytics Strategy for Schneider Electric in 2012, launched the first B.I. & Analytics Community and was a key member of the squad pioneering the original Enterprise Data Lake in the company in 2014. This followed with the introduction of a suite of BI & Analytics technologies that enabled scaled autonomy for internal stakeholders, with a reach of 60K users today.

Una’s hands-on experience, understanding the very building blocks to operationalize strategy, were the solid foundations to elevate to senior leadership roles in Schneider Electric’s Data Strategy execution, transitioning her career from pure tech to data governance in more recent years.

Una received an MBA from Heriot – Watt University (SCO). During her time there, she developed a passion for Portfolio (PMP, Scrum@Scale).

Una’s driver is a passion for people, enabling together a data backed execution of strategy at Schneider Electric, through Trusted Data@Scale.

About Schneider Electric

Schneider’s purpose is to empower all to make the most of our energy and resources, bridging progress and sustainability for all. We call this Life Is On.

Our mission is to be your digital partner for Sustainability and Efficiency.

We drive digital transformation by integrating world-leading process and energy technologies, end-point to cloud connecting products, controls, software and services, across the entire lifecycle, enabling integrated company management, for homes, buildings, data centers, infrastructure and industries.

We are the most local of global companies. We are advocates of open standards and partnership ecosystems that are passionate about our shared Meaningful Purpose, Inclusive and Empowered values.

www.se.com

Dex Hunter-Torricke is head of global communications and marketing for Google DeepMind, one of the world’s leading AI labs. Over the last 15 years, Dex has advised leaders from technology and politics including as head of communications for SpaceX, reporting to Elon Musk, as head of executive communications for Facebook where he served as Mark Zuckerberg’s personal speechwriter, and as Google’s first executive speechwriter where he wrote for Eric Schmidt. Dex began his career as a speechwriter for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. A New York Times-bestselling ghostwriter, he is a frequent public speaker on technology’s impact on society.

Joseph Bradley is the visionary CEO behind TONOMUS, the first subsidiary company of NEOM, which has evolved from its technology and digital sector to lead the creation of the world’s first cognitive community. Joseph and his team’s strategic foresight are delivering a full-scale, end-to-end cognitive technology ecosystem for NEOM. By harnessing the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and robotics, they are bringing cognitive cities to life.

Prior to NEOM, Joseph spent 15 years at Cisco in various senior leadership roles, the most recent of which was Global Vice President IoT, Blockchain, AI and Incubation Businesses. The California native graduated with a B.A. in economics from the University of California at Berkeley.

Joseph’s career has been defined by remarkable success. With a lifelong passion for data-driven systems that enable sustainable synergy between people and technology, Joseph has made it his life’s mission to enable companies in maximizing these dynamic interactions.

Alicia is a technology innovator in the space and robotics sectors developing and successfully launching systems for NASA, NOAA and Commercial customers in the Telecommunications and Mining sectors both in space and on Earth. In her tenure at OffWorld as Co-Founder and CTO, Alicia has led the technology development of AI based mobile robots for extreme environments on Earth as a precursor to Lunar, Martian, asteroid, and free space applications. Alicia’s background in space and software systems, attitude control systems and orbital dynamics has heavily influenced her approach to the development of distributed architectures for terrestrial and space applications. Alicia has successfully applied AI, modular and distributed system design to the development of patented technologies interacting autonomously with matter capable of revolutionizing key terrestrial and space markets. Alicia holds a MSc. and PhD from Stanford University and a BSc. in Theoretical Physics from UAM, Spain.

Raul Escribano is a Senior Vice President Innovative products consulting at Mastercard. He is in charge of making available to Mastercard partners globally new offerings in areas like AI, open banking and real time payments. Before taking this role Raul focused of business development of Mastercard services in South East Asia and France.

Petri Myllymäki is a professor of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the Department of Computer Science of University of Helsinki, Finland. He has over 35 years of experience in working with AI, and his research has led to a number of fielded applications, patents and start-ups.  He is a member of the Finnish Academy of Technology and the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters, and is currently the Director of the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology, and the Vice-Director of the Finnish Center for Artificial Intelligence, the Finnish Flagship on AI. He is currently working as a member of the UN High-Level Advisory Body on AI, as a member of the Board of Directors of the AI, Data and Robotics PPP for the European Commission, and as the director of external relations for the pan-European ELLIS network of excellence in machine learning.

Founder Ida Nganga leads the award winning Regional Consortium (of Experts) for Development who use technology and engineering as an enabler for achieving the SDGs (RCD Africa); and is Senior Advisor, UNESCO Emerging Technologies for Development, which is based in Bordeaux, France.

She is the President of Women in STEM Leaders Network which hosts some of the most amazing, accomplished and impactful women in STEM leadership, and the Co-Founder of Women in AI for Africa.

Ida is a trailblazing tech visionary. From sitting on prestigious global advisory boards, playing pivotal roles in multi-million-dollar innovation challenges, to training and mentoring the next generation of digital transformers, her accolades speak volumes.

Dubbed as Africa Leadership’s ‘Outstanding Mentor, Prolific Woman by the UN, Africa Rising – Women in Innovation, Empower Africa’s Women Driving STEM Advancement in Africa, CIO Africa Most Influential Women in Tech, 100 Most Influential Leaders in Tech and Telecommunications, Eminent Women Leaders pioneering inclusion in Tech, Top Influential Leaders Shaping Global Policy, to name a few, Ida is a game changer. 

She has also been awarded for IOT Innovation by the European Union, Top 100 Global Women in Leadership by GCPIT, ISOC Africa Internet Development Fellow, Future of Tech Women in STEM and Timeless Women in Governance by UN Women.

Madam Ida is one the most awarded women in tech and is a much sought after global speaker known for her oratory prowess.

Joanna Bryson is Professor of Ethics and Technology at the Hertie School. Her research focuses on the impact of technology on human cooperation, and AI/ICT governance. From 2002-19 she was on the Computer Science faculty at the University of Bath. She has also been affiliated with the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, the Department of Anthropology at the University of Oxford, the School of Social Sciences at the University of Mannheim and the Princeton Center for Information Technology Policy. During her PhD she observed the confusion generated by anthropomorphised AI, leading to her first AI ethics publication “Just Another Artifact” in 1998. In 2010, she co-authored the first national-level AI ethics policy, the UK’s Principles of Robotics. She holds degrees in psychology and artificial intelligence from the University of Chicago (BA), the University of Edinburgh (MSc and MPhil), and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD). Since July 2020, Prof. Bryson has been one of nine experts nominated by Germany to the Global Partnership for Artificial Intelligence.

Jeannette Gorzala is Vice President of the European AI Forum (EAIF), representing more than 2,000 AI entrepreneurs in Europe. It is her mission is to contribute to set the agenda on how AI is approached in Europe, both in terms of policy and entrepreneurship. Currently, she is in particular actively involved as a sparring partner to European legislators in relation to the Artificial Intelligence Act. Jeannette has a background in law and international economics, is an attorney at law registered with the Vienna bar and has more than 15 years experience in the field of M&A with a focus on the technology sector. 

To achieve global business objectives, secure products, and protect mission-critical services, Roger defines best practices by sharing his extensive knowledge with key stakeholders and applying his advanced analytical skills.

He solves complex problems or questions for which there are no routine solutions and offers new, simple, pragmatic, forward-looking perspectives that are particularly important for cyber security issues relating to artificial intelligence.

2024 he joined HEIDELBERG as CISO to protect the business against well-known and new threats.

Before joining HEIDELBERG, he worked at Merck KGaA Germany as well as various consulting companies, where he held leading positions in the areas of cyber crisis management, OT security, cybersecurity consulting, business development, penetration testing and security architecture. 

In addition, he is active as an instructor, mentor, and coach.

For more than one and a half decade, he has been a speaker at national and international security conferences and working groups where he shares his ideas with a wide range of security experts on AI and GPT security, cloud security, general cyber-attacks, IoT security, and advanced persistent threats.

In addition to his professional activities, Roger taught the master’s program “Cloud Computing and Service Architectures” at the University of Applied Sciences Worms as an adjunct professor for 10 years.

In his spare time, he loves to create things in his workshop. He goes into maker mode when it comes to electronics, woodworking, and metalworking.

Samwel B. Magesa is a Chief Data Officer with NBC Bank, the leading bank in Tanzania. A Software Engineer and seasoned banker with a career spanning over a decade Samwel has been instrumental in leading numerous digital & financial consultations as well as starting and setting up data and analytics departments for various organizations. Samwel’s career in the consultancy and financial sector has a footprint in digital channels and distributions, business development, technology infrastructure particularly in developing and managing resilient critical mission systems responsible for delivering customer facing financial services as well as database management. Samwel has been influential in the delivery of major projects involving both back end and customer facing platforms. Certified in IT governance, Technology Infrastructure and Project Management, in his time off, Samwel enjoys participating in several development programs empowering youth, reading, writing, and traveling.

Ted Lechterman is an academic philosopher who holds the UNESCO Chair in AI Ethics & Governance at IE University’s School of Humanities. The UNESCO Chair seeks to advance the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of AI by catalyzing path-breaking research, education, and outreach on the ethical dilemmas and policy challenges prompted by artificial intelligence. Lechterman’s current research addresses the responsibilities of businesses that develop and deploy AI and the relationship between AI and democracy. Recent work analyzes the concept of accountability in AI, the ethics of combatting disinformation with AI, and proposals to augment democracy with AI. Lechterman has also made significant contributions to business ethics and political philosophy. His first book, The Tyranny of Generosity: Why Philanthropy Corrupts Our Politics and How We Can Fix It (OUP, 2022), received second place for the ECPR Political Theory Prize. He is an officer of the ECPR Standing Group on Political Theory, a member of UNESCO AI Ethics Experts Without Borders, and a director at the Compass Ethics consulting network. Lechterman frequently contributes to public debates and advises organizations on managing ethical risks and exercising power responsibly. He holds degrees from Harvard (A.B.) and Princeton (M.A., Ph.D.) and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Stanford, Goethe, Hertie, and Oxford, where he was an inaugural fellow at the Institute for Ethics in AI. 

Since 2022, Florence Mottay has been VP and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Zalando, the leading pan-European ecosystem for fashion and lifestyle e-commerce, and is also a strategic advisor with Paladin Capital Group, a multi-stage venture capital firm focused on leading investments in the best technology companies globally. With more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and ethical hacking, Florence was previously the SVP of Information Security and Global CISO of one of the world’s largest food retail groups, Ahold Delhaize, based in The Netherlands. Earlier in her career, Florence spent 10 years supporting the growth of small businesses specialising in information security. During that time, Florence led the delivery of information security and IT governance services to global software and technology vendors, financial companies and retail firms in her roles at IOActive, Cigital, and Security Innovation.

Virginia Dignum is Professor of Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Umeå University, Sweden where she leads the AI Policy Lab. She is also senior advisor on AI policy to the Wallenberg Foundations. She has a PHD in Artificial Intelligence from Utrecht University in 2004, is member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA), and Fellow of the European Artificial Intelligence Association (EURAI). She is a member of the United Nations Advisory Body on AI, the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), UNESCO’s expert group on the implementation of AI recommendations, OECD’s Expert group on AI, founder of ALLAI, the Dutch AI Alliance, and co-chair of the WEF’s Global Future Council on AI. She was a member of EU’s High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence and leader of UNICEF’s guidance for AI and children. Her new book “The AI Paradox” is planned for publication in late 2024.

Sanchit has 16+ years of industry experience in tech and product roles across Southeast Asia, Africa, the US, and Europe with organizations such as Booking.com, Paytm, GoJek, Rocket Internet, and National Instruments. He has 11+ years of Technical Product Management experience after 5+ years as an Applications Engineer. Currently, he is Director-Data Science & Machine Learning Platform with Booking.com

Elena Sinel is an internationally recognised social entrepreneur and award-winning founder of Teens in AI. Committed to catalysing change through technology, she endeavours to empower youth aged 12 to 18 to tackle real-world issues. Driven by a profound passion for AI and its potential to generate lasting positive impact, she launched Teens in AI at the United Nations’s AI For Good Global Summit to promote diversity and inclusion within the AI industry. In collaboration with FTSE 100 companies and governmental bodies worldwide, she has successfully incorporated future-oriented skills into today’s educational frameworks.

Before founding Teens in AI, she spent nearly a decade as an international specialist consultant focused on poverty reduction, rural livelihood development, and poverty alleviation. Her work spanned across Central Asia, the Balkans, Ethiopia, and Bangladesh, where she partnered with international organisations like the British Council, UNDP, and the World Bank.

Elena is currently a Microsoft Regional Director, a programme that recognises industry professionals for their cross-platform technical expertise, community leadership, public speaking experience, online influence, and commitment to business results. She was previously appointed as a member of the Education Task Force at All Parliamentary Group in Artificial Intelligence, providing her with an opportunity to influence policy related to AI skills in education.

Mumtaz Vauhkonen, Ph.D is a Director of AI at Verizon and heads the Multimodal and Generative AI group focused on Generative AI and Advanced Machine Learning domains including Computer Vision,  IoT, Edge and 5G distributed AI applications. Her experience includes Lead ML Scientist roles at Ford Motor Corporation and Nissan working on AI/ML solutions for Autonomous to Level 3 vehicles, ML roles at Intel Corporation and Enterprise application development with CGEY. She holds a Ph.D from UIUC and research from Stanford in advanced ML, and a Masters from Harvard University. 

As Head of AI Governance, Lisa is driving the governance and oversight of Zurich’s AI solutions in line with international regulations, industry standards, strategic and risk management considerations at the intersection of responsible, customer-centric AI and privacy.

Lisa joined Zurich in 2009 and held various senior positions in Group Legal (Corporate Finance, Governance), Group Risk Management (Digital Risk Governance, Data & AI Risk), before moving to Group Technology & Operations (AI & Data Governance) in 2021. Since 2023, she focuses on the global operationalization of safe, robust and compliant AI and Generative AI innovation.

Prior to joining Zurich, Lisa started her career as an attorney-at-law in M&A and Asset Management in Germany and the U.S. (New York). She holds a Ph.D. in international law (Cologne), an LL.M. degree (Berkeley) and completed an executive education program on AI at MIT Sloan School of Management.

Robin emerges as a luminary in the realm of Data and Analytics strategy, renowned for his adeptness in orchestrating digital transformations that yield maximum ROI. Much like Uber’s transformative impact in transportation, Robin’s visionary leadership reshapes enterprise landscapes, propelling them toward unprecedented heights.

As a revered Data and Analytics strategist, Robin spearheads initiatives that unearth the optimal orchestration of Data, Analytics, and Digital transformation. His expertise transcends conventional boundaries, unlocking hidden Data & Analytics potentials within enterprises and redefining industry standards.

Robin’s legacy is etched in his instrumental role at Cisco, where he revolutionized Manufacturing and supply chain methodologies. Through his strategic prowess, Cisco ascended from Gartner’s No. 5 position to the zenith of No. 1, marking a paradigm shift in industry dynamics.

Not content with past triumphs, Robin’s journey of innovation continued at BlockRock, where he pioneered the creation of a groundbreaking Finance cloud offering. This endeavor not only monetized data but also fostered a thriving startup ecosystem, emblematic of Robin’s commitment to pushing boundaries and nurturing innovation.

Now, Robin sets his sights on disrupting the construction industry, a sector yet untouched by the transformative power of Data, Analytics, and AI. Armed with his unparalleled expertise, he embarks on a mission to revolutionize construction practices, ensuring that every endeavor he undertakes achieves the pinnacle of ROI and industry excellence.

Alessandro has been the Group AI Governance Program Director for Generali since 2022, in charge of defining and implementing the responsible usage of Artificial Intelligence in the Group. Previously he covered several roles as Head of Data Science in Generali Head Office as well in other financial and non-financial institutions such as American Express, SAS and RCS MediaGroup, where he also served as Deputy Privacy Officer. He’s currently a member of the Insurtech Project Group within Insurance Europe and an expert member of the Taskforce on AI. He’s a board member of advisor in several academic and research institutions such as Stanford University, University of Trieste, IDC and the World Conference on Data Science and Statistics.

Daniela Weber is the Deputy Director for NetHope’s Center of the Digital Nonprofit where she researches emerging technologies and trends and their relevance for the nonprofit sector, and supports nonprofits in their digital transformation through assessments, tools, and consultations. She leads NetHope’s AI program which looks to enable nonprofits to utilize AI to amplify their efforts to support vulnerable communities in the face of multi-crisis, and to make sure they can do so in a safe, ethical, and equitable way.

Daniela has over 30 years of experience in leadership roles in IT and Consulting, delivering digital transformation for organizations across a variety of sectors including consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and hospitality. She moved into the nonprofit sector in 2015 and now works for NetHope, an organization that convenes the world’s leading international NGOs and technology companies, and some of the world’s most sophisticated users of digital for human, social, and environmental good

Cecily is a co-founding General Partner of Wisdom Ventures, a fund committed to advancing positive impact via compassionate innovation focused on the fields of AI, Mental Health, Mindfulness, EdTech, and HR Tech. With over 20 years of diverse experience as an attorney, revenue leader, and COO, Cecily has spearheaded the growth of startups across various industries, including music, publishing, mindfulness, well-being, and crypto. As co-founder of Wisdom Ventures and co-founding limited partner of Funds I and II of How Women Invest (exclusively investing in women-founded companies), Cecily is a champion for greater human connection and well-being. Her board memberships and support for various organizations, notably at SIY Global, and The U.S. Alcohol Policy Alliance, underscore her commitment to ethical leadership and social responsibility.

Result-driven entrepreneurial executive with 15+ years of diverse leadership and board advisory experience across most of the functions and types of transformations gained in international consumer goods companies (Danone, ABInBev) and top-tier consultancy firms (EY).

• Expert in large scale and complex projects management, stakeholder orchestration, delivery of change at scale, and dedicated to fostering growth through innovation, technology, efficiency, and empowerment of individuals.
• Known for adeptly navigating high ambiguity with honed analytical and strategic skills.
• Excels in bringing order to chaos by connecting people and bridging organizational silos in pursuit of common goals, vision, and strategy.

Martin works as an Associate Director of Data Science in King, improving the famous mobile game Candy Crush Saga. He’s been leading efforts to enable AI in the mobile game to enhance the experience of millions of players. Before his current involvement in gaming, Martin worked as a Data scientist and ML Engineer in the pharmaceuticals and finance industry. Martin holds a MSc Degree in software engineering and a PhD in Statistics.

As Director of European AI Governance, Emily Gillett leads The Future Society’s (TFS) work on the EU AI Act and its surrounding regulatory regime, furthering TFS’ mission of aligning AI through better governance. As part of this work, TFS has been focusing on the EU AI Act as it applies to general-purpose AI (GPAI) models, especially the implementation of Articles 51, 53 and 55 and the forthcoming Code of Practice for GPAI model providers. Before joining TFS, Emily was an English barrister and Hong Kong solicitor. In addition to her legal qualifications, she holds a Master’s degree in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford.

Gabi is co-founder and General Partner of Blue Tulip Ventures, a firm committed to investing in early-stage startups building Human Centric AI – AI that is good for you, good for the planet and ethical. With decades of experience as an operator, she now guides early-stage AI startups to growth as an investor and advisor.  Gabi brings extensive leadership expertise in product and go to market strategy, product management, marketing, channel management, and strategic alliances. She is passionate about building “stuff”: innovative products, markets, teams, and ecosystems. Before co-founding Blue Tulip Ventures, Gabi was Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Product at Emotion AI pioneer Affectiva. and then at Smart Eye after the Affectiva acquisition. She has worked at 8 startups at various stages and did a stint at IBM where she led technology innovation at scale.

Carlo Tortora Brayda
Marquess of Belvedere, Marquess of San Giuliano, Duke della Chiusa, Duke of Forli, Count of Policastro, Baron of Tortora, Baron of Teverola, Lord of Belvedere, Palmoli, Fratta Piccola, Molfetta, Sapri, Le Boccati. Carlo is Uncle to the Solomonic Princes, Their Imperial Highnesses, Yokshan and Joel Makonnen Haile Selassie, in the Royal succession of the Ethiopian throne.

Carlo Tortora Brayda born in Rome, Italy in 1969, is the founder and Executive Chairman of Tortora Brayda Institute for AI & Cybersecurity, a global Think Tank to promote partnerships. Mr.Tortora Brayda was also Chairman of Gorilla Corporation which had
its roots in several companies he founded in the 90s, and re-acquired thereafter.

Gorilla is a leading SaaS and global partner development company responsible for the channel revenue growth of US based Unicorns.
His earliest work with the United Nations was as a Volunteer in the Office of the United Nations Special Committee Against Apartheid in Geneva Switzerland. Shortly after that time he met with former United Nations Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali, and
subsequently Kofi Annan several times. These were profoundly formative meetings focusing on the role of Public to Private
Partnerships, Entrepreneurship and their role in international development.

Non-Profit Work in Africa and Working with the World Economic Forum
In 2003, he created Alchemy World Projects, an Ethiopian based Non Governmental Organization aimed at poverty alleviation through
entrepreneurship and coordination with the government on private sector development. The program was successful and lifted thousands of people out of poverty, into employability and small-medium enterprise development. During this time he was appointed Advisor on Trade and Industry to the former Federal President, Girma Wolde-Ghiorgis. He also fulfilled an advisory role in Entrepreneurship development and Foreign Direct Investment to several Regional Presidents, in particular the President of Amhara State, the historical heartland of Ethiopia, covering more than 20 million inhabitants.

Due to this track record in development he was selected by the World Economic Forum to be a Special Constituent Member, and to take an active role in the Forum for Africa held usually in Cape Town, South Africa. During this time he engaged numerous leaders of other African nations looking to develop their private sector and drive forward entrepreneurship, as well as private sector actors like Microsoft and UN Agencies, namely UNICEF, ILO (International Labor Organization), ITU (International Telecommunications Union) and UNDP (United Nations Development Program).
Mr. Tortora Brayda was also asked to speak at several United Nations Summits, including the World Summit for Information Society,
and the United Nations International Telecommunication Union.

Back to Technology
In 2010 he returned to the business of technology, creating Gorilla Corporation and going down a path of Mergers and Acquisitions. In the ongoing spirit of Public to Private Partnerships he signed Gorilla Corporation to be a Sector D Member of the ITU to be at the forefront of internet policy making and standardization.

After his move to Silicon Valley, California to spearhead Technology Partner Development, he was invited by the World Economic Forum to be an expert contributor to a panel in support of the G20, to explore Global Risks in 2012. Since then his only focus has been on supporting Partnership Excellence in all its forms within all areas of technology growth, including the Think Tank’s core tracks: Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence. Mr Tortora Brayda is an Equity Partner of Cyberstratos, part of CEA Worldwide Investment Bank and M&A Advisory focused on Cybersecurity and a Judge on the United Nations AI program AI for Good Innovation Factory, including its climate change program to be presented at COP28.

An AI information systems engineer, with his subsequent companies, Mr Tortora Brayda won numerous business awards including the
Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur of the Year, South East of England, Shell Livewire Greatest Employment Potential, Oxfordshire Business of the Year Award presented by Boris Johnson, Guildford Mayor’s Cup, Forbes Technology Council awards for best Group (Cybersecurity), and best events (Cybersecurity) and was honored to join Queen Elizabeth II Golden Coronation private event at St James’ Palace in London. He became a Freeman of the City of London in 2023. He is ranked Top 100 Global Thought Leader in Cybersecurity, National Security, and ESG.

Christopher Obereder, a celebrated serial entrepreneur and investor from Silicon Valley, is renowned not only for his entrepreneurial prowess but also for his deep expertise in the AI field. A distinguished member of the Forbes 30 under 30, Christopher has a proven track record that spans strategic investments and pioneering technological advancements. He has successfully sold two companies and has been instrumental in securing over $360 million in funding for various ventures. His profound knowledge of AI has positioned him at the forefront of integrating advanced technologies into business strategies, which has substantially enhanced the operational efficiency and market reach of his investments.

Christopher’s experience extends beyond mere financial achievements; he has orchestrated his own “Shark Tank” show in Germany, demonstrating his capability to merge entertainment with serious business acumen. As a seasoned speaker, he has enlightened audiences at over 200 conferences, sharing his insights on the transformative potential of AI in the entrepreneurial landscape. His philanthropic efforts are highlighted by his support of over 100 startups, fostering innovation and guiding the next generation of entrepreneurs. With his extensive background, Christopher is actively shaping the future of entrepreneurship through a blend of technological insight and strategic innovation.

Katya Klinova is the Head of Data and AI Initiatives at the UN Secretary-General’s Innovation Lab. In this role, she works on building an enabling infrastructure for putting AI in service of humanitarian and development needs at scale. 

Prior to that, Katya served as an Acting Director of Research and Programs and as the Head of Labor and Economy portfolio of programs at the Partnership on AI, conducted research on the impact of AI on the growth prospects of low- and middle-income countries at Harvard, and led the development of growth strategies for early AI-enabled products at Google.

Katya holds an MPA in International Development from Harvard University, and an M.Sc. in Networks and Data Science from Carlos III University of Madrid. Her work and commentary have been published by ACM/AAAI, Al Jazeera, Brookings, Business Insider, MIT Technology Review, OECD, Oxford University Press, WIRED, and others.

Steph has a diverse background ranging from astrophysics to genomics in academia and film & TV to dance in the arts and the third sector. A project and programme management professional, she loves to develop and build collaborations across organisations to help people with their data/AI journey.

Steph led on Data Lab’s efforts in support of the Scottish Government in developing Scotland’s AI Strategy and she’s now leading on the delivery of the strategy’s vision for Scotland to be a leader in trustworthy, ethical and inclusive AI. She is also Co-Founder of Diverse AI and was recognised as one of the 100 Brilliant Women in AI Ethics in 2023 and one of the Top 10 Women in Tech in Scotland in 2023.

Nicholas B. Dirks is President and CEO of The New York Academy of Sciences, one of the oldest scientific organizations in the United States. Previously, Nick served as Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley and Executive VP and Dean of the Faculty for Arts and Sciences at Columbia University. He is the author of eight books, including the new book, City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University. Follow Nick on Twitter @nickdirks.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on 10 June 2022 the appointment of Amandeep Singh Gill of India as his Envoy on Technology.  The Secretary-General wishes to extend his appreciation and gratitude to the Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, Ms. Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, for her dedication and commitment as Acting Envoy on Technology.

Mr. Gill is the Chief Executive Officer of the International Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence Research Collaborative (I-DAIR) project, based at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.

A thought leader on digital technology, he brings to the position a deep knowledge of digital technologies coupled with a solid understanding of how to leverage the digital transformation responsibly and inclusively for progress on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Previously, he was the Executive Director and Co-Lead of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018-2019).  In addition to delivering the report of the High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, Mr. Gill helped secure high-impact international consensus recommendations on regulating Artificial Intelligence (Al) in lethal autonomous weapon systems in 2017 and 2018, the draft Al ethics recommendation of UNESCO in 2020, and a new international platform on digital health and Al.

Mr. Gill was India’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva (2016-2018).  He joined his country’s Diplomatic Service in 1992 and served in various capacities in disarmament and strategic technologies and international security affairs, with postings in Tehran and Colombo.  He was also a visiting scholar at Stanford University.

Mr. Gill holds a PhD in Nuclear Learning in Multilateral Forums from King’s College, London, a Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Electrical Communications from Panjab University, Chandigarh and an Advanced Diploma in French History and Language from Geneva University.  He is fluent in English, French, Hindi and Punjabi.

JoAnn C. Stonier serves as Chief Data Officer for Mastercard, leading the organization’s data innovation efforts while navigating current and future data risks. She oversees the curation, quality, governance and management of the company’s extensive data assets. JoAnn and her team design and operationalize Mastercard’s global data strategy, guiding enterprise deployment of cutting-edge data solutions, including advanced analytics and AI, and the development of enterprise data platforms. Her leadership is integral to Mastercard’s push to deepen the strategic value it can provide its merchant, banking and government customers and cardholders through its expanding data-driven products and capabilities. JoAnn previously served as the company’s Chief Information Governance & Privacy Officer, responsible for global privacy and information governance, and leading regulatory engagement for data compliance. JoAnn is a recognized and highly sought-after thought leader in emergent data and privacy issues. She has advised industry executives, governments, intergovernmental organizations and NGOs. Currently, she serves on the United Nations Expert Group on Governance and Artificial Intelligence and is Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Data Policy. JoAnn also serves as a Board Advisor for Truata, a data trust co-founded by Mastercard and IBM, on the Board of Directors and Governance Committee for Hope For The Warriors, a non-profit Veteran service organization, and on the Board of Trustees and Executive & Finance Committees for Academy of Mount St. Ursula, where she attended high school in Bronx, New York. JoAnn received her Juris Doctorate from St. John’s University and her Bachelor of Science degree from St. Francis College. She holds memberships in the Bar of the State of New York and the Bar of the State of New Jersey. She is based in Purchase, N.Y

Dr. Richard Benjamins is Chief Responsible AI Officer at Telefonica and founder of its “AI for Society and Environment” area, including the ethical use of AI. Before that he was the company’s Chief AI & Data Strategist. He is among the 100 most influential people in data-driven business (DataIQ 100, 2018). He is co-founder and Vice President of the Spanish observatory for ethical and social impacts of AI (OdiseIA), board member of the environmental non-profit CDP Europe. He forms part of the advisory board of the Centre for Digital Culture at the Vatican, of MIT-Sloan’s panel on Responsible AI, and is external AI expert for the AI Observatory of the European Parliament. He is also co-chair of UNESCO’s business council for their AI recommendation, and member of GSMA’s AI for Impact taskforce. He is also active in the field of AI and the Spanish language, collaborating with the Royal Spanish Academy. He was Group Chief Data Officer at AXA (Insurance), held during 10 years executive positions at Telefonica on Big Data and Analytics, and was a member of the B2G data-sharing Expert Group of the EC. He co-founded iSOCO, an early AI startup, in 1999. Furthermore, he holds a PhD in Cognitive Science, has published over 150 scientific articles, is founding editorial board member of Springer’s AI Ethics journal, and is author of the books “The myth of the algorithm” (Spanish) and “A Data-Driven Company” (English, Spanish, Turkish, Chinese), and “The algorithm and I” (Spanish). He is a frequent speaker on Artificial Intelligence events, and a strategic advisor to several start-ups and companies

Marc Mathieu, SVP, AI Transformation & Vice-Chair, Salesforce Global Advisory Board, is a storied Business and Marketing leader known for humanizing Fortune 500 global brands as CMO at Samsung, Unilever, Coca-Cola, and Danone. Marc is an industry visionary who partners with Salesforce’s C-suite Customers to implement successful digital first AI and emerging tech transformations.

Dr. Steve Chien is JPL Fellow, Senior Research Scientist, and Technical Group Supervisor of the Artificial Intelligence Group and in the Mission Planning and Execution Section at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology where he leads efforts in automated planning and scheduling for space exploration.  Dr. Chien was previously Adjunct Faculty with the Department of Computer Science of the University of Southern California, and a Research Scientist at the Joint Institute for Regional Earth System Science & Engineering and a Visiting Scholar with the Department of Computer Science of the University of California at Los Angeles. He holds a B.S. with Highest Honors in Computer Science, with minors in Mathematics and Economics, M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science, all from the University of Illinois.

He is a founder of the International Workshop on Planning and Scheduling for Space held every other year from 1997 onward and was the Chair or Co-chair  of numerous workshops.  He is former chair of the AIPS Executive Council (2000-2002), was a founding member of the ICAPS Executive Council (2002-2006), and was founding President of the ICAPS Executive Council 2002-2004. He was also a Councilor for the American Association for Artificial Intelligence (2003-2006)

Dr. Chien was a recipient of the 1995 Lew Allen Award for Excellence, JPLs highest award recognizing outstanding technical achievements by JPL personnel in the early years of their careers. In 1997, he received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for his work in research and development of planning and scheduling systems for NASA. He is the Team Lead for the ASPEN Planning System , which received Honorable Mention in the 1999 Software of the Year Competition and was a contributor to the Remote Agent System which was a co-winner in the same 1999 competition. In 2000, he received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal for service and leadership in research and deployment of planning and scheduling systems for NASA. He is the Principal Investigator for the Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment which is a co-winner of the 2005 NASA Software of the Year Award. In 2007, he received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for outstanding technical accomplishments in the development of the Autonomous Sciencecraft deployed on the Earth Observing One Mission and the development of the Earth Observing Sensorweb. In 2011 He was awarded the innaugural AIAA Intelligent Systems Award, for his contributions to Spacecraft Autonomy. In 2011, he was the team co-lead for the Sensorweb Toolbox team, which was awarded Honorable mention in the 2011 NASA Software of the Year Competition. In 2015 He was awarded a JPL Magellan Award as well as the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for his contributions to automated science scheduling for ESA’s Rosetta mission.

Dr. Chien has supported the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, Defense Science Board, and Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.  In 2018, Dr. Chien was appointed to the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Chien has presented invited seminars on planning, scheduling, and resource allocation as well as on spacecraft autonomy and autonomous systems. He has authored numerous publications. in these areas, and has served as a consultant to several multinational corporations in these areas. His current research interests lie in the areas of: planning and scheduling, machine learning, operations research, and decision theory.

Dr. Larry P. Heck is the co-director of the Artificial Intelligence Hub and Machine Learning Center, and Professor with a joint appointment in ECE and Interactive Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He holds the Rhesa S. Farmer Advanced Computing Concepts Chair and is a Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar. From 2017-2021, he was the CEO of Viv Labs and SVP at Samsung where he led Bixby for North America. From 2014-2017, he was a Principal Scientist at Google, leading an advanced Dialogue effort in Google Research. From 2009-2014, he was the Chief Scientist of the Microsoft Speech products team and later a Distinguished Engineer in Microsoft Research. In 2009, he was a co-founder of Microsoft’s Cortana personal assistant. From 2005-2009, he was Vice President at Yahoo! responsible for Search and Advertising quality. From 1998-2005, he was with Nuance Communications and served as Vice President of R&D. He began his career as a researcher at the Stanford Research Institute (1992-1998) initially in acoustics and later in speech research with the Speech Technology and Research (STAR) Laboratory. Funded by the US government’s NSA and DARPA, his SRI Speaker Recognition team was the first to successfully create large-scale deep neural network (DNN) deep learning technology in the field of speech processing (1998 National Institute of Standards and Technology Speaker Recognition evaluation) and the first to deploy a major industrial application of deep learning. He received the PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1991. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, published numerous scientific papers and holds 50+ United States patents. He was inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni at Georgia Tech and received the Distinguished Engineer Award from the Texas Tech University Whitacre College of Engineering.

Virginia Dignum is Professor of Responsible Artificial Intelligence at Umeå University, Sweden and associated with the TU Delft in the Netherlands. She is the director of WASP-HS, the Wallenberg Program on Humanities and Society for AI, Autonomous Systems and Software, the largest Swedish national research program on fundamental multidisciplinary research on the societal and human impact of AI. She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences, and a Fellow of the European Artificial Intelligence Association (EURAI). Her current research focus is on the specification, verification and monitoring of ethical and societal principles for intelligent autonomous systems. She is committed to policy and awareness efforts towards the responsible development and use of AI, as member of the European Commission High Level Expert Group on Artificial Intelligence, the working group on Responsible AI of the Global Partnership on AI (GPAI), the World Economic Forum’s Global Artificial Intelligence Council, lead for UNICEF’s guidance for AI and children, the Executive Committee of the IEEE Initiative on Ethically Aligned Design, and as founding member of ALLAI, the Dutch AI Alliance. Her book “Responsible Artificial Intelligence: developing and using AI in a responsible way” was published by Springer-Nature in 2019. She studied at the university of Lisbon and the Free University of Amsterdam and has a PHD in Artificial Intelligence from Utrecht University in 2004. In 2006 she was awarded the prestigious Veni grant by the NWO (Dutch Organization for Scientific Research). She a well-known speaker on the social and ethical impacts of Artificial Intelligence, is member of the reviewing boards for all major journals and conferences in AI and has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers.

Parag Parekh is the Chief Digital Officer (a role he shares with Wim Blaauw) at Ingka Group. He has the responsibility for developing digital capabilities and accelerating the digital transformation of the business. Parag joined Ingka Group as Chief Technology Officer, Group Digital, in 2021 and has more than 20 years of technology experience working for global companies.

Prior to IKEA, Parag held senior roles at Adidas with responsibilities for omnichannel transformation, ecommerce, and product engineering.  He also spent several years as Senior Program Manager and as part of the leadership program at General Electric (GE).

An engineer by trade, Parag also has a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), Information Technology from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS). He is also a graduate of the Executive Development, Business Administration and Leadership program at Harvard Business School.

Born in India, Parag has worked in the US, UK, Asia, Spain, and Germany. He now lives in Sweden with his wife and two daughters. He enjoys running, listening to podcasts, and taking every opportunity to enjoy the outdoors with his family.

Angeline van Dijk is Inspector General of the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure (RDI). The RDI monitors the digital infrastructure. Ranging from digital security of equipment, cyber and telecom security to the safe use of the internet and other networks. The RDI is also working on the development of cloud and Artificial Intelligence monitoring. Currently the RDI holds the presidency of the Dutch working group Supervision on Algorithms and the European working group of Competent Authorities on AI.

Meeri Haataja is the CEO and Co-Founder of Saidot, a start-up with a mission for enabling responsible AI ecosystems.

Saidot is a technology company developing a platform for systematic AI governance, transparency and communication. Meeri was the chair of the ethics working group in Finland’s national AI program that submitted its final report in March 2019. In this role, she initiated a national AI ethics challenge and engaged more than 70 organizations to commit to the ethical use of AI and define ethics principles. Meeri is also the Chair of IEEE’s initiative for the creation of AI ethics certificates in the ECPAIS program (Ethics Certification Program for Autonomous and Intelligent Systems). Meeri has been an affiliate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University since 2019. During the academic year 2021-2022, her focus will be on projects related to operationalizing AI transparency, as well as the integration of AI ethics, corporate social responsibility and ESG.

Before starting her own company, Meeri led AI strategy and GDPR implementation in OP Financial Group, the largest financial services company in Finland. Meeri has a long background in analytics and AI consulting with Accenture Analytics. During her Accenture years, she has been working in driving data and analytics strategies and large AI implementation programs in media, telecommunications, high-tech and retail industries. Meeri started her career as a data scientist in telecommunications after completing her M.Sc.(Econ.) in Helsinki School of Economics. Meeri is an active advocate of responsible and human-centric AI. She’s an experienced public speaker regularly speaking in international conferences and AI opportunities and AI ethics seminars.

I’m a research scientist and former professor for machine learning and now a team lead at DeepMind. My core scientific interest are intelligent machines, that are able to autonomously learn new things from scratch. I’m in particular interested in neural networks – a sort of mathematical model of the brain – and their ability to store and generalize information. This fascination goes back to my master thesis about supervised learning algorithms (‘Rprop’, 1992).

I have always been working at the boundary of new machine learning methods and their application to novel challenges: neural forecasting systems for financial trading  and sales rate prediction (‘George’, 1994; ‘Bild-Zeitung’, 1998 – 2008), self-learning agents that control self-driving cars (at Stanford, 2006) or reading thoughts and even controlling brain activity (‘BrainLinks BrainTools’, 2011 – 2019). Brainstormers, our robotic soccer team, was a 5 times winner of the RoboCup World Championship and one of the first teams to use reinforcement learning (RL) as their core method (1998 – 2008). The data-efficient reinforcement learning algorithms Neural Fitted Q Iteration (NFQ, 2005; NFQCA, 2011) and Deep Fitted Q (DFQ, 2010) laid the ground for many methods in current Artificial Intelligence (AI) research.

I have followed my interests in various roles: as a game programmer and author for the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum (1981-1986), a computer science professor at the universities of Dortmund, Osnabrück and Freiburg (2002-2015), a Co-Founder of one of the first startups in modern AI (Cognit – Lab for learning machines, 2010-2015). In 2015, I joined DeepMind as a research scientist and team lead of the Controls Team.

Fernando Lucini is the Global Lead for Data Science Accenture . Based in London, Fernando is a passionate and experienced senior leader with extensive experience in Artificial Intelligence software and business solutions. Having spent 20+ years in the enterprise software industry creating technologies to automate and understand Text, Speech, and Video data. Integrating these technologies into business solutions for Fortune 100 companies including Financial Services, High Tech, Pharma, and many others. Also leading Government, Defense, Regulators, and other public sectors entities.

At the heart every successful business are people, their skills, dreams and ambitions, to make things better. At IKEA we strive to create a better everyday life for the many people – a vision that has guided us for the past 79 years and has made us what we are today: a unique, meaningful and trusted brand globally.

Ulrika Biesèrt, IKEA Retail (Ingka Group People & Culture manager), is a member of the Ingka Group Management team. Key to her role, which is the equivalent of CHRO, is ensuring that we are always guided by our purpose and values, keeping customers and co-workers at the heart of what we do so that both business and people grow together.

From an early age, she has been intrigued by human behaviour. This early interest led to her study of psychology, social sciences and economics in university.  After spending six years working as a family counsellor, she realised she would be better suited to a more commercially driven environment. IKEA was exactly the right step in combining her business interests and acumen, with a deep-seated ambition to influence and broaden the people agenda.

She has been with IKEA since 1997, with several HR assignments over many years across all its core businesses.  She is a fierce advocate for diversity and inclusion, and a champion of continuous learning. With over 20 years of leadership experience, she takes pride in her ability to develop individuals and teams to benefit both people and business.

Patrice leads the Data & Analytics practice for Financial Services in Belgium.

He has gained over 20 years of advisory experience in financial services and other industries in the field of enterprise data management, business analytics, data science, artificial intelligence and robotics.

He holds a PhD in Applied Sciences, Machine Learning at the Artificial Intelligence Institute of the Polytechnical School of ULB (IRIDIA) and a Master of Applied Sciences in Electro-Mechanics Engineering from the University of Brussels (ULB). He’s also a teacher of Artificial Intelligence for Financial Markets, Innovation and Strategy at Solvay School of Management and Economics and EMEIA AI leader for Financial Services.

Celeste Kidd is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, where her lab investigates learning and belief formation. The Kidd Lab is one of few in the world that combine technologically sophisticated behavioral experiments with computational models in order to broadly understand knowledge acquisition. Kidd was also named as one of TIME Magazines 2017 Persons of the Year as one of the “Silence Breakers” for her advocacy for better protections for students against sexual misconduct.

Arnaud Wiehe is an author, speaker, consultant, and thought leader in cybersecurity. He has worked in leadership and cybersecurity roles for major global companies, including as a CISO for multiple years.

He holds several prestigious cybersecurity certifications, including:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
• Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE)

 Throughout his career, Arnaud has demonstrated a strong focus on cybersecurity best practices and keeping current with emerging trends, technologies, and innovation. He is a graduate of the Singularity University and a member of the Association of Professional Futurists. He is widely respected by his peers as an expert in cybersecurity and IT governance.

Throughout his career, Arnaud has demonstrated a strong focus on cybersecurity best practices and keeping current with emerging trends, technologies, and innovation. He is a graduate of the Singularity University and a member of the Association of Professional Futurists. He is widely respected by his peers as an expert in cybersecurity and IT governance.

Industrial Engineer, business Designer, avid Entrepreneur, Gonçalo Cruz co-founded PlatformE – the fashion industry platform for MTO (made-to-order) and mass customization – that powers mass digital experiences for some of the biggest fashion houses at LVMH, Kering and independent groups.

Passionate about Tech (namely for web, commerce, retail) and Virtual (3D, AR, VR). Sits in the Advisory Board of MyDidimo and MOXY.

Has always worked in multicultural and multilingual environments, having full proficiency in English, Spanish and Portuguese. Communicates also in Italian and French. Interested primarily in learning with people and help them achieve what was previously unachievable. Always looking for deep literature, beautiful songs and breathtaking landscapes.

Margi is a Director of Data & AI Policy at AstraZeneca. She has led the company’s efforts to build principles and implement governance on the ethical use of AI, particularly in pharmaceutical R&D. She enables the responsible use and re-use of data & AI inside AZ and with our scientific partners, toward improving drug development efforts. Margi is actively involved in industry-wide partnerships in the field and regularly contributes to developing AI legislations on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry.

Margi spent several years prior in academia and the US National Institutes of health, working in biomedical research programmes. After successfully managing genomic research and clinical trials, Margi now enables researchers to maximise the value of their data & AI resources to accelerate biomedical research.

Jovana Karanovic is an Assistant Professor at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and the Founder of Reshaping Work Foundation. She is a leading expert in the platform economy and digital innovations, having published in renowned business journals like MIT Sloan Management Review and Journal of Management Studies. Reshaping Work’s conferences stand out for their unique multistakeholder approach, bringing together companies, academics, policy makers, unions, and other relevant stakeholders to engage in meaningful discussions about the future of work in the digital era. These events, held globally, feature leading experts and present cutting-edge research insights to drive positive change. Furthermore, Jovana has been recognized by the media outlet Silicon Canals as one of Amsterdam’s most powerful female ecosystem builders. Jovana is a frequent speaker at academic and industry events. Her notable appearance includes TEDx Amsterdam, where she spoke about ‘The Side of the Platform Economy You Haven’t Seen’.

Aidan O’Sullivan is Associate Professor in Energy and Artificial Intelligence at UCL Energy Institute. He is also CTO and Co-Founder of Carbon Re a climate tech start-up using AI to decarbonise the manufacture of energy intensive materials such as cement and steel.

Aidan holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University College Cork, Ireland and a PhD from the department of Mathematics in Imperial College London. Prior to joining UCL he worked as a machine learning researcher in the Civil Engineering Department of MIT. He is the UK’s representative to the European Energy Research Alliance for the joint programme on digitalisation and programme chair for the AI and Climate initiative at the UNESCO International Research Centre on AI, (IRCAI) and a Turing Fellow.

Aidan was recently awarded a Turing Fellowship from the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s leading centre for AI and data science research. In media his work has been featured in Forbes, Times and the world Economic forum and he has authored articles for World Energy Magazine.

Walter Pasquarelli is an internationally recognised advisor, speaker, and filmmaker, expert on AI strategy, generative AI, data governance, and immersive technologies.

Leading advisory and editorial programmes at The Economist Group, Walter has operated at the forefront of technological innovation, shaping policy and business perception of emerging technologies. His works were widely published and received mentions by The Economist, Forbes, Der Tagesspiel, El Tiempo, the European Parliament, NATO, the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, the UAE Minister of State for AI among others.

Walter specialises in strategic planning and has a history of anticipating and engaging with crucial shifts in the responsible use of AI, data governance, AI policy, ethical and regulatory frameworks, and macroeconomic tech trends. He led the development of the first globally focused “AI Index”, benchmarking countries’ readiness to uptake emerging technologies across key industries and markets.

Widely known as a consultant, speaker and research manager, Walter has managed advisory and editorial programmes totalling over $2 million USD. He has served as an advisor to Google, Meta, Microsoft, as well as presidencies and government departments in the UK, the US, Canada, the European Commission, the UAE, Colombia, India, Thailand, and Serbia.

An experienced moderator and speaker he presented, among others, IBM’s Data Dividend series, where he was lead moderator for workshops and roundtables across the world, involving C-suite executives from Fortune 100 companies and government leaders.

Walter received the first prize of the Prospect Public Policy Award by the University of Cambridge, and has been an AI Policy Fellow at the University of Bath.

Victor is the CTO and Co-Founder of Iris.ai. As the head of both the research and development team at Iris.ai, Victor has had to put his unique experience from a combination of AI research, software development, and technology leadership skills to the ultimate test in building and operating an international startup with a very ambitious vision and goal. Under his leadership, Iris.ai has become a world leader with the award-winning AI engine for scientific text understanding. The algorithms for text similarity, tabular data extraction, domain-specific entity representation learning and entity disambiguation and linking measure up to the best in the world. Before founding Iris.ai, Victor worked as a Research Engineer in Artificial Intelligence at Chalmers University of Technology after finishing his second Master’s Degree at the same place, in Computer Systems and Networks Engineering. He also has broad experience in corporate software development.

Laetitia Cailleteau, Managing Director for Accenture, is leading Accenture’s Data&AI business in Europe and the Conversational AI domain globally – driving innovation, sales and delivery across the globe for multiple industries and clients . She has more than 25 years’ experience in the consulting industry, authored several academic publications and hold patents in the Conversational AI domain. Laetitia founded Accenture’s Innovation Studio in London, a space where her team co-create with clients to realise the potential of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, IoT, using user-centred approaches. She was a reserve member of the Artificial Intelligence High Level Group at the European Commission. She is one of Accenture’s thought leaders on Responsible AI and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. She is also a board member of OASIS Open Foundation in Europe, a non profit organization promoting open source standards and interoperability globally.

Beyond the obvious! 

Eirik Norman Hansen is an unshakeable technology optimist that gives energetic and engaging lectures about how technology affects organizations, society, and people. 

In Eirik’s opinion the future is amazing, but there lies a great responsibility on us. His lectures are inspirational, provoking and humorous. He is well known for being able to convey a clear and understandable message, even on intricate and complicated topics.  «A lecture should be both entertaining and inspiring, but you should learn something at the same time» Eirik says. He has an undeniable love for robots, artificial intelligence and digital ecosystems, and in his opinion those things will be fundamental factors for most establishments in the future.

Eirik is a graduate in economics and has worked with digitization for over 20 years. His quest is to research topics concerning what technology means to us, and how we can utilize it in the best way possible. He has lead and been a part of some of Norway and the Nordic countries’ biggest tech companies, and today he runs his own company where his main focus is what the future will bring, and what we have to do to succeed in the future. He is on multiple boards in Norwegian companies, and he has also co-written the book “Når juss møter AI” (When law meets AI), that was published in the summer of 2019.Now and then, Eirik shows up on TV and radio to talk about the newest technology and its consequences. He also has his own podcast called “30 minutes into the future” where he is accompanied by guests to discuss the near future.

Eirik has become one of the most sought out lecturers in Norway during the last few years and has on multiple occasions been named “Best speaker”. He is also a talented and much used conference host and moderator, and he uses humor and engagement as his main ingredients during his performances. Eirik is an experienced lecturer, and he has given several hundred lectures during the last 5 years.

Dr Kobi Leins (GAICD) is a global expert in AI, international law and governance. Leins provides strategic advice on selection, implementation and operation of technologies to drive business edge; creates systems for organisational and delegation of ownership for complex systems and data; and uses international benchmarking to analyse opportunities and risks in face of rapidly changing legal and governance landscapes and data literacy and public sentiment.

Leins is an Honorary Senior Fellow of King’s College, London; Advisory Board Member of the Carnegie AI and Equality Initiative; Member of Standards Australia as a technical expert on the International Standards Organisation’s work on AI Standards; Affiliate, ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society; and former Non-Resident Fellow of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research.

Leins is the author of New War Technologies and International Law: The Legal Limits to Weaponising Nanomaterials, Cambridge University Press (2022). Further publications by Leins and reading on this topic can be found at kobileins.com.

Sanchit has 16+ years of industry experience in tech and product roles across Southeast Asia, Africa, the US, and Europe with organizations such as Booking.com, Paytm, GoJek, Rocket Internet, and National Instruments. He has 11+ years of Technical Product Management experience after 5+ years as an Applications Engineer. Currently, he is Director-Data Science & Machine Learning Platform with Booking.com

Philip is an epidemiologist and public health informatician leading the Intelligence Innovation and Integration unit at the World Health Organization’s Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin. The unit works to build and strengthen public health intelligence capacity around the world through cross-disciplinary projects and initiatives. Prior to joining WHO in 2017, Philip worked at the Public Health Agency of Canada (2004-2017) and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health / University of Toronto (1999-2003). Philip’s work has almost always been in the context of emergency preparedness and response activities…. including trying to raise two young (mostly) adorable children with his wife from down under. Philip holds a PhD in Public Health Informatics awarded jointly by the Universities of Plymouth and Exeter in the UK, as well as a Master of Health Science (MHSc) in Epidemiology and Community Health and an Honours BSc with a specialization in Human Biology, both from the University of Toronto, Canada.

Ante Ivancic is the Head of AI Strategy at Rabobank (Wholesale & Rural Innovation), with expertise in AI in finance, AI governance, and large-scale consumer behavior inference. In his current capacity, he is responsible for defining the key strategic focus points for Rabobank’s Innovation department to optimally serve the global client portfolio with AI-driven solutions. His tenure at Konzum (Agrokor) — the largest privately-owned FMCG company in south-eastern Europe at the time — was marked by his work in targeted marketing, consumer behavior, and analytics. During his academic pursuit as a PhD researcher sponsored by Unilever, Friesland Campina, and Royal DSM, he specialized in recommendation systems for tailored consumer insights. Before spearheading Rabobank’s AI strategy, he served as an Innovation Manager within the financial markets sector, driving advanced AI initiatives on the trading floor across a wide range of asset classes. Drawing from both hands-on industry experience and rigorous academic research, he brings a balanced and insightful perspective to the AI finance domain

Diederik Veelo is the Head of Innovation at creative production studio Ambassadors and founded the Ambassadors Innovation Lab in 2011. At the Lab, he launched Cube, a creative production platform that streamlines how brands and agencies like Booking.com, VodafoneZiggo, N26, and TBWA\NEBOKO manage and create content. Diederik also developed Vocoda.ai, a voice synthesis studio that can create realistic AI-powered voices for advertising.

Paul Sluimers is Founder & Managing Director at Revel.ai – a creative AI studio & digital talent agency, which creates high-end visuals for the entertainment and media industry. Focusing on film, series, and commercials, he has worked on productions with HBO and AppleTV and leads the Revel.ai team known for their award-winning work such as ‘G-Star RAW – Wear your Denim Till the End’, and ‘The Dutch National Police – Cold Case’.

Tim Ottens is a senior data scientist specializing in generative AI with a passion for and expertise in NLP. He created the world’s first AI-generated official postage stamp. With a focus on practical, tailored solutions, Tim leverages state-of-the-art AI technologies to analyze data and develop intelligent systems and models.

Khagesh is an accomplished Data Science leader with over 8 years of experience across various industries. Currently, he serves as the Head of Data Science at The Adecco Group, a world-leading HR Services company. Khagesh has experience in using structured & unstructured data to drive insightful decisions. He has developed and led the development of various AI-powered solutions for a variety of business challenges. Khagesh also has helped and led Global Cloud & Digital transformation initiatives. 

Sarah Porter has launched 21 b2b and b2c technology products in 11 countries since 1996 and has a renowned reputation for taking ideas from concept to market with subsequent significant growth globally.

Emerging tech / AI / Medtech / Singularity / Existentialism is where her core experience lies and she has over 20 years of commercial experience.

As a board executive for i2i Events Group (parent company The Guardian Media Group / Apax – Ascential – previously Top Right Group) with the specific remit to rapidly grow the business whilst leveraging operational costs and prepare pre IPO. She sat on the i2i mergers and acquisitions committee identifying, analysing and approaching target businesses and accelerated growth by 22% within 12 months.

Achievements include the launch and acquisition of Money2020 – a leading fintech product. This included negotiation, 3 stage due diligence, its subsequent integration, and the long term geo-adaption into a global portfolio worth over $40m. The launch of World Retail Congress in 10 countries, the re-launch of the Cannes Lions festival.

Sarah is a regular keynote speaker on start-ups, business and women/equality related issues and is an ambassador for the Royal Marsden where she champions the use of AI tech in oncology advances.

I am currently working as Head of Data Science at Hospitality Digital (A Metro Company), Duesseldorf, Germany. I have a PhD in Physics from Hamburg University, Germany. I bring several years of experience working with Schaeffler and Fujikura Technology in different data science and AI roles. In my journey from Data Scientist to leadership, I focused mainly on creating business impact by leveraging the potential of Data Science and AI.  

Sreesha Belakvaadi (Sree) comes from a diverse 25+ years of IT experience – spanning across IT Strategy, Digital Transformation, Cyber Security, Data Center Operations, Cloud Migration and Engineering excellence.  Sree’s innovation and transformation practices – specifically in areas of DevOps, Microservices Architecture and DataOps – led to a 30% savings in TCO and increased profitability by up to 45% for key enterprises.  With a master’s in Cybersecurity from MIT and a certified AI-ML from IISc, Sree loves the space of problem-solving and disruptive innovation, making IT systems self-reliant, thin and simple.  Sree currently helms as Head of Engineering (Data & AI) with British Telecom, continually improving automation footprint, process re-engineering and business optimization.

Matthew Blakemore, an award-winning entrepreneur and established figure in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, has a diverse career spanning over a decade. He has made significant strides in product ideation, delivery, and commercialisation across multiple sectors, such as transport, music, fashion, video conferencing, and corporate rewards. Most recently, Matthew was leading innovative product development at the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) as Head of Product, where he also invented a patented multi-territory video classification solution. He represented the BBFC in the British Standards Institute (BSI) and International Standards Organisation (ISO) AI committees, primarily contributing to the AI Data Lifecycle Standard 8183. Beyond his professional roles, Matthew holds influential positions in the Swedish and Norwegian-British Chambers of Commerce.

Jonathan is the founder and driving force behind Robovision, a leading AI solution provider with their deep learning platform, RVAI. With expertise in applied physics and image processing, he is renowned for developing tailored solutions for machine vision and robotics. Jonathan’s philosophy of building applications the “hard way” has elevated Robovision’s software, making it powerful and user-friendly across diverse markets.

Beyond Robovision, he is a respected guest lecturer at prestigious institutions including the London School of Economics, Vlerick Business School, and Ghent University. Jonathan also shares his insights on AI and related topics through a biweekly column in De Tijd, Belgium’s top financial newspaper. As a regular speaker at events like Tedx, he continues to inspire and educate audiences on the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, machine vision, and robotics.

Dr Andreas Hauser has Degrees in Shipbuilding and Computer Engineering, and a PhD in Applied Mathematics. As Co-founder and CEO, he is leading Digital Service in Singapore, a key unit in TÜV SÜD´s digitalisation strategy to build and scale new businesses in the area of Industry 4.0, AI quality, and Smart Inspection.

With our approach towards the quality of AI, grounded in international, current and upcoming standards and regulations, we help organisations manage the quality of AI effectively to utilise the full potential of AI while meeting ethical standards and complying with regulations.

Christian has 7+ years of experience in Financial planning and analysis (FP&A), Finance Automation, Management Accounting, Controllership and Supply Chain Finance within Australia and The Netherlands.

Conference Speaker in Topics such as: Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Finance, Finance Transformation, Data Analytics in FP&A and Finance, Practical Applications of Data Science, and more!

Won Rising Star in Digital Finance EMEA 2023 and EMEA Data Democratizer in 2022, Named 30 in the Accounting and Finance industry in Australia in 2021; Finalist in the Young Leaders in Finance Awards 2018 ; love to travel (been on 70+ countries and lived in 6).

Dr. Jesus Luna has worked since 1995 in the field of cybersecurity, both in America and Europe. He holds a PhD degree in Computer Architecture from the ”Technical University of Catalonia” (Spain), and has co-authored more than 50 cybersecurity-related publications including scientific papers, standards, and a patent. He previously worked as research director for the Cloud Security Alliance EMEA (U.K.), and currently for Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany) on topics related to security governance for cloud and Artificial Intelligence. In 2020, he was nominated by ENISA as one of the 20 experts to develop the new European cybersecurity certification scheme for cloud services. Furthermore, Dr. Luna is the technical manager of the EU-funded MEDINA project on automated certification.

He has a background in bioinformatics and biochemistry and has been in the industry of digital product development that transforms established industries for more than 15 years.  Leif has developed several custom vision solutions that utilize revolutionary technologies likes Spatial aware AI, embedded AI, synthetic data, and AR technologies within the pharmaceutical industry.

Patricia Thaine is the Co-Founder & CEO of Private AI, a Series A Microsoft & BDC backed startup. She is a Computer Science PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto (on leave) and a Vector Institute alumna. Her R&D work is focused on privacy-preserving NLP, with a focus on applied cryptography and re-identification risk. Patricia is a recipient of the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship, the RBC Graduate Fellowship, and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship. She has 10 years of research and software development experience, including at the McGill Language Development Lab, the University of Toronto’s Computational Linguistics Lab and Department of Linguistics, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Giovanni Leoni is the Head of Business Strategy & Development at Credo AI, one of the global leaders within operationalizing Responsible AI across all industries. Up until recently he was Global Head of Algorithm and AI Ethics at Inter IKEA Group, responsible for developing, implementing, and leading the operationalization of responsible analytics across the Inter IKEA Group, encompassing all algorithmic processes, including administrative processes, operational processes, analytics and AI. He is an active contributor to the global AI ethics community, engaging in legislative industry consultations and various forums and bodies, among them being on the Board of Directors for Ethical Artificial Intelligence Governance Group. For more than 20 years he has been active across multiple sectors, private and public, driving development of user experience, sustainable change management, and clarity in impacting factors for better business and wrapping everything in numbers and decision-models. He has worked in diverse areas, including public sector processes, sales, procurement of services, digital platforms and physical products, supply chain, automatization and business analytics.

Coordinator Professor at the Institute of Engineering – Polytechnic of Porto (ISEP), Advisor of ISEP Presidency for R&D, Director of the Master on Informatics of ISEP, and Senior Researcher at GECAD (leading the research activities on cybersecurity) – PhD and a Post-Doc in Industrial Informatics. She coordinates several international projects (H2020, HORIZON, ITEA and Celtic) with the focus on artificial intelligence (AI) for enhanced cyber security, and on the security of AI, for critical infrastructures protection (Airports, Health, Industry, Telecommunications).  She has published over 150 papers, more than 30 in international journals and books. She participates in several EC expert groups, such as European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) working groups on the Security of AI and on the Cybersecurity Skills framework, Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS), and ISEP representative at European Cybersecurity Organization (ECSO). She participates in the technical and scientific committees of several conferences and is an active member of IEEE.

Anupam Datta is Co-Founder, President and Chief Scientist at TruEra, which provides software to test, debug, and monitor ML models across the full MLOps lifecycle. As a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University for over a decade, he led groundbreaking research in the areas of AI explainability, testing and monitoring, as well as privacy and data protection. Anupam obtained PhD and MS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford University.

After graduating in Physics and attending a Master Programme on Computational Finance, Filippo joined the Allianz Group in 2006, starting as a quant in the Investment Department, with a focus on scenario generation, pricing and portfolio optimization. End 2009 he started his career as a freelance and founded mid-2012 Toymodels®, a start-up dealing with mathematical models for capital markets. He joined Unipol in 2013 Q4, in charge of the setup of the Data Science skills within the Group. The initial team evolved beginning 2017 to Leithà®, a NewCo of the Unipol Group working as a Tech&Data solutions factory. Filippo is heading the Data Science team.

David Fernandez is the Data and Analytics Governance Manager at Just Eat Takeaway, bringing over a decade of cross-industry experience. In this role, he is primarily focused on developing a robust data governance framework from the ground up. With a background in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London, he specializes in data governance and data quality. Half Spanish, half American, David integrates a global perspective into his data-driven strategy.

Dr. Ana Ilievska is a Postdoctoral Fellow and Lecturer at Stanford University as well as Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bonn on the joint Bonn-Cambridge project “Desirable Digitalisation: Rethinking AI for Just and Sustainable Futures,” funded by the Stiftung Mercator. Her research and current book project focus on literary narratives about technology, exploring how humanistic notions of thinking, education, and moral judgment can facilitate collaborative efforts between industry and academia on topics in Artificial Intelligence. A Fulbright alumna, besides her extensive publication record in the fields of Italian, Lusophone, and Comparative Literature, Dr. Ilievska actively contributes to the discourse on Artificial Intelligence and the Public Humanities.

Jean-Marc Bonnefous is an experienced entrepreneur, senior technology executive as well as investor. He is the co-founder and director of the Bonseyes AI association, who develops since 2019 an ecosystem towards AI at the edge and is participating as a coordinator of a partner to a number of EU projects. He founded and managed investment management firm Tellurian Capital in 2007, focused on the commodity and technology sectors, active in deep tech investing. He is also advisor to a number of technology start-ups. Before founding Tellurian in 2006, Mr. Bonnefous was an investment banker in New York and London for 12 years. 

Jean-Marc is also a visiting professor for finance and blockchain at the Master in Finance at the IE Business School in Madrid. Jean-Marc holds a degree from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (SciencesPo) as well as masters from the University of Paris-Pantheon Assas and the University of Paris-Dauphine.

Severin Trösch is Data Science Expert and technical leader of several AI projects in the Wüest Partner Group – involving machine learning and deep learning applications in various fields. His background is in physiological research and he has been a lecturer in statistics and research methods for many years.

Jacqueline Schweizer is a GIS and Data Scientist that has driven the development of models and applications in the Wüest Partner Group for the past 11years. Her background is in geography and statistics. She leads the sustainability team in the data and analytics division and is a member of the board of directors.

Kirill Skaletskiy is a data professional with a diverse background in the field, having worked as a Data Analyst, BI Developer, and Data Engineer. Currently serving as a Senior Data Quality Analyst at Just Eat Takeaway, Kirill brings 5+ years of expertise across retail, e-commerce, and food delivery sectors. He excels in optimizing data processes, ensuring data quality, and driving actionable insights for informed decision-making.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anneloreverhagen/ 

Annelore Verhagen is an economist at the OECD Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs (ELS). She is the lead economist on various projects centred around the ethical considerations associated with using artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace. Annelore holds a PhD in Economics from Maastricht University in the Netherlands.

Jonathan has spent the past 20 years leading a global PR consultancy working closely with large multinationals leading the way on AI, autonomous cars, smart cities, and technology innovation. He has written 9 books and hundreds of essays for top business and technology publications on the intersections between technology, brands, and culture, and has over 40 years of experience as a communicator and public speaker. He created the applied ethics of CyberConsequentialism to provide a practical way to build ethics into AI designs and applications, thereby filling the gap between regulatory compliance and responsible AI efforts. He is now dedicated to evangelizing the opportunities for increasing the benefits of AI while decreasing its risks.

April Powers graduated Magna Cum Laude with a bachelor’s in Computer Programming in 2012, earned her master’s in Info Assurance and Security in 2015, recently completed a Graduate Certificate from Harvard University in Marketing Management Digital Strategy and founded White Mountain Data Solutions in New Hampshire. With 13+ years of experience in IT, her focus has been on mitigating security structure after a data breach, access management, data governance, AI framework, contract negotiation, developing and performing risk management for large organizations. She evaluates and oversees the adoption of automated information systems to accommodate special and complex agency needs

I’ve been working in the Bigdata and AI squad for 3 and a half years now as an Architect, and have been in the AI industry since 2017. In these past 6 years, I worked on many interesting AI projects such as recommendation systems, intelligent search engines, chatbots, smart cameras but in the last couple of years I’m focusing much more on devops projects built with technologies like Kubernetes, ArgoCD, Helm, Hashicorp Vault.

Since 2017 in T-Systems International with 8 years’ experience as senior Multi-Cloud solution architect and joined in 2020 the Open Telekom Cloud product management team with the aim to keep Open Telekom Cloud as Deutsche Telekom’s leading European public cloud solution. Most of my activities are related to increase quality, develop revenue strategies, train sales, define service vision, be responsible for the Roadmap and increase the visibility of Databases, BigData and AI services. Among other things, I am responsible for the full AI strategy at Open Telekom Cloud.

Asteris has worked for airlines, academic institutes and aircraft manufacturers in four different countries, having dealt with the technical and strategic problematics of operational efficiency, as well as simulation methods for processes, systems and assets. He is an all-rounder when it comes to the application of AI in the aviation sector, a theme that he also investigates from a technical perspective in his academic career. He is currently appointed as a Lead for Technical Innovation at KLM Royal Dutch Airline, among various expert group appointments.

Prof. Dr. Peter Werkhoven holds the positions of Chief Scientist at TNO and Professor of Multimodal Interaction in Virtual Environments at Utrecht University. Peter is at the forefront of AI advancements within TNO. In a notable recent publication, he elaborates on the Socio-Technical Feedback Loop, which establishes a vital connection between democratic decision-making, legal considerations, design methodologies, and the operation of AI systems. This framework ensures the development and regulation of AI systems that are reliable and under human control.

Prof. Dr. Catholijn Jonker serves as the Vice-Coordinator of the Hybrid Intelligence Centre. She holds the positions of Professor of Artificial Intelligence at both TU Delft and Leiden University. Additionally, she is the Principal Investigator of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions and the AiTech program at TU Delft. AiTech focuses on interdisciplinary research related to the awareness, concepts, design, and engineering of autonomous technology with a strong emphasis on ensuring meaningful human control. Catholijn’s research publications cover various areas, including AI, the pursuit of meaningful human control, value identification, argument mining, and negotiation support systems.

Laurence Brooks is the Professor of Information Systems in the top-rated Information School, University of Sheffield, UK, a research fellow for the Institute for Global Sustainable Development (IGSD) there and is the visiting Professor of Technology and Social Responsibility at De Montfort University, UK.

He is a PI and work package leader on the H2020 ‘TechEthos’ project (www.techethos.eu), focusing on the ethics of emerging technologies. He was a Co-I on the successful H2020 ‘SHERPA’ project (www.project-sherpa.eu), which focussed on the ethics of smart information systems, such as Artificial Intelligence.

He currently acts as acting ethics advisor on two EU-funded projects (SMIDGE and Sharespace) and advises the European Commission as an ethics expert.

His main research interest lies in the interaction and integration of society/organisations and information systems (IS).

He was one of the expert reviewers for the “Ethics By Design and Ethics of Use Approaches for Artificial Intelligence” (2021) document, commissioned by the European Commission (DG Research and Innovation).

Irina Mirkina is an AI strategist and a leading expert on responsible AI. Working for increasing global awareness of both risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, Dr Mirkina is currently the AI Lead for the Office of Innovation at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Having built a successful career in academia and the private sector, she joined UNICEF to advance the ethical development and use of AI systems that respect children’s rights and save children’s lives. She is currently serving as a co-chair of Community of Practice on AI for the Digital Public Goods Alliance, a co-organizer of the UN Generative AI Practice Group, a member of the UN Intra-Agency Working Group on AI, the NIST Generative AI Public Working Group, and the USAID Equitable AI Community of Practice, and an expert for the European Commission Research Executive Agency. She is included in the open directory of Women in AI Ethics™.

Dr. Martin Schaffer is Global Head of Emerging Technologies at SGS, the world’s leading inspection, verification, testing and certification company. Together with his team, he explores emerging technology trends, such as AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Ledger, Extended Reality, Quantum Computing, Web3, and Metaverse, and assesses their impact on SGS businesses by identifying both threats and opportunities. Martin also pioneered the Cybersecurity Services for SGS, establishing several cyberlabs across the SGS group. Martin’s 20+ years of experience spans emerging technology research & innovation, international team building, company development, and P&L management, but also hands on experience as cryptographer, firmware engineer and security architect in the semiconductor industry.

He is a regular speaker at international conferences, actively participates in industry associations, such as TIC Council, ECSO or Eurosmart. He was member of ENISA’s Advisory Group and since June 2020 is member of the European Commission’s Stakeholder Cybersecurity Certification Group. Martin holds a PhD-degree in IT-security and cryptography from University of Klagenfurt in Austria.

Walid Lassoued is an accomplished data science leader, with extensive experience in the tech industry. He has worked in Silicon Valley, Europe, and the Middle East, holding senior positions at several renowned companies, including talabat and Meta/Facebook. He is passionate about developing and scaling data organizations through innovation, recruiting high-end talent, and implementing data and AI strategies.

Currently, as the Senior Director of Data Science and Analytics at talabat, Walid heads a team of 60+ data scientists and analysts, overseeing all product and business-facing areas of the company.

Dr. Tomislav Nad is Lead Innovation Technologist at SGS. He is exploring the potential and impact of emerging technologies with a focus on the security and trustworthiness of these technologies. His current main topic is the trustworthiness of AI systems, how to establish trust and how to assess such systems. He is working in the field of cybersecurity for over 15 years as researcher, engineer, consultant, evaluator, speaker and lecturer; and helped to build various successful products and services.  Tomislav holds a Master’s degree in Mathematics and a PhD degree in Cryptography from Graz University of Technology.

Victor is co-founder and CTO of UbiOps. He studied Aerospace Engineering at the Delft University of Technology. 

While in high school, he started his first company, which he sold at the age of 20. 

During his studies, he developed a large interest in Data Science and Machine Learning. 

In 2014, Victor spent half a year in the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem doing research on the use of data analytics in the healthcare sector.

Anouk is a Product Owner at UbiOps passionate about solving complex problems using her multidisciplinary background of Nanobiology, Computer Science, and Game Development. 

She is focused on a strong product vision and happy users. 

Anouk is also an active writer in the Towards Data Science community, and co-host of the Dataloog podcast.

Ben Falk is a Director in EY’s Global Chief Technology Office, helping to develop the firms’ strategy on AI. Ben has a background in Finance and Technology, having spent about a decade working as an economist, analyst, and strategist for banks and large hedge funds including Millennium, before moving over to the technology sector leading a team of knowledge engineers at an AI FinTech startup. Ben has also consulted for large family investment offices, advised major law firms on class action data protection litigation, and launched one of the world’s first consumer data protection services to coincide with the implementation of the GDPR. He graduated 1st in his class at the London School of Economics, with a Master’s in Economics and History, after completing 2 undergraduate degrees simultaneously; a BA with a double major in Economics and Political Science and a BSc with a major in Business and a minor in Law.

Speaker: Alessandro Conflitti

Head of Data Science @ Radicalbit

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandroconflitti

Head of Data Science at Radicalbit, Alessandro Conflitti has a Ph.D. in Mathematics and he was an Academic Researcher at Universities in Austria and Portugal for about 10 years: during this time he published 26 scientific publications in international journals, was a referee for international journals and conferences, and was a member of the organizing committee for two scientific conferences. Since 2015 he has been working full time in Data Science for private IT companies.

Dr. Terry L. Janssen is an information technologist focused on information systems, AI machine learning, and quantum information science (quantum mechanics on quantum hardware). He has consulted in and/or advanced information technology for most of the DOD/IC agencies. He began his career as Principal System Engineer at Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), which evolved into leading the AI and machine learning team at CSC. Five years later he was recruited as Sr. Scientist for the Decision Science Division of Argonne National Laboratory, where he worked on advanced information technology for six years (ANL is the nation’s leader in quantum physics, computing, communications, and quantum material science; it is a DOE laboratory that is managed by the University of Chicago). U. Chicago patented his work, with him as sole inventor. The U.S. Patent was used by U. Chicago to initiate Expert Decision System, Inc., a company for R&D for DOD/IC, for over five years. In 2003 he joined Lockheed Martin as Principal Systems Engineer and Chief Scientist for Knowledge Management, as related to AI machine learning. Dr. Janssen conducted R&D using machine reasoning (formal logic) on ontology for data integration and inference. He and co-authors (Dr. Barry Smith et al) were perhaps the first to suggest that ontology is the key to knowledge integration for the Intelligence Community in papers/chapters they published around 2010 [e.g., ref].  Dr. Janssen demonstrated the concepts in a prototype software system, which has been adopted by others. He and Dr. Barry Smith initiated the Semantic Technologies for Intelligence, Defense and Security during the same time-period, an international symposium hosted by George Mason University over the span of 10 years. A classified subgroup hosts meetings at TS/SCI. Dr. Janssen later developed a software prototype, DiscoveryAid™, in his company Janssen LLC, to facilitate the full lifecycle of AI machine learning and applications for augmenting humans. Dr. Janssen is a fluent coder (computer programming) and has done extensive software engineering and rapid prototyping of innovative systems over his long career; he has developed a large library of reusable (plug-and-play) software modules (Janssen LLC). In 2009 Lockheed Martin asked him to be the lead for their Cyber Offense contract at the U.S. European Command. After two years, in 2011, he was recruited by SAIC to be Chief Scientist for Cybersecurity (primary IC customer in Columbia, MD). In 2014 he accepted a lead role in cybersecurity design, architecture and authorization at NJVC, which included work on the FEMA security operations center (SOC). FEMA licensed and used the product, SecurityDART™, that Dr. Janssen had previously developed at his company Janssen.LLC. Dr. Janssen was a consultant to DISA, NGA, NRO and several other DOD/IC agencies. For the last three years Dr. Janssen has been Data Scientist (AI machine learning) for Invictus International Consulting. He has been providing AI machine learning, engineering and quantum technology support within a DOD/IC agency for the past three years. He has a Certificate in Quantum Computing from the University of Maryland, a. Ph.D., Information Technology, from the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University, and M.S., Computer Science, from Boston University.

With a strong background in quantitative finance, trading, and data-driven strategy development, Yousra Aoudi currently serves as a Quantitative Analyst, VP at BNY, where she contributes to the iFlow product. A self-learner with a solid academic foundation in engineering, research and finance, coupled with professional certifications in machine learning, deep learning and NLP, she has successfully leveraged her skills in AI to excel in finance and different ventures. In addition to her corporate role, Yousra Aoudi actively contributes to the AI community, sharing her expertise through a platform where she publishes projects and articles related to AI and quantitative research.

Dr. Biswa Sengupta holds the position of Managing Director for the AI Products and Cloud Platform in the Corporate & Investment Bank at J.P. Morgan, where he oversees the development of AI products and the management of the associated cloud infrastructure. His education includes a PhD in dynamical systems/optimization/energy efficiency from the University of Cambridge, as well as further training in Bayesian machine learning and differential geometry from University College London. Biswa is a distinguished senior technical executive with extensive experience leading various ventures across the artificial intelligence landscape, from start-ups to global corporations such as AXA XL, Huawei, Zebra, and J.P. Morgan. He has demonstrated a hands-on approach to team leadership, and his expertise in incubating commercially viable products utilizing advanced technologies such as computer vision, natural language processing, reinforcement learning, and robotics is highly regarded.

Dr. Lazaros Polymenakos (Ph.D. MIT ’95) is a Partner for Ernst & Young Technical Consulting and the EMEIA Consulting Artificial Intelligence Leader. He works on AI projects in NLP, Vision, and Dialog for EY clients at EMEIA and globally, and for the development of innovative EY new solutions/assets. The focus of his research is on deep learning, advanced machine learning, speech, NLP, dialog, and knowledge representation. Throughout his career, he has defined, driven, and attracted funding for research and development initiatives, managed large and geographically dispersed teams, and successfully delivered research innovation and solution implementation projects. Before joining EY, he held Senior Research manager positions at Amazon Alexa AI for Alexa Dialog, and at IBM T. J. Watson Research Center for Implicit Learning Dialog and for Cognitive Dialog Systems, developing in both positions state-of-the-art solutions using Deep Learning and Generative AI architectures.

Amir is a Computer Scientist with 16 years applied ML experience ranging from early PhD work to startups, big corporates and management consulting, working in Media, Telecom, Retail and Manufacturing. Now he is the AI Lead within FSO in Belgium, helping companies across EMEIA to translate AI enablers into sustainable competitive advantages. His current industry focus is in Financial Services (Banking, Insurance and Capital Markets).

Gunay Kazimzade is a PhD. Researcher on Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Berlin and Senior Consultant at Mercedes-Benz Consulting. She is a TEDx speaker, Google scholar, AI Newcomer in Germany, and a Presidential award winner in Azerbaijan, highlighted as a speaker in more than 100 events in 20+ countries. She has founded two social enterprises focusing on the education of underrepresented communities in AI and Data Science Fields. In the past two years, she also served as an Executive Consultant to advise governmental agencies on AI adoption in public service delivery.

Thomas Lidy is the Senior Director of AI & Data Science at Utopia Music, a music-fintech company closing the data gap in music industry by innovative AI solutions. Utopia provides music monitoring, tagging, search, recommendation, metric tracking and predictive analytics solutions, which are all AI based and accelerating music revenues and payouts.

Thomas has been active in the field of music tech & AI since 2004, initially as a researcher and PhD candidate at Vienna University of Technology. He worked with renowned institutions such as IRCAM and UPF MTG, before founding music intelligence startup Spectralmind in 2008, which created the first AI-based music discovery solution for the iPad as well as B2B solutions for music search & licensing.

In 2015, Thomas joined Musimap as the Head of AI. Together with a team of musicologists and data scientists, he created an emotion-aware music AI that understands emotional patterns both in the music and people’s listening behavior.  Since Musimap was acquired by Utopia Music, Thomas leads the AI & Data Science team at Utopia Music, responsible for all AI-based products.

Thomas is also a member of the DDEX consortium on music metadata and the creator and co-host of the successful Vienna Deep Learning Meetup. He co-organized AI Summit Vienna 2017 and has published more than 40 publications in the field of music & AI.

Jerry Edling is an award-winning editor and writer for KNX, the only all-news radio station in Los Angeles. He earned a Master of Public Diplomacy degree from the University of Southern California, and he has been nominated for three Emmy Awards and five Writers Guild of America Awards for his work in television and radio respectively. He is a former editor in chief of Public Diplomacy Magazine and has written for numerous publications, including Policy Options and the book Aftershocks and Opportunities: Scenarios for a Post-Pandemic Future. He has spoken to the World Future Society, the National Space Society and the Berlin International Freedom of Expression Forum.

Prakhar is a creative technologist and all-round problem solver. He loves getting his hands dirty with new tech, first breaking it apart to see how it works, putting it back together in unexpected ways and then thinking about the impact it can have in our daily lives.

Janet is the CEO and founder of TAIR Labs; an AI Research and Innovation Lab based in South Africa, and the founder of The AI Review, a media and technology platform. She is the MD of Simodisa, sits on the Women in ICT board, is a Harambean, an Inspiring 50 2022 honoree, and an AI contributor for The Yuan AI tech platform. Janet is the visionary behind the X-VSN Illuminate platform, transforming business CCTV footage into intelligent insights. This is TAIR Labs’ latest product called X-VSN, pronounced ‘X-Vision’. Her vision is to enable businesses across industries to succeed quickly and efficiently with the power of computer vision. Her venture plans to explore innovations that can drive efficiency in the industrial and manufacturing sector. Miss Sawari advocates for STEM education access, pan- African innovation, and leveraging AI to develop a new wave of industrialization on the African Continent. Her ambitions for social impact and gender inclusivity and diversity for youth in tech are evident through her efforts to produce a technical documentary about AI in Africa. With an MBA in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from Shanghai Jiaotong, a master’s from the University of Liverpool, and a bachelor’s from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology Janet’s appetite for driving innovation is unwavering and her vision for the continent clear.

Thijs is a software engineer with over 20 years of experience. At Hack The Planet he is using technology to make a positive change in the world. Taking on ecological and humanitarian challenges like wildlife poaching.

Lisa is an ex-BCG venture builder with 5+ years of experience in growth and go to market strategy. She has launched and scaled B2B and B2C businesses worldwide and currently works at Curiosity, an early stage venture capital fund investing in ambitious founders who are building the next generation of responsible AI software.

Jasper is Cherry’s partner leading B2B software and AI coverage. Prior to Cherry, he established HV Capital’s Berlin office and B2B software team, where he backed over a dozen companies, including Verbit. At Cherry, in addition to investment work, he dives into product-market-fit, finding the right go-to-market model, fundraising, and expanding into new markets.  Before joining HV, he bootstrapped greatcontent.com, an online platform selling creative texts in 18 languages to clients around the globe. After years as a solo founder and CEO, Jasper sold the platform to a publishing group. Recently, Jasper has launched a podcast with Lutz Finger of Cornell University and Marpai, Inc breaking down both the developments in AI and how AI is an operational asset for founders. He also has collaborated with BCG X on their “Tech Is Cooling Off. B2B SaaS Is Not” report. 

Chris Preuss is a data scientist specializing in finance and risk management. Currently, he serves as the Principal Data Scientist at Calvin Risk, where he employs his expertise in AI Model Risk Management. Chris holds a MSc in Finance from IE Business School.

HP is leading IBM’s AI Governance business in EMEA, providing clarity on how to implement and use AI responsibly. He has previously been leading IBM’s collaboration business as well as IBM’s business intelligence business in EMEA. With 23 years in IBM, HP has both broad and specialist knowledge in the transformational journey to become data driven and AI trustworthy.

Ann-Elise is currently leading Data and AI Business Unit for Large Clients in the Northern, Central and Eastern Europe market. Previously she led the Data science and AI Elite team at IBM EMEA. She is focused on Data Science, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence for IBM enabling clients to successfully apply Data Science and deploy governed, scalable, and resilient AI into business processes. Ann-Elise has wide industry experience, in sectors ranging from Telco to Finance. Ann-Elise holds a Master in Business Engineering and an advanced Master in Financial Economics (MS) from KU Leuven, Belgium, where she delivered a final dissertation on machine learning in the space of Fraud Detection

For over a decade, Dasha Diaz, founder and CEO of itrainsec has been organising top-class IT security conferences and training for leading cybersecurity professionals around the world. Her unparalleled experience has enabled her to build a network with the best and brightest experts and trainers the industry has to offer. Before founding itrainsec, she spent nearly 12 years at one of the world’s top cybersecurity companies, Kaspersky, where she began her career as a PR manager, then joined the Global Research and Analysis Team (GReAT) as Senior Research Communications manager.

Bart is Senior Manager in the Data & AI practice of Accenture Strategy & Consulting. He has built his career in data, analytics and artificial intelligence in High-tech, MedTech, and products industries and is currently focusing on innovating with his clients using generative AI. 

Chantal Guay is the CEO of the Standards Council of Canada (SCC), where she oversees the promotion of standards and accreditation in Canada and abroad. Chantal is the first woman to both lead SCC and represent Canada on the International Organization for Standardization Council. She also holds many leadership positions in the international standardization community.

Prior to SCC, Chantal was CEO of Engineers Canada, where she led the engineering profession’s adoption of the 30 by 30 strategy, which aims to raise the percentage of newly licenced engineers who are women to 30 per cent by the year 2030. Chantal was honoured with a fellowship from the Canadian Academy of Engineering in recognition for this work. She’s also very active in the international community, holding many positions such as Chair of the Executive Committee of the Pacific Area Standards Congress. She brings a strong understanding of the importance and value of standardization, quality, and systems management in the private and public sectors.

Michael Balint is a Senior Manager of Product Architecture at NVIDIA focused on scheduling and management of NVIDIA GPU clusters, including the DGX SuperPOD, a benchmark-breaking supercomputer infrastructure. Prior to working at NVIDIA, Michael was a White House Presidential Innovation Fellow, where he brought his technical expertise to projects like VP Biden’s Cancer Moonshot and Code.gov. A graduate of both Cornell and Johns Hopkins University, he has had the good fortune of applying software engineering and data science to many interesting problems throughout his career, including: optimization of air traffic flows for the FAA, NLP summarization of consumer reviews, and repurposing geospatial anomaly detection to discover abnormal skin lesions

Dan is the Chief Commercial Officer at award winning AI SME, UnifAI Technology. A leading figure in the technology sector, Dan also chairs the British Standards Institution (BSI) Standards Policy & Strategy Committee, and their Digital Strategic Advisory Group. A former Member of Parliament heavily involved in sustainability and technology policy, Dan is a highly effective and experienced speaker and communicator.

Jael, the Product Lead at Kickstart AI, is driven by a passion for defining and developing products that improve society. With a foundation in computer science and engineering, she specialized in cybersecurity, data science, and user experience design. Concurrently, she also serves as a teacher, inspiring individuals to pursue rewarding careers in tech.

Mike Beck is Global CISO at Darktrace. He has spent 18 years working in technology, security and risk operations, starting his career as a software engineer on GCHQ’s technologist programme, and progressing to support military operations. He has conducted intelligence analysis and assessment in operational theatres across the world, becoming a senior intelligence officer. In 2010, Mike merged his intelligence and technology experience to run cyber defensive operations for UK government, including working on the implementation of the national cyber security strategy and protecting the London 2012 Olympic Games. Joining Darktrace at its early stages in 2014, Mike developed the cyber analyst operation that supports thousands of Darktrace customers with 24/7 support and since 2020 oversees Darktrace’s internal security program as Global CISO.

Mark has over 18 years’ experience working for Accenture, PwC and, most recently, The Berkeley Partnership. During this time Mark has shaped and led the definition and delivery of transformational strategies across a range of industries. He is increasingly focussed on how cutting-edge digital innovation can be used to address society’s most pressing issues, including climate change. Mark joined BSI in an interim capacity in April 2022, before being appointed as the permanent Managing Director of the AI Regulatory Services team in March 2023.

Passionate about taking an organisation’s most complicated strategic issues, defining a solution, and making it a reality, Mark is highly collaborative whilst taking accountability for achieving measurable outcomes.

Julia van Huizen is an innovative strategist in AI Governance within the Agriculture & Food industry. She has a distinguished background in climate-related risks and sustainability finance, at the intersection of (regulatory) governance and technology, at esteemed institutions such as the Bank of England, the Dutch Central Bank, European Commission, and ING. As lead of the Agriculture & Food practice at the Data & AI Consultancy ADC, Julia has played an integral role in shaping ADC’s approach how to guide organisation’s transformation towards revolutionising agriculture, blending cutting-edge technology with a data-driven and digitalisation-focused strategy, all supported by robust AI Governance frameworks. ADC offers a range of services within this sector, including Sustainable Agriculture Solutions, Supply Chain and Impact Transparency, and developing strategies for Regulatory Compliance and Reporting. Julia’s commitment to aligning agriculture with sustainability goals, utilising advanced technologies, and adeptly navigating complex regulatory landscapes positions ADC as a trusted partner for organisations seeking to maximise the potential of data and AI while upholding the highest standards of AI Governance.

Dr. Casper Rutjes is Chief Technology Officer (CTO)of ADC, a consultancy dedicated to the responsible implementation and adoption of data and AI, driven by the mission to create a real impact to companies that matter for society, through close collaboration with clients and partners. In his role, Casper spearheads ADC’s distinctive integrated approach, overseeing everything from developing data strategies and executing complex data & AI engineering to conducting in-depth data analysis and designing optimal user experiences. He guides teams within ADC’s diverse collective of over 150 professionals spanning three countries – the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden, all of whom possess expertise across a spectrum of industries, including public and society, agriculture and food, healthcare and life sciences, and financial services. Casper makes sure ADC places AI Governance at the core of responsible and effective AI deployment for clients, ensuring the ethical and compliant use of data and AI technologies. This perspective establishes ADC as a dependable partner for organisations dedicated to fostering positive and sustainable impact.

Dr. Malek Ben Salem is a Managing Director at Accenture Security, focused on security for emerging technologies, including AI, Web3 and the Metaverse. In this role, she develops business with strategic customers, creates intellectual property, publishes thought leadership, and builds innovative AI and security technologies helping organizations reduce their risk and proactively adhere to digital ethics principles in order to earn clients’ trust—going beyond a compliance-driven security approach.

In her previous role, Malek led security R&D for Accenture in North America. Malek is a technology thought leader, innovator, and ex-DARPA PI with over 25 patents and 27 peer-reviewed publications. She holds a PhD and a MSc in Computer Science from Columbia University, New York, a Dipl.-Ing. in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Hanover, GERMANY, and a certificate in Technology Strategy from the MIT Sloan School of Business.

AI Synthetic Data Consultant at Syntho, the startup that is disrupting the tech industry with software for AI-generated synthetic data. Uliana is helping enterprise clients unlock privacy-sensitive data, make smarter data decisions and faster data access, so that organizations can realize data-driven innovation.  Syntho won the prestigious Philips Innovation Award, won the SAS global hackathon in healthcare and life science, and has been recognized as a Generative AI startup to watch by NVIDIA.

Passionate ornithologist, creating synergies between nature and data science technology. On a mission to disrupt the world with sustainable human/environment approaches and energy of collective consciousness/open hearts. With his multi-cultured & science-based & entrepreneurial business background, Jean-Philippe is a trendsetter in a post-pandemic company era who focuses on unlocking the tribe’s potential and finding solutions where there is no clear path.  Creator of magic moments together with customers!

Dr Nicolai Baldin is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Synthesized. Synthesized provides high-quality data for machine learning and application development. it solves the problem of replacing expensive sensitive production data from dev environments with right-sized synthetically generated data. Nicolai is responsible for the direction and global strategy of Synthesized. He holds a PhD in Statistics and Machine Learning from the University of Cambridge where he won the prestigious Smith-Knight award and is a Forbes Technology Council member.

David is a seasoned sales and business development executive with more than 10 years’ experience in the hi-tech space and special focus on AI. Deci AI’s Director of Strategic Partnerships. His role is to lead Deci’s partner Go to Market execution by partnering with leading technology and solution providers such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, Dell and more, as well as building Deci’s global reseller network. Before joining Deci, David led Run:ai’s North American Partnership activity. This resulted in Run’s first wins in North America, closing Fortune 100 companies via resellers, building a pipeline from nothing to over 10 million USD, and the Run:ai & NVIDIA DGX Bundle.

Robby is the Sales Director at Weights & Biases, responsible for the DACH & CEE regions. For over 15 years, Robby has been involved in the field of complex software solutions. After spending some time in Business Intelligence, he discovered his passion for Machine Learning and AI while building the sales department for the Berlin-based startup, i2x. Since October 2022, he has been on board with Weights & Biases, with the mission of providing the best tools to Machine Learning Engineers. He resides in Berlin with his wife.