Speaker

Céline Abecassis-Moedas
Associate Professor in Strategy and Innovation Mgmt, Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics

Céline Abecassis-Moedas is an Associate Professor (with Agregation) in Strategy and Innovation Management at Católica-Lisbon School of Business and Economics where she was the Dean for Executive Education (2019-2024). She is non-executive director at CUF (leader in private healthcare in Portugal),Vista Alegre Atlantis and Lectra. Céline holds a PhD in Management from École Polytechnique, Paris and an MA in Management (Université Paris Dauphine). She is a graduate from École Normale Supérieure de Cachan and La Sorbonne in Economics and Management. Céline Abecassis-Moedas was Assistant Professor at the Centre for Business Management at Queen Mary-University of London and she worked in Business Development at Lectra in New York and as a Consultant at AT Kearney in London. She was as International Faculty Fellow at MIT Sloan School of Management. She designed and coordinates the first Longevity Leadership Executive Education program in the world in 2024 (at Católica-Lisbon) as well as the Advanced Management Program (Católica-Lisbon and Kellogg School of Management). Her research in innovation management focuses on the role of design and design thinking, it was published in top Journals in the field.

Speaker

Ashraf Abushady
Senior Advisor on Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence

Ashraf Abushady is a distinguished expert in Digital Transformation and Artificial Intelligence, currently serving as the Senior Advisor at the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, Austria. With over two decades of experience, he has made significant contributions in Information Technology, Communications, Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), and International Relations. Ashraf has a proven track record of leading innovative projects, including the development of a real-time asset tracking system and the integration of geospatial data into corporate systems at organizations such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Ashraf's educational background includes a Doctorate in Technology (Dr. Tech., h.c.) with a specialization in Information Technology and Artificial Intelligence from the European International University - Paris, and a Master of Science in Communications and Information Technology from the Vienna University of Technology. His work emphasizes sustainable practices in AI and the democratization of technology, aligning with his commitment to ethical and inclusive technology policies.

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Speaker

Alex Adamopoulos
CEO and founder, Emergn

As CEO and founder of Emergn, I lead a global team dedicated to transforming how organizations deliver value through business and technology solutions. With over 30 years of experience in leadership and change, I’ve had the privilege of operating and shaping organizations that deliver exceptional results.

My life’s work lies in empowering people to work smarter and learn faster. Emergn, the culmination of this philosophy, has been a resounding success in driving innovation, improving efficiency, and delivering measurable outcomes for our clients, a testament to our expertise and commitment.

My career reflects my commitment to shaping the future of work,  and this has been through opportunities to serve as a trusted advisor to global organizations and contribute thought leadership as a public speaker, author, and board member.

Speaker

Asheesh Advani
President and CEO of JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide

Asheesh is the President and CEO of JA (Junior Achievement) Worldwide, one of the largest youth-serving NGOs in the world focused on entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work readiness. During his tenure leading JA Worldwide since 2015, the organization has been recognized as one of the ten most impactful NGOs in the world in annual rankings and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Prior to joining JA, Asheesh was a technology entrepreneur and led two businesses successfully from start-up to acquisition. His entrepreneurial endeavors have been profiled in case studies at Harvard Business School and Babson College. Asheesh is actively involved in the World Economic Forum (WEF) and has been an annual speaker in Davos for the last seven years, co-chaired the Civil Society Advisory Council, and served on the Global Agenda Council for the Future of Education, Gender, and Work. He started his career as a consultant at Monitor Company (now Monitor Deloitte) and at the World Bank.

In 2021, Asheesh received The Tony Hsieh Award as recognition for his leadership of JA Worldwide. In 2022, Asheesh was selected as an honoree from the United States for the YPO Global Social Impact Award. Asheesh is the author of Modern Achievement (forthcoming in 2024) with celebrated leadership expert Marshall Goldsmith, a book that reconsiders the definition of achievement for aspiring leaders. He is a sought-after keynote speaker with experience speaking at Fortune 500 corporate gatherings, the Great Hall of the People in China, the United Nations, technology conferences such as Collision and Web Summit, and at major universities including Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Penn, Tufts, and Yale.

Asheesh holds degrees from the Wharton School and Oxford University, where he was a Commonwealth Scholar. He lives in the Boston-area with his wife, Helen Rosenfeld, and twin sons.

Speaker

Alexander Alonso
Chief Data & Insights Officer at SHRM

Alonso’s thought leadership has been recognized through various bodies including as an inaugural member of SHRM’s Blue-Ribbon Commission on Racial Equity in the Workplace, a coalition designed to foster equitable and inclusive cultures. His research has been featured in numerous media outlets including USA Today, NBC News, BBC, CNN, and more. He has served as a member of several speaker’s bureaus with more than 400 speaking engagements over the last decade.

His works have been recognized for their contribution to real-world human capital issues. They include being recognized with the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP’s) 2007 M. Scott Myers Award for Applied Research in the Workplace for developing the federal standard for learning and development of healthcare providers; a 2009 Presidential Citation for Innovative Practice by the American Psychological Association for designing performance management systems; and the 2013 SIOP Distinguished Early Career Contributions for Practice Award for extensive applied research on the link between human resource management and organizational sustainability.

Throughout his career, he has published works in peer-reviewed journals, authored several chapters on community-based change initiatives in workforce readiness, and authored books like The Price of Pettiness, Talking Taboo: Making the Most of Polarizing Topics (just released), and Defining HR Success: A Guide to the SHRM Competency Model in Practice. Alex also serves as a columnist analyzing major trends in the workforce for TIP and HR Magazine. He has served on several professional society boards including as president for the Personnel Testing Council of Metropolitan Washington Area. Alex currently serves on the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Business Board (DBB), the North American HR management Association (NAHRMA) board, and the Zeal Capital Advisory board. He is a Fellow of SIOP, Division 14 of the American Psychological Association.

www.shrm.org/about/bio/alexander-alonso

Speaker

Hasan Alsuhaimi
Founder and CEO, Diom Holding Company

Established entrepreneur and business Leader with more than 13 years of investment, sales and corporate leadership, coupled with non-executive and advisory experience. Founder and CEO of Diom Holding Company that specializes in workspace solutions, founder of 26 North Glamping in Alula, Partner and Board Member of Delicious Food Factory. Hasan has an outstanding track record of establishing new companies and teams, restructuring businesses and delivering exceptional revenue growth. Prior to his entrepreneurial journey, Hasan Led Steelcase inc. business in the Middle East, and prior to that he worked in investment and consulting for Olayan Financing Company and Fama Holding.

Hasan holds an MBA from Carlos III University in Madrid and a Finance Degree from University of Pittsburgh, and is also a graduate of the MISK 2030 Leaders Program, a joint MISK-ESADE leadership executive program.

Speaker

Guillaume Alvarez
Director Corporate Development, Peter Drucker Society Europe Strategy and Development Officer, ThinkYoung

Guillaume is a business leader and public speaker with a global footprint, focusing on innovation, healthcare, and education. For the last 13 years, he was a Senior VP for Europe, Middle-East & Africa at Steelcase and he is now the Director of Corporate Development for the Global Peter Drucker Forum.

With forty years of experience, he has set up exciting vertical markets, explored new geographies, and driven acquisitions and post-merger integration for international businesses while supporting multiple organisations and think-tanks in Europe and beyond.

Speaker

Kristy Anamoutou
Chief Products & Technical Operations Officer, bluenove

Kristy Anamoutou leads product strategy and technical operations at bluenove, where she drives R&D initiatives focused on large-scale collective intelligence. Her work centers on creating inclusive, hybrid experiences that harness the wisdom of crowds, with a strong commitment to civic engagement, youth empowerment, and digital transformation.

Before bluenove, Kristy gained extensive experience in leadership development and talent management at EADS and Airbus Group. There, she led initiatives that enhanced leadership capabilities, promoted digital upskilling, and fostered a culture of innovation. Her expertise in human capital development has consistently focused on aligning leadership growth with organizational transformation.

With a deep background in product management, semantic analysis, and generative AI, Kristy's strategic insights have also shaped human capital and civic tech innovations, promoting inclusion and citizen participation. She holds a Master's in Human Resources and a Master's in Social Law from the University of Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas and executive education in influence strategies from École Polytechnique. A passionate advocate for digital transformation, Kristy's work leverages technology to drive societal progress and empower future generations.

Speaker

Iryna Arzner
Group Head of Retail Customer Growth, Raiffeisen Bank International

Iryna Arzner is part of RBI Retail Banking Leadership team at Raiffeisen Bank International AG, where she leads initiatives focused on retail banking customers growth across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). With a robust background in customer relationship management, data analytics, risk management and digital banking, Iryna has been instrumental in enhancing the customer experience and driving growth through a blend of data insights and human-centric strategies. During her 17 years of banking experience Iryna has been in multiple leadership roles in Retail banking and risk management areas across several CEE markets.

In addition to her role at RBI, Iryna serves as a member of the supervisory boards for several financial institutions, including Raiffeisen Bank Kosova and Raiffeisen Bank Croatia. She is also a member of the Board of Directors at Mobey Forum, where she contributes to advancing digital financial services globally.

Iryna holds a master's degree in computer science and has a deep expertise in leveraging technology and data to drive customer-centric growth in the banking.

Speaker

Dainius Baltrušaitis
Organizational Psychologist and entrepreneur

Dainius Baltrusaitis is a passionate advocate for fostering humanity in the increasingly transactional world of organizations. With a foundation in psychology and behavioral economics, his professional journey has been dedicated to shaping workplaces where human potential can thrive. He co-founded CONFINN, a leading organization that transforms business practices through over 30 annual conferences across five countries. His work spans leadership, organizational culture, and HR, helping organizations navigate times of significant change.

With over 20 years of consulting experience in organizational development and change management, Dainius brings a human-centered approach to leadership. He focuses on creating ethical environments built on trust, respect, and the empowerment of individual leadership. He views leaders as the anthropologists of their organizations, constantly questioning established norms and leveraging technology to free up time for meaningful human connections.

Beyond his professional career, Dainius is deeply invested in exploring how organizations can balance the rapid rise of technological advancements, such as AI and robotics, with preserving core human values. His interest in the future of humanity in the age of thinking machines drives his commitment to understanding how technology can either enhance or erode our shared humanity. He firmly believes that while technology offers the promise of freeing up human potential, it also poses the risk of deepening instrumental, transactional relationships if not approached thoughtfully.

Dainius regularly speaks at international conferences, where he addresses the future of work and organizations, the role of leadership in fostering resilient and innovative cultures, and the impact of AI on humanity within organizations and society. He sees the challenges faced by modern organizations as opportunities to rethink traditional structures and behaviors, and he is committed to helping them embrace these challenges as pathways for growth, creativity, and deeper human connection. Dainius's personal passions—his love for jazz, appreciation for good food, and the fulfillment he finds in family life—deeply shape his leadership philosophy, emphasizing the importance of creativity, balance, and human connection in both personal and professional spheres.

Speaker

Stephan Balzer
Thought leader in cultural and technological business innovation

Stephan Balzer is a visionary entrepreneur and innovation expert at the forefront of digital transformation. As the founder and CEO of red onion GmbH, a Berlin-based innovation agency, he has been guiding organizations through the complexities of technological change since 2001. Stephan's influence extends beyond his company; he co-founded TEDxBerlin in 2009 and has since organized over 50 TEDx events across Germany, cementing his role as a curator of groundbreaking ideas.

From 2015 to 2018, Stephan served as the German Ambassador for Singularity University, a prestigious Silicon Valley-based organization. In this role, he led Germany's first SU Chapter in Berlin and organized the Singularity University Germany Summit, further amplifying his impact on future-focused thinking.

Recognized for his ability to bridge technology, business, and society, Stephan is a sought-after keynote speaker at international conferences and corporate events. His expertise in digital transformation, innovation strategies, and future trends has made him a valuable voice in shaping the future of business.

With a background in Business Administration and Economics, Stephan brings a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit and analytical insight to his work. His multilingual capabilities in German and English enable him to connect with diverse audiences, making him an influential figure in the global conversation on innovation and technological advancement.

Speaker

Amii Barnard-Bahn
Strategic Advisor on Ethical Workplace Culture and Leadership

Amii is a seasoned C-suite coach, attorney, and bestselling author who operates at the nexus of workplace culture, business ethics, and employment law. A former Fortune 5 executive, Amii has been recognized as the #1 Global Thought Leader in both Careers and Legal by Thinkers360.

With over two decades of executive experience at companies like McKesson and Allianz, Amii now advises global organizations including AbbVie, Adobe, The World Bank, and The Gap. She is also a law partner at Kaplan & Walker LLP, specializing in compliance and ethics programs. A lifelong diversity advocate, Amii testified for the successful passage of the first U.S. laws mandating gender diversity on corporate boards.

Amii is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review and Fast Company, and is recognized as a LinkedIn Top Executive Coaching Voice. She is the creator of the Promotability Index® career self-assessment and author of the bestselling companion Promotability Guidebook. Amii shares her expertise through media interviews, professional keynotes, guest lectures at UC Berkeley Haas, and as a former adjunct law professor in ethics and compliance.

Amii holds degrees from Georgetown University Law Center and Tufts University. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Mary Baldwin University and West Edge Opera, and lives in Sacramento, California with her husband and two college-aged daughters.

Speaker

David R. Beatty
Professor Emeritus of strategy and Governance, University of Toronto

One of the world’s most experienced corporate directors and educators, David has served as a Director on 40 boards in Canada, America, Mexico, Australia and England and been chairman of 9 public companies.

He was the founding Managing Director of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (2003-2007), an organization that today represents 50 institutional investors with ~$3 trillion of assets under management (AUM).

He created and still oversees and teaches in the Canadian Directors’ Education Program, a rigorous 12-day series of classes, that has now graduated over 8,000 senior Canadian entrepreneurs, directors and family office members.

David teaches corporate governance globally at McKinsey & Co, Saudi Aramco, International Finance Corporation (IFC),  EDC. More recently David has worked with Boards of VIA Rail and CATSA.

On June 26, 2018 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN) a grouping of global asset managers with AUMs ~$33 trillion.

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Speaker

Matthias Berninger
Executive Vice President, Public Affairs, Sustainability & Safety, Bayer AG

Matthias Berninger heads Public Affairs, Sustainability & Safety for the Bayer Group. In his role, he is responsible for the company’s global public affairs activities and has developed Bayer’s global sustainability strategy, anchoring it into the company’s business strategy.

Prior to Bayer (2019), he served as Head of Global Public Affairs at Mars Inc., focusing on health, nutrition, and sustainability.

Matthias was elected four times to the German Bundestag (1994-2007) as a member of the green party, concentrating on agriculture, trade policy, food security, and renewable energy. He also served as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Consumer Protection, Food and Agriculture (2001-2005).

Matthias was born in Kassel, Germany in 1971 and studied Chemistry and political science. He lives in Washington, CD with his wife and children.

Speaker

Mathis Bitton
Ph.D student in the Government department, Harvard University

Mathis Bitton is a Ph.D. candidate in Harvard’s Government Department and a head researcher at NYU’s Emerging Technologies Collaborative. His research focuses on the politics of technology, liberalism and its critics, and democratic theory. His current work focuses on digital platforms and their effect on our social order. Before graduate school, Mathis co-founded and sold a cybersecurity start-up. His writing has appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New Statesman, National Review, and American Affairs. He received a B.A. in Political Science from Yale College.

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Conference Chair

Eduardo P. Braun
Leadership expert, consultant and author

Eduardo Braun is a leadership expert and consultant, keynote speaker, and author. For more than 15 years Eduardo has traveled the globe and interviewed -both on-stage and before cameras- world-renowned management leaders, heads of state, and top academics and entrepreneurs, including personalities such as Pope Francis, Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Jack Welch, among others. His new book "People First Leadership" is the result of these many conversations, where he shares intimate stories and practical life lessons of successful leaders who use culture and emotion to drive unprecedented results, and introduces a new vision of leadership where The New CEO -Chief Emotions Officer- establishes stronger connections that get better results and create a culture of inspiration and success. Eduardo is an industrial engineer from the University of Buenos Aires, he has an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He worked in the US, Europe and Latin America for more than two decades in companies such as Booz Allen & Hamilton, Etex Group, and The HSM Group -global multimedia management company and organizer of the World Business Forum. Eduardo lives in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with his 6 children.

Speaker

Gonzalo Brujó
Global CEO, Interbrand

Gonzalo is Global President at Interbrand Group. He leads the day-to-day operations of the global corporate group, spearheading the growth agenda and supporting marketing and consulting efforts in all the regions.

He has been Global Chief Growth Officer of the Interbrand Group for three years. Prior to that, he spent more than fifteen years scaling the Interbrand business in Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Gonzalo is a trusted partner of a diverse array of leading companies, multinationals and public institutions, managing strategic projects across every aspect of branding, marketing and communication. He has worked with well-known prestigious companies across all sectors: banking & financial services, telecommunications, automotive, airlines, transport, fashion, luxury, FMCG, food & beverages and technology, amongst others.

He is passionate about helping companies in all sectors drive growth. He has advised many of the world’s best-known brands, including Santander, The Coca- Cola Company, Iberia, Volkswagen Group, Zara, Renault, Huawei, Uber, LatAm and Axa.

Additionally, Brujó is a professor at several business schools including IE Business School, the University of Navarra and the LVMH Academy, and is the author of a number of top-selling brand books, including: The Secrets of Luxury, Managing Brands in Fashion, The New Generation of Value, and Lanmarq.

Before joining Interbrand, Gonzalo was the Managing Director for Futurebrand and Executive Vice-President and Director of Green Team Advertising in New York.

Gonzalo holds a BA in Communications, Political Science and Sociology from Wheaton College, Norton, MA. He also attended Harvard, MA, the American University of Paris and the College for International Studies in Madrid, in affiliation with Bentley College, Waltham, MA.

Speaker

Liz Cane
VP People for EMEA, LATAM and JAPAC Palo Alto Networks

Liz is the VP People for EMEA, LATAM and JAPAC at Palo Alto Networks, the global leader in Cybersecurity.

She is passionate about unlocking the potential of teams by connecting talent and people programmes with business outcomes. 

Recruiting, coaching and mentoring leadership teams has given her the ability to help companies create scalable and sustainable growth by unlocking talent potential and by building teams capable of executing strong growth.

Her career has been built through HR and Talent Acquisition Leadership roles in high growth Enterprise Software Companies, BEA Systems, Oracle, VMware and Splunk across global theatres.

Liz is a military spouse to a serving officer and champions forces veterans in the workplace.  She has 3 teenage children and outside of work she can be found in the garden.

Speaker

Curtis R. Carlson
Distinguished Executive in Residence, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Curtis Carlson served as SRI International’s President and CEO from 1998 to 2014. During his time at SRI its revenue more than tripled, and SRI became a global model for the systematic creation of high-value innovations, such as HDTV, Intuitive Surgical, Siri, and many other world-changing advances. He has helped create over 20 new companies. These innovations created many tens of billions of dollars of new economic value. Mayfield Ventures partner, David Ladd, said, “SRI is now the best enterprise at turning its technology into economic value.”

Carlson is a pioneer in the development and use of innovation best practices and an evangelist for innovation, education, and economic development. He advises U.S. governors, prime ministers, economic ministers, and education ministers around the world on innovation, competitiveness, and educational reform.

Before joining SRI, Carlson spent more than 20 years with RCA Laboratories, GE, and the Sarnoff Corporation. In 1977, he started and helped lead the high-definition television (HDTV) program that became the U.S. standard, and in 1997 the Sarnoff team won an Emmy Award for outstanding technical achievement. In 2000, another Sarnoff team started by Carlson won an Emmy for a system to optimize satellite broadcast image quality.

In 2006, Carlson won the Otto Schade Prize for Display Performance and Image Quality from the Society for Information Display with Roger Cohen. Carlson was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors in 2012. In 2017, he became a Worcester Polytechnic Institute “Luminary.” At the time there are only 11 people with this honor in the 150-year history of the university.

He was selected to serve on President Obama’s National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Singapore National Research Foundation. He was a member of the General Motors’ SAB and a member of the National Science foundation Engineering Board.

He has received honorary degrees from the Malaysian Technical University (MTU), Stevens Institute, Kettering University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He has also given commencement addresses at the University of Richmond in Virginia, Steven’s Institute, University of Maryland (engineering), Menlo University, and Shantou University in China.

With co-author William Wilmot, Curtis Carlson wrote Innovation: The Five Disciplines for Creating What Customers Want, published by Random House and selected by BusinessWeek as one of the top 10 business books for 2006. Innovation describes the innovation best processes they developed over their careers and applied at SRI and at other organizations and government agencies.

He was a member of the 2017 National Academy of Engineering study on value creation best practices. With Len Polizzotto he developed for NSF the Innovation for Impact (I4I), Value Creation Guidebook. Recently he has developed a family of AI Tutors for experientially teaching and performing value creation and innovation at WPI and Northeastern Universities.

Carlson received his B.S. degree in physics from WPI as a member of Tau Beta Pi and Skull. His M.S. and Ph.D. degrees were from Rutgers University. Carlson has published or presented numerous technical publications and holds fundamental patents in the fields of image quality, image coding, and computer vision. At 15 he was a professional violinist in the Rhode Island Philharmonic.

Carlson’s new company, Practice of Innovation, LLC, works with companies, governments, and universities to improve innovative performance.

Speaker

Laurent Choain
Chief People, Education & Culture Officer, Forvis Mazars

Laurent currently serves as Chief People, Education & Culture Officer of Forvis Mazars, an international, European-originating, integrated and independent organisation in professional services. Forvis Mazars can rely on the talent of 40,000 professionals, led by 1000+ partners in 90+ countries over 6 continents. 

Laurent has led a career at the crossroads of leadership in large companies (banking sector, luxury hospitality), consulting, entrepreneurship as well as business schools.  For more than thirty years, his vocation has been to develop executive education through innovative endeavours in both academic and corporate worlds, founding and leading corporate universities, launching post-graduate programmes for executives and chairing think tanks on the future of leadership education. In June 2011, he joined the board of EFMD as well as the EQUIS Awarding Body in 2014, and became in 2013 a member of the board of the Peter Drucker Society Europe. Laurent also sat on the French Regulation Authority of Business Schools (CEFDG) between 2011 and 2017. He is a professor of leadership at the University of Paris Pantheon Assas, and fellow of ESCP Europe.

Speaker

Richard Cockett
Senior Editor, The Economist

Dr Richard Cockett is the author of Vienna; How the City of Ideas created the Modern World, published by Yale University Press in 2023. He is a senior editor at The Economist, having been a correspondent in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Before joining the newspaper he lectured in History and Politics at the University of London, and was a Junior Research Fellow at the British Academy. He is the author of eight books.

Speaker

Julia Culen
Managing & Founding Partner, CCG Conscious Consulting Group

Julia Culen is the Managing and Founding Partner of Conscious Consulting Group, a global consulting company dedicated to helping conscious leaders and businesses grow, thrive and transform. With over 20 years of experience in organizational transformation, Julia trains other consultants in "Conscious Consulting," a holistic approach that integrates wisdom, business, and technology.

Prior to this role, she worked at The Boston Consulting Group, UniCredit Bank Austria, Beratergruppe Neuwaldegg and CMP (Culen Mayhofer Partner) leading international change projects and global client assignments. Since 2023 she is President of the Advisory Board of Carl Suchy & Söhne.

In addition to her consulting work, Julia is a speaker, published author of multiple articles, blogger and podcast host, covering topics such as Business Ethics, Conscious Business, and Transformative Leadership. Her book "Conscious Consulting" is set to be published at the beginning of 2025.

Julia lives in Vienna and and on a self-sufficient Olive Finca in South Spain.

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Speaker

Kim Dabbs
Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase

Kim Dabbs is a global leader in Belonging and Purpose, whose unique life story informs her passionate advocacy for inclusion and understanding. Born in Korea and adopted by American parents, Kim's journey has taken her from feeling perpetually out of place in different cultures to becoming an influential voice in creating spaces where everyone feels they belong.

As the Global Vice President of ESG and Social Innovation at Steelcase, she applies her extensive experience in social innovation, honed through roles like the Executive Director of the West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology and a residency at Stanford's d.school, to foster more inclusive and equitable environments.

Kim is the best-selling author of You Belong Here, The Power of Being Seen, Heard, and Valued on Your Own Terms, published by Berrett-Koehler Publishers in 2024 and named a top book to read by the Financial Times. Her debut book reflects her transformation from a cultural chameleon trying to fit in to a thought leader who champions the idea of belonging to oneself. You Belong Here offers a new framework for individuals to create a sense of Belonging in any situation and serves as a launchpad for organizational leaders and culture builders to create safe spaces for individuals to show up as their authentic selves.

As a sought-after speaker, Kim has delivered keynotes to organizations and institutions such as Google, Microsoft, MIT, The Drucker Forum, and The Guggenheim. She is also the founder of To Belonging, a global community of changemakers working to build Belonging by exploring the intersection of identity and purpose at home, at work and in the world.
 
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/kimdabbs

Chair

Jenny Darroch
Dean, Mitchell P. Rales Chair in Business Leadership Professor of Marketing, Farmer School of Business | Miami University

Jenny Darroch is the dean of the Farmer School of Business at Miami University in Oxford Ohio, a position she has held since 2020. She also holds the Mitchell P. Rales Chair in Business Leadership. The school is currently ranked by Poets & Quants as a top-5 public undergraduate business school for career outcomes, skills development, the quality of faculty, and the degree being worth the time and cost.

Prior to joining the FSB, Jenny was dean of the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. Here she launched the Drucker School Global Family Business Institute and was instrumental in relaunching the MBA to embrace Management as a Liberal Art. Before moving to the USA, Jenny was Director of Entrepreneurship at the University of Otago in New Zealand and launched New Zealand’s first master’s degree in entrepreneurship.

Jenny has published two books with Palgrave MacMillan: Marketing Through Turbulent Times and Why Marketing to Women Doesn’t Work. Her research focused on looking at innovation strategies from the customers’ point of view — has been cited almost 7,500 times, appearing in marketing, management, innovation and entrepreneurship journals.

Speaker

Steve Denning
Senior Contributor at Forbes.com, author and educator

Steve Denning is a former executive of the World Bank, and is the author of seven books on leadership, innovation, leadership storytelling, and Agile management, as well as a novel and a volume of poems.

His forthcoming book is entitled “Reinventing Capitalism In The Digital Age” and will be published by Cambridge University Press in December 2022.

Since 2011, he has been writing a popular  leadership column for Forbes.com, where he is a Senior Contributor. He has published nearly a thousand Forbes articles, with more than 10 million visitors and 20 million pageviews. (http://blogs.forbes.com/stevedenning/)

He has also published more than forty  articles for the journal, Strategy and Leadership, including four articles selected as the “Outstanding Article Of the Year.”

Steve is a member of the International Editorial Advisory Board for the Cambridge University Press Element Series on “Reinventing Capitalism.” Steve conducts a series of online executive training courses on digital-age management both in public courses and private courses for individual firms.

Speaker

Robin Dunbar
Professor of Evolutionary Psychology, University of Oxford

Robin Dunbar MA PhD DSc(Hon) FRAI FBA is Professor of Evolutionary Psychology at the University of Oxford, an Emeritus Fellow of Magdalen College, and an elected Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Anthropological Institute, the Finnish Academy of Science & Letters and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. His principal research interests focus on the evolution of sociality (with particular reference to primates and humans). He is best known for the social brain hypothesis, the gossip theory of language evolution and Dunbar’s Number (the limit on the number of manageable relationships). His publications include 15 academic books and 550 journal articles and book chapters. In 2023 Robin wrote ‘The Social Brain: The Psychology of Successful Groups’ in partnership with Tracey Camilleri and Samantha Rockey. His popular science books include The Trouble With Science; Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution of Language; The Science of Love and Betrayal; Human Evolution; Evolution: What Everyone Needs To Know; Friends: Understanding the Power of Our Most Important Relationships; and How Religion Evolved.

Speaker

Amy Edmondson
Professor of Leadership & Management, Harvard Business School

Amy C. Edmondson, PhD is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at the Harvard Business School, a chair established to support the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful enterprises that contribute to the betterment of society.

Edmondson has been ranked by the biannual Thinkers50 global list of top management thinkers since 2011 (most recently #1). She teaches and writes on leadership, teams and organizational learning.  Her most recent book, The Fearless Organization: Creating Psychological Safety for Learning, Innovation, and Growth offers practical guidance for leaders who are serious about building a thriving organization in the today’s uncertain environment. Her prior books, Teaming: How Organizations Learn, Innovate and Compete in the Knowledge Economy and Teaming to Innovate (Jossey-Bass, 2012, 2103) and Building the Future: Big Teaming for Audacious Innovation (Berrett-Koehler, 2016) explore teamwork in dynamic, unpredictable work environments.

Before her academic career, she was Director of Research at Pecos River Learning Centers, where she worked on the design and implementation of transformational change in large companies. In the early 1980s, she worked as Chief Engineer for architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller, and her book A Fuller Explanation: The Synergetic Geometry of R. Buckminster Fuller (Birkauser Boston, 1987) clarifies Fuller's mathematical contributions for a non-technical audience. Edmondson received her PhD in organizational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design, all from Harvard University.

She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband, George Daley, a physician-scientist and Dean of Harvard Medical School, with their two college-age sons.

Speaker

Tamara J. Erickson
Leadership Advisor; top ranked management thinker, T50

Tamara J. Erickson is a McKinsey Award-winning author and a widely-respected authority on new approaches to leadership, the changing workforce, collaboration and innovation, and the nature of work in intelligent organizations.  At London Business School, Erickson has designed and directs the school’s leadership programme for senior-most executives, Leading Businesses into the Future, works with executives in a number of custom programmes, and teaches in the School’s Masters programmes.

She has five times been named one of the 50 most influential living management thinkers in the world by Thinkers50, the respected ranking of global business thinkers. Her leading-edge work is consistently showcased in the prestigious Global Drucker Forum, an international conference of prominent business leaders. She has authored five books and numerous widely-cited articles.

An experienced executive and global advisor, Erickson has also served on the Board of Directors of two Fortune 500 corporations, where she served on Governance, Audit, and Compensation Committees and as the Lead Independent Director.

Erickson holds a BA degree from the University of Chicago and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration, where she was the recipient of the James Thomas Chirurg Fellowship.

Speaker

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz
Executive Fellow for Executive Education, Harvard Business School

Claudio Fernández-Aráoz is a top global expert on leadership and talent, family businesses, and personal growth. He was ranked by Bloomberg as one of the most influential executive search consultants in the world and selected by Thinkers50 as one of the world’s leading thinkers on talent.

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Chair

Bill Fischer
Emeritus Professor of Innovation Management, IMD; Senior Lecturer, MIT's Sloan School of Mgmt

Bill Fischer is a Senior Lecturer at MIT’sSloan School of Management, and Emeritus Professor of innovation Management at IMD. He was the Executive President and Dean at the China-Europe International Business Schoolin Shanghai(CEIBS), and held a chaired professorship at the Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Bill has co-authored several books on innovation, including:Virtuoso Teams, The Idea Hunter, and Reinventing Giants. He is a regular contributor toForbes.com and is a member ofthe Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.

Speaker

R. Gopalakrishnan (Gopal)
Former Director Tata Sons, Former Vice-Chairman Hindustan Unilever, Author & Corporate Commentator

He served as Chairman of Unilever Arabia, as MD of Brooke Bond Lipton and Vice Chairman of Hindustan Lever and as director of Tata Sons and several Tata companies.
He is a prolific author of nineteen books, the latest of which is "Jamsetji Tata: Powerful learnings for corporate success" (co-authored with Harish Bhat).

Speaker

Sarah Green Carmichael
Editor, Bloomberg Opinion

Sarah Green Carmichael is an editor with Bloomberg Opinion, where she also writes columns focused on office culture and the human side of the workplace. Previously, she was the managing editor of ideas and commentary at Barron's and an executive editor  at Harvard Business Review. She lives near Boston.

Speaker

François Grey
Director of the SDG Solution Space and Vice-Dean for Studies, Geneva School of Economics and Management, University of Geneva

I am a physicist with a background in nanotechnology, and a passion for citizen science. I also have broad experience in science management, teaching and communication, in the United States, China, Japan, Germany, Denmark and Switzerland. During the past decade, I have managed the development of a series of online citizen science projects in a wide range of research fields, starting with the launch of LHC@home in 2004 while I was a manager at CERN. In 2009, I established a partnership for citizen science between CERN, the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and the University of Geneva, now called Citizen Cyberlab. As a Professor in the University Center for Informatics (CUI) at the University of Geneva, I coordinate Citizen Cyberlab, managing the development of technologies for crowdsourced research, exploring the broader impact of citizen science for society, and promoting public participation in science through hands-on events. I also teach courses on Open Science and Crowdsourcing and AI at the bachelor and master level. Since 2024 I am Vice-Dean for studies of the Geneva School of Economics and Management, the business school of the University of Geneva.

Chair

Jyoti Guptara
Bestselling Author and Business Storytelling Expert

Jyoti Guptara is a speaker and bestselling author of fiction and nonfiction. A European pioneer in the field of business storytelling, Jyoti helps purpose-driven leaders storify their strategy and scale their influence. His simple, systematic approach has helped teams on five continents experience more success with less stress.

Jyoti has been widely featured by the media including ARD, Al Jazeera, BBC, Business Standard, FOX, Gulf News, India Today, SRF, and the Times of India. He has written for Arabian Business, Best Practice, the Business Graduates Association, E&, the Royal Society of Literature, and The Wall Street Journal.

He has contributed to programs at Cornell Tech, ETH Zurich, MIT, the University of St. Gallen (HSG), and Oxford Saïd Business School.

Jyoti’s recent bestseller “Business Storytelling from Hype to Hack” lets anyone build narrative competence and start telling stories for purpose, persuasion and profit.

Speaker

Marine Hadengue
Executive Director Higher Education for Good Foundation // Youth Talks

Dr. Marine Hadengue is the Executive Director of the Higher Education for Good Foundation and a member of the Advisory Board of the Peter Drucker Society.

Holding a Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Polytechnique Montreal, her areas of expertise include responsible management education, entrepreneurship, and social innovation.

Marine is currently leading the development of the World Youth Observatory, the first project of the Higher Education for Good Foundation. This collective intelligence consultation, named Youth Talks and reaching out to more than 200 million young people worldwide, aims to collect their aspirations and needs to build a more sustainable society.

Marine is also a professor at SKEMA Business School, a global management school located in France, South Africa, Brazil, Canada, China, and the United States, as well as CEO of the Arbour Foundation, a philanthropic organization based in Montreal, Canada that specializes in access to education.

Speaker

Gary Hamel
Director, Management Lab; Visiting professor, London Business School;

Gary Hamel is one of the world’s most influential and iconoclastic business thinkers. He has worked with leading companies across the globe and is a dynamic and sought-after management speaker. Hamel has been on the faculty of the London Business School for more than 30 years and is the director of the Management Lab.

Hamel has written 17 articles for the Harvard Business Review and is the most reprinted author in the Review’s history. His landmark books have been translated into more than 25 languages. His most recent bestsellers are The Future of Management and What Matters Now. In these volumes, Hamel presents an impassioned plea for reinventing management and lays out a practical blueprint for building organizations that are “fit for the future.”

Fortune magazine describes Hamel as “the world’s leading expert on business strategy,” and the Financial Times calls him a “management innovator without peer.” Hamel has been ranked by The Wall Street Journal as the world’s most influential business thinker and is a fellow of the Strategic Management Society and of the World Economic Forum.
Hamel’s groundbreaking concepts such as “strategic intent,” “core competence,” “industry revolution,” and “management innovation,” have changed the language and practice of management in organizations around the globe. 

Hamel’s work inside of organizations has been equally pioneering. Highlights include:

• Building one of the world’s first “idea markets” inside a global energy leader.
• Using crowdsourcing to help a European high tech company build a game-changing strategy.
• Orchestrating a comprehensive effort to turn a venerable durable goods manufacturer into one of the world’s most innovative companies.
• Helping a leading Korean company re-engineer its management practices around the principles of openness, community and meritocracy.
• Designing and deploying an online platform that allowed the employees of a top fashion house to share and develop ideas for strengthening their company’s core values.
• Developing innovation tools and platforms that have helped companies around the world de-commoditize mature industries and accelerate growth.
• Running an online “hackathon” in which more than 1,700 senior executives collaborated to reinvent the HR function.

In his work, Hamel has led transformational efforts in some of the world’s most notable companies and has helped to create billions of dollars in shareholder value.

Hamel is one of the world’s most sought-after management speakers on the topics of strategy, leadership, innovation and change.

Speaker

Sabine Herlitschka
CEO, Infineon Technologies Austria AG

Sabine Herlitschka has been CEO of Infineon Technologies Austria AG since April 2014.

Her professional background includes industrial biotech research, international research and technology cooperation and financing, internships at renowned U.S. institutions, Fulbright scholar and founding Vice Rector at the Medical University of Graz.

Among numerous functions, Sabine Herlitschka is currently Vice President of the Federation of Austrian Industries and Chair of the Supervisory Board of FH Kärnten. Since 2024 she has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of Jülich Research Center, Germany, and since 2023 she has been Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of the Austrian Supply Chain Institute (ASCII). From 2020 until the end of June 2023, she was Deputy Chair of the Council for Research and Technology Development of the Austrian Federal Government. At the European level, she was Chair of the European Governing Board of the public-private partnership program "ECSEL-Electric Components and Systems for European Leadership" from 2018-2021.

She was elected Manager of the Year of 2021 by the business magazine Trend.

Sabine Herlitschka holds a PhD in Food & Biotechnology, Postdoc in Industrial Research and a Master of Business Administration.

Chair

Santiago Iñiguez de Ozoño
President, IE University

Santiago Iñiguez is the President of IE University and a recognized influencer in global higher education. He was the first recipient (2019) of the Founders Award by Thinkers50, the prestigious global ranking of thoughtful leaders in Management. He is the author of “The Learning Curve: How Business Schools Are Reinventing Education” (2011), “Cosmopolitan Managers: Executive Education That Works” (2016), and “In An Ideal Business: How the Ideas of 10 Female Philosophers bring value to the Workplace” (2020), as well as co-editor of “Business Despite Borders: Companies in the Age of Populist Anti-Globalization” (2018), and “Executive Education After The Pandemic. A Vision For The Future” (2021), and “Philosophy Inc.: Applying Wisdom to Everyday Management” (2023), all published by Palgrave Macmillan (Springer).

Iñiguez is a regular speaker at international conferences and frequently contributes in different journals and media on higher education and executive development. He is a Global LinkedIn Influencer and has been recognized as the leading Spanish influencer in Management.

Iñiguez is one of the founders and board member of Headspring, a joint venture between IE Business School and the Financial Times, offering custom programs for companies. He also serves on the boards of EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development), and the Aramco Foundation (Saudi Arabia). He is member of the advisory boards of Antai Business School (Jiao Tong University, China), LUISS Business School (Italy), Mazars University (France), and FGV- EASP Fundaçao Getulio Vargas (Brazil). He was the first European to become Chair of the Board of AACSB, the global association of business schools.

Iñiguez is the former Dean of IE Business School and has played a leading role in business education. He was portrayed by the Financial Times as “one of the most significant figures in promoting European business schools internationally”. He was the first European appointed as “Dean of the Year” by Poets & Quants (2017).

Iniguez is Professor of Strategic Management. He holds a Degree in Law, a Ph.D. in Moral Philosophy and Jurisprudence (Complutense University, Spain) and an MBA from IE Business School. He was a Recognized Student at the University of Oxford, UK.

Speaker

Lalit Karwa
Head, TCS PACE, Tata Consultancy Services, Europe

His background
With wealth of professional experience spanning over two decades, Lalit stands out as a distinguished leader at the forefront of innovation and digital transformation.

His unique blend of crafting strategic visions and hands-on execution has enabled him to build a successful track record, delivering impactful business results across diverse industry sectors.

What he does
Lalit is deeply passionate about ‘business-building’ through Innovation.

As a catalyst for transformation, he specializes in integrating forward-thinking ideas into how companies operate, guiding businesses to adapt to the digital world and remain competitive.
Beyond crafting strategies, Lalit finds fulfillment in leading, building and inspiring teams to achieve peak performance.

His strategic acumen and knack for innovation make him a sought-after speaker for events that explore the challenges and opportunities of the digital era.

Speaker

Rainer Kegel
CEO, Cortical.io

Rainer Kegel is the CEO of Cortical.io, an AI innovator based in Vienna known for its pioneering text processing technology. With over ten years of experience, the company delivers advanced document processing solutions to global clients. Kegel's career in IT leadership includes roles at Wienstrom and Wien Energie, where he served as Head of IT. He also held the position of Chief Information Officer at Wiener Stadtwerke, where he led initiatives in IoT and data science, showcasing his expertise in driving innovation within the tech industry.
 

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Speaker

Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries
Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change, INSEAD and Psychoanalyst

Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries brings a different view to the much-studied subjects of organizational dynamics, leadership, executive coaching, amalgamated psychotherapy. Bringing to bear his knowledge and experience of economics (Econ. Drs., University of Amsterdam), management (ITP, MBA, and DBA, Harvard Business School), and psychoanalysis (Membership Canadian Psychoanalytic Society, Paris Psychoanalytic Society, and the International Psychoanalytic Association), he explores individual and societal existential dilemmas in depth.

The Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organizational Change at INSEAD, he is the Founder of INSEAD’s Executive Master Program in Change Management. He also has been the founder/ director of INSEAD’s Global Leadership Center. He has been a pioneer in team coaching as an intervention method to help organizations and people change. He has held professorships at McGill University, the École des Hautes Études Commerciales, Montreal, and the Harvard Business School. He is also a distinguished visiting professor at the European School for Management and Technology (ESMT), Berlin.The Financial Times, Le Capital, Wirtschaftswoche, and The Economist have rated Kets de Vries among the world’s leading management thinkers and among the most influential contributors to human resource management.

Kets de Vries is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 50 books (most recent books published by Palgrave, Wiley and Routledge https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Manfred+Kets+de+vries&dc&ref=a9_asc_1), has published more than 400 academic papers as chapters in books and as articles. He has also written more than 100 case studies, including seven that received the Best Case of the Year award and has written hundreds of mini-articles (blogs) for the Harvard Business Review, INSEAD Knowledge

Kets is also the first non-US recipient of the International Leadership Association Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to leadership research and development and the recipient of the “Freud Memorial Award” for his work to further the interface between management and psychoanalysis.

He works as a consultant on organizational design/transformation and strategic human resource management for companies worldwide. He is also the founder-chairman of the Kets de Vries Institute (KDVI), a boutique global strategic leadership development consulting firm with associates worldwide. On a very different note, Kets de Vries has also been the first fly fisherman in Outer Mongolia (at the time, becoming the world record holder of the Siberian hucho taimen trout).

Chair

Julia Kirby
Senior Editor, Harvard University Press

Julia Kirby has been with Harvard Business Review for over a decade and in that time worked with hundreds of expert authors to bring their ideas to the magazine’s managerial audience. Marketing management and strategy are particular areas of interest; she stays on top of the issues facing marketers in leading firms and seeks out new academic research with important managerial implications. She is also the author of a book (with Christopher Meyer) on how the rules of capitalism will change as the center of gravity of global commerce shifts to emerging economies: “Standing on the Sun: How the Explosion of Capitalism Abroad Will Change Business Everywhere“ and Only Humans Need Apply: Winners and Losers in the Age of Smart Machines (with Thomas H. Davenport)

Speaker

Peter G. Kirchschläger
Ethics-Professor, University of Lucerne / Visiting Professor at the ETH Zurich

Peter G. Kirchschlaeger is Ethics-Professor and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE at the University of Lucerne, Visiting Professor at the Chair for Neuroinformatics and Neural Systems at ETH Zurich as well as at the ETH AI Center, and Research Fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein (South Africa). Prior, he was Visiting Fellow at Yale University.

2011-2015, he was member of the Board of the Swiss Centre of Expertise in Human Rights, 2013 Visiting Scholar at the University of Technology Sydney, 2013-2014 Guest-Professor at the Universiteit Leuven, 2013-2017 Fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, 2015-2019 Guest-Lecturer at the Leuphana University Lueneburg.
He is a consultative expert in Ethics of international organizations, President a.i. of the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology, and Director of the new Master Degree Program “Ethics”: www.unilu.ch/master-ethik.

Latest books: “Ethical Decision-Making” (2023) and “Digital Transformation and Ethics” (2021).

Speaker

Thomas Kirste
Director at Bosch Management Consulting Innovation for Business & Digital Strategy

Thomas is Director at Bosch Management Consulting Innovation for Business & Digital Strategy. He works for more than 7 years "hands-on" on Business Model Innovation and especially Ecosystem approaches. Thomas had been Co-Founder of 2 Bosch Ecosystem approaches  (NEVONEX and Susteco) and had been responsible  - as part of the leadership team - for the business model & biz development as well as for partner acquisition and orchestration. Currently, he is deeply involved in Catena-X, an Ecosystem for the automotive supply chain. Furthermore, he is the initiator and lead of Ecosys@Bosch. Ecosys@Bosch is an internal Ecosystem approach that helps to unleash the power of ecosystems for Bosch's business.
In previous "lifes", Thomas orchestrated over 5 years the strategy development process of major Bosch Divisions (w/ board members) , worked in responsible roles on M&A, as head of Strategy & biz development of a biz unit and around 5 years in sales for Japanese customers. Furthermore, he has 5 years experience in SW development. On his journey, he deeply dived into many biz domains (esp. mobility, telecommunications, real estate, agriculture (chemistry & food), (intra-)logistics). Thomas contributed to many standard bodies (e.g. FSAN), associations (e.g. Bitkom, GIF) and working groups and has a degree as Dipl.-Ing. Telecommunications.

Speaker

Georg Kopetz
co-founder and member of the executive board at TTTech

Georg Kopetz is co-founder and member of the executive board at TTTech, a leading high-tech company in Central Europe.

He is responsible for the overall strategy of the corporation marketing, sales, finance, human resources, the business units aerospace and industrial solutions.

He studied law at the University of Vienna and Paris II. Since 2023, he is also a member of FORWIT, the Austrian Council for Sciences, Technology and Innovation, providing independent advice to the federal government of Austria.

Speaker

Pierre Le Manh
President and CEO, PMI Project Management Institute

Pierre Le Manh has been serving as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Project Management Institute since September 2022. A global executive with a multicultural background and experience in leading companies across multiple knowledge industries, he has a proven track record of delivering results and guiding organizations through complex transformations and globalization. He is passionate about leading teams to innovate with purpose and to create new ways of disseminating specialized knowledge, upskilling, and education.

Before joining PMI, Pierre led the preparation for the expansion into North America of Galileo Global Education, a leading global provider of higher education and education technology platforms, in which he is an investor.

Previously, he served as Chief Executive Officer for North America and as Global Deputy CEO at Ipsos, one of the world’s largest data, analytics, and insights companies. Pierre played a crucial role in transforming Ipsos from a primarily European-focused organization with $700 million in revenue in 2004, to a $2.5 billion global industry leader by 2021, and in growing the company to more than 18,000 employees operating in 90 countries, successively leading various regions and global business lines.

Earlier in his career, Pierre was the CEO of Consodata, a leader in first and third-party consumer data, precision, and digital marketing. He began his career at the consulting giant Accenture, subsequently serving as CFO of the performing arts nonprofit, Adami, CEO of digital publisher, Encyclopaedia Universalis, and CEO of CFL Holding, a family office with various assets in direct-to-consumer marketing services and the real estate industries.

Born and raised in France to a Vietnamese father and a French mother, Pierre has lived in several countries before settling in New York City in 2013. He is fluent in English, French, and Italian. His interests include traveling the world to visit his large family and friends, watching Paris Saint-Germain soccer games, and exploring Manhattan on his electric scooter. He has two sons who reside in Paris and London.

Speaker

Claire Léost
President of Prisma Media and member of the Vivendi Management Board

Claire Léost is a graduate of the Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences-Po - 1997) and of HEC (1999).

She began her career as a consultant at McKinsey from 2000 to 2003. In 2003, she joined the Lagardère Active group, where she successively held the positions of Publisher and Managing Director. She was CEO of CMI France from February 2019 to September 2021, when she was appointed President of Prisma Media.

Claire Léost has been a member of the Vivendi Management Board since June 24, 2022.

She is also a novelist.

Speaker

Karen Linkletter
Director of the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute

Karen Linkletter is Research Director of the Management as a Liberal Art Research Institute (MLARI), which is dedicated to the study and application of management as a liberal art in organizations. She leads a team of researchers working to advance the ideas of Peter F. Drucker and promote effective, ethical leadership. She and Dr. Joseph A. Maciariello co-authored the book Drucker’s Lost Art of Management: Peter Drucker’s Timeless Vision for Building Effective Organizations. Dr. Linkletter has published over 20 articles and essays. Her most recent article is “Leadership Character: A Holistic Approach.” She received her M.B.A. from Claremont Graduate University, where she studied with Peter Drucker. She received her Ph.D. in history, also from Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Linkletter taught in the American Studies Department at California State University, Fullerton for fifteen years. Prior to that, she worked in the financial sector for investment and insurance organizations. She is also a professional cellist, performing throughout southern California and teaching private students. Dr. Linkletter’s latest book, Peter Drucker and Management (Routledge), was released in June of 2024.

Speaker

Mickael Locoh
VP Southern Europe & Africa, Steelcase

Passionate about people, leadership and change management, Mickael Locoh, Vice President Southern Europe & Africa,  is with his team, helping companies all around the globe to have a workplace supporting their company’s strategic ambitions.

With a finance mathematics engineer background, he began his career in the financial sector at BNP Paribas as business continuity & crisis manager all around the world. Coordinating and dealing with the major crisis with the executive committee of the bank, he was in front line during key events like the subprime, Lehman Brother and all main ones impacting the business and image of the bank.

In 2011, to use his scientific background combined with more “soft skills”, he joined Steelcase. Part of the the EMEA leadership team, he is now in charge of the Southern Europe including countries like France, Luxembourg, Italy and also the African coutinent. He is also leading the team called “Clients without borders” working with fast growing companies expanding in Europe.

Speaker

André Loesekrug-Pietri
Chairman & Scientific Director, Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI)

André, French-German nationalities, held leadership positions in private equity,industry, as an entrepreneur and in government (as former special adviser to the French Minister of Defense). He is currently Chairman & Scientific Director of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI), precursor to a European ARPA, bringing together more than 6000 leading scientists, startup founders and industrialists from 30 European countries - to accelerate the continent’s leadership in disruptive innovations, in climate technologies, lifesciences, Space, Oceans and Digital. A Young Global Leader from the World Economic Forum and European 40under40, he is reserve Colonel with the French Air & Space Force and sits on the Innovation Board of the Munich Security Conference and of the Advisory Board of the Saarland 3 billion Euro Transformation Fund.

X: @andrepietri and @eurojedi Email: alp@jedi.foundation

Chair

Isabella Mader
Executive Director, Excellence Institute

Isabella Mader serves as the Executive Director of Excellence Research and as a university lecturer in IT Strategy, Business Psychology, and Human Factors in AI, a practical course where students train their own AI models. With a background in business administration, information science, and business psychology/organizational behavior, she brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to her work.

In 2013, she was recognized as the "Top CIO of the Year" by EY. Since 2018, she has been a member of the Austrian CIO Award Jury.

Prior to her current role, she served as the CEO of a software company and worked in methodology development at the CTBTO (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, On-Site Inspection/United Nations).

Her current focus areas include IT and AI strategy, knowledge management, and organizational behavior.

Isabella Mader is also the publisher of xBN Executive Business News. She is a member of the UNIDO AIM Global Alliance on AI and serves on several advisory boards, including the 21st Century Public Administration Advisory Board of the Austrian School of Government and the Expert Advisory Board on Digital Transformation of the Austrian Parliament.

Speaker

Hamilton Mann
Vice President Digital, Thales, Digital and AI for Good Pioneer

Hamilton Mann is a Tech Executive, Digital and AI for Good Pioneer, keynote speaker, and the originator of the concept of Artificial Integrity.

He serves as Group Vice President at Thales, where he co-leads the AI initiative, drives Digital Marketing, and leads Digital Transformation. He also serves a Senior Lecturer at INSEAD and HEC Paris as well as a mentor at the MIT Priscilla King Gray (PKG) Center. He is a doctoral researcher in AI at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées - Institut Polytechnique de Paris. He writes regularly for Forbes as an AI columnist and has published articles about AI and its technological and societal implications in prominent academic, business, and policy outlets such as Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), Knowledge@Wharton, Leader to Leader (Wiley), Dialogue Duke Corporate Education, INSEAD Knowledge, the Harvard Business Review France and the European Business Review. He hosts The Hamilton Mann Conversation, a podcast on Digital and AI for Good, ranked in the Top 10 for technology thought leadership by Technology Magazine.  Mann is the author of Artificial Integrity (Wiley), a book that explores the need to prioritize integrity over mere intelligence in AI systems. He was inducted into the Thinkers50 Radar as one of the 30 most prominent rising business thinkers globally.

Speaker

Roger L. Martin
Professor Emeritus & Former Dean, Rotman School; Strategy advisor

In 2017, Roger was named the world’s #1 management thinker by Thinkers50, a biannual ranking of the most influential global business thinkers.

Roger is a trusted strategy advisor to the CEOs of companies worldwide including Procter & Gamble, Lego, Ford, BHP and Verizon.

Roger Martin is a Professor Emeritus at the Rotman School of Management at University of Toronto where he served as Dean from 1998-2013, Academic Director of the Michael Lee-Chin Family Institute for Corporate Citizenship from 2004-2019 and Institute Director of the Martin Prosperity Institute from 2013-2019. In 2013, he was named global Dean of the Year by the leading business school website, Poets & Quants.

His newest book is A New Way to Think: Your Guide to Superior Managerial Effectiveness (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). His previous twelve books include When More is Not Better (HBRP, 2020), Creating Great Choices written with Jennifer Riel (HBRP, 2017) Getting Beyond Better written with Sally Osberg (HBRP, 2015) and Playing to Win written with A.G. Lafley (HBRP, 2013), which won the award for Best Book of 2012-13 by the Thinkers50. He has written 33 Harvard Business Review articles.

Roger received his BA from Harvard College, with a concentration in Economics, in 1979 and his MBA from the Harvard Business School in 1981. He lives in South Florida with his wife, Marie-Louise Skafte.

Speaker

Ade McCormack
Founder, Intelligent Leadership Hub

• Helps leaders create adaptive organisations that benefit all stakeholders.
• Works across public and private sectors.
• Is a former technologist.
• Is a former Financial Times columnist.
• Has lectured at MIT Sloan on leadership matters.
• Works with Cambridge University (Moller Institute) on leadership development.
• Trained in astrophysics and has worked for the European Space Agency.
• Has worked in over forty countries across the world across multiple sectors with many of the world’s most prominent brands.
• Has written six books on leadership and transformation.

Chair

Mary Meaney Haynes
Social Entrepreneur and Philanthropist

Mary is a Board member of GBL (Groupe Bruxelles Lambert), Syensqo, Imperial College London and an angel investor and Board member of a range of Tech companies (e.g., Beamery, V-Nova etc). Mary also serves on the Advisory Board of Imperial College Business School and is an Ambassador to the International Peter Drucker Forum. She leads Solidarite Ukraine, a non-profit organization in France which supports hundreds of Ukrainian women and children displaced by the war.

Previously, she was a Senior Partner at McKinsey where she served on McKinsey’s Shareholder’s Council (global Board of Directors) and led McKinsey’s global Organization practice. She co-authored a book, Leading Organizations, as well as the McKinsey Global Institute report on The Future of Work after Covid-19. She was a Trustee of TeachFirst for almost a decade and has lectured at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial, and Tsinghua.

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Speaker

Antonella Mei-Pochtler
Non-Exec. Director, Generali Group & Publicis; Vice Chair, European Forum Alpbach; Exec. Vice Chair, Pochtler Industrieholding

Antonella Mei-Pochtler is a strategist and investor with deep experience in the global media, technology and consumer sectors, both as advisor and executive.

She studied Business Administration at the LMU Munich and at the Universitá degli Studi di Roma and holds an MBA with the Dean’s List Award of INSEAD.

She worked at the The Boston Consulting Group where she held key management positions in Europe and globally, as Global Executive Committee member. She was recognized by Forbes as Junior Manager of the Year and by Consulting Magazine with the lifetime achievement award.

In 2018 she joined the Austrian government as Special Advisor to the Chancellor and Head of ThinkAustria until 2022. She initiated and continues to serve as Chairwoman of the KofiAnnanAward for Innovation in Africa, a joint initiative of the African and European Union.

Dr. Mei-Pochtler currently serves as Executive Vice-Chairwoman of Pochtler Industrieholding and as Non-Executive Director of Generali Group S.p.A., Publicis SA, Westwing SE, and DEAG.
Her involvement in a range of social causes, particularly in education, led to the co-founding of the award-winning project Business@School and of the Phorms School Network in Germany, and to an advisory board role at Teach for All.

A strong believer in Europe, Antonella supports various European initiatives to foster tech innovation and sovereignty, among others as scientific board member of the Drucker Forum, as Vice Chairwoman of the European Forum Alpbach and as advisory board member of TUMVentureLabs.

Speaker

Liesje Meijknecht
Partner McKinsey & Company, Leader Talent & Leadership practices Europe

Liesje Meijknecht is a Partner McKinsey’s  Amsterdam office focusing on Organizational models.

She is also leading McKinsey’s Team Effectiveness solutions globally. In her 20 years at McKinsey, she has served a large number of companies globally across industries on Shaping the organization for the future, restructuring to scale and People and Talent strategies.

She has also spent 9 years in Asia Leading McKinsey’s Organization solutions for APAC, offering a data driven approach to people and organization performance questions as design and people analytics. This combination on technology driven measures and analytics with ‘in person’ counseling and creating, gives her a broad and data backed perspective of what current organizations and leaders are solving for. Since her return to Europe in 2022 her focus is on Advances industries, Tech enabled companies and scale-ups. She has also initiated the Benelux “People circle” a community of ‘movers and shakers’ from various businesses that connect and join forces to debate and solutionize for societal talent topics such as productivity and aging.

Before joining McKinsey Liesje also worked at the engineering companies Royal Haskoning and Arcadis. Liesje received an M.B.A. from INSEAD in Singapore/ France. She graduated from Wageningen University, in the Netherlands, with a dual MSc in Landscape design and Business

Chair

Timo Meynhardt
Chair of Business Psychology and Leadership, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Mgmt; Managing Director, Center for Leadership & Values in Society, University of St. Gallen

Prof. Dr. Timo Meynhardt is a business psychologist specializing in public value research (value creation for the common good). He holds the Dr. Arend Oetker Chair of Business Psychology and Leadership at HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and serves as managing director at the Center for Leadership and Values in Society at the University of St. Gallen. At the latter, he obtained his doctorate and habilitation in business administration. For several years, he acted as practice expert at McKinsey & Company. Meynhardt combines psychological and business management subjects focusing on public value management, leadership and competency diagnostics. He publishes the Public Value Atlas (GemeinwohlAtlas) for Switzerland and Germany, which aims at making transparent the public value of companies and organizations. His Public Value Scorecard provides a management tool to measure public value creation along five basic dimensions.

Speaker

Keiichiro Nishi
Senior Vice President, Head of CEO Office, Fujitsu Limited

Keiichiro Nishi has unique professional experiences, combining strong business and academic backgrounds. In 2000, Keiichiro started his career with Mitsubishi Corporation, engaging in securitization and management of various projects. In 2003, he joined Graduate School of Management, Globis University, which is the largest business school in Japan. At its corporate education division, he played active roles in organizational transformation and leadership education programs. In 2011, as Managing Director, he took the lead in founding Globis China and assumed the responsibility of its management. In 2013, he became Managing Director in charge of Globis corporate education division. Currently, he is Fellow, looking after corporate education and global strategy.

In 2023, Keiichiro joined Fujitsu. As SVP, Head of CEO Office, he is responsible for guiding Fujitsu’s business management cycles, as well as activating its strategy and corporate
initiatives.

Keiichiro graduated from Waseda University and INSEAD International Executive Program.

Speaker

Kevin Nolan
President & CEO, GE Appliances, a Haier Company

Kevin Nolan is a seasoned engineer and passionate maker with more than 30 patent awards and a 35-year career at GE and GE Appliances today, including ten years as GE Appliances’ Chief Technology Officer.

He took innovation to a new level when he conceived and co-founded FirstBuild, the first corporate makerspace in the world and a global co-creation community that harnesses the power of the maker movement to change the way home appliances are conceived, designed, and manufactured.

Originally from Stamford, Connecticut, Kevin opened CoCreate in 2023. Part manufacturing facility, makerspace, and design and experience center, CoCreate is an innovative, creative playground for the community, where doors are open for people to make, connect, and be inspired.

Kevin’s leadership and commitment to the communities across the U.S. where GE Appliances does business has been broadly recognized, including being named one of the “Most Admired CEOs” in GE Appliances’ hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. He works directly and through several organizations to attract new businesses to the area, promote STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) programs in public schools and community centers, and mobilize resources to close the digital and educational gap. In 2020, he was recognized by Louisville Business First for exemplary leadership with a focus on employees and the community during the COVID-19 response.

Kevin was inducted into the University of Connecticut Academy of Distinguished Engineers in 2019 and has earned the Kentucky Board of Education’s Kelly Award for outstanding business and public education partnership. In 2022, the University of Louisville presented him with an honorary doctoral Degree of Science.

Kevin is a frequent speaker at international conferences and business schools, where he shares his thoughts and experiences on his passion areas: lean enterprises, entrepreneurship, innovation, and change.

In his spare time, Kevin’s an avid clockmaker, which he builds in his home garage.

Speaker

Peter Paschek
Management Consultant; Lecturer, Technische Universität München

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Speaker

Léa Peersman
CEO & co-founder of Lign.ai

Léa Peersman is a builder and an investor, focusing on Human Intelligence (HI) and talent related technologies and solutions. She specializes in the Future of Work, as an entrepreneur, an advisor, a coach, and a lecturer.

She is the founder of Lign, a pioneering AI-native Talent Intelligence System enabling Self-Management and Augmented Collaboration for modern talent. She also collaborates with forward-looking organizations and leaders so they can imagine new ways to attract, nurture and harness human potential (SYPartners, CHANEL, OpenClassrooms, 2050NOW La Maison, Steelcase, Metalsa, Rothschild Foundations, ESSEC Business School, etc.). She teaches Entrepreneurship at Sciences Po Paris and sits on the board of the MIT Club de France as a 2017 Sloan MBA alum.

Originally from Biarritz in the Basque Country, she has worked, studied and traveled around the world to explore the many dimensions of human nature. She now lives in Paris with her husband, Philippe, and two children, Ulysse and Nina. She enjoys running along the Seine pushing a stroller, crafting foresight scenarios, gathering huge tables full of friends and laughter.

Speaker

Gianpiero Petriglieri
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD

Gianpiero Petriglieri is Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD and an expert on leadership and learning in the workplace.

Gianpiero’s award-winning research and teaching focus on what it means, and what it takes, to become a leader. The intent of all his work is to humanise leadership, that is, to account for the complexities and contradictions within and between people and organisations, and to help leaders be grounded as well as flexible, sustainable as well as effective, purposeful as well as portable. This work has earned him a spot among the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world.

Building on his research, Gianpiero has refined a unique approach to developing the art of leading. This approach aims to help people and groups clarify their leadership intent, claim it, commit to it, and forge relationships that sustain it. Gianpiero collaborates with multinationals in a variety of industries to bring this approach to life in bespoke leadership development initiatives, usually tied to a broader effort to transform the organisation. Besides numerous INSEAD accolades, these initiatives have received industry-wide awards for excellence and innovation in executive development.

An insightful and engaging speaker, Gianpiero presents widely at management conferences and corporate gatherings on the value of humanising leadership at work and beyond. At INSEAD, he directs the Management Acceleration Programme, the school’s flagship executive programme for emerging leaders, and chairs the initiative for Learning Innovation and Teaching Excellence.

Gianpiero’s research has appeared in leading academic journals such asAdministrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Discoveries, Academy of Management Learning & Education, Organization Studies, Human Relations, and Organisation Theory. He also writes essays regularly for the Harvard Business Review and Sloan Management Review. His work has been featured in a range of media including the BBC, Der Spiegel, Financial Times, The Economist, The Guardian, New York Times, Time, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Le Figaro, and El Pais.

In the INSEAD MBA, Gianpiero teaches the core course “Ethics: Lead for good,” for which he has received the Aspen Institute’s  “Ideas worth Teaching“ award. Prior to that, he taught the “Leading People and Groups” core course. He has received the MBA students’ Outstanding Teacher Award for both courses, and earned numerous Dean’s Commendations for Teaching Excellence in MBA and Executive Education.
A Medical Doctor and Psychiatrist by training, Gianpiero has worked as an executive coach, practiced as a psychotherapist, and served on the staff of group relations conferences in Europe and the United States. He has chaired the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on new models of leadership, and has held Visiting Professor positions at the Harvard Business School, and at Copenhagen Business School.

You can learn more about him on www.gpetriglieri.com

Speaker

LuAnn Piccard
Chair of the Board of Directors, PMI Project Management Institute

LuAnn Piccard, PMP, is the Chair of the Board of Directors of Project Management Institute. She served on the PMI Board from 2019 to 2021, and again from 2022 to the present.

Piccard is a professor and chair of the Project Management Department at the University of Alaska Anchorage, USA. In addition to her career in academia, Piccard has more than 20 years of experience in technology-sector project and portfolio management, including 10 years as a senior executive for Hewlett Packard, Agilent Technologies, and Advanced Energy Industries, where she led complex, profitable, and cross-functional businesses serving customers worldwide.

She is a regular speaker at events and conferences around the world and has served as a volunteer director for 11 non-profit boards, including 10 years as an officer and director for Habitat for Humanity of Anchorage.

Piccard holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Engineering, both from Stanford University, USA. She is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt.

Chair

Stefan Wolfgang Pickl
Chair for Operations Research, Universität der Bundeswehr München

Stefan Wolfgang Pickl was born in Darmstadt, Germany on 29th September, 1967.

He studied mathematics, electrical engineering and philosophy at the Technical University of Darmstadt (Diploma in 1993; ERASMUS-scholarship at the EPFL Lausanne); doctor’s degree at the TU Darmstadt in 1998 followed by his habilitation at the University of Cologne in 2005.

From the years 2000 to 2005 Mr Pickl was scientific assistant and project manager at the Center for applied Computer Sciences in Cologne (ZAIK).

In 2000 Mr. Pickl received the phd-thesis award by the German Society for Operations Research; followed by international “best-paper awards”. He received the chair for Operations Research in 2005 at UBw Munich.

He is vice-president of the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV). There, he is mainly engaged in the analysis and optimization of resilient systems and integrated energy assessment models. He is involved in an actual research project with WHO with a focus on Early Warning Systems. Mr Pickl was one of the first mathematicians who developed a model for the simulation and optimization of the CO2 -conflict. Respectively Mr Pickl was a member of the Excellence-Cluster “Energy” at the RWTH Aachen. He is co-leading the working group “Simulation and Optimization of Complex Systems” of the German Society for Operations Research (GOR).
He released more than 300 publications.

During the years 2004 to 2024 Mr. Pickl was invited for assignments as visiting-professor in the States, Asia and Europe. As a research fellow Mr Pickl was a “Visiting Scientist” in Los Alamos National Labs, in the SANDIA Laboratory, at the MIT as well as at the Santa Fe Institute for complex systems. He is founding director of COMTESSA (Core Competence Center for Operations Research, Management - Tenacity - Experience, Safety & Security ALLIANCE).

Since 2013 he is international coordinator of the innovative security projects RIKOV, REHSTRAIN (Resilience of the Franco-German High Speed Train Network) and REVEARS.

He is member of Munich Aerospace and House of Logistics and Mobility (HOLM) at Frankfurt Airport.

Prof. Dr. Stefan Pickl is Honorary Chair at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.

Since 2019, Mr Pickl is Vice-President of the German Committee for Desaster Reduction DKKV. He is member of the counselling-board of the BBK in Germany.

Since 2022 he is PI of the Topic Leadership Circle TLC in cooperation with Peter Drucker Forum. In 2023 he was nominated as honorary member of the German Society for Operations Research.

Since 2024 he is member of the German Academy of Technology acatech.

Speaker

Lenka Pincot
Chief of Staff to the CEO and global executive leader, PMI

As the Chief of Staff to the CEO and a global executive leader, Lenka oversees the Transformation Management Office, Enterprise Program Management Office, CEO & Board communications, and Thought Leadership teams at PMI. Her role is to define and drive the organization's strategic initiatives, support seamless execution of the new strategy, and foster a culture of innovation and excellence across all levels.

In her capacity, she collaborates closely with the CEO, other executive leaders and the Board of Directors to align the strategic goals with operational execution. By leading cross-functional teams and spearheading critical projects, Lenka ensures that the transformation efforts are on track and deliver impactful results. Her focus on effective communication and thought leadership helps position PMI at the forefront of project management trends and innovations, reinforcing PMI's commitment to the new purpose: to maximize project success to elevate our world.

Lenka brings extensive international experience and a proven track record in setting and executing strategic vision, digital transformation leadership, culture shifts, and enhancing organizational agility. Prior to joining PMI, Lenka held leadership roles focusing on organizational transformation, Agile leadership, and relationship management. Most recently, Lenka served as the Head of Agile Transformation at a key European bank, where she defined the organization’s transformation vision and strategy, built a high-performing transformation team, and executed the roadmap while onboarding business and IT talent. Lenka promoted customer centricity, implemented Citizen Development practices, and contributed to their digital leadership in the market.

Lenka holds a Master of Science in Computer Sciences, Software Engineering from Charles University. She has earned a Digital Excellence Diploma from the IMD Business School of Switzerland and completed the European Women in Boards C-Level Program. She holds international certifications in project management, agile practices, and business analysis, including the following PMI Credentials: PMP, PMI-PBA, and PMI-ACP.

Speaker

Dan Pontefract
Leadership and Culture strategist

Dan Pontefract is a renowned leadership strategist, author, and keynote speaker with over two decades of experience in senior executive roles at companies such as SAP, TELUS, and Business Objects. Since then, he has worked with organizations worldwide, including Salesforce, Amgen, the State of Tennessee, Nestlé, Canada Post, Autodesk, BMO, the Government of Canada, Manulife, Nutrien, and the City of Toronto, among others.

As an award-winning and best-selling author, Dan has written five books: WORK-LIFE BLOOM, LEAD. CARE. WIN., OPEN TO THINK, THE PURPOSE EFFECT, and FLAT ARMY. Dan also writes for Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and other outlets.

Dan is a renowned keynote speaker who has presented at four TED events and has delivered over 600 keynotes . He is an adjunct professor at the University of Victoria’s Gustavson School of Business and has received over 25 industry, individual, and book awards.

Dan’s career is interwoven with corporate and academic experience, coupled with an MBA, B.Ed, and multiple industry certifications and awards. Notably, Dan is listed on the Thinkers50 Radar, HR Weekly’s 100 Most Influential People in HR, PeopleHum’s Top 200 Thought Leaders to Follow, and Inc. Magazine’s Top 100 Leadership Speakers.

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Chair

Anjli Raval
Management Editor, Financial Times

Anjli Raval is the Management Editor at the Financial Times and an Associate Editor.
Based out of London, she writes columns, features and news stories about CEOs, boards, corporate governance, what’s going on inside the world’s biggest companies and the future of work.

Anjli has a particular interest in reporting on global business trends and exploring leadership challenges - from geopolitical risk, AI and regulatory hurdles to climate change, employee activism and the DEI agenda. Corporate culture, reputation risk, and the blurring of the personal and professional in business life have been themes she has reported heavily on. She has also focused on issues impacting competitiveness in the UK and elsewhere such as the health of capital markets, executive pay and the business environment for entrepreneurs.

In addition to her own journalism Anjli sits on the editorial board and writes leaders.

Previously she was Senior Energy Correspondent covering oil and gas companies, Opec energy policy and the global transition towards cleaner fuels. Before joining the natural resources team, she was an editor and reporter in New York writing about the US consumer economy. She has also worked in the New Delhi bureau and on the companies, markets, comment and analysis desks in London since starting at the FT in 2009.

Speaker

André Reichow-Prehn
Managing Partner, Central Europe Unit 42, Palo Alto Networks

André Reichow-Prehn is a managing partner for Central Europe at Unit 42. His expertise ranges from communication interception, exploits, digital forensics to cybersecurity architecture with a focus on military and government systems and he has held national and international public presentations with the topics innovative network security, zero-day-exploits, and cyber warfare.

Prior to joining Unit 42, André was a cybersecurity consulting partner at EY, where he focused on industrial cybersecurity.

He was formerly the head of cybersecurity programs at Rheinmetall Electronics GmbH, where he worked on the business development of Rheinmetall’s cyber intelligence, cybersecurity, and cyber services portfolio. He worked in the defense industry for over seven years with a focus on large military and security projects mainly in the Middle East.

Before his time in the defense industry, he worked many years as a director for a German TecDAX company specialized in semiconductor technology for renewable energies.

Chair

Johan Roos
Exec. Director, Vienna Center for Management Innovation (VCMI) think tank; Presidential Advisor, Hult Internat. Business School

Professor Johan Roos serves as the Chief Academic Officer at HULT International Business School since 2016. He previously served as Dean of Jönköping International Business School and President of Copenhagen Business School. In addition, Dr. Roos has held academic positions at IMD, Stockholm School of Economics, Norwegian Business School, and Wharton School. He co-invented the LEGOÆ Serious PlayÆ method and served as Founding Director of Swiss-based Imagination Lab Foundation and Senior Adviser to Peter Drucker Society Europe.

Chair

Monika Rosen
Vice President Austro-American-Society

Over 30 years of experience in financial markets, formerly Head of Research, now Vice President of the Austro-American Society; degrees from the University of Vienna and Georgia State, Atlanta, GA, USA.

Speaker

Margarete Schramböck
Board Member of Aramco Digital; former Minister of Digital and Economic Affairs in Austria

For many years, Dr. Margarete Schramboeck has held prominent roles in the IT and telecommunications industry. With over 15 years of experience as a top executive at NTT Data and Alcatel, she achieved significant technological advancements and drove substantial business growth. Transitioning to the CEO of A1 Telekom Austria, the largest telecom operator in Central Europe, she continued to leave her mark. In 2018, Dr. Schramboeck was appointed as Minister of Digital and Economic Affairs, where she dedicated herself to the transformation of eGovernment services and the fortification of Austria’s business landscape. Presently, she serves as a board member of ARAMCO DIGITAL and is the founder of MSCH Advisory Consulting. Additionally, to her role as member of various advisory boards, she is an investor in several startups which focuses on data management and generative AI.

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Speaker

Christophe Serna
Entrepreneur, business manager, and advisor

Christophe Serna is an entrepreneur, business manager, and advisor. He is a co-founder and Corporate Business Director of Voyage Privé, a European online travel club specializing in high-end travel, with over 50 million members. Voyage Privé has become a mission-driven company, committed to making a positive impact. Christophe has a diverse background in sales, marketing, finance, and human resources, having held significant roles at companies such as Orange, Alcatel Mobile, and PepsiCo. He has spearheaded the development of the Voyage Privé Campus, a project designed to create bridges between the economic, sports, music, academic, and non-profit initiatives of the company in Aix-en-Provence. The « Campus » fosters engagement and performance while providing a peaceful, sharing and stimulating place to work. Additionally, he served as the President of the Provence Rugby association, demonstrating his commitment to amateur and professional sports.

Speaker

Jayshree Seth
Chief Science Advocate & Corporate Scientist, 3M

Jayshree Seth is a Corporate Scientist at 3M and currently holds 80 patents for a variety of innovations, with several additional pending. She joined 3M in 1993 after an MS and PhD in Chemical Engineering from Clarkson University, New York. She is a Distinguished Alumni Award recipient from her alma mater REC Trichy India, now NIIT Trichy, where she earned a B. Tech. in Chemical Engineering. Jayshree was appointed 3M’s first ever Chief Science Advocate in 2018 and is using her scientific knowledge, technical expertise and professional experience to advance science and communicate the benefits of science and the importance of diversity in STEM fields to drive innovation. She is also a member of Carlton Society which is the 3M Science and Innovation “Hall of Fame.” Jayshree is the fourth woman and first female engineer to be inducted. In 2020, she was awarded Society of Women Engineers (SWE) highest Achievement Award. She is also the first-ever winner of a Gold Stevie® Award in the new Female Thought Leaders of the Year – category in the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business in 2021. Jayshree was featured in a docuseries titled Not the Science Type that premiered during the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was accepted for Brand Storytelling Showcase, a sanctioned event at Sundance Film Festival. She is the author of the books, The Heart of Science – Engineering Footprints, Fingerprints, & Imprints, and The Heart of Science – Engineering Fine Print published by the Society of Women Engineers, and all sales proceeds go to a scholarship for underrepresented minority women in STEM. She is a sought-after speaker, globally, with thought-leadership on a multitude of topics such as innovation, leadership, careers and STEM advocacy and has featured in local, national and international media. 

Jayshree has served on the CEOs Inclusion Council, chaired the 3M Asian Employee Resource Group A3CTION and serves on the Steering Committee for 3M Technical Women’s Leadership Forum (WLF). She also serves on the Board of the Science Museum of Minnesota, Engineering Advisory Council for Clarkson University, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Industry Advisory Council,  Advisory Board for Innovation - The Conference Board, and Advisory Group of Aspen Institute Our Future is Science program.

Jayshree has two adult kids, and her husband also works at 3M.

Speaker

Brian Solis
Head of Global Innovation, ServiceNow, Futurist, Best-Selling Author of Mindshift.

Futurist: Forbes heralded Brian Solis as “one of the more creative and brilliant business minds of our time." He was recently named a "top futurist speaker," by ReadWrite. ZDNet called him “one of the 21st century business world’s leading thinkers.”

Brian helps audiences understand the evolving, complex landscape of digital trends and how they impact our work, markets, and business over time. Whether it’s generative AI, AR/VR or and spatial computing, web3, the metaverse, IoT, digital twins, or robotics and autonomous vehicles and systems, Brian humanizes each wave of emergent disruption to help audiences understand trends and see themselves productively shaping the future. He helps shift people’s mindsets from being overwhelmed, confused, or intimidated to moving forward with curiosity, excitement, and imagination.

Digital Anthropologist: Brian is one of the industry’s first digital anthropologists who helped define the practice and humanized the trends. He observes how technology changes people’s behavior as leaders, employees, or customers and understand their aspirations, their values, how they make decisions, and how they want to work.

Through this research, Brian helps audiences empathize with different generations (Gen-Y, Z, Alpha) and understand how technology creates a cross-generational superset of people with similar behaviors, interests, and aspirations. Brian coined these important groups as Generation-Connected and Generation-Novel.

ServiceNow: Currently, Brian serves as the Head of Global Innovation at ServiceNow. In his role, he sets the strategic direction and programming for ServiceNow's Innovation and Executive Briefing Centers in Silicon Valley, New York, London, Paris, Sydney, and Singapore. Additionally, Brian designs and delivers engagements with customers to advise on digital and business innovation strategies. He writes for leading publications to help executives and customers understand technology and market trends and inspire business model innovation.

United Nations: Brian serves as a special adviser to the UN global innovation team. He develops workshops and keynotes that explore emergent trends and future scenarios, scenario strategies, skills development, and culture and leadership.

Salesforce: As the leader of Global Innovation at Salesforce, Brian gained a reputation as the “CxO Whisperer” because of his ability to translate shifting technology and market trends into actionable strategies. He also has a deep understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing companies and helps leaders think differently about current priorities and investments to future proof their organizations. Brian also partnered with leading

Speaker

Robin Speculand
CEO of Bridges Consultancy Int; Co-founder Strategy Implementation Institute

Robin Speculand lives and breathes strategy and digital implementation. He supports C-suite and boards in transforming their organizations and is well known for his innovative approaches and passionate delivery.

Robin is among the world’s most prolific writers on the subject, having published nine books including World’s Best Bank: A Strategic Guide to Digital Transformation (sold over 25,000 copies in seven languages) and his latest, Implement: Doing It Right in a Digital World.

In 2000, after recognizing the imbalance between strategy and its implementation, he started Bridges Business Consultancy Int to support leaders in delivering world-class implementation. He later co-founded and co-runs the Strategy Implementation Institute and Digital Leadership Specialists.

Robin has pioneered a number of breakthrough methodologies and techniques that feature the Implementation Compass™, a proprietary framework built on the eight areas for excellence for execution; the Implementation Canvas© for identifying an organization’s right actions; the Ticking Clock© Model, a framework for creating a digitally driven organization; the Digital Maturity Index, a self-assessment; and the Digital Best Practices Benchmark.

In 2014, while working with two early adopters of digital transformation—the world’s best bank and the world’s largest luxury company—Robin recognized that digital transformations presented tougher challenges than previous strategy implementations. To understand what organizations face, he conducted research with over 4,000 leaders across four continents in 2019 and again in 2024. This resulted in publishing two highly acclaimed business white papers, “Transforming Your Company into a Digital-Driven Business” and “The Digital Leadership 2024 Perspective.”

Robin’s innovations have been featured in such media as BBC World, CNBC, and Forbes. A TEDx speaker, adjunct faculty at Singapore Management University, and educator for Duke CE, IMD, and the National University of Singapore, he is also a Harvard-listed and award-winning case study writer.

In 2021, Robin was co-nominated with Piyush Gupta, CEO of DBS Bank, for the Thinkers50 Ideas into Practice Award. In both 2021 and 2022, he was awarded the Business Strategist Singapore title. Constantly included in the Top 10 list of Global Management Gurus, he addressed the prestigious Global Peter Drucker Forum in 2023 and 2024 and is recognized in the Singapore speakers Hall of Fame.

The First Minister of Scotland has named this Scotsman a GlobalScot for his passionate contribution to international business. Outside of work, Robin competes in Ironman events.

Speaker

Richard Straub
Founder and President, Global Peter Drucker Forum

Richard Straub has drawn his ample experience of leadership and management from a 32-year career at IBM during which, among other things, he was instrumental in developing IBM’s PC business in Austria and Europe. As IBM Chief Learning Officer he oversaw the initial drive toward e-learning to enhance traditional education programs. Over the past decade, he and his wife Ilse have built up the Global Peter Drucker Forum. Its aim is the continuous improvement of the practice of management in business and in society. Today, the Drucker Forum is recognized globally as a leading management conference, as reflected in strategic partnerships with the likes of the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times and the City of Vienna.

In 2012 Richard Straub was awarded the Heinz von Foerster Prize for Organizational Cybernetics and in 2019 he received the Grand Decoration of Honor for the Republic of Austria in recognition of the impact and reputation of the Drucker Forum.

Speaker

Julie Linn Teigland
Area Managing Partner, EY Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) Member of the EY Global Executive

Julie is Managing Partner of EY Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA), leading a geographic Area comprising EY member firms with more than 150,000 people across 95 countries. Appointed in this role in 2019, she is responsible for all Service Lines, including assurance, tax, consulting, as well as strategy and transactions across the Area.

Since joining in EY in 2001, Julie has served as lead Partner for several Fortune 500 clients and previously held a number of leadership roles within the international practice. She continues to serve top public and private sector clients as a senior advisor, contributing to large-scale transformation and change programs. She is a member of the EY Global Executive and the Global Leader of EY Women. Fast forward.

Julie sits on several boards across Europe and the US, such as Junior Achievement Europe, the Atlantik Brücke, the American Council on Germany and the UN EQUALS Advisory Board. She was recently named one of Fortune magazine’s Most Powerful Women International.

Born in the US, Julie has accumulated over 30 years of international experience with terms in the Netherlands, Germany and now the UK. She studied business in Heidelberg, Frankfurt and Paris and qualified as a US Certified Public Accountant.

Speaker

Philip Tidd
Head of Consulting Europe, Gensler

Philip has over 25 years of experience in workplace consultancy, real estate advisory and design and urban strategy services. As Managing Director of the Gensler Munich office he uses his knowledge of the real estate market to support Gensler clients across industries. His career includes over 20 years working across Europe helping global organisations implement workplace programs attuned to the region’s many cultural and legislative variations. He has also advised numerous European and International Governmental organizations on ways in which enhanced work environments can lead to improved performance.

Philip’s passion for understanding how the rapidly changing nature of work impacts people and the buildings and cities they work in is continuously explored through his regular conference speaking, articles and blogs.  He is an active member of CoreNet and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Speaker

Josée Touchette
Executive Director, OECD

In her capacity as Executive Director (EXD) at the OECD, Josée is responsible for corporate policies and services of the Organisation and, in coordination with the Office of the Secretary General, for contributing to shaping and monitoring the overall corporate strategic directions of the OECD in service to Members and staff.

Josée has held a variety of senior positions in the Public Service of Canada, shaping strategic policy, directing key programs, overseeing operations, delivery and results management.

She is a lawyer, a CPA, holds an MBA as well as the ICD.D designation.

Speaker

Valla Vakili
Global Head of Innovation at Visa

Valla Vakili is the Global Head of Innovation at Visa. A forward-thinking leader, Valla is motivated by helping firms adapt to and capitalize on changes brought by new digital technologies and business models. His approach to innovation is comparative and bespoke, drawing lessons from a range of industries and tailoring them to meet the unique challenges of payments and commerce. Guided by principles of simplicity, optimism, and outside-in-thinking, he leads teams across Visa’s global network of Innovation Centers and Studios to create next-generation products and solutions.

Before joining Visa, Valla served as Managing Director and Head of Citi Ventures Studio. There, he developed award-winning digital products, established centers of excellence in emerging fields, and co-founded Citi’s startup accelerator, D10X. Prior to Citi, Valla spent 15 years in digital media and technology, as a startup founder and CEO, and in product leadership roles at Yahoo and iHeartMedia.

Valla's innovative work has led to patented inventions in interactive television content delivery and commerce. His career, spanning high-growth tech firms, established corporations, startups, and complex global organizations, has provided him with a unique, hands-on insight into innovation and growth. Leading teams in these varied environments has honed his ability to drive innovation in organizations at any stage of growth.

Valla is a graduate of Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and has conducted doctoral research in Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oxford. He currently serves as Board Co-Chair at Ecole Bilingue de Berkeley and resides in the Bay Area with his wife and two children.

Speaker

Bernardo Vargas Gibsone
Managing Director at the DigitalBridge Group

Mr. Vargas joined the DigitalBridge Group (DBRG) in 2022, as Managing Director, Head of LATAM and non-exec Chairman of Infrabridge. DBRG manages over 80 billion USD in digital infrastructure making it one of the largest funds in the world dedicated to digital investments.

From 2015 to 2022, Mr. Vargas was the CEO of ISA (www.isa.co), a leading multi-latin group focusing on three different businesses: Electric Power Transmission, Road Concessions and Information and Communications Technology. Founded in 1967, ISA operates through 44 affiliated companies in 7 countries in Latin America.

Until 2015, Mr. Vargas was founding partner of Nogal Asesorias Financieras, an investment banking advisory boutique in Colombia specializing in local and cross-border M&A which he sold in 2016 to GBS Finanzas a Spanish investment bank.

Previously was managing director at ING Barings where he headed the corporate and investment banking operations in Colombia. Mr. Vargas joined Baring Securities in 1994 as Head of Colombia and was subsequently appointed as President and CEO for the merged operations of Barings and ING Colombia on January 1997.

Mr. Vargas was founding CEO of Proexport Colombia (www.procolombia.co) the Colombia export promotion entity also acted as Advisor to the Minister of Foreign Trade.

He started his professional career at the Colombian Central Bank (Banco de la República) where through his nine year tenure in different positions was in charge, among other responsibilities, of the management of Colombia’s foreign reserves portfolio.

He has been a member or chair of numerous boards across the years.

More than 20 years YPO member (www.ypo.org) and member of the G50 since 2016 (www.G50.org).

Mr. Vargas obtained an MBA from Columbia University and an Economics BA and MS candidate from Universidad de Los Andes, in Bogotá, Colombia.

Speaker

Katja von Raven
Member of the board of management of the Bosch Group

Katja von Raven has been a member of the board of management of Robert Bosch GmbH since October 1, 2024, with responsibility for the Power Tools division and for Bosch Global Service Solutions.

Katja von Raven was born in Erlangen, Germany, on January 16, 1971. She is widowed. Following an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at Siemens, she studied business economics at the University of Reutlingen in Germany and Middlesex University in the United Kingdom. In 2004, she was awarded an MBA by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, USA.

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Speaker

John Walsh
VP of Technology, CTO Fujitsu Europe

John has over 30 Years’ experience in the technology industry, particularly Architecture, Consulting and Software development. He has held multiple roles within Fujitsu creating solutions with Customers in Financial Services, Manufacturing, Law Enforcement, Retail, Telecommunications, and the Public Sector.

John has a keen interest in R & D having spent 3 years working on behalf of Fujitsu Laboratories in applied research (AI - ML, Graph Generation & Deep Tensor). This was followed by 2 years in Quantum inspired technologies and QUBO design. His current interest is in the combination of accelerating AI learning models using Quantum Techniques. He has a deep interest in the mathematics which underpins AI Ethics and the detection of bias in training data sets. He is an expert in the field of real-time computing and signalling processing.

John is at his best when given a business challenge and can apply technology to solve it, and a key element of his remit is to provide Customers with early insight and adoption to Fujitsu Laboratory applied research.

John is a Computer Scientist and a Mathematician. John is married with one child and when not being the European CTO works on the family horse farm in Ireland and is a keen motorcycle racer.

Speaker

Bart Weetjens
Zen priest and social entrepreneur

Bart Weetjens is a Zen Buddhist monk, internationally celebrated social entrepreneur, and personal growth coach. He holds a Masters in Product Design from Antwerp University, Belgium, and was ordained a Buddhist monk in the Soto Zen tradition (Deshimaru lineage) in 2001.  

Based on his youth passion for pet rats and with a vision of appropriate technologies to empower vulnerable communities of subsistence farmers in post-war countries who are affected by the threat of landmines and unexploded ordinances, he took the initiative to develop detection rats technology (aka HeroRATs) in 1995. In 1998 he founded the Belgian charity APOPO to deploy and disseminate his technology in the South. Bart also initiated the use of his appropriate technology to address other humanitarian detection applications, including Tuberculosis screening, search and rescue operations after structural collapse, and customs applications. Thanks to APOPO’s mine action operations, the Mozambican government was able to declare the country free of landmines in 2015, two and a half years ahead of schedule. In the process, more than a million subsistence farmers were able to return to their villages to lead a life free from fear. When his organization reached a global scale in 2015, Bart transitioned from his executive role in the organization to focus on the practice and dissemination of Zen meditation. In the same year, he joined The Wellbeing Project, a catalyst movement to foster a culture of wellbeing for all changemakers.  

Bart received numerous recognitions for his humanitarian work, a.o. The World Bank Development Marketplace award in 2003 and Ashoka fellowship in 2007. He received the Global Social Entrepreneur of the year award at the World Economic Forum in 2008, and he won the prestigious Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship in 2009.  

Currently, Bart serves as a trusted sounding board for leaders who pursue their noble purpose. He facilitates Zen retreats and inspires various audiences through public speaking and wellbeing workshops.

Speaker

David Weinberger
Senior Researcher, Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, Harvard University

In books, articles, posts, classes, and talks, David Weinberger, Ph.D. explores the effect of technology on ideas. He is a senior researcher  at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society and is currently serving as writer-in-residence at Google PAIR (People + AI Research). His latest book, Everyday Chaos (HBR Press) was named Best Business Commentary of 2020 by Axiom, among other international awards. He also edits the open access Strong Ideas book series for MIT Press.

In his varied career, he has been a marketing communications VP and consultant to hi-tech companies, co-director of the Harvard Library Innovation Lab,  a journalism fellow at Harvard's Shorenstein Center, an adviser to presidential campaigns, a Franklin Fellow at the U.S. State Department, and a philosophy professor.

Beginning with the best-seller Cluetrain Manifesto, in five books he has explored the effect of technology on knowledge, on how we organize our ideas, on business, and on the core concepts by which we understand our world.

Dr. Weinberger has a doctorate in philosophy from the University of Toronto and lives in the Boston area.

Chair

Ania Wieckowski Masinter
Executive Editor, Harvard Business Review

Ania W. Masinter is an Executive Editor at Harvard Business Review, where she focuses on people management, psychology, diversity, and innovation.

Speaker

Peter Williamson
Professor of International Management, University of Cambridge

Peter Williamson is Professor of International Management at the University of Cambridge, Judge Business School and Fellow of Jesus College.

Peter divides his time between research, teaching, and consulting on internationalisation, M&A, and business ecosystem innovation, and serving as a non-executive director or chairman.

With a first degree in Economics, he began his business career with Merrill Lynch in London. After completing his PhD in Business Economics at Harvard University in 1984, he joined the Boston Consulting Group.

During his subsequent academic a career, he has held professorships at London Business School, Harvard Business School and INSEAD (in Fontainebleau and Singapore). He was elected Fellow of the Academy of International Business in 2018 in recognition of his contribution to the field.

In parallel, Peter has served as a non-executive director of both listed and private companies across a wide variety of industries, including: textiles; whisky; green energy; hedge funds; software; and sales training. He is currently Chairman of the fast-growing, digital process automation cloud services company Bizagi Group Inc.

Peter has also been visiting China regularly since 1983, assisting numerous multinationals, joint ventures, and Chinese companies venturing abroad.

He is the author of ten books, his latest being: Ecosystem Edge: Sustaining Competitiveness in the Face of Disruption. Other books include: The Competitive Advantage of Emerging Market Multinationals; Dragons at Your Door; Winning in Asia; and From Global to Metanational. His more than 60 other articles span Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of Industrial Economics, and managerial pieces such as “Ecosystem Advantage: How to successfully harness the power of partners”; “The New Mission for Multinationals”, “Accelerated Innovation”, “Strategies for Competing in a Changed China” and “Is Your Innovation Process Global?” (all in the MIT-Sloan Management Review) and “How China Re-Set Its Global Acquisition Agenda”, “China’s Hidden Dragons”, and “How to Monetize a Business Ecosystem” (all in Harvard Business Review).

Speaker

Eckart Windhagen
Emeritus Senior Partner, McKinsey & Company

Eckart Windhagen recently concluded his career as a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company in August 2024. Over his 30-year tenure with the firm, he advised leading financial services institutions across Europe and globally, as well as public sector entities, specializing in long-term transformation and crisis management. Renowned as a trusted advisor and coach, he has worked closely with CEOs and board members within his focus industries. In addition to his consulting work, Eckart played a pivotal role in the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), the firm’s macroeconomic think tank, where he co-led research on global wealth, capital flows, transformation finance, and productivity. He is a frequent speaker and panelist on these topics. Eckart holds a barrister degree and a PhD in European competition law.

Speaker

John Winsor
Founder and CEO, Open Assembly; Executive in Residence, Harvard Business School

John Winsor is the Founder and CEO of Open Assembly, a leading organization dedicated to fostering innovation and collaboration through open talent models. In this role, John is responsible for guiding the strategic vision and execution of Open Assembly's initiatives. He leads a team in developing and implementing programs that connect organizations with a global network of skilled professionals, driving efficiency and creativity. His expertise in open innovation and talent ecosystems positions him as a key thought leader, influencing the future of work and the gig economy. John ensures that Open Assembly remains at the forefront of transforming how businesses access and leverage talent for various projects and challenges.

Speaker

Avivah Wittenberg-Cox
Founder and CEO, 20-first

 Avivah is CEO, writer, speaker, coach, consultant, change agent – depending on the call and the context. She is a global expert on 21st century leadership, gender and generational balance, longevity and the future of work and careers, helping individuals and organisations manage the transitions and extensions of the 2nd and 3rd Quarters of 100-year lives. Themes summarised in her graphic book Thriving to 100 – Through Life’s 4 Quarters and regularly featured on her longevity-focused podcast 4-Quarter Lives and weekly substack, elderberries.

Avivah is a Visiting Lecturer at OXFORD Said Business School, runs a Thriving To 100 programme for INSEAD alumni, and is co-Director of Catolica Lisbon’s Longevity Leadership executive education programme. She’s an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University in Chicago and has published several LINKED IN Learning courses. She’s also an Ambassador for the Stanford Center on Longevity, and the Global Peter Drucker Forum, and sits on the Boards of the National Innovation Centre on Ageing (NICA) and the Chartered Management Institute’s ‘Everyone Economy’ Board. A Fellow of Harvard’s 2022 Advanced Leadership Program, in 2023, Avivah was inducted into the  Thinkers50 Hall of Fame.

Born in Canada of European parents, she is a bilingual tri-national (French, Swiss and Canadian), now based in London with her British husband after several decades in Paris, and has two very charming, gender-balanced children (a son and daughter) who occasionally visit from Dakar and New York city.

Speaker

Adrian Wooldridge
Global Business Columnist at Bloomberg Opinion

Adrian Wooldridge is the global business columnist for Bloomberg Opinion. Before taking up that role, he worked for the Economist for 32 years, writing, at various times, the Lexington, Schumpeter and Bagehot columnists. An Oxford graduate, he is the author or co-author of eleven books, most recently The Aristocracy of Talent: How Meritocracy Made the Modern World.

Chair

Howard Yu
Professor of Management & Innovation, IMD

Howard Yu, hailing from Hong Kong, is LEGO® Professor of Management and Innovation at IMD. He leads the Center for Future Readiness, founded in 2020 with support from the LEGO Brand Group, to guide companies through strategic transformation.
Recognized globally for his expertise, in 2023 he was honored with the Thinkers50 Strategy Award, recognizing his substantial contributions to management strategy and future readiness. His additional inclusion into the Thinkers50 list places him among the top global management thinkers.

Today, Yu co-directs the Strategy for Future Readiness program and has delivered tailored training to global companies including ABB, Bosch, the LEGO Group, Novo Nordisk, Electrolux, Heineken, Maersk, Booking.com and many others.

His ongoing work has been published in journals such as Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. His case studies have won several awards from the European Foundation for Management Development and The Case Centre. He regularly appears on media outlets including Bloomberg, CNBC, and the BBC.

His book, LEAP: How to Thrive in a World Where Everything Can Be Copied, published in 2018, has earned multiple awards, including an Axiom Business Book Awards Gold Medal and the strategy+business Best Business Book award. He joined IMD in 2011 after completing a doctoral degree at Harvard Business School. He worked in Hong Kong as a banker at the start of his career.

Speaker

Rainer Zahradnik
Country Head Switzerland, Tata Consultancy Services

Rainer Zahradnik is the Country Head and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services in Switzerland. He heads the Swiss organization and is responsible for strengthening TCS’ presence in the region by driving business growth and reinforcing customer relationships.

Prior to this assignment,  Rainer led the TCS Switzerland’s sales and  was responsible for improving the company’s growth trajectory in the region. He also managed Financial solutions services across the DACH region,  while being the head of the Swiss Center of Excellence for Private Banking.

Rainer has over 36 years of experience in business & technology working in Banking, Insurance, Telecom, CPG and Public Sector industries. While being focused on doing what is right for the customer, Rainer is entrepreneurial and has strong understanding of the technology business. Before joining TCS, he founded multiple companies in Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the UK, mainly in the consulting and software development space across Banking, Telecom and Public Sector segments. His other professional achievements include efficiently managing a greenfield development of a new Java-based core banking application for Swiss Cantonal Banks  and driving growth & profitability at a global IT Services company as a VP & GM for UK & Europe.

Rainer is Austrian and holds an M.Sc. in Computer Science and  Post Graduate Degree in Public Administration and Finance. He is passionate about mentoring students, empowering teams and serves on the board of Swiss and Belgian Consulting and Coaching Companies.

Rainer is married with two children and lives in Canton Solothurn in Switzerland.

Speaker

Michele Zanini
Co-founder, Management Lab

Michele Zanini is the cofounder of the Management Lab, a firm dedicated to developing knowledge, technology and tools to support breakthrough management innovation. The goal: to help large organizations become more daring, resilient, creative, and inspiring places to work.  He is co-author of the Wall Street Journal bestselling book, Humanocracy: Creating Organizations as Amazing as the People Inside Them (Harvard Business Review Press, 2020; 2nd edition due out in 2025), and his work frequently appears on the pages of the Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, the McKinsey Quarterly. Fast Company, and Fortune.

As an advisor, Michele has led change initiatives in many of the world’s most admired companies. He helps clients build break-out strategies and enlarge their entrepreneurial and creative edge.

Speaker

Lina Zemaitytė-Kirkman
Certified Digital Wellbeing consultant; CEO ROCKIT Vilnius

Lina Žemaitytė Kirkman is on a mission to promote digital wellbeing, bolster workplace productivity, and prevent digital burnout in our always-on digital world.

As a certified digital wellbeing consultant with an MSc in Business Psychology, Lina possesses in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior and 15 years of experience in the e-commerce, banking and innovation sectors. She takes a holistic view of the relationship between people and technology, aiming for technology to serve us, not the other way around.

Lina is a sought-after speaker on digital wellbeing, regularly invited to share her insights with companies, on radio and TV shows, and at conferences. She has been ranked as one of the Top 10 speakers at the LOGIN conference in Lithuania.

Currently, Lina also serves as the CEO of ROCKIT Vilnius, a financial technology and sustainable innovation center in Lithuania.