Speaker

Alex Adamopoulos
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Emergn

Alex, a seasoned executive with over 30 years of experience, is a proven leader in driving organizational transformation through innovative business practices and technology adoption.

Throughout his career, Alex has navigated diverse landscapes, including high-growth startups, private equity, venture capital, and established enterprises. This multifaceted experience has equipped him with a unique blend of entrepreneurial spirit and deep industry knowledge.

His leadership journey includes senior executive roles at prominent organizations such as EMC and ISC (an Accenture joint venture). In 2009, he founded Emergn, a global digital business firm that has successfully guided hundreds of Fortune and FTSE companies on their transformative journeys.

Under Alex's leadership, Emergn has established itself as a trusted partner, empowering organizations to accelerate change, enhance their capabilities, and achieve sustainable business outcomes.

A recognized thought leader, Alex actively contributes to industry discourse through his writing for Forbes and his role as a Board member of the Drucker Society. He is a sought-after speaker, author, and mentor, inspiring and guiding the next generation of business leaders.

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

https://www.emergn.com

Speaker

Simone Ahuja
Global Keynote Speaker, Bestselling Author. Founder, Blood Orange Innovation

Dr. Simone Ahuja is a champion of intrapreneurship; a gritty and inclusive approach to driving innovation and growth in large organizations.  A global keynote speaker, bestselling author, and former dentist, she serves as a trusted advisor to the Fortune 500, guiding innovation, strategy and change initiatives across sectors. Simone utilizes her research, hands on experience with major organizations, and background in improvisational comedy to transform complex topics into fun, accessbile and meaningful experiences for global audiences.

Speaker

Bill Anderson
CEO, Bayer AG

William N. (Bill) Anderson has been a member of the Board of Management of Bayer AG since April 1, 2023, and became Chairman of the Board of Management (CEO) on June 1, 2023.

Born in Ohio, USA, in 1966, Bill Anderson holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas, as well as Master of Science degrees in Chemical Engineering and Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

He began his career in 1989 at Ethyl Corporation, holding positions in Belgium and the Netherlands. In 1995, he joined Raychem Corporation before moving to biotechnology company Biogen in 1997, where he held leadership roles in finance, country management, and the neurology business. In 2006, he joined Genentech and later led its oncology business.

In 2013, Anderson joined Roche Pharmaceuticals as Head of Global Product Strategy and Chief Marketing Officer. He returned to Genentech in 2016, became CEO in 2017, and was appointed CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals in Switzerland in 2019. In 2023, he joined Bayer as CEO.

Speaker

Carla Arellano
Operating Partner, InTandem Capital Partners

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Josef Aschbacher
Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA)

Born in Austria, Josef Aschbacher studied at the University of Innsbruck, where he obtained a Master’s degree and a PhD in natural sciences. He has built a distinguished international career in space, with more than 35 years of professional experience spanning the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Commission, the Austrian Space Agency, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the University of Innsbruck.

As Chief Executive Officer of ESA, Dr Aschbacher is responsible for the definition, implementation and development of Europe’s space infrastructure and activities. This includes launchers, satellites performing Earth observation, navigation, telecommunication and space science, together with robotic exploration and ESA astronaut missions. He is responsible for an annual budget of €8 billion and a workforce of 6000 distributed across several establishments, principally in Europe.

When taking up office as ESA Director General, Dr Aschbacher introduced a new strategy for space in Europe, called ‘Agenda 2025’, aimed at accelerating significantly the use of space in Europe through major new initiatives and programmes. His proposal for ESA’s 2025 Ministerial Council marked a historic milestone, securing the largest Member State contributions ever – totalling €22.3 billion.

From 2016 to 2021, he served as ESA Director for Earth Observation Programmes and Head of ESA’s ESRIN establishment in Frascati, Italy. In this role, he was a key leader of the European Copernicus programme, which has grown beyond all expectations and is now considered to be one of the most ambitious and successful Earth observation programmes in the world.

Dr Aschbacher has held various positions within ESA since 2001, both in Paris and Frascati. Prior to this, from 1994 to 2000, he worked at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, in his latest position serving as Scientific Assistant to the Director of the Space Applications Institute. From 1991 to 1993, he served as ESA Representative in Southeast Asia, where he developed regional projects while also holding a full-time academic position as an Associate Professor at AIT Bangkok.

In recognition of his contributions, Dr Aschbacher became ‘Grande Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana’ in 2021, the highest distinction accorded to non-Italian nationals. More recently, in 2025, he was awarded the ‘Grosses Ehrenzeichen für Verdienste um die Republik Österreich’ by the government of Austria. The decoration was presented by the Minister responsible for space, Mrs Leonore Gewessler.

Speaker

Eva Asselmann
Professor of Differential and Personality Psychology at HMU Health and Medical University in Potsdam

Eva Asselmann is Professor of Personality Psychology at HMU Health and Medical University in Potsdam. Her research explores how people develop the psychological capabilities needed to thrive in an increasingly complex and unpredictable world. She leads international research on personality development, self-efficacy, stress, and prevention and was most recently a visiting researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Eva is the author of numerous scientific publications and several bestselling books, including the SPIEGEL bestseller Too Much, in which she argues that resilience, innovation, and sustainable performance depend less on increasing control than on strengthening human agency.

Speaker

Maud Bailly
CEO Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems – Accor Luxury & Lifestyle

After graduating successively from the Ecole Normale Supérieure, Sciences Po Paris and the ENA, Maud Bailly began her career at the Inspection Générale des Finances and joinedthe SNCF in 2011 to become Director of the Gare Montparnasse, before joining the cabinet of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, to become Head of the economic and digital pole. In April 2017, she joined Accor where she was appointed Chief Digital Officer, member of the Executive Committee, in charge of Digital, Data, Information Systems, Distribution, Sales and Customer Experience. In October 2020, Maud became CEO of the Southern Europe Hub, with the mission of operating and developing the Group’s business in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Malta and Israel. As a member of the Executive Committee, she was responsible for both operational performance and the quality of customer and partner relations in this strategic area of nearly 1,900 hotels. Finally, in January 2023, she is appointed CEO of Sofitel Legend, Sofitel, MGallery & Emblems with almost 250 hotels and member of Accor’s Luxury & Lifestyle Executive Committee.

Speaker

Bastian Bergmann
Founder and Author

Bastian Bergmann is the author of Press Play - Why Every Company Needs a Gaming Strategy and the cofounder and COO of Solsten, a technology startup that provides foundational human intelligence using psychological data so companies, agents, and AI models can provide truly personalized experiences. He is also the founder of media strategy firm Technically Entertaining. Previously a strategy consultant at Boston Consulting Group, Bergmann has spent his entire career at the intersection of digital strategy, media, and AI and frequently advises startups, scale-ups, as well as public sector organizations.

Speaker

Lily Bi
President and CEO of AACSB International

Lily Bi is President and CEO of AACSB International, the world’s largest business school association. At AACSB, she is leading a bold transformation of standards, accreditation, research impact and the organization’s governance to reposition AACSB and redefine the role of business schools. 

Prior to AACSB, Lily held senior global executive roles across the U.S., Japan, Singapore, and China, where she led large-scale growth, transformation, and market expansion initiatives across multiple industries. She is widely recognized for her leadership in global standard-setting, institutional transformation, and the advancement of professional credentialing worldwide. 

Lily holds a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), an MBA, and Master in Computer Science. 

Speaker

Doris Birkhofer
President of Siemens France; CEO of Siemens Smart Infrastructure

Doris Birkhofer, a committed FrancoGerman and European business leader, has been President of Siemens France since October 1, 2021, and Managing Director of Siemens Smart Infrastructure France. The geographical scope of both her roles also includes BeLux and the Maghreb.

After graduating from ESB Business School in Reutlingen and NEOMA Business School in Reims, she has built her career in technology companies in Germany, the United States, and then in France, where she has lived since 2009. She has held key operational and strategic roles — including executive positions — at Saint Gobain, Alcoa/Arconic, and Siemens, and has consistently advocated for industrial and infrastructure competitiveness through technological innovation, digitalization, and the energy transition.

Doris is committed to Gimelec as member of its Board of Directors.

Committed to strengthening Franco-German economic ties, she has been a member of the Supervisory Board of the Franco-German bank Oddo BHF (since 2017), President of the Franco-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (2025), and a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of DEKRA e.V (2024).

Convinced that diversity is a source of strength and a performance driver, Doris Birkhofer has long been involved in promoting diversity in scientific and industrial professions. She chairs the Siemens France Foundation and supports associations such as Elles Bougent and Femmes Ingénieurs. She is also a member of the Strategic Council of Paris Université Cité (2025) and joined the Board of Directors of NEOMA Business School as an independent board member (2025).

Doris Birkhofer is a Knight of the French Legion of Honour.

Speaker

Mathis Bitton
Doctor of Philosophy, Harvard University

Mathis Bitton is a Ph.D. candidate in Harvard’s Government Department. A political theorist by training, his research focuses on the history, philosophy, and politics of technology. He is the coauthor of two forthcoming books, A Bounded Web: Platforms and the Crisis of Social Life (Cambridge University Press) and Smart Citizens: Using AI to Revive Local Democracy (MIT Press). Before graduate school, Mathis co-founded and sold a cybersecurity start-up. His writing has appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, and The New Statesman. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Yale College.

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

Loes Bresseleers
Global Head of HR at argenx

Loes Bresseleers is Global Head of HR at argenx, a global immunology innovation company. With HR leadership experience across countries and industries, she is passionate about creating organizations where people, teams and innovation can thrive. At argenx, her focus is on scaling a network of empowered teams while preserving the entrepreneurial spirit, human ingenuity and their unique way of working that fuels breakthrough innovation for patients.

Speaker

Gonzalo Brujó
Global CEO & President at Interbrand

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Thomas Bubendorfer
Solo climber and author

When he was only 16, Thomas became the youngest climber in history to solo climb the hardest rock faces of his time. At 20 he revolutionized extreme mountaineering by solo climbing without ropes the highest and hardest mountain faces in in the Alps in unprecedented, breath-taking speed. Many of his solo climbs stand unparalleled to this day.

While climbing remains the most important and influential activity in his life, Thomas, now 56, is not just a climber. He has always sought to balance his intense physical activities - training up to 400 hours per year, and climbing 120 days per year - by training his mind. He speaks four languages and has written seven books. Presently he is working on his first book in English. He keeps studying subjects as varied as chaos science, neurobiology, brain science, philosophy and history.

An international keynote speaker since 1985, Thomas has shared his views on performance, self-responsibility, goal-setting, quality, crisis, teamwork and many more related topics with audiences of many of the leading companies in the world.

Thomas is a father of three children and travels around the world giving a maximum of 30 keynote speeches in Asia, the US and Europe. He coaches and consults business leaders in the art of „intelligent performance" and is brand ambassador to Porsche.

Speaker

Sapthagiri Chapalapalli
Head of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) Europe

Sapthagiri “Saptha” Chapalapalli leads TCS Europe, overseeing the company’s growth and transformation across the region while collaborating with global enterprises to explore new possibilities and business models grounded in the principles of the perpetually adaptive enterprise.

With more than 30 years of global experience across India, Europe, and North America, Saptha brings practical expertise and strategic vision. He has guided organizations through transformative journeys, modernizing their cloud and data ecosystems, strengthening cybersecurity foundations, and unlocking new business models powered by AI. Central to his approach is the design and execution of next‑generation operating models that embody the perpetually adaptive enterprise, enabling organizations to become more adaptive, resilient, and purpose‑driven in the face of rapid disruption. He co‑creates with customers to deliver inclusive, sustainable growth and efficiency.

Beyond business, Saptha is actively involved with academia, bringing industry insights to help shape the leaders of tomorrow. He serves on the advisory boards of the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) Berlin, T.A. Pai Management Institute (TAPMI), and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Sirmaur in India.

Speaker

Martin Curley
Professor of Innovation at Maynooth University; Director of the Digital Health Ecosystem at the Innovatiojn Value Institute

Martin Curley is Professor of Innovation at Maynooth University and Director of the Digital Health Ecosystem at the Innovation Value Institute at Maynooth University, Ireland. Most recently Martin was Chief Information Officer and Director of Digital Transformation for Ireland’s National Health Service (HSE) and was founder of the National Digital Academy and is co-Director of a National MSc in Digital Health Transformation in Ireland. Immediately prior to this Martin was Senior Vice President at Mastercard and head of Global Digital Practice. Martin is chair of the UNGA Digital Health Symposium and has previously been Vice President, Senior Principal Engineer and Director of Intel Labs Europe as well as Global Director of IT Innovation at Intel Corporation.

As chair of the European Commission OISPG he led the development of the new Open Innovation 2.0 paradigm, and he is the co-founder of the Innovation Value Institute in Maynooth University where he led the development of the IT Capability Maturity Framework used by over eight hundred organizations globally to improve the value created from their IT/Digital capability. He has also held engineering management positions at Philips and General Electronic. Martin has been identified as a top 10 global influential, inspiring and impactful health leader/educator by several international publications and was awarded European Chief Technology Officer of the year in 2015. He is the author of nine books on Innovation, Digital and Entrepreneurship and has keynoted and led executive education across the world from Boston to Beijing and Sydney to Sao Paolo.  He was awarded Irish National Digital Leader of the Year award in 2024 and the world Public Sector Innovation award with HSE in 2020. 

You can find more information on Martin at www.MartinCurley.eu 

Speaker

Luciana D’Abramo
Chief Programme Officer and a Board Member of FOUR PAWS International

Luciana D’Abramo is the Chief Programme Officer and a Board Member of FOUR PAWS International, global animal welfare organisation headquartered in Vienna. With more than 20 years of experience spanning both the corporate and non-profit sectors, she brings a rare combination of strategic acumen, cross-sector insight, and deep humanitarian commitment to her work.

At FOUR PAWS, Luciana leads global programmes advancing sustainable change for animals, people, and the planet. Her leadership is grounded in the belief that animal welfare and human wellbeing are inseparable – and that the way we treat animals and the environment is integral to achieving global health and resilience.

Prior to joining FOUR PAWS, Luciana held senior roles at SOS Children’s Villages International and in multinational corporations such as Samsung and Unilever. She holds an MBA from SKK Graduate School of Business in Seoul in partnership with MIT.

Speaker

George Q. Daley
Dean Harvard Medical School

George Q. Daley, MD, PhD is Caroline Shields Walker Professor of Medicine, Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, and dean of Harvard Medical School. His research laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital investigates stem cell and cancer biology, with a focus on hematopoietic development and diseases of the bone marrow, blood and immune system.

Daley earned his AB and MD degrees from Harvard and a PhD in biology from MIT. Prior to becoming Dean at HMS, he was an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Director of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation Program of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Boston Children’s Hospital.

He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine and the American Association of Arts and Sciences.

Speaker

Emily M. Dickens
Chief Administrative Officer, SHRM

Emily M. Dickens, J.D., is a 2025 Top Lobbyist honoree recognized by the National Institute for Lobbying & Ethics for her leadership in shaping workplace and workforce policy. She serves as Chief Administrative Officer for SHRM—the world’s largest HR trade association and the fourth largest trade association globally. As a member of SHRM’s executive leadership team, she drives organizational effectiveness and impact across governance, global policy, legal, real estate, and philanthropy, while serving as a trusted advisor to the CEO and Board of Directors.

A sought-after thought leader on workplace trends, HR leadership, and business policy, Dickens is frequently featured in top media outlets including CNN, CBS News, NBC News, AP News, The Wall Street Journal, CNBC, Bloomberg Law, Crain’s, Marketplace, WTOP, and Yahoo Finance. She has testified before Congress and the EEOC on topics such as artificial intelligence, gender bias, and paid leave, bringing SHRM’s expertise directly to policymakers.

Dickens amplifies SHRM’s voice on key global, national, and local platforms by holding influential roles as Governance Committee Member of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB), Vice Chair of The Bryce Harlow Foundation, and Board Member of SkillUp Coalition and the National Foundation for Women Legislators.

Before joining SHRM in 2018, Dickens built a distinguished career in higher education and nonprofit leadership. Her prior roles include General Counsel and Head of Policy for the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, Vice President of Public Policy for the Association of Governing Boards of Colleges and Universities, and Assistant Vice President for Federal Affairs at the University of North Carolina System. She also held administrative and external affairs positions at Duke University and Fayetteville State University.

A three-time graduate of North Carolina Central University (B.A., M.A., and J.D.), Dickens is the Immediate Past Chair of the NCCU Board of Trustees. She is Co-Chair of the HR Committee for the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) Board of Directors and a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, where she has served as Chairman of the International HBCU Task Force and on the Education Advancement Foundation Board of
Directors.

Speaker

Atje Drexler
Senior Vice President for Futures and Networks, Robert Bosch Stiftung

Atje Drexler is Senior Vice President for Futures and Networks at the Robert Bosch Stiftung, Germany, which includes the Foundation’s programs addressing political decision makers, strategic foresight and the Robert Bosch Academy. From 2019 to 2024 she headed the department Global Issues overseeing the work in the topics Inequality and Peace.
 
Atje has been with the Robert Bosch Stiftung since 2001 starting her career in the Health and Science Department where she held the position of Deputy Head of Department from 2007 through 2012. From 2013 to 2019 she headed the department International Relations Europe and its Neighbors and was responsible for developing the Africa portfolio of the Robert Bosch Stiftung. Before joining the foundation, she worked in the automotive industry after graduating from the University of Göttingen in 1998 with degrees in Slavic Studies and Economics.

Speaker

Florence Dupré
Global Healthcare Officer, La Poste Santé & Autonomie, founder of Women for CEO

Florence Dupré is leading companies and has dedicated her career to ensure medical, pharmaceutical, and/or technological innovations improving healthcare efficiency get quicker access to the patients for whom they are indicated.

Florence Dupré holds a master's degree in biology and biochemistry from the École Normale Supérieure ULM and a master's degree in marketing management from ESSEC. After contributing to numerous launches in international pharmaceutical companies, she embarked on more entrepreneurial roles by creating the French subsidiaries of BioAlliance Pharma (now Onxeo) and Vifor Pharma, before joining Abbvie in an international commercial and transformation leader role. She then joined the French subsidiary of Medtronic, a world leader in healthcare technologies, where as president of the affiliate she changed the governance and trajectory of the company to   get back to growth in a sustainable way.

In 2023, she joined Dominique Pon at La Poste to implement the healthcare strategy, manage a portfolio of companies, and develop international healthcare activities as Global Healthcare Officer.

La Poste Santé & Autonomie is a trusted third party gathering 7 different business model companies in digital health, hospital information systems, remote patient monitoring, home care, data & AI.

It reflects the desire to provide a comprehensive, sustainable, and responsible response to the growing needs of citizens and healthcare stakeholders, in a context of demographic aging and increased chronic pathology pressure on the healthcare system, based on a philosophy of trust, proximity, and public interest, which is at the heart of La Poste Group's DNA.

In 2024 she founded Women for CEO : a parity by design  movement gathering 600 cross industry leaders personally committed to develop themselves toward a more inclusive and efficient leadership and reach parity at the top of our organizations by 2035.

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

Abdelmoula El Hadi
Group Head of Innovation EMEA & APAC Knauf Insulation

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Melinda Lee Ferguson
VP of, Sales Acceleration, EMEA, Palo Alto Networks

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

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

Arne Gast
Senior Partner and global leader of Culture and Change Leadership serviceline, McKinsey and Company; co-founder, Aberkyn

Arne leads our global offering on “Change by McKinsey”, our team of >1,000 change experts who support culture shifts in performance transformations, new operating models, mergers and green fields. Moreover, he is one of the co-founders and current Chair of Aberkyn.

As one of our most experienced functional experts, he has works across industries, including airlines, retail platforms, oil and gas, chemicals, banking, insurance and telco’s. They include leading multinationals, emerging unicorns and rising global champions – with ownership varying from state-owned entities, publicly-owned enterprises, PE-owned companies, family-owned conglomerates and government institutions.

Arne is a global citizen. He previously led all our Organization work across Asia-Pacific from his base in Kuala Lumpur. He is now based in Amsterdam, and serves clients across Europe, Asia and Middle East. 

Selected examples of his work in Leadership Development

• Design and facilitation of top team/top25 culture leadership program of national airline in Europe, to deliver change in turbulent times
• Developing the leadership model, leadership program for top50, capability programs for top500 of leading Asian insurance company
• Drive integrated transformation, including culture shifts and leadership development of a leading internet platform in Europe
• Shaping the new culture (and purpose and strategy) for Asian startup in real estate, part of broader family conglomerate
• Developing the culture model, top100 leadership program and young talent program for multi-merger agrichem company
• Shaping the culture change of Asian telcom player, through top100 approach and supporting mechanisms
• Shaping the culture change of leading Asian bank through team-by-team approach and supporting mechanisms
• Driving the culture change in global maintenance operations for leading airline
• Shaping the culture program and delivering the top50 leadership program of leading global medtech player
• New top100 leadership development program to deliver the leading global dairy merger

Arne has written multiple McKinsey Quarterly articles, most recently on “The Agentic Organization”, “The Power of Organizational Health”, “Organizational Health in Public Organizations” , “New Leadership in an era of thriving organizations” and “Personal Operating Models”. He was part of the teams writing the books Reorg, Blue Ocean Strategy, Beyond Performance, and Leadership at Scale. He is currently working on his book called “Schokland”, capturing his experience on transformations at scale.

FULL BIOGRAPHY

Speaker

Gerd Gigerenzer
Director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy, University of Potsdam

Gerd Gigerenzer is Director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy at the University of Potsdam, Faculty of Health Sciences Brandenburg and partner of Simply Rational - The Institute for Decisions. He is former Director of the Adaptive Behavior and Cognition (ABC) Center at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and at the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research in Munich, Professor of Psychology at the University of Chicago and John M. Olin Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of Law at the University of Virginia. In addition, he is Member of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, the German Academy of Sciences and Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. He was awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Basel and the Open University of the Netherlands, and is Batten Fellow at the Darden Business School, University of Virginia. Awards for his work include the AAAS Prize for the best article in the behavioral sciences, the Association of American Publishers Prize for the best book in the social and behavioral sciences, the German Psychology Award, and the Communicator Award of the German Research Foundation. His award-winning popular books Calculated Risks, Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, and Risk Savvy: How to make good decisions have been translated into 21 languages. His academic books include Simple Heuristics That Make Us Smart, Rationality for Mortals, Simply Rational, and Bounded Rationality (with Reinhard Selten, a Nobel Laureate in economics). In Better Doctors, Better Patients, Better Decisions (with Sir Muir Gray) he shows how better informed doctors and patients can improve healthcare while reducing costs. Together with the Bank of England, he is working on the project “Simple heuristics for a safer world.” Gigerenzer has trained U.S. federal judges, German physicians, and top managers in decision making and understanding risks and uncertainties. The Swiss Duttweiler Institute has distinguished Gigerenzer as one of the top-100 Global Thought Leaders worldwide.

Speaker

Menaka Gopinath
Chief Marketing officer, PMI

As Chief Marketing Officer, Menaka leads efforts to strengthen and enhance PMI’s global reputation, leading all aspects of brand, communications, and marketing. Menaka provides strategic counsel and leadership in telling our evolving story and sharing our unique value proposition with stakeholders worldwide.

Menaka has built a successful career as a strategic leader guiding Fortune 100 brands in engaging with consumers to build stronger customer-centric businesses. Throughout her career she has worked with a range of best-in-class brands including Coca-Cola, Apple, Nike, Uber, P&G, and Meta. She brings extensive experience in leading-edge growth and marketing initiatives, including applying advanced analytics, guiding growth marketing strategies, and building integrated, cross-channel programs. Menaka’s experience has followed a consistent thread of customer-centricity, from online marketing to loyalty programs, to consumer insights and social media, including setting up some of the first public online communities in the early days of social media.

Most recently, as President and COO of Graf Lanz, Menaka led a direct-to-consumer sustainable fashion brand, leading efforts to create and implement the strategic direction of the company’s long-term business model and revenue growth trajectory, as well as oversight of the sales, marketing, and merchandising initiatives. Prior to joining Graf Lantz, she led the Social Media Exchange (SMX) service line at Ipsos, one of the largest consumer insights firms in the world. While at Ipsos, she grew the SMX practice from a team of 20 to 100, with double-digit revenue growth every year.

Menaka is passionate about supporting purpose-driven initiatives in the business world – she is on the Board of Mentors for Monday Night Mentorship, a career accelerator for people of color, and while at Ipsos, served as a leader for the Women in Ipsos ERG, and helped to establish BRIDGE, an ERG focused on Anti-Racism. She has a BA in Economics and Communications from New York University and an MBA in Finance from the University of San Francisco.

Speaker

Gertrud Götze
Board Member of T-Systems Austria, Executive Transformation Leader, AI – Leadership – Organizational Transformation

Gertrud Götze is a senior executive and thought leader passionate about shaping the future of work at the intersection of people, technology and organizational transformation.
With more than 25 years of international leadership experience in the technology industry, she has built her career by connecting disciplines rather than working within them. Combining a background in psychology, business leadership and HR, she is known for translating complex challenges into pragmatic, people-centered solutions.

Gertrud believes that sustainable innovation emerges where curiosity meets courage. Throughout her career, she has championed new approaches to leadership, AI, organizational culture, diversity, lifelong learning and talent development—often challenging conventional thinking while remaining firmly focused on business impact.

Colleagues describe her as a creative problem solver and courageous leader who is willing to explore unconventional paths when they create better outcomes. She is convinced that leadership in an age of uncertainty is less about having all the answers and more about creating environments in which people can learn, adapt and succeed together.

Beyond her executive role, Gertrud is an enthusiastic jazz saxophonist. The principles of jazz improvisation—listening, trust, adaptability and co-creation—strongly influence her leadership philosophy and her belief that organizations, like great jazz ensembles, achieve excellence when individuals bring both mastery and the courage to improvise.

Chair

Isabelle Grosmaitre
Founder & CEO of Goodness & Co

Founder & CEO of Goodness & Co, a new kind of change management consultancy to serve CEOs, leaders and organizations on a mission to shift purpose into practice.

She is the Author of "Business as a Force for Good – how courageous leaders shift purpose into practice”.

As Catalyst of Change, Isabelle is at the heart of leadership movements, acting for better futures. Steward of the For Good Leaders movement, Co-founder of the “Board Member Program” of ChangeNOW, Chairwoman of the Advisory Board of the Value Balancing Alliance (VBA), and Co-founder of Generation Glasgow. She has joined the 100 Women @Davos, the global community of impactful women leaders of the World Economic Forum.

Speaker

Patrick Guggenberger
Partner, McKinsey and Company

Patrick Guggenberger is a Partner in McKinsey’s Vienna Office and a leader in our European Consumer Goods Sector and Organization Practice. He leads our People and Organizational Performance Service Line in Europe, helping consumer-facing companies in unleashing organizational potential. 

Since joining the firm in 2012, Patrick has drawn on his expertise to reimagine organizations and has focused his advisory work on helping leading companies improve their organization design and pursue end-to-end operating model transformations. 

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Speaker

Mehran Gul
Author

Mehran Gul is the author of The New Geography of Innovation (William Collins / Simon & Schuster), recipient of the Financial Times/McKinsey Bracken Bower Prize, and an FT Best Book of the Year selection. He was previously at the World Economic Forum and attended Yale where he was a Fulbright Scholar, Fox International Fellow, and Teaching Fellow.

www.mehrangul.com

Speaker

Valerie Hackl
Managing Director of Gas Connect Austria

Valerie Hackl is Managing Director of Gas Connect Austria, bringing extensive leadership experience in infrastructure, energy and other regulated industries.

She began her career as a management consultant with Bain & Company and subsequently held senior executive roles as Executive Board Member of ÖBB Passenger Transport,
where she developed the Nightjet as a new international rail product, and as Managing Director of Austro Control, before briefly serving as Austria’s Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport and Innovation. She holds degrees from the Vienna University of Economics and Business and the University of St. Gallen, where she completed her
PhD. Earlier in her career, she was a multiple Austrian national champion in rhythmic gymnastics.

Speaker

Mariëlle Heijltjes
Dean, Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE)

Mariëlle Heijltjes has served as Dean of Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE) since September 2022. Prior to that role she combined the managerial responsibilities of leading SBE’s professional development division UMIO with designing and delivering executive education in leadership. She is also full professor in Managerial Behaviour and has extensive international experience in working with executives and top management teams on questions of leadership effectiveness. Clients that she worked with include APG (pension group), Daimler, European Society of Cardiology, Unilever, Vodafone and World Bank as well as smaller regionally and nationally operating organizations. She has taught in the executive MBA programs of Maastricht University, TRIUM (HEC Paris, London School of Economics, Stern School of Business at New York University), and Reykjavik University. In addition, Mariëlle is frequently invited as a speaker, panellist or moderator at different events and programs worldwide.

Translating academic research into actionable insights for globally responsible leaders is the driving focus of her work with practitioners. Her research on managerial and executive behaviour has appeared in leading academic journals, including the Academy of Management Review, Small Group Research, the Journal of International Business Studies and Organization Studies. Her 2024 book, Over Moed Gesproken: Reflecties op je eigen leiderschap (in Dutch; "On Courage: Reflections on Leading Yourself"), brings this research directly to practitioners as a framework for reflecting on their own leadership.

Beyond her roles at SBE, Mariëlle serves on the AACSB International Board of Directors, the International Advisory Boards of CENTRUM PUCP (Peru), EADA (Spain), Luiss Business School (Italy), the College of Commerce at National Chengchi University (Taiwan), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University School of Management (Japan), and UTS Business School (Australia) as well as on the Supervisory Board of Sally Dansgezelschap (a Dutch dance company). In September 2021, she completed Mastered, a business coach certification program by Meyler Campbell in the UK.

Moderator

Daniela Herneth
Leadership Expert, Executive Coach & Moderator

Daniela Herneth is a leadership expert, executive coach and moderator with over 20 years of experience in international business, consulting and leadership development. Her career includes management roles at Red Bull and Sony, entrepreneurial ventures, and more than a decade of advising executives and organizations across Europe.

As founder of Daniela Herneth Leadership Coaching, she works with senior leaders and leadership teams to strengthen leadership effectiveness, develop people and build high-performing, future-ready cultures. Her approach combines business experience with evidence-based leadership practices, including Positive Leadership, PERMA-Lead, executive coaching and 360-degree feedback.

Daniela brings a strong understanding of the realities leaders face in times of transformation, AI and increasing complexity. As a moderator, she creates focused, engaging dialogue and connects diverse perspectives to the questions that matter most for the future of leadership and organizations.

Speaker

Linda A. Hill
Professor of Business Administration, Chair of the Leadership Initiative, Harvard Business School

Linda A. Hill is the Wallace Brett Donham Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School and chair of the Leadership Initiative.  Hill is regarded as one of the top experts on leadership. Hill is the co-author of Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation, co-founder of Paradox Strategies, and co-creator of the Innovation Quotient.  She was named by Thinkers50 as one of the top ten management thinkers in the world in 2013 and received the Thinkers50 Innovation Award in 2015. 

Hill’s research focuses on implementing global strategies and leading innovation; building innovative organizations and ecosystems; developing leaders for innovation; and the role of the board in governing innovation.  She is the author of highly-regarded books and articles on leadership, including her latest book Collective Genius: The Art and Practice of Leading Innovation (Harvard Business Review Press 2014).  Collective Genius was named by Business Insider as one of “The 20 Best Business Books” in 2014 and received the Gold Medal for Leadership, Axiom Business Book Award.  In 2015, Hill, along with her co-authors, received the first Warren Bennis Prize for the Harvard Business Review article “Collective Genius,” based on the book.  Hill is also the co-author of Being the Boss: The 3 Imperatives of Becoming a Great Leader, noted by the Wall Street Journal as one of the “Five Business Books to Read for your Career in 2011” and author of Becoming a Manager: How New Mangers Master the Challenges of Leadership (2^nd edition).  Her books are available in multiple languages.  Hill has authored or co-authored numerous Harvard Business Review articles, including “Where Will We Find Tomorrow’s Leaders,” “Winning the Race for Talent in Emerging Markets,” and “Are You a High Potential?”  She is a contributor to the HBS Press Pocket Mentor series Managing Up, Hiring, Becoming a New Manager, and Negotiating Outcomes. 

Hill has chaired numerous HBS Executive Education programs, including the Young Presidents' Organization Presidents' Seminar and the High Potentials Leadership Program, and Leading and Building a Culture of Innovation.  She was course-head during the development of the new Leadership and Organizational Behavior MBA required course. 

Hill has been at the forefront of developing various innovative learning programs for managers, including Breakthrough Leadership, the winner of the 2013 Brandon Hall Group Award for Best Advance in Unique Learning Technology, and the award-winning multimedia management development programs such as High Performance Management.

Speaker

Annastiina Hintsa
Chief Operating Officer, Hintsa Performance

Annastiina Hintsa is an entrepreneur, leader, and keynote speaker, and CEO of Hintsa Performance, the pioneering human performance company founded by her father, Dr. Aki Hintsa. For over two decades, she has worked at the intersection of human wellbeing, leadership, and sustainable high performance, drawing on science, personal experience, and lessons from some of the world’s most demanding performance environments.

Before joining Hintsa, Annastiina worked in management consulting, banking, and microfinance. Experiencing burnout early in her career led her to embrace her father’s philosophy that better life leads to better performance—a journey that also took her to the start lines of 250km ultra-endurance races.

Today, Annastiina and Hintsa Performance work with Formula 1 drivers, global CEOs and executive teams, politicians, entrepreneurs, and other high performers. Increasingly, her work explores a question central to the future of leadership and innovation: how do we create the conditions for people to keep learning, adapting, and renewing themselves?

Her particular interest is in the connection between human biology and ingenuity—how foundations such as sleep, physical activity, recovery, and metabolic health shape our capacity to learn, think, make decisions, and innovate over a lifetime.

Annastiina is a sought-after speaker on sustainable performance and leadership and has spoken at platforms including TEDx and the World Economic Forum.

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

Mark Kennedy
Partner, Chief Client & Markets Officer, Forvis Mazars Group

Mark Kennedy is a member of the Group Executive, and Governing Board of Forvis Mazars Group, where he is responsible for the development of the global Clients and Markets portfolio.

In that role Mark leads a team of international partners who are responsible for the management of growth strategies and client experience in international business sectors and in all global markets other than the United States.

Mark became a partner at Forvis Mazars in 2004. He is a career auditor, specialising in working with clients in the Financial Services sector.  He was Managing Partner of Forvis Mazars in Ireland from 2014 to 2021.  He joined the Executive Board of Forvis Mazars UK in 2021. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.

Speaker

Fabian Kesicki
Head of Corporate Development, Wien Energie

Fabian Kesicki is, the largest Austrian regional utility. In this role, he is responsible for developing the corporate strategy, managing innovation activities, and shaping the sustainability strategy. Before taking up his position at Wien Energie in October 2020, he worked for four years at E.ON in Essen, Germany, in Corporate Strategy as Market and Competitor Intelligence Lead. From 2012 to 2016, Dr Kesicki worked as an Energy Analyst at the International Energy Agency in Paris as one of the lead authors of the World Energy Outlook. He received his PhD in Energy Economics from University College London in 2012, his MSc in Business Engineering from University Karlsruhe, Germany, and his MSc in Industrial Engineering from the Grenoble Institute of Technology, France.

Chair

Guila Clara Kessous
UNESCO Peace Ambassador, Executive coach

Dr. Guila Clara Kessous is a UNESCO Peace Ambassador and an executive coach using theatrical techniques to enhance corporate communication and help heal those who have suffered from prior trauma. She became Paul Ekman International Partner in 2021 and is using Ekman’s profiling and emotional intelligence techniques dedicated to coaching in leadership, negotiation, and humanitarian causes.

As a recipient of an Executive MBA from ESSEC Business School, a Ph.D. from Boston University under Nobel Prize Elie Wiesel’s direction, and a Post-Doc from Harvard University, she was invited to develop the communication course of the new certificate on « Situational Intelligence » at the Political Science Institute in Paris in 2021.

She has combined her artistic experience together with coaching methods such as positive psychology (Tal Ben Shahar), Leadership and Negotiation (William L. Ury), Executive Communication Skills (Marjorie North), and Emotional Intelligence (Associate Paul Ekman’s EIA). She is a certified coach ICC trainer (EMCC) and expert in assessment tools such as Leadership Effectiveness Analysis (MRG) and Hogan (Authentic Talent). As a certified coach, she has helped hundreds of senior executives (private sector: CAC 40, Nasdaq 500…) dealing with positive leadership. As a certified negotiator, she has been involved in peace negotiation working alongside her Ph.D. advisor, Nobel Prize Elie Wiesel, and Harvard Professor William L. Ury. She is the recipient of the Women Empowerment Award 2020 by Eva Longoria from the Global Gift Foundation for her work to help access education in Pakistan and in Burundi and has been knighted by the French government. In 2021, she became "Rising Talent" of the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society for her work to help women empowerment with her coaching skills notably with women refugees in Bangladesh.

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. Kirchschlaeger
Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE, University of Lucerne; Visiting Professor, ETH Zurich

Peter G. Kirchschlaeger is a professor of ethics and director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE at the University of Lucerne. He is a visiting professor at the Chair for Neuronal Learning and Intelligent Systems at ETH Zurich and at the ETH AI Center. He is also a visiting fellow at the University of Tuebingen and a research fellow at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein in South Africa. He is a consultant in ethics to international institutions, organizations, companies and N.G.O.s and currently serves as president of the Swiss Federal Ethics Committee.

After his Ph.D. at the University of Zurich, which included a one-year research stay at the University of Chicago with a Swiss National Science Foundation scholarship and his habilitation at the University of Fribourg, he was a fellow at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at Lund University, a visiting scholar at the University of Technology Sydney, a guest professor at KU Leuven, a guest lecturer at the Leuphana University of Lueneburg, and a visiting fellow at Yale University.

His research focuses on the ethics of A.I., ethics of science and technology, ethics of human rights, ethics of children’s rights, political ethics, and business ethics.

His most recent books are “Ethics and the Digital Transformation of Human Work: The Society-, Entrepreneurship-, Research-Time (SERT) Model” (2025); “Human Rights and Religions: Non-State Actors and Their Correlation With Human Rights” (2025); “Ethical Decision-Making” (2023); and “Digital Transformation and Ethics: Ethical Considerations on the Robotization and Automation of Society and the Economy and the Use of Artificial Intelligence” (2021).

Peter G. Kirchschlaeger gets a lot of media attention, among others, by BBC News, GloboNews, and “The New York Times”.

He has received several awards from the UN for his research, and in 2024 he was presented with the University of Lucerne’s Best Teacher Award by the university’s students in recognition of his teaching.

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

Catharina Knobloch
Chief Digital Officer, CKV Group

Catharina Knobloch is a professional specialising in innovation, AI, strategy, and digitalisation. As Chief Digital Officer at CKV Group, a facility management group with 5,000 employees, she leads digital transformation across three subsidiaries and nine states in Austria.

Her work includes an end-to-end Microsoft Dynamics ERP implementation, the adoption of AI-powered solutions, and replacing manual and paper-based workflows with automated digital processes. She has also worked with a portfolio of 1,000 clients to drive the adoption of new digital solutions and trained around 120 employees to support digital culture transformation.

Previously, Catharina worked as a Consultant in Pricing & Strategy at Simon-Kucher & Partners, focusing on projects in the Technology and Industrial Goods sectors. She is currently a Prae Doc at the Institute for Family Business at WU Vienna and was ranked 40 Under 40 by Industrial Magazine in the field of Young Leadership in Austria.

Speaker

Angelica Kohlmann
Co-founder and Chairman of the Kohlmann & Co. Family Office

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Georg Kopetz
Member of the Executive Board at TTTech and member of FORWIT

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

Mathilde Lemoine
Group Chief Economist Edmond de Rothschild & Member of the Global Investment Committee

Mathilde Lemoine (Ph.D) is Group Chief Economist at Edmond de Rothschild and a member of its Global Investment Committee. An international macroeconomist and experienced executive, she combines high-level public policy experience with board-level governance and operational leadership in global companies.

She has worked in London, Geneva, Paris and Singapore, and advised governments as Globalization and Macroeconomic Advisor to the French Ministers of Finance and Prime Minister. She has participated to the negotiation of international agreements, led economic strategy in the private sector, and sat on the boards of major listed companies in Europe and Asia, including Carrefour, Dassault Aviation, and NOL.

Currently Independent Director of CMA CGM and Eurazeo, she brings expertise in geoeconomy, financial markets and transformation. She is also the co-author of a textbook on International Economics and a regular contributor to international conferences and media.

She holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Sciences Po Paris and taught international macroeconomics there for over 20 years.

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

Speaker

Christian Lüdtke
CEO, Bryck

Christian Lüdtke grew up in the Ruhr area and graduated in Economics. After his first position in the logistics sector, he joined the Media giant Bertelsmann in 2000. In his approximately ten years at Bertelsmann where he held various leading management positions, he acquired comprehensive knowledge and experience in the area of innovation management.

His further professional career led him to the American education Publishing House Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Here he was responsible for the implementation of internal innovation ideas.

He then co-founded the startup incubator and digital service company etventure - based in Munich and Berlin. The focus of his work was the digital transformation of medium sized and large companies as well as the establishment of own startups in the B2B area. After the successful sale of etventure to the BIG4 Advisory Company EY (Ernst and Young), Christian worked as an equity partner at EY for around four years.

In 2022 Christian co-founded the Startup Accelerator BRYCK, based in Essen. BRYCK`s main shareholder is the RAG-Foundation. The aim of BRYCK is to build a leading accelerator in Europe with an Industry focus. 

In 2025 its subsidiary - BRYCK Startup Alliance – has been officially selected by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy as a national Startup Factory — entrusted with accelerating science-based innovation in Germany and Europe. 

The BRYCK Startup Alliance is a joint venture of RAG-Stiftung, the University Alliance Ruhr (Ruhr University Bochum, TU Dortmund University and the University of Duisburg-Essen), Initiativkreis Ruhr and BRYCK.

Speaker

Michael Lurie
Chief Catalyst, Bayer

Michael Lurie is Chief Catalyst (Chief Transformation Officer) for Bayer, where he is leading the organization’s extraordinary journey to Dynamic Shared Ownership (DSO). DSO is a fundamental evolution of our global life sciences company into a highly collaborative and continually learning network of thousands of entrepreneurial businesses, focused individually and collectively on maximizing value for the millions of farmers, patients, consumers, and other stakeholders we serve. 

Over the past thirty years, Michael has worked with over 200 organizations across many sectors around the world. Through this work he has led the evolution of a powerful and practical approach to transition organizations from traditional management systems to thriving value creation systems, to unleash their full potential and deliver new levels of performance for stakeholders and society.

Speaker

Dana Maor
Senior Partner, McKinsey and Company

Dana is a leader in McKinsey’s People and Organizational Performance practice (including McKinsey Academy and Aberkyn). She was our Global Practice Leader for the past 5 years, and before that, the Managing Partner in McKinsey’s Israel office. Dana is the co-author of the recently published best-seller “The Journey of Leadership, how CEOs learn to lead from the inside out”

Dana also previously led our Global Talent Service Line, Transformational Change Service Line, and McKinsey Academy. She is passionate transformation to unlock value and sustained impact through talent, succession planning, and operating model (including culture). She has done so across industries including GEM, High Tech, Consumer, Telecom, A&D, Public Sector, Chemicals, Real Estate, Financial Services, Retail, as well as Life Sciences. 

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

Thomas Masicek
Senior Vice President of Cyber Security at T-Systems

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Rita McGrath
Professor of strategy, Columbia Business School

Rita McGrath, one of the world’s top experts on strategy and innovation, is consistently ranked among the top 10 management thinkers in the world by the prestigious Thinkers50 and won their #1 award in strategy. She is a trusted partner and strategic advisor in the C-suites of many of the country’s biggest and most well-known companies - especially as they work to grow, evolve, reinvent themselves and see around corners.

She is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on strategic inflection points, the topic of her most recent book -  Seeing Around Corners: How to Spot Inflection Points in Business Before They Happen (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2019). She is the author of 4 other books on leadership, business and organizational management including the best-selling The End of Competitive Advantage (Harvard Business Review Press, 2013). Her work on discovery-driven growth was praised by the late legendary management thinker Clayton Christensen as offering “some of the most important ideas of management and strategy that have ever been developed.” She is currently working on a book full of humor and insight for business leaders aimed at helping organizations become ‘2% less stupid’ by adopting permissionless structures.

Rita regularly sits down for in-depth conversations with high level authors and leaders in business for her popular podcastThought Sparks. She also writes a regular Thought Sparks newsletter and shares insights across social media platforms, including LinkedIn, where she has more than 45,000 followers. 

Rita is known for her energy, positivity, storytelling, and ability to connect with audiences. She is also a sought-after corporate speaker, a long-time educator at Columbia Business School, the author and host of the popular podcast and newsletter Thought Sparks, available on Youtube.

Connect with her on LinkedIn. Learn more at RitaMcGrath.com and Valize.com. 

Speaker

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.

DOWNLOAD CV

Speaker

Nilofer Merchant
Thought leader and strategist on the future of work in the social era. Co-founder of Intangible Labs. Lecturer at Stanford University

Nilofer spent over 25 years leading technology companies (Apple, Autodesk, GoLive/Adobe) and personally launched over 100 products and services, netting $18 billion in revenue. She is ranked as one of the most influential management thinkers in the world (one of her TED talks has been referenced 300 million times). She has published four books on collaborative management; her latest, Our Best Work, has been shortlisted for best book of the year by the Thinkers50 organization. She is the co-founder of The Intangible Labs (TIL), where she's defining the future-facing metrics that enable organizations to create what matters. 

Speaker

Mark Mortensen
Associate Dean, INSEAD Middle East Campus; Author, Associate Professor of Organizational Behaviour at INSEAD

Mark Mortensen the Associate Dean for the Middle East Campus and Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD Mark is an expert in organizational collaboration and design, with a focus on hybrid, virtual, and globally distributed work. Recently he has focused on the changing nature of the employee value proposition and its impact on employee attraction, retention, and engagement. 

Mark uses data-driven scientific research to help executives and organizations understand the complex dynamics of organizations as social systems. He uses scientific methods to distil that complexity into concrete actionable insights and tools that create value. He applies this approach by consulting globally on the changing nature of work, organizational culture, team dynamics, global collaboration, power and social networks, and organizational change. 

Mark publishes regularly in practitioner outlets like Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and IESE Insights as well as popular press outlets both in print and online. His scholarly work has been published in top-tier academic publications, and his contributions have been recognized through academic awards as well as leadership and editorial board positions.

Prior to joining INSEAD, Professor Mortensen was on the faculty of the MIT-Sloan School of Management, and before that, the Desautels School of Management at McGill University. Professor Mortensen holds a PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University, and an MS from Stanford University and a BA from Colby College, both in Computer Science.

Speaker

James Mountford
Executive coach and editor

Dr James Mountford is an executive coach, strategic advisor and editor with 30 years’ experience spanning medicine, McKinsey, the English NHS and international higher education.

He coaches senior leaders and teams and, as a founder of The Quality Bureau, advises health systems in the UK and internationally on strategy, leadership and operational improvement. He also edits the journal BMJ Leader. During the COVID-19 pandemic, James embedded systematic learning into daily operations at London’s NHS field hospital. His work helps leaders and organisations learn, improve and sustain change.

Speaker

Clas Neumann
Senior Vice President, Head of Global SAP Labs Network

As the Head of SAP Labs Network (SLN), Dr. Neumann is leading the management and operation of SAP labs across the globe in 20 countries. Under his leadership, the SLN organization has grown significantly and is successfully running as the backbone of the entire R&D value chain in SAP. Today, SAP Labs is ranked among the best employers in most countries and has transformed its business to support global, innovative product development and local business growth alike.

Being part of SAP’s Senior Executive Team, Neumann has a 30-year advantageous career in SAP. Neumann has spent years in the fast-growing markets to develop the organization, with more than 20 years in India and China. Dr. Neumann has played an instrumental role in SAP’s entry into China, later being considered as the second home for SAP from the corporate strategy perspective. Before his role as Head of SLN, he was SVP in SAP’s breakthrough innovation group and the President of SAP Labs India. He helped establish the largest R&D Hub of SAP outside of Germany in Bangalore by growing it constantly to its current strength of 10,000+ talented engineers, responsible for various products and solutions of SAP.

Dr. Neumann is recognized for his business achievements in Asia, evident through his many invitations to join high-level business circles and associations. At present, he serves as Chairperson of the German Chamber of Commerce East China, the Vice Chairman of the Board and Member of the Steering Committee in the East Asian Association (OAV), and a Board Member of the Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC). Furthermore, he co-authored several books and articles on innovation and business practice in emerging markets. Dr. Neumann speaks regularly at major conferences (e.g. World Economic Forum, China International Import Expo, Asia Berlin Summit, World Artificial Intelligence Conference) and top universities, such as Tsinghua University, Tongji University, INSEAD, CEIBS, San Jose State University, Seoul National University, National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technology University among others.

Dr. Neumann holds a doctoral degree in Business Administration from École des Ponts Paris Tech Business School in France, and an MBA degree from INSEAD, Fontainebleau, and Singapore. Neumann has been appointed as the Adjunct Professor of Tongji University and School of Economics and Management, Dalian University of Technology.

Speaker

Antonia Neuner
Head of Strategic Projects – Group Transformation & Innovation, SKB Industrieholding GmbH

Strategic leader and 6^th generation successor in a legacy family business, with a proven record of driving transformation across global industrial, media, and cultural sectors. Skilled in steering cross-functional initiatives and managing C-suite communications. Combining analytical strength, international perspective, and creative leadership.

Speaker

Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez
Visiting Professor at Duke CE, Instituto de Empresa, Solvay, Vlerick, Ecole de Ponts
Former Global Chair of PMI, Founder of Brightline Initiative; Author

Author of the Harvard Business Review Project Management Handbook, the featured HBR article The Project Economy Has Arrived, and five other books, Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez is the creator of concepts such as the Project Economy. He is the most published author of project management articles in HBR. His research and global impact on modern management has been recognized by Thinkers50. Fellow and Former Chairman of the Project Management Institute, he is the creator of the Brightline Initiative and founder of Projects&Co and the Strategy Implementation Institute. Born in Madrid, Spain, and educated in Germany, Mexico, Italy, and the United States, Antonio is fluent in five languages. He has an MBA from London Business School. He is a member of Marshall Goldsmith 100 coaches. You can follow Antonio through his LinkedIn Newsletter - Lead Projects Successfully, his popular online course Project Management Reinvented for Non-Project Managers, and his website

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

Ike Nwankwo
MSc, MBA, PMP PMI Board of Directors Chair

Ike Nwankwo, MSc, MBA, PMP, is the Chair of the PMI Board of Directors. He has served on the PMI Board since 2021. He is a long-time PMI volunteer and past president of the PMI chapter in Nigeria, past PMI Region Mentor for Africa and the immediate past Chair of PMI’s Governance Committee.

Nwankwo is the managing director of Distinct Management, Ltd, an independent project management consultancy focusing on information technology, construction, and business transformation. Throughout his more than 25-year career, he has managed portfolios and led the delivery of multi-million-dollar projects and programs across multiple sectors, for a diverse range of multinational organizations across the United Kingdom and Africa.

He is a motivated professional speaker, and he has co-authored a book on global leadership, entitled “Developing Global Leaders: Insights from African Case Studies.”

Nwankwo holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in Architecture, both from the University of Nigeria, as well as an MBA from Middlesex University Business School, United Kingdom. He is a graduate of the PMI Leadership Institute Master Class of 2016. 

Speaker

Paul A. Pavlou
Dean, University of Miami Business School

Paul Pavlou is the Dean of the University of Miami Business School. He is also the Leonard M. Miller University Chair Professor. Paul’s research has been cited more than 90,000 times by Google Scholar, and Thomson Reuters recognized him among the ‘World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds’ based on an analysis of Highly Cited Researchers. Paul was ranked No. 1 globally in publications in top Information Systems journals from 2010 to 2016. He earned a Ph.D. in Information Systems and a master’s in electrical engineering from the University of Southern California.

Paul is a Distinguished Fellow of the INFORMS Information Systems Society. He won several Best Paper Awards for his research, including the Sheth Foundation Award for ‘Long-Term Contributions to Marketing’ published in the Journal of Marketing (2019), and the Maynard Award for the ‘Most Significant Contribution to Marketing’ in the Journal of Marketing (2015), to name a few. Paul received $3,500,000 in grants from funding agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF). His research appeared In top journals and his research spans several disciplines (information systems, data science, marketing, operations management, and management sciences) with emphasis on artificial intelligence, business analytics, and digital strategy.

Speaker

Gianpiero Petriglieri
Associate Professor of Organisational Behaviour, INSEAD

Gianpiero is an expert on leadership and learning in the workplace. His award-winning research, speaking, and development work focus on the human dimensions of leading and learning. His work brings together a decade of training as a medical doctor and psychiatrist, and two decades of expertise supporting the development of leaders at all levels in organizations around the world. Gianpiero currently holds the INSEAD Alumni Professorship in Leadership and Development and is listed among the 50 most influential management thinkers in the world.

Speaker

Andrea Petrone
Global Executive Coach & Advisor

Andrea Petrone coaches CEOs and senior leadership teams through the high-stakes moments that define careers — transitions, crises, reinventions and the personal demands of leading under pressure. Known as The CEO Whisperer, he focuses on how leaders think, decide, and perform when the stakes are highest. Over the past two decades, he has worked internationally across Europe, the Middle East and Asia with leaders from organisations including Shell, Unilever, Takeda, EssilorLuxottica, ENI and Snam. He is the author of Reinvention at the Top (Wiley, October 2026), a Fortune contributor, and the host of The World-Class Leaders Show, a leadership podcast ranked among the top 5% globally. Originally from Italy, Andrea is based in London, UK.

Speaker

Anna Pietikäinen
Head of the Regulatory Policy Division, Public Governance, OECD

Anna Pietikäinen has advised governments with the OECD and the United Nations for over 20 years. As Head of the Regulatory Policy Division, she leads the Organisation’s work supporting member countries’ regulatory reform and better regulation agendas through the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC). In this position, most recently she has launched the Simplifying for Success (S4S) Initiative and overseen the publication of the OECD Regulatory Policy Outlook. 

Previously she managed the secretariat of the OECD Network of Economic Regulators (NER). At the OECD she also held positions at the Development Centre and the Sahel West Africa Club. Prior to joining the OECD, she worked at the United Nations - International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Anna is a political scientist with degrees from the London School of Economics and Sciences-Po Paris. She speaks Finnish, English, French and Spanish.

Speaker

Christian C. Pochtler
Chairman of the Management Board at Pochtler Industrieholding AG; Chairman of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV Vienna)

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Deepa Prahalad
Innovation/design strategy consultant

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Reinhard Pruegl
Head of Institute for Family Business, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Roman Przybylski
President of the Management Board, Kety S.A

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Juergen Reiner
Co-Head of Europe, Managing Partner, Uvance Wayfinders, Fujitsu

Dr. Juergen Reiner co-heads Uvance Wayfinders in Europe. He has over two decades of experience leading digital transformation for customers across industry sectors and regions.

Prior to joining Fujitsu, he held leadership roles at McKinsey & Company, Oliver Wyman, and in the Professional Services units of AWS and Siemens. Across these roles, he built global advisory practices and drove innovation in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. His work has spanned professional services, digital strategy, and sector leadership, with a focus on innovation and ecosystem collaboration.

In his current role, Juergen focuses on expanding the customer network in Europe, building and implementing the business model strategy, as well as developing innovative, scalable service offerings with and for clients.

He holds a Ph.D. in Information Economics from WU Vienna and an engineering diploma from ETH Zürich.

Speaker

Helmut Reisinger
CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Palo Alto Networks

As CEO for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Helmut is responsible for all go-to-market functions across EMEA. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2022, Helmut was CEO of Orange Business Services (OBS), leading its global organization of 28,000 employees and supporting the digital transformation of enterprise customers around the world. Prior to OBS, Helmut held leadership positions across Europe at Avaya Inc., NextiraOne Germany and Alcatel Austria.

Helmut holds a Ph.D. from Vienna University for Economics and Business (WU), and speaks English, French, German and Spanish.

Speaker

Markus Reitzig
Professor for Strategic Management, University of Vienna

Markus Reitzig is the University Endowed Chaired Professor for Strategic Management at the University of Vienna/Austria, where he runs a research group focused on behavioral organization design. Originally trained as a natural scientist, he earned his doctorate in business economics and later focused on strategy and organization studies.

His work explains how organizations can become flatter, more agile, and more human – with and despite AI. Widely recognized for his scholarly work, he is one of the few academics to have spoken multiple times at TEDx events. In addition to publishing in the leading scientific outlets, he has repeatedly translated his works for magazines such Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and McKinsey Quarterly. With his book Get Better at Flatter and through numerous collaborations with companies, he takes research directly to where it has impact – into the C-suite.

Markus was trained in Germany (Constance/Kiel/Munich), Italy (LUISS Rome), and the US (UC San Diego/UC Berkeley) and has worked and taught at leading institutions such as London Business School, Copenhagen Business School, and INSEAD.

Moderator

Katarina Roder
Head of People Development & Culture, OEBB-Infrastruktur AG

Katarina Roder is Head of People Development & Culture at OEBB-Infrastruktur AG, where she is responsible for strategic people development and culture initiatives serving approximately 19,000 employees. She brings extensive experience in learning and development, organisational and leadership development, talent acquisition, and HR transformation, gained across organisations including WU Executive Academy, BRZ, and Danube University Krems.

Katarina holds degrees in Business Education and Psychology and has further deepened her expertise in digital transformation, including formal training in Data Science. Her areas of focus include sustainable HR, leadership and organisational culture, diversity and inclusion, and work and organisational psychology. She is currently expanding her profile in labour and employment law through an LL.M. programme.

Committed to advancing the HR profession and strengthening modern leadership cultures, Katarina serves as Chair of BPM Austria, the Austrian chapter of the Federal Association of Personnel Managers. She is also a board member of the Women Leadership Alliance, where she contributes to initiatives promoting diversity, innovation, and equal participation in leadership.

Speaker

Johan Roos
Senior Advisor to the Global Peter Drucker Forum

Johan Roos is a Swedish strategist and management thinker helping leaders stay deeply human in an AI-rich world. He works at the intersection of human wisdom and artificial intelligence, asking whether advanced algorithms will quietly erode what makes professionals valuable or be harnessed to amplify it.

A practiced leader-scholar, Johan has led several international business schools and major change initiatives, experience that informs his research and advisory work. He is Professor and Senior Strategic Advisor at Luxembourg School of Business, Associate Faculty of Executive Education at Hult Ashridge, and Senior Strategic Advisor to AACSB, the global standard-setting body for business education. He co-invented the LEGO® Serious Play® method, now used worldwide for strategy and leadership development, and is Partner for R&D and Quality at IntHRface & BrickMind, its global community of practice. As Senior Advisor to the Global Peter Drucker Forum, he helped launch its Next Management Initiative and continues to contribute to it, connecting thinkers and executives who believe management must evolve again. 

He regularly speaks with executive teams and at international conferences on "Human Magic" in an age of algorithms, AI-ready leadership, and the renewal of management. His latest book, Human Magic: Leading with Wisdom in an Age of Algorithms (Routledge, 2026), offers a practical guide for professionals who want to preserve human agency and distinctively human capabilities in an age of intelligent machines.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjohanroos/
Web: https://johanroos.one/
Human Magic book: https://humanmagic.one/

Moderator

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

Tami Rosen
Member of Pagaya's Board of Directors and advisor

Tami Rosen is a globally recognized executive, four-time Chief Human Resources Officer, corporate board director, and thought leader who has spent more than 25 years helping organizations unlock the full potential of their people as a competitive advantage. From Apple and Goldman Sachs to Atlassian, Luminar Technologies, and Pagaya, her career has been dedicated to building organizations where leadership, culture, and business strategy work together to fuel long-term growth and innovation.

Formerly Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Development Officer at Pagaya, Tami was the company’s first C-suite executive and helped transform the organization from a high-growth startup into a publicly traded global fintech leader. Today, she continues to support the company’s next chapter as both a member of Pagaya’s Board of Directors and an advisor, helping shape its long-term growth, leadership, and governance. Across every stage of her career, she has partnered with CEOs and boards to develop leaders, build high-performing cultures, navigate transformation, and help organizations unlock human capability as a driver of lasting business performance.

Celebrated for her ability to unite business strategy with cultural innovation, Tami’s career achievements include leading Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats by Dre, pioneering Atlassian’s “Team Anywhere” global remote work strategy, launching Wall Street’s first LGBTQ+ Ally Program at Goldman Sachs, and introducing Pagaya’s Continuous Learning Cycle to strengthen and motivate organizational performance.

Today, Tami is expanding her work through her forthcoming book, Super Human Companies, which explores why people strategy is business strategy and why organizations that intentionally invest in human capability will outperform those that focus on technology alone. Her leadership has earned numerous accolades, including recognition among The Financial Technology Report’s Top 50 Women Leaders in Fintech, Profiles in Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching, the Inspiring Leaders Award from Inspiring Workplaces, and Inspiring FinTech Female by NYC Fintech Women. She also serves on the Board of Directors of The Elie Wiesel Foundation and Sarah Creal Beauty and is a member and Ambassador of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women community.

Speaker

Florence Sardas
Chief Transformation Officer, Forvis Mazars Group

Florence Sardas is Chief Transformation Officer at Forvis Mazars Group. She leads the firm's global transformation agenda, spanning technology, innovation, AI and digital services. With extensive experience at the intersection of business transformation, professional services and emerging technologies, she works with leaders across the world to scale innovation, redesign operating models and accelerate the adoption of AI. Her focus is on how organisations can harness technology not only to improve performance, but also to strengthen expertise, trust and human collaboration in an era of profound change.

Speaker

Helmut Schönenberger
Co-founder and CEO, UnternehmerTUM

Scalable tech-startups are Helmut Schönenberger’s passion as co-founder and CEO of UnternehmerTUM, the Center for Innovation and Business Creation at Technische Universität München (TUM). He also serves as TUM’s Vice President Entrepreneurship, as a professor at TUM School of Management and as a member of the advisory board of tech companies. With his background as a founder, aerospace engineer and venture capitalist at UVC Partners he loves to help new ventures solve strategy, recruiting, business development and future financing challenges.

Speaker

Christina Schulte-Kutsch
Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) / Global Head of Human Resources – Siemens Energy AG

Christina Schulte-Kutsch is CHRO of Siemens Energy AG, where she leads the global people agenda and partners with the business to translate strategy into human impact. She drives Siemens Energy’s people strategy with a strong focus on building a people-centric culture as a key for business success and growth, driven by people and leadership excellence and future-ready skills. With this, she positions HR as a catalyst for the energy transition – for more than 100,000 employees in over 90 countries.

Before joining Siemens Energy, she held senior HR leadership roles across industries and geographies, including automotive and telecommunications, consistently advancing innovation in the workforce, leadership and organization development. Recognized as a strategic thought leader in Human Resources, she believes that empowered people and strong teams are the drivers of a successful energy transition. 

Christina holds degrees in Human Resources Development and International Business. She has lived and worked in the UK, Spain, Japan, Brazil, India and Germany. 

Speaker

Sebastian Schütze
Rector, University of Vienna

Sebastian Schütze has been Rector of the University of Vienna since 2022. Following important academic positions at the Freie Universität Berlin, the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max Planck Institute for Art History) in Rome and the Queen’s University in Kingston/Canada, Sebastian Schütze has been Professor of Modern Art History at the University of Vienna since 2009, as well as Dean of the Faculty of Historical and Culture Studies since 2018. He is a full member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. His research focusses on Italy’s art history and cultural history, the history of collections in Vienna and Central Europe as well as the productive interactions between literature and visual arts. A matter of particular concern is making his research findings accessible for a larger audience, also in international exhibitions.

Speaker

Adam Sewell-Jones
Group Chief executive officer Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust

Adam has worked in the NHS since 1992, initially as a trainee accountant, and subsequently in roles including finance, operational management, Director of Finance and Continuous Improvement, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Chief Executive in trusts in London and Essex.

He then went on to hold national leadership roles as Director of Provider Sustainability, Director of Improvement and Regional Director for the south west of England where he led on many development and improvement programmes.

Adam joined Newham Hospital in East London as Chief Executive and then moved onto East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust before joining Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust.

In 2025 he was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science by the University of Hertfordshire in recognition of his services to the NHS.

Speaker

Shin Shuda
Global CEO, Uvance Wayfinders, Fujitsu

Shin leads Fujitsu’s global consulting capability, Uvance Wayfinders, across Japan, North America, Europe, and Oceania. He leads a highly specialized team that helps organizations adopt emerging technologies and transform how work is performed and value is delivered. He is responsible for delivering consulting and integrated solutions that leverage Fujitsu’s technology portfolio—including AI, Sovereign Technologies, Physical AI, Quantum, Computing, and Networks—to create differentiated outcomes and measurable value for customers. Central to this role is driving a new consulting model that enables clients to realize their strategic value faster and with greater confidence.

Prior to joining Fujitsu, Shin spent more than two decades at Accenture across North America and Japan. He began his career in sales and marketing and worked across multiple industries in leadership and client-facing roles. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University.

Speaker

Julia Simet
Principal, Global Talent Officer, Gensler

Julia Simet is a Principal and Global Talent Officer at Gensler, where she helps shape the firm's talent strategy, leadership development, and organizational growth on a global scale. With more than 35 years of experience, she is recognized as a trusted advisor to executive leaders, helping organizations align business objectives, talent strategies, and workplace innovation to drive long-term success. 

Throughout her career, Julia has worked with senior leadership teams across professional services, financial services, corporate, and institutional organizations, guiding complex transformation initiatives and helping organizations navigate periods of growth and change. Her expertise spans organizational strategy, talent and culture, leadership alignment, workplace transformation, and consensus building among diverse stakeholder groups. 

Prior to her current role, Julia held significant leadership positions within Gensler, including leading the firm's New York office and later serving in senior regional and firmwide leadership roles focused on growth and operations. Her global perspective, combined with deep industry knowledge and a collaborative leadership style, has made her a respected voice on how organizations can create environments that support business performance, employee engagement, and sustainable growth. 

A Fellow of the International Interior Design Association (FIIDA), Julia is recognized for her contributions to the design profession and her commitment to advancing leadership, talent development, and strategic thinking within the industry.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Iowa and pursued graduate studies at Pratt Institute. She is NCIDQ certified, and a Fellow of the International Interior Design Association. 

Known for her integrity, strategic insight, and ability to bring people together around a common vision, Julia partners with leaders to help organizations unlock their full potential and create lasting impact.

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

Isabelle Spiegel
Global Head of Environment, Vinci Group

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Georg Stadlhofer
Board Member, Drees & Sommer Austria

After completing his studies in Facility Management at the University of Applied Sciences Kufstein in Tyrol, Georg Stadlhofer began his career as a Facility Manager and later as Global Category Manager FM/Infrastructure at the Novartis subsidiary Sandoz in Germany. He then transitioned into real estate and corporate real estate consulting, working as a consultant and later as a partner at Reality Consult GmbH. During this time, he managed projects in Romania and Luxembourg, was responsible for the consulting business in Germany for around ten years, and served as Interim Head of Global Real Estate at ZF Friedrichshafen AG for two years.

Following the acquisition of Reality Consult GmbH by Drees & Sommer, he joined Drees & Sommer Austria as Senior Project Partner and member of the management team in 2016. Since 2019, he has been Managing Director of Drees & Sommer Austria, where he leads the company’s strategic development and expansion.

Georg Stadlhofer holds a Master’s degree in Real Estate Investment and Finance from Henley Business School at the University of Reading. He is a Certified Management Consultant, a certified project manager, and a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS).

Chair

Stefan Stern
Journalist, author and Visiting Professor in management practice at Bayes Business School

Stefan Stern is a journalist and author. He has been writing and commenting on business and management for over three decades. His career in journalism has included stints at Euromoney, the BBC, Management Today magazine, and the Financial Times, where he was the management columnist between 2006 and 2010. Since 2009 he has been a regular attendee at the Global Peter Drucker Forum.

In October 2010 Stefan was appointed Visiting Professor in management practice at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), City St.George’s, University of London. He is a Fellow of the RSA, and continues to write for the FT, The Guardian, Prospect and The Conversation, among other titles. Between 2015 and 2018 he was director of the High Pay Centre, a London-based think-tank which looks at the issue of top pay.

He is the author of three books: “Myths of Management – what people get wrong about being the boss” (with Prof Sir Cary Cooper) (Kogan Page, 2017); “How to be a better leader” (Bluebird – Pan Macmillan, 2019); and most recently “Fair or Foul – the Lady Macbeth Guide to Ambition” (Unbound, 2024).

Speaker

Giuseppe Stigliano
Entrepreneur, Manager, Adjunct Professor at international business schools, President of Spring Studios

Giuseppe Stigliano is a global keynote speaker, strategic marketing professor, and executive advisor recognized by Thinkers50 as one of the most inspiring management thinkers of his time.

He has co-authored three business books with Philip Kotler and has advised more than 300 companies across four continents on corporate innovation, leadership, marketing, and sales.

A former CEO of several international marketing firms, Giuseppe has led teams across EMEA and the US. What sets Giuseppe apart is a rare combination of academic rigour and hands-on executive experience, brought to every room, every stage, every boardroom he enters.

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.

Chair

Yoshikuni Takashige
Senior Advisor, Ridgelinez Limited, Fujitsu

Yoshikuni Takashige worked with Fujitsu for 38 years, taking leadership in various important businesses including major strategic partnerships and joint ventures with global companies. As VP, he led the creation of the Fujitsu Technology and Service Vision, the company’s vision and thought leadership about how technology can help people and organizations to innovate and proactively contribute to a better future. It was first launched in 2013, and has been updated annually. Currently, he is Senior Advisor of Ridgelinez, a digital transformation consulting company, 100% owned by Fujitsu. He is coaching business people to create a purpose-led future vision and communicate it through powerful storytelling. 

He received an MBA degree from the Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Tokyo. 

Speaker

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.
SHRM-SCP, President & CEO, SHRM

Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, is President and Chief Executive Officer of SHRM. With nearly 340,000 members in 180 countries, SHRM impacts the lives of more than 362 million workers and their families globally.

As a global leader on the future of employment, culture, and leadership, Mr. Taylor is a sought-after voice on all matters affecting work, workers, and the workplace. Recognized as one of the Most Influential People Shaping Public Policy in our nation’s capital by Washingtonian Magazine, one of the 300 Most Influential Executives in Corporate America for 2024 by Savoy Magazine, and on the Virginia 500: Power List by Virginia Business, Mr. Taylor is frequently asked to testify before Congress on critical workforce issues and authors the weekly USA Today column, "Ask Johnny."

Mr. Taylor's career spans more than 20 years as a lawyer, human resources executive, and CEO in both the not-for-profit and for-profit spaces. He has held senior and chief executive roles at IAC/InteractiveCorp, Viacom's Paramount Pictures, Blockbuster Entertainment Group, the McGuireWoods law firm, and Compass Group USA. Most recently, Mr. Taylor was President and Chief Executive Officer of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

He is the author of the national bestseller, RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval, which immediately upon its release in September 2021, was in the top three of The Wall Street Journal’s list of best-selling hardcover business books.

Mr. Taylor serves on the corporate boards of XPO, Inc.; Flores HR; AACSB; and Guild Education. He previously served on the White House American Workforce Policy Advisory Board and as chairman of the President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities during the first Trump administration. 

In 2020, he received the Distinguished Executive of the Year Award from the Academy of Management, and he was named 2021 ALA Professional Society CEO of the Year by CEO Update.

He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Human Resources and is licensed to practice law in Florida, Illinois, and Washington, D.C.

Chair

Josée Touchette
Executive Director, OECD

Josée Touchette is Executive Director of the OECD, where she leads all corporate functions: finance, HR, IT, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and conference services, in support of more than 4,000 staff. She manages a team of 500 and has spearheaded major internal reforms to modernise and strengthen the Organisation. 

Her 35-year public service career is driven by a deep commitment to good governance, institutional resilience, and the disciplined implementation of complex reforms. Adaptive by nature, her experience is characterized by a multidisciplinary, integrational approach, serving in strategy, operations and corporate functions, notably in Indigenous Affairs, as Assistant Deputy Minister in Defence, Justice, and International Development in the Government of Canada. She also was Chief Operating Officer of the National Energy Board. 

A lawyer, Chartered Professional Accountant, and MBA graduate, Josée is recognised for leading with clarity, courage, and care across diverse and demanding environments. 

Speaker

Tom Tugendhat
Member of Parliament of the United Kingdom; Former UK Minister

Tom Tugendhat has served the United Kingdom for over 25 years—in the Army, Parliament, and Government. He saw active service in Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan from 2005, was elected MP for Tonbridge in 2015, chaired Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee in 2017 and was appointed Security Minister in 2022.

Tom modernised laws, oversaw intelligence agencies, and spearheaded initiatives against online child exploitation, fraud, and cybercrime. His work has strengthened Britain’s resilience against Islamist radicalisation, Iranian state-sponsored violence, and hostile activities from Russia and China. Among the first to warn of threats posed by foreign corruption and authoritarian interference, Tom has been sanctioned by Beijing, Moscow, and Tehran.

Before Parliament, Tom served as an intelligence officer and worked for the Foreign Office. He helped establish Afghanistan’s National Security Council and government in Helmand Province. He has also been a journalist, is regularly consulted for geopolitical analysis, and been a successful angel investor.

Speaker

Kitty van der Heijden
Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF

Kitty van der Heijden assumed the position of Deputy Executive Director, Partnerships, of UNICEF on 18 August 2023.

Ms. van der Heijden’s career in international development spans over 35 years – working for government, non-governmental organizations and United Nations entities. Prior to her current role, she was the Director General for International Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, responsible for strategy development and global operations in the Dutch development portfolio.

As Vice President and Director for Europe & Africa for the World Resources Institute, she established WRI’s presence in Africa and Europe and was responsible for fundraising and strategic engagement with local actors on challenges such as climate, water and food. This built on her previous experience as the Netherlands’ Ambassador for Sustainable Development and Director for Climate, Energy, Environment and Water.

Ms. van der Heijden’s field experience includes Mexico, India, Ethiopia and Viet Nam. In the latter country, she worked for the United Nations as the Head of the Office of the Resident Coordinator and Senior Advisor on UN reform, responsible for making the UN operations at country level more effective, efficient and coherent. Ms. van der Heijden has served as a non-executive member of the board at Unilever Netherlands (2014-2019) and with the Global Commission on Business and SDGS (2016-2017) and the Global ‘Planetary Security’ Conference (2015-2018). She was awarded the Dutch National ‘Green Ribbon’ of Honor in 2013.

A national of the Netherlands, Ms. van der Heijden has a Master of Economics from Erasmus University, Rotterdam.

Speaker

John van Rossen
Global Strategy and Execution Leader, EY Parthenon

John van Rossen is the EY-Parthenon Global Strategy and Execution Leader and has more than 25 years experience providing advice to clients in Western Europe, the UK and the US. He has worked with several Private Equity and Corporate clients driving value from Strategic Transformation and Transactions. In addition John serves as Coordinating Partner on some of EY‘s key Client Relationships. Before his current role, John was the Strategy and Transactions Leader of the EMEIA Western Europe & Maghreb Region, and has previously held numerous senior roles including EMEIA Private Equity Leader.

John holds a Masters degree in Economics from the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, is a Dutch chartered accountant and has earned an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Speaker

Sylvia Vana
Director, Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics for Siting, Business Services and Industrial Policy

Sylvia Vana is Director for Siting, Business Services and Industrial Policy at the Austrian Federal Ministry of Economics Energy and Tourism. Her responsibilities include investment policy, industrial policy, industrial cooperation, women’s policy and Austria’s Industrial Strategy 2035. She also oversees the governance of the Austrian Business Agency and works on sector-specific issues, including the defence industry.

Speaker

Julien Villalongue
Managing Director at Leonard, Prospective et innovation, Vinci

Julien Villalongue is the Managing Director of Leonard, VINCI's global innovation and foresight platform, reporting to the Group's Chief Executive Officer. He oversees the platform's foresight work on cities and infrastructure, the development of new offers related to VINCI's businesses in construction, infrastructure, mobility and energy, and its innovation programmes supporting intrapreneurship, start-ups and investment. He also directs Leonard:Paris, a 5,000 sqm innovation hub.

Part of the team that founded Leonard, Julien joined in 2017 and was appointed Managing Director in 2018. He previously held roles at VINCI Autoroutes, the French Embassy in Vietnam and the French Telecommunications Federation. He is a graduate of Centrale Nantes and Sciences Po Paris, and has served on Centrale Nantes's board since 2023.

Speaker

Sabine Vinck
Client Partner and Global Leader at Spencer Stuart

Sabine Vinck is a Client Partner and Global Leader at Spencer Stuart, where she works with the CEOs, boards and executive teams of leading global organisations. Her work focuses on accelerating leadership effectiveness at the most senior levels—spanning Chair, CEO and executive coaching, board and team dynamics, and long-term succession planning. She also leads the firm’s global Excellence and Innovation function, shaping the evolution of its leadership advisory offering.

Prior to joining Spencer Stuart, Sabine served as Associate Dean at London Business School, where she led the School’s Degree Programmes and subsequently Executive Education, delivering significant growth and increasing global recognition across both. Earlier in her career, she held senior leadership roles in a global financial services firm. This breadth of experience underpins her pragmatic, commercially grounded approach to leadership and organisational effectiveness.

Sabine’s contributions to the leadership advisory profession have been widely recognised. She is a two-time recipient of the Spencer Stuart Lou Rieger Quality Award and was awarded the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) Industry Award for Excellence in 2023. She is also a recognised thought leader in leadership development: her co-authored Harvard Business Review article, The Leadership Odyssey, was selected for HBR’s “Must Reads on Emotional Intelligence” in 2025.

Sabine holds a master’s degree in education from Harvard University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied physics from Cornell University. She is fluent in English, French and Italian, and speaks some Dutch. A trained pianist, she continues to perform regularly.

Speaker

Christian Vrancic
Head of Strategy, SAP Sovereign Cloud

Christian Vrancic is Head of Strategy at SAP Sovereign Cloud, where he shapes SAP's approach to digital sovereignty, regulated cloud deployments, and enterprise AI at the intersection of compliance and innovation. With a PhD in Physics, he brings a rigorous, first-principles perspective to questions that sit at the boundary of technology, governance, and market strategy.

He advises organizations navigating the complex trade-offs between cloud adoption, data residency, and operational independence — with a particular focus on regulated industries and cross-border technology ecosystems. His work spans the full spectrum of digital sovereignty: from infrastructure and legal frameworks to AI-ready platforms for the most demanding regulatory requirements.

Dr. Vrancic is a frequent speaker at major technology and business forums, for example Vivatech, SAP Sapphire and Mistral’s AI Summit in 2026, where he has represented SAP's vision for a trusted, open, and enterprise-grade European AI infrastructure."

Moderator

Stefan Wagner
Chair for Technology and Innovation, University of Vienna

He is a Chaired Professor at the University of Vienna. His work examines how new technologies emerge, how firms and institutions shape their development, and how ideas move from science into markets.

Much of his research is situated at the intersection of strategy, innovation, industrial organization, and law. He is particularly interested in how institutions and organizational choices affect the direction of inventive activity, the diffusion of knowledge, and firms’ ability to capture value from technological change. His work is primarily empirical and employs econometric and, increasingly, AI-based methods.

He is also one of the principal investigators of SUSTECH, a project focused on accelerating sustainable technological trajectories. The project investigates why hazardous chemicals often reach the market faster than safer alternatives, and how artificial intelligence, computation, and chemistry can help identify and promote more sustainable technological options. Awarded approximately €10 million through an ERC Synergy Grant, the project has the potential to generate significant impact beyond academia.

Currently, he serves as an Associate Editor at Management Science and as a member of the editorial review boards of Strategic Management Journal and Strategy Science. He previously served on the boards of the European Policy for Intellectual Property Association and the Berlin School of Economics Doctoral Program. He has taught numerous courses on strategy and innovation in M.Sc., (E)MBA, and executive education programs at leading business schools.

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.

Speaker

Jana Werner
Executive in Residence, Amazon Web Services

Jana Werner is an Executive in Residence at Amazon Web Services, where she guides the executive teams of Fortune 500 companies in building adaptive resilient organizations. Her insights are forged from a career at the intersection of business strategy and technology: leading major digital transformations in financial services, guiding and scaling tech startups to growth and acquisition, and advising on complex global change at DHL. Her academic background in uncertainty dynamics grounds her practical advice for leaders navigating complex environments. She is a sought-after speaker and lecturer for executive and student education at institutions like Oxford and the London School of Economics, and a published author with Harvard Business Review.

Speaker

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

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

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.

Speaker

Hannah Wundsam
Managing Director of AustrianStartups

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Adam Yearsley
VP Global Talent and Engagement Practice, HR Amer Sports

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

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

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

Elisabeth Zehetner
Austrian State Secretary for Energy, Startups and Tourism

Biography upcoming soon.

Speaker

Nadya Zhexembayeva
Founder & Chief Reinvention Officer Reinvention Academy

Called ‘The Reinvention Guru’ (InVentures magazine) & ‘The Queen of Reinvention’ (TEDx Navasink), Dr. Nadya Zhexembayeva is a business owner, educator, speaker & author - specializing on thriving in turbulence through reinvention.

As a consultant, Nadya has helped such organizations as The Coca-Cola Company, ERG, Kohler, L'Oreal, IBM, CISCO, Erste Bank, Henkel, Knauf Insulation & many others to reinvent their products, processes, & leadership practices to meet the requirements of today's volatile, uncertain, and fast-changing world.

As an educator, Nadya taught courses in leadership, strategy & sustainability at IEDC-Bled School of Management, an executive education center based in the Slovene Alps, where she also served as the Coca-Cola Chaired Professor of Sustainable Development. In addition to IEDC, Nadya has been teaching in business schools around the world, including Case's Weatherhead School of Management (USA), IPADE Business School (Mexico), and CEDEP (France), where she also contributes to the Academic Committee of the school.

As a speaker, Nadya has shared her insights with audiences worldwide through keynotes, panel presentations, & workshops. She has delivered four TEDx talks in Austria, Slovenia, Romania & the US.

As an author, Nadya has written three books and contributed to six others. In an effort to reinvent corporate approaches to sustainability strategy, Nadya and her co-author Chris Laszlo coined the concept ‘embedded sustainability’, which was virtually non-existent when they started in 2009. Today, it produces 186 million Google search results & has become a staple for global sustainability efforts.

Nadya’s fourth and latest book, “The Chief Reinvention Officer Handbook: How to Thrive in Chaos” is the a finalist in the American Book Fest Awards, the winner of the 2021 Axiom Business Books Awards, and the winner of the Kirkus Star, "one of the most coveted designations in the book industry, which marks books of exceptional merit."

Speaker

Sonja Zimmermann
Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Berndorf AG

Sonja is nonexecutive chair of Berndorf AG, a privately owned group of globally active small and medium-sized industrial companies serving niche markets. The group’s core competences are in toolmaking, heat treatment, belts and belt systems, press plates, pool construction and process engineering.

She also serves as deputy chair at Bank für Tirol and Vorarlberg AG, a listed Austrian bank, and as nonexecutive board member at Schoeller Bleckman Oilfield Equipment AG, a listed supplier of products and solutions for the oil and gas industry. Sonja is on the board of two Austrian charity foundations (Berndorf Privatstiftung & Mega Bildungsstiftung) supporting projects in the area of education and financial literacy.

She holds a Master’s Degree in Translation and Interpretation from Universität Wien.