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Over 30 years investment banking experience, specialised in the TMT sector with experience throughout the developed world and the emerging markets for over 20 years. Also responsible for coordination and coverage of financial sponsors including private equity, institutional investors, family offices and sovereign wealth funds with a focus of transactions into Africa across sector. Has led complex and plain vanilla financing transactions across the capital spectrum, including in the public markets.  Wide ranging M&A advisory, Equity Capital Markets and Capital Raise experience. Diverse and broad client base across TMT within all sectors and sub-sectors including telecom services, telecoms infrastructure, technology and fintech. MBA from Stern New York University graduate school of business and BA in Economics and French from Columbia University.

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Manu Chopra is working on tackling extreme poverty by providing dignified digital work to rural Indians. He's the Co-Founder and CEO of Karya, a transformative AI collective that is enabling dignified livelihoods. In 2023, Karya was featured on the cover of the Time Magazine, and Manu was nominated among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People In AI. He graduated from Stanford University in 2017, where he co-founded CS+Social Good, Stanford's first student group focused on technology & impact. He has also taught several tech for good courses in Stanford's Computer Science Department. Manu is an Echoing Green Fellow and a Draper Richard Kaplans Foundation Social Entrepreneur. 

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Mayank Yadav is the Director of Product at Reddit, where he leads teams to develop products that help brands and creators engage with redditors to create meaningful conversations. He specializes in incubating new product areas, achieving product-market fit, and driving explosive growth. Previously, he led the global expansion of Facebook/Instagram Shops and launched and scaled the autos and home categories for Facebook Marketplace. Mayank was one of the first five PMs at Uber and has experience at eBay.

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About Sumit Gupta An IIT Bombay alumnus, Sumit is a visionary entrepreneur and technology leader. He sparked the crypto revolution in India and built the first Crypto Unicorn - CoinDCX in India. Sumit is also the founding member of the Bharat Web3 Association and is an active participant in driving the VDA narrative in India. He has won several awards and recognitions for his contribution to the emerging VDA space. The most recent ones include Fortune 40 under 40, Web3 Entrepreneur of the Year by Economic Times, Forbes 30 under 30, Indian Achievers award, CEO of the Year 2020, and has also been featured on Hurun India list. About CoinDCX Launched in 2018 with a mission to drive crypto and web3 adoption in India, today, CoinDCX is the largest crypto exchange and has 80% of India’s trading volumes on its platform. Through its revolutionary CoinDCX App, CoinDCX provides over 15 million Indians with reliable and seamless access to the crypto ecosystem. India’s first crypto Unicorn, CoinDCX is the first FIU-registered entity, ISO Certified and KYC/AML compliant.CoinDCX has over 500+ full time employees and has been on the ‘Great Place to Work’ list consistently for three years. It is backed by globally renowned Investors such as Bain Capital Ventures, Pantera Capital, Steadview Capital, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, B capital etc. CoinDCX has been recognised across Indian and Global platforms. A few accolades include Top Blockchain Startups by Traxcn, Excellence in Finance, FiNext Dubai 2020.

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Bas graduated as a Logistics Engineer but moved into advertising as a copywriter. Two years later he became Creative Director of DDB Amsterdam. After setting up an experimental agency called Nothing in 2008 (where he invented a new sport: FootGolf), Bas joined JWT Amsterdam in 2012.   His commitment to creativity and innovation turned a local office into one of the most awarded agencies in the world. With double Grand Prix-winning campaign ‘The Next Rembrandt’, the agency was named Cannes Lions 2016 ‘Innovation Agency of the Year’.   In December 2019, Bas was promoted to Global Chief Creative Officer at Wunderman Thompson. The agency networkwas named Cannes Lions ‘Most Innovative Network’ for 2020/2021. In his four year tenure Bas has won 4 Cannes Grand Prix.   In March 2023, Bas launched ‘The Mammoth Meatball’ for cultured meat company VOW. The meatball made from cultured mammoth cells was featured in every news publication in the world.   As of January, 1st, 2024, Bas is officially in his new role at VML.To date, Bas has won 56 Cannes Lions (6 Grand Prix), 11 D&AD Pencils amongst which a Black Pencil for his work for Free a Girl ‘School for Justice’, plus countlessother awards.  

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Co-founder of the CoderDojo movement and of Weforest, his career in tech and business encompasses two unicorn companies and launching the world’s first bio-tech accelerator. He is a general partner of SOSV, a venture capital fund of over $1B, and founder of the SOSV Momentum Pre-accelerator program. Bill’s current focus is Health & Longevity as Chair of the SENS board and Chair to the Te Tiroroa Fund. Beyond his ventures in the business world, Bill is deeply committed to environmental sustainability. As a co-founder of WeForest, a non-profit organization dedicated to reforestation efforts and has planted a hundred million trees globally. He has made significant contributions to combating climate change and promoting ecological balance.

His passion for environmental conservation has earned him recognition as a champion for a greener future.

A co-founder of CoderDojo, a free global network formed to assist young people with learning computer programming, Bill also co-founded XING, a pioneering enterprise social networking platform. Prior to these endeavors, Bill served as COO of Davnet, a telecommunications carrier. The author of three books, Bill has been a speaker at global events such as The World Economic Forum, The Globe Forum in Sweden, TED, and TEDx, and at institutions such as The London School of Economics and The House of Commons.

With his captivating storytelling and thought-provoking presentations, he has inspired countless individuals to embrace innovation, resilience, and social responsibility. His ability to convey complex ideas with clarity and enthusiasm leaves audiences empowered and motivated. 

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Lucy Maguire is senior trends editor at Vogue Business. Alongside her focus on fashion, consumer trends, digital strategies and youth culture, Lucy leads the Vogue Business Next-Gen Edit, spotlighting emerging brands and startups across the fashion and beauty industries. She has previously worked with the Vogue Global Network, Suzy Menkes and British Vogue.

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Pratik Gauri is the founder & CEO of 5ire.org, one of the world’s fastest growing unicorns that achieved the coveted billion dollar valuation less than one year from the day it was founded. He conceptualized the term 5th industrial revolution as a founding principle for shaping a for-purpose world that combines sustainability, innovation and business viability. According to him Most of the world’s complex problems can be solved if we create traffic on the bridge between key performance indicators and social impact. Pratik’s genius was thinking through how a new kind of blockchain ecosystem would propel a revolution across industries and impact the lives of over a billion humans. The 5ire ecosystem is being built by a solid team of engineers and scientists and will include a layer 1 blockchain, 5ire exchange, NFT/Metaverse marketplace, 5ire Wallet, and 5ire Capital (a venture capital fund). Pratik embarked upon this audacious mission with a sense of adventure and possibility. He built an iconic founding team, struck partnerships with world class visionaries and institutions, and worked relentlessly to get things going. Today, in addition to having a world-class product team and global community of developers; Pratik and 5ire have been recognised for their impact by organisations like the World Economic Forum, Entrepreneur Magazine, Economic Times, Forbes, NASDAQ, TED, Hurun India etc. His vision for 5ire has resonated with leading companies and governments from around the world and has led to the Goa Police, Abu Dhabi University and Muzaffarnagar Police joining as early partners of 5ire before the Testnet launch. The iconic football player and Chelsea striker, Drogba and Google Venture capital Head, Mr. Apurva Chamaria has joined his team as a business advisor. In addition to his work on 5ire, Pratik also serves as the co-founder of a leadership non-profit foundation called "India Needs You". The goal of the organisation is to equip young adults with a leadership toolkit through programs and workshops. Through India Needs You, Gauri hosted more than 15 workshops that covered topics like law, entrepreneurship, public policy, and women’s empowerment, equipping over 25,000 young adults with leadership toolkits. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, India Needs You received funds from London-based One Young World, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Justin Trudeau, Desmond Tutu, and Emma Watson to tackle the spread of Covid-19 in India. He has been recognised as Entrepreneur 35 Under 35, TIMES 40 Under 40, ET Now Leaders of Tomorrow, Greenbiz Global 30 Under 30, AsiaOne 40 Under 40 Most Influential Leaders, BusinessWorld Disrupt 40 under 40, British Petroleum Scholar, World Economic Forum Global Shaper, Ambassador at One Young World, Al Gore’s Climate Leader, Fellow at Startup Leadership Program, Winner of UNLEASH 2019, Asia’s top 50 Voices by Earth Day Network, Youth Icon of the Year, Changemaker at Global Action on Poverty and is also popular as the Mark Zuckerberg of India.

Gauri has also been recognized by Economic Times' Global Indian Leaders '22, has been nominated as one of the Top 25 Blockchain Technology CEOs of 2022, been listed at number 5 in Top 10 Blockchain Personalities to Follow, and has been awarded Entrepreneur India's Creative Entrepreneur of the Year – Startup. Pratik has spoken in more than 25 countries, including thrice through TEDx. Pratik has more than 1M followers across social media platforms. Across the length and breadth of his work, Gauri's commitment to social impact on a massive scale remains central. Beneficially impacting a billion lives is the core vision of his career in promoting the 5th industrial revolution and his leadership of 5ire.org.

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Rinse Jacobs, a key figure in Solaris' founding team, now serves as GM for existing clients, managing an ARR exceeding €100M. He spearheaded the commercial setup of Solaris, achieving triple-digit annual growth. Rinse led Solaris' international expansion and designed the commercial strategy with data-driven insights. He is currently considering a move to Africa and uses GITEX to explore the trends in the market. An entrepreneur with a strong drive, he sold his web-hosting business in 2018 and has held various advisory roles. Previously, he worked in Brand Partnerships and HTC Vive at HTC HQ.

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"Successfully graduated in Menlo College, Seena started his career in the startups’ world working for the outstanding Baarzo. This company automatically creates video tags for any digital video. Baarzo exited to Google in 2014 to help power the world’s second biggest search engine Youtube.    After helping integrate the Baarzo team into Google, Seena joined his family business: Plug and Play.  At Plug and Play, Seena founded the New Materials and Packaging program as well as the Food & Beverage program.   Seeing the growing possibilities, in 2020 Seena left California and moved to Barcelona, pursuing the opportunity as Managing Partner of EMEA, while sitting on the board of Plug and Play. He also has continued acquiring knowledge through an MBA program in EAE in International Business and he is constantly networking and maintaining relationships with business and institutional leaders.   With an inherent strategic vision for business he managed to build a team of more than 300 people across 28 offices and develop PNP activities in Europe, UAE, Saudi Arabia, among others. He implemented customization of the innovation services and today, Plug and Play EMEA represents a 35% of the global PNP business and counts successful corporations among his clients in all the verticals. "

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AY Young stands at the forefront of the intersection between entertainment and global sustainability. As a producer, singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur, he has electrified the music scene with over 900 concerts powered entirely by renewable energy through his pioneering initiative, the Battery Tour. This concert series not only entertains but actively funds, promotes, and deploys sustainable energy solutions to communities in need worldwide. Recognized as one of the 17 United Nations Youth Leaders for Sustainable Development Goals, AY's influence extends beyond the music industry. He performed at President Biden’s inauguration, marking a significant highlight in his career dedicated to advocacy and change. AY is currently channeling his passion for sustainability into "Project 17," an ambitious album created in collaboration with some of the Earth's most influential artists. Each of the 17 tracks in the album is dedicated to one of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, featuring guest performances from renowned artists and backed by corporate sponsors like General Motors, Samsung, and BNP Paribas, who are committed to these global objectives. Proceeds from "Project 17" are dedicated to advancing the SDGs, with funds supporting various NGOs committed to these goals. AY’s commitment to change is palpable not only in his music but in his active engagement with global audiences, pushing for a sustainable future through every note he plays.

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Pietro Peligra is an accomplished Italian entrepreneur and investor with extensive experience in various industries. He holds a degree in Electronic Engineering, a Master's degree in Marketing, and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Pietro's career began as Marketing Manager at Vodafone, then he joined Italia Independent Group as a Managing Partner, guiding the company from its start-up phase through international growth and eventual listing on the Italian Stock Exchange. Throughout his career, he has co-founded and served as director for three companies listed on the Italian and French Stock Exchange and gained valuable experience in venture capital, working with the Anglo-American fund DN Capital. He currently holds several key positions, including Chairman of the Board of Directors at Portobello SpA, CEO of RS Productions, and CEO of Rolling Stone Italia. Additionally, he serves as a Board Member for various companies. Pietro's diverse background in technology, marketing, and finance, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit, has established him as a respected figure in both the business and investment communities. His leadership continues to drive innovation and growth across multiple sectors.

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Ronit runs the Future of Finance team in Citi Global Insights, Citi’s thought leadership unit. The team is focused on the intersection of the future of money, finance and emerging tech, including AI, Digital Assets, XR and beyond. We provide analysis and advice to Citi’s institutional clients and the bank’s leadership. Prior to current role, Ronit was Citi’s global head of banks and FinTech research. Alongside his Citi role, Ronit is an Advisory Board member of the Financial Technology Centre at Imperial College Business School and at several technology firms and early-stage VC investors based in the U.K., Middle East, Africa, and Asia. Prior to joining Citi, Ronit worked in the policy world, including as Research Assistant for a former UK Prime Minister. Ronit's new book “Future Money” has been published in March 2024 and presents a vision of the digital future of money, finance, and culture.

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Jeremy has over 20 years of experience scaling and operating businesses in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Jeremy is also a professional Board member, supporting organisations in their journey. As a co-founder of Jumia, an e-commerce platform that is now a household name in Africa, Jeremy is a strategic and impact-driven Executive Officer. With a determination to change the fabric of life in Africa through e-commerce, he helped grow Jumia to 5,000 employees and achieve an IPO on the NYSE. As the company grew, he took on the complexity of leading a public company by serving on the Management Board, and focusing on corporate governance, investor relations, financial and legal matters, ESG, and risk and audit processes. Jeremy now serves as Board Member as well as Investment Committee member of some incredible organisations, as well as helping McKinsey as a Senior Advisor. He is also running a family business, bringing change to a traditional industry in the Middle East.

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Mr. Pierre Celestin RWABUKUMBAa Rwandan national is the current President of the African Securities Exchanges Association (ASEA), Chairman of the East African Securities Exchanges Association (EASEA), and Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Stock Exchange Ltd. and serves as the President of the World Veterans Club Championship (VCWV) Business Club. He is the Co-founder and Chairman of Kigali Cement Company, a private company that produces and sells cement in Rwanda and neighboring countries.He is also serving on several other boards and advisory boards within the financial sector in Rwanda, hospitality, education,and manufacturing industries where he serves as a non – Executive Director.  He is also involved in different investment projects ranging from Real Estate, Poultry, Agro-processing, and manufacturing to Energy production. Mr. Rwabukumba started his career in financial services in New York City more than two decades ago after graduating from the University of Buffalo (UB), New York in the United States with A bachelor’s degree in economics. He worked in different professional positions as a stockbroker, in Compliance and Operations, Institutional Investors’ Sales and Advisory before he joined the Central Bank of Rwanda in 2004 to help start the Capital Market Development Project in Rwanda. Mr. Rwabukumba is a seasoned negotiator as he has been instrumental in different negotiations on regional integration of the East African Community and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECAS). He has served on different Capital Market Committees both at the national and the regional level the latest being the High-Level Task Force negotiating the EAC Monetary Union and the EAC Regional Capital Markets Infrastructure (CMI) Steering Committee where he serves as Chair. Mr. Rwabukumba is an Alumni of a one-year international post-Graduate Advanced Management Program (AMP) for Executives run jointly by Strathmore Business School of Nairobi, the Lagos Business School, Pan- Atlantic University and IESE Business School, the University of Navara in Barcelona, Spain.

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Kelvin Tan is the CEO for audax,a corporate venture backed by Standard Chartered Bank. audax enables any bank to rapidly deploy and scale digital banking solutions. Based in Singapore, Kelvin has been leading the build of the business and platform with thegoal to be the glue toconnect multiple ecosystems, beginning with financial services.     Before audax, Kelvin conceptualised, led, built and delivered Standard Chartered nexus, Standard Chartered’s comprehensive Banking-as-a-Service business. Kelvin has held multiple roles in Standard Chartered, ranging from Transaction Banking to Retail Products and Payments to Strategic Programmes, between 2012 and 2018. In those roles, he has led cross functional, cross border teams to deliver multiple capabilities for the bank including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay in multiple locales and the MyWay program (Singapore’s first silver generation targeted product programme).    Prior to that, Kelvin has held multiple roles in multiple organisations and industries. His roles have spanned consumer finance, transaction banking and FMCG, covering product, analytics, business management and research. He has worked in Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.    Kelvin has been featured on global publications such as BBC and Forbes. He has also spoken at key engagements internationally, such as Finovate Asia, Singapore FinTech Festival, IBF, and Money 20/20.      Kelvin holds an M.A from the Committee in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and a BA (Hons) in Politics and International Studies from Murdoch University. 

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His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama has been appointed as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence in October 2017, and then was appointed as Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications in July 2020.

His responsibilities include enhancing the government performance levels by investing in the latest technologies and tools of artificial intelligence and applying them in various sectors.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama is Spearheading UAE efforts to be positioned as a global leader in Digital economy, With the focus to enhance UAEs digital economy contribution to the GDP.

His Excellency is also focused on strengthening the UAE’s position as a global reference in remote work applications.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama is currently the Managing Director of the World Government Summit. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of Dubai Future Foundation and Deputy Managing Director of the Foundation. He is also Chairman of Dubai Chamber of Digital economy.

In November 2017, the UAE government announced selecting HE. Omar Al Olama as a member of the Future of Digital Economy and Society Council at the World Economic Forum.

During his work in the Future Department at the Ministry of Cabinet Affairs and the Future, His Excellency participated in developing the UAE Centennial 2071 strategy that aims to position the UAE as the best country in the world. He also participated in developing the UAE 4th Industrial Revolution Strategy that aims to promote the UAE’s status as a global hub for the 4th Industrial Revolution and develop a national economy based on knowledge, innovation and future technologies. Prior to his appointment, His Excellency worked on developing the UAE’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy, making it the first such strategy of its kind globally.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama worked in several sectors including the banking sector, telecommunications, private enterprises and government. H.E. also worked on developing and executing strategies, risk analysis, change management and scenario planning.

His Excellency Omar Sultan Al Olama holds a Diploma in Project Management and Excellence from the American University of Sharjah and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the American University of Dubai.

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An intrepid spirit, it’s no surprise that Patrick Woodhead’s first trip to the Seventh Continent was record-setting. Having been part of the youngest and fastest team to ever reach the South Pole in 2002, Patrick went on to lead the first ever East to West traverse of Antarctica, covering 1,850km in a total of 75 days and earning a second world-record. He is a lifetime explorer and outside of the polar world he has been on many successful expeditions, summiting unclimbed mountains in Kyrgyzstan, kayaking down uncharted rivers in the Amazon and in 2015 he broke the record for the fastest traverse of Greenland.

In 2005 Patrick co-Founded White Desert, the idea of which was born in 2004 during a brutal storm in the remote depths of Antarctica. “Here we are, sitting in a tent, having spent almost 80 days starving to death, dreaming of luxurious food and a beautiful bed! Why couldn’t we create a camp where normal people could come experience the interior, but do it in a luxurious way? Why is it that polar explorers and the odd scientists are the only ones who get to experience the interior of this Continent?”

For the last 18 years, Patrick and White Desert have been pioneering luxury tourism in the interior of Antarctica, allowing travellers to immerse themselves in the awe-inspiring remoteness and isolation without enduring a series of gruelling treks. The company has also been Caron Neutral since 2007. ”To see this wilderness with a small group of people gives you that sense of discovery and serendipity. It’s magical to see a penguin when you’re virtually standing alone.”

White Desert’s flagship camp, Whichaway, was so named as when Patrick was at the site, he and his team didn’t know ‘whichaway’ to go to get back to their base. In 2022 the company opened its second client camp, Echo which is the third camp overall for the business, the other, Wolf’s Fang servicing mainly scientists and expeditioners. A multi-award winning luxury adventure business, White Desert employs over 130 staff from 18 different nationalities.

Author of 4 bestselling books published in 11 different languages, Patrick is also a Prince’s Trust ambassador and a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He holds a private plane licence and when not working, enjoys testing himself through a variety of martial arts activities and discovering the lesser-trodden areas of South Africa with his family.

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Dr. Luc JULIA, Chief Scientific Officer for Renault, was CTO and Senior Vice President of Innovation for Samsung Electronics, directed Siri at Apple, was Chief Technologist at HewlettPackard and cofounded a number of start-ups in the Silicon Valley. While conducting research at SRI International, he was involved in the creation of Nuance Communications, now the world leader in speech recognition.

Recipient of Légion d’Honneur, the highest order of France, and member of its National Academy of Technologies, he holds degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris and earned a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris.

He is the bestselling author of the book “There is no such thing as Artificial Intelligence”, holds dozens of patents and is recognized as one of the top 100 most influential French developers in the digital world.

Dr. Luc JULIA est Directeur Scientifique de Renault. Il a été Directeur Technique et VicePrésident pour l'innovation chez Samsung Electronics, a dirigé Siri chez Apple, été Directeur Technique chez Hewlett-Packard et a cofondé plusieurs start-ups dans la Silicon Valley. Lorsqu’il poursuivait ses recherches à SRI International, il a participé à la création de Nuance Communications, aujourd'hui leader mondial dans le domaine de la reconnaissance vocale.

Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur et membre de l'Académie nationale des technologies, il est diplômé en mathématiques et en informatique de l’Université Pierre et Marie Curie à Paris et a obtenu un doctorat en informatique à l'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Télécommunications de Paris

Il est l'auteur du best-seller « L'intelligence artificielle n'existe pas », détient des dizaines de brevets et est reconnu comme l'un des 100 développeurs français les plus influents dans le monde numérique.

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VISIONARY TECHNOLOGY C-SUITE LEADER AND BOARD MEMBER, RECOGNIZED AS THE WINNER OF THE TOP 100 WOMEN IN TECHNOLOGY 2022

Elizabeth is the CEO of EHT Consulting GmbH, a company which partners with senior leaders of organizations on strategy, business transformation and technology innovation as a competitive advantage and enabler.

Elizabeth is a visionary and transformational leader with international experience across seven industries, leading technology and digital transformation, operational excellence and delivery.

Elizabeth believes in servant leadership and drives value-creation through innovation and effective business partnering, building trusted relationships with leaders at all levels by leveraging her highly collaborative and results-oriented style. Her strong business and deep technology skills make her very effective in delivering results in large-scale complex environments.

She has a proven track record in driving productivity to enable business growth as well as impact to the bottom line, while proactively managing risks.

She is an inspiring leader with high energy and strong communications skills who takes pride in learning from others, but also developing the next generation of technology leaders.

Elizabeth is an independent director on the Board of 8x8 Inc, California, US and SoftwareOne, Stans, Switzerland.

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Grammy Award Winning Producer of Lady Gaga’s albums Born This Way and Fame Monster. Guest lecturer at Harvard University, Harvard Business School, Harvard Medical School and at M.I.T., as well as Stanford University. Helped write and produce countless records with five US number ones and several top 10 dance records on Billboard for among others, U2,Sia, Whitney Houston, Britney Spears, Shakira, Bruno Mars, Kylie Minogue, Enrique Iglesias, Sting, and Lizzo.

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As a founding member of Pony.ai, Dr. Haojun (Leo) Wang served as Technical Leader of Map and Localization, Head of US Site, and Head of Shanghai Site, in different phases, bringing the latest AI breakthroughs and business expansion to achieve Pony.ai's goal of enabling autonomous mobility everywhere.

After serving as Head of Human Resources concurrently to bring in best tech talents to the company for more than 4 years, his most recent role is Chief Financial Officer to practice the best go-to-market strategy with the company's technologies and products.

Dr. Wang previously worked at IBM Silicon Valley Lab and Baidu's US R&D center, where he focused on database engine and big data system development, and was an early member to lead the development of Baidu's Map and Localization system for its self-driving car program.

He holds a B.S. degree from Shanghai Jiaotong University, and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from University of Southern California specializing in multidimensional data and mobile location services research.

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Most popular edtech unicorn with a community of over 100 million registered students, worth $1.69 Billion valuation, serving Coursera for Universities, Business, Government.

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Italian-Spanish rally and off-road race driver, one of the world's fastest drivers.

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Dr. Dennis Hong, a TED alumnus, is a Professor and the Founding Director of RoMeLa (Robotics &
Mechanisms Laboratory) at UCLA. His research focuses on robot locomotion and manipulation, autonomous
vehicles and humanoid robots. He is the inventor of a number of novel robots and mechanisms, including the
‘whole skin locomotion’ for mobile robots inspired by how amoeba move, a unique three-legged waking robot
STriDER, an air-powered robotic hand RAPHaEL, and the world’s first car that can be driven by the blind. His
work has been featured on numerous national and international media. Washington Post magazine called Dr.
Hong “the Leonardo da Vinci of robots.”
Dr. Hong has been named to Popular Science’s 8th annual “Brilliant 10”, honoring top scientists younger than
40 years of age from across the United States, “Forward Under 40” by the University of Wisconsin-Madison
Alumni Association, and also honored as “Top 40 Under 40” alumni by Purdue University. Hong’s other past
awards include the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, the SAE International’s Ralph R. Teetor
Educational Award, and the ASME Freudenstein / GM Young Investigator Award to name a few. Dr. Hong also
actively leads student teams for various international robotics and design competitions winning numerous top
prizes including the DARPA Urban Challenge where they won third place and the $500,000 prize, and the
RoboCup, the international autonomous robot soccer competition where his team won First Place in both the
Kid-Size and Adult-Size Humanoid divisions and brought the Louis Vuitton Cup Best Humanoid Award to the
United States for the very first time.
Dr. Hong received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
(1994), his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (1999, 2002).
He has published 4 books including 3 best sellers.
He has a large public following and is very active on social media (more than 50,000 followers on Facebook
and a video with more than 1.5M views on YouTube)
He is also a serious gourmet chef (MasterChef USA, Season 4) and a magician performing annual charity magic
shows and lectures on the science of magic (Netflix “Magic for Humans”, Summer 2018).

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As Head of technology for over 14 years, Jen founded Google.org that works to harness the power of technology to accelerate the impact of nonprofits and civic entities around the world.

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Ray Son, CSO at IGAWorks, the first unicorn company in the data sector of South Korea. He has since developed the company into Korea's leading data-tech firm, which boasts an unrivaled data business based on actionable data & SaaS platforms. IGAWorks offers a comprehensive marketing cloud ecosystem.

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Most influencial gaming unicorns. Named #4 in the Top #100 2022 most influential people in crypto by CoinTelegraph. The Sandbox has been featured in TIME100 Top 100 most influential companies of 2022 by Times magazine.

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Futurist and awarded the highest accolade for a British designer, 'RDI - Royal Designer for Industry'.

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Winner of 16 Cannes Lions, 20 Clios, best known for his work on “Drink Up Ashanti project.