Speakers 2023

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri is the Director General of the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. He is a member of the Executive Council of Dubai, a member of the Board of Directors of the Investment Corporation of Dubai and also the Director General of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA).

Almarri was appointed as chairman of Dubai Financial Market and also serves as a member of the Supreme Committee of the Expo 2020 and board member at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emaar Properties PJSC and Taaleem PJSC.Almarri’s responsibilities span enhancing Dubai’s positioning as the preferred destination for investment, business and leisure and for developing and strengthening the Emirate’s economy.Helal Almarri holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from the London Business School (LBS).

Almarri is a Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and previously worked at consulting firms, McKinsey and KPMG.

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Umar Saif is a renowned Pakistani computer scientist currently serving as the interim Federal Minister for Science and Technology and Minister of IT while advising the United Nations Development Programme.

He is also the CEO of aiSight.ai, with key roles as Chief Digital Officer at the Jang Group and CEO of Khudi Ventures. A Cambridge-educated scholar, he previously taught at Lahore University of Management Sciences and chaired the Punjab Information Technology Board, fostering tech innovation. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum , Sitara-i-Imtiaz by Government of Pakistan and recognition as a top young innovator by the MIT Technology Review.

BIOGRAPHY

Madame Aurélie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU, Minister of Digital Technologie and Digitalization Aurélie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU is an established professional in the digital sector, currently serving as a key figure in the Beninese government. At the age of 39, she has become a significant figure in the digital sector in Africa. Holding a degree in Telecoms & ICT from Telecom Sud Paris and a Certificate in Public Policy Management and Leadership from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University (New York), Aurélie began her professional career at SFR, a telecommunications company in Paris, where she worked on aspects related to service quality. The young engineer later joined the renowned consulting firm ACCENTURE as an Information Systems Consultant.

In 2009, upon her return to Benin, she joined the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Posts (ARCEP-BENIN). In this role, she dealt with issues related to radiocommunications and radiofrequency management, allowing her to actively and notably contribute to the preparatory work for Benin and Africa for the 2015 World Telecommunication Conference. It was during this conference that Africa obtained the largest number of frequencies compared to all other regions.

Recognized for her leadership, skills, and determination, the Global Mobile Industry Association (GSMA) approached her to enhance its presence in Africa regarding regulatory and policy matters in the mobile sector. As the principal public policy lead for the telecommunications sector in Africa, she managed GSMA's engagement with governments, regulators, and regional organizations in the African region.

As a Mandela Washington Fellow (MWF YALI) since August 2017, she has been pursuing a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Sciences on the theme "Analysis of policies for expanding telecommunications networks and ICT services in rural areas in Africa" with a Montaigne Doctoral Scholarship at the School of Humanities, Bordeaux Montaigne University in France. This research aims to delve into the challenge of rural connectivity in sub-Saharan Africa and materialize certain ideas and concepts envisioned.

In October 2017, the President of the Republic of Benin, His Excellency Patrice Talon, appointed her Minister in charge of digital economy and communication, with the ambition of making Benin the hub for digital services in West Africa. At the time of her appointment, she was 34 years old, making her the youngest minister ever appointed by President Patrice Talon since he assumed office on April 6, 2016. In this role, she orchestrated stakeholders and institutional actors contributing to the digital transformation of Benin, accelerating public policies necessary for the effective implementation of government digital projects, and unveiling a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem to elevate Benin to the status of a leading digital country in the region.

Her bold actions led to her appointment as the President of the Francophone Network of Ministers of Digital Economy (RFMEN), established in October 2018 in Yerevan. Additionally, she was appointed by the UN Secretary-General as a member of the Digital Finance Task Force for the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Apart from her professional responsibilities, Aurélie has always been deeply involved in community development and has actively implemented initiatives aimed at young people and women.

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Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem is one of Dubai's leading businessmen. He is the Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DP World and the Chairman of the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation.

Mr. bin Sulayem’s expertise and visionary leadership spearheaded the rapid expansion of Dubai’s infrastructure, including ports and free zones, contributing significantly to the stellar growth trajectory of the United Arab Emirates. He was also a leader in developing the infrastructure supporting Dubai’s successful tourism industry, among various other sectors.

Highlights of his three-decade business career include:
• Overseeing the rapid development of the Jebel Ali Free Zone (Jafza) into an unrivalled business park of more than 7300 companies • Establishing and leading Nakheel, a real estate and tourism property development firm that has created many iconic Dubai projects including The Palm, the world’s largest man-made islands
• Establishing and leading Istithmar World, a major investment house focusing on private equity with a portfolio of investments in diverse sectors across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East including retail, financial services, industry, tourism and hospitality, and healthcare
•Pioneering the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC), a market for gold and precious metals, diamonds and coloured stones, energy and other commodities. Mr. bin Sulayem has a BSc in Economics from Temple University in the USA. He is a Board Member of the Dubai Executive Council, the UAE Federal Tax Authority. He is also Chairman of Virgin Hyperloop One. In 2022, he was named as the MENA region’s first HeForShe Champion by UN Women.

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Dr. Obafemi Kadri Hamzat, was elected the Deputy Governor of Lagos State following the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the March 9, 2019 gubernatorial election. As running mate to the Governor, His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, the duo pulled three-quarter of the total valid votes cast in the elections to emerge winners.    

Born on September 19, 1964, ideologically progressive Dr. Hamzat joined the public service in 2005 from an impressive career in the academics, financial services and engineering. As a multidisciplinary professional with accomplishments in information technology and consulting, he is impressively established as a visionary leader with focus on excellence and performance.   

Dr. Hamzat brought into public service the energy and vitality of a private sector executive after over 2 decades of exciting career spanning different sub-sectors of the economy such as RTP Consulting Services, City of New York, Columbia University, Merrill Lynch Inc., Morgan Stanley and Oando Plc., as Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Group Head, IT Strategy. His headship as Commissioner at the Ministry of Science & Technology entrenched a new work culture among the staff who embraced his style of open and transparent leadership with enthusiasm. In four years, he deployed a cutting-edge technology that integrated the entire Lagos State Public Service, and with that initiative Lagos became the first government institution in Africa to implement 11 modules of Oracle ERP. On the strength of his performance, he was retained in the first term of the Babatunde Fashola’s administration from 2007-2011 to continue with the technological innovation that brought efficiency to government activities in Lagos State.   

In the second term of the administration (2011 to 2015), His Excellency, Dr. Hamzat was appointed Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure to champion the State infrastructural revolution. He later served as Special Adviser (Technical) to His Excellency, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, when he became the Honourable Minister of Works, Power and Housing before his nomination and subsequent election as the Deputy Governor of Lagos State.    

Dr. Hamzat had his early education at Odu Abore Memorial Primary School in Mushin and Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo. For his tertiary education, he attended the Prestigious University of Ibadan, graduated with a B.Sc. (Second Class Upper) in Agricultural Engineering in 1986 and earned an M.Sc. in Agricultural Engineering in 1988 from the same University.   In 1992, he earned a Ph.D. in System Process Engineering from Cranfield University, England and was the first student in the department to complete his doctorate within three years. He is also an alumnus of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. 

Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who has two publications in reputable Scientific Journals to his name, is a Microsoft Certified System Engineer, a member of the Nigeria Computer Society and Fellow of Nigeria Society of Engineers, with numerous exposures to international trainings including the World Bank Third Country Training Programme in Singapore to understand the challenges facing the developing nations of the world. A best-in-class public administrator, Dr. Hamzat is a strategic thinker, who has coordinated execution of numerous world-class projects and developmental agenda towards transforming Lagos state into Africa’s model megacity and financial hub. He is a doer, who pushes the boundary for excellence in public service without seeking undue limelight. His Excellency, Dr. Hamzat finds joy in his public office achievements, only when the impacts of his efforts make life better for the people better, and overall public interest is adequately served. Highly revered and extensively decorated for his efficient resource utilization in the private sector and gallantry in public service, he was the winner of the 2013 edition of the Lagos State Man of the Year Awards. Beyond accolades, Hamzat’s extensive knowledge and leadership ability have earned him important seats at critical decision making and advisory tables both in the state and countrywide. 

The Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat is a devout Muslim and committed family man, whose marriage to Mrs. Oluremi Hamzat is blessed with lovely children. He is deeply interested in development economics, social welfare and gender empowerment, and has remained a strong voice against discriminatory policies that debase humanity.  

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Jane Sun is the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Trip.com Group Limited, a leading global travel services company. Ms. Sun joined the company as Chief Financial Officer in 2005, and subsequently served as Chief Operating Officer and Co-President, before she was appointed to the position of CEO in 2016.   In her various senior leadership capacities, Ms. Sun led the company to significant growths in all aspects of the business, including an exponential increase in its market capitalization from USD 1 billion to more than USD 22 billion in 2023.  

Ms. Sun has been widely recognized for her extensive experience in operating and managing online travel businesses, mergers and acquisitions, and financial reporting and operations, and has received numerous accolades in the industry.   Among the various awards and recognition, Ms. Sun was named one of Fortune’s Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Business for consecutive years, and was also named in the Forbes World’s Most Powerful Women List. Ms. Sun received an Asia Society Asia Game Changer Award and was appointed a member of the Asia Society Board of Trustees. Forbes named her one of the Emergent 25: Asia's Latest Star Businesswomen and one of the Most Influential and Outstanding Businesswomen in China. Ms. Sun was among Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business. During her tenure at Trip.com Group, Ms. Sun also won the Institutional Investor Awards for the Best CEO and the Best CFO.   Before joining Trip.com Group, Ms. Sun was head of the SEC and External Reporting Division of Applied Materials, Inc. from 1997. Prior to that, she was an audit manager at KPMG LLP in Silicon Valley, California. Ms. Sun earned her Bachelor’s degree (High Honours) from the business school of the University of Florida, and completed her Master of Laws (LLM) degree at the law school of Peking University.

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Connecting the world’s new leaders of the fastest growing economies which outperform developed markets, SuperBridge Dubai, welcomes investors, the business community and technology innovators to fast-track partnerships and collaborate on transformational projects in Middle East, Asia, Africa and Latin America.

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Shane Tedjarati is the founder, Chairman and CEO of the Tribridge Group. Tribridge is a global investment group dedicated to solving real-world challenges facing humanity in the 21st century by building bridges between diverse teams across the world, applying leading technologies to global megatrends.

Shane was retired President and CEO of the Global High Growth Regions in Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) in 2021. He was the architect of Honeywell’s globalization drive which transformed the company into the world’s leading and largest industrial technology firm, driving the lion’s share of its growth from the emerging markets of the world.

Shane is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute and the co-founder of its Middle East Leadership Initiative and China Fellowship Program. He is a member of the advisory board of Antai College of Economics and Management and the industry Co-Chair of China Leaders for Global Operations of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Shane is an avid aviator and speaks six languages. He studied Mathematics and Computer Science at McGrill University, Canada; Masters of Business Administration at University of Surrey, United Kingdom and Executive Program in e-Commerce at the Wharton School of Management of the University of Pennsylvania

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Maruyama, Managing Executive Officer, is Chief Investment Officer for Asset Management One Co., Ltd., Based in Tokyo, he oversees approximately 300 investment professionals in delivering the firm’s investment services to clients across the world.  

Before joining Asset Management One in April 2022, Mr. Maruyama was Chief Investment Officer for Fidelity International Japan since 2015. Prior to this role, he worked at Nikko Asset Management where he was Head of Alternative Investment between 2006 and 2009, and Head of Japanese Equity and Alternative Investment between 2009 and 2015. Mr. Maruyama began his financial industry career in 1991 when he joined Industrial Bank of Japan, and has investment experiences of over three decades earned from Fidelity, Nikko AM and other leading financial companies including IBJ Schroders, DIAM USA and DIAM Asset Management.  

Mr. Maruyama is a Certified Member Analyst of the Securities Analysts Association of Japan (CMA) and a Certified International Investment Analyst (CIIA). He earned a Master of Science and Electrical Engineering degree from Keio University.

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Dr. HongJiang Zhang, a distinguished computer scientist and R&D leader, is a Venture Partner at Source Code Capital and a Senior Advisor at Carlyle Group. He also advises the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence and serves as an independent non-executive director on three US and Hong Kong listed company boards.
 
Previously, Dr. Zhang was the CEO of Kingsoft and the founder of Kingsoft Cloud (NASDAQ: KC), a major player in China's cloud computing sector. He held pivotal roles at Microsoft, including Distinguished Scientist and CTO of Microsoft Asia-Pacific Research and Development Group. His career also includes roles at HP Labs and the Institute of Systems Science, National University of Singapore.  

A foreign member of the US National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of IEEE and ACM, Dr. Zhang has received numerous awards, including the 2010 IEEE Computer Society Technical Achievement Award and the 2012 ACM SIGMM Outstanding Technical Achievement Award. He's a highly influential computer science researcher with an H-Index of 138, holding 150+ patents and authoring numerous papers and books.  

Dr. Zhang earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark and a Bachelor of Science degree from Zhengzhou University, China.

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Mudassir Sheikha is the CEO and Co-Founder of Careem. He grew up in Karachi, Pakistan,before graduating from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Economicsand Computer Science, and obtained his Masters in Computer Science with a specialization inDatabases from Stanford University.
Mudassir’s career in tech started with Silicon Valley startup “Brience”, and then as a summerassociate at Venture Finance Group, working with seed-stage companies in the software andconsumer internet industry. Mudassir then moved back to Pakistan and co-founded“DeviceAnywhere”, a company that was acquired by “Keynote” in 2008 before joiningmanagement consulting firm “McKinsey & Company” in Dubai.
In 2012, he left to build something big and meaningful with ex-McKinsey colleague MagnusOlsson. Their mission was to simplify and improve the lives of people in the Middle Eastregion and build an awesome organisation that inspires. They founded Careem in 2012 andtoday, it is the leading technology platform for the region, operating in more than 80 cities in10 countries, with 1400+ colleagues and more than 2.5 million Captains.When he’s not working, Mudassir is learning how to scale growing organizations andspending time with his wife and four daughters.

BIOGRAPHY

Noor is the Founder and Managing Partner of Global Ventures, a UAE-based, Series-A focused, emerging-market venture capital firm with presence in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria. With $300 million AUM, and financial returns rating it as a top decile fund, Global Ventures has become a leading investor across the Middle East and Africa.  

Since its inception in 2018, Global Ventures has completed 60 investments and 4 exits across ten markets, deliberately focused on sectors positively affecting millions of lives across the world, such as FinTech, Digital Health, EdTech and AgriTech. In addition to generating top decile returns, the portfolio has had a demonstrable impact on millions of lives through its company founders creating 10,200 jobs, enabling female leadership, powering financial inclusion for over 57 million people and expanding healthcare access to over 6 million patients.

Prior to Global Ventures, Noor was the first woman to operate, scale and IPO a company in the MENA region, listing Depa on NASDAQ Dubai and the London Stock Exchange for US$1.1 billion in April 2008. One of the world’s largest interior contractors, Noor scaled Depa tenfold, expanding operations from six countries to 22, including four cross-border acquisitions.  

BIOGRAPHY

John R. Selby (Jack) is a technology, finance and independent film entrepreneur. His primaryrole is as Managing Director at Peter Thiel’s family office, Thiel Capital, in Los Angeles,California. He is also Founder and Managing Partner at AZ-VC, the largest venture capitalfirm in Arizona.As a “PayPal Mafia” member, Jack co-founded, along with Peter, Clarium CapitalManagement, a macro hedge fund after selling PayPal to eBay in October 2002.

At PayPal,Jack joined as an original employee and later served as a Corporate Officer/Senior VicePresident, overseeing the company’s international and corporate operations.As an active technology investor and advisor, Jack is involved with notable companies such asSpaceX, Palantir, Affirm, Blend, OfferPad, Myeloid Therapeutics, Kisbee Therapeutics,Resonance Medicine, Paradox, Q Bio, Halo, Group Nine Media, and many more.

As an independent producer, Jack’s film credits include Windfall, Silk Road, Freeheld, Bernie, Act ofValor as well documentaries Fastball, Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope, One the Line: TheRichard Williams Story, and many more.Jack received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hamilton College and currently serves as aCharter Trustee as well as member of the Investment Committee for the college’s endowment.

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Co-Chair of SouthBridge, a Financial Advisory Service company dedicated to Africa. Chairman of Terra Nova think tank. Former Prime Minister of Benin (2015-2016). He started his career as a lecturer in economics at the University of Paris 13 and was a member of the Department of Industry's Minister’s Office and the Prime Minister's Office. In 1986, he joined Danone where he held various positions, including Corporate Development Director and member of the Executive Committee. In 1997, he joined the Rothschild Bank as General Partner; he was Head of the Consumer Products Group, Head of Middle East, and Africa. He then served as CEO of the Private Equity firm PAI Partners (2009-2015). He graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure, Sciences Po, the London School of Economics and La Sorbonne in History and Economics. He is an Associate Professor in Economics and Social Sciences.

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Named one of the most influential women in the Arab economic sector in 2015, Dr. Sahar is an economist, former Minister of International Cooperation and Investment in Egypt and advisor to the Presidential Office’s Economic Development Council, where she led the design of key pillars of the national economic reform program. She currently sits on several board as a director in numerous financial institutions, including Alliance Life Insurance, Helios Fairfax Partners Corporation, Union of Arab Banks, and El-Zakat , Sadakat Fund and the Arab Real Estate Fund.  

Dr. Sahar is widely renowned for her leadership in boosting the efficiency and effectiveness of the Official Development Assistance (ODA) to Egypt and has overseen the monitoring and implementation of financial sector programs including legislative, supervisory and structural reforms, the development of SMEs to promote inclusive growth and job creation, the design and management of social housing finance programs, as well as the development of strategic partnership schemes between the World Bank Group and governments internationally, as well as serving as the Governor of Egypt to the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. 

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Dr. Ma Jun, Founder and President of the Institute of Finance and Sustainability, holds key roles including Chairman of the Green Finance Committee of China Society for Finance and Banking, Chairman of Hong Kong Green Finance Association, and Co-Chair of IPSF Working Group of Sustainable Finance Taxonomy.
His impressive career encompasses serving as Co-Chair of G20 Sustainable Finance Working Group, Chief Economist of China's central bank, and positions at Deutsche Bank, the World Bank, and the IMF.
Dr. Ma is a foremost advocate and practitioner of green finance and sustainable development. He led China's green finance guidelines and its inaugural green bond standard in 2015-16. His G20 involvement led to global agreements on scaling sustainable finance. Initiatives like the Green Investment Principles of the Belt & Road and the IPSF's Common Ground Taxonomy bear his mark.  
With a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgetown University and a master's degree in Management Science from Fudan University, Dr. Ma has received numerous awards for his contributions to green finance, ESG, and sustainability.

BIOGRAPHY

Tuan received an MBA from Willamette University in 2003 with highest distinction, and then spent a year at Merrill Lynch in private wealth management. In 2004 he joined the doctorate program at Pennsylvania State University, and was awarded a PhD in Economics in 2008. Soon afterwards he was recruited by Dragon Capital as Chief Economist, and in 2010 was appointed Head of Research.

Tuan has led numerous technical assistance projects for the firm with Vietnam’s State Bank, State Treasury and Ministry of Finance. He serves on the Investment Committees of the equity and fixed-income funds managed by Dragon Capital. He became Deputy CIO in 2016 and was appointed Co-Portfolio Manager of the IPO/Placing Platform in 2017. In January 2023, Tuan was promoted to CIO of Dragon Capital Group.

BIOGRAPHY

Civil Engineer with focus on environmental engineering. Began his professional activities in the the Amazon region as head of the Center for Environmental Protection.  Elected Mayor of Maringá, a city over 400 thousand inhabitants for two terms: 2005 to 2012.   

Was the Secretary of Planning and Secretary of Urban Development of the State of Paraná. He is currently a consultant in Sustainability and Technology for the Federation of Industries focused on new trends and investments.  

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang, Founder & President of the Center for China and Globalization (CCG), is a renowned figure in international relations and economics. CCG, a top Chinese think tank, holds UN "Special Consultative Status" and ranked 64th worldwide in the 2020 Global Go to Think Tank Index.  
Dr. Wang's extensive roles include former Counselor to the State Council of China, Vice Chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation, and Chairman of the Green Finance Committee. He's also an esteemed educator at Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.  

With a background in China's foreign trade, he served as Quebec's Chief Trade Representative in Hong Kong and held senior corporate positions in Canada. His expertise spans global governance, US-China relations, trade, migration, and diaspora studies, resulting in nearly 100 books and numerous op-eds in prestigious publications. 

Dr. Wang is a sought-after speaker at global conferences like Davos, Munich Security Conference, and Paris Peace Forum, known for his candid insights on China's domestic and foreign policy issues. His influence extends to hosting the CCG Global Dialogue Series, featuring prominent thought leaders and policy experts.

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Ruby Lu is founder of Atypical Ventures, a venture fund investing in early-stage companies in China. Prior to founding Atypical, she co-founded eCarX in 2016. The company supplies an infotainment portal to auto manufacturers including Mercedes, Lotus, Volvo and Geely. eCarX commands a valuation over US$3 billion in the private market. Previously, Ruby co-founded DCM China in 2003 and co-led the practice for over 13 years. 

While there, she sourced and led investments in many leading technology companies such as Kuaishou, which generated several billion in net gains and over 500x return in a single deal. She has generated 13 Unicorns, 8 IPOs and 5 M&As in her venture capitalist career. Prior to being a venture capitalist, Ruby was a Vice President in Goldman Sachs technology investment banking group. She received an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1996  and a B.A. with honors from the University of Maryland in 1994.

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Kyle Teamey joins RA Capital as a Managing Partner, Planetary Health. Kyle's primary responsibility at RA is to lead investments in private companies that are developing innovative solutions to address climate change and environmental sustainability. Prior to joining RA, Kyle was a Partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), where he led investments and served on company boards that span the utilities, energy storage, chemicals, agriculture, automotive, recycling, and consumer products sectors.

Prior to BEV, Kyle was a Principal at In-Q-Tel, the strategic investment arm of the CIA and US Intelligence Community, where he invested in early stage manufacturing, materials, energy, computing, and defense companies. Kyle was also the CEO and co-founder of Liquid Light, developer of a proprietary process to make major chemicals from CO2, which was sold to Avantium in 2016. Kyle also recently retired as a Colonel in the US Army Reserve after 24 years of service. He holds a BA in Environmental Engineering from Dartmouth College (1998), an MA in International Finance and Energy Policy from John Hopkins University (2008), an MS in Materials Science from Columbia University (2012), and a Masters of Strategic Studies from the Army War College (2020).

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Dr. Nasser H. Saidi is the Founder and Chairman of the regional Clean Energy Business Council. Dr. Saidi is also the President of Nasser Saidi & Associates, a niche consultant and advisor to governments, central banks, regulators, the banking & financial sector, multi-national and regional companies.

He serves on the board of several prominent GCC companies. He is the former Chief Economist of the Dubai International Financial Centre. Dr. Saidi served as Minister of Economy and Trade and Minister of Industry of Lebanon and First Vice-Governor of the Central Bank of Lebanon for two mandates. He is the founder & former CEO of the Hawkamah Institute for Corporate Governance & the Mudara Institute of Directors. He is active in macroeconomics, clean energy, Fintech, crowdfunding and corporate governance.

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Nili Gilbert, CFA, CAIA, is the Vice Chairwoman of Carbon Direct, a leader in scaling carbon management into a global industry through climate investment, technology, and client advisory.

She is also Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero’s (GFANZ) Advisory Panel of technical experts, as well as a member of its CEO Principals Group. In addition to serving as a Chairwoman of both the David Rockefeller Fund and the Synergos Institute Investment Committees, Nili is an Independent Board Director of Brookfield Asset Management. She is also a Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and a member of the Clinton Global Initiative Advisory Council.

Previously, she was Co-Founder and Portfolio Manager of Matarin Capital, which became one of the larger women-owned asset managers in the US. She also previously served as a member of the State of California’s Climate-Related Financial Risk Advisory Group, the Social Mission Board of Seventh Generation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, and the TED Vision Council. Her TED Talk on climate finance has received nearly 2 million views.

She has been honored among Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance, as a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, LinkedIn “TopVoice” in Finance, Entrepreneur of the Year by the National Association of Securities Professionals, and Bloomberg BusinessWeek “One to Watch.” She is a permanent member of both the Council on Foreign Relations and the Economic Club of New York.

Nili received her BA, magna cum laude, from Harvard University, her MBA from Columbia Business School, where she was a Toigo Fellow, and she has completed programs in leadership and sustainability at Oxford and Stanford Universities.

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Michael Sheren is the president and chief strategy officer of MVGX, a green fintech that is licensed and regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and enables corporations and governments to align their business and policy objectives with climate action. Prior to joining MVGX, Michael was a senior advisor at the Bank of England ("BoE") for nearly a decade, leading much of the bank’s sustainable finance and environmental risk management work. Further, Michael co-founded the BoE’s fintech accelerator program. On behalf of the BoE and the UK government, Michael was also the co-chair of the G20 Sustainable Finance Study Group with China from 2016–2019, driving domestic and international green finance initiatives. In his twenty-five years of private sector banking before joining the BoE, Michael held leadership roles at JPMorgan Chase, GE Capital, and Credit Agricole CIB, among other financial firms. In addition, Michael is a Senior Advisor at the United Nations Development Program Finance Hub, an Emeritus Governor at the London School of Economics, and a Prince of Wales Fellow at Cambridge University’s Cambridge Institution for Sustainable Leadership.

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Marcel Kasumovich is the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for Coinbase Asset Management. He leads a team focused on the building of digital asset investment strategies. Marcel has been engaged in digital assets since 2012 as a Visiting Scholar at the International Monetary Fund and as part of Pure Macro Capital Advisors, which he founded to house various investment and advisory interests.

In previous roles, Marcel gained experience across policy, investment banking, and hedge funds, including the Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, and Soros Fund Management, Woodbine Capital, and Tse Capital. He has published research ranging from academic journals to op-eds, is a member of the Economic Club of New York, and holds advisory roles in startup financial technology companies. Throughout his career, Marcel has built strong connections to finance professionals, policymakers, and entrepreneurs.

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Ellana Lee is Senior Vice President & Managing Editor, Asia Pacific, for CNN International, and Global Head of Features Content for CNN International and CNN Digital. She is based in the network's Asia Pacific headquarters in Hong Kong.  

Lee is one of the network's most senior executives outside of the United States. As head of the Asia Pacific region and its editorial output, she manages CNN's award-winning on-air news programming from Pakistan to Japan and from China to New Zealand. She also manages the correspondents and newsgathering teams across eight operations in the region.  

As Global Head of Features Content across CNN International television and CNN Digital, she is responsible for the partnership between CNN's international editorial and commercial teams, helping to drive the network's business outside the United States.   CNN's features group is an integrated, cross-platform, award-winning creative team, producing more than 1000 hours of premium original programming every year. This encompasses long-form series, documentaries and specials for TV, digital and social platforms across eight production hubs in Hong Kong, London, Abu Dhabi, New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Johannesburg and Miami.

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Olivier Sage is responsible for charting the financial and operational course of TONOMUS, as well as ensuring that it has the people and processes in place to create lasting value.A seasoned finance professional with over 20 years of senior management experience across the telecommunications, media and digital sectors in Europe and the Middle East, Olivier has spearheaded international mergers and acquisitions, as well as integration and restructuring. 

Prior to joining TONOMUS in 2022, Olivier served as Chief Revenue Officer at MBC Group, and was previously Group CEO of Lebara, a mobile virtual network operator with a presence in eight countries, including Saudi Arabia. Olivier oversaw a transformative period for the company that encompassed the ownership transfer of the business. He was also instrumental in Showtime Arabia’s merger with Orbit to create OSN - and was appointed CFO for the new entity as it prepared for an IPO. Olivier holds a master’s degree in Management Controlling and Accounting from the Montpellier Business School and is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). 

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Ying DaiMr. Dai Ying, who has been deeply engaged in the field of commercial management and capital operation for more than 20 years, has rich experience in industrial development and business management.

He is good at capital operation and closely integrates with industrial development to achieve the co-development of capital and industry. In the field of new energy industry, he takes the strategic consideration of continuous innovation and technology leadership, to create a harmonious coexistence, green and sustainable development of the global new energy ecology contribution.

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Mr. Haijian He is the Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of Kingsoft Cloud Holdings Limited, and is responsible for the Group’s financial planning, treasury, legal affairs, internal control and compliance, strategic investments, supply chain management, business development of public cloud and enterprise cloud verticals, and investor relations affairs.  

Prior to joining the Kingsoft in January 2020, Mr. He served as an executive director of the TMT (telecommunications, media and technology) group and the mergers and acquisitions group sequentially at Goldman Sachs (Asia) L.L.C. from September 2015 to January 2020. Mr. He has extensive experience in complex merger and acquisition transactions and headed Asia M&A department at Goldman Sachs.  Previously, Mr. He was a vice president at Citigroup Global Markets Inc. in New York. Mr. He was appointed as an independent non-executive director of Sipai Health Technology Co., Ltd. (HKEx: 0314) since December 23, 2022.  

Mr. He studied financial management and economics under Nobel Economics Laureate Eugene Fama at University of Chicago, and received MBA from University of Chicago in March 2014. Mr. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst charter holder.   Mr. He is frequently interviewed by leading media outlets, including Wall Street Journal and Barron’s. Mr. He is also recognized as one of “The Best CFOs in Asia” by Institutional Investor as well as one of “The CFOs of the Year of Public Chinese Company across US and Hong Kong Stock Exchange” by Wall Street Journal Barron’s.

BIOGRAPHY

Alex Zhavoronkov, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine (insilico.com), a leader in next-generation generative artificial intelligence technologies for drug discovery and biomarker development. Under his leadership, Insilico raised over $400 million in multiple rounds from expert investors, opened R&D centers in six countries or regions, and partnered with multiple pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic institutions, nominated 11 preclinical candidates, and entered human clinical trials with AI-discovered novel target and AI-designed novel molecule. Since 2015 he has invented critical technologies in the field of generative artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning (RL) for generation of novel molecular structures with the desired properties and generation of synthetic biological and patient data. Since 2012 he published over 160 peer-reviewed research papers and 2 books.  
He founded and co-chairs the Annual Aging Research, Drug Discovery and AI Forum (10th annual in 2023), the world's largest event on aging in the pharmaceutical industry. He is the adjunct professor of artificial intelligence at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging.

BIOGRAPHY

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 200 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. 

BIOGRAPHY

Wong Kit Yi lives and works between New York and Hong Kong. Her recent works have been included in projects organized by M+ (Hong Kong, 2023); Tate Modern (London, 2023); Amant Foundation (New York, 2023); Kunstinstituut Melly (Netherlands, 2021); Public Art Fund (New York, 2020); and Para Site (Hong Kong, 2019). She participated in the Arctic Circle expeditionary residency (2015), and completed a residency at the Chinati Foundation (Marfa, 2021), where she lived in a house full of infamously uncomfortable furniture designed by Donald Judd.

She graduated from the department of Fine Arts at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and received an MFA in Sculpture from Yale University, and has been teaching courses at State University of New York at Purchase and other universities about video art, performance, installation and sculpture. She is the co-chair of LASER (Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous) Hong Kong, and a die-hard member of KFC (Kombucha Fan Club). Her work has been collected by M+ Museum (Hong Kong) and Kadist Art Foundation (Paris/San Francisco), Ackland Art Museum (Chapel Hill) among others. She will be joining the faculty team at the School of Visual Arts MFA program this year.

BIOGRAPHY

HS Liu is a Pulitzer Prize winner and the founder of the Shanghai Center of Photography, which opened in 2015. Mr. Liu’s photographs of China are widely recognized by the Chinese public as capturing an era of change that is unique in preserving native sensibilities combined with an independent point of view.

Mr. Liu is a former Associated Press photojournalist and photographer. Mr. Liu was recognized by the Associated Press as the Best Photographer in 1989 and 1991. He also received Photo of the Year from the University of Missouri in 1989. In 1992, he shared with his colleagues in Moscow the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography. For this, he received the Overseas Press Club award in 1992.

Liu Heung Shing was the first-Time magazine photojournalist posted in Beijing since 1978; he later worked as chief photographer for the Associated Press in Beijing, Los Angeles, New Delhi, Seoul, and Moscow. Mr. Liu is the author of China After Mao (1983, Penguin), China, Portrait of a Country (2008, Taschen), 1911: The Road to Revolution (Hong Kong University Press), and Shanghai, Portrait of a City (Penguin Viking).

BIOGRAPHY

Dana Leong is a two-time Grammy award-winning musician, composer & producer. Considered by many as world’s top electric cellist, he is also referred to as world’s top trombone player by members of the world-renowned Balkan Beat Box.
Dana’s music spans across multiple genres.
His distinctive sound is an emotionally mesmerizing combination of electronic rhythms & uplifting global tapestries. He has taught Jazz at Stanford University from age 16; completed the public policy program at Harvard Kennedy School of Government; gives performances & keynotes at TEDxShanghai & US OPEN Tennis Championship; won two Grammys in Latin Jazz & classical music for collaborations with Paquito D’rivera; worked with Kanye West & Sean P. Diddy Combs in Hip-Hop, and tops iTunes Charts with DJ A- Trak & DJ Qbert in EDM; been a guest musical director for Fela on Broadway. As an internationally renowned musician composer, Dana cooperates with global brands to create immersive music experiences. Recently he has created themes for top names including Hermès, Prada, Hugo Boss, Virgin Galactic, ESPN, Porsche, Infiniti, New York & Shanghai Fashion Week, Hong Kong Fintech Week, Singapore Fintech Festival, Mont Blanc and the Annual $1,000,000 Global Teacher Prize in Dubai.
A leading innovator at the intersection of music, technology & wellness, Dana is continuously experimenting. He is one of the first artists in the world pairing human talent with artificial intelligence powered music composer engines creating electronic symphony “iDragon” with DeepMusic.Ai & Dell Technologies; pioneers live music + VR powered 3D art concerts with renowned artist Android Jones; incorporates audience EEG brain scanner data into performances with EMOTIV Systems; founded music social impact platform TEKTONIKmusic.org creating corporate & public music wellness programs at Google, YouTube, WeWork, HTC and the World Economic Forum’s flagship Davos Congress. Dana works with Yamaha to consult on the design of the “Silent (electric) Cello”, serves as a U.S. Musical Ambassador and is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader.

BIOGRAPHY

David Schlesinger’s three-decade career as a journalist and businessman has given him a global perspective while maintaining a specialty in China and Asia. As global Editor-in-Chief of Reuters, the world’s largest multi-media international news service, he strategically remade the organization to deal with significant changes in the media, financial services and information industries.

He has deep experience with political risk analysis, offshoring, localization, labor relations, and acquisitions as well as all aspects of traditional, online and social media. His 30+ years’ experience with China and Asia includes government relations and negotiation at the highest levels. He currently runs Tripod Advisors, a consultancy specializing in global media issues and political risk analysis. Before founding Tripod, Schlesinger was Chairman of Thomson Reuters China and was the global information services group’s senior representative in the region. He was responsible for building relationships, providing thought leadership and advising on strategy for operations across Thomson Reuters interests in financial markets, legal and regulatory databases, scientific information and journalism.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Xiang Bing is the Founding Dean and Professor of China Business and Globalization atCheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Prior to joining CKGSB, Dr. Xiang was aProfessor at Peking University‟s Guanghua School of Management, where he pioneered theschool‟s Executive MBA program.

He was also one of the seven founding faculty members ofChina Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai. Previously, Dr. Xiang servedon the faculty of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.He has served as an independent board member of a number of companies (including four FortuneGlobal 500 companies) listed in Hong Kong, mainland China and the United States. He is amember of the International Advisory Council of Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC) in Brazil, amember of the Global Advisory Board of Yonsei School of Business in Korea, a member of theAdvisory Council for the Royal Academy of Management (RAM) in Oman, a member of theAdvisory Board of Asia House in London and a Counselor for One Young World Summit inDublin.

He was a member of the Board of Trustees for United Way Worldwide (US) from2011-2017.Dr. Xiang‟s research interests include the reform of state-owned enterprises, innovation and therole of the private sector in China, and economic disruptions. He is a leading authority on Chinabusiness, innovations in China, globalization of Chinese companies, China‟s development models,global implications of China‟s transformation, social innovation, economic disruptions, China-USrelations, global trade and investment systems and global governance. His writings and cases onthese subjects are considered among the most influential in China and beyond.Dr. Xiang has served as keynote speaker at influential forums and conferences around the world.

BIOGRAPHY

Valerie Hawley is Director of Corporate Partnerships the Sorbonne Centre for Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), in Abu Dhabi, an entity aiming to enhance AI capabilities across the Middle East. SCAI focuses on Healthcare, Financial Services and Climate Change. Her expertise lies in advising companies on their disruptive innovation strategy by developing use cases and competencies in AI related technologies.

Valerie is passionate about new technologies and especially Web 3 technologies and generative AI. She is an active investor in this space. She is a General Partner with True Global Ventures (TGV). TGV is a global Venture Capital firm built by a group of serial entrepreneurs with a solid track record of investing their own money together with Limited Partners into ventures run by serial entrepreneurs. Portfolio companies leverage web3 technologies, incorporating blockchain and generative AI as competitive advantages to drive change with proven products. She is also a member of the AI Investment committee for Helion Ventures, VC fund and a member of the FAST Company Middle East – AI subcommittee and Council member.

BIOGRAPHY

Sean Moss-Pultz is the co-founder and CEO of Bitmark a startup working to extend traditional property rights to the digital age by creating tools that give individuals control over their own digital assets and data. His passion is in developing technologies that empower humans.

Prior to Bitmark, he was a senior executive for EMQ, a financial technology startup. Recognized as a pioneer of open-source hardware, Sean launched and was CEO of Openmoko, the first open-source phone and a precursor to iPhone and Android smartphones. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physics from UC San Diego.

BIOGRAPHY

Prof.Jihong Fan is the Professor at North China Electric Power University, formerly serving as the Chairman of the Central Research Institute of the State Power Investment Group. He has long been engaged in the planning and management of nuclear industry development, as well as the organization, implementation, and management of major scientific and technological projects for national large-scale advanced pressurized water reactor nuclear power plants and heavy gas turbine technology.
During his tenure as the Technology Innovation Director of State Power Investment Group, he organized the establishment of the new energy and digital innovation system of State Power Investment Group, promoting major key technology breakthroughs in the fields of solar energy, hydrogen energy and energy storage.

BIOGRAPHY

Tony Á. Verb is a serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, author and film producer, sharing his time between his Singapore base, Hong Kong and the Middle East.  

Tony is committed to accelerate the growth of technology companies and infrastructure projects that positively impact the planet. He is a Founding Partner and Executive Director of Carbonless Asia, an investment and innovation advisory firm launched to channel capital into decarbonizing Asia and the world, working with institutional investors, Fortune 500 firms and national governments. Under his previous senior roles in early stage technology investment, investment banking and urban innovation advisory practices, he has worked with regional and global industry leaders, such as Microsoft, Siemens, Allianz, HSBC, DBS, TCL and Nissan.  

Tony is an IWC Pioneer and a proud alumni member of the WEF Global Shapers community. He is the lead author of “Decarbonizing Asia”, written and edited by the advisors and partners of Carbonless and launched at COP27. The team is currently working on a thematic TV-show aligned with the mission to mobilize resources in scaling green technologies worldwide.

BIOGRAPHY

Jessy El Murr is an international, multilingual, independent digital journalist and media consultant with 20+ years of international media experience. An experienced public speaker, and former BBC and Sky News Arabia correspondent, El Murr has emerged as one of the top conference and show hosts in the MENA region, known for her multi-cultural background and a deep experience in live events hosting.
A seasoned field journalist and host, Jessy built her on-air experience, writing and presenting exclusive news stories from across the world, including Washington DC, New York, Kandahar, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh.Throughout her career as a correspondent, El Murr has interviewed a variety of senior officials and international personalities including Bill Gates, Sir Richard Branson, Georges Clooney and several international and regional dignitaries. An experienced and multilingual public speaker, Jessy has hosted dozens of large regional and international government and corporate conferences in several GCC countries.

BIOGRAPHY

Sarah Stone started her career at Manchester United’s club channel, MUTV. From there, she was headhunted by Al Jazeera Sport, writing, producing and presenting their sports news bulletins and live shows. She also works for BBC News and BBC World, writing and presenting their sports shows. She has worked on many different live sporting events around the world and has interviewed some of the biggest names in sport. She is now based in Dubai. 

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Bo Bai is the Executive Chairman and Founder of Asia Green Fund (AGF) and Metaverse Green Exchange (MVGX). From 2009-2016, Dr. Bai worked for Warburg Pincus. As a Partner and Managing Director, he led its investments in the energy, industrials and business services sectors in Asia. Previously, he worked at First Reserve Corporation and Goldman Sachs. Dr. Bai holds Ph.D. in Physics from MIT, a certificate from the Sloan School of Management at MIT in the Financial Technology Option, and a B.S. and an M.S. in Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China.

Dr. Bai serves as an Investment Committee Member of China Academy of Science Fund of Funds (“CAS FOF”) and Three Gorges Green Fund. Dr. Bai also serves as a Board Member of Elessent Cleantech (formerly Dupont Cleantech), Shanghai East Low Carbon Technology, Nanjing Baoying Gases, Beijing Capital Heating, Four Rivers Investment Management, Hosjoy, Low Carbon Environment, and AiPark. Previously, he served as a Board Member of HuiTongDa (9878.HK), Baosteel Gas, AAG Energy, Gulf Coast Energy Resources, and First Green Partners.  

BIOGRAPHY

Wang Feng is a veteran journalist and educator based in Hong Kong. He has worked for the Financial Times as Editor in Chief of FTChinese.com since April 2015. He also held editorial leadership roles and specialized in managing online and multimedia operations at prestigious news organizations such as Reuters and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, as well as Caijing Magazine in China.

He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and teaches journalism and media studies part-time at the University of Hong Kong and Tsinghua University in Beijing.  

BIOGRAPHY

Founder and CEO of Ambilight Inc Previously Professor at the University of California, Riverside; postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University; Ph.D. in Chemistry from Tsinghua University Focusing on solid electrolyte materials with industry leading patents.

BIOGRAPHY

As one of the youngest members of the Sky News Arabia team, Imane boasts an impressive CV, having been at the forefront of significant ground breaking stories from the region and abroad.

Since joining Sky News Arabia, she has covered numerous international stories from conflict zones including Tunisia, Yemen and Libya. When the June 30 revolution began in Egypt, Imane delivered a compelling series of reports including hosting an unscripted, five hour, live program with her exclusive footage broadcast around the globe across major news organizations. She also travelled to the US to cover the presidential elections in 2016 as well as the Egyptian elections in 2014 and 2018 and now presents the news between 1 pm and 2 pm. Her broad knowledge of worldwide current affairs as well as her fluency in Arabic, French and English has seen Imane secure several exclusive interviews including the former British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt Senior Advisor to US President Donald Trump, Jared Kushner renowned American philosopher and linguist, Noam Chomsky and ex Libyan Prime Minister, Ali Zaidan Also on her impressive list are Deborah Jones, the US Ambassador to Libya and Omran Al Zoubi, Syrian Minister of Information. Prior to joining Sky News Arabia, Imane worked as a broadcast journalist and business news presenter for Russia Today and worked on several radio stations in her native Morocco.

Imane is a graduate from the Higher Institute of Information in Communication (Institute Superieur de I Information et de la Communication) in Rabat, Morocco.

BIOGRAPHY

Steve Nouri is a distinguished data science leader who has transformed the way the worldperceives AI and innovation. Frequently acknowledged as one of the top 10 internationalauthorities in artificial intelligence and data science, Steve has made a significant impact in hisfield.As Australia's ICT Professional of the Year, Steve is a sought-after keynote speaker, educator,and technology influencer with a following of over 1.4 million people.

He actively participates inand contributes to the Forbes Technology Council, ACM, Harvard Business Review, andnumerous other prestigious organizations.As the founder of AI4Diversity, Steve leads a global non-profit initiative consisting of more than10,000 dedicated volunteers. This initiative aims to engage and educate diverse communities.on AI and the importance of responsible AI implementation.In his current role as Chief AI Evangelist at Wand, Steve works to promote a low-code, no-codeAI platform that enables businesses to harness the power of their data quickly andcost-effectively

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Pi Li is the Head of Art at Taikwun Hong Kong, a Centre for Heritage and Arts — a cultural destination for inspiration, stimulation and enjoyment.

Previously, Dr. Pi was Head of Curatorial Affairs M+, a visual culture museum in Hong Kong. Dr. Pi served as the deputy executive director of the art administration department at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA, 2001-2012). Dr. Pi curated many exhibitions in the past. Under Construction at Tokyo Opera Museum in 2002. Dr. Pi has also served as curator for the Shanghai Biennial and Allôrs la.

Dr. Pi received his PhD degree in art history from the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

BIOGRAPHY

Sharif El-Badawi is the Chief Executive Officer of the newly established Dubai Future District Fund, an evergreen venture fund of funds and direct investment vehicle of the emirate of Dubai. The fund is anchored by Dubai Future Foundation and the Dubai International Financial Centre to invest in the Future of Finance and Future Economies with the aim of bolstering economic development in Dubai, the UAE and the broader region.

Previously, he co-founded and managed Plus Venture Capital (+VC), a leading seed stage investment firm in the Middle East and North Africa region, investing across sectors from seed to growth within the region and diaspora. Before that he was a founding managing partner of the first US-based venture capital firm with a dedicated fund for the MENA region and was the most active venture capital investor in MENA during its investment period from 2017-2020. In his role, he managed the 500 Startups MENA fund, 500 Falcons, which invested in over 180 startups across 15 countries.

He joined Google through the $750m acquisition of AdMob, the world’s leading mobile advertising network. Before AdMob, Sharif was a technologist and serial entrepreneur having founded or co-founded several companies in the Consumer Internet and B2B space over a twelve-year period starting in 1998. 

BIOGRAPHY

Lennix leads the business strategy and operations for OKX internationally.

With 15 years of experience in the world of crypto and financial services, Lennix plays a key role in OKX’s transformation from a standard centralized exchange into the largest hub for DeFi services, NFTs and blockchain gaming, as well as crypto trading.

Lennix is one of the earliest employees to join the company in 2017. Since day one, he has championed financial inclusion through the power of crypto and decentralized finance. He is responsible for driving OKX’s mission to remove the traditional barriers to wealth creation, empowering everyone to create and own their wealth in the most innovative, decentralized and secure ways possible.

Before joining OKX, Lennix served at JP Morgan, AIG and CASH Financial Services Group.

BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Rechtman is a cross-border communication coach, interpreter, and advisor tosome of China’s leading investors and executives. He is a co-founding partner of Next LevelCommunication and Cadence Translate, and has served as a mentor at the Schwarzman Scholarsprogram at Tsinghua University and as a visiting lecturer at the Middlebury Institute of InternationalStudies at Monterey, the University of Ottawa, and the University of International Business andEconomics in Beijing (UIBE).

BIOGRAPHY

Abdulrahman AlJiffry is a Partner at 500 Global, a VC firm with more than $2.7b in AUM with a truly global portfolio of active programs and companies. Abdulrahman is focused on the MENA Accelerator Fund, helping scale MENA most promising startups in a rapidly growing and maturing market. 

Prior to 500 Global, Abdulrahman headed the Startup Programs at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST). The flagship is TAQADAM, the largest Accelerator program in the region, investing in up to 60 startups per cohort for up to $140,000 per startup. Another key initiative is Destination DeepTech, a program helping international DeepTech companies soft-land in Saudi Arabia and access the market, infrastructure available to grow their companies and further develop the Deep Tech ecosystem in MENA. 

Through his duties on several boards, Abdulrahman mentors and advises startups in product development, building a company to help commercialize high potential R&D output into promising high growth enterprises.

BIOGRAPHY

Ms. Shi Lan is the founder and CEO of cocafe.  
Cocafe is the first Web3.0 marketing service provider for most MNCs in China, and the leading 3D digital assets producer in e-commerce. It utilizes proprietary 3D, AR, Web3, and other digital technologies, along with generative AI capabilities, to provide one-stop services from digital asset content production and technology development to digital marketing.  
Shi Lan has extensive experience in cutting-edge technology, digital marketing, and art collection. She is a board member of the MIT Sloan School of Management, founder of Y-CITY, chairman of the Xinjiang Hetian Jade Museum, and has served as a judge for the Forbes China 30 Under 30 List and the MIT International Innovation Competition.   She is a thought leader on digital technology and innovation with deep experience in China.  She has also held a variety of senior positions as a Partner at Cybernaut Investment, a senior advisor to Christie's, an entrepreneur, and strategic advisor to multinational corporations and start-ups. In all these roles, she has taken initiatives from inception of the vision to execution.  
She is the organizer of the "Global Blockchain and Digital Economy Leadership Course" and a key initiator of the World Interchain Forum in Davos and the Davos Digital Summit. She had served as the Chairman of the MIT Education Committee in China, and the President of the MIT Club of Shanghai.  
She is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA), holds a bachelor's degree from Fudan University and a master's degree in engineering from MIT. Lan is a Fellow of the Aspen China Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Kevin Li is the Chairman of Mojia Biotech and a Managing Partner at LYZZ Capital. Mojia Biotech is a global bio-manufacturing company that produces food ingredients and bio-based materials using renewable carbon sources and green processes, with research and manufacturing sites in China, the US and Singapore. LYZZ Capital is a leading global biotech venture capital fund. Dr. Li has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and active biotech investor in the US and Asia. Kevin co-founded and managed several successful biotech companies, including ClinChoice, Alpha Biopharma, and Mojia Biotech. Dr. Li received his Ph.D. in biology from Indiana University and was a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Li has been an investor and board member of many successful biotech companies, including Cathay Industrial Biotech, Chipscreen, Alpha Biopharma, Neurelis, Qpex, Jumpcode, Onchilles, and Wugen, among others.

BIOGRAPHY

Manal Bernoussi is the Founder & Managing Director of Leaders On Purpose in Morocco. She is an international moderator and the host of Leaders On Purpose Podcast.
With over 18 years of experience, Manal held various managerial and leadership roles at the Casablanca Financial Center (CFC), where she was a member of the executive committee. In 2021, she was elected to the board of directors of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers.
Manal played a pivotal role in positioning CFC in areas such as Fintech and Sustainable Finance, while also establishing international partnerships with leading financial centers. Prior to that, she began her career in the consulting industry in Paris, specializing in cybersecurity and information protection. Manal holds a Masters of Engineering in Telecommunications from INSA Lyon and the National University of Singapore, in addition to earning an MBA degree from Columbia University in New York and the Africa Business School.

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Simon See is the Solution Architecture, Engineering Senior Director & Chief Solution Architect & Global Head for Nvidia AI Technology Center, NVIDIA Corporation.   He is also a Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Beijing University of Posts & Telecommunications (BUPT), and Universitas Indonesia (UI). His research interests are in the area of High-Performance Computing, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computational Science,  Applied Mathematics & Simulation Methodology.    He is leading some of the AI initiatives in the Asia Pacific.

He is a Steering Committee member of NSCC’s flagship High Performance Computing Conference Supercomputing Asia & published over 200 papers that won various awards.  Fellow member of IET, Chairman of TaskForce of IEEE’s CIS Neural Networks Technical Committee, Advisory Teams of AI Professional Association (AIP), Institute of Operations Research & Analytics (IORA), Machine Intelligence and Data Analytics Research Centre (MIDRC), Editorial Board Member of Journal of Computational and Cognitive Engineering (JCCE),  &  members of more than 50 conferences. 

BIOGRAPHY

Sarah is a dynamic communicator with over 25 years’ experience in finance, media, corporate communications and academia. Her international experience sees her working globally as a consultant and coach for cabinet ministers, CEOs, Chairpersons and senior VPs, to define and achieve their strategic communication objectives. Sarah regularly hosts in-person and virtual events and moderates at international conferences on diverse topics from smart data to sustainability.

Sarah graduated from CASS business school, UCL with a BSc Hons in Economics. She started her career as an equity analyst at BNP Paribas, then led the London Latin American equity sales desk, placing high profile IPOs to European funds. This led her to financial journalism, where she globally anchored the CNBC breakfast show Squawk Box for many years and worked for CBC and BSKYB. Before moving to Dubai over ten years ago, she worked at IMD business school in Switzerland, coaching and developing communication workshops for the Masters programme. Since living in Dubai, she co-hosted the Business Breakfast show on Dubai Eye Radio.