Speakers 2024

BIOGRAPHY

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

UAE Representative at Turkish Investment Office, A.Emre Buyukkilic is an IPA (investment promotion agency) professional with 14 years of experience at Invest in Türkiye.

He took over the position of Project Director in 2010 at Investment Support and Promotion Agency of Turkey (ISPAT) under the auspices of the Prime Ministry, and progressed through various roles at the Agency. Following his promotion to the position of Senior Project Director in 2014, he has led team in charge of Korean market in order to manage promotional activities and support services for the Korean investors. He was appointed as the head of Japan desk in January 2017 to focus on one of ISPAT’s main target markets. He was appointed as the Regional Representative in Singapore by December 2018 to represent Presidency of The Republic of Türkiye Investment Office (former ISPAT) within ASEAN Countries by mainly focusing on Singapore. Following his tenure in Singapore, he has recently relocated to UAE to set up Abu Dhabi Office.

He holds a BS degree in Business Administration from Middle East Technical University as a high honour graduate, an MBA degree in Strategic Marketing and Brand Management from Bahcesehir University and a Diploma degree in Information Technology from Informatics Academy of Singapore.

BIOGRAPHY

Miguel Rio-Tinto is a renowned technology leader with over 25 years of experience in driving digital transformation and innovation across various industries. He currently serves as the Group Chief Digital and Information Officer of Emirates NBD, one of the largest banking groups in the MENAT (Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey) region.

At Emirates NBD, he has successfully delivered the bank’s comprehensive IT transformation. This has revolutionised Emirates NBD’s technology and infrastructure platforms, set numerous industry records, and established a new technology benchmark across the MENAT region. His strategic thinking continues to drive exciting and market leading changes for the bank.

Before joining Emirates NBD, Miguel led Digital McKinsey’s Iberian office. He advised Europe and Latin America’s largest financial institutions on large-scale digital transformations encompassing IT strategy, operating models, architecture, cost efficiency, risk and cyber-security.

Earlier, Miguel was the COO and CIO for Novo Banco SA, one of Iberia’s biggest banks and prior to that, CIO for Banco Espírito Santo in Portugal.

Miguel has served on multiple executive boards including for Portugal’s Tranquilidade Insurance Group. He commenced his career at McKinsey and Company’s Lisbon office, and has an MBA from INSEAD, Paris

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Saravan Penubarthi is a highly experienced and versatile Chief Technology Officer with expertise driving global digital transformations across various industry verticals. He has a proven track record of delivering innovative technology strategies and solutions and executing cloud initiatives across multiple industries. With a strong background in digital innovation and execution, Saravan is adept at aligning and collaborating with IT and business stakeholders to drive revenue improvements and efficiency enhancements through adopting innovative digital business models.

Before joining AIQ, Saravan was the Chief Technology Officer for Microsoft in the APAC region and was responsible for driving the company's cloud initiatives and developing the overall IT digital strategy and execution. He led a diverse team of engineers, architects, and project managers and served as the Chief Technology Advisor for CxOs and the board in the region. He has also previously led digital technology partnerships and was responsible for driving digital transformation initiatives across several organizations.

Saravan has held several leadership positions throughout his career, including as a cloud consulting team leader for DXC (erstwhile CSC), global consulting services lead for Asia Pacific and Japan for Software AG Singapore, and enterprise integration practice lead for HCL Technologies in India. Saravan earned his Bachelor of Technology in Computer Science from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, India

BIOGRAPHY

Charlie is an investor and entrepreneur focused on emerging markets and responsible for the global seed-stage venture capital fund, Seedstars International Ventures.

In early 2014, Charlie joined the founding team of Seedstars to help grow the company into the leading emerging market venture enabler that it is today. Since 2019 Charlie has led the investment activities of the group and now concluded over 90 investments in 35 countries.

Prior to Seedstars, Charlie spent 4 years with BlueOrchard Finance, a leading impact investment manager, where he invested in financial institutions across Asia, MENA and Africa.

Charlie studied at the University of Leeds, UK with a year at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA and holds a Master of Engineering First Class Honours degree. Transitioning into finance following an MBA at the Collège des Ingénieurs, Paris, he later became a CFA charter holder.

BIOGRAPHY

Thomas Pays is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ozow, a pioneering fintech company transforming digital payments across Africa. With decades of leadership experience, Thomas has been instrumental in driving innovation, strategic growth, and market leadership in the financial technology sector. He has played a key role in shaping and driving open banking regulations and frameworks, supporting banks in building open banking APIs, and successfully bringing them to market. Thomas' vision and expertise have positioned Ozow as a leading force in the Pan African payments landscape. Thomas is a pacesetter passionate about business development and social responsibility, continually pushing the boundaries of innovation.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Kevin Li is the Chairman at Mojia Biotech. 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. He’s also Managing Partner at LYZZ Capital, a leading global biotech venture capital fund and investor in MojiaBio. Dr. Li has over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and active biotech investor in the US and Asia. He 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

As Group Director Editorial Partnerships at IMI, Mustafa Alrawi is a respected industry leader. With a decade at The National in Abu Dhabi, he demonstrated exceptional newsroom leadership. Although no longer on staff, he remains a columnist. Previously at CNN Business Arabic where he managed a large team and commercial opportunities, he excels in content creation. Mustafa's global event coverage and contributions to international publications highlight his journalistic impact.

BIOGRAPHY

As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Dubai Economic Development Corporation (DEDC) at the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), Hadi Badri is responsible for leading the DEDC team in orchestrating the implementation of projects related to the Dubai Economic Agenda ‘D33’. As the economic development arm of Dubai, DEDC is mandated to enhance Dubai’s economic competitiveness across sectors, diversify the emirate’s economy, attract foreign investment and global talent, and develop initiatives that focus on fostering innovation and driving Dubai’s digital economy.  

Hadi also serves a member of the board of directors of the Commercial Bank of Dubai (CBD), one of the leading banks in the UAE.  

Prior to joining DET, Hadi held various management roles at Emaar Properties, including as CEO of Emaar International, Group Chief Strategy Officer at Emaar and Chairman of Namshi.   Previously, Hadi gained extensive experience working with multinational companies in various fields. Hadi was a Principal at Bain & Company, where he led a range of complex strategy and organization projects across industries.  

He was also an investment professional at The Carlyle Group and Dubai International Capital. Hadi has served as a Board Director for Emaar Properties in 15 companies across Real Estate, E-commerce and Hospitality, including Emaar’s real estate development businesses in India, Turkey, Pakistan as well as Namshi (Fashion E-commerce) and Rove Hotels (Hospitality).  

Hadi has also previously served as a Board Director at Sandooq Al Watan and Rivoli Group and as a Member of Investment Advisory Committees at Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) and Carlyle MENA Partners.   Hadi is an honors graduate in Economics from Tufts University in Massachusetts, USA.

BIOGRAPHY

Alex Aliper, PhD, is the President of Insilico Medicine. He pioneered the application of AI in multi-omics data for drug discovery and drug repurposing, generative chemistry and generative biology and put an AI-designed drug into human clinical trials. Alex Aliper built a team of over 100 AI engineers that developed state-of-the-art software products for target discovery, small molecule generation and clinical trial outcome prediction. He was recognised as "Top 100 AI Leaders in Drug Discovery and Advanced Healthcare" by Deep Knowledge Analytics. In 2020 Endpoint News selected Alex Aliper as the top 20 under 40 biotechnology executives globally.

BIOGRAPHY

Vish Narain has over two decades of experience in Private Equity. He was employee #2 at TPG India in 2007 and was promoted to Partner and Country Head of TPG Growth in 2012. At 42, he was the youngest Country Manager at TPG across the world. He led the group for six year and deployed about a billion dollars in healthcare, technology, financial services and consumer across the South Asia region and its neighbourhood (India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Africa) He has served on over 15 Boards of companies in the healthcare, technology and consumer sectors  Prior to his stint at TPG, Vish was an Engagement Manager at McKinsey and Company’s Private Equity practice in Palo Alto and London. Vish has completed his MBA at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business, holds a Master of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi and a Diploma in Global Leadership and Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Selected as a Young Global Leader in 2014, he is an active member of the World Economic Forum and serves on its Advisory Board. Vish was also nominated as an Aspen Fellow in 2014 and is a member of the Aspen Leadership Institute. Nominated for Business Today’s “40 under 40” and has been featured in several publications including the cover of Forbes India.

BIOGRAPHY

Mustapha Mokass is CEO of Earth Technologies which focuses on developing and financing large scale carbon projects with a focus in building a global green cloud infrastructures. Investor and advisor to companies in AI, cybersecurity, renewable energy, cleantech and eco-mobility. MSc in Environmental Technology Engineering; HEC Paris Business School; Executive Education in Harvard Kennedy School and Hong-Kong University of Science and Technology "Our AI-Driven Future" • Author, Fostering a Global Clean Energy Market, L'Harmattan Paris

BIOGRAPHY

Zeeshan R. Khattak, currently serving as the Chief Executive Officer at the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), brings a wealth of experience from diverse sectors. With degrees in Liberal Arts, Economics, and Business Administration from California, and Finance from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, he has built a robust foundation in both theoretical and practical aspects of business and finance. His extensive background in investment management, finance and strategic operations uniquely positions him to drive the growth and success of Pakistan's software export industry at PSEB.

BIOGRAPHY

Zszusanna Hargitai, a Hungarian national, is the Managing Director, SME Finance and Development. In this role, which she assumed in June 2024, she leads the EBRD’s SME Finance and Development Group. This department drives and consolidates the EBRD offer for SME support across all countries of operations, supporting through business advisory services the scaling up of SME financing through intermediaries, whether through credit lines risk-sharing or supply chain financing, developing SME focused financial and business advisory products and funding platforms, and serving as a knowledge hub for SME operating environments, including government support schemes, in the individual countries of operations.

Prior to this, Ms Hargitai was the Managing Director, Central Asia. Between May 2021 to May 2024 she led the Bank’s operations in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Having joined the EBRD in 1992, Ms Hargitai has worked as a country manager in Western Balkans countries, Hungary and Croatia as well as Director for Country Strategy and Results Management and Director, EU Funds Co-Financia & Financial Instruments. Between 2018 and 2021 she was Regional Director for Western Balkans.

Ms Hargitai graduated with honours from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations and studied at London Business School

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Robert started his career in investment banking working in corporate finance in the City of London. In 2010 Robert founded CloudSigma to empower service providers globally to offer world class cloud services with local data sovereignty and residency. More recently, he has actively supported efforts to green the world's computing through more efficient methods of offering cloud services and investments in green energy production and computing infrastructure.

BIOGRAPHY

Ghanim studied Chemical Engineering at the University of California in San Diego and Columbia University. He joined AIQ Intelligence in 2021 as a Data Scientist where he developed AI models that predict greenhouse gas emissions from oil & gas assets. Ghanim joined the COP28 team as a negotiator on climate change mitigation in 2023 and supported the COP28 Presidency deliver the historic UAE Consensus.

BIOGRAPHY

Prateek Vahie is the Chief Commercial Officer of Wio Bank PJSC, the region’s first platform bank created to reboot banking for all, and is responsible for driving the commercial strategy of Wio. A creative thinker and customer-oriented retail banker, Prateek is developing and executing a scalable customer-centric digital acquisition strategy for Wio to increase its market share, generate revenues and build the organizational profile of the company.

He brings over 20 years of demonstrated success and proven innovative business-building capabilities to Wio. In his most recent role, Prateek was Senior Vice President – Head of Retail Assets at Emirates NBD where he has served in various leadership capacities with a primary focus on building robust year-on-year revenue growth through analytically-driven and innovative acquisition and retention strategies. Prior to this, Prateek held various management roles at the National Bank of Dubai, ICICI Bank and GE Money.

Prateek is on a journey with Wio to build an intelligent, intergrated platform that offers unique, transparent and convenient financial functions and solutions to customers. An Abu-Dhabi headquartered platform, Wio offers customers a truly digital banking experience tailored to their lifestyle and business needs and enables them to shape a resilient financial future for themselves. Prateek holds a Master's in Business Administration in Marketing from Boston University, USA, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Business from Emeritus Institute of Management. Prateek also holds a Big Data and Analytics qualification from Harvard Business School, Boston.

BIOGRAPHY

A seasoned media and research expert focused on convert complex research findings and data into compelling narratives, enhancing understanding and impact.  

Prior to founding simple steps, she has managed projects such as the Most Powerful Women, 40 Under 40, and Fortune Global Tech Forum for Fortune in China. She led research operations at Yuan Consulting, offering consulting services to investors, media, and social enterprises. She worked at research director at FT Confidential Research, an analytical, data-based service using proprietary research and reporting conducted in China and south-east Asia. Yan refined her storytelling abilities at China Daily and Hunan TV. She is a graduate of Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.  

Simple Steps provides highly tailored research solutions that turn intricate data and research findings into engaging narratives, enhancing comprehension and amplifying the influence of institution and individuals with research and storytelling needs for their projects.  

BIOGRAPHY

An innovative digital disruptor and experienced leader in the Fintech industry, Jayesh Patel plays a pivotal role in establishing an entirely new virtual banking landscape for the Middle East.

As CEO of Wio Bank PJSC, Jayesh is shaping the platform bank as an intelligent financial partner for businesses and customers. He brings a wealth of experience to Wio, building it as a truly open platform that will provide solutions in three areas - Digital banking apps, Embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service solutions.

Throughout his 14 years in the Fintech industry, Jayesh has been driven by a vision to digitise growth and consolidate services to simplify banking for everyone. He has worked with Fortune 500 clients at Deloitte and IBM in the US, focusing on innovation and building on-demand digital solutions, before driving the development and launch of Liv. By Emirates NBD, where he oversaw the creation of its online finance ecosystem.

Before this, Jayesh was Head of Retail Strategy at Emirates NBD where he led the digitisation of essential customer services and processes. Jayesh is also an active member of the Angel investment community in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Wio is the region’s first platform bank created to reboot banking for everyone ADQ, Alpha Dhabi, e&, and First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB)

BIOGRAPHY

Faisal Al Hammadi is a Managing Partner at Further, an investment platform that acts as an institutional co-founder to entrepreneurs by partnering with them to launch and grow new companies.

Faisal holds positions that include Chairman of ZeroTwo, a digital assets infrastructure firm as well as a member of board of directors of Wio Bank.

Faisal earned his MBA from Columbia Business School. He is also a Fellow of the sixth class of the Middle East Leadership Initiative and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

BIOGRAPHY

Ms. Ling Loerchner is the Head and General Manager of JITRI Coop Education Division. With over 27 years of experience in both industry and academia at both Silicon Valley California and Canada, Mrs. Loerchner is an experienced startup mentor, corporation board member, and trusted business advisor with a deep connection in the startup ecosystem and VC investment communities in North America and Asia. During her leadership role as the Global Managing Director & Chief Commercialization Officer at the University of Waterloo for 14 years, she oversaw IP management, commercialization, international collaboration, entrepreneurship training, Coop students’ guidance and innovation center program management. Additionally, she played a crucial role in leading and training a strong team, conducting Industry-University partnerships, creating spin-off companies from the University IP portfolio and assisted faculty-backed startup companies in securing venture capital and angel investment. As the Vice President of Relationship Management at RBCx, a new tech banking division with both investment banking and commercial banking functions at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), she assisted IP-rich startup, scale-up and public traded companies with financial products and strategic advisory services. She served as the senior advisor for the City of Waterloo Mayor office, responsible for innovation policy and international economic development.  

She is a federal government CIHR (equivalent as the NIH in USA) Commercialization funding reviewer and selection committee member, recognized as an "Outstanding Reviewer" in 2022 & 2023. She is also a OCI (Ontario Center for Innovation) Life Science Innovation Fund equity investment committee member, and MCU (Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities) commercialization funding program reviewer, conducting venture investment due diligence, application review and providing risk mitigation and post-investment management advisory services. She is invited to be one of the mentors for H7 BioCapital Venture Studio in Silicon Valley California, provided mentor services to startup companies, and presented various topics related to IP Protection, venture fundraising, market traction and revenue strategy to startups.

Mrs. Loerchner has over 5 years of University/College teaching plus curriculum design experience. Taught at WLU Business School for various courses. Trained as an independent Corporate Board of Director, she obtained the ICD.D certificate from the University of Toronto Rotman Management School and the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD). Serving as board member on several startup companies, she offers strategic guidance for corporate board governance and global market expansion.  

She is the founding president and board chairperson of AAIA (Asia America Innovation Alliance), a federal registered non-for-profit organization, provides information exchange and training programs for startup founders and co-founders. It promotes innovation, entrepreneurship and venture capital investment for founders in North America. Mrs. Loerchner holds a VC University Certificate issued by National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) in US and UC Berkeley Law School. Her educational background includes a B.Eng. degree in Electronic Eng. from Tsinghua University, an MSc degree from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA from Laurier University. Additionally, she possesses a PMP certificate from the Project Management Institute (PMI).

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 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.

BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Dr. Hasan Mandal, born in 1965, graduated in Metallurgical Engineering from METU (1987) and earned a Ph.D. from Newcastle University (1992). He held postdoctoral positions in the UK and Germany and became a professor at Anadolu University in 2001. He has 140 publications, 6 patents, and numerous awards, including TÜBİTAK Science Award. He held leadership roles such as TÜBİTAK President (2018–2024) and Vice President of the Council of Higher Education. In 2023, he was named among the world's top 2% most influential scientists. He was appointed Rector of ITU in August 2024.

BIOGRAPHY

With over 25 years of experience in the Middle East's retail, real estate, and facilities management sectors, Abid Ali Junaid is a highly regarded entrepreneur known for transforming businesses and industries. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping landmark projects and expanding globally renowned brands across multiple continents.

Hailing from Tamil Nadu, India, Mr. Junaid’s entrepreneurial journey began in Dubai in 1987, and over the course of his illustrious career, he has led and grown multiple businesses into market leaders. As the Chairman of Radiant Star Group, headquartered in Dubai, Mr. Junaid oversees operations that span contracting, real estate development, facilities management, and bulk commodity trading across the UAE, Qatar, Seychelles, India, Africa, and beyond. His strategic foresight and leadership have been pivotal in driving the growth of Radiant Star Group into a diversified conglomerate. His cross-border trading initiatives have facilitated the flow of goods and services between the Middle East and India, further cementing his role as a bridge between these two thriving markets.

Throughout his career, Mr. Junaid has been recognized for his ability to transform companies. He grew a facilities management company from $10 million to over $300 million in revenue, establishing it as a regional leader. His contribution to the construction sector includes developing several million square feet of premium real estate, leading the construction of landmark projects in the GCC region. He also played a key role in transforming a construction firm into one of the UAE's largest and most profitable development companies, delivering iconic structures such as the world's tallest residential tower in Dubai Marina. He also led a real estate company to win the Super Brand award for four consecutive years.

Mr. Junaid’s contribution to India is profound. He has been instrumental in expanding the presence of iconic Indian restaurant brands like Saravana Bhavan, Calicut Paragon, Salkara, and Anjappar to global markets, including the UAE, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, and the US.

Today, Mr. Junaid continues to inspire with his visionary approach, bridging markets, and industries, while contributing to the growth of both India and the Middle East. His entrepreneurial spirit, dedication to quality, and global vision have cemented his legacy as one of the most influentialbusiness leaders inthe region.

BIOGRAPHY

Tien Nguyen is the founding partner at Earth Venture Capital, a deep-tech VC firm focusing on energy transition, green manufacturing and agriculture with 18 investments in 7 countries. Tien is an expert at Rockefeller Foundation Asia for AI and climate actions. He serves on the steering committee of Impact Investing Readiness Vietnam by IIX and Global Affairs Canada, as well as an advisor at CarbonX Capital. An Irish Government fellow, he's a key player in expanding Irish influence across Southeast Asia through the "Team Ireland" vision. His guidance fuels innovation in climate-tech as a mentor for Google for Startups, She Loves Tech, and MoveSG Accelerator, making a global impact from Southeast Asia.

BIOGRAPHY

In September 2012, Dr. Yi Wang founded LAIX Inc. – an “AI + Education” company – with Zheren Hu and Hui Lin.  

In February 2013, LAIX launched its first product “English Liulishuo” App. It was awarded by Apple as “Selected Apps of the Year” for 2013. In July 2016, LAIX launched its first “AI English teacher” product “DongNi”. Enabled by Deep Learning and Adaptive Learning technologies, “DongNi” provides adaptive and personalized learning paths for different learners and is proven to be more effective and efficient than traditional English learning approaches by a study conducted by researchers from British Council and University of Bedfordshire. LAIX was listed on the NYSE in September 2018 as its first public traded AI + Education company. In June 2021, LAIX launched a new and more interactive AI English tutor Alix, which can teach learners of different proficiency levels on a wide variety of topics in a multimodal conversational fashion. As of December 2023, LAIX has served over 227 million users.  

Before founding LAIX, Yi was a product director at AdChina (later acquired by Alibaba), and was in charge of building its performance advertising platform. Earlier, Yi was a product manager at Google’s headquarter in Mountain View, California. He was responsible for developing a number of products, including Google Analytics, Cloud Computing, Google public DNS, GASP, etc. Besides, Yi had also worked at Cisco, AT&T research lab, Microsoft Research Asia, and Bain & Company.  

Yi received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University and his M.E. and B.E. in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University. During the doctoral period, Yi obtained a patent from US Patent Office for his invention of “Virtual Router Migration”. Dr. Wang was the former chair of Princeton University’s Alumni Association in Shanghai. He was awarded “Top 10 IT Young Talents”in Shanghai. He is member of the ASPEN Global Leadership Network.

BIOGRAPHY

Achievement-driven public policy management/political communications expert with qualifications in all aspects of political/policy, risk analysis, public affairs and strategic communications in the Middle East and Africa region.

Accomplished at developing and implementing challenging public policy programs, Moustafa Moharram worked as a lead consultant for a number of prominent national and international organizations including the World Bank (WB), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as well as the Egyptian Cabinet - Information and Decision Support Center (IDSC). As a highlight of his experience with public institutions, he designed and led policy initiatives/dialogues with regional governments on socio-economic reforms, economic governance and corruption fighting legislation, as well as Information and Communications Technology (ICT) strategies/policies. He also contributed in enhancing the capacity and preparedness of key national stakeholders in political and crisis communications. Prior to founding Moharram & Partners (M&P), a pioneering Egypt based public affairs and strategic communications firm, he served as the Regional Public Policy & Government Relations Director for a global payments technology company - Visa Inc. During his tenure at Visa, he successfully contributed to bringing the concept of financial inclusion to the forefront of decision making agenda and integrating it in national/regional strategies and policies.

Ultimately seeking to create synergy between business and government, in his capacity as chairman at M&P, Moharram currently works with organizations to build and maintain strong and credible reputations, explain their views and position on public policy issues, and to find common ground and establish meaningful relationships with governments, regulators, media and other societal stakeholders. He currently advises a number of global companies such as Amazon/Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Microsoft, Mastercard, Meta, Vodafone, Huawei, Coca Cola, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), and other Fortune 100 companies on their public policy and strategic communications programs in the MEA region.

Over the past few years, Moharram designed and led public policy and strategic communications strategies for (50+) top market leaders in a variety of industries including: technology, telecommunications, banking, payments, money transfer, classified ads, ride hailing, transportation, construction, real estate, financial services, education, agriculture, energy, FMCGs, development, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.

Moustafa Moharram holds a B.A in Political Science (with a concentration in Public International Law) from the American University in Cairo (AUC), an M.A in International Relations/Security from King's College London (KCL) as well as an M.A in Political Communication (with a concentration in crisis and emergency communications) from Johns Hopkins University (JHU)

BIOGRAPHY

Poonam Balan is a transformation leader at the forefront of green technology and carbon neutrality efforts. Her global expertise in sustainability, strategic investments, and cross-sectoral innovation redefines impact leadership. Recently appointed as the first Carbon Fund Advisory Board member of the International Green Technologies and Investment Projects Center (IGTIPC). She expertly integrates corporate and social strategies to address public private capital de-risking strategies in emerging economies.

Her global career blends corporate excellence and public impact. At the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Poonam earned the Achievers Award during the 2007-2009 financial crisis for integrating productivity and greening policies. She spearheaded donor commitments to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, enabling CIBC to surpass CSR targets tenfold. Soon after, she served Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative.

In her consulting role with Malaysia’s TalentCorp, under the Prime Minister’s Unit; Poonam leadership in engagement strategies and talent data was pivotal in defining GNI targets, talent retention, and labor economic policies. Her work on establishing digital performance metrics and RFP standards; strengthened her G2G governance reputation. Expressing her editorial integrity as a Columnist, in business and financial market publications like; TheEdge, she is featured on numerous interviews globally, where she frequently highlights Diaspora-driven legacy in economics. 

Post her public sector contributions, she set up early strategies for impact incubators on behalf of family offices in Asia, binding synergies across Canadian, ASEAN, Indian and Chinese, for-profit and not-for-profit impact acumen. 

With a track record of helming Public Social Private strategies, Poonam has spent the last eight years leading SaaS to IoT innovation in Europe’s CleanTech and DeepTech sectors, showcasing capacities at global platforms like the Personal Democracy Forum, focusing on citizen science and open data policies. She pioneered the first SDG impact scorecard for Sport Innovation, in over 30 countries with WHO, and UEFA. 

Over the years, Poonam has contributed her expertise in G2G and PPP data to climate risk working groups, including the Open Society Climate Refugee Authority, and more recently with UN ESCAP, highlighting climate resilience challenges across Asia Pacific, particularly in the participation of LPs/GPs from the Global South in hard-to-abate industries.

As the Founding Partner of TACT+INVEST Group and Chair of NYC-based Not-for-Profit; DiversityisPOWER, Poonam drives cross-cultural compliance in ESG, TFCD, and Shari'a or Sukuk investment strategies; pushing the boundaries of green blended finance options today. Her work reflects a rare combination of risk management, financial expertise, and ethical stewardship, making her a notable global leader in our pursuit of a sustainable future.

BIOGRAPHY

  An entrepreneur based in Beijing since 2001. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in International Relations, focusing on Sino-Arab Relations, at Ren Min University. Having obtained his PhD degree in International Politics from China Foreign Affairs University, he started up and founded several companies in China spanning sectors from infrastructure development, merchant banking to the travel industry.

Dr. Karim currently holds the following positions: 

Co-founder of Beltway Group and Board Director. Beltway Group is an Investment and project management platform, registered in China, focusing on emerging markets projects. The Group currently manages multi-billion dollar projects, mainly in infrastructure development in Central Asia and the Middle East. 

Founder of Yuan Li Sports Group, Yuan Li Beijing flagship center is Cinhina’s biggest private sports center located in the most elite area in China, over 40000m it offers sports elite training in 20 types of sports combined with lifestyle facilities . YuanLi is China's exclusive partner of Patric Mouratoglou Tennis Academy, a partner with NBA, Juventus, Kanayeva Gymnastics, Mamadov Fencing and other world-renowned Sports institutions.

* Fellow of China Ren Min University Middle East and African Studies Institute. 

* Visiting Professor at Ren Min University , Ninxia University 

* Senior Fellow at the Institute of Global Governance and Development at Tong Ji University in Shanghai.  * China-Arab State Expo Board Member 

* Co-founder of the Saving war zone Children Program. 

* Fellow of the Aspen Institute -Global Leaders Program. 

* YPO (Young President Organization) member.

* Author of the book <ChinaPhobia – A Wasted Opportunity> published by Penguin.

*Recipient of the 2019 McNulty Prize Catalyst Fund.  

BIOGRAPHY

Ronit runs the Future of Finance team in Citi Institute, Citi’s thought leadership unit. The team is focused on the intersection of the future of money, finance and emerging tech. It provides analysis and advice to Citi’s clients and the bank’s leadership. Prior to his 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 in London and at several technology firms and early-stage VC investors based in the U.K., Asia, Middle East & Africa. Before joining Citi in 1997, Ronit worked in the policy world, including as a Research Assistant for a former UK Prime Minister. Ronit's new book “Future Money” was published in 2024.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Anas serves as the Strategy and Innovation Director at KEO International, where he plays a pivotal role in advancing Innovations and Technology across the MENA region. His contributions have significantly impacted the development and execution of national and organizational strategies, standards, and initiatives across the MENA region, Singapore, and the UK.

Dr. Anas has demonstrated exceptional leadership in establishing impactful innovation programs and implementing large-scale solutions. His unique ability to build robust business cases, develop ecosystems, and realize value has set him apart in the industry.

Notable Awards and Recognitions

·Global Innovations Leader (2022)

·Technology Strategist of the Year (2020)

·Best Contribution to Global Innovations by the Singapore Government (2019)

In addition to these prestigious accolades, Dr. Anas has numerous other proud achievements that underscore his influence and expertise.

Dr. Anas extends his expertise beyond the corporate sphere, actively participating in non-profit task groups focused on driving Innovations, Technology, and Sustainability. His commitment to these causes is matched by his academic contributions at esteemed universities, where he engages in research and publications that further the field of innovation.

BIOGRAPHY

Tony is a serial entrepreneur, investor, author and film producer, splitting his time between Singapore, Hong Kong and the Middle East.  

He is Founding Partner and CEO of Carbonless Asia, an investment, innovation and knowledge platform launched to support the decarbonisation of Asia working with trailblazing governments, investors, NGOs and leading corporations. The core mission of the company is to accelerate investments into scalable carbonless technologies and projects. As the result of a year-long research project with more than a dozen collaborators, he launched his first book “Decarbonizing Asia” covering thematic opportunities.  

He is an IWC Pioneer and a proud alumni member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers community. He is a Greater Bay Area Investment Committee Vice Chair under the Smart City Consortium of Hong Kong.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Karim El Solh is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gulf Capital, the largest private equity firm in the Gulf region, investing across several asset classes including Private Equity, Growth Capital and Real Estate. Under his leadership, Gulf Capital has been associated with some of the region’s most prominent private equity and mezzanine transactions and has won numerous awards including Best Private Equity Firm and Best Private Debt Firm in the Middle East by Banker Middle East and Private Equity International. The Firm currently manages over $ 2.4 billion of assets across 7 funds and investment vehicles.  Dr. El Solh is also the co-Managing Partner of Gulf Related, a leading real estate development company launched in partnership with the Related Companies.  Dr. El Solh is a board member of the Global Private Capital Association (formerly EMPEA) and the Chairman of the GPCA Middle East Council.

Dr. El Solh is serving or has served as the Chairman of Geidea, ART Fertility, Metito Holdings and Maritime Industrial Services, and as the Director of Emirates Auction, Gulf Marine Services, Middle East Glass, Ma’arif for Education & Training, Reach Group, Depa Group, Metamed, the Galleria Mall Al Maryah Island, Antara Residential Project, NAS TPA and Aramex.

Dr Karim El Solh recently joined some of the world’s leading CEOs in supporting His Majesty King Charles III’s Terra Carta and Sustainable Markets Initiative, which provides a roadmap for businesses to move towards a sustainable future by 2030. The charter’s vision to help build an inspiring, inclusive, equitable, prosperous, and sustainable future.  He is a member of the Private Equity Taskforce and Asset Manager and Asset Owner Taskforce within the Sustainable Markets Initiative.

Prior to founding Gulf Capital, Dr El Solh was the CEO of the leading UAE investment bank, The National Investor. Under his leadership, the Firm was involved in a number of groundbreaking private equity transactions and was ranked as the number one IPO underwriter in the Gulf.  Dr El Solh was also a Co-Founder of the European High Yield Capital Markets/Leveraged Buy-Outs division at Donaldson, Lufkin and Jenrette (DLJ – now part of Credit Suisse) and a senior investment banker in charge of equity offerings at Citigroup.

Dr. El Solh has a B.S. in civil engineering from Cornell University, an MBA from Georgetown University and a doctorate in economics from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po).  He is also a Chartered Management Accountant and a Professional Civil Engineer.  He is on the Board of Advisors of Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, a Board member of Georgetown’s Psaros Center for Financial Markets and Policy, a member of Georgetown’s AI, Analytics and the Future of Work Initiative Advisory Group and on the Board of Trustees of the Abu Dhabi Music and Arts Foundation (ADMAF).  Dr. El Solh has been named as one of the Top 100 CEOs in the Gulf by CEO Magazine, one of the 500 Most Influential Arabs by Arabian Business Magazine and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. 

BIOGRAPHY

Gaurav Dhar is a seasoned leader in the FinTech industry and currently serves as the Group CEO of Marshal Fintech Partners in Dubai. With over 20 years of experience at Marshal, he has established himself as a pioneering force in the development of FinTech ecosystems and solutions.

In addition to his work at Marshal, Gaurav is a passionate advocate for innovation in FinTech, devoting his personal time to working with and investing directly in innovators who are shaping the future of the industry. He has built an extensive network of relationships with VCs, incubators, accelerators, start-ups, and angel syndicates, both locally and globally.

Gaurav's expertise and leadership are highly valued in the FinTech community. He is a founding board member of the MENA FinTech Association, board member at Deem Finance, board member at Octanium Group, founding board member of AngelSpark and serves in several advisory positions to international family offices, start-ups, and funds. Through these roles, he is committed to growing the relationships within the FinTech and start-up ecosystem and contributing to the education of emerging disruptors. Gaurav's ultimate goal is to drive economic growth and create job opportunities in the MEA region and beyond.

BIOGRAPHY

Pei Ling serves as the Co-President of MetaComp, where she brings a wealth of experience in strategic partnerships, business development, and corporate leadership. Her career is marked by significant achievements across various sectors, including the financial technology and public sectors, making her a key leader in driving MetaComp's vision and growth in the digital asset space.

Pei Ling's career is diverse, having held several senior corporate roles. Before joining MetaComp, Pei Ling was the Managing Director for Strategic Partnership & Business Development at DCS, a MAS-licensed financial institution specializing in card and token payment solutions. In this role, she was instrumental in forging strategic alliances and expanding the company’s market reach. Pei Ling was also the Chief Executive Officer of Business China, a Singapore non-profit organisation that harnesses the support of public sector and private enterprises to cultivate Singapore-China-savvy talents, strengthen Singapore-China networks, and grow the global connectivity of Singapore. At Grab, she was the Director for Corporate Development, supporting strategic acquisitions and contributing to the rapid expansion of one of Southeast Asia's leading tech companies. Additionally, Pei Ling was the Group Director of Corporate Strategy at Jing King (JK) Technology Group, now known as Adera Global, where she led the company's strategic initiatives. Early in her career, Pei Ling honed her expertise as a business consultant at Ernst & Young.

Pei Ling holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, one of the world’s top business schools. She also earned a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) through the University Scholars Programme at the National University of Singapore. Further highlighting her commitment to leadership and public service, Pei Ling is a Lien Fellow under the Lien Ying Chow Legacy Fellowship program from Nanyang Technological University of Singapore.

At MetaComp, Pei Ling leverages her extensive experience and strategic insight to co-lead the company in navigating the evolving landscape of digital finance, ensuring that MetaComp continues to innovate and maintain its competitive edge

BIOGRAPHY

Motivated by the never-ending power of innovation – I have always been passionate to apply technology to solve real world problems in finance.

I have been working in financial technology for all my career, and I remain, today with the same level of excitement and drive as when I first started, wanting to learn more and experience firsthand the transformative power of technology. The power to make a difference, to leave a lasting impact, solve problems and help people address challenges standing in the way of their growth, prosperity and wellbeing, is what keeps me going. The thrill of applying technology to problems, bridging gaps and moving to the next level is what I am passionate about.

My career spanned technology in many areas in finance, including capital markets, payments, compliance and risk.

The last 10 years, I have been particularly excited and focused on the Digital Assets and Blockchain revolution, and evolution. I firmly believe we are at the cusp of a game changing time, with old paradigms morphing into new reality, truly empowering financial inclusion, and achieving new levels of impact on larger swaths of the population. This technology is currently in its infancy, and yet we are already witnessing the rush to use it in finance, as institutions are coming to grips with the inevitable transformative trend – enabled by digital assets.

I kicked off my career in financial technology as an Executive Vice President at the Egyptian Stock Market, where I acquired in depth knowledge of all the capital markets technology solutions, and had the pleasure to be part of an ambitious project to modernize the Stock Exchange in Egypt.

Following that, I moved to Dubai and spent many years working in TradFi (traditional Finance) implementing systems and solutions at large Tier 1 Banks, and smaller financial institutions, in my capacity as CTO for SWIFT partner in the Middle East (Eastnets). We also had our suite of AML, KYC, compliance and risk management software, to complement all the payments P a g e | 2 C X D A M a r k e t s S e p . 1 2 , 2 4 systems, and as such we covered around 1500 Banks, with a global footprint from the Americas to China.

Later, in 2017 I joined ConsenSys, and helped them establish their presence in the Middle East where I was the Executive Director of the Dubai office. This marked my entry into DeFi (Decentralized Finance) adopting blockchain technology. And finally in 2019, I started my own projects, culminating in CXDA Markets, where we are building the next generation markets for digital assets based on SME financial products. Our vision is to bring liquidity to this underserved – yet critical – asset class. We are already up and running and our journey is an exciting one. We firmly believe we will be able to make a real impact and help transform the SME economy in the Middle East and Africa.

BIOGRAPHY

José J. Pérez Aguinaga is the SEO & CTO of Tungsten, a leading digital asset custodian company in the UAE. With over 12 years of professional experience and 5+ years specializing in the secure storage and management of digital assets, José has worked with top global regulators, including FINMA, SFC, FSRA, and VARA, and helped to successfully secure over 1 billion USD in Assets Under Custody (AUC) for one of the first Swiss-regulated crypto banks. An active contributor to the blockchain community, José has won 10+ hackathons, is a Passkeys expert, and has a strong educational presence with 10k+ followers on Medium.

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Hans Duisters, 59 years old, the Dutch, holds a dual bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Industrial Marketing from Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Netherlands. He is the founder and CEO of the Sioux Group.

BIOGRAPHY

Sean Moss-Pultz is a pioneer at the intersection of blockchain technology and property rights as the co-founder and CEO of Bitmark. His company focuses on digital ownership and licensing, bringing the concept of property rights into the digital age. In collaboration with Casey Reas, Sean co-created Feral File, a leading global art gallery hosting exhibitions by some of the most celebrated digital artists and institutions.  

Recognized as a pioneer of open-source hardware, prior to Bitmark, Sean launched Openmoko, the first open-source phone, and served as its CEO. Openmoko was a precursor to iPhone and Android smartphones. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and physics from UC San Diego.

BIOGRAPHY

Leon has 35+ years in IoT & wireless technology. A pioneering leader who was  the architect of Digital Cash for the US Navy. His expertise in embedded systems positions him as a seasoned solar industry founder. With the advent of the UNITY IoT system from Sunified he completes a life goal of digitizing power and creating a life-legacy.

BIOGRAPHY

Khaled is Managing Partner at Nuwa Capital, the region’s leading Venture Capital firm. Prior to launching Nuwa Capital, Khaled was Managing Partner at Wamda Capital, the region’s first institutionalized Venture Capital fund investing in technology-enabled companies in the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

He started his career at Dubai International Capital where he supported the development of the MENA region’s first seed capital fund. Since then Khaled assumed a number of venture capital and startup roles including heading investments and strategy at twofour54 in Abu Dhabi. Khaled has centered his career around identifying and investing in disruptive businesses that displace incumbent inefficiencies in traditional sectors of the economy.

His areas of interest include ecommerce, Fintech, marketplaces, digital content and enterprise solutions. Throughout his career Khaled has focused on building lasting partnerships with the entrepreneurs delivering the region’s digital economy. Khaled has invested in and managed over 150 early stage transactions including Careem, Mumzworld, Insider, Modanisa, Twiga Foods, and Tamatem.

Khaled attended Duke University and graduated with a BA in Economics

BIOGRAPHY

Suvo Sarkar is a banker with over 36 years’ experience in retail banking, business banking and wealth management across Asia and the Middle East.

He is the founder and CEO of 3D Advisory, a boutique consulting firm that focuses on the three pillars of Digitisation, Data and Design in financial services. He is a senior advisor to McKinsey & Co and Mastercard and serves on the regional advisory board of IBM and on the advisory board of a number of fintech start-ups in India and Middle East. Till 2023, he was the Senior Executive Vice President and Group Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management at Emirates NBD, the largest retail bank in the UAE and the most profitable bank in the Middle East. Suvo has previously worked with three multi-national banks – Standard Chartered, ANZ Grindlays and Citibank NA, and two regional banks – National Bank of Dubai and National Bank of Abu Dhabi. He has launched and run successful businesses in UAE, Bahrain, KSA, Egypt, UK, Singapore, India and Indonesia. Suvo’s last role at Emirates NBD was to oversee two major businesses of the bank globally, Retail Banking and Wealth Management, which together contribute to c. USD 3 billion in annual revenues, about 50% of the group, have a customer base of over 2 million across 5 countries and a balance sheet of over USD 60 billion.

He co-led the massive digital transformation of the bank between 2017 and 2022 and was the creator of Liv, the first digital bank in the Middle East, launched in 2017, with over 500,000 customers today. Suvo relaunched the bank’s Business Banking, Priority Banking and Private Banking businesses with new products, segments and digital processes. He was responsible for revamping the service proposition of the bank, optimising end-to-end processes, automating credit approvals and improving customer satisfaction scores. Suvo also oversaw the group-wide marketing function at Emirates NBD and helped create the most valuable financial services brand in UAE, valued at c. USD 4 billion.

Suvo is an engineer by degree and is a Andrew Yule gold medallist from the Indian Institute of Technology (ISM), Dhanbad. He is an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta where he won the Glaxo Medal in Marketing. He has had leadership training at Stanford University Graduate School of Business, INSEAD and Said Business School at Oxford. He is also a qualified investment advisor.

Suvo has served as a Non-Executive Director at Emirates NBD Egypt, Network International (the largest payments processing company in Middle East) and Tanfeeth (Emirates NBD’s operations subsidiary). He has also served as Chairman of the board of Emirates NBD Asset Management (the largest asset manager by AUM in the UAE), of Emirates Money (erstwhile consumer finance company owned by Emirates NBD group) and of Emirates NBD Securities (one of the top 3 brokerage companies in the UAE). He currently serves pro-bono on the advisory board of GEMS Modern Academy, one of the highest rated schools in the UAE.

In 2015, Suvo was recognized by the Asian Banker as the Retail Banker of the Year. In 2017, he was named the Digital Leader of the Middle East by the MIT Sloan Review and in 2018 as the Digital Leader of the Year by Seamless. Retail Banker International has honoured him in 2018 with the international Retail Banker of the Year award, in 2019 with the Trailblazer Award for Asia and in 2020 with a global Lifetime Achievement Award.

Suvo is well regarded as a thought leader in the banking industry in the Middle East, is a charter member of TiE Dubai and writes a popular monthly column in Gulf News on financial services. He has recently started a fortnightly podcast called “Money Majlis” where he explores consequential topics with senior leaders of financial services from the Middle East. He lives in Dubai with his wife and loves reading, traveling and music.

BIOGRAPHY

Ian Johnston was appointed Chief Executive of the DFSA in 2022, a position he previously held from 2012 to 2018.

From 2018 until his reappointment, Mr Johnston provided advice and consultancy to a number of regulatory bodies across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, including on projects funded by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

Originally a lawyer, Mr Johnston held a number of senior positions within the financial sector, including as CEO of one of Australia’s major trustee companies. After 20 years in the private sector, Mr Johnston moved into regulation joining the Australian Securities and Investments Commission as Executive Director, Financial Services Regulation, and spent several terms as an Acting Commissioner. He later served as a Special Advisor with the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

Mr Johnston’s impact extends globally as he chaired the Joint Forum, which comprised representatives of major international regulatory standard-setters such as the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), and the Basel Committee.

Currently, Mr Johnston serves as an IOSCO Board member and he is Vice Chair of the Africa and Middle East Regional Committee. His wealth of experience and commitment to regulatory excellence positions him as a distinguished figure in the global financial landscape.

Mr Johnston is a Board member of two non-profit organisations, the Fred Hollows Foundation (HK) and Opera Scholars Australia

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Bo Bai is the Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of MVGX Holdings, a Singapore-based green fintech group focused on creating a more inclusive and sustainable future. MVGX Holdings’ subsidiaries provide regulated financial services including a digital green exchange, payment, brokerage services, and end-to-end carbon Software-as-a-Service solutions. Through its offerings and business units, MVGX supports its clients throughout each step of their decarbonisation journeys in line with the principles of define, measure, mitigate, offset, certify, and finance.

Dr. Bai is also the Executive Chairman and Founder of Asia Green Fund, an award-winning impact private equity firm with around to US$2.5 billion assets under management, focused on accelerating climate tech and sustainability pioneers at the forefront of Asia’s decarbonisation agenda.

Previously, Dr. Bai was a partner and managing director for WarbugPincus from 2009-2016 where he led its investments in the energy, industrials, and business services sectors in Asia. He has also held senior leadership positions at global financial institutions such as First Reserve Corporation and Goldman Sachs.

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. Dr. Bai is also a founding member of the China Impact Investment Network (CIIN), and a member of ASPEN global leadership network.

Dr. Bai holds a BSc and an MSc in Modern Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China, a degree certificate in the Financial Technology Option from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, and a Ph. D. in Physics from MIT. 

BIOGRAPHY

Jack Hsu is Founder and CEO of Ivy Group International, Inc., an educational company based in Beijing investing and operating K-12 schools. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Columbia Global Center in Beijing.   

Previously, Jack was a founding partner at MMG Partners, a global management consulting firm headquartered in New York. Before founding MMG Partners, Jack was a consultant at Mitchell Madison Group in the securities practice where he served clients that included bulge bracket banks and exchanges. One of Jack’s early endeavors was with the startup technology company Scopus Technology which went public on NASDAQ in 1994.    

Jack received his master’s degree in business administration from Columbia Business School, master’s degree in computer science from University of Maryland, College Park, and bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from University of California, Berkeley  

Jack currently lives in Beijing with his wife and son. He is a Fellow of the fifth class of the China Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

BIOGRAPHY

Joshin Raghubar is a technology and impact venture entrepreneur. He serves as Chairperson, and was part of the founding community, of UVU Africa (formerly known as Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative). UVU Africa works at the intersection of government, business, and society to develop high growth, future-fit, inclusive African regional economies through innovation and technology. In this capacity, Joshin also serves on the boards of UVU group organisations - UVU Bio, Africa’s biotech cluster initiative, and Injini, Africa’s leading Edtech accelerator and think tank. Joshin is also on the board of Cape Town Tourism, the industry association for the sector. Joshin has served as chairperson of the Cape Town Chapter of YPO.  

Joshin is the founder of iKineo Ventures, a venture founder, builder, and investment firm, whose venture portfolio includes Explore Sideways, a travel(tech) company empowering independent business owners; Adbot, a machine-learning powered SaaS platform automating online search advertising for SMEs; and Kena Health which is a leading health-tech firm that aims to be Africa’s leading affordable healthcare provider serving the un and under-insured. Joshin is also the Executive Chairperson of Inves Capital, a group of digital assets, blockchain and stablecoin businesses that, through the provision of open financial infrastructure, bridge the worlds of Traditional Finance and Decentralised Finance to advance economic freedom. His former ventures include Strive GrowthScience, Sprout Performance Partners, and iKineo Marketing.  

He is a fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative and the Aspen Institute’s Global Leaders Network. Joshin has a business science (honours) degree from the University of Cape Town, and a masters in development studies from the University of the Western Cape’s Institute for Social Development. He spent 2016 at Yale University as a Yale Greenburg World Fellow.

  Joshin is a global John P. McNulty Prize Laureate, which is awarded to individuals who have leveraged their expertise, experience, and networks to build and lead transformative social impact ventures. Joshin was named a Skoll World Forum Fellow in 2020.

BIOGRAPHY

Mohammad Alblooshi is the Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Innovation Hub. His passion for encouraging the growth of FinTech and emerging technologies in Dubai has made him a strong advocate of fostering innovation within the DIFC start-up ecosystem – DIFC Innovation Hub. Mohammad has also been a foundational driver in building DIFC’s reputation as a FinTech hub across the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore and India.

Amongst other leadership responsibilities, Mohammad is also spearheading the DIFC Launchpad and Dubai FinTech Summit. In his earlier position as the Sector Head of FinTech at DIFC, Mohammad has grown through the ranks and in his current position, he is headed towards deepening the centre’s FinTech ecosystem.

Previously, Mohammad worked on aligning DIFC’s FinTech mandate with the needs of the start-up ecosystem in the UAE. This led to the introduction of subsidised licensing schemes and a more integrated offering for FinTech firms in DIFC.

Mohammad holds more than a decade of experience working with leading financial institutions, such as Barclays, Standard Chartered and Lloyd’s TSB. He has also undergone a leadership programme by the Institute of International Finance, which is dedicated to preparing the young future leaders of the financial world

BIOGRAPHY

Abdulkhaleq Abdulla is a UAE national. He is a retired professor of Political Science, Non resident Senior Fellow at Harvard University Belfer Center for Sciences and International Affairs, Member of Emirati Thinkers. He was a former Chairman of the Arab Council for Social Science and served as director of Gulf Research Unit.   

He holds PhD in Political science from Georgetown University and MA from American University in Washington D.C. Professor Abdulla was a Senior Fellow at LSE, a Fulbright Scholar and was a visiting professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University and non resident follow at the Arab Gulf Institute in Washington DC.  

His research interests include issues of political changes in the Gulf and the Arab World. He is the author of several books including, My Journey to Harvard 2024  the Story of Politics 2022, the Gulf Moment 2019.  He has published more than 60 articles, the latest are the Gulf Moment and the Making of the Khaleeji State the Rise of the UAE as a Middle East Power House 2021, Civic Culture and the Peak of Globalization 2020. He regularly appears on international TV talk shows and writes Op Ed for numerous media outlets.  

BIOGRAPHY

Bharat is among the most respected names in the Indian equity markets. He has been associated with the markets for over 34 years and has a considerable understanding of global businesses. Stock picking is his forte. His investment philosophy emphasizes buying quality businesses enjoying superior growth but at reasonable valuations. In 2013, he authored a book entitled “Of Long-Term Value & Wealth Creation from Equity Investing: Observation, Ideas and Reflection”.

BIOGRAPHY

Ashish Panjabi is the Chief Operating Officer of Jacky’s Business Solutions, the group’s end-to-end solutions provider for major companies and organisations in the region seeking efficient and effective visitor management, robotics, 3D printing, education and graphics solutions.

Ashish also runs Jacky’s Retail LLC, which operates Samsung Brand Shops across the UAE; Jacky’s Electronics, a multi-brand electronics retailer; and is Managing Director of Cutting Edge Solutions FZE, a company focused on supplying high quality finishing products for the printing, digital manufacturing and fabrication industries.

Ashish moved into the organic foods business in 2020 when he started Jacky’s Organics, the Group’s distribution arm for organic food brands. He is also the founder of “Eatiq Organic Foods,” a UAE-based brand of packaged organic foods that is sold across various channels in the UAE and now moving into international markets.

Ashish is a Board Member on several industry groups formed under the auspices of Dubai Chambers. These include the Dubai Computer Group (DCG) which represents the interests of the computer/IT trade community in the city of Dubai; The Electronics Group (TEG), an industry body based in Dubai for those involved in electronics distribution, retail & e-commerce; and Dubai Business Group for Smartphone Ecosystems. Ashish is a Charter Member of the UAE Chapter of TiE (The Indus Entrepreneur) and served as President in 2021-22, where the focus is on fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, funding and incubation. Under his stewardship, TiE Dubai also ran the TiE Women competition across five regions in the MENA region and the TiE University UAE competition.

Ashish is a Past President of the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) UAE Chapter and served on several regional and global roles in EO. In addition, Ashish was the founder and the Chair for the UAE for Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards (GSEA) in 2017, a worldwide competition that helps recognise the next generation of student entrepreneurs. He is currently a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) MENA One Chapter.

Ashish has also been involved in various mentorship activities, as a Tech Mentor at in5 Tech and at Techstars, which is a seed accelerator.

A resourceful speaker, Ashish has also been invited in several forums and exhibitions to speak on consumer retail industry, technology trends and consumer behaviour in the Middle East. Ashish holds a Bachelor in Science with specialisation in Finance, Investments and Economics from Babson College, USA. Ashish has also attended executive education programs at the London Business School, Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and is a graduate from the EO Leadership Academy.

BIOGRAPHY

Noshin Omar is the founder and president of ABEE. ABEE is specialized in the field of battery cell, pack and recycling development and manufacturing.  ABEE has number of daughter companies in Belgium, North Macedonia and Bulgaria. Noshin Omar has 20 years’ experience in the battery industry. He obtained his PhD degree in electromechanical Engineering Sciences from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel in the field of Li-ion batteries for automotive applications. Since 2012 until March 2019, he was the Director of the Battery Innovation Center at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

BIOGRAPHY

Tarek Sultan is the Chairman of Agility Global, a multi-business owner and operator and long-term investor with a footprint in six continents, listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX). Agility Global is a subsidiary of Agility Public Warehousing Company KSCP; “Agility.”  

Sultan is Vice Chairman of Agility. Sultan assumed leadership of Agility in 1997 and spearheaded the company’s worldwide growth through a series of acquisitions. Today, Agility is a global leader in supply chain services, infrastructure and innovation with 54,000+ employees.  

Sultan serves as a member of numerous international, governmental, and commercial advisory bodies and boards. They include the board of directors of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce, the board of Directors of DSV A/S, the world’s third-largest freight forwarder, and the World Trade Organization’s Business Advisory Group, created in 2023 to share the views of businesses on trade and regulation.  

As a member of the World Economic Forum, Tarek sits on the WEF’s International Business Council, which brings together 120 leaders to represent global business from all industries. He also is a member of the WEF’s Stewardship Board for Shaping the Future of Mobility, and a Governor of the WEF Supply Chain and Transport Industries community.  

Sultan has previously served as advisor to the Singapore Economic Development Board and as a member of the International Advisory Council of the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He served on the Board of Trustees for Kuwait’s Silk City and the Boubyan Island Development Project of Kuwait, as well as on the boards of Gulf Bank and Burgan Bank.   Tarek holds an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Economics from Williams College.

BIOGRAPHY

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.

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.

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 holds a Master of Science and Electrical Engineering degree from Keio University.

BIOGRAPHY

Prof. Liu is the Director of the National Innovation Center par Excellence (NICE), President of the Jiangsu Industrial Technology Research Institute (JITRI), and President of the Shanghai Yangtze Delta Innovation Institute (SYDII). Prior to his appointment at JITRI in 2014, he was a professor of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and served as the Vice President of Chongqing University.  

Prof. Liu earned his Bachelor of Engineering degree at Chongqing University in 1984 and achieved his Master of Engineering and Ph.D. degrees in Physical Metallurgy from the Harbin Institute of Technology in 1987 and 1991, respectively. In 1993, he joined the Risφ National Laboratory in Denmark as a visiting scientist, advancing to the role of senior scientist in 1995. In 2000, Prof. Liu embraced a new opportunity at Tsinghua University's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, stepping into dual roles as a professor and the leader of the metals research laboratory. After six years of dedicated service, he moved his expertise to Chongqing University in 2006.  

Since 2014, Prof. Liu has served as the Executive President and President of JITRI. He has made bold breakthroughs in R&D organization management, talent recruitment and management, and use of financial funds in technological innovation activities, opening up a new path for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. In 2020, the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the establishment of NICE, where Prof. Liu serves as the director. With an integrated mindset and measures, Prof. Liu has promoted cross-regional collaboration and integration of technological and industrial innovation, contributing to the improvement of technological innovation capability and coordinated development in the Yangtze River Delta region.      

BIOGRAPHY

Nathalie Capati, Forbes 30 Under 30 Energy, Y Combinator founder and CEO of Jasmine Energy, the global platform for tracking and trading clean energy (CECs) with over $10M CECs procured by Fortune 500 energy companies and leading AI data centers. 

Nathalie began her career in North America's demanding energy markets, analyzing day-ahead energy markets while developing Formula Electric race cars, which led her to the battery lab at General Motors. She then joined Apple as an early member of the special projects group and later contributed her expertise at SERES, overseeing the design, build and manufacturing of EV battery packs that now powers hundreds of thousands of EVs across Europe, Shanghai and the UAE.

Today she comes back full circle to energy markets to support the development of new clean energy projects in the GCC. In partnership with Coinbase Asset Management Group and Astral Energy, Jasmine Energy is building the global infrastructure that enables distributed energy systems to register, track and trade energy assets more efficiently, making clean energy affordable and accessible for all. 

BIOGRAPHY

BIOGRAPHY

Michael Levesque has two Masters of Engineering and has been involved in power, infrastructure and digital IOT systems for well over 35 years. At 55 years old as an Ambassador and Fellow of the International Trade Council, Member of the International Energy Agency, and a Tier 1 UN Contractor, Michael is constantly pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved with the creation of foundational Energy to support economic development in underdeveloped and island nations where AstralENERGY delivers sustainable intelligent infrastructure solutions that replace fossil fuel generation, strategically build key developments for mutual benefit between nations and helps to establish bilateral trade with the United Arab Emirates. Surrounded by an exceptionally talented group of people that contribute to the overall ecosystem that forms the community outreach and support structure of the AstralENERGY SDG Program, this collective group is working to not only meet the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations but, to take renewable development to a new echelon.

BIOGRAPHY

Fernando X. Donayre is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of INCA Investments, an investment management firm investing in the listed securities markets of Latin America.  INCA Investments manages approximately $500 million for its institutional client base.  It has its principal office in Miami with subsidiary offices in Brazil and Mexico. Mr Donayre began investing in Latin American markets in 1990 and prior to founding INCA Investments in 2004, he was the Latin American portfolio manager at Zephyr Management and the Director of Research at Latinvest, a pioneering Latin American investment management firm.     

Mr. Donayre has lived and worked throughout the Latin American region, including his native country of Peru, as well as Mexico and the Caribbean.  Over his thirty years of investing in the markets of Latin America, he has become a leading expert on the company, economic and political drivers of the region.  His views on the Latin American markets have been quoted in many publications including the Wall Street Journal, featured on CNBC, presented at numerous conferences and highlighted in the book, Investing in Frontier Markets.  He has also published a variety of professional articles including “Investing in Latin America: Good Idea, Bad Time?” in the Journal of Investments and “Latin America: History Repeats?” in the Benefits and Pension Monitor.  

Mr. Donayre was the founding Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Institute of Latin American Studies at Columbia University and helped fund its Center for Mexican Studies. He is on the Board of Directors of the University of Florida’s Investment Corporation (“UFICO”) and a member of the Horizontes CEO Club.  He is a Chartered Financial Analyst, a Certified Public Accountant and received his BS in Accounting and MBA in International Business from the University of Florida.    

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Miniya Chatterji is CEO Sustain Labs Paris, a global venture building firm focused on sustainable growth. She was Chief Sustainability Officer of Jindal Steel & Power group of companies 2014 - 2017. Prior to that she was working at the World Economic Forum 2011-2014 in Geneva where she managed the WEF’s Young Global Leaders Community in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. Before that, Miniya was managing a Euro 200 million hedge fund in Paris for a few years. She started her career in finance at Goldman Sachs in 2006 in London. Earlier, Miniya worked as policy analyst with Jerome Monod, the Chief Counsellor to the President of France Jacques Chirac 2003 - 2006. Miniya is a Jury Member for the Million Dollar Global Teacher Prize and for The Circulars award that is given away each year at Davos. Miniya is a member of the parliament of Francophone writers. She is a columnist for The Indian Express and The Pioneer newspapers. Indian Instincts - essays on freedom and equality in India was Miniya’s first book. The book was published by Penguin Random House and launched in India in March 2018, then in Switzerland, Singapore and Sri Lanka and is translated in Bengali and French languages. Miniya has a PhD from Sciences Po Paris. She was a research fellow at Columbia University and Harvard University. She is a Global Leadership Fellow alumna of the World Economic Forum.

BIOGRAPHY

Marcel Kasumovich is Deputy CIO of Coinbase Asset Management. He has more than thirty years of experience in policy and investing, a career ranging from the IMF to Soros Fund Management. Marcel has written extensively on financial stability, led by experiences in navigating the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, a critical input to the design and architecture of onchain digital asset infrastructure. 

BIOGRAPHY

Sean Kiernan is the Founder and CEO of Greengage. He has extensive experience in financial services, having worked in various executive management positions. He founded Greengage after working at the first bank in the world to offer crypto products to clients, Falcon Private Bank, where he served as the COO and Interim CEO of the London operation until leaving to establish Greengage. Prior to that he held management positions at Clariden Leu, a division of Credit Suisse, and Zurich Financial Services. Mr Kiernan has an MBA from the University of St. Gallen and a BSc from Georgetown University.

BIOGRAPHY

Ms. Xu is co-founder, Executive Chairman, and Chief Investment Officer of VS Partners, a global asset allocation firm, serving investors worldwide in a fast-changing world. With two-decade of experience in Global capital markets and multi-asset classes as an accomplished and award-winning fund manager, Ms. Xu pioneered the OCIO model (Outsourced Chief Investment Officer) in Asia, which forms the foundation of VS Partners proprietary framework.

In 2022, Ms. Xu was named the Most Powerful Woman in China by FORTUNE China. She has also been part of the Aspen Institute’s community of thought leaders as a Fellow of Aspen China Fellowship Program and a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network.

In 2022, Ms. Xu co-founded the SuperBridge Council, an apolitical, open, diverse, and multi-cultural global organization comprising a group of renowned business entrepreneurs, capital market experts, and social and cultural leaders from across the world.  

Ms. Xu formerly co-founded and built a leading long-only equity manager in the “billion-dollar-club” in Greater China with assets primarily from sovereign-wealth, pension, university endowments, prominent family offices, and large financial institutions, which has won several prestigious awards in the asset management industry.

BIOGRAPHY

Professor Chan assumed his role as the third president of KAUST in September 2018. He has led growing the faculty and students by close to 50%. He has expanded KAUST’s research emphasis from energy, water, food and environment to include digital and health, launching new initiatives in Artificial Intelligence and Smart Health. He is increasing investment and capacity in innovation, entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer to fulfill the second mission of the University. By positioning the University to leverage KSA’s ambitious Vision 2030 strategic plan, he is strengthening its engagement with the Nation. Finally, he is leading efforts to enhance the global and national visibility of KAUST.

He is on the Board of Trustees/Directors of Hong Kong Academy of Science; IPAM, UCLA; KACST, KSU, Future Investment Initiative (FII Institute), Saudi Arabia; Skolkovo, Russia and Yidan Prize Foundation, Hong Kong. He is also on the Advisory Board/Committee of the Academic Ranking of World Universities, China; KFUPM, Saudi Arabia; KAIST, Korea; KAPSARC, Saudi Arabia, NEOM, Saudi Arabia; Saudi Data and AI (SDAIA) Supervisory National Strategy Committee of Data and AI, Saudi Arabia, RIKEN, Japan; SUSTech, China.

He received his BS and MS degrees in Engineering from Caltech and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Stanford. He is a member of US National Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of IEEE, AAAS and SIAM. He was awarded the 2020 SIAM Prize for Distinguished Service to the Profession. He has received Honorary Doctorates from University of Strathclyde and University of Waterloo.

BIOGRAPHY

Jalal Gasimov received his Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Azerbaijan University of Economics and his Master’s degree in Economic Relations from the Higher Diplomatic College of Azerbaijan. He completed his MBA at the Warwick Business School, UK.  

Mr. Gasimov began his banking career at Ilkbank OJSC, Azerbaijan, in 1999. In 2002-2003, he held various senior finance positions at private companies, such as Senior Cost Controller at KBR Halliburton Inc and Finance Director of Turkish Petoil that was a part of upstream onshore oil production in Azerbaijan. In 2003-2004, he worked at Azpetrol Oil Company as finance director, and served as Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Azpetrol Holding between 2004 and 2006. In that role, he was a head of working group responsible for negotiating and signing Host Investment Agreement with a government of Moldova. Also Mr Gasimov was representing Azpetrol in its JVs with a German EUPEC PipeCoating (joint plant in Azerbaijan) as a board member and Singaporean SOPS (logistics base in Azerbaijan) as a Chairman of the Board of Directors. He also worked for the Moscow Office of McKinsey & Company in a role of consultant in 2006-2007 and then held such top management roles as CEO at the Bank of Baku OJSC, finance director at CRA Group Companies, and CEO at Unibank before joining PASHA Holding.  

Jalal Gasimov joined PASHA Holding LLC as the Head of the Banking Group and Deputy CEO in 2015, and was appointed First Deputy CEO effective October 17, 2016 and CEO effective January 07, 2020.   

Mr. Gasimov served as a member of the Working Groups/Project Teams set up by the President of the Azerbaijan Republic to establish the various government initiatives in February 2016. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Azerbaijan Deposit Insurance Fund since July 2016. Jalal Gasimov was a member of the Working Group to create the Azerbaijan Mortgage and Credit Guarantee Fund and had been a member of the Advisory Board of the Azerbaijan Banks’ Association from July 2015 till early 2021. Also Mr. Gasimov served for 5 years as an independent board member for MTBank Belarus and for 3 years as an independent board member for Saba Poultry Azerbaijan.  

Currently, Jalal Gasimov is a Chairman of the Board of Directors of PASHA Bank Türkiye and Board of Directors of Azerbaijan Supermarkets (“Bravo” branded grocery chain), AgroDiary (agrobusiness covering crop farming, milk farms, corn and soya processing plants and a milk factory), Food City Agropark and PASHA Management Company. At the same time, Mr. Gasimov is a member of the Board of Directors at PASHA Life Insurance OJSC, and PASHA Investments LLC, member of the Supervisory Board of Kapital Bank OJSC.

BIOGRAPHY

Mr. Muhammed Lameen Abdul-Malik is a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, with over 20 years of experience in international management working in the UK Government, United Nations in nuclear science and technology, the Future Investment Initiative (FII) Institute, an International Saudi Think Tank and an entrepreneur. During his tenure at these organizations, he helped establish Zambia’s first cancer hospital, which opened in 2007 and treats about 1,500 cancer patients annually; developed a regional strategy to help Africa use nuclear science and technology to address its development challenges; launched a unique global infectious diseases index that tracks up to 60 pathogens daily, initiated white papers and a research agenda in line with the SDGs to highlight topical issues and launched the healthcare, sustainability and AI/Robotics roadmap, as well as guided the selection and curation of ideas aimed at alleviating global societal challenges.  

Lameen has set himself a goal to impact one billion people’s lives positively over the next 10 years and is subsequently spearheading efforts to support that ethos. In 2022, he launched 100 IDEAs Cafe (a crowd sourcing platform to source innovative ideas to impact our world positively focusing on health, sustainability, technology and the youth). He is the CEO of Honest Management, a boutique consultancy based in Dubai and is a senior adviser at Roland Berger, a strategic European consultancy with over 50 offices in 35 countries advising them on Africa. He has also been a special adviser to the President of Mohamed VI Polytechnic University, a premier university in Morocco, where he advised them on green hydrogen, sustainability and entrepreneurship. In 2023, He prepared a discussion paper on how Morocco can become a green hydrogen economy.

BIOGRAPHY

Dee is the President of Brands and Retailing for Tessellation Group, where she also serves as a Director.

She is a board member of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, M Plus Museum Limited, and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council's Hong Kong – Europe Business Council and is a member of Hong Kong – ASEAN Foundation Advisory Council.

Dee is also involved with the Y.L. Yang Foundation, Asia House, Mind HK, The Conference Board's Asia Corporate Leadership Council, Harvard University's Asia Center International Advisory Committee, Oxford Saïd's Ownership Project Family Advisory Council, Bloom KCCA Academy, and the Global Steering Committee of Social Entrepreneurship to Spur Health. In 2014, she was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and a Fellow of the Aspen Institute's China Fellowship Program.

Dee is actively engaged in the arts, serving on the International Councils of Tate and The Museum of Modern Art (New York). She is also a Council Member of the China Arts Foundation and a board member of Asia Art Archive. Her short film "An Exercise in Futility" was screened at the Beijing International Film Festival and the Cannes Film Festival.

Also, Dee had editorial roles at iLook Magazine and Modern Weekly, focusing on sustainability. Her retail venture DYSEMEVAS in 2008 showcased emerging Chinese design. She holds a BA in philosophy from Harvard University