Masters and Robots

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Ewa Janus-Khouri

CEO of Targowa Creativity Center, Polish Chamber of Commerce 

At the Targowa Creativity Center and the Polish Chamber of Commerce, supports businesses in the creative sector, including as many as 16 industries. Through activities helps to build and develop businesses by sharing her and her partners’ knowledge and experience. 

 

A sociologist by education and a manager by profession, having completed MBA studies at Leon Koźmiński University. Conducts workshops and training, possessing extensive design, strategic, PR, marketing, and communication experience.

Marcin Choiński

Data & AI Director TVN Warner Bros. Discovery.

Data & AI enthusiast. Hands-on practitioner and academic teacher focused on building a strategic approach of organizations that drives maximum business value from Data & AI and related technologies. He has almost 20 years of experience during which he worked on and managed programs, projects and teams that delivered numerous Data and Analytical solutions. After working for global and regional pharmaceutical, telecommunications and retail corporations he moved to the TV and Digital media business where for the last six years in TVN Warner Bros Discovery he has been responsible for the Data Management & Engineering, Data Governance and AI/ML areas. Apart from defining and implementing a company’s Data Strategy, building and managing the Data & AI ecosystem and delivering numerous cutting-edge Data & AI solutions, he is also responsible for the company’s Data Culture program. Working hand in hand with the business, he oversees its component initiatives such as Data Literacy, Data-Driven approach / Decision Architecture and Data Monetization Strategy. As a hobby, he builds analytical models in the field of sports, plays basketball and goes fishing.

Maciej Noga

Entrepreneur and HRTech investor, Co-founder of Grupa Pracuj

As a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and professional keynote speaker, Maciej Noga brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his speaking engagements. Graduating from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with cum laude honors, he co-founded Grupa Pracuj and currently serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Managing Partner of the Pracuj Ventures Innovative Fund.

An accomplished expert in HRTech and Workplace, Maciej advises management boards of large corporations, sits on supervisory and advisory boards, and is a member of the Speakers Office Digital University. His engaging and thought-provoking presentations on the future and development of the world make him a sought-after speaker at conferences.

Maciej is also a co-founder and partner of several angel investment and VC funds, as well as the co-founder and partner of Valores, the first venture philanthropy fund in Poland. Currently, he is passionately focused on the development of Enervigo, the largest integrated provider of modern energy solutions in Poland, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy. In his role as the main investor and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he plays a pivotal role in driving the development of Enervigo forward.

Privately, a father of three children with whom he spends time actively. A passionate promoter of “Work Life Integration” and the use of “Behavioral Science” concepts both in business and in private.

Barbara Erskine

Community builder, ex Wired Magazine’s European Editor

Barbara Erskine is a community builder, brand strategist and media relations professional. In Paris, she worked on the NYT Foreign Affairs Column with Flora Lewis. She led branding and media relations at the World Economic Forum in Geneva, and created “Barbara’s Davos”, a parallel program for the media in Davos. She was Wired Magazine’s European Editor. With her company, Barbara Erskine Networks, in Geneva, she helped governments, the United Nations, and private corporations launch initiatives; notably focusing on women’s issues at the Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society (Paris and Deauville); and geopolitics and finance at Ambrosetti/The European House (Milan and Cernobbio). Current projects on communications and communities now include TBLI (Triple Bottom Line Investing) and the TBLI Better World Prize; R3i Ventures and the 2022 She Loves Tech Competition; and the AI Asia Pacific Institute. 

Jowita Michalska

Founder and CEO of Digital University
Mistress of the Ceremony

Jowita’s mission in life is to arm Poles with essential digital competencies. That is why she established an organization that cooperates with leading American universities such as MIT, Harvard Business School and Stanford to provide education in the field of new technologies. Digital University offers, among others, certified educational programs, such as Digital Transformation Expert, which allow employees to complement their competences of the future, as well as conferences, such as Masters&Robots, for which the world’s most prominent experts come to Poland. The organization also educates excluded and disadvantaged people in the following areas: new technologies, Internet safety, professions of the future and ecology.

Jowita is the Polish ambassador of Singularity Group, the most important educational think-tank in Silicon Valley. She has over 20 years of business experience, having worked in key positions at Polkomtel, PGE and Deloitte, among others.

For her educational activities Jowita has received many awards and honors, including Digital Shapers, awarded for significant contribution to the development of digital economy in Poland. Last year Forbes Women recognized her as one of the 100 most outstanding women in business, and the European Commission named her a Digital EU Ambassador.

Richard Stephens

Founder & Editor, Poland Today
Master of the Ceremony

Richard Stephens is founder and editor of Poland Today, an English-language media & communications company based in Warsaw. Richard established the company in 2012 with the aim of providing business news, information and context about Poland to an international audience, as well as promoting the country as a business destination. Poland Today has grown to be the leading English-language media company in Poland, printing a prestigious magazine and organizing events on a wide variety of subjects in several sectors. While the magazine and conferences have been temporarily suspended due to the economic effects of COVID-19, he and his team are currently re-shaping the company to operate fully online. He was previously editor of Eurobuild CEE magazine, where he also established the conference department and created the Eurobuild Awards Gala. Throughout his career, Richard has organised over 120 international conferences and events, including 10+ trips of international journalists to Poland & CEE countries. Richard is English and graduated in Theology & Religious Studies from Bristol University. He lives in Warsaw. 

Sharon Shacham

Serial inventor and entrepreneur, co-founder of E44 Ventures, founder of Karyopharm Therapeutics

Dr. Shacham is a serial inventor and entrepreneur in the fields of climate and biotech. She is a co-founder and Managing Partner at E44 Ventures, a boutique venture firm focused on climate, energy and synthetic biology. In biotech, Dr. Shacham founded Karyopharm Therapeutics (NASDAQ: KPTI) where she created the novel oral cancer drug Xpovio®, and led its development from idea to commercialization: Xpovio is now approved in US, EU, China, Israel and other countries.  At Karyopharm, Dr. Shacham served as President and Chief Scientific Officer until 2021 and remains a member of its Scientific Advisory Board. Prior to joining Karyopharm, Dr. Shacham was Senior Vice President of Drug Development at Epix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. where she led the company’s discovery and development, with several INDs and Phase I-III clinical trials in the fields of psychiatry, obesity and autoimmune disease. Dr. Shacham holds a BS in Chemistry, a PhD in biochemistry and computational biophysics, and an MBA, all from Tel Aviv University. 

Volodymyr Bandura

CEO at Innolytics Group

Volodymyris CEO at Innolytics Group www.innolyticsgroup.com technology research and competitive intelligence consulting company, Lecturer and Leadership Team Member at Singularity University Kyiv Chapter, Co-author of “Ukraine in the Global Innovation Dimension” Report, https://singularityhub.com/2018/09/28/innovation-is-on-the-rise-worldwide-how-do-you-measure-it/. Certified ExO Consultant. Prepared dialogue with Sophia the Robot when she visited Ukraine to speak at Olerom Forumin 2018. Former CMO and CFO at iconic www.Signature.uareal estate development project –the most innovative and luxurious complex currently in Ukraine with the development budget of over 130 m USD.Consulted and organized multiple international investment deals with the total amount of over 100 m USD. Volodymyrhas over 10 years of experience in large-scale investment projects andstartupsas well as in creation and development of business projects. Spoke at major national events, such as IForum (https://2019.iforum.ua/en/about/), IP Let Forum, National Science Day by the Ministry of Science and Education, InScience, CEO Club events etc. Dedicated events for Coca Cola, DTEK, Vodacom and others.Author and Co-author of publications in major national media.

Andrey Dligach

Phd in economics, Director of Advanter Group, co-founder of the Center for Economic Recovery

Andrey Dligach is the representative of the international agency ‘Luniter troubleshooting’ in Central and Eastern Europe, head of the GOSH Strategy Center, founder of iVentures the holding of Internet projects.
He’s the No.1 business strategist in Ukraine. The sphere of his scientific interests includes strategic management; reflexive and strategic marketing; brand management; marketing pricing; management of complex systems; change management; futurology.
Andrey Dligach is the co-founder of the civil platform “Nova Krayina”; the co-founder of FreeGen movement; Vice-President of the NPO “Healthy Nation – ZNAK”.
Ha has more than 20 years of experience in running consulting projects in the field of strategic management, marketing and marketing research. He worked with such companies and organizations as Sandora, Siemens, Foxtrot, Obolon’, Niko Corporation, MTS, Microsoft, Milavitsa, Mercedes-Benz, Sport Life, Alfa Bank, Pinskdrev, Kristall, Corporation TerraFood, UFC, PwC, Luxoptica, Ukreximbank, Incom corporation, Astarta Corporation, Azovo-Don Development Company, Motors Group, Duna-West, Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Ministry of Education and Science, the United Nations.
Andrey Dligach is a visiting lecturer at Kyiv Taras Shevchenko National University, MIM Kyiv and a number of business schools in Eastern Europe.
He’s a TV and radio presenter, the author of 9 books on business and marketing.
Hobbies: actor, poet, bard, salsero.

Karolina Zdrodowska

Head-Coordinator for Entrepreneurship and Social Dialogue – City of Warsaw

Based at  the Warsaw City Hall, responsible for the implementation of tasks in the field of economic and innovation policy in Warsaw, economic and scientific projects with the participation of private partners, and supporting entrepreneurs and investors. Coordinates activities in the field of social communication – projects, programs and campaigns combining issues from many areas of life of residents, and also, supervises the process of preparing and conducting open tenders for the implementation of public tasks. Supervises and coordinates cooperation with non-governmental organizations. Deals with the dissemination of tools of dialogue and participation, as well as the promotion and strengthening of anti-discrimination activities and the promotion of equality. President’s Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment.

She is a  graduate of the Faculty of Architecture at the Warsaw University of Technology and the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw. Professionally, she developed one of the design offices in Warsaw. She is also a lecturer at one of Warsaw’s private universities, teaching subjects in the field of architectural and urban design to an international student base. She has also been the head of architecture program. Since 2018, she has been active in the capital’s local government. Until the President of the Capital City of Warsaw entrusted her with the duties of  head-coordinator, she was the vice-president of the Ursynów District Council in the City of Warsaw.

She is a participant of the international program European Women’s Academy 2020 organized by the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), European Liberal Forum (ELF) and the Friedrich Neumann Foundation (FNF). The aim of the program is to promote gender equality in politics and to support women’s political activity.

Jarosław Sokolnicki

Head of Microsoft Technology Center

Head of the Microsoft Technology Center, the innovation incubator for the region Central and Eastern Europe. Expert in industry innovations, digital transformation and Cloud Computing. Creator of the concepts the Store of the future for the retail industry. Expert in New Technologies and Business Modeling. A graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology, SiMR faculty, he also completed postgraduate studies in Project Management at the Kozminski University in Warsaw. PhD studies in Economics in the field of Management, Kozminski University. Lecturer and member of the advisory board of the Warsaw University of Technology. A longtime engineer and trainer, he has been dealing with IT technologies in business for over 20 years.

Nancy Baym

Senior Principal Research Manager at Microsoft

Nancy Baym (Ph.D. Speech Communication, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, 1994) is a Senior Principal Research Manager at Microsoft Research in the New England lab. Her research concerns social dynamics of new communication technologies. She was a pioneer in the field of internet research, writing influential articles on online community in the early 1990s. She is the author of Twitter: A Biography (co-authored with Jean Burgess, 2020, NYU), Playing to the Crowd: Musicians, Audiences, and the Intimate Work of Connection (2018, NYU), Personal Connections in the Digital Age (2010, Second Edition 2014, Polity), Internet Inquiry: Conversations About Method (co-edited with Annette Markham, 2010, Sage), and Tune In, Log On: Soaps, Fandom and Online Community (2000, Sage). She has written numerous journal articles and book chapters and serves on the editorial boards of New Media & SocietyThe Information SocietySocial Media & Society, and other journals. She was a co-founder of the Association of Internet Researchers and served as its second president. She has been recognized with the Frederick Williams Prize for Contributions to the Study of Communication and Technology awarded by the International Communication Association, the naming of the Nancy Baym Book Award by the Association of Internet Researchers, and an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Information Technology at the University of Gothenburg.  Since 2020, she has been helping lead a company-wide research initiative on the Future of Work.

Scott Galloway

Professor of Marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, a serial entrepreneur, and a CNN+ host

Scott Galloway is Professor of Marketing at NYU’s Stern School of Business, a serial entrepreneur, and a CNN+ host. In 2012, he was named one of the world’s best business professors by Poets & Quants. Scott has founded nine companies, including Prophet, Red Envelope, L2, and Section4. He is the New York Times–bestselling author of The Four, The Algebra of Happiness, and Post Corona. Scott has served on the boards of directors of The New York Times Company, Urban Outfitters, Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, Panera Bread, and Ledger.

Across his CNN+ show, Prof G and Pivot podcasts, No Mercy / No Malice blog, and his YouTube channel, Scott reaches millions. In 2020, Adweek named Pivot Business Podcast of the Year. 

Dr Jan Rosenow

Dr Jan Rosenow is a Principal and Director of European Programmes at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP), a global team of highly-skilled energy experts advising policy makers across the world on clean energy. Jan has several board appointments including the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy and the Coalition for Energy Savings. Jan also has a passion for energy research. He is an Honorary Research Associate at Oxford University’s Environmental Change Institute. In recognition of his work within the field, Jan was named one of the world’s top 5 energy influencers and has been appointed Special Advisor to the House of Commons as part of their inquiry into decarbonising heating. He is a keynote speaker, a podcaster, a regular commentator in the national and international media and has been an expert witness to the European Parliament and the House of Commons on many occasions. 

Fabienne GOUX-BAUDIMENT

Doctor in social sciences, postgraduate in Foresight; founding President and CEO of the SAS proGective, a Centre for Study, Research and Consultancy in foresight.

Her main activity is to support decision-makers, public and private, in their strategic, futures-oriented reflections and actions, in France and abroad.

Fabienne GOUX-BAUDIMENT earned a master’s degree in political science (France) and a PhD in Human and Social Foresight (Social Sciences, Roma, Italy). A world-renowned futurist, she advises large companies (Carrefour, Suez) as well as public authorities (Unesco, Royal Institute for Strategic Studies). She founded proGective, an independent research centre dedicated to foresight, in 1995. Centre of application, research, and training in futures studies, proGective meets its clients’ needs (central or local governments, businesses, NGOs) by working out innovative, sustainable and long term-oriented solutions.

Associate Professor of Foresight and Innovation, she coordinated the curriculum “Knowledge Engineer” at ISTIA, the College of engineering of the University of Angers, designed the master Foresight and Innovation, and taught from 1995 to 2019. She also served as a member of the Foresight section of the Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Council of Ile de France (2014-2018). Active member of the Futures Studies community (member of the Association of Professional Futurists and Fellow of the World Futures Studies Federation), she chaired the World Futures Studies Federation (2005-2009) and the French Society for Foresight (2013-2016). As a member of the Accreditation Council of the WFSF Program, she is currently in charge of the Francophonie zone.

Author and referee for several international Journals, she is a keynote speaker for top level management and large audiences, explaining emergent concepts and futures-oriented worldviews, such as the Great Transition, the VUCA world, the Alien Gen, the model of development X.0, the liquid society, etc.

Monica Parker

HR Expert, Founder of HATCH Analytics. Speaker, Author, Behavioural Nerd & Status Quo Challenger Inspiring and Guiding Businesses Through Change

Monica Parker is the author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller The Power of Wonder and a world-renowned speaker, writer, and authority on the future of work. Parker has spent decades helping people discover how to lead and live wonderfully. The founder of global human analytics and change consultancy HATCH, whose clients include blue-chip companies such as LinkedIn, Google, Prudential, and LEGO, Parker challenges corporate systems to advocate for more meaningful work lives. In addition to her extensive advocacy work, Parker has been an opera singer, a museum exhibition designer, a policy director, and a homicide investigator defending death row inmates. A lover of the arts, literature, and Mexican food, Parker and her family split their time between Atlanta, London, and Nice. Her wonderbringers include travel, time spent with friends, and live music.

Emin Aliev

Currently serving as the Chief Business Development Officer (CBDO) at Evido, a recognized ASP (Authorized Sales Partner) within the Meta ecosystem. With a rich history at industry leaders like Meta and Criteo, Emin has 25 years of expertise in digital transformation and corporate innovation. His vast experience spans across project and people management in regions such as the US, Europe, Russia, and West Asia. As a sought-after expert, Emin frequently delivers keynote addresses on topics like Artificial Intelligence, Mixed Reality, and the intricacies of building successful Strategic Partnerships. 

Marta Życińska

General director of the Polish branch of Mastercard Europe

As CEO of Mastercard Europe’s Polish branch since May 2023, Marta Życińska is responsible for business development and implementation of the company’s strategy in the country.  

Marta joined Mastercard seven years ago. She initially headed the marketing department in Poland, and was later promoted to vice president of marketing and communications for Central and Eastern Europe, successfully combining business development with marketing activities in 20 markets. In 2022, she assumed the position of vice president of global product and B2B marketing, with particular responsibility for the areas of Mastercard’s cooperation with fintechs, as well as prepaid services.   

She is a business leader with a strong track record of managing projects to achieve commercial goals in B2B and B2C areas, working closely with sales, development and product departments. Prior to joining Mastercard, she served as director of the marketing office at PZU Group, where she led the rebranding and was responsible for sales support, communications and digital marketing. Previously, she was associated for many years with the telecommunications company Orange, where she headed the B2C communications department.  

Marta Zycinska shares her experience and knowledge as a business advisor working with startups to develop and scale their businesses. As a mentor, she actively supports diversity and equal rights in the workplace and participates in DEI (diversity, equality, inclusion) initiatives and projects. She has served on the chapter of the Effie awards more than once, including Effie Europe and Effie Global. She is also the winner of the Marketing Director of the Year Personality of the Year award, and her campaigns have won numerous Effie, Golden Drum, and Cannes Lions awards.  

She is a graduate of Brock University in Canada with a degree in marketing, and also has an MBA from the School of Management and Oxford Brookes University. Outside of her professional work, Marta, as a philology graduate, is passionate about the English language, as well as medicine and skiing. She successfully combines her professional career with raising her three sons. 

Dyrektorka generalna polskiego oddziału Mastercard Europe 

Od maja 2023 roku Marta Życińska jako dyrektorka generalna polskiego oddziału Mastercard Europe jest odpowiedzialna za rozwój biznesu i realizację strategii firmy w kraju. 

Marta dołączyła do Mastercard 7 lat temu. Początkowo kierowała działem marketingu w Polsce, a następnie awansowała na stanowisko wiceprezeski ds. marketingu i komunikacji na Europę Środkowo-Wschodnią, z sukcesem łącząc rozwój biznesu z działaniami marketingowymi na 20 rynkach. W 2022 roku objęła stanowisko wiceprezeski ds. globalnego marketingu produktowego i B2B, odpowiadając w szczególności za obszar współpracy Mastercard z fintechami, a także usług przedpłaconych.

Jest liderką biznesową z wieloma osiągnięciami w zarządzaniu projektami realizującymi cele komercyjne w obszarach B2B i B2C, przy ścisłej współpracy z działami sprzedaży, rozwoju i produktu. Przed dołączeniem do Mastercard, pracowała jako dyrektorka biura marketingu w Grupie PZU, gdzie przeprowadziła rebranding i odpowiadała za wsparcie sprzedaży, komunikację i digital marketing. Wcześniej była związana przez wiele lat z firmą telekomunikacyjną Orange, gdzie kierowała departamentem komunikacji B2C.  

Marta Życińska dzieli się swoim doświadczeniem i wiedzą jako doradczyni biznesowa współpracując ze startupami w rozwoju i skalowaniu ich biznesu. Jako mentorka wspiera aktywnie różnorodność i równe prawa w miejscu pracy, a także bierze udział w inicjatywach i projektach w obszarze DEI (różnorodność, równość, włączenie). Niejednokrotnie zasiadała w kapitule konkursu Effie, w tym Effie Europe i Effie Global. Jest także laureatką nagrody Osobowość Roku w konkursie Dyrektor Marketingu Roku, a jej kampanie wygrały liczne nagrody Effie, Golden Drum, a także Cannes Lions. 

Jest absolwentką Brock University w Kanadzie na kierunku marketing, ma także dyplom MBA z Wyższej Szkoły Zarządzania i Oxford Brookes University. Poza pracą zawodową, Marta, jako absolwentka filologii, pasjonuje się językiem angielskim, a także medycyną i narciarstwem. Karierę zawodową z sukcesem łączy z wychowywaniem trzech synów.  

Agnieszka Wolska

Vice President of the Management Board, BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A.

Agnieszka Wolska graduated in Finance and Banking from the Warsaw School of Economics. During her career, she also participated in numerous courses in finance, management and leadership.

She has over 17 years of experience in stock-listed international banks. She started her professional career in 2003 at Bank BPH in the Structured Finance Department. In 2006, she took the position of Deputy Head of the Structured Finance Department. She became the Deputy Head of Corporate Solutions at Bank Pekao in 2007, and the Head of the TMT Bureau at this bank in 2010. In 2014, she took the position of the Head of Large Corporate Department at Santander Bank Polska, and in 2016 she was nominated for the position of the managing director, Head of Corporate Banking Area at this bank. In the same year, she joined the group of 10+ top-level executives at Santander Bank Polska, forming executive management team of Polish operations. In 2018, she was appointed managing director, Head of Business and Corporate Banking Area at Santander Bank Polska.

Filip Werstler

Filip is a trainer of presentations and business speeches, providing training to international companies, institutions and local entrepreneurs. His clients include such companies as Orange Poland, ABB, UBS, Polpharma, AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow and Comarch. In his trainings, he spreads his original concept of audience-centrism in speeches, inspired by Amazon’s philosophy. He is a speaker, appearing at TEDx conferences and an award-winning speaker at many marketing conferences, such as Infoshare, iDesign and InternetBeta. During his TEDx appearance, he talks about the path he took from stuttering to being a public speaking coach. Every year he prepares dozens of speakers for the most important industry events in Poland and around the world. He is a graduate of the Cracow University of Economics and a scholarship holder of the Erasmus program at the University of Pamplona (UNAV). Privately an admirer of distant travel, close encounters with cognitive psychology and a devoted fan of FC Barcelona. 

Anna Connor-Łakomy

Consultant, Trainer, and Researcher specializing in neuroscience, brain-based methods, and their applications to business and self-growth. Works with self-aware, authentic leadership, effective and diverse teams and provides results thanks to the precise diagnosis, boost in awareness and communication. Certified in Neurocolor – tool for inclusion through cognitive diversity, and Brain-Based Coaching methods certified by Neuroleadership Institute. Holds Scrum Master and Assessor certificates.  
 
Responsible for the creation and development of the organizational diagnostics line in the ICAN consulting projects department, creator & leader of NeuroLab® – working with academic and industry experts to translate neuroscience into a business environment. In the last 10 years implemented over 200 projects in customized research, assessment, and development of competencies in Poland and abroad (Europe, America, and Asia).  
 
Sociologist, a graduate of the Institute of Applied Social Sciences and PR and Marketing at the University of Warsaw, and a scholarship holder at Northeastern Illinois University in Chicago. Current Ph.D. student at Complutense University in Madrid, specializing in identity and digitalization research.  

Dominika Bettman

General Manager of Microsoft in Poland

Dominika Bettman, from December 2021 General Manager of Microsoft in Poland. For 26 years associated with Siemens Sp. z o.o. (the last years as CEO).

Entrepreneur, advocate of new technologies and sustainable business. Graduate of Faculty of Foreign Trade at Warsaw School of Economics and Advanced Management Program at IESE in Barcelona. Economist by education, humanist by nature. Propagator of the idea of diversity and inclusive leadership. Active participant in the public debate on digital transformation of the economy and society. Author of the book “Technological Magnolias”.

Kacper Nosarzewski

Futurist, Partner at 4CF Strategic Foresight, Member of the Board of the Polish Society for the Study of the Future

Kacper is a partner at the research company 4CF Strategic Foresight and a member of the board of the Polish Society for the Study of the Future. He advises on strategic foresight to international institutions such as NATO, UNESCO, UNDP, as well as companies and non-governmental organizations. He has conducted research projects, workshops and training for companies from many industries: energy, FMCG, finance, construction, pharmaceuticals, high technologies and defence, as well as led military projects in Poland and the Netherlands. He gave speeches at TEDxWarsaw and the bicentenary of the University of Warsaw, of which he is a graduate. Member of the Association of Professional Futurists and World Future Society. 

Supreet Manchanda

Supreet Singh Manchanda is Founding Partner and Managing Director of Raiven Capital, a $100M global tech venture capital fund with partners in innovation hubs including Toronto, Singapore, and Silicon Valley. Supreet and his Raiven team apply their deep knowledge, and operational mastery to build companies move from old industrial into new information economies. 

Supreet blends his Leadership, Corporate Development and technology expertise. As a Silicon Valley digital transformation expert, Supreet blends innovation with process management to help create nimble organizations. Supreet is a Singularity University Global Impact Challenge Mentor, as well as a mentor for InCredibles in the EU. Supreet has been CEO of a $1B Global Security firm, a general partner in a $2B venture fund, a senior executive at IBM, CA Technologies and a global partner at KPMG. Currently, he serves on Artificial Intelligence, IoT, BlockChain and Cybersecurity startup boards. He has an MBA from TRIUM – a joint offering of the London School of Economics, New York University and HEC. 

Ian Beacraft

The man behind innovation at the world’s leading organizations: Google, Microsoft, Samsung, Intel, Coca-Cola

Ian began his marketing career by accident after programming a server to send messages from his college dorm room in 2008  and he’s been working with emerging technologies ever since. He’s led innovation projects for some of the world’s most forward-thinking brands including  Samsung, Intel, Coca-Cola, Google, Microsoft, and dozens of others. Ian is the Chief Futurist for Signal and Cipher, an agency grounded in strategic foresight and dedicated to helping brands navigate emerging platforms, like Web3, Blockchain, and the Metaverse. He is also the Head of Marketing and Futurist in Residence at Update Beverage where he applies the emerging technologies of tomorrow to build the world’s first Smart Energy Drink brand.

Ian speaks internationally on the intersection of culture and technology and is seen on stage around the world at venues like SXSW, CES, Social Media Week, and TedX.

Jo Zayner

Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics, who teaches people how to do genetic engineering at home. They are one of the stars in the Netflix documentary “Unnatural Selection”

Dr Jo Zayner is constantly pushing the boundaries of Science outside traditional environments. They started Biohacking during their Ph.D. in Molecular Biophysics at the University of Chicago, creating The Chromochord in their apartment, the world’s first musical instrument that uses engineered protein nanotechnology. After their Ph.D., Jo received a prestigious fellowship to work with NASA’s Synthetic Biology program, engineering bacteria to help terraform Mars. Now They are the Founder and CEO of The ODIN, a company that is teaching people how to do genetic engineering at home.

Besides starring in the Netflix documentary “Unnatural Selection”, their work has been featured in the New York TimesTimeScientific American and NPR, among many others. 

Seth Godin

International Marketing Legend

Seth Godin is the author of 20 books that have been bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 35 languages. He’s also the founder of the altMBA and The Akimbo Workshops, online seminars that have transformed the work of thousands of people.He writes about the post-industrial revolution, the way ideas spread, marketing, quitting, leadership and most of all, changing everything. You might be familiar with his books Linchpin, Tribes, The Dip  and Purple Cow. His book, This Is Marketing, was an instant bestseller around the world. The newest book, The Practice, is out at the end of 2020 and is already a bestseller. His newest project is leading a worldwide group of volunteers creating The Carbon Almanac.In addition to his writing and speaking, Seth has founded several companies, including Yoyodyne and Squidoo. His blog (which you can find by typing “seth” into Google) is one of the most popular in the world. His podcast is in the top 1% of all podcasts worldwide.

In 2018, he was inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame. More than 20,000 people have taken the powerful Akimbo workshops he founded, including the altMBA and The Marketing Seminar.

Hrish Lotlikar

One of the Top 30 Most Influential People in The Metaverse

Hrish is a Co-founder and CEO at SuperWorld. Previously, he co-founded Rogue InitiativeStudios, a Hollywood film, TV, gaming, and immersive entertainment studio. He was also the founding Managing Partner of Eastlabs, an early-stage VC fund based in Kyiv, Ukraine. Previously, Hrish was a Senior Business Developer and Global Evangelist at Toptal (backed by Andreessen Horowitz, the Rockefellers & the co-founders of Facebook and Zynga), a venture capital investor at Spencer Trask Ventures, and an investment banker at both UBS Investment Bank and HSBC Securities, where he specialized in public finance, corporate finance, and M&A. He also was an Associate in the Global Business Development Group at management consulting firm Hewitt Associates. Hrish was born in India and grew up in the United States. He also has spent many years living around the world in Europe, Asia, and South America. He has a close connection to the people and cultures in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Spain, France, Vietnam, China, Colombia, Bali, and Thailand.

Hrish holds a BA in Political Science from Rice University and both an MBA and MPH from University of Illinois at Chicago. In his free time, he enjoys working out, fashion photography, and traveling the world.

Patty McCord

Former Chief Talent Officer at Netflix, Author of “Powerful; Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility”

Since it was first posted on the web, the Culture Deck has been viewed more than 15 million times, and Sheryl Sandberg has said that it “may be the most important document ever to come out of Silicon Valley.” Patty participated in IPOs at Netflix and, before that, Pure Atria Software. A veteran of Sun Microsystems, Borland, and Seagate Technologies, she has also worked with small start-ups. Her background includes staffing, diversity, communications, and international human resources positions. Currently, Patty coaches and advises a small group of companies and entrepreneurs on culture and leadership. She also speaks to groups and teams around the world. Patty’s best-selling book “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility” was published in 2018 and translated into 12 languages.

Przemek Gdański

CEO of BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A.

Przemysław Gdański has been the CEO of BNP Paribas Bank Polska S.A. since November 1, 2017, and serves as Territory Head for all BNP Paribas Group companies in Poland.  

Przemek graduated from the University of Gdańsk (MSc in Economics) and completed a one-year program in international banking and finance at Loughborough University in the UK. He participated in several professional and executive development programs at leading business schools around the world, such as IESE Business School (Advanced Management Program), Harvard Business School, London Business School, the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley, Ashridge–Hult International Business School, HEC, Columbia Business School and INSEAD. 

He has over 30 years of international banking experience. He has worked at leading banks in Poland and abroad, and since 2006 served on the management boards of banks Calyon (as CEO), BPH, Pekao SA and mBank. 

Since 2019, he has been deputy president of Polish Confederation of Private Employers Lewiatan and a member of the advisory boards of Digital University. Since 2021, he has served as a+ member of the UN Global Compact Network Poland Programme Committee. The same year, he became a member of the advisory board of the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw and a partner in the prestigious international G100 Denim Club, an organization comprising leaders promoting gender parity and equality. He has chaired the council of the BNP Paribas Foundation since 2017.  

In 2021, he was distinguished with the Market Visionary Award, granted by the IT@BANK conference. In 2019, he was named CEO of the Year by The Heart Warsaw, and Bank Manager of the Year 2018 by Gazeta Bankowa. In 2018, he won the title of Digital Shaper from the Digital Poland Foundation for outstanding contribution to digital transformation.  

He has a proven record of supporting diversity, gender equality and women’s entrepreneurship. In March 2018, he was awarded Male Champion of Change accolade presented by Success Written with Lipstick Foundation. 

A chess player with FIDE Master title, years ago member of the Polish national junior team, former president of the Polish Chess Federation. 

Sue Halpern

Writer at “The New Yorker”, specialist at science, technology and politics

Sue Halpern is a staff writer at The New Yorker, where she writes at the intersection of technology and politics, and a scholar-in-residence at Middlebury College. Halpern is author of seven books, including the best-selling A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home, and Four Wings and a Prayer, which was made into an Emmy-nominated film. She has written on science, technology and politics for The New York Times MagazineRolling Stone, and The New Republic, as well as for The New York Review of Books, where she is a regular contributor.

Halpern is the recipient of Guggenheim and Echoing Green Fellowships, and earned a doctorate in political theory from Oxford University.

Bill McKibben

Author, Educator, Activist, founder of Third Act

Bill McKibben is a contributing writer to The New Yorker, and a founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of 60 to work on climate and racial justice. He founded the first global grassroots climate campaign, and serves as the Schumann Distinguished Professor in Residence at Middlebury College in Vermont. In 2014 he was awarded the Right Livelihood Prize, sometimes called the ‘alternative Nobel,’ in the Swedish Parliament. He’s also won the Gandhi Peace Award, and honorary degrees from 19 colleges and universities. He has written over a dozen books about the environment, including his first, The End of Nature, published in 1989, and the forthcoming The Flag, the Cross, and the Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at his Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened.

Kai-Fu Lee

The world’s most famous authority on artificial intelligence

Dr Kai-Fu Lee is the Chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures and President of Sinovation Venture’s Artificial  Intelligence Institute. Sinovation Ventures, managing US$3 billion dual currency investment funds, is a leading is a leading venture capital firm focusing on developing the next generation deep tech companies in China. Prior to founding Sinovation in 2009, Dr Lee was the President of Google China, and senior executives at Microsoft, SGI, and Apple. Dr Lee received his Bachelor degree from Computer Science from Columbia University, Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as Honorary Doctorate Degrees from both Carnegie Mellon and the City University of Hong Kong. He is the Co-Chair of Artificial Intelligence Council for World Economic Forum Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Times 100 in 2013, WIRED 25 Icons, and followed by over 50 million audience on social media. In the field of artificial intelligence, Dr Lee built one of the first game playing programs to defeat a world champion (1988, Othello), as well as the world’s first large-vocabulary, speaker- independent continuous speech recognition system.  Dr Lee founded Microsoft Research China, later renamed Microsoft Research Asia, which was named as the hottest research lab by MIT Technology Review. While with Apple, Dr Lee led AI projects in speech and natural language, which have been featured on Good Morning America on ABC Television and the front page of Wall Street Journal. He has authored 10 U.S. patents, and more than 100 journal and conference papers. Altogether, Dr Lee has been in artificial intelligence research, development, and investment for more than 30 years. 

His New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling book AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order (aisuperpowers.com) discusses US-China co-leadership in the age of AI as well as the greater societal impacts brought upon by the AI technology revolution. His new co-authored book AI 2041 published in fall 2021 explores how artificial intelligence will change our world over the next twenty years. 

Jędrzej Kowalczyk

CEO of FANUC Polska Sp. z o.o.

Jędrzej Kowalczyk is customer oriented business unit executive with strong engineering, sales and marketing experience. His interest in science and technology began in the early childhood thus the choice of the university was a simple matter. Jędrzej Kowalczyk is a graduate of robotics and automation at the Gdańsk University of Technology. He started his professional career at FANUC, as a Technical Specialist, in 2009. He was then quickly promoted to the position of the Service Coordinator (2010), Customer Service Coordinator (2012) and a number of new challenges and opportunities opened for him. In 2014 was appointed as the new Office Manager of FANUC Polska and one year later took office as General Manager of FANUC Polska. His main goal is to deliver the latest technology used in automation of production to Polish factories with full support of FANUC local staff.

Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux

Founder and CEO at Global Space Ventures

Laetitia Garriott de Cayeux is an American technology entrepreneur and investor, whose 25 years career has spanned the US, Asia, and Europe. She is the Founder/CEO of Global Space Ventures, which backs emerging technology pioneers across AI, biotechnology, space and beyond. An early investor in SpaceX, she was also instrumental as co-founder/President of Escape Dynamics in meaningful advances in beamed energy technology, and its onboarding on NASA’s roadmap. She is passionate about harnessing technology to build better futures at scale, and advance STEM, innovation, and national security.  

She serves on the board of directors of XPRIZE, which brought into existence in 2004 the first privately funded crewed spaceship to reach space and launched in 2021 the $100M Carbon Removal XPRIZE with Elon Musk. She also serves on the U.S.  Department of Defense’s Defense Science Board; on NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation Advisory Board; on the advisory board of the Truman Center for National Policy; and the board of the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath). She is also a security fellow of the Truman National Security Project, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Economic Club of New York, and Women Corporate Directors. 

A leading voice in innovation and national security, she has contributed to U.S. congressional taskforces on innovation, Council on Foreign relations study groups on transformative technologies and U.S. Policy towards Asia, presided over policy discussions ranging from Space Force to U.S. national security and US-China relations, and briefed members of the U.S. Senate on commercial space and national security. Her earlier finance career, which she started working for Goldman Sachs in investment banking in Europe in the late 1990s, also included leadership roles at leading global investment firms TPG-Axon and Renaissance Technologies in the US and Asia. She holds an MBA from ESSEC (France) and Harvard Business School. 

Nicole DeHoratius

World authority on operations management

Nicole received her D.B.A from Harvard Business School, her M.Sc. from the University of Sussex as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, and her A.B., magna cum laude, from Harvard College. She joined Chicago Booth in 2001 and since then has taught operations management, service operations, and supply chain management to executives in programs and companies around the globe. For exemplifying the characteristics students most value in their professors, Nicole earned the 2015 and 2016 Rotman School of Management Teaching Award. 

Mark Brzezinski

Ambassador of the United States to Poland, U.S. Embassy Warsaw

Mark Brzezinski was sworn in as the Ambassador of the United States to Poland on December 22, 2021.

Ambassador Brzezinski previously served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from 2011 to 2015, spearheading innovative new approaches to advance U.S.-European trade and landing key Swedish investments, including Volvo’s decision to build a $1 billion factory in South Carolina. He also arranged the first-ever U.S. Presidential visit to Stockholm, which brought together all five heads of governments of the Nordic countries for a summit that galvanized a U.S.-Nordic strategic approach on energy, innovation, and sustainability. In 2015, he was asked by the White House to lead a strategic effort on the Arctic as the first Executive Director of the White House’s Arctic Executive Steering Committee.

Most recently, Ambassador Brzezinski was founder and principal of Brzezinski Strategies LLC. He was a Managing Director at Makena Capital Management, where he led the firm’s sustainable and ESG investing efforts. For a decade, he was a partner at the law firm McGuireWoods LLP, where he helped build the law firm’s international compliance practice. From 1999 to 2001, he served on President Clinton’s National Security Council staff, first as a Director for Russia and Eurasia, and then as a Director for the Balkans.

Ambassador Brzezinski is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Trilateral Commission. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Poland in 1991-93, during which he researched and wrote a book entitled “The Struggle for Constitutionalism in Poland.” In 2010, he was named to the State Department’s Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board. He received a BA from Dartmouth College, a JD from the University of Virginia, and a PhD in Political Science from Oxford University.

He is the proud father of a teenage daughter, Aurora Brzezinski.

Supreet Singh Manchanda

Technologist, Silicon Valley Investor, Founding Partner and Managing Director of Raiven Capital

Supreet Singh Manchanda is Founding Partner and Managing Director of Raiven Capital, a $100M global tech venture capital fund with partners in innovation hubs including Toronto, Singapore, and Silicon Valley. Supreet and his Raiven team apply their deep knowledge, and operational mastery to build companies move from old industrial into new information economies. Supreet blends his Leadership, Corporate Development and technology expertise. As a Silicon Valley digital transformation expert, Supreet blends innovation with process management to help create nimble organizations. Supreet is a Singularity University Global Impact Challenge Mentor, as well as a mentor for InCredibles in the EU. Supreet has been CEO of a $1B Global Security firm, a general partner in a $2B venture fund, a senior executive at IBM, CA Technologies and a global partner at KPMG.

Currently, he serves on Artificial Intelligence, IoT, BlockChain and Cybersecurity startup boards. He has an MBA from TRIUM – a joint offering of the London School of Economics, New York University and HEC. 

Leesa Soulodre

General Partner of R3iCapital and Adjunct Professor of Practice – Complex Problem Solving & Entrepreneurship at SMU Cox School of Business

As a serial in/entrepreneur, Leesa Soulodre has worked for 20+ years on the cutting edge of innovation, technology, and strategy consulting. As a venture builder, she supports the growth of a portfolio of Seed to Series B tech start-ups internationally and is currently hands-on in-house as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Australian Government’s Landing Pad in Singapore. ​ Leesa holds a Global Executive MBA from TRIUM (NYU, HEC, & LSE) and a Masters in Management (Marketing) from USQ. She has studied Sports Marketing, Sustainability Strategies, Risk Management, and Technology Entrepreneurship at Wharton, Harvard, the Australian Graduate School of Management and Stanford University respectively. She is a Certified Reputation Manager of the Reputation Institute, a Member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Public Relations Consultants Association.​ 

Maciej Kraus

Partner at Movens Growth Equity, Pricing Guru, Guest Lecturer at Stanford

Maciej spent 20y in pricing. Corporate roles, consulting, lecturing, startup, software- Maciej did it all in pricing. Guest lecturer at Stanford and LBS. Authored 2 book on pricing. His TedTalk on behavioral pricing has over 150k views https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTDBeI-mtDg&t=42s

He specializes in the topics of strategy and management of sales as well as promotions with a particular focus on consumer behavior analysis.

Has experience in the area of price management in B2B and B2C markets in Poland and beyond (USA, Russia, China, Germany, France). He has advised both global corporations (Siemens, Daimler, Johnson& Johnson, Cemex) and MSEs. Maciej is also a lecturer at the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw.

Martin Taylor

Multi award-winning Creative Director, Co-founder at Prox & Reverie

Martin is a multi award-winning Creative Director, specialising in volumetric filmmaking, immersive storytelling and mixed reality. He is co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Prox & Reverie, a multi-reality experience lab based in Doncaster, innovating new ways to bridge physical, digital and imagined worlds. 

Prox & Reverie is a destination for content creators, producers and brands looking to supercharge the possibilities of virtual production and immersive audience experiences. 

Jo Jurga

Product and interior designer, Innovator at Institute of Industrial Design

Product and interior designer, innovator (Institute of Industrial Design) and university lecturer (School of University SWPS). Specialist in sense of security design. Keen on discussing issues relating to the area of speculative and synesthetic design. Analogue astronaut and a two-time commander of space missions at Lunares Habitat. Meditation teacher and outer space enthusiast. Her works have been honored at exhibitions in Poland and abroad. Participated in numerous design festivals (Lodz Design Festival, Gdynia Design Days, Dutch Design Week). Finalist of competitions such as: MakeMe, Young Polish Designer, Innovation Ad and Jutronauci. Author of the podcast #BEZPIECZNIK and the book “Szałas na hałas”.

Mok O'Keeffe

Founder of The Innovation Beehive and an expert on organisations, people and innovation

Founder of The Innovation Beehive and an expert on organisations, people and innovation. He has worked in numerous roles at Boots, Harrods and was European HR Director for Yum! Restaurants International before joining the world of innovation consulting and running practices in London and New York. Since founding the company, he has worked with clients including BP, TrustFord, Centrica, Hearst Magazines, Shell Petroleum, Google and Egon Zehnder. Mok is HR Director (voluntary) and Board Vice Chair at Islington Arts Factory in London which provides artistic education to disadvantaged youth. He is also a Trustee of the Barn Theatre Project in Cirencester, which works to develop performance skills in young people.

MOK is a Fellow of St George’s House, Windsor Castle. This society exists to share insights and wisdom within a global leadership population.  

Dariusz Rosiak

Independent Journalist & Reporter

For 13 years Dariusz hosted the popular radio program “Raport o stanie świata”. Since March 2020, the programme has been funded by Listeners and is available on platforms as a podcast. 

 Dariusz has been working in media since the 1980s. He started at RFI in Paris, then spent the entire 90s at the BBC in London. He wrote for various Polish media, from the sacred “Życie Warszawy” and “Życie” to “Machina” and “Architektura”. After returning to Poland, he worked for the Polish Press Agency, Newsweek, Przekrój, Forum and Polityka. He was also a co-founder and editor-in-chief of the first Ozon weekly. This was short-lived, but for many years he wrote for “Rzeczpospolita”, especially for its “Plus Minus” supplement. The magazine with which Dariusz has collaborated the longest and closest is “Tygodnik Powszechny”. 

Dariusz has been nominated for many awards, including the Nike Literary Award for “Grain and Blood”. He also received the Beata Pawlak Award for this book, as well as the PAP’s Ryszard Kapuscinski Reporter’s Award for “Raport o stanie świata” from Kurdistan.

fot. K. Opaliński

Edyta Sadowska

PhD in social sciences, futurologist, university lecturer, innovator. In her scientific and popularization work, she focuses on the future as a tool for shaping the present, redefinitions that allow us to properly describe the reality around us, and interdisciplinarity that conditions dialogue. Connecting the dots, expanding the horizon and full spectrum thinking are for her the fundamental building blocks of understanding the world. Winner of the Jutronauts program (Gazeta Wyborcza & Kulczyk Investment), author of workshops on future literacy, popular science and scientific articles, manager of international projects. 

Aubrey de Grey

Dr. Aubrey de Grey is a biomedical gerontologist based in Silicon Valley, California, USA, and is the founder, President and Chief Science Officer of LEV Foundation, a biomedical research and advocacy charity focused on repairing the molecular and cellular damage of aging. He received his BA in computer science and Ph.D. in biology from the University of Cambridge. His research interests encompass the characterisation of all the types of damage that constitute mammalian aging and the design of interventions to repair and/or obviate that damage. Dr. de Grey is a Fellow of both the Gerontological Society of America and the American Aging Association, and sits on the editorial and scientific advisory boards of numerous journals and organisations. He is a highly sought-after speaker who gives frequent invited talks at scientific conferences, universities, companies in areas ranging from pharma to life insurance, and to the public. 

Artur Kurasiński

Tech entrepreneur, creator, investor, observer and critic of technological phenomena.

Entrepreneur, creator, investor, observer and critic of technology-related phenomena. Author of books, audio dramas, games and comics. Tech-realist. Digital curator, creator and narrator. For over two decades, he has been observing and explaining the impact of technology on our lives.

Author of one of the most popular Polish technology blogs, kurasinski.com, and the book “Startupowcy” about Polish technology companies that have achieved global success. Speaker and participant at major technology conferences in Poland and around the world. Co-founder of the oldest Polish startup meeting cycle Aula Polska and the Aulery awards.

Privately, a father of Róża and Malina, a fan of indoor football and role-playing games.

Jowita Michalska

Founder&CEO of Digital University, Singularity University Warsaw Chapter Ambassador 

Jowita’s mission in life is to arm Poles with essential digital competencies. That is why she established an organization that cooperates with leading American universities such as MIT, Harvard Business School and Stanford to provide education in the field of new technologies. Digital University offers, among others, certified educational programs, such as Digital Transformation Leader, which allow employees to complement their competences of the future, as well as conferences, such as Masters&Robots, for which the world’s most prominent experts come to Poland. The organization also educates excluded and disadvantaged people in the following areas: new technologies, Internet safety, professions of the future and ecology. 

 

Jowita is the Polish ambassador of Singularity Group, the most important educational think-tank in Silicon Valley. She has over 20 years of business experience, having worked in key positions at Polkomtel, PGE and Deloitte, among others. 

 

For her educational activities Jowita has received many awards and honors, including Digital Shapers, awarded for significant contribution to the development of digital economy in Poland. Last year Forbes Women recognized her as one of the 100 most outstanding women in business, and the European Commission named her a Digital EU Ambassador. 

Dominik Witek

Member of the Management Board of PZU Życie SA

Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Rzeszow. He holds the professional titles of attorney and legal counsel. He also completed studies in the area of management and business (MBA) at the School of Business – National Louis University in Nowy Sącz, obtaining the title of Master of Business Administration. 

Since 2017, he has run his own law firm as an attorney and then as a legal advisor. From 2019 to 2020, he was employed as a Legal Advisor at ORLEN Południe SA, where, among other things, he participated in comprehensive legal services for the Company and ORLEN Południe Capital Group Companies. In addition, he served as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sanocki Przedsiębiorstwo Gospodarki Mieszkaniowej sp. z o.o., as well as President of the Management Board, Managing Director of Sanocki Przedsiębiorstwo Gospodarki Komunalnej sp. z o.o. From January 2021 to June 5, 2023, he served as a member of the Board of Directors of PZU Życie SA.

Aleksandra Agatowska

President of the PZU Życie SA Management Board

A manager with in-depth experience in the finance and insurance sector. Since 2016, she has sat on the PZU Życie SA Management Board, first as a Member and then, since February 2021, as the President of the Management Board. Previously, she acquired her professional experience in other multinational companies, including members of the ING Group, HDI (currently Warta), Sony Europe and Philips S.A., where she managed the Marketing and Business Intelligence team in 17 countries of the region. She also collaborated with the Public Policy Evaluation and Analysis Center at the Jagiellonian University. 

She graduated from the Sociology Faculty at the Jagiellonian University. She also completed numerous managerial programs in the area of strategy, management and finance at various renowned educational institutions, including Columbia University, the London School of Economics and Political Science and the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management, Harvard Business School Online and Jagiellonian University. She holds an Executive MBA degree from Kozminski University in Warsaw. 

Jarosław Sroka

Board Member of KI Next, Coordinator of the InCredibles Program

Menadżer w dziedzinie komunikacji korporacyjnej i rynku mediów. Wieloletni dziennikarz oraz redaktor naczelny wiodących polskich gazet gospodarczych, m.in. Gazety Prawnej, Pulsu Biznesu, tygodnika Newsweek Polska; współtworzył rynek nowoczesnych mediów biznesowych w Polsce. 

Od lipca 2009 roku jako Członek Zarządu KI Next (dawniej Kulczyk Holding) odpowiada za nadzorowanie obszarów komunikacji korporacyjnej, relacji inwestorskich, marketingu oraz public affairs. Absolwent Instytutu Dziennikarstwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. Studiował także w prestiżowej, międzynarodowej szkole liderów biznesu IESE Business School przy Uniwersytecie Navarra w Barcelonie oraz w Wyższej Szkole Bankowości i Ubezpieczeń w Warszawie. 

Członek Rady Ładu Informacyjnego przy GPW w Warszawie oraz Rady Programowej Akademii Liderów Rynku Kapitałowego. Członek Rady Fundacji Forum Obywatelskiego Rozwoju. Członek Rad: Programowej SGH MBA for Startups, Uczelni Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego we Wrocławiu oraz Executive Education Advisory Board Akademii Leona Koźmińskiego. Koordynator programu InCredibles. 

Sebastian Kulczyk

International Investor, Owner of Kulczyk Investments, Founder of Manta Ray vc – venture capital fund, Initiator of Mentoring Program for startups InCredibles

Międzynarodowy inwestor i przedsiębiorca, od ponad 20 lat aktywnie działający w obszarze nowych technologii. Ambasador nowoczesnego i odpowiedzialnego społecznie myślenia o biznesie, zaangażowany w rozwój polskiego ekosystemu startupowego. 

Właściciel Kulczyk Investments – międzynarodowego domu inwestycyjnego, który w oparciu o własny kapitał, kompetencje oraz najwyższe standardy inwestowania i zarządzania biznesowego buduje wartość firm o globalnym potencjale. 

Założyciel Manta Ray, funduszu venture capital wspierającego w skali międzynarodowej najbardziej utalentowanych przedsiębiorców, których misją jest wdrażanie rewolucyjnych technologii m.in. w systemie edukacji, zdrowia oraz infrastrukturze. 

Twórca InCredibles – prestiżowego i największego w Polsce programu budowy kompetencji oraz promocji, który od 2017 roku skupia, szkoli i integruje najbardziej perspektywiczne startupy. 

Twórca Pho3nix Foundation – globalnej organizacji społecznej, która wspiera na całym świecie dzieci i młodzież w realizacji marzeń i mistrzowskiej kariery. Fundacja prowadzi szereg inicjatyw edukacyjnych i społecznych popularyzujących aktywność fizyczną: Pho3nix Kids, Pho3nix Active School, Sportowe Warsztaty Pho3nix. Oferuje również kompleksowe, szyte na miarę programy profesjonalnego rozwoju utytułowanych młodych sportowców: Pho3nix Athletes Program. Projekty nadzorowane są przez uznanych specjalistów, mentorów, światowej klasy zawodników różnych dyscyplin oraz członków Pho3nix Team. 

Marta Dałkiewicz

Electronic Banking Department Director, VeloBank 

As Electronic Banking Department Director at VeloBank, responsible for shaping and implementing the digital channels strategy, focusing on achieving customer acquisition, activation, and sales goals. Her responsibilities encompass supervising mobile application development, internet banking, QA testing, and user experience (UX) teams. 

Involved in the financial sector for over 15 years, she began her work in marketing at Expander Advisors and Tax Care. She later joined Getin Noble Bank, where she led innovative projects including self-service branches in shopping centers, which received Efma the Innovation of the Month award, and a new mobile application that won the Banking Technology Award for Best Use of Mobile Technology in Financial Services (Customer Facing). 

She is a Faculty of Journalism and Political Science graduate at the University of Warsaw. Furthermore, she completed the Brand Strategy School at SAR. Marketing Communication Association and postgraduate studies in IT Resource Management at the Warsaw University of Technology and Service Design at the School of Form at SWPS University. 

Elżbieta Żebrowska – Poziemska

Customer Intelligence Departemnt Director VeloBank  

In VeloBank responsible for CRM evolution by implementing advanced systemic and analytical solutions that enable hyper-personalization of bank’s relation with customer, as well as for digital marketing. As part of the Digital Channels Transformation team, seeks answers to customer needs in the virtual world through data and analytics. Has been associated with banking for almost 10 years, starting her career at Bank Millennium, where she dealt with processes and projects before implementing CRM system. 

Graduated Quantitative Methods in Economics and Information Systems, as well as Marketing at the Warsaw School of Economics and the University of Warsaw. 

Przemysław Koch

Member of the Management Board in charge of Operations and IT, VeloBank

He started his professional career in a business advisory and consulting company – Accenture, where he was responsible for the implementation of individual modules of the central banking system in PKO Bank Polski. Subsequently, he was associated with the Belgian KBC Capital Group: Kredyt Bank and TUiR Warta and TU NŻ Warta insurance companies (2006-2011). For six years, he acted as Director of the Transactional Application Development Department in the largest bank in Poland – PKO Bank Polski, where he played a key role in the acquisition processes of Nordea Bank Polska and SKOK Wesoła. He participated in PKO Bank Polski’s launch of innovative solutions, including: IKO mobile banking, an engine for calculating risk parameters in accordance with the IRB approach, a system for handling option transactions, a central solution for handling Cash Management products, the Loro system together with ICM functionality, implementation of a new IPKO Dealer auto-dealing system, as well as a fraud detection and handling system (EFM – Enterprise Fraud Management).  

Since 2017, he has worked in government administration bodies as a plenipotentiary of the Minister of Finance for computerisation, where he has supervised the IT organisation of the Ministry of Finance, comprising more than 1,800 employees. He created and then implemented a digital transformation strategy for the Ministry of Finance. He has successfully restructured initiatives which were at a risk of failure, in particular the e-taxes project, for which he secured a pre-jurisdictional settlement. He was responsible for implementing innovative solutions, i.e. Your e-PIT, e-Tax Office, Poltax+, e-Toll, which facilitated and automated administrative processes. He developed and implemented the BIG DATA concept based on the use of algorithms and supervised the implementation of projects such as JPK_VAT, STIR, Split Payment, SENT, MDR, White List of VAT Remitters, e-Financial Statements, on-line Cash Registers, Virtual Cash Registers and e-Receipts. In September 2021, he took up the position of the Director of the Central IT Hub, where he successfully merged the NASK and COI development departments. He was responsible for developing a strategy for digitalisation of public administration, including the implementation of an e-payment platform for the public sector, the Central Register of Powers of Attorney and Authorisations, changing the nature of the mObywatel application or the Central Register of Drivers. 

Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, he successfully managed the Help Ukraine project, as part of which he adapted the national registers for assignment of PESEL (Personal ID) numbers, trusted profiles, and launched the Ukrainian-language version of the mObywatel application and dedicated refugee service centres at the National Stadium, Tauron Arena, as well as a system for handling humanitarian convoys.  

He is a graduate of the Faculty of Cybernetics at the Military University of Technology and the Collegium of Management and Finance at the Warsaw School of Economics. He also obtained the Executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree. 

Paweł Sołtys

Economic journalist, president of the company managing Radio 357.

In 2017-2020, head of audiovisual projects at the publishing house Bonnier Business Polska. In 2008-2018, he was associated with Program 3 of Polish Radio. In 2014-2015 he was deputy editor-in-chief of Bloomberg Businessweek Polska. After hours – a fan of Legia Warsaw and a passionate alpine skiing fan (in 2016-2020 a commentator of this sport in Eurosport Poland). 

Carlo van de Weijer

Managing Director of the Institute for AI Systems at Eindhoven University of Technology, SingularityU Faculty  

Dr. Carlo van de Weijer (1966) has a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from the TU Eindhoven and a PhD degree with honors from TU in Graz. He carries a broad experience in the automotive industry with a.o. executive positions at Siemens and TomTom. Currently he is managing director of the newly founded Institute for AI Systems INAS at Eindhoven University of Technology. He advises ministries and industries around the world on the future of mobility and is member of the supervisory board of several high-tech companies and start-ups. He is an international speaker on exponential technology and the future of high-tech, amongst others as faculty member of Silicon Valley based Singularity University.  

MARIUSZ PITURA

CEO and Co-Founder of Pogaduszki

A graduate of Journalism, Screenwriting and Creative Management at Cannes Lions and Berlin School of Creative Leadership. He has over 20 years of managerial and creative experience in the largest advertising agencies. Mariusz is the author of numerous award-winning creative campaigns and many product launch strategies. He has won over 50 creativity awards (e.g., Cannes Lions). He is also a screenwriter and author of awarded children’s books and co-founder of “the Linghos/Pogaduszki” application.

Dariusz Jemielniak

Expert in Strategic Management and HR in Technology Companies, Lecturer at Kozminski University and Harvard University, Member of the Supervisory Board of Wikimedia Foundation and Escola S.A., Serial Entrepreneur 

Dariusz Jemielniak is a full professor of management, the head of the Center for Research on Organizations and Workplaces (CROW), and a founder of the New Research on Digital Societies (NeRDS) group at Kozminski University. But also, a faculty associate Berkman-Klein Center for Internet and Society, at Harvard University. His interests revolve around critical management studies, open collaboration projects (such as Wikipedia or F/LOSS), narrativity, storytelling, knowledge-intensive organizations, virtual communities, organizational archetypes, all studied by interpretive and qualitative methods. In 2015, he was elected to the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees. 

Prof. Jemielniak has been working for over a dozen years on how online communities create knowledge on the Internet. As a member of the Supervisory Board of the American Wikimedia Foundation, he fights disinformation on a global scale in the world’s most popular knowledge repository. As a researcher, he leads the prestigious Maestro grant, which develops disinformation detection tools and analyzes disinformation networks. In recent months he has also been involved in finding Russian trolls using proprietary Thick Big Data methods. 

 David Gram  

Innovation thought-leader & Co-founder of Diplomatic Rebels, Former Head of Ventures, EMEA at LEGO Ventures, Executive Advisor 

David Gram has worked with radical innovation and lean start-up methods in small businesses and large global corporations for the last 20 years – e.g. as Head of Innovation at Scandinavian Airlines, as Senior Innovation Director in LEGO’s Future Lab, and recently as Venture Partner in LEGO Ventures. Using design thinking and agile development, David has been developing and leading innovation units and projects from early incubation to full maturity. He has recently been in the lead of building and launching LEGO Ventures, the new strategic venture arm at the LEGO Brand Group. David is co-founder of Diplomatic Rebels; a company dedicated to empower companies and intrapreneurs around the world to become stronger innovators. David is passionate about transforming large organizations into lean innovators. Believing that companies not only have an opportunity to better leverage their resources, assets and expertise in creating value, but also a responsibility to lead the global change in a way that that has a long term positive impact on human beings and the planet. Through his experience, David has obtained several unique insights and developed approaches to how businesses can stay afloat in an ever-faster changing world and transform the organization into a change-leading innovator. He believes that anybody can become an innovator in their own organization or as he calls it a Diplomatic Rebel. As an experienced international key-note speaker and executive advisor, David is using his passion for breakthrough innovation to inspire and infuse this new mindset and toolbox in organizations around the world. 

Rafał Mrówka 

Professor at SGH Warsaw School of Economics, Director of the MBA-SGH Program, Digital Transformation & Leadership Expert

Rafał Mrówka, Ph.D. is an associate professor at the Department of Management Theory at SGH Warsaw School of Economics. He specializes in the analysis of modern models of organization, digital transformation, leadership issues, corporate social responsibility, employee satisfaction and engagement surveys and public relations. He is also the director of the MBA-SGH program (executive MBA program in SGH Warsaw School of Economics, one of the best EMBA programs in Poland) and the director of Postgraduate Studies in Public Relations and Strategic Communicating in Companies at SGH. He completed several training courses, including advanced training in Design Thinking at HPI Academy in Germany and International Management Teachers Academy in Bled in Slovenia. He has lectured or participated in research programs at Tel Aviv University (Israel) and Universite Catholique de Lille (France). 

 

Rafał Mrówka is also active in business consulting and managerial trainings – he has about 20 years of experience in managing projects for business, is co-owner of consulting and training company IMMOQEE. He worked i.e. for Umbrella Project (the UNDP program in Poland), BIGRAM Personnel Consulting, ITO – United Change Company, Hewlett-Packard, Euler Hermes, Tetra Pak, Schneider Electric, Wabco, Microsoft, Auchan, EDS, Esselte, Siemens, Allianz, Leroy Merlin, Cersanit. He specializes in employee satisfaction and engagement surveys, boosting employee engagement, innovation support programs, development managerial skills, communication and public relations. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the School for Leaders Foundation, which shapes leadership attitudes in society. 

Aleksandra Auleytner

Partner at DZP, Head of IP/TMT Practice 

Partner, head of IP&TMT Practice in DZP. Highly specialized in intangible rights, copyright law, industrial property law, and new technologies and e-commerce law. She advises technology sector companies, especially on implementation, maintenance and other agreements typical of the IT sector, advertising agencies, TV stations and TV producers,  e-shop operators and transport companies. Experience includes advisory in proceedings over goods that infringe intellectual property rights being admitted to customs area. 

Katarzyna Śledziewska

Managing Director of DELab UW, Professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw 

She is not afraid of challenges and is eager to join ambitious projects entering unexplored areas of science. Since 2014, she has led UW’s experimental research program DELab, where she created an open, interdisciplinary research environment incubating UW students, postdocs, and young faculty around research on the digital economy and society. She leads prestigious international projects (including two Horizon 2020 projects and a COSME project) and cooperates with business and public administration. She has significant accomplishments in knowledge dissemination and commercialization. 

Łukasz Węgrzyn

Partner at Osborne Clarke, Head of IT & data 

Ekspert regulacji prawnych dotyczących technologii. Specjalizuje się w doradztwie dla sektorów wysoko-regulowanych: finanse, ubezpieczenia, zdrowie.  

 

Rekomendowany w międzynarodowym rankingu Chambers FinTech jako jeden z najlepszych polskich prawników z obszaru technologii finansowych. W rankingach The Legal 500 oraz Chambers Europe rekomendowany w obszarach Technologia-Media-Telekomunikacja.  

 

Członek Instytutu Prawa Nowych Technologii i Danych Osobowych przy Uniwersytecie Łazarskiego. Członek Stowarzyszenia Prawa Nowych Technologii. Posiada certyfikacje technologiczne: ITIL Foundation, PSMI (Professional Scrum Master), AgilePM Foundation, Professional Agile Leadership I.  

 

Absolwent Wydziału Prawa i Administracji Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego. 

Tina Sobocińska

HR4future- Founder & HR Strategic Advisor 

C-level HR Director with 20+ years of experience in international companies (including PwC, DHL, Schneider Electric).  

 

HR Strategic Advisor: Mega trends and Competencies of the Future, Future Work, Workplace of the Future, Culture Book, HR for the Future.  

 

Leader of the Digital HR Champions network. Actively participates in networks: LiderShe and Human Explorers.  

 

Vital Voices ambassador and mentor. 

Host of podcast series: ‘Case study: hybrid work’ and ‘Leaders. What’s next?’.  

 

Lecturer at SWPS University, Warsaw School of Economics (SGH), and Leon Koźmiński Academy.  

 

Power speaker at conferences in Poland and abroad (Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Sofia). 

Aleksandra Karasińska

Editor-in-chief of Forbes Women Poland. Expert in legacy and digital media. Feminist promoting women empowerment. Advocate of womenomics:  economics from a female perspective. She teaches at the Digital Media Campus of SWPS. She hosts a weekly podcast Forbes Women. 

Journalist with twenty years of experience in Polish and international media (Newsweek, Forbes, TVN24, Polsat, TRK Ukraine, CNN and CNN Radio). Currently Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Women Poland. Previously Editor-in-Chief newsweek.pl and forbes.pl. She was working as a news producer in TVN24 and was managing information department in largest polish tv station, Polsat. She began her career as a student and became a journalist at Radio Free Europe and Radio Zet. She teaches journalism at Digital Media Campus. She hosts weekly Forbes Women podcast. For many years, she has been supporting organizations working for equality and women’s rights.  

Sebastian Kulczyk

International Investor, Owner of Kulczyk Investments, Founder of Manta Ray vc – venture capital fund, Initiator of Mentoring Program for startups InCredibles 

Owner of Kulczyk Investments – an international investment house that, based on its own capital, expertise, and highest standards of investing and business management, builds the value of companies with global potential. 

 

Founder of Manta Ray, a venture capital fund supporting the most talented entrepreneurs internationally, whose mission is to implement revolutionary technologies, including in education, healthcare, and infrastructure. 

 

Creator of InCredibles – a prestigious and largest program in Poland for building competencies and promoting startups, which since 2017 has been focusing on gathering, training, and integrating the most promising startups. 

 

Founder of the Pho3nix Foundation – a global social organization that supports children and youth worldwide in achieving their dreams and mastering their careers. The foundation conducts a series of educational and social initiatives promoting physical activity: Pho3nix Kids, Pho3nix Active School, Pho3nix Sports Workshops. It also offers comprehensive, tailor-made programs for the professional development of young, accomplished athletes: Pho3nix Athletes Program. The projects are supervised by recognized specialists, mentors, world-class athletes from various disciplines, and members of the Pho3nix Team. 

Artur Osiecki

journalist and editor of economic desk of “Rzeczpospolita” daily (since year 2010).

He specializes in topics of: EU grants and regional development, export and SME. Artur is also managing editor of www.firma.rp.pl portal addressed to SME. He graduated from the Faculty of Journalism and Political Sciences at the University of Warsaw. He also completed postgraduate marketing studies from the Faculty of Economic Sciences at the University of Warsaw.

MACIEJ BALSEWICZ

bValue’s Managing Partner and Chief Investment Office

Maciej Balsewicz serves as bValue’s Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer. In 2016, he launched bValue Angels VC, an angels syndicate investing in early stage companies in Poland, what later became bValue Fund – an independent technology investor managing today three funds focused on seed and growth investments in CEE.

At bValue he was instrumental in sourcing and building companies such as: CallPage, Shoplo, Tidio, Senuto, Renters, PushPushGo, YourKaya, MoreGrowth and others.

Before founding bValue, Maciej was part of the executive team at Inpost, a PE backed last mile delivery leader in Europe, where he was responsible for finance and operations across multiple markets. Maciej has also private equity background from PineBridge Investments where he served as VP and was responsible for several growth equity transactions across the region. He also founded an M&A boutique focused on transactions in technology. He was formerly a consultant for EY in the Warsaw office.

He is member of ACCA and graduate of Executive Education Programs at UC Berkeley.”

Maciej Noga

As a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and professional keynote speaker, Maciej Noga brings a wealth of experience and expertise to his speaking engagements. Graduating from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with cum laude honors, he co-founded Grupa Pracuj and currently serves as the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and Managing Partner of the Pracuj Ventures Innovative Fund. An accomplished expert in HRTech and Workplace, Maciej advises management boards of large corporations, sits on supervisory and advisory boards, and is a member of the Speakers Office Digital University. His engaging and thought-provoking presentations on the future and development of the world make him a sought-after speaker at conferences. Maciej is also a co-founder and partner of several angel investment and VC funds, as well as the co-founder and partner of Valores, the first venture philanthropy fund in Poland. Currently, he is passionately focused on the development of Enervigo, the largest integrated provider of modern energy solutions in Poland, with a strong emphasis on renewable energy. In his role as the main investor and Chairman of the Supervisory Board, he plays a pivotal role in driving the development of Enervigo forward. Privately, a father of three children with whom he spends time actively. A passionate promoter of “Work Life Integration” and the use of “Behavioral Science” concepts both in business and in private.

Jakub Świdziński

Since the beginning of his professional career, Jakub Świdziński has been associated with the e-commerce area. When joining IKEA in 2017, he was accountable for the maintenance and development of the IKEA.pl website. In 2020, he continued his journey by joining the newly formed Digital Department, where he was in charge of implementing strategic digital projects for the organisation, such as the new version of the IKEA.pl website, the IKEA Mobile App, the system for processing remote orders and the self-order Bistro kiosks. In 2022, he became responsible for the Digital Portfolio & Deployment team, assigned to coordinate the roadmap, implement global or create local digital products, and improve the organisation’s omnichannel approach. 

Paweł Kuncicki

Paweł Kuncicki joined Bolt in February 2021 as Campaigns Analytics Manager. A year later, he was appointed Country Manager at Bolt and has since led the ride-hailing team responsible for taxi operations in Poland. His responsibilities include strengthening Bolt’s position in the Polish taxi market, managing business growth in the cities where Bolt currently operates and further expanding our operations into new markets. Prior to joining Bolt, he spent 5 years at the Amsterdam office of the hotel reservation platform Booking.com, where he managed data analytics teams.

Leesa Soulodre

As a serial in/entrepreneur, LeesaSoulodrehas worked for 20+ years on the cutting edge of innovation, technology, and strategy consulting. As a venture builder, she supports the growth of a portfolio of Seed to Series B tech start-ups internationally and is currently hands-on in-house as an Entrepreneur in Residence for the Australian Government’s Landing Pad in Singapore.  Leesa holds a Global Executive MBA from TRIUM (NYU, HEC, & LSE) and a Masters in Management (Marketing) from USQ. She hasstudied Sports Marketing, Sustainability Strategies, Risk Management, and Technology Entrepreneurship at Wharton, Harvard, the Australian Graduate School of Management and Stanford University respectively. She is a Certified Reputation Manager of the Reputation Institute, a Member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals, the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and the Public Relations Consultants Association. 

Jędrzej Kowalczyk

Jędrzej Kowalczyk is customer oriented business unit executive with strong engineering, sales and marketing experience. His interest in science and technology began in the early childhood thus the choice of the university was a simple matter. Jędrzej Kowalczyk is a graduate of robotics and automation at the Gdańsk University of Technology. He started his professional career at FANUC, as a Technical Specialist, in 2009. He was then quickly promoted to the position of the Service Coordinator (2010), Customer Service Coordinator (2012) and a number of new challenges and opportunities opened for him. In 2014 was appointed as the new Office Manager of FANUC Polska and one year later took office as General Manager of FANUC Polska. His main goal is to deliver the latest technology used in automation of production to Polish factories with full support of FANUC local staff.

Adam Marciniak

His nearly 20-year-long career was developed in the largest financial institutions in Poland: Bank Pekao, Pekao Central Brokerage House, Inteligo Financial services and PKO Bank Polski, where he was a Member of the Management Board in charge of technology, cybersecurity and employee training and development from 2017 to 2021. He successfully reorganised the functioning of structures of many undertakings, focusing on process efficiency, cost optimisation and dynamic business development. He co-created solutions such as BLIK, IKO, Bank Cybersecurity Centre, digital identity in administration, a nationwide system of e-Registration for COVID-19 vaccinations and the concept of National Cloud. In the last year, he acted as the Vice-President of the Management Board for Technology and Digitisation of the CCC Group, where he was responsible for digital transformation and actively supported the development of digital business and actions aimed at improving the Group’s efficiency. 

He was the chairperson of the presidium of the Electronic Banking Council at the Polish Bank Association, the IT Architecture Council at the Committee of the Council of Ministers for Digitisation, the chairperson of the IT Expert Group operating at the Ministry of Finance and a member of the IT Consultants Team at the Ministry of Health. He chaired and participated in supervisory boards of companies such as PKO Bank Hipoteczny, the National Cloud Operator, PKO BP Finat, Modivo and Pronos. 

In 2003, he graduated from the Military University of Technology in Warsaw and obtained a Master’s degree in Computer Science. From 2006 to 2007, he studied IT project management at the Warsaw University of Technology. He also completed a post-graduate Executive Master of Business Administration course at the Management University in Warsaw. 

He has won numerous industry awards and distinctions and was awarded the title of an Electronic Economy Ambassador at the 10th Electronic Economy Congress. In recognition of his outstanding accomplishments in construction and development of the banking sector, the Polish Bank Association awarded him the Nicolaus Copernicus Medal. He also received the title of the ‘Banking market innovator of 2015’ in the ranking of ‘50 largest banks in Poland’ and the Prof. Remigiusz Kaszubski Award for creating innovations and a secure company in the cloud and commitment to the digitisation of society as well as, together with the Management Board of VeloBank, an award in the Innovative Leader 2023 competition for the exceptional transformation of the bank and the implementation of unique solutions on the market. 

Ewelina Jelenkowska-Lucà

She is the head of communication unit and deputy director of Policy Strategy & Outreach in DG CNECT at the European Commission. She is an advocate, member of the Bar in Lublin (Poland). She graduated in Law from Maria Sklodowska-Curie University in Lublin in 1998, then in EU Law from the College of Europe in Natolin (Poland) in 1999 and in Law from the University of “Tor Vergata” in Rome in 2002. In 2003 she joined the European Court of Justice. In 2008 she moved to DG COMP at the European Commission. In 2011 she became the Deputy Head of EC Representation in Poland (during Polish Presidency in the EU) and in 2012 she became Head of Media and Commission Spokesperson in Italy. In 2017 she transferred back to Brussels to take up her current position. She is Polish and Italian, married, mother of three teenagers and polyglot. 

Jowita Michalska

Jowita’s mission in life is to arm Poles with essential digital competencies. That is why she established an organization that cooperates with leading American universities such as MIT, Harvard Business School and Stanford to provide education in the field of new technologies. Digital University offers, among others, certified educational programs, such as Digital Transformation Leader, which allow employees to complement their competences of the future, as well as conferences, such as Masters&Robots, for which the world’s most prominent experts come to Poland. The organization also educates excluded and disadvantaged people in the following areas: new technologies, Internet safety, professions of the future and ecology. 

Jowita is the Polish ambassador of Singularity Group, the most important educational organization in Silicon Valley. She has over 20 years of business experience, having worked in key positions at Polkomtel, PGE and Deloitte, among others. 

For her educational activities Jowita has received many awards and honors, including Digital Shapers, awarded for significant contribution to the development of digital economy in Poland. Last year Forbes Women recognized her as one of the 100 most outstanding women in business, and the European Commission named her a Digital EU Ambassador

Richard Stephens

Richard Stephens is founder and editor of The Poland Observer, an English-language media & communications company based in Warsaw. Richard established the company with the aim of providing business news, information and context about Poland to an international investor audience, as well as promoting the country as a business destination & Polish business abroad.  

The company organizes events on a wide variety of subjects in several sectors – including its flagship conference at MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes each year – and creates films and videos. 

He was previously founder & editor of Poland Today, and of Eurobuild CEE magazine, where he established the conference department and created the hugely-successful Eurobuild Awards Gala. Throughout his career, Richard has organised over 120 international conferences and events, including 10+ trips of international journalists to Poland & CEE countries for The Poland Observer, Poland Today and entities such as UEFA, ahead of EURO 2012 in Poland & Ukraine. Richard is English and graduated with a BA in Theology & Religious Studies from Bristol University. 

Catalina Stefanescu-Cuntze

Catalina Stefanescu-Cuntze is Professor of Management Science, and the Faculty Lead of the Master in Analytics and Artificial Intelligence at ESMT Berlin. She holds a PhD in Operations Research from Cornell University.  

Her research and consulting focus on the design, development, and application of analytical and artificial intelligence models and methods for managerial decision making. Her expertise focus areas include customer analytics, corporate and consumer credit risk, and sustainability modeling.   

She teaches MBA, EMBA and MSc courses as well as Executive Education programs on Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Operations Management.  

Rafał Trzaskowski

Mayor of Warsaw, Member of the 8th term of the Polish Parliament, Vice-Chairman of the EU Committee, Vice-Chair of the European People’s Party, analyst and academic teacher  

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (EU Affairs) and Prime Minister’s European Council Plenipotentiary in PM Ewa Kopacz’s government. In charge of governmental European policy, involved in key EU negotiations, i.a. on sanctions against Russia and energy security. 

Minister of Administration and Digitization in PM Tusk’s government (2013-2014), responsible for digitization, including online data protection, cybersecurity and online access for people with disabilities. Supervisor of province governors (voivodes), coordinated disaster relief services.   

Member of the European Parliament and of the Constitution Committee between 2009 and 2013. Involved in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020 negotiations, under which the European Union has allocated EUR 82.5 billion to Poland. He also served at the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection, where he dealt with e-commerce, consumer laws, and public procurement. 

Between 2004 and 2009, he was Advisor to Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and to the European Parliament Delegation of the Civic Platform. 

Academic teacher at Collegium Civitas, Warsaw (since 2000) and the National School of Public Administration (1998-2009). Long-standing analyst at the Natolin European Center. 

In 2004 he was awarded a PhD degree from the Warsaw University Institute of International Relations for his thesis: “The dynamics of reforming the decision-making system of the European Union”. 

Speaks English, French, Spanish, Russian and Italian. 

 

Prezydent Warszawy od 2018 roku.  

W rządzie premier Ewy Kopacz wiceminister Spraw Zagranicznych ds. Unii Europejskiej oraz Pełnomocnik Prezesa Rady Ministrów ds. Rady Europejskiej. Odpowiedzialny za politykę europejską rządu prowadził najważniejsze z punktu widzenia Unii Europejskiej negocjacje, koordynował również prace wszystkich resortów, zaangażowane w działania na poziomie UE.  

W rządzie premiera Donalda Tuska minister Administracji i Cyfryzacji (2013 – 2014) – zajmował się m.in. cyberbezpieczeństwem, dostępnością cyfrową oraz był odpowiedzialny za nadzór nad urzędami wojewódzkimi.  

W latach 2009 – 2013 poseł do Parlamentu Europejskiego oraz członek Komisji Konstytucyjnej. Brał udział w negocjacjach wieloletniego budżetu UE na lata 2014 – 2020, z którego do Polski trafiło 400 mld złotych. Pracował także w Komisji Rynku Wewnętrznego oraz Ochrony Konsumentów.  

W latach 2004 – 2009 Doradca Przewodniczącego Komisji Spraw Zagranicznych Parlamentu Europejskiego oraz Delegacji Platformy Obywatelskiej w Parlamencie Europejskim. 

Wykładowca akademicki w Collegium Civitas w Warszawie (od 2000 roku), wykładał też w Krajowej Szkole Administracji Publicznej (1998-2009). Przez wiele lat analityk w Centrum Europejskim - Natolin.  

W 2004 roku otrzymał doktorat na Uniwersytecie Warszawskim w Instytucie Stosunków Międzynarodowych.  

Znajomość języków obcych: angielski, francuski, hiszpański, rosyjski i włoski

Piotr Ostaszewski

Piotr Ostaszewski is a leader with a vision who heads Ekovoltis, a company that provides green energy under the e2V brand. It is part of the MS Galleon GmbH group, owned by Michał Sołowow. Piotr has extensive experience in managing and implementing innovative projects in various industries. His mission is to promote renewable energy as a source of sustainability and environmental protection. Together with his team, he is working to spread RES and create a clean and safe future for our planet. 

JOANNA MARASZEK

Head of Product and Sustainability , co-founder Plan Be Eco

Head of Product and Sustainability , co-founder Plan Be Eco

Bachelor in Energy Engineering, AGH in Cracow. Master degree in Sustainable Development, University of Warsaw. Co-founder of Planet-A Foundation, Featured 25 under 25 by Forbes 2021. Climate leadership (by UNEP GRID) expert. TEDx Speaker.

For many years involved in supporting women in tech&IT in Poland, Eastern Europe and Central Asia at Perspektywy Women in Tech.

Kinga Piecuch

Managing Director of Hewlett Packard Enterprise Poland, has more than 20 years of experience in leadership positions in global technology companies. Before joining HPE, she served as Enterprise Industry Director for the Central and Eastern Europe at Microsoft. Prior to that, from 2014 to 2020, she held management positions at SAP: she was Head of the company’s Polish division and then Head of General Business and Global Channel for Austria & CEE. From 2006 to 2013, she managed Xerox’s operations in the Polish market, leading its business transformation. Before that, from 2000 to 2006, she was the Director of SMB Sales at IBM. She started her career in public administration. 

Privately, she is passionate about authentic leadership and loves to read fiction, non-fiction books and publications on geopolitics. She collects art and supports women in their personal and professional development. She is proud of the next generation of socially and professionally engaged women who started their careers by her side. 

Dr. Piotr Wisniewski

Doctor of Management Sciences, manager with many years of experience, author, speaker consultant. Managing director with more than ten years of experience in managing international companies.Creator of the management model according to the Hyperreality concept.  

Graduate of Harvard Business School.In 2009, he defended his doctoral degree in management science at the Poznań University of Economics. He shares his experience as a lecturer at the Nicolaus Copernicus University and the ICAN Institute.  

For more than 10 years he worked as a managing director in large manufacturing companies. For five years he was CEO of Maflow – a global automotive company with subsidiaries in Europe, Asia and the Americas, employing more than 4,500 people. Thanks to the new development policy, the company has rebuilt a strong position on the market and met the demands of customers, which is proved by a number of awards granted by such companies as VW, Audi, BMW, Jaguar Land Rover.  

For the successfully conducted restructuring, Dr. Piotr Wiśniewski was awarded the TOP Manager of the automotive industry.While working in Maflow he also created a talent management programme – Talent Management Maflow, which was described on the pages of “Harvard Business Review Polska” as an integral part of the case study of rebuilding the company thanks to the involvement of the employees.   

For 20 years, he has been on the supervisory boards of various European manufacturing and trading companies, responsible for building and selecting board members and creating strategy on behalf of the owners.    

Since 2016, he has been developing the DB77 Group of Companies, which is dedicated to optimising processes in manufacturing and service organisations, as well as robotic production across Europe and Asia.   

He is the founder of the world’s first Robot Platform, DBR77.com, which aims to support the robotisation and automation of production in manufacturing companies and enables the execution of an effective digitisation of production and logistics processes, technologically and financially.   

He is passionate about learning about the latest scientific developments in robotisation, big data and artificial intelligence. He is the creator of the DBR77.com podcast series #Robosapiens, in which, together with invited guests, he talks about, how robots are changing the world of humans, and the Digital Pathfinder series, published in the form of a newsletter – easy and fun about complex topics of the digital world. 

Jarosław Królewski

Programmer. CEO/co-founder of Synerise. Lecturer at AGH University of Science and Technology. Entrepreneur. Wisła Kraków Football Club CEO/Owner. 

CEO and co-founder of Synerise – AI & BigData Company – Top 10 fastest growing AI companies in Europe according to Financial Times in 2022,2023. Lecturer & Researcher at AGH University of Science&Technology. Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, and Investor. CEO and majority shareholder of Wisla Krakow Football Club – one of the oldest and most titled Polish Football Club – founded in 1906. 

During his professional career, he used to work for/with Fortune 500 companies and got numerous prestigious national and international awards with the Synerise Team, including, among other things: Medal for merits for the development of the economy of the Republic of Poland 2023; Laureate of Deloitte Technology Fast 50 – 2021,2022 Edition; Winner @ ACM RecSys Twitter Challenge 2021, 2nd place; Winner @ ACM KDD Cup, OGB-LSC 2021, 3rd place; Winner @ ACM WSDM Booking.com Data Challenge 2021, 2nd place; Winner @ SIGIR eCom Rakuten Data Challenge 2020, 1st place; Title of one of the 30 most promising technology entrepreneurs in the world according to Ernst and Young 2018; Special Award in EY Entrepreneur of the Year Contest 2018; AGH University of Science of Technology 100th anniversary Award 2018; Digital Shaper Award 2018, Polish President Startup Award; Poland AI Person of The Year 2019; CEE x-Tech Awards 2019 – AI Innovation of the Year; EU Leading Innovator by Google, Res Publica and the Financial Times; BrandME CEO 2023, Microsoft Partner of the Year 2017,2018,2019. 

Since 2010 he has been a lecturer and researcher at the AGH University of Science and Technology (two faculties) in Krakow, where he co-founded (at the age of 23) award-winning courses and full-time program studies of his authorship from scratch, including; Social Informatics, E-Economy (the most innovative system of study in Poland in 2012 according to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education) and Digital Marketing. He is an ambassador of the AGH brand and a mentor in the Gov Polish Development Fund network. 

He graduated from two fields of study (computer science and sociology) and is currently working on an interdisciplinary Ph.D. He has participated in many conferences and is a guest lecturer at Polish and foreign universities. Together with partners, he rolled out Ph.D. Data Science Studies in Poznan. He is also the author of publications, including bestsellers, inter alia published as part of the PWN Scientific Publishers. He is the founder and creator of the AI School Program and Academy for schools and kindergartens rolled out in 2019 in Poland. Co-author of the first, fastest, and most significant crowdfunding action in the CEE region. 

Geraldine Schenk

 Country Director Janssen Poland

Geraldine Schenk has been associated with the Janssen Pharmaceutical companies of Johnson& Johnson for 20 years. Her experience in the pharmaceutical market spans five countries on two continents in global, regional and country roles, and an extensive knowledge of the world’s healthcare systems with high focus on developing innovative reimbursement models in Europe. An active participant in pharma associations, Geraldine is also known for innovative ways of thinking and bringing meaningful value to stakeholders. Her commercial experience includes every stage of product development, and she was globally responsible for one of Janssen’s blockbusters that reached
US $3.5bn annual sales at peak. She has led teams in hemato-oncology, solid tumors, immunology, neuroscience, and infectious and rare disease. Born in Austria, Geraldine graduated in International Business Administration from the University of Innsbruck. She’s married to a Swiss partner, has two sons and is passionate about history, archeology, literature and sports

Magdalena Dziewguć

Country Manager, Google Cloud Poland

Magdalena Dziewguć is a manager with many years of experience in the new technologies sector. She studied law and psychology. Magda holds an Executive MBA from SGH and completed the GMP at Harvard Business School. She has been working for Google since 2014. Before that she was a vice-chair of Exatel SA and a member of a number of supervisory boards. Since the year 2000, she co-created a telecommunications services market for online business for companies such as Orange and Plus. She is the co-founder of Digital University and LiderSHE in Poland. 
Magda’s expertise focuses on new technologies and their impact on business processes within organizations. She is an expert in the fields of innovation, restructuring and building the culture of engagement and partnership. On a daily basis, she is a mum of three: Adam, Sonia and Franek. She actively works on projects which develop the presence of women in the public sphere. Magda strongly believes that two factors change the world for the better: new technologies and more decisions taken by women. 

Bartosz Ziółek

Dyrektor ds. bankowości korporacyjnej i inwestycyjnej

As a digital transformation executive leader, he has 21 years’ experience mapping and implementing strategic initiatives. He is a member of Santander’s global Tech Investment Banking team. Providing corporate and investment banking services in the tech-digital space. Head of digital investment banking in Poland, he focuses on implementing financial solutions for disruptive startups and scale-ups. 

Graduated from the Paris School of Business. He holds the title of International Executive MBA. His academic career has also been developed for several years, as he has lectured at a top tier Polish business university (Warsaw School of Economics, Koźmiński, University of Warsaw, Wroclaw University of Economics and Business), Chengdu University of Technology in China and Oxford Brookes University in the UK.  

The European Union innovation support network has assigned him the responsibility of mentoring startups. Over the past few years, he has spoken at the most significant European conferences and events regarding digital transformation. 

Łukasz Olejniczak

Google Cloud, Customer Engineer

Lukasz Olejniczak works as a Customer Engineer at Google Cloud where he helps companies solve their toughest business challenges based on a strategic approach to data, analytics, machine learning and technology innovation. With more than 10 years working for companies such as MicroStrategy, Roche, Autorun, mBank, DXC Technology and their clients, he has gained valuable experience that includes a unique combination of software engineering, product and service design, business intelligence, data warehousing, data engineering and machine learning. This experience has been supported by a number of certifications in GCP, AWS and Azure public clouds, among others. Lukasz holds a PhD in applied physics from Vrije Universiteit in Brussels / Belgium and SUPELEC in Metz, France.

Joanna Bensz

Founder and CEO of Longevity Center, one of the first medical centers focusing on practical application of longevity medicine in Europe.

Joanna is a leading figure in the creation of innovative healthcare solutions for longevity in Europe.

She is an accomplished entrepreneur with extensive experience in leadership roles at multinational and Fortune 500 companies in Europe. Her passion for healthcare, human potential, wellness, and performance led her to establishing the first Longevity Centre in 2019 in Warsaw, Poland. A second opened in 2022 in Germany and in 2023 Zurich Switzerland.

The Longevity Centre specializes in personalized interventions using advanced diagnostics, epigenetics, and biomarkers of biological age.

In addition to her role at the Longevity Center, Joanna is also the co-founder of the International Institute of Longevity and the chairwoman of the Longevity Vaduz Roundtable. Through these positions, she works with international experts in the field of age sciences, health prevention, and longevity economics to promote the sector.

The Longevity Center is part of The Longevity Group SA, an investment company based in Luxembourg focusing on creating an ecosystem of leading solutions in the field of longevity medicine and healthcare and is planning to open additional centres across Europe in the coming years.

BARTŁOMIEJ RAK

Serial entrepreneur | Cofounder & CEO @Rebread #breadwaste

Serial entrepreneur. Over 12 years of experience in digital marketing, consulting and social media. The founder of Socjomania – one of the most recognizable and experienced companies in creating digital strategies and digitizing services. Currently acting as an advisor to the management board.

A full-time startup founder looking for a solution to the problem of food waste in Rebread. Main keywords: #zerowaste #sustainability #ESG #upcycledfood Minimalist, limits the carbon footprint, pissed off by the short-sightedness of global decision makers. Occasionally takes a ride in the LR Defender.

Amy Webb

World’s most famous data-driven Futurologist

Amy Webb advises CEOs of the world’s most-admired companies, three-star admirals and generals, and the senior leadership of central banks and intergovernmental organizations. Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures, Amy pioneered a data-driven, technology-led foresight methodology that is now used within hundreds of organizations. She is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business, where she developed and teaches the MBA course on strategic foresight. She is a Visiting Fellow at Oxford University’s Säid School of Business, a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Atlantic Council’s GeoTech Center, a Fellow in the United States-Japan Leadership Program and a Foresight Fellow in the U.S. Government Accountability Office Center for Strategic Foresight. She was elected a life member to the Council on Foreign Relations and is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee. She is a member of the World Economic Forum where she serves on the Global Future Council on Media, Entertainment and Culture and the Stewardship Board of the Forum’s Platform for Shaping the Future of Media, Entertainment and Culture. She was a Visiting Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, where her research received a national Sigma Delta Chi award. She was also a Delegate on the former U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission, where she worked on the future of technology, media and international diplomacy. Webb has advised CEOs of some of the world’s largest companies, three-star generals and admirals and executive government leadership on strategy and technology. She is the author of several popular books, including “The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity,” which was longlisted for the Financial Times & McKinsey Business Book of the Year award, shortlisted for the Thinkers50 Digital Thinking Award, and won the 2020 Gold Axiom Medal for the best book about business and technology, and “The Signals Are Talking: Why Today’s Fringe Is Tomorrow’s Mainstream,” which won the Thinkers50 Radar Award, was selected as one of Fast Company’s Best Books of 2016, Amazon’s best books 2016, and was the recipient of the 2017 Gold Axiom Medal for the best book about business and technology. Her highly-anticipated upcoming book, “Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology” (Public Affairs, February 2022) – co-authored with Humane Genomics founder and biotech futurist Andrew Hessel – looks at the promises and perils of synthetic biology including related ethical, political, religious and social issues.

Webb was named by Forbes as one of the five women changing the world, listed as the BBC’s 100 Women of 2020, and the Thinkers50 Radar list of the 30 management thinkers most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led.