Naiha Ilyas

Senior Digital Marketing Manager - Asia Pacific & Japan, Ping Identity

Naiha is a senior marketing leader with 12+ years of experience driving growth at the intersection of marketing strategy, analytics, AI, and personalisation across startups, scale-ups, and global technology organisations. She has led regional and global go-to-market strategies, built high-performing teams, and partnered closely with product, sales, and data teams to turn complex insights into compelling customer experiences. Known for blending commercial rigor with human-centered storytelling, Naiha is passionate about using data and AI to create marketing that is not just scalable but meaningful. She is also an advocate for women in tech and inclusive leadership in data-driven roles.

Simona Schuster

Lead Product Marketing Manager, Tricentis

Simona is a Lead Product Marketing Manager at Tricentis, a global leader in quality engineering solutions, working at the intersection of AI, automation, and enterprise software. She leads go-to-market initiatives for AI-driven and automation cloud solutions, helping organisations translate complex technology into clear business value. Alongside her corporate work, she is the founder of Mindful AI, where she explores the human, ethical, and societal implications of AI adoption, with a focus on responsible innovation and leadership. With a background spanning product strategy, storytelling, and technology ethics, Simona brings a rare perspective that bridges execution, insight, and foresight—helping leaders innovate with clarity and confidence.

Ajda Gruden

Product Manager

Ajda Gruden is a discovery‑driven Product Manager with over seven years of experience building native and desktop applications, websites, APIs, and complex monolithic ecosystems. She focuses on solving real user problems through structured product discovery, data‑informed decision making, and cross‑functional collaboration. At Cardmarket, she has led product strategy and delivery across multiple platform areas, while scaling the Product and IT organization through hiring and mentoring Product Owners and designers. Previously, she managed end‑to‑end development of mobile and desktop applications in the construction, e‑commerce, and food‑delivery domains. Ajda holds a master’s degree in Wood Science and Technology and is educated in Product Discovery, Behavioral Design, BPMN 2.0, Product-Led Growth, and Design Sprints. She works fluently in German, English, and Slovenian.

Leslie Murdock

Founder and CEO at DeZigning Digital

Leslie Murdock is the Founder and CEO of DeZigning Digital, where she works at the intersection of AI, business strategy, and organizational transformation. Her work focuses on a question most organizations are only beginning to confront: not what AI can do, but what it requires from the systems around it. Through advising a cross-section of companies across stages and industries, she has developed a clear view into where AI strategy breaks down in execution, and why results often fail to follow investment. She brings a practical, systems-level perspective to AI adoption, helping leaders align strategy, operations, and decision-making to move from experimentation to measurable outcomes.

Erin Dahl

Founder at Co Labs

Erin Dahl is the Founder of Co Labs, a relational intelligence consumer AI company. We're currently developing our first tool: an app that nurtures the human relationships that shape daily life. It's privacy-aware and consent-led, with a focus on outcomes beyond the screen, like clearer understanding, healthier interaction patterns, and deeper real-world connection. Erin works at the intersection of product, AI behavior, and trust, with an emphasis on building systems that are useful without being extractive. Prior to Co Labs, Erin founded a Paris-based brand strategy and communications agency and has worked with clients like LVMH, Accor, Sanofi, L'Oréal, Audemars Piguet.

Lakshmi Keerthi KV

Software Development Engineer in Test - 3 at RingCentral

I am a QA professional with 8 years of experience specializing in localization testing and global product quality across multiple domains, including telecom, HRMS, and beauty/wellness SaaS. Over the years, I’ve worked hands-on with multilingual product releases and cross-cultural customer experiences, helping product teams ensure that features, UX, and content resonate across regions, not just languages. I’ve spoken previously at community events, including a Women in Localization webinar and CITLoB Samvad, where I shared insights on global product quality and the evolving role of localization in SaaS growth. My passion lies in bridging technology, global scale, and human experience, and in empowering more women to tap into emerging opportunities in the AI-driven localization space.

Cara Mascini

Chief Sustainability Officer at Switch Datacenters

Cara Mascini – Chief Sustainability Officer Cara Mascini is a digital infrastructure executive with 25+ years of experience. She is Chief Sustainability Officer at Switch Datacenters, board member at LINX, and previously led Netflix’s EMEA content distribution. Cara founded EdgeInfra and earlier held executive roles at major telecom and internet companies. Cara holds an MBA and a Computer Science & Telecommunications engineering degree.

Ritu Soni

Co-Founder & Chief Technical Officer at SkillBrew.AI

Ritu Soni is the Co-Founder and CTO of SkillBrew.AI, an AI-powered SaaS platform transforming interview preparation and hiring through behavioral intelligence and skill-based assessments. With over 7 years of experience in software engineering and AI systems design, Ritu has led multiple enterprise-scale projects across cloud, DevOps, and data engineering. She is passionate about AI for Good, digital inclusion, and building technology that helps people gain confidence and opportunity. Ritu has represented her startup at GITEX Global Dubai, Entrepreneur India, and Rising Rajasthan, and actively mentors women entering the tech and AI ecosystem.

Angela del Carmen Fuentes

CEO at Imageryst

Angela del Carmen Fuentes is a professional specializing in geospatial technologies and AI-driven analytics. At Imageryst, as a CEO and founder, she helps clients in energy, infrastructure, and environmental sectors optimize operations through advanced satellite data solutions. Angela plays a key role in business development, strategic partnerships, and integrating innovative technologies to address complex industry challenges.

Betul Yucel

Managing Partner @Boğaziçi Ventures and Founder at IF Consultancy

Betül Yücel – Founding Partner | Change Catalyst & Impact Investment Lead 20+ years of experience in strategic business consulting, cultural transformation, and leadership development. Founder of IF Consultancy, advising Fortune 500 companies and C-level executives. Gender Expert for UNIDO and UN Women; named UN Women Global Champion for Empower Women (2016). Led high-impact projects with the US Embassy, EU, Turkish Ministries, Tübitak, and the Melinda Gates Foundation. Alumna of VC Lab’s Founder Institute and advisor to leading Turkish VCs. Global mentor with Women in Tech and Startup Wise Guys, committed to scaling mission-driven ventures and advancing gender-lens investing across emerging markets. Jury member for global award platforms including Brandon Hall and Stevie Awards.

Shristi Pranjal

Product Management Consultant at Dell Technologies

Shristi Pranjal is a Product and Strategy Leader and a certified Independent Director with over 12 years of experience across technology, consulting, and engineering-led organizations. She currently works with Dell Technologies, where she leads AI-driven transformation of commerce and pricing systems with a strong focus on digital transformation, regulatory compliance, and decision governance at scale. Previously, Shristi held leadership roles at Ernst & Young, HCL Technologies, and Tata Consulting Engineers, driving large-scale digital transformation, account growth, and business development across global clients in banking, retail, and engineering domains. Her cross-industry experience gives her a unique perspective on building systems that balance innovation, risk, and long-term value. Shristi is a certified Independent Director and holds certifications from Silicon Valley Product Group, SAFe Agilist, and Six Sigma Green Belt. She is an alumna of Great Lakes Institute of Management and BIT Mesra. She is also a recipient of the Dell CFO Excellence Award and a frequent speaker at leadership forums.

Zanya Fahy

Head of Strategy at Toaster

Zanya has spent the past nine years shaping Toaster’s strategic practice, establishing its foundation and driving it forward. She partners closely with clients to uncover meaningful audience insights, drawing on evolving digital behaviors and cultural trends to inform strategies that connect brand, communication, and experience. Her work bridges core business challenges with forward-thinking applications of emerging technology, always with a focus on impact and relevance. Before Toaster, Zanya honed her expertise at leading digital agencies including R/GA, Isobar, and Digitas. Her portfolio spans global tech giants, heritage brands, and everything in between – Google, YouTube, Samsung, Meta, Nike, Unilever, Bacardi, Kellogg’s, and more.

Marie Kuter

Founder & app-maker at Unitipi

Marie Kuter is a seasoned UX expert and digital project management lecturer in Switzerland. She is the founder of Unitipi, a Tech for Good studio that creates apps to help people and animals.

Tasneem Dohadwala

Founding Partner at Excelestar Ventures

Tasneem Dohadwala is the Founding Partner of Excelestar Ventures, focused on promising investments in medical and deep technology. Her prior experience includes positions at Lehman Brothers and Matrix Partners. Notable investments at Excelestar include Augmenix and nVision, both acquired by Boston Scientific. Under her leadership, Excelestar Ventures was recognized by The Boston Globe as one of the Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts. Tasneem serves as Managing Partner of the Golden Seeds Boston Chapter and is a graduate of Wellesley College and Harvard Business School.

Mary Alcantara

Partner at Interactive Venture Partners

Mary Alcantara is a trusted mentor, startup advisor and investor with significant experience in North America and Europe. Prior to joining, she was a founding partner of tandemLEAP, an innovation and business development firm with offices in Budapest and New York. She has consulted for and guided entrepreneurs at many leading incubation and accelerator programs, including Alchemist Accelerator (Silicon Valley), Summerside Xchange (PEI), and MKB Fintechlab (Budapest). She also led Strategic Partnerships for Sellerant, a Texas-based sales and marketing agency supporting startups and scaleups. She received a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from Central European University.

Shalvi Singh

Senior Product Manager, Amazon at Founder & Builder, Healthengine

Shalvi Singh is a Senior Product Manager of Amazon, Founder of Healthengine.us and AI specialist focused on applying machine learning to women's healthcare challenges. She is the lead author of the 2025 groundbreaking study "Algorithmic Detection of Hormonal Patterns in Women's Health using Artificial Intelligence," published in leading Journals. Singh's work addresses a critical gap in healthcare technology by developing computational algorithms that can detect, predict, and classify hormonal variations in women. Her research spans from tracking menstrual cycles through wearable devices to diagnosing complex conditions like PCOS using electronic health records and natural language processing. With an affiliation to Amazon's research ecosystem, Singh represents a new generation of technologists bridging the gap between big tech capabilities and underserved women's health needs. Her work comes at a pivotal time when less than 2% of global healthcare R&D focuses on female-specific conditions, positioning her research as part of the emerging movement to democratize and personalize women's healthcare through AI. Singh's methodology combines rigorous academic research standards with practical applications, promising to move women's health beyond traditional calendar-based approaches toward precision, data-driven insights that could revolutionize how conditions like infertility, menopause, and hormonal disorders are detected and managed. Her research represents the cutting edge of AI-powered healthcare innovation, specifically targeting the long-overlooked field of women's hormonal health.

Dania Dobosz

CoFounder at CultureAdd

Founder & CEO, CultureAdd Dania Dobosz is the Founder of CultureAdd, a specialized executive search firm dedicated to connecting high-potential talent with the world’s most innovative startups. With over 20 years of experience in the talent industry, Dania has navigated multiple market cycles—from the early tech booms to the modern era of AI and Fintech. Her career spans the full spectrum of recruitment, from leading large-scale strategic talent initiatives for commercial banking institutions to executing high-stakes executive searches for emerging companies. As a strategic advisor to founders and VCs, Dania specializes in the "build-phase" of a company’s lifecycle. She focuses on identifying exceptional talent for critical business and engineering roles while promoting diversity and inclusion as a primary driver of innovation. Having spent two decades sitting at the intersection of human capital and high-growth technology, she brings a uniquely informed, "insider" perspective to how the most successful startups attract, hire, and retain the people who define their future.

Jessica Warren

Founder, Agentic PMM

Jessica Warren is the Founder of Agentic PMM™ and a transformative GTM Architect with two decades of experience leading Product Marketing for global SaaS powerhouses. Best known for her role in Coupa’s successful IPO, she has built and directed high-performance global functions at JLL/T and JAGGAER, specializing in category design and analyst dominance. A 2025 Marquis Who's Who award winner for Transformative Leadership in Tech, Jessica is now revolutionizing the industry by integrating Agentic AI into product marketing, product management and GTM to drive unprecedented market impact and organizational velocity for B2B SaaS organizations.

Devshree Golecha

Founder and CEO at AI Made Fun

Devshree Golecha is the Founder & CEO of AI Made Fun and Adjunct Professor of Data Science at Southern New Hampshire University. She is the co-author of the award-winning Data Made Fun for Kids (Kirkus Starred Review, Datacamps' Best Math and Data Book, International Impact Book Award for Best STEM Book), adopted in 50+ Texas charter schools. Recognized as Houston's 40 Under 40, Top 100 Global Data Power Women, and Responsible AI Leader by Women in AI, Devshree brings 17+ years in corporate data and technology — plus executive education from MIT Sloan and Harvard — to a mission that's deeply personal: making sure every kid grows up AI-literate. She is based in Houston, TX and is pursuing her doctorate in AI.

Divya Smith

Founder & CEO at Ascending Avenue Investments

Divya is a seasoned corporate executive turned entrepreneur with 20 years of experience driving transformation at Fortune 500 companies like Target, United Health Group, US Bank, and Hilton Hotels. Known for leading high-impact e-commerce and digital initiatives, she delivers innovative solutions that boost revenue and streamline operations. Her leadership extends globally, as she managed cross-functional international teams and established Global Capability Centers from both client and vendor perspectives. Divya’s ability to align strategy with execution has solidified her reputation as a results-driven leader. Now, as founder and CEO of Ascending Avenue Investments, Divya leverages her corporate acumen to build a thriving commercial real estate portfolio of over $300M. She also consults with organizations to develop global teams and accelerate digital transformation.

Jinal Hitesh Mehta

Data Engineer II at Amazon

A seasoned Data Engineer with 8+ years of experience spanning three countries, Jinal brings a unique global perspective to the tech industry. Currently based in Seattle as a Data Engineer at Amazon, her journey from India through Canada to the United States embodies the quintessential first-generation tech professional's story of determination and adaptability. Beyond her technical expertise in data engineering, she serves on Amazon's interviewing panel and is passionate about building bridges for the next generation of tech professionals. Drawing from her experience of navigating multiple cultural and professional environments, she actively mentors aspiring data professionals, particularly those from immigrant backgrounds. Her approach to technology and leadership is deeply influenced by her experience as a first-generation professional, combining traditional values with modern tech industry demands. When not transforming data architectures or mentoring others, she enjoys painting, playing badminton, and solving Sudoku puzzles - activities that reflect her blend of analytical thinking and creative problem-solving

Andrea Griffiths

Senior Developer Advocate, GitHub

Andrea Griffiths is a Senior Developer Advocate and passionate community builder at GitHub with over a decade of experience in developer tools, community engagement, and technical evangelism. In her role at GitHub, Andrea works tirelessly to enhance the developer experience, foster thriving technical communities, and bridge the gap between developers and GitHub's innovative products.

Paula Sappington

Sr. Director, Digital Research & Experimentation, Hilton

Paula Sappington, Senior Director of Digital Research, leads research efforts across digital and technology platforms at Hilton, the global hospitality giant with 24 brands with over 9,000 hotels in 126 countries. Paula’s Hilton journey began in traditional market research, and shifted to digital in 2010 to stand up the experimentation practice. In 2016, she stood up the UX research practice, and today both parts of her organization are thriving and learning from each other. Paula is based in Memphis, Tennessee.

Swarnamalya Mohan

Senior Full Stack Developer, FedEx

Swarnamalya Mohan is a Senior Full Stack Developer at FedEx, focused on building scalable enterprise applications and intelligent technology solutions for logistics operations. She has experience across full-stack development, distributed systems, cloud technologies, and AI-driven applications, and is passionate about designing practical solutions that improve efficiency and user experience.

Eva Anagwonye

Founder | Computer Engineering Student, University of Benin| Backend Developer, Unimap+

‎Anagwonye Eva Adaezeora is the founder of Unimap+, a campus-native food ordering and delivery platform built for Nigerian university students, creating economic opportunities for student riders, hostel-based vendors, and campus eateries inside university gates where mainstream platforms cannot operate. ‎A final year Computer Engineering Student of the University of Benin and former Vice President of the Association of Computer Engineering Students (ACES), Eva is a Women Techsters Fellow — an initiative of Tech4Dev — and an advocate for women in technology. She is also an experienced public speaker passionate about building technology that solves real problems for underserved communities. ‎Eva believes that innovation doesn't require venture capital as the starting point, it requires seeing the gap everyone else ignored.

Shravanthi Reddy

CoFounder and CMO, TERA

Shravanthi Reddy is Cofounder & CMO at TERA, an AI-native platform bringing agentic finance operations to life—where autonomous agents execute workflows, not just support them. She leads go-to-market, positioning, and growth as the company scales and prepares for fundraising. With 20+ years across enterprise technology and AI platforms, she specializes in turning complex systems into clear, credible narratives that drive adoption and trust.

Leslie Carruthers

Founder & President, The Search Guru, Inc.

Leslie Carruthers is the founder and president of The Search Guru, a digital marketing agency helping B2B enterprises drive measurable growth. With over 25 years of experience, she is a recognized expert in AI-driven marketing, SEO, and conversion optimization. A graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Leslie has trained and consulted for startups to Fortune 500 companies, specializing in complex sales cycles and data-driven strategies. Named a Top 50 Content Marketing Influencer (2018) and one of the Top Women in SEO (2012), Leslie speaks regularly at major industry events including MAICON, Content Marketing World, SMX, and eTail. She blends deep technical expertise with leadership insight, empowering marketing teams to adapt, grow, and thrive in rapidly evolving digital environments.

Naomi Kent

CEO, The Boardroom Co

Naomi Kent is a trusted partner to c-suite executives, a strategic advisor to entrepreneurs, and a motivating force behind high-performing boards. She advises and mentors executives on the path to the boardroom.

Parisa Moazeni

Principle ISV Generative AI AM, AWS

Parisa Moazeni is a Principal ISV Generative AI Account Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS) with over 15 years of experience in AI and emerging technologies. She partners with high-growth software companies to architect transformative AI and cloud solutions, driving large-scale adoption and measurable business outcomes. Parisa is known for building trusted relationships with C-suite executives, aligning technical innovation with financial and operational strategy to enable enterprise-wide transformation. She is passionate about advancing women in technology and actively mentors women in sales and technical leadership roles. Based in the Bay Area, she balances her technology career with raising two young children alongside her husband.

Swati Choksi

Sr leader, Solution Architecture for Generative AI, Data, Analytics ISV, AWS

Swati Swati Choksi is a Senior Leader of Solutions Architecture at Amazon Web Services (AWS), leading the Data, Analytics, and GenAI ISV team. With over 25 years of experience spanning analytics, machine learning, solutions engineering, and product management, she brings deep expertise in helping customers architect and scale innovative data-driven solutions on AWS. Prior to AWS, Swati held leadership roles at Guavus (Thales), Oracle, and other technology companies, driving analytics consulting and AI/ML initiatives. Swati holds a Master of Science degree with a specialization in Operations Research.

Manju Abraham

Former VP Engineering

Manju Abraham is a senior engineering executive, speaker, and writer with 30+ years of experience leading global teams at HPE, Delphix, NetApp, and HP. She is known for turning complexity into clarity, aligning strategy with execution, and building enterprise software and infrastructure organizations that deliver lasting business results. She has led large-scale transformation across execution, quality, and operations in fast-evolving technology environments. Beginning her career as a scientist at ISRO, she went on to drive innovation across compute, storage, networking, and virtualization. Today, she advises organizations on AI adoption, leadership, and the human side of change, bringing a practical executive lens to how companies adapt, lead, and grow.

Rowena Yeo

Global Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Technology Services , Johnson & Johnson

Rowena Yeo, Global Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Technology Services, leads the delivery of technology solutions and operational excellence for Johnson & Johnson globally. J&J’s first woman and Asian CTO, Rowena has transformed the Technology Services organization, driving innovation and business priorities. Rowena joined J&J in 2016 and previously held leadership roles at Cargill and IBM Singapore. Boasting more than three decades of experience, Rowena has been honored with many industry recognitions. A native Singaporean, Rowena champions diversity and women’s leadership and serves on several committees and boards. She enjoys music, reading, building LEGO, and searching for otters.

Anthony Vasquez

Technical Recruiter at Anaplan

Technical Recruiter at Anaplan

Olga Bobin

Sr. Director, Talent Mobility at EPAM Systems Inc

Olga Bobin is Senior Director, Talent Mobility at EPAM Systems and Executive Sponsor of Women@EPAM ERG. She leads a team of 100+ supporting workforce deployment across 50+ countries, and grew Women@EPAM from 1,000 to 2,000+ members in two years, earning a 2026 Seramount Valued Partner Honorable Mention. She is also a active AI Ambassador within EPAM. Originally from Belarus, based in California, and a two-time FEM Emma Award winner.

Amber Oubre

Technical Talent Partner at Sephora

Technical Talent Partner at Sephora

Tyrone Dobson

Senior Employee Experience and Community Manager at New Relic

Tyrone Dobson (he/him) is the Senior Employee Experience and Community Manager at New Relic. In his role he leads New Relic's Inclusion and Belonging program.

Essence Walden

Talent Branding Specialist at New Relic

Essence Walden (she/her) is the Employer Brand Specialist at New Relic. In her role, she supports employer branding and talent acquisition initiatives to attract and engage top talent.

Vinutha Nagbhushan

Sr. Principal - IT Resilience Governance Leader

Vinutha Nagbhushan is a Senior Principal and IT Resilience Governance Leader at Schneider Electric with 15+ years of experience in IT resilience, disaster recovery, and digital risk. She has led global governance, risk, and compliance programs, driving security, quality, and continuous improvement across complex enterprise environments. Vinutha brings deep expertise in strategy, resilience planning, and regulatory alignment, strengthening business continuity at scale.

Jean Pelletier

Vice President, Digital Talent Transformation at Schneider Electric

Jean Pelletier: With a career spanning over two decades, Jean has honed her skills in Digital Talent Transformation , becoming a driving force in the dynamic landscape of talent management and aquisition in the digital era. Her unwavering commitment to innovation, coupled with her deep expertise in identifying and nurturing top-tier talent, has established her as a formidable presence in the industry. Through visionary strategies and a knack for adapting to ever-evolving technology trends, Jean has proven time and again that she is not just a leader but a true visionary in harnessing the potential of digital talent for organizational success.

Debbie Sterling

Founder/CEO at Smore Labs, Inc.

Debbie Sterling is the Founder/CEO of Smore and GoldieBlox. A leader in the movement to get more kids into STEM, Debbie has won many awards including TIME’s Person of the Moment, Fortune’s 40 Under 40, and served as a Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship under the Obama administration.

Dr. Samantha Horseman

Chairperson, VP, Director, HDR Innovation Lead at James Cook University I QLD AI Hub I AI Consortium

Dr Samantha J Horseman, Global AI + Deep Tech Ecosystem Leader Bio:Dr. Samantha J. Horseman is a prominent global leader in deep technology, specializing in transforming advanced technologies into real-world applications. Her work focuses on developing AI-driven systems, immersive technologies, innovation ecosystems, and cultivating future-ready talent across health, defense, and industry on both national and international scales. Currently, Dr. Horseman leads HDR Innovation and Industry at James Cook University (JCU), where she connects academia, research development, and industry to foster a vibrant innovation ecosystem. With over 25 years of experience as an inventor, innovator, and entrepreneur at Aramco, she brings extensive knowledge in deep tech, particularly in human-machine interfaces, artificial intelligence, and business development across JCU campuses. Dr. Horseman’s mission is to cultivate exemplary researchers, next-generation innovators, and startup founders who can significantly contribute to economic growth and job creation in the region. To achieve this, she designs and implements various solutions and deliverables, including the IMPACT 10X AI simulator, the Founders-in-Residence portfolio (which has over 50 startups/SME with a combined company valuation exceeding $400 million and $150 million raised), the Venture Growth Consultancy, and the Lab 2 Market initiative. She also shares her insights and experiences through publications and speaking engagements. Dr. Horseman has an impressive deep-tech portfolio, featuring 60 granted patents that contribute to licensing and commercialization, along with 15 prototypes, 47 publications, and 25 awards at local, regional, and global levels. Additionally, she serves as a board member and Director of the Cairns AI Hub, a platform dedicated to connecting, promoting, and enhancing artificial intelligence capabilities across Queensland. Her recent leadership roles include Chairperson of the AI Consortium (AIC) and Vice President of the Australian Creative Electronics Society (ACES). Another innovative initiative she leads at JCU is the PhD@Work program, for which she has successfully generated over 30 expressions of interest in collaboration with the Graduate Research School administration and leadership team towards transforming the PhD experience that is meaningful and impactful for industry and society at large. An impressive achievement is her success in connecting the innovation value chain from research to funding (Lab2market) and, most recently, launching the JCU Alumni Angels Innovation Fund, endorsed by the Advancement Team, Vice Chancellor, and a very impressive Global Advisory Committee. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-samantha-j-horseman-880a2419/

Rebecca Crook

CEO at MSQ DX

Rebecca Crook is CEO, UK of MSQ DX with responsibility for the strategic direction with overall business responsibility and growth of MSQ DX. She has a 25 year track record working With 25+ years leading digital transformation, she has scaled and sold two agencies totaling £94 million in exits. Rebecca serves as Chair of The Diana Award, Director of the Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, and Co-Chair of BIMA's CEO & Leadership Council. She has previously been a Non-Executive Director for the NHS and other major organisations as a digital expert.

Andrea Hofmann

Head of Data Innovation at DHL Group

Andrea Hofmann is a Strategic Data & AI Leader with over 15 years of experience driving digital transformation and innovation within global organizations. As Head of Data Innovation at DHL IT Services, she spearheads end-to-end AI initiatives across IT Ops, Finance, and HR, delivering measurable efficiency through scalable, compliant frameworks. A "Woman in Tech" ambassador with a PhD in AI and Machine Learning from the University of Bonn, Andrea combines deep technical expertise with executive leadership. Her career at Deutsche Telekom and DHL is marked by a proven track record of building internal AI capabilities, leading global engineering teams, and shaping enterprise-wide strategies that transform AI literacy into a core business value.

Anuradha A

Executive Partner at IBM

Anuradha is a Technology executive with over 34+ years of Industry experience, served in Markets across the Globe. She has extensive experience in Business Strategy, Planning, building, and Operating large-scale QE Delivery units and COEs with global clients. Led globally distributed organizations that manage Technical Solution Design, Practices and Delivery portfolios, expanding market penetration, driving Growth and Efficiency. Her passion for results has helped her thrive in challenging client situations and innovate to drive change.

Avery Anne Banta

VP, HRBP and Change Management & Organizational Development COE Head at Globe Telecom

Avery Banta is a visionary HR leader and architect of high-performing people, teams, and organizations. As VP and Head of HR Business Partners, Change Management, and Organization Development at Globe Telecom, she leads a strategic HR organization that enables leaders, empowers teams, and drives business impact. With a strong foundation in Communication and Business, Avery combines strategic foresight with empathy and executional excellence. She has led Globe’s most transformative shifts—designing and launching enterprise-wide reorganizations across commercial, technical, and business support functions, reimagining operating models, and building teams equipped for the future. A PMP® and Agilist with credentials from the Project Management Institute, INSEAD, Kellogg, and Emeritus, Avery turns bold ideas into real-world impact. She thrives at the intersection of strategy, people, and change, bringing clarity, energy, and purpose to every endeavor. A dedicated mentor for more than 20 years, she has shaped the growth of aspiring project managers and emerging leaders, helping them build capability, confidence, and belief in their potential.

Kim Chandler McDonald

Global VP at Cybersecurity Advisors Network (CyAN)

Kim Chandler McDonald is a globally respected thought leader in disruptive innovation, transformational trends, and strategic foresight. As the visionary Co-Founder and CEO of 3 Steps Data she has led her company to the forefront of technological advancements in cybersecurity, data sharing, observability, and governance. Kim is the Global Vice President of the Cybersecurity Advisors Network (CyAN), the Paris-based, multidisciplinary, international trust network of cyber professionals. She drives the organisation’s strategic growth, community engagement, and leads its Combatting Technology-Facilitated Abuse and Violence. She is also spearheading the organisation’s hosting of the Trust and Safety Sydney Festival 2026. An acclaimed advocate, activist, lifelong storyteller and award-winning author, Kim’s, latest work, ‘An Interviewer’s Guidebook - Turning Conversations Into Captivating Stories’, joins her other titles: ‘Innovation: How Innovators Think, Act and Change Our World’, ‘Flat World Navigation: Collaboration and Networking in the Global Digital Economy’. She is also the author of ’Postcards From Tomorrow’ (all proceeds going to Lou’s Place, Sydney’s only daytime drop-in centre for female victims of domestic abuse and coercive control) and co-author of ‘Entrepreneurial Renaissance: Cities Striving Towards an Era of Renaissance and Revival’.

Luboslava Uram

CTO/COO at Solvd Group

Creating. Enabling. Leading Transformation for Tomorrow. Luboslava Uram, an internationally recognized digital transformation leader, is currently the Chief Operations Officer and Managing Director at Solvd Group, a subsidiary of Allianz Group. Luboslava brings extensive experience from the banking sector as well as the design and successful implementation of digital customer experience omnichannel platforms. With her roots in Slovakia, Luboslava gained extensive work experience with notable companies such as SAS, CapGemini, and UniCredit across Europe. Luboslava is renowned across various industries as a thought leader in digital transformation. At Solvd, her mission is to develop a unified claims platform and accelerate the digitalization of the claims experience for all clients and partners.

Preethi Guruswamy

Executive Coach for Tech Leaders

Preethi Guruswamy is a powerhouse coach with 25 years of corporate leadership experience. A Certified PCC and Emotional Intelligence expert, she ignites inward and outward leadership transformation for executives in tech industry. Preethi is a sought-after keynote speaker, inspiring audiences on leadership, diversity, and technology trends.

Ekta Soni

Head of Change and Transformation at Walker Crips Group

Ekta Soni is a technology professional and emerging voice at the intersection of artificial intelligence, leadership, and inclusion. Based in London, she is passionate about exploring how AI is transforming decision-making and why diverse leadership is essential for building ethical and impactful systems. She focuses on empowering individuals, especially women, to move beyond being users of technology and become influential contributors and leaders in AI-driven environments.

Romana Lanzerstorfer

CDO (Chief Data Officer)

Romana Lanzerstorfer is Chief Data Officer and a member of the Digital Governance Board at the Austrian Parliament in Vienna. At the intersection of politics, tech and communication, she drives cross-functional initiatives to evolve how a public institution manages information in an era of AI-driven disruption. With a strong background in political science and public management, Romana brings two decades of experience in advising top decision-makers and creating award-winning information services – spanning from strategy design to the thick of implementation. She focuses on how to successfully steer progress in complex governance and organisational contexts.

Kenea (Nea) Dhillon

Director, AI Technology & Delivery at Victoria University

Kenea Dhillon is Director of AI Technology & Delivery at Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia, where she leads enterprise-wide responsible AI adoption and navigates the intersection of AI innovation, data sovereignty, and organisational transformation. A thought leader and speaker on AI governance and cultural preservation, Kenea's work spans AI strategy, capability building, and advising senior leadership on responsible AI investment across higher education and financial services. She serves on the AI Leadership Exchange (Bevington Group), CAUDIT's HE AI Executives & Directors Special Interest Group, and AALIA's Enterprise Information Management (SIG) Executive Committee. A strong believer that AI can be a great equaliser when used with intention, she brings a unique Australian perspective on how mid-sized nations can build AI sovereignty whilst competing with tech superpowers—always asking: what problem are we solving, and for whom?

Cybele Wong

Data & AI Lead Consultant at Zuhlke Group

Dr. Cybele Wong is an experienced data scientist who helps organisations realising analytics and AI into tangible business value. She has led over 100 digital products and projects globally from discovery to production, transforming businesses' objectives into cohesive and unified digital solutions across sectors including large-scale infrastructure, transport, city planning, energy, portfolio risks and public health.

Ishreen Bradley

Chief Inspiration Officer at Belonging Pioneers

Ishreen Bradley is a leadership consultant, coach and organisational strategist with over three decades of experience in technology and workforce development. Beginning at BT after earning an Electronics Engineering degree, she later held key roles at Capgemini Ernst & Young, building their media sector into a £12M operation within its first year. Recognising that transformation requires equal focus on technical systems and human dynamics, Bradley founded Belonging Pioneers to address cultural barriers to workplace inclusion. Her evidence-based approach is documented in white papers and her book "Authentic.You." Clients including CBRE and The Design Museum have engaged her for inclusive leadership frameworks during strategic transitions. Her current focus is to build a Pioneers Movement for Inclusion & Belonging that enables her clients to achieve sustainable realisation of social purpose and business success through an integral, win-win approach.

Linh TRAN

Lead Data & AI at French Ministry of Economics, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty

Linh Tran is a senior executive specializing in high-stakes data and AI transformations. She currently leads Data Intelligence & AI initiatives for the French Ministry of Economy & Finance, advising on sovereign data roadmaps and strategic investments. Her career bridges global luxury and finance (Hermès, BNP Paribas) and the public sector, giving her a rare hybrid perspective on performance, governance, and impact. ESSEC Executive MBA candidate and MIT-certified, she is known for turning data into a strategic asset that delivers resilience, continuity, and inclusive growth.

Jennifer Bryan

Chief Empowerment Officer at ABChange Consultancy

Jennifer Bryan uses the end person in mind perspective along with her unique holistic approach to change to help leaders put people at the heart of decision without over complicating things, enabling them to save money, make money and increase staff satisfaction. She has over 25 years experience working with a multitude of organisations such as Microsoft, Gartner, Barclays and more. Jennifer is a multi-award winning change leader, Chief Empowerment Officer, TEDx and keynote speaker, Board member and Executive Change Advisor. She is also a published author with her next book, “The Emotional Side of Organizational Change: How to Survive and Thrive” with Routledge Publishing coming out in January 2026, Columnist for Workplace Insight Magazine, and plays an active role in collaborative research projects and panel discussions to help further the business practices of people first leadership in change.

Cynthia Zhai

Professional Speaker, Voice Coach, Best-Selling Author at FULL VOICE CONSULTING

Cynthia is a Voice Coach, Professional Speaker (CSP), and Best-Selling Author. She’s also a 2X TEDx speaker. She has helped professionals from 56 countries across 6 continents to speak with a powerful voice. Cynthia has been a professional speaker and coach for the past 23 years and her engagement spans 5 continents in 25 countries.

Richa Shahaney

VP - Program Success | Chief Visionary Officer at Smaartt Digital Consulting | Horizon Bridge Firm

Richa Shahaney is Vice President of Program Success at Smaartt Digital Consulting in the Middle East and founder of SheAdvises – Women Who Chair and Women in Advisory, global initiatives empowering women executives to lead in boards and advisory roles. She curates The CXO AI Briefing, a thought leadership series guiding senior leaders on AI strategy, governance, and enterprise transformation. Richa has been recognized with the Iconic Women Award 2025 for Excellence in Technology & Digital Leadership at the 2nd International Women Parliament Conclave 2025, and the Project 100 SDG Champions Prize 2025 for her impact across SDG Goals: #4 Quality Education, #5 Gender Equality, #8 Work and Economic Growth, and #9 Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure. Passionate about enabling women leaders to drive AI-enabled business innovation and boardroom influence, Richa bridges technology, leadership, and social impact to create measurable enterprise and societal value.

SAMIA ARFAOUI

Country Manager at Targa Telematics

Samia Arfaoui is Country Manager France at Targa Telematics, an Italian technology group and European leader in IoT and connected mobility, with over 25 years of experience. Alongside her executive role, she is a published author writing under the name Sam, exploring decision-making, hesitation, responsibility, and the human impact of complex systems shaped by technology. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, human behavior, and change, with a particular focus on how individuals and organizations navigate uncertainty when transformation accelerates.

Onur Korucu

Non-Executive Director and Managing Partner at DataRep

Onur Korucu Managing Partner | Non-Executive Director | Advisory Board Member WomenTech Global Ambassador & Council Member | IAPP Advisory Board Member and Knowledgenet Chapter Chair Onur Korucu currently serves as Managing Partner, Non-Executive Director, and Advisory Board Member across corporate and academic institutions in EMEA and the US, where she shapes strategies in data protection, cybersecurity, and AI governance. She is also a shareholder in companies specializing in data protection, cybersecurity, and AI automation. Onur was honored by Business Post as one of the "Top 100 Most Powerful People in Tech in Ireland." Recognized for her groundbreaking contributions, she was awarded the IAPP Privacy Vanguard Award, a highly esteemed honour given to only one individual per continent, which she received for EMEA in recognition of her leadership in privacy and AI governance. She is also a globally recognized TEDx speaker and was named Cybersecurity Leader of the Year at the 2025 The Women in Tech Global Awards. Her professional journey spans leading roles at multinational professional services firms such as KPMG, PwC, and Grant Thornton, where Onur managed cybersecurity and privacy teams across global regions. She has also served as Head of Data Protection and Cybersecurity at international firms and as Senior Group Manager for GRC, Cybersecurity, and Data Protection at Microsoft UK & Ireland. Onur brings a unique multidisciplinary expertise to her work: she is both a qualified engineer and a lawyer with an LL.M. in Information and Technology Law, and she further enhanced her leadership profile with an Executive Master’s in Business Analytics from the University of Cambridge. She serves as a lecturer for Cybersecurity and Data Protection Master’s programs at universities in Dublin, London, and Istanbul, and is a member of the advisory board for the MS in Cybersecurity program at the University of California. As an author and thought leader, she has contributed a book on risk-based global approaches to enhancing data protection and published articles in prestigious outlets such as the Harvard Business Review, covering trends in technology, cybersecurity, data protection, and AI innovation. Onur is a Women in Tech Global Ambassador and the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) Advisory Board Member and she has successfully held security and privacy leadership roles in multiple geographies as Dublin and Istanbul Knowledgenet Chapter Chair. Her achievements have been further recognized with nominations and awards, including the PICASSO Europe Privacy Award in the Privacy Executive category, GRC Role Model of the Year, Technology Consulting Leader, Cyber Women of the Year, Risk Leader of the Year, and The Technology Businesswoman awards.

Lucia Stoicescu

Partner Innovatics

IT Leader with 20 years of expertise in software and consultancy. Harvard alumna driven by purpose and committed to operational excellence, building high performance teams, advancing ethical AI and responsible innovation.

Emmanuelle Savarit

Executive Advisor – AI Strategy, Governance & Ethics Emmanuelle Savarit Ltd

Emmanuelle Savarit is an independent executive advisor specialising in AI governance, executive decision-making, and responsible AI adoption. She holds a PhD in Psychology and is a former Global Head of UX Research at enterprise scale, with experience across large platforms, regulated environments, and public-sector digital transformation. Emmanuelle advises senior leaders and boards on scaling AI responsibly, aligning AI strategy with business value, and embedding human-centred governance.

Maria Uvarova

Senior VP, Software Products Stellantis

Maria Uvarova is a C-suite product and technology leader with over 15 years of experience building and scaling digital platforms in global organizations. She is currently Chief Product Officer and SVP of Product Management at Stellantis, where she leads large, distributed teams working on software-defined vehicles and data-driven products.

Anabela Lemos

Director of Strategy Encora - Europe

With over 20 years of experience in the technology sector, Anabela has held diverse marketing positions at multinational companies like Hewlett Packard, where she excelled in developing and executing strategic roadmaps. Armed with a Diploma in Marketing from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Universidade Nova, and certifications including Scrum Master and SAFe® 5 PO/PM, she possesses a comprehensive skill set spanning product development, marketing, project and product management, team leadership, coaching, and business strategy. Anabela has made significant contributions across a spectrum of industries, including transportation, architecture, engineering, construction, eCommerce, retail, printing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, banking, and IT. Anabela's commitment to professional development is underscored by her completion of the Training Program for Professional Co-active Coach® at CTI in Barcelona, reflecting her dedication to continuous learning and bringing strategic insight to any professional setting.

Sandrine PONS

MD France, Iberia, BeNeLux at SNP Group

Sandrine Pons is the Chief Transformation Officer at SNP, with over 30 years of experience leading organisational change in Fortune 500 companies including EY and SAP. She is passionate about empowering women, fostering diversity, and cultivating resilient, inclusive cultures that inspire innovation. Through her leadership, she has built diverse teams, mentored dozens of women leaders, and driven initiatives centred on purpose, sustainability, and human-centred technology. Her inspiring story exemplifies how authentic leadership, and cultural courage can fuel long-term resilience and organisational excellence.

Yuliia Malich

Head of Public Policy (Tech) at Bolt

Head of Public Policy at Bolt, Yuliia leads cross-country initiatives at a global mobility platform, builds AI governance practices with legal and compliance, and drives change management across policy, communications, and operations. Yuliia helps non-technical teams adopt AI responsibly to deliver measurable outcomes in regulated markets. Yuliia has spoken at EU/UA AI Summit, International Turkic States AI Summit, and Lviv IT Arena on AI strategy and regulation. She co-authored Bolt’s “Women in Tech” report and mentors women leaders through career development programs. Based in Warsaw, she works at the intersection of technology, public policy, and ethical AI adoption.

Lauren Neal

Founder and Chief Programme Creator at Valued at Work Ltd

Lauren Neal is an award-winning speaker, chartered engineer, and the founder of Valued at Work - a leadership consultancy helping organisations in STEM and technical sectors build inclusive, high-performing cultures. With a 20-year background leading multimillion-dollar projects across oil, gas, and energy, Lauren brings credibility, empathy, and impact to every stage she speaks on. Her #1 best-seller, Valued at Work: Shining a Light on Bias to Engage, Enable & Retain Women in STEM, was a finalist in both the 2024 Business Book Awards, and 2024 Institute of Leadership’s Leadership Book of the Year. Lauren has been featured in Forbes, Stylist, CEO Magazine, and WeAreTheCity.

Anita Manda

Executive Vice President at Broadridge Financial Solutions

Anita Manda is an executive vice president and senior technology leader with over two decades of experience building and scaling global engineering and transformation teams. She is also the founder of The ProjeKT40, a leadership platform focused on career longevity, transitions, and reinvention. Anita has successfully defended her doctoral dissertation on women’s leadership and life events, bringing together academic rigor and real-world leadership experience across technology, transformation, and global capability centers.

Gil Baram

Non resident research scholar at Center for Long Term Cybersecurity, University of California Berkeley

Dr. Gil Baram is a senior lecturer (US Associate Professor equivalent) at Bar-Ilan University and a non-resident research scholar at the Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC), University of California, Berkeley. She is also a senior adjunct research fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Her work focuses on how emerging technologies—particularly artificial intelligence—are reshaping cybercrime, cyber incidents, and executive decision-making during crises. Dr. Baram works closely with government agencies, cybersecurity practitioners, and private-sector leaders to translate research into practical guidance for incident response, risk management, and resilience planning. She has led international scenario-based tabletop exercises examining AI-enabled cyber incidents, supply-chain compromise, and the operational impact of synthetic media. Prior to academia, Dr. Baram held roles in cyber intelligence at Israel’s National Information Security Authority and regularly advises organizations on emerging cyber risks.

Amy Woolf

Managing Director at The Woolf Partnership

Amy Woolf is the Managing Director of The Woolf Partnership, an Executive Search firm focused on Technology, Transformation and Change. Working with both scale-ups and large corporates, they partner with clients to find forward thinking, talented and passionate individuals to transform their leadership teams. Amy has a wealth of experience in leadership consulting, honed from her work within the Executive Search world and her tenure at KPMG where she designed and led the widely popular C Suite Leadership Programme. Passionate about the impact of technology in healthcare, Amy is a Trustee of a large Social Care charity and the board member leading the digital transformation. Outside of work Amy loves spending time with her husband and three children. She can also often be found walking her dog through rain or shine!

Gopika Shah

Technology Officer at Falcon

Gopika Shah is a seasoned data and technology executive with over 19 years of experience leading enterprise data strategy, governance, and AI-driven transformation across the financial services and insurance industries. As Technology Officer at Falcon Risk Services, Gopika oversees the firm’s data modernization and AI initiatives — building scalable data platforms, establishing robust governance frameworks, and driving innovation across underwriting, claims, and operational analytics. Before joining Falcon, she held senior leadership roles at AIG, where she helped architect enterprise data platforms, strengthen data governance, and enable AI adoption across global business functions. Gopika is passionate about responsible AI — ensuring that innovation and governance move in lockstep to build transparency, fairness, and trust into every data-driven decision. She frequently speaks on topics spanning data ethics, AI strategy, and enterprise transformation, helping organizations turn governance into a strategic advantage.

Klara Talaber-Ritz

Deputy Director & Legal Adviser (Knowledge Management & AI) at European Commission

Dr. Klára Talabér-Ritz is a Deputy Director and Legal Adviser in the Legal Service of the European Commission, where she also leads the Knowledge Management and Artificial Intelligence team. Since joining the Legal Service in 2003, she has worked across multiple teams, including State Aid and Antidumping, Internal Market, and European Civil Service Law. She has represented the European Commission in over 200 cases before the European Court of Justice and international courts, playing a key role in several landmark cases in institutional, economic, and environmental law. Dr. Talabér-Ritz holds a law degree from Eötvös Loránd University and a Master’s degree in European Law and Economics from Corvinus University of Budapest. In 2019-2020, she was an EU Research Fellow for Artificial Intelligence and the Legal Profession at Harvard University. Before joining the European Commission, she practiced law from 1998 to 2003 at various Hungarian and American law firms in Budapest. Fluent in Hungarian, English, French, and Italian, Dr. Talabér-Ritz is a regular speaker at international conferences and the author of numerous publications on environmental law and artificial intelligence.

Karland King

AI Strategy Lead at Faculty AI

Karland brings over 19 years of commercial experience in healthcare and life sciences, specialising in complex AI-driven transformation. She has delivered AI initiatives across strategy, diligence, and solution development, drawing on a strong background in strategy consulting across life sciences and adjacent sectors. Prior to her current role, she worked with leading organisations such as IQVIA and PA Consulting, and in-house at Merck & Co. (MSD), where (in the latter) she was responsible for defining and executing omnichannel strategies, as well as serving as a scientific advisor. She now partners with senior executives to identify, validate, and enable high-impact AI opportunities, overseeing multidisciplinary teams of data scientists, engineers, and designers to develop and deploy tailored ML/AI solutions that deliver measurable commercial value.

Aseel Addawood

KSA leader, EMEA AI Center of Excellence at ORACLE

Visionary AI leader with over 14 years of cross-industry experience in enterprise AI strategy, digital transformation, and scalable technology adoption. Expertise in delivering cloud-native AI, machine learning solutions, NLP advancements, and localized AI for global impact. Recognized for driving high-impact initiatives, aligning AI strategies with business goals, and empowering cross-functional teams to deliver measurable outcomes. Featured in AI Magazine and SRMG Think; speaker at Step Conference and WiDS KSA with more than 50K attendees. U.S.-trained Ph.D. and active member of IEEE, AAAI, and ACM, with culturally agile leadership fostering collaboration across diverse industries. Dedicated to accelerating digital transformation, sustainable ecosystem growth, and mentoring future technology leaders through advocacy and thought leadership.

Elisabeth Plakinger

Managing Principal at Capco

LEADING CHANGE ACROSS CAPITAL MARKETS – WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED Career Path & Current Role | Strategic Leadership Across Capital Markets Infrastructure ACCENTURE GmbH — Senior Principal, Capital Markets (2025–present) • Lead for post-trade transformation program Brenner, focused on harmonizing infrastructure across a pan-European banking group. • Responsible for cross-stream orchestration (booking, static data, settlement) and vendor coordination (FNZ). • Anchoring delivery across regulatory, operational, and platform migration streams. Senior Manager — Capital Markets (2022–2024) • Led application and booking platform migrations across Luxembourg and German entities. • Designed target-state operating models and embedded regulatory logic into Temenos, Calypso, Aquarius, and FNZ platforms. Manager — Capital Markets (2019–2022) • Supported post-merger integration strategies, Brexit-driven infrastructure realignment, and regulatory-driven restructuring initiatives across clearing and custody chains. DEUTSCHE BÖRSE AG — Senior Key Account Manager, Member & Vendor Services, Clearing (2013–2019) • Advised clearing members and institutional clients on regulatory onboarding (EMIR, CSDR), interface design, and strategic platform access across CCP and CSD infrastructure. Key Account Manager — Issuer & Primary Markets (2011–2013) • Managed capital-market onboarding for new issuers; supported IPO preparations and listing strategies. • Decommissioned Secondary Standard segment.

Maaike Stoops

Head of R&D at LINKIT B.V.

Maaike Stoops is an innovator and design strategist with a passion for bridging human-centered design and emerging technology. With a Master of Science in Strategic Product Design from Delft University of Technology and a minor in Computer Science, she combines creativity and technical insight to tackle complex challenges at the intersection of software, design, and innovation. Having worked in IT for over 10 years, including almost two years in Johannesburg, South Africa, she gained experience in diverse organizational and cultural contexts. As Head of Research and Development at LINKIT, she leads initiatives that help the company and its clients stay competitive in a rapidly evolving IT landscape. She gives regular talks and workshops on innovation and emerging technologies such as AI and low-code, and contributed a chapter to the academic book Innovative Design Thinking Approaches in Software Engineering on IT democratization and the impact of AI on design quality. Increasingly, she focuses on how organizations can become more resilient and innovative by empowering people and strengthening networks within them.

Payal Nanjiani

CEO and Founder at www.payalnanjiani.com

Recognized by the TIMES Group, Payal Nanjiani is an Indian-American, globally acclaimed leadership expert, executive coach, and author. She specializes in strategies that help leaders succeed at the next level Payal is a trusted partner and advisor to senior leaders and organizations, working with them to improve leadership effectiveness, align leadership behavior with business goals, and drive organizational performance. She is known for empowering professionals to excel in their roles and advance in their careers. She advises and coaches leaders of Fortune 500 companies, CEOs, Founders, and government officials across various industries to bridge the gap between leadership capability and business impact. Payal is also known for her corporate trainings and leadership development programs that deliver measurable, lasting transformation, helping organizations build confident, influential, and future-ready leaders. In 2019, she launched The Payal Nanjiani Leadership Podcast to help people believe in their innate ability to lead and succeed. The podcast, rated in the top 10% globally, features some of the world's most prominent leaders, spiritual gurus, and CEOs. A New York award-winning author, Payal’s books help you be a peak performer and reach your next level. Payal lives by her philosophy, 'Leadership starts and ends with YOU.’™ She believes that you can achieve great success in your career life. Official Website: www.payalnanjiani.com

Adele Goodfellow

Vice President Product Marketing at JP Morgan

Adele is a Product Marketing Lead in the Chief Technology Office at JP Morgan Chase, with nearly 20 years of experience across both public and private sectors. A new mum and creative at heart, she has a deep curiosity about people - what drives them, what resonates, and how we connect. Her love of art, psychology, and storytelling naturally led her to marketing. A big believer in self-development and clear, human communication, Adele brings a thoughtful perspective to everything she does, whether she’s coming up with ideas, leading a project, or helping teams cut through the noise with clarity and purpose.

Özge Tekalp

Chief Customer and Project Officer at LST

Özge Tekalp is a visionary business leader with over 30 years of global experience driving transformation across the USA and EMEA regions. Her distinguished career spans senior executive roles at major corporations including İş Bank, Kodak, BNP Paribas, and QNB Finansbank, BankDhofar, VeriPark and LST where she mastered the art of navigating complex business environments and delivering exceptional results. Since founding her consultancy in 2019, Özge has executed projects specializing in sales strategy, customer experience design, digital transformation, and fractional leadership services. Her expertise spans fintech, digital banking, technology, and customer experience across diverse sectors, consistently delivering measurable business outcomes through her collaborative approach and business acumen. Currently she is a fractional Chief Customer and Project Officer in LST and helps her customers through her training and consultancy services. A lifelong learner, Özge holds an MBA from the University of Rochester. She has successfully completed the Chief Digital Officer Program from Kellogg Business School, Northwestern University and a postgraduate degree in Digital Business from MIT and Columbia Business School. She also has Corporate Governance certification and business coaching. Her thought leadership extends through her contributions to Qorus Global publications. Her exceptional achievements have earned global recognition, including being featured in Inc Magazine in 2024, named one of the Top 10 Dynamic CCOs, and recognized as one of the World's 50 Most Influential Business Women in 2025 and reconized as one of the Top 100 Women Leaders in the Middle East 2025.With over 30 prestigious industry awards including Gold Medal Stevie Awards, Özge continues to inspire organizations toward sustainable growth and innovation.

Gosia Warminska-Marczak

Commercial Director at Elsevier

Gosia is Commercial Director at Elsevier Healthcare Education, partnering with universities on digital transformation. A former teacher who transitioned into leadership roles in education technology, she has navigated agile environments with frequent role changes and rapid organizational shifts. Her work focuses on making complex change adoptable by treating transformation as both a technical and human process, bringing a practical Gestalt-informed lens to resilience, communication, and learning in high-change settings.

Doina Popa

CEO at InnoTrue GmbH

With over 25 years in senior technology and transformation leadership roles, including CIO at Barclays, CTO at Capgemini, and Global VP at UiPath, I bring a pragmatic, execution-focused perspective to leadership and innovation challenges. Across these environments, one pattern has remained consistent: 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 depends less on tools and structures, and more on 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴. Today, my work spans 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙤𝙥𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙖𝙗𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 for professionals and organisations facing change at scale. I support senior leaders, leadership teams, and transformation-driven organisations in strengthening clarity, confidence, and execution under pressure. Through my work, I have supported 𝟯,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ professionals and leaders across enterprise, technology, and transformation contexts, with 𝟰𝟬,𝟬𝟬𝟬+ hours dedicated to leadership development, coaching, and capability building. My approach integrates: • Enterprise-scale transformation experience • Certified executive and team coaching (EMCC SP, ICF PCC) • Systems thinking, innovation methods, and human-centered leadership My advisory and coaching practice is grounded in continuous executive education across leadership, negotiation, innovation, and system transformation, developed through institutions such as MIT, Henley Business School, and TUM, and applied directly in real-world leadership contexts. I am a 𝙎𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙏𝙚𝙘𝙝𝙣𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡 𝘼𝙧𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 (𝘾𝙏𝘼), 𝘾𝙏𝘼 𝙍𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝘽𝙤𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙅𝙪𝙙𝙜𝙚, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙈𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘾𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙙 𝙄𝙣𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙤𝙧, and I design and deliver advanced Salesforce and architect development programs for professionals at all stages, from aspiring architects to senior technical leaders. My work in this space focuses not only on technical excellence, but on architect mindset, decision-making, and executive presence. I also actively contribute to initiatives that support inclusive growth, leadership diversity, and meaningful access to development. My core belief: Strong systems are built by strong leaders, and strong leaders are developed intentionally.

Ghada Fourane

Founder Spika Tech Ltd.

Over 20 years in digital transformation, CRM strategy, AI implementation, and data architecture. I've built revenue operations inside enterprises and scale-ups. I know what it feels like to present forecasts you're not entirely confident in. I know the cost of getting it wrong. Now I help PE-backed CCOs get the operational certainty they need to scale - so they can stop second-guessing their data and start making decisions with confidence. Born in Morocco, based in London, thinking globally. I bring a systems-thinking mindset and a culturally attuned approach to solving complex operational problems. Named one of the "Top 30 Under 30 in the Cloud" by Computer Business Review - but what drives me is helping leaders work smarter, lead with clarity, and thrive in complexity.

Miruna Scrima

Head of AI & Automation at HP INC

Miruna Scrima is a senior leader in HP’s Commercial Organization, where she leads the AI & Automation team, driving large-scale digital transformation across sales, operations, and go-to-market functions. In parallel, she serves as Bucharest Site Lead, working closely with country leadership and site councils to shape the future of work, talent, and innovation. With a background spanning automation, AI operating models, agile delivery, and organizational change, Miruna focuses on turning emerging technologies into practical, scalable solutions that deliver measurable business impact. She is passionate about building high-performing teams, designing systems that work for people, and helping organizations move beyond hype toward meaningful adoption.

Marina Boudreau

AI Governance Program Manager at Cornerstone OnDemand

Marina Boudreau is an AI consultant and AI governance expert at Cornerstone OnDemand. A certified AI Governance Professional (AIGP) and AI Governance Architect (AIGA), she helps enterprises balance innovation with robust risk management by translating complex AI capabilities into clear, actionable strategies. With experience across the US and Spain, Marina brings a global outlook, cultural fluency, and a strong commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and AI literacy. She is dedicated to advancing ethical, equitable, and transparent AI adoption worldwide.

Merve Ugurlu

Senior Manager - Data, Privacy and AI Governance Lead, Protiviti

Merve Ugurlu is a Senior Manager at Protiviti UK, with over 10 years of experience in data protection, privacy compliance and governance. She advises clients across regulated sectors on implementing effective data and AI governance frameworks. Merve holds degrees in Applied Mathematics and Information Technology Law and is certified in CIPP/E, CIPM, and ISO 27001 auditing.

Irina Schneider

Non-Executive Director, Investor, Advisor

Irina Iozefson-Schneider is a Partner in a private equity fund focused on value creation across retail portfolio companies, with particular emphasis on digital transformation, technology enablement, and data-led operating models. As a Non-Executive Director for the last six years, Irina bridged the gap between investors, board, and C-suite on digital transformation, customer and data initiatives, supporting tech and data teams from strategy through to execution. Irina advised on digital transformation and organisational change across retail businesses representing over €35B in combined revenue. Earlier in her career, she led growth initiatives across food delivery, ride-hailing, and online marketplaces in rapidly evolving markets. Alongside her investment and board work, Irina mentors early-stage founders, actively engaged in EdTech startups, backs companies as an angel investor, drawing on her entrepreneurial experience to support sustainable growth.

Joanna Pamphilis

CEO of JP Global Consulting

Joanna Pamphilis is a seasoned international executive with over 20 years of leadership experience in the finance industry, holding roles at UBS, State Street Bank, Northern Trust, KCG, and UniCredit. As Global Head of Investments and Securities Digital Products, she leads nearly 1,000 digital experts to deliver impactful transformations and create innovative digital solutions for corporate clients across Europe. With a strong multicultural perspective and a proven ability to execute large-scale transformations, Joanna has consistently driven innovation across corporate banking, investments, payments, and fintech. Her leadership reflects a deep commitment to empowering teams and achieving meaningful results that shape the future of finance.

Regina Emmerich

Engagement Manager: Automation and Digital Applications at Decision Inc

Regina Emmerich is an Engagement Manager at Decision Inc., where she leads large-scale digital transformation initiatives across Power Platform, Azure, and AI-enabled automation. With a strong focus on bridging business and technology, she partners with clients to design and deliver solutions that drive measurable value, improve governance, and strengthen organisational capability. Known for her ability to translate complex challenges into clear, actionable strategies, Regina helps enterprises turn digital ambition into sustainable transformation.

Alexandra Sfrijan

Co-founder & COO

I’m a founder driven by innovation in tech and security, always exploring smarter ways to build and protect what we create. I value clarity, teamwork and creative problem-solving. Fun fact: I sketch product ideas on anything, from notebooks to napkins to boarding passes.

Laurent Bernier

GRC, Co-founder CYBALGORIS

Fort de mon expérience d'entrepreneur depuis une trentaine d'années et de ma double formation d'ingénieur et MBA HEC, je suis maintenant totalement investi dans ce projet passionnant : 𝗖𝗬𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗘®, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 ! `𝗖𝗬𝗕𝗘𝗥𝗡𝗢𝗘®, 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁` améliore vos capacités, vous dotant de pratiques et de connaissances, faisant de la sécurité des applications une partie intuitive de votre routine de développement.

Teodor Suteu

CTO, Co-founder CYBALGORIS

I'm an experienced software engineer who constantly seeks out innovative solutions to everyday problems. I currently live and work partly in Lyon, France and partly in Bucharest, Romania. I've worked in software engineering for my entire 15+ year career, with a strong commitment to critical thinking and attention to detail. In addition to my software delivery skills, I have extensive experience managing software and professional services teams, including global and outsourced teams. I have a passion for processes, and I'm always interested in new technologies.

Sheelagh Mahoney

Head of Distribution & Airline Alliances EasyJet

Sheelagh Mahoney is a global commercial and digital transformation leader with extensive experience across airlines and travel, including easyJet, Hertz Europe, Cathay Pacific, and Eurostar. A qualified coach, mentor, and keynote speaker, she shares strategies and insights to inspire the next generation of travel and tech leaders, helping women thrive, lead, and innovate in complex, cross-cultural environments.

Linzi Barber

Director of Aviation, Love Holidays

Linzi leverages over 25 years of commercial expertise to build high-stakes global partnerships that drive the aviation industry. A natural collaborator she places people and relationship-driven strategy at the heart of technical and commercial growth. She has worked on expansion in international markets by fostering trust and inclusivity, ensuring that diverse voices are represented at the highest levels of global travel. Her leadership style is defined by a commitment to mentorship and the belief that sustainable innovation is built on strong, inclusive professional networks. Alongside her professional commitments Linzi sits on volunteer boards for the Association of Women Travel Executives, Aviation Action and more recently alongside a personal passion Inclusive Skating.

Suzanne Watt

Head of Commercial Skyscanner

Previously from a publishing and digital media background, Suzanne has spent the last 13 years developing deep domain expertise in Flights at Skyscanner, leading key accounts and overseeing market and regional commercial performance. Suzanne has a passion for solving complex and ambiguous problems in collaboration with product and technical teams across the globe, and recently her remit has been refocused to allow her to execute on delivering strategic commercial projects at scale.

Eva Fryer

Head of Commercial & Marketing Emu Analytics

Eva Fryer is the Head of Commercial & Marketing at Emu Analytics and an independent consultant, demonstrating how strategic leadership and specialised expertise can coexist in a modern tech career. With over 25 years of experience across the airline, travel, and technology sectors, she is dedicated to building inclusive pathways that empower women to navigate complex industries and define their own professional trajectories.

Corina Staicu

CPO at eSolutions Grup

Corina is the Chief Product Officer at eSolutions, where she leads the strategy for B2B digital products. Over the past year, her primary focus has been on ALTEUS, the AI platform designed to monitor all AI systems within a company, ensuring governance and efficiency in enterprise AI usage. Corina is also an active member of the IT Consultancy team, providing specialized consultancy services and conducting in-depth IT audits. Recently, she contributed to the development of an AI Adoption program that helps companies enable internal usage of AI solutions. Previously, she served as COO, overseeing the IT structure and processes that supported the company’s growth from 25 to 130 employees. With over 17 years of experience in IT projects and service operations, Corina is an ITIL Expert and Project Management Professional, specializing in business analysis for IT systems, service operations procedures, and project management. https://bucharest.bigdataweek.com/speaker/corina-staicu/

Lilia Gargouri

Head of QA at MGM Technology Partners GmbH

Lilia Gargouri stands for sustainable, scalable, and efficient quality assurance in complex eGovernment projects. She is committed to accessibility, trains career changers, and passionately advocates for greater visibility and equal opportunities for women in IT. As the inventor of a model-based, low-code test automation tool, she has significantly simplified and accelerated quality assurance in critical eGovernment projects. A member of the German Testing Board, she actively drives the development of industry quality standards. Lilia is also co-author of the book “Paradigmenwechsel Low-Code” (Springer Nature) and a sought-after speaker both nationally and internationally.

Caroline Masboungi

Gender-Based Violence Specialist at UNICEF

Caroline Masboungi, a French-Lebanese Gender-Based Violence (GBV) specialist based in Geneva, leads UNICEF's global GBViE technology and innovation workstream. With over 15 years of experience across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, she focuses on leveraging technology to address GBV, bridge the gender digital divide, and tackle technology-facilitated GBV (TFGBV). A trained lawyer specialized in humanitarian law, Caroline has worked with organizations like IOM, IRC, and OHCHR, combining her humanitarian expertise with feminist research to ensure the voices of women and girls are central to digital and on-the-ground solutions. She spearheads initiatives like "Laaha," a virtual safe space empowering women and girls globally, blending innovation with advocacy to create safer environments.

Nyree Basdeo

Management Consultant at PA Consulting

Nyree Basdeo is a Management Consultant at PA Consulting and is an Organisational Change Management specialist with over 15 years of experience in leading complex digital transformation programmes. A TechWomen100 awardee and UN Women UK Participant, Nyree is passionate about using technology to reduce inequalities and empower future leaders.

Supriya Raman

Senior AI Engineering Manager IBM watsonx

Senior AI Engineering Manager (IBM watsonx Pre-Sales India Head, Americas) 19-year technology leader specializing in the strategic integration of GenAI, RAG, and AI Agents. Proven track record in building robust decision-making frameworks and leading multi-disciplinary teams through complex digital transformations. Recognized industry authority as an IBM Academic Ambassador, Google TechMaker Ambassador, AWS Community Builder, GHCI Juror, and IEEE community member.

Sonika Janagill

Lead Engineer, VML

Sonika Janagill is a Lead Backend Engineer and Engineering Advocate whose 19-year career tells a story of continuous transformation. From building enterprise Java systems for 14 years to winning AI hackathons and implementing production MLOps pipelines on Google Cloud—she's living proof that it's never too late to reinvent yourself in tech. But what sets Sonika apart is her commitment to bringing others along on the journey. Through the Women Coding Community, she mentors aspiring developers demonstrating the power of women lifting women in tech. Sonika's unique perspective bridges two worlds: the rigor of enterprise systems engineering and the innovation of cutting-edge AI. She's passionate about proving that career transformation is possible at any stage and making complex AI technologies accessible to engineers everywhere, regardless of where they are in their journey. She's on a mission to show that the best time to learn something new is always now.

Shana Dacres-Lawrence

Senior Principal Architect, Accenture

Shana is an accomplished Senior Architect with over 13 years of experience and a strong foundation in Cyber Security and Software development. She has successfully led and delivered complex, high-quality consulting and architecture projects, including systems of critical national importance. Shana has also played a pivotal role in architecting one of the largest cloud transformations and migrations in Europe and designed an award-winning CIAM solution for a major electricity system operator. A passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in technology, Shana has been instrumental in establishing and driving internal communities within the organisations she has worked for. She is dedicated to attracting, retaining, and promoting women in tech. Shana is also the founder of ArchitectHer, a community platform devoted to supporting, inspiring, and elevating women in technology architecture.

Sandra C. Bauer

AI&D Partner, Deloitte

Sandra has over 20 years of project experience as an Analytics business leader and most recently led Big Data implementations in the financial sector. Her expertise include the analysis of business processes and definition of customer requirements of information Solutions, End-To-End from Analytics Strategy, Blueprinting & Design of the Solutions to Implementation and Support with Big Data and Advanced Analytics Solutions. She also serves as a mentor to a few women who would like to advance their career in the AI & Data field.

Ketna Dhola

AI&D Manager, Deloitte

Ketna, with 9+ years in tech, specializes in shaping big data architecture and implementing cutting-edge AI/Machine Learning applications. Her fervor for operationalizing data science positions her as a pioneer in agile frameworks. Beyond her professional acumen, Ketna serves as a WomenTech Global Ambassador, supporting the organization's mission to empower women in technology on a global scale.

Varsha Agarwal

Founder and CEO, BodhIQ

Varsha Agarwal is Co-Founder and CEO of BodhIQ, focused on AI transformation and leadership development. With 25+ years driving business and technology transformation at VMware and Sapient, she now helps organizations build AI-ready cultures and enables people to move from AI users to AI builders. As Karnataka State Vice President of WICCI AI/ML Council, she champions accessible AI education. Through Lenostun Foundation, she's delivered 10,000+ hours of hands-on AI training to underrepresented groups, partnering with organizations like Enable India and Youth4Jobs. Varsha has spoken at IIT Madras, IIT Delhi, Adobe Symposium, NASSCOM, Rakuten Tech Conference, Women Who Code and many other platforms on AI transformation, leadership development and inclusive tech. She advises startups through Attvaran accelerator (UCL, IIT Delhi, IIT Madras collaboration) and co-founded Together We Can, a consortium driving collaborative impact in diversity and inclusion. She holds certifications from ISB, Kellogg School of Management, IIM Bangalore, and Stanford, bringing both enterprise experience and grassroots impact to democratizing AI development.

Krishna Mehta

Software Engineer, Visa Inc

I am a full‑stack Software Engineer at Visa with a strong focus on secure, reliable, and scalable application development. With hands‑on experience across the entire technology stack, I build end‑to‑end solutions while integrating modern DevOps practices to ensure smooth delivery, automation, and operational excellence. In addition to core engineering work, I am actively involved in application security, performing penetration testing, identifying weaknesses, and driving vulnerability remediation efforts across critical systems. A dedicated Toastmaster, I have cultivated strong communication and leadership abilities, developing a confident presence in front of audiences. While still early in delivering formal talks, I have extensive experience as an MC and event host, known for bringing energy, clarity, and connection to the stage. Combining technical expertise with a genuine passion for community and communication, I continue to grow as a speaker and mentor, inspiring others through technology, service, and storytelling.

Paulina Wiklo

Lead Product Strategist, WebPros

Paulina Wiklo is a CX and Service Design Strategist based in Barcelona, Spain, with over 15 years of experience in design, research, and customer experience. Her mission is to help organizations navigate complexities by crafting meaningful, customer-centric solutions informed by actionable insights and metrics. She specializes in connecting the dots and identifying patterns across design, data, and strategy to design solutions that improve customer satisfaction and drive successful products. With a passion for collaboration and problem-solving, Paulina helps teams align cross-functional efforts through facilitation, coaching, and visual storytelling. When she’s not in front of the screens, you’ll likely find her chatting with her plants, immersed in drawing or painting, or training nosework with her dog. She also has a keen obsession with solving nonograms.

Ruchi Soni

Managing Director, AI & Data Accenture

I’m a Data in The New evangelist and technology leader helping enterprises unlock the full potential of their data by building modern, Iceberg-powered data platforms. As a certified Snowflake Data Superhero, I architect and scale future-ready, multi-cloud platforms that leverage Apache Iceberg for reliable, high-performance, and flexible data lake architectures, combining deep business insight with hands-on expertise in enterprise data strategy. With a strong focus on innovation, I work at the intersection of data, AI, and next-gen analytics—leveraging GenAI, and Iceberg’s ACID, partitioning, and schema evolution capabilities to power intelligent applications, autonomous automation, and hyper-personalized experiences. A speaker, author, and patent holder, I’m passionate about shaping the future of data by enabling people, platforms, and ideas to thrive in a modern, open-data ecosystem.

Ramya Authappan

Senior Quality Engineer, Circle Co

I'm Ramya Authappan — a Senior Quality Engineer at Circle with 15+ years of experience transforming quality engineering practices across enterprise and high-growth tech companies. My career spans roles at Juniper Networks, Amazon, Freshworks, GitLab, and now Circle, where I've consistently delivered measurable improvements in test reliability, developer velocity, and release confidence. After leading engineering teams for several years and exploring the engineer–manager pendulum concept by Charity Majors, I deliberately returned to hands-on engineering to focus on the cutting edge of test automation and AI-driven quality engineering — where I believe the most impactful work is happening today. At Circle, I'm pioneering the integration of AI into our quality processes, working with advanced Playwright automation, Claude Code MCP, and Buildkite MCP to build self-healing test systems that automatically diagnose, repair, and optimize themselves. This initiative aims to significantly reduce flaky tests and manual intervention while improving deployment confidence. Previously at GitLab, I led a distributed quality engineering team across multiple time zones, architecting scalable CI/CD pipelines and establishing quality frameworks that supported rapid product growth. At Freshworks, I built comprehensive test frameworks for microservices architecture and championed Consumer-Driven Contract testing across the organization. My time at Amazon involved optimizing large-scale test suites, reducing execution time from hours to minutes through intelligent parallelization. Beyond my technical work, I'm passionate about building inclusive tech communities. As Director of Women Who Code Chennai (2018-2024), I mentored speakers, organized educational meetups, and created pathways for women to advance in technology careers. Portfolio: https://ramya-site.vercel.app/

Natalie Godec

Senior Cloud Architect, Zencore

Natalie is a Systems/infra engineer turned cloud architect, with a soft spot for data platforms and security. GDE (Google Dev Expert) in Cloud, Women TechMakers Ambassador and an experienced tech speaker. Outside of tech, she enjoys traveling, fashion and a good espresso martini.

Veena BS

AI Design Engineer Specialist, CSR Lead & Culture Champion, BT Group

Am a Design Engineer Specialist with 20 years of experience across Banking, Retail, Insurance, and Telecom domains. Am an AI/ML generalist, youth mentor, and passionate advocate for tech-driven social impact. I lead many initiatives in partnership with NGOs, applying AI to solve real-time challenges in government schools and NGO's. My work bridges innovation and empathy, making CSR smarter, scalable, and measurable.

Geethanjali G

SME – Leading Telecom, GCC India

Geethanjali is an Experienced ML Leader with a decade of expertise across Retail/Fintech having contributed to organisations like Target, PayPal and currently managing Fraud Analytics @ Verizon. She has a a proven track record of helping business teams decode complex data to identify core sales drivers, she specializes in transforming raw insights into actionable growth. Also, she's passionate about driving strategic and measurable business growth through data-driven decision making

Roopa Jayaraman

Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Roopa Jayaraman is a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with proven expertise in scaling product-led growth for a global B2B SaaS platform. She spearheads Product, Technology R&D, and Customer Experience (CX) at Odessa, while championing inclusive, innovation-driven workplaces. An industry thought leader and speaker at leading product, technology and DEI forums, Roopa was recently named one of Business World’s Top Inspiring Women Leaders to Watch in 2025.

Richa Daga

WISE India Leader & Software Engineer, Cisco

Richa Daga is an award-winning global technical speaker and international best-selling author. She has graced numerous technology and leadership podcasts and is a regular speaker at various global conferences, including the Internet of Things Community’s IoT Slam Conferences, Global Grace Hopper Conference, Sub-Optic Conference, IEEE Women in Engineering International Leadership Conference, Digital Confex, Women Tech Network and Women who Code Conferences. Richa has received several accolades for her work, including the Women Tech Global Conference Speaker of the Year Award, Her Rising Women Professionals Award, Cisco Impact Award and Digital Confex Women in IT excellence Award. She has also been featured as a global woman change-maker and author in the anthology, The Butterfly Effect and drives Diversity initiatives across the industry, as the India Leader of Cisco, Women in Science & Engineering, Inclusive Community. Passionate for technologies that connect the world, Richa continues to inspire with her work and innovations as a software engineer at Cisco India. She can be connected at linkedin.com/in/richadaga

Karen Keynes

Co-Founder, Kx2 Management Group

Karen Keynes and Karen Taylor are the co-founders of KX2 Management Group, a boutique consultancy reshaping how businesses approach digital transformation. After decades of individual success in finance and business management, they joined forces to simplify complex software implementations and empower organisations—especially those often underserved by traditional tech firms. Their client-side project management model has delivered 100% success rates for high-profile clients, helping businesses move from manual processes to analytics-driven decision-making. Through initiatives like the SALT Directory, they’ve extended their impact with empathy and purpose. Together, Karen and Karen lead with clarity, compassion, and a commitment to sustainable, people-first innovation.

Karen Taylor

Co-Founder, Kx2 Management Group

Karen Taylor is a founder, executive advisor, and fractional leader with over 30 years of experience across business leadership, operations, finance, and transformation. They support boards, CEOs, and executive teams through complex digital transformation, leadership enablement, governance, and enterprise change, bringing clarity, confidence, and calm judgement to high-stakes environments. Karen Taylor also co-founded a national platform and community that supports seniors, families, and professionals navigating later-life transitions, reflecting a commitment to people-centred leadership and sustainable ecosystems. Known for high emotional intelligence and strong stakeholder awareness, they are recognised for creating psychological safety while maintaining accountability across multi-party environments.

Rebecca James

Head of Customer Success-Featurespace, a Visa Solution

Rebecca joined Featurespace as Head of Customer Success in Q4 2024, leading the team responsible for shaping customer journeys and boosting fraud detection approaches for 70 clients across EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Previously, Rebecca has held roles in global banks in Europe, the US, South America and Africa including JPMorgan Chase, TSB, NatWest and Barclays with responsibility for creating and implementing fraud strategies. In one role, she reduced fraud losses by 80% within just 18 months. As VP Fraud Strategy at Chase UK, the first new UK bank in the UK to be granted a banking license in over ten years, Rebecca was integral in building Chase’s customer proposition before it launched in the UK, building the customer journeys for fraud and payments from scratch. This included transforming the 3D secure authentication process to protect customers from scams, and create more seamless journeys meeting the demands of new European regulations

Lilian Ho

AI Program Director, ZIGURAT Institute of Technology

Lilian is a global thought leader in digital construction, BIM and artificial intelligence, shaping how the built environment is designed, delivered, and operated. Working at the intersection of data, technology and construction, she drives innovation through intelligent BIM workflows, data-driven design, and AI-enabled decision-making. As AI Program Director at Zigurat Institute of Technology, she established the world’s first AI Master’s program for construction in collaboration with global AI leaders. A guest professor and mentor, Lilian advances future-ready talent and digital maturity across the AEC sector. Her leadership has earned international recognition, including Top 5 Finalist for AI & Data Science Leader of the Year 2025.

Marta Strykowska

Founder, Ladies Build With AI

Marta is the founder of Ladies Build With AI, where she helps women gain practical AI skills to build real-world projects. With a background in business and tech, she bridges the gap between curiosity and creation, making AI accessible to non-technical builders.

Opeyemi Osakuade

PhD Researcher in Speech & Language Processing, University of Edinburgh

Opeyemi Osakuade is a PhD researcher in speech and language processing at the University of Edinburgh. Her work focuses on how modern speech and voice AI systems represent tone, accent, and linguistic variation, with particular attention to low-resource and tonal languages. She researches speech representation learning, evaluation methodologies, and bias analysis in voice technologies, aiming to bridge technical model design with real-world impact and more inclusive AI systems.

Nora Farkas

Cybersecurity Portfolio Marketing Manager,Nokia

Nora is a cybersecurity marketer at Nokia, helping organizations protect critical infrastructure and stay resilient in a connected world. She turns complex security topics into clear, engaging stories that build trust and inspire action. With a marketing degree from Denmark and experience in England, she now drives cybersecurity thought leadership and brings solutions to life through compelling narratives from Budapest, Hungary.

Anemari Fiser

Tech Lead Trainer | O’Reilly Author

Anemari is a tech leadership trainer, coach and O’Reilly author of Leveling Up as a Tech Lead. With over a decade in tech, she has coached 500+ engineers and trained 400+ tech leads worldwide, and shares practical leadership insights on LinkedIn with a community of 30,000+ tech professionals.

Palak Kamdar

Vice President, Product Management

Palak is an accomplished Product Manager with 17 years of experience across IT, Finance, Travel, Mapping, and Learning sectors. Evolving from Senior Developer, Sr. Technical Product Manager to a Data & AI Senior Product Manager, she excels in using data-driven insights, analytics, and user research to drive innovation and enhance employee experiences. Passionate about Generative and Agentic AI, Palak has lead global, cross-functional projects, delivering transformative outcomes through strong collaboration with leadership teams. Her expertise spans AI governance, MLOps, data management, and agile product delivery, with hands-on experience across modern AI tools. Throughout her career, she has bridged legacy technologies and modern AI ecosystems, bringing strategic vision and executional excellence to every initiative.

Sowmya Sundararagavan

Global Product Leader, AI, B2B SaaS ecosystem

Sowmya Sundararagavan specializes in driving product vision and growth for SaaS and AI products. As a customer-centric B2B SaaS, AI, and Cloud FinOps product leader, Sowmya is passionate about building innovative, scalable products. Her focus is on keeping the "human in the loop" while developing product roadmaps. With over two decades of cross-industry experience, she most recently led the strategic vision and growth of Unified and Intelligent IT Management solutions. Her role as a product leader always centers on aligning product initiatives with business objectives to drive product-led growth, enhance customer satisfaction, and deliver cutting-edge data intelligence. Sowmya works collaboratively to guide global revenue growth and expand market opportunities by building value-based applications. She is an AI thought leader, speaker and mentor who guides early stage start-ups through their product growth and journey.

Oqeania Pepellashi

Product Development Director

Oqeania Pepellashi is a FinTech product manager with over 10 years of experience in developing innovative financial solutions. With a technical background and professional diplomas from Oxford Saïd Business School, Google, Bocconi, she is a recognized industry voice, frequently speaking at global conferences.

Tracy Evans

Partner, Open Strategy Partners GmbH

Tracy Evans is a Partner at Open Strategy Partners, where she uses her deep background in marketing and business to give organizations the strategic tools to communicate the value of what they do to the people who need to hear it. Tracy has an MBA from the Mannheim Business School and more than 12 years of strategic marketing, technology, and management experience, helping organizations connect their value propositions to their target audiences.

Samantha Harwood

Product Strategy Consultant, Harwoods Consultancy

Cross-functional collaborator skilled at building alignment and understanding between business and tech with 20 year’s experience. Combines strategic empathy, diplomacy, and visual storytelling to help leaders deliver value. https://www.harwoods.london/samantha

Samvedna Jha

Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM

Samvedna Jha is a Senior Technical Staff Member in the IBM Power Systems organization, Bengaluru, India. She holds a masters degree in Computer Application and has more than twenty years of work experience. In her current role as Security Architect, IBM Power, she has worldwide technical responsibility to handle security and compliance requirements of Power products. Samvedna is a recognized speaker in conferences, has authored blogs, IBM Redbooks and published disclosures. She is also the security focal point for Power products secure release process.

Annapurna Pradhan

CNRS Postdoctoral Fellow ETIS Lab, ENSEA, France

I am Annapurna, a CNRS Postdoctoral Fellow at ENSEA, France, where my research focuses on semantic communication and context-aware communication, integrating machine learning for secure and reliable communication in next-generation networks. Over the years, I have been fortunate to receive several honors, including being featured in the “100 Brilliant and Inspiring Women in 6G”- List for 2025, the ‘Odisha Women Leader’ award, and the 'Dr. Tarita Shankar Award of Excellence' in 2023 for my research and social work. I have had the privilege to present my work at numerous national and international conferences as a keynote speaker, and I actively promote awareness of emerging technologies through public talks and live shows. I am the member of COST Action 6G-PHYSEC (EU), Ambassador of AI Exponential Thinker for India, a global ambassador of the Women Tech Network, and a proud member of the Women in 6G initiative. My journey continues with a vision to blend research, innovation, and social impact in everything I do.

Sandhya Menon

Lead Data Engineer, E.ON Energy Deutschland

Sandhya Menon passionate Data Engineer with over a decade of experience working with data. Her journey spans data warehousing, Analytics, statistical data modelling with a strong focus on SQL, data modeling and scalable acrhitectures. She enjoys telling stories through numbers and bringing data to the people through platforms that teams can trust.

Janina Peterek

Global Executive Sponsor Program Lead at Google Cloud

Janina Peterek is a global strategic sales and operations leader with 12+ years of experience across Google Ads and Google Cloud, advising Google’s largest customers on how to build and execute transformational AI strategies across Marketing and Cloud. Her career foundation was built as a Principal Business Lead for Google Ads, where she gained mastery in digital marketing strategies, ROI optimization, and the customer journey. In this capacity, she led cross-functional teams working with some of Google's largest enterprise customers across EMEA, Silicon Valley, and NYC, developing full-funnel strategies and securing multi-million dollar deals. This extensive global experience provides her with a unique, tangible view of workflow challenges and the roadmap for future success across diverse industries. Janina leveraged this market expertise to spearhead the initial launch and successful scaling of GenAI solutions like Gemini for Workspace, Google Cloud. She played a vital role in advising enterprises on defining the organizational blueprint, establishing robust C-level governance, and developing the ROI business cases required to transition AI from fragmented pilots to secured, revenue-generating, agentic deployments. Currently, as the Global Executive Sponsor Program Lead for Google Cloud, Janina designs and executes world-class executive partnership programs to drive AI and Cloud transformation from the top. She is deeply passionate about fostering innovation, always prioritizing enterprise-grade security, scalability, and customization to help organizations build a durable competitive advantage.

Sonali Bhavsar

Chief Data and AI Officer at GEP

Sonali Bhavsar is a visionary leader in data and AI transformation with more than 20 years of experience driving innovation and operational excellence across Fortune 100 companies in financial services, healthcare, retail and life sciences. She specializes in aligning technology strategy with business goals to deliver scalable, measurable impact. As head of data and AI at GEP, Sonali reports to the president and co-founder, leading the global data, AI and digital transformation practice. She drives the firm’s expansion into AI-powered consulting and platform-based solutions for procurement and supply chain. Her work focuses on strategic selling, CXO engagement and enterprise transformation. Previously, as managing director at Accenture, Sonali led the global data management and governance practice, helping clients modernize legacy systems, integrate cloud solutions and deploy AI to improve decision-making and streamline operations. She also held leadership roles at IBM and KPMG, where she led global data migrations and built compliance frameworks that reduced risk and improved efficiency.

Ankita Upadhyay

Sr Director , AI Enablement at Thomson Reuters

Ankita Upadhyay is a high-impact technology leader with over a decade of experience spearheading large-scale organizational transformations. Holding a Master of Science in Computer Science with a specialization in Data Science, she uniquely combines deep technical rigor with the executive acumen required to navigate the world’s largest and most complex enterprises. Having evolved alongside the industry—from the foundations of Big Data and Cloud to the current frontier of Agentic AI—Ankita possesses a rare perspective on how leadership and operational styles must adapt to capture true technological value. Her career is defined by a proven track record of architecting the systems that power modern global enterprises, including significant tenures at Fortune 50 tech giants and elite research laboratories. Today, Ankita leads high-stakes programs in AI Enablement, Value Creation, and Synthetic Data, positioning organizations to move beyond experimentation into autonomous, agentic workflows. As a sharp, execution-oriented leader, Ankita serves as a trusted advisor to Heads, VPs, and C-Suite executives, translating complex AI visions into tangible competitive advantages. Her influence extends into the startup ecosystem as an Angel and Private Investor in Data and AI ventures. A graduate of Stanford’s Executive Leadership Development Program, Ankita is a central figure in the future of technology, committed to building the hybrid human-AI workforces of tomorrow.

Selena Rezvani

President and Author at NextGenWomen LLC

Named by Forbes "the premier expert on self-advocacy,” Selena Rezvani is an internationally known leadership speaker, TEDx-er, and award-winning author. She trains some of the brightest minds on leadership at places like The World Bank, Microsoft, Under Armour, and Nestlé – helping emerging leaders enhance their self-confidence and build trust. Selena’s advice has been featured in The Today Show, The LA Times, Oprah.com, and NBC television. Her latest book, Quick Confidence, a Wall Street Journal bestseller, was born from a viral newsletter she started on LinkedIn, sharing bite-sized tips on boosting confidence. Her forthcoming book, Quick Leadership, comes out on November 10th. Selena creates daily video content on leadership which she shares with her following of over 500k across platforms; in 2021, she was honored as a Fast Co. Top Content Creator. In addition to coaching and consulting emerging leaders, Selena offers experiential keynotes to teams and conferences. Today, she writes a column for NBC’s Know Your Value on pressing career issues. Over the last 2 years, Selena launched twenty-five popular online courses with LinkedIn Learning – which have been viewed by over a million learners. She has B.S. and Master of Social Work degrees from New York University, and has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. Selena lives in Philadelphia with her husband Geoff and 12-year old boy/girl twins. www.selenarezvani.com

Namrata Shah

AWS Hero and Distinguished Thought Leader

Namrata Shah is a global technology executive, mentor, and AI educator with over 23 years of experience spanning consulting, cloud, AI/ML, and software engineering. Recognized as an AWS Hero and Microsoft MVP, she has been a featured speaker at international conferences including AWS re:Invent, sharing insights on AI governance, cloud innovation, and emerging technologies. Beyond her executive roles, Namrata is deeply committed to community building and education, creating comprehensive learning programs on Generative AI, Amazon Bedrock, and Model Context Protocol (MCP). Through her work, she empowers women and underrepresented technologists worldwide, bridging complex technical concepts with practical applications. Passionate about inclusive leadership and responsible AI, she fosters a more diverse, future-ready technology ecosystem.

Amira Youssef

Chief Digital Transformation Officer Bupa Arabia

Amira Youssef is a Product executive and digital transformation with over 20 years of global experience across four continents, passionate about solving complex challenges through technology. Leading Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud Technology, and digital transformation initiatives from building 0-to-1 products to scaling solutions for both enterprises like Microsoft, Bupa and startups. Recognized as a catalyst for change, Amira delivers measurable results with a customer-first, data-driven approach in uncertain, fast-paced environments. Her leadership philosophy centers on resilience, adaptability, and building diverse, high-performing teams. She is a CPO Award Winner (Products That Count, 2025), keynote speaker on AI and leadership, mentor to 50+ emerging leaders through Women in Product, and host of the NYC Product Leaders Meetup.

Tendü Yoğurtçu, PhD

CTO and AI Innovation Expert Precisely

Tendü Yoğurtçu, PhD, is a technology executive and AI strategist known for shaping how enterprise software organizations translate data, cloud, and artificial intelligence into scalable platforms. With deep expertise across AI, data, and global technology operations, she has led large, distributed engineering organizations and guided complex portfolio transformations that drive sustainable growth, trust, and long-term enterprise value. Over her career, Tendü has defined and executed product and innovation strategies that move emerging capabilities from incubation to enterprise deployment, advancing AI to production scale and embedding trusted intelligence across global platforms. She is recognized for combining technical depth with strategic judgment to make disciplined build, buy, and partner decisions that expand market position. A frequent industry speaker and active advisor across academic and venture ecosystems, Tendü’s leadership centers on shaping resilient, AI-powered platforms and advancing responsible innovation at scale.

Denisse Irrgang

AI Sr. Product Manager at AstraZeneca

Denisse is a commercial innovation leader in biopharma focused on applying emerging technologies to drive efficiency, better decision-making, and stronger patient impact. She has led enterprise projects in AI-enabled analytics, digital transformation, and knowledge augmentation while supporting change management and adoption across commercial teams. Her work bridges strategy and execution, helping organizations move beyond experimentation and into measurable business value.

Priya Mouli

CISO at University of Alberta

Priya is an award winning and globally accomplished Cybersecurity and Risk Management Executive with over 20 years of demonstrated experience supporting organizations of varying sizes and risk profiles across industries. She is currently the Information Security Officer at Sheridan College where besides securing information and technology resources, she is responsible for privacy, compliance and enabling digital resiliency. She also has extensive experience advising and supporting global Financial Services including some of the largest and most prominent names in Toronto, New York and Technology companies in California. She has a commendable history of both collaborating with Senior Leadership and the Boards of large global companies to formulate robust and agile cyber / risk strategies, and working with the operational teams to implement them, and building trusted relationships with stakeholders internally and externally. As a recognized leader in the space, she has both published articles and is invited to share insights at global summits / conferences including ISACA, ISC2, BlackHat among others. Priya’s global exposure working in the US, UK, Canada, China, India for multinational organizations equips her with a global mindset and the ability to work and communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds and disciplines, being empathetic & adaptable.

Shontra Powell

Founder & Host - Proven Not Perfect™️Podcast

Shontra Powell is a proven leader in corporate business with a track record for delivering impactful change and results. She began her career in risk management/ insurance and finance learning from industry leaders in top firms in commercial insurance, broking and consulting. Shontra's foundation in risk and finance enabled her to assume increasingly impactful roles in corporate strategy, general management and people leadership. Excelling in Fortune 100 and 500 companies. Shontra's journey includes: C-Suite Leadership, Commercial P&L, Operations P&L, Business Growth Strategy, Digital Transformation, M&A Full Cycle (Merger & Acquisition, Divestiture and Acquisition Integration), Global Organization Leadership, Strategy Planning, Go-to-Market Initiatives (Developing channels, markets, products and building efficient commercial teams and operations). Shontra is an experienced Board Director since 1998 and an Entrepreneur/Start-up Advisor since 2010. In 2020, Shontra boldly seized two good ideas, and took time away from corporate leadership to launch Red Zone Fleet Services LLC, a family business, with her co-founder and husband; as well she to created a women's leadership development brand - Proven Not Perfect ™️. The Proven Not Perfect Podcast has thousands of downloads and followers who enjoy a podcast that inspires driven, ambitious women leaders with healthy strategies for wholistic success. Shontra is an inspired community worker and volunteer.

Priya Royal

Managing Attorney at Royal Law Firm PLLC

Priya Prakash Royal is an international private-client tax attorney and governance strategist with nearly two decades of experience at the intersection of valuation, tax, and cross-border decision-making. A former IRS Estate & Gift Tax Attorney, she advises executives, founders, and boards on how complex decisions hold up under regulatory, transactional, and fiduciary scrutiny.

Christina Garcia

SVP, Head of Engineering & Technology at Echo Global Logistics

Christina Garcia, SVP of Engineering & Technology at Echo Global Logistics, is an accomplished Senior Technology Strategist and Product Specialist, celebrated for leading transformative initiatives at Fortune 500 companies. A patent holder and a passionate advocate for human-centered innovation, Christina is known for solving complex challenges through a balanced approach of people, process, and technology.

Amy Au

Founder & Executive Coach at Innovate You

Amy Au is a Founder and Executive Coach at Innovate You, ICF Certified Coach, and Fascinate® Certified Advisor who radiates inspiring transformation. Amy empowers Women in STEM leaders and their teams to lead with confidence, embrace their unique value, and create positive impact through bold, authentic leadership. With 25+ years in the tech sector, including two decades at a Global Fortune 500 company. Amy brings expertise in business analytics, tech-driven innovation, and leading change. Her journey as an Asian woman immigrant in STEM fuels her mission to uplift women, underrepresented leaders and build inclusive workplaces where everyone can thrive and cultivating the next generation of trailblazing women leaders. Amy is a best-selling co-author of “Evolution of Leadership in STEM – Women Catalyzing Change”, a 2024 ICF Toronto Volunteer of the Year, and an enthusiastic voice for self-promotion and self-advocacy as a volunteer certified #IAmRemarkable facilitator. Known for her energizing connection, innovative thinking, and deep empathy, Amy speaks on topics including leadership visibility, confidence, resilience, inclusive team cultures, navigating career transitions, and building executive presence with authenticity.

Mary Kotch

CISO | Professor

I am Mary Kotch, a senior technology and cybersecurity executive with 20+ years of enterprise leadership across healthcare, financial services, insurance, and global reinsurance. I currently serve in three concurrent roles: • Advisor as Chief Digital Trust Officer (CDTO) & CISO – Clover Health, where I am building an AWS Bedrock-native AI cyber analytics architecture and leading OmegaBlack, a live dark web threat intelligence and SIU/cybersecurity convergence program. • Adjunct Professor of Cybersecurity & AI – Penn State University, where I have taught since 1995. Prior to my current roles, I served as AIG's first female CTO for the Americas and CIO for Latin America, as EVP & Global CIO at Validus Holdings (global reinsurance), and as VP of Technology at MetLife — where I first applied AI through IBM Watson in 2007. I have worked hands-on with AI platforms including OpenAI, Darktrace, LLaMA, Microsoft Sentinel, and Amazon Bedrock throughout my career. I was recently a featured guest on Dr. Eric Cole's "Life of a CISO" podcast, and I was named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful U.S. Women in Technology. My work has been featured in Impaakt Magazine (October 2025 cover story) and the CIO Talk Network.

Rachel Anderson

Leadership Trainer and Fractional CMO at Pivot Studios

Rachel Anderson is a leadership trainer, author, and Fractional CMO who believes great businesses start with great humans. Based in North Carolina, she partners with organizations around the world, from government agencies to Fortune 500s to scrappy startups, to help leaders build cultures of clarity, accountability, and connection. With over 20 years of experience in leadership and business development, Rachel teaches managers how to lead with humanity and create performance that lasts. She’s also the co-founder of Startup Women NC, a community where women entrepreneurs come together to build relationships, share resources, and grow their impact. Her book titled "Being Human (Centric)", a leader's guide to culture, people, and profits was published in 2025.

Julia Yanzi

DEI Manager at DataArt

Julia Yanzi is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion leader at DataArt with over 15 years of experience developing impact-driven programs across public institutions, NGOs, and private companies. She holds a degree in Political Science and has worked on designing and implementing long-term DEI strategies within organizations. Her work focuses on inclusive leadership, accessibility, and the development of DEI practices.

Sumaiya Noor

Chief Product Officer at Mpowa

Sumaiya has 15+ years of global experience in diverse leadership roles including AI & Product Strategy, Product Development & Management, Digital Transformation and Talent Management. She has won many accolades throughout her career and has been honored as 40under40. Sumaiya also served on BOD of a global company. She made it to the list of Top 20 global Product Leaders of 2023 and she is recognized as Top 100 most influential women of Canada. She is on Claro Top 100 AI & Tech Leaders lists for 2024 & 2025 and is bestowed with Global Recognition Awards twice. Sumaiya also won Chief Product Officer of the year 2024 and is shortlisted for CPO of the year 2025. Currently she is Chief Product Officer at a category defining AI and Web3.0 company. Previously she served as Chief Product Strategy Officer and earlier she was VP of HR & Digital Transformation. She has worked with Telenor enabling them with their digital transformation. At IBM, she had 3 global roles and she led Technology M&As across 50+ countries in Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa enabling IBM to be an AI & Cloud company. Sumaiya has scaled companies to 2X valuation and 3X in revenue. As part of executive team, she has closed millions of dollars of funding for companies. Sumaiya is a graduate of IBM Leadership Development Program. She is a Startup Advisor, Fulbright scholar with MS/MBA from Purdue University, INSEAD certified Digital Strategy Expert, Certified AI PM and an Engineer with experience of managing cross-functional teams across 6 continents (being based in 4 continents) with Fortune100 multinationals and tech start-ups. She serves on Harvard Business Review (HBR) Advisory Council, World Economic Forum’s AI Council and is on Canadian Web3.0 Committee (Canadian Blockchain Consortium). Sumaiya also collaborates with MIT, University of Toronto and University of Washington for advising portfolio startups across NA and globally specifically in AI, Ethical AI, Product, Technology and Healthcare domains. As a researcher, keynote speaker, and thought leader, Sumaiya contributes extensively to the global AI and Product community through publications, speaking engagements, media appearances, board and advisory roles. Sumaiya has a strong commitment to mentorship and has mentored 1000s of individuals across the globe. She is also a published author in high-impact peer reviewed journals. Her areas of research are AI based Product Development, Bioinformatics & Biotechnology, Machine Learning/Deep Learning, Neural Networks, Computational Biology and Cybersecurity. She speaks frequently at multiple forums globally. Sumaiya has spoken at US State Department with delegates from 47 countries including US Congress members. Also gave a talk at Grace Hopper Conference, attended by more than 40K technologists world-wide. Sumaiya has also been a Keynote speaker at University of Toronto and at several industry events including Google DevFest and IEEE. Sumaiya’s work has been featured in national and global media like Al Jazeera, Financial Post, National Post, Telegraph. Outside work, Sumaiya is a staunch supporter of women and human rights, education and health for underprivileged individuals and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She loves travelling, learning new things especially technology and history, meeting people from diverse backgrounds and experiencing new cultures. She is also a practicing Naturopath and a singer for more than a decade.

MRunal Gangrade

Vice President of Engineering at JPMorgan Chase

Mrunal Gangrade is Vice President at JPMorgan Chase, where she leads enterprise-scale initiatives in artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, and cloud-based software engineering. She designs and develops secure, scalable systems that drive innovation and operational excellence across financial services and healthcare. With over 20 years of experience, Mrunal has led projects in identity and access management, fraud detection, risk analytics, and AI-driven automation, translating advanced technologies into practical, high-impact solutions. She is an IEEE-published researcher, a peer reviewer for international journals and conferences, and a frequent hackathon judge and industry speaker, sharing insights on ethical AI, responsible technology adoption, and innovation governance. Mrunal has presented at prominent industry events including BSides Orlando, BSides SWFL, Visions CIO/CISO Summit, DSSalon, and the IEEE Tech X event at USF, mentoring the next generation of technology leaders. Her work bridges technical depth and strategic vision, focusing on building AI systems that are transparent, explainable, and trustworthy, while delivering measurable business and operational value.

Renee Fisher

VP Engineering at Coconut Software

Renee Fisher is a trusted technology executive with over two decades of experience leading high-performing engineering and professional services teams through periods of transformation, scale, and innovation. Currently the VP Engineering at Coconut Software, Renee is dedicated to optimizing operations and delivery while protecting the company’s amazing culture. Throughout her career, Renee has successfully steered organizations through complex transitions by anchoring her leadership in empathy, transparency, and clarity. She is currently navigating the cultural complexities of integrating AI into modern development practices. With a foundation in software development, Renee’s leadership approach combines technical insight with a sharp focus on business strategy and people leadership. She is passionate about empowering individuals—particularly women in tech—and believes that a company’s success is defined by its people. Renee is committed to helping the industry embrace the human side of software development, ensuring that as technology evolves, our teams thrive.

Renate Cunneen

Vice President Solutions Integrations and Service Management at Scotiabank

Renate Cunneen is Vice President, Integration Solutions & Service Management at Scotiabank, where she leads global platforms, governance, and service management across Canada, Latin America, APAC, and International Banking. With more than 15 years of experience delivering enterprise-scale technology and transformation programs in financial services, she is known for turning complex, high-risk environments into disciplined, high-performing organizations. Renate did not follow a traditional path into technology. She left home before her 16th birthday and built her career without a formal technical background, learning the industry from the inside out while navigating environments that were often not designed for women to succeed. Her nonlinear journey — from personal upheaval to executive leadership — shapes her perspective on power, resilience, and what it truly takes to rise in modern technology organizations. Today, she is a leadership speaker and author focused on helping women claim influence, navigate organizational politics, and build lasting, authentic success in technology.

Liliana Mihart

Director of Data | Executive & Leadership Coach at Cognism | Habit of Growth

Liliana is a senior technology leader with over a decade of experience in building, scaling, and leading top-performing teams across data, software engineering, and digital transformation. Her expertise includes organizational strategy, digital product and program management, and AI-powered innovation with a human-centred lens. As an ICF-accredited executive and leadership coach at habitofgrowth.com, Liliana helps leaders navigate change and lead with clarity, impact, and resilience in the AI era. She is also a mentor, speaker, and DEI ambassador, advocating for brave, inclusive leadership, authentic self-expression, and a kinder, more sustainable future. A regular speaker at the Women in Tech Global Conference, Liliana shares thought leadership on innovation, leadership in the AI era, and organizational growth. Through her coaching, writing, and speaking, she empowers leaders to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape and shape equitable, future-ready organizations.

Beth Leonard

Chief Operating Officer at R3, LLC

Ms. Beth Leonard, Chief Operating Officer at R3, is an award-winning speaker and executive with over 30 years of experience in IT and Information Security management, compliance, quality assurance, and process improvement across government contracting and commercial industries. She oversees day-to-day operations of a cloud-first MSP, delivering modern IT, security, and compliance solutions. She is a recognized industry voice, frequently invited to speak at local and international events on resiliency, emotional intelligence, mentorship and leadership, compliance, governance, quality, and customer satisfaction, drawing on expertise with frameworks such as NIST, CMMC, ISO, CMMI, and ITIL. She also serves as a Neuroendocrine (NET) Cancer patient advocate, contributing to organizations such as the International Neuroendocrine Cancer Alliance and the Carcinoid Cancer Foundation. Her extensive certifications include ITIL Expert (Trainer and Proctor), ISO Lead Auditor (9001, 19011, 20000-1, 27001), A2LA-accredited assessor, Black Belt Six Sigma, PMP, and certified Facility Security Officer. She has successfully led numerous CMMI appraisals, CMMC assessments, ITIL implementations, and ISO certifications, building integrated management systems across quality, service, and information security. Throughout her career, she has advanced customer satisfaction, organizational metrics, and quality programs using Six Sigma and best practices from ISO, ITIL, PMBOK, SOC, NIST, and CMMI, making her a highly respected leader and innovator in technology and compliance.

Deepika Chopra

CEO at AlphaU Group

Deepika Chopra is an AI transformation executive and founder of AlphaU AI, where she helps organizations close the gap between what AI can deliver and what humans are ready to act on. Formerly an SVP leading AI and digital strategy at AIG, Citi, Siemens, and LPL, she is the creator of ACT+M™ and HAAS™, frameworks redefining how leaders measure trust, culture, and alignment in the age of AI. She is also the author of Move First, Align Fast.

Emily Heitman

President, Schneider Electric Canada

Emily Heitman serves as the President of Schneider Electric Canada, bringing a wealth of experience from her dynamic career in the energy industry. She joined Schneider Electric in 2017 as the Vice President of Power Systems, overseeing the medium voltage equipment and energy automation business. In 2020, she advanced to the role of Senior Vice President for Power Products. Before joining Schneider Electric, Emily held senior positions at ABB and Cooper Power Systems. Emily holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Auburn University and an MBA from Marquette University.

Debbie Millin

CEO / Founder at UpperLevel Solutions

Debbie Millin is renowned for her ability to rapidly scale companies. She has led two separate organizations to achieve the distinction of being the #1 fastest-growing company in Massachusetts, including Globalization Partners (G-P), growing from a three-person startup to a remarkable $4.2 billion valuation in under six years. Deeply embedded in the Boston AI community, Debbie is passionate about fostering innovation and advises numerous CEOs of startups and mid-market companies through venture capital firms. She serves on multiple technology company boards as an Independent Board Director and is a board member at several non-profit organizations including the Museum of Science, the Bentley University Entrepreneurship Hub, and the Harvard Business School Alumni Board.

Archana Choudhary

Vice President at Deutsche Bank

Archana is Vice President at Deutsche Bank, with over 20 years of experience in IT project management at Fortune 500 companies. She is recognized expert in strategy execution, PMO leadership, and project portfolio management having led complex initiatives including bank acquisitions and mergers, as well as Agile transformations that unified siloed teams and stabilized fluctuating priorities under robust PMO structures. A frequent speaker, author, and PMP mentor, Archana has contributed to PMI global standards and delivered presentations at various PMI chapters, including Dallas, Carolina, North East Florida, Miami Conference, Global Summit, Agile Asia Pacific symposium, among others. She is an award-winning project management professional, honored at various platforms like Women in Tech as Global Technology Leader, PMI Phoenix. Recognized for leadership excellence, influence and strengthening professional PM communities, contributing to advancing women in project management. Her influence extends across international platforms reaching over 100+ countries. Archana also serves as a judge for prestigious international awards, including PMI PMO Awards, startups and is regarded as a thought leader in the field.

Palak Shah

PMI Dallas Lunch and Learn Director

From a young age, I’ve been fascinated by the intersection of science, engineering, and management not as separate disciplines, but as a powerful combination that turns ideas into real-world solutions. That curiosity led me to pursue Biomedical Engineering and Project Management. My career accelerated through opportunities at Johnson & Johnson and Becton Dickinson Medical Devices, where I worked on ERP SAP implementations and collaborated with global cross-functional teams across IT, R&D, Quality, and Operations. Working in highly regulated industries strengthened my appreciation for how technology, when paired with thoughtful change management, can transform entire organizations. Today, my career is shaped by three core motivations: systematic thinking, organizational transformation, and empowering others particularly project managers and women in tech navigating the AI-driven landscape. This blend of engineering, leadership, and emerging technology is where I feel most energized.

Tracie Cleveland

Chief Transformation Officer at KeyBank

Tracie Cleveland Thomas is a senior executive with 25+ years of experience driving enterprise transformation, digital innovation, and AI adoption across financial services, insurance, automotive, and government industries. As one of the few Black women to rise to senior technology leadership, she has led large-scale initiatives in data, automation, and emerging technologies that improved efficiency and reduced risk. She also serves on several boards including founding and co-leading DNA Rising, a nonprofit empowering underserved communities. Recognized as a trailblazer in tech and honored for her leadership, Tracie combines deep technical expertise with a commitment to inclusive, future-focused innovation.

Andrea Dobrindt

VP, Head of AI and Digital Health Innovation at GNQ Insilico

Andrea Dobrindt is VP, Head of AI and Digital Health Innovation at GNQ Insilico, where she leads AI platform development for precision medicine. With 15+ years across enterprise and startup environments, she brings practical experience in AI strategy and implementation. Previously, Andrea was Chief Data Scientist at IBM and built IBM Consulting's AI/ML and GenAI Automation Competency. She had a decade in the pharma industry working at companies including Pfizer, Novartis, and Boehringer Ingelheim. Her background spans both Fortune 500 complexity and startup velocity, giving her perspective on what works across different organizational contexts. Andrea focuses on translating rapid AI innovation into actionable business strategy. She's a regular speaker on strategic AI decision-making and is passionate about helping leaders navigate technological change with clarity.

Kimberley Parsons

CEO at Bamboo Teaming

Kimberley Lewis Parsons is the founder and CEO of Bamboo Teaming, where she helps executive teams transform how they work together to achieve faster results. With two decades of experience in technology and talent development at a Fortune 100 bank, 17 years coaching senior leaders, and teaching at Georgetown's Institute for Transformational Leadership, Kimberley brings unparalleled expertise to the world of executive team effectiveness. She and her fabulous team of practitioners have helped over 23,000 leaders boost performance and unlock greater results. Holding advanced certifications in team coaching (achieved by less than 1% of coaches worldwide) and with a strong technical foundation (BBA and MS in Computer Information Systems), Kimberley is uniquely positioned to solve the real challenges leadership teams face every day. EXPERT TOPICS IN EXECUTIVE TEAM PERFORMANCE7891011 1. The Polarity Advantage: How Smart Leadership Teams Leverage Siloed-Enterprise Thinking to Accelerate Results. 2. The 6 Factors of Effective Teaming: The Next-Generation Framework to Accelerate Executive Team Results. 3. Take It to the Team: Preparing Leaders for Inclusion's Next Frontier. 4. Executive Team Coaching: The Missing Link for C-Suite Performance

Amanda Mercier

Chief Data and Analytics Officer at US Army Special Operations Command

Amanda is the Chief Data & Analytics Officer for a 56,000-person special operations organization, where she leads enterprise-wide digital transformation and builds modern data and technology capabilities at scale. A former Microsoft leader and lifelong builder, she has spent her career helping complex organizations unlock the power of data, elevate digital literacy, and create cultures that embrace innovation. She is known for translating ambitious visions into practical change. Amanda is also an entrepreneur, currently developing a patent-pending nutrition technology app that blends advanced analytics with intuitive design. Her work sits at the intersection of leadership, technology, and human potential. She is passionate about helping women see themselves as architects of change and inspiring teams to build boldly—one courageous step at a time.

Kim Groshek

Executive Decision Strategist for CEOs Lifeful Habits

Kim Groshek is a bestselling author of 55+ books, an executive strategist, and creator of Human OS™, a framework designed to help experienced leaders translate their life’s work into clarity, influence, and sustainable impact. She works with current and former C-suite executives, founders, and senior leaders to support transitions beyond operational leadership—helping them move from role-based authority to enduring contribution.

Sarah Smith

Chief Innovation Officer Iconoclast Innovations LLC

Sarah Smith is Chief Innovation Officer at Iconoclast Innovations, with over 12 years of experience helping Fortune 10 to 500 companies, founders, startups, and SMBs turn strategy into execution. She specializes in fixing the operational breakdowns that stall delivery, waste time, and quietly erode revenue. Her work has enabled more than $60M in business impact by redesigning how teams plan, prioritize, and execute at scale. Sarah believes the best transformations start with the people leading them, and that doing meaningful work shouldn't require losing yourself along the way.

Jyoti Shah

Director of GenAI Applications Development at ADP

Jyoti Shah is a dynamic technology leader and sought-after speaker with over 20 years of experience in application development, AI innovation, and digital transformation. As Director of Application Development at ADP, she spearheads enterprise-grade solutions that blend full stack engineering with AI-powered intelligence to drive measurable business outcomes. Jyoti brings deep technical expertise in React, Angular, Java, and cloud-native architectures, paired with a strategic vision for scalable innovation. She has spoken on topics ranging from women in technology to operationalizing AI in enterprise environments. An active advocate for inclusive leadership, Jyoti leads ADP’s IWIN (International Women’s Inclusion Network) chapter and contributes widely to community mentoring, judging hackathons and academic projects across NJIT, Rutgers, Stevens, and NYC tech events. Her talks inspire action, offering practical insights drawn from hands-on experience and a passion for building impactful, inclusive tech ecosystems.

Raina Gandhi

Founder & CEO at Rising Tide Consulting

Raina Gandhi empowers women to overcome limiting beliefs, navigate workplace barriers, and thrive in decision-making roles. Through coaching, workshops, and keynotes, she helps women advance into leadership positions and amplify their voices in business, because when women rise, organizations benefit from increased productivity and collaboration. Drawing from 25+ years across investment banking, consulting, nonprofits, and higher education, Raina brings authentic perspective to career transitions and leadership challenges. After trading a promising career in financial services for an 11-year hiatus to raise her daughters, she successfully relaunched and faced barriers that shaped her coaching approach. As a sought-after speaker, Raina delivers keynotes to global audiences including healthcare organizations, corporate leadership teams, associations, and women's leadership forums. Her presentations on self-advocacy, negotiations, burnout, allyship, and gender equity have resonated with hundreds of professionals across industries. She brings an engaging, interactive style that combines research-based insights with practical strategies, ensuring participants leave with actionable tools. With her Wharton MBA and certifications in change management, organizational development, executive coaching, and CliftonStrengths facilitation, Raina provides strategic guidance and creates inspiring environments where audiences feel empowered to take bold action, knowing that transformative change happens when women step confidently into their leadership potential.

Meredith Jolly

Chair at Vistage Worldwide

Meredith Jolly is a former tech CEO, executive coach, and peer advisory chair who helps leaders grow with clarity and confidence. After leading companies through acquisition, Meredith reinvented her career in her 50s and now champions modern leadership rooted in empathy, accountability, and authenticity. She’s passionate about helping women own their leadership style without apology.

Ingrid Curtis

CEO at Sparq

Ingrid Curtis is the CEO of Sparq, a product-engineering and AI-driven consulting firm known for its deep technical capability and outcome-focused delivery. She began her Sparq journey in her mid-twenties, when she relocated to rural Arkansas to help rebuild a small acquisition that had no active clients and needed a fresh start. That early chapter shaped her leadership style and set the foundation for the company’s long-term evolution. Over nearly two decades, Ingrid has guided Sparq through multiple phases of growth, including a shift into higher-value product and engineering work, private equity investment, nearshore expansion across six Latin American countries, and four strategic acquisitions that positioned the firm as an AI-first organization. Today, she leads a global team and continues to drive Sparq’s vision of making intelligence operable at scale.

Sabrina Macpherson

Senior Director, ESG Methodology at Morningstar

Sabrina Macpherson has 15+ years of experience in product management and enterprise data solutions. She has expertise in data governance and enterprise data management, and is deeply committed to enabling sustainable and impactful outcomes through collaborative leadership and technical excellence.

Sarah Mehler

Founder, CEO at Left Field Labs

Sarah Mehler is the Founder and CEO of Left Field Labs, a creative technology firm recognized for nearly two decades as a go-to partner for ambitious brands looking to harness emerging tech for real-world impact. Sarah leads Left Field Labs at the intersection of imagination and pragmatism, helping clients including Google, Amazon, Meta, Salesforce, and Qualcomm, design entirely new products, experiences, and ways of doing business. From defining early mobile and voice interfaces to GenAI applications that solve real problems, her work sits at the intersection of innovation, utility, and human experience. Sarah believes firmly in creating systems of collective intelligence—spaces where human creativity and machine capability work together to expand what people and organizations can achieve. It’s an approach that’s made Left Field Labs a trusted partner to marketers, product teams, and engineers across the Fortune 100. In 2025, her agency posted its fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth, buoyed by an explosion of interest in solutions connecting AI and brand experiences. A vocal advocate for responsible innovation and inclusive leaders, Sarah also serves on the Pachamama Alliance, supporting regenerative climate initiatives. She is engaged in efforts to build “The New Green Loop” to spur climate action with AI, blockchain, and dMRV technologies. Her work has been recognized by the Webby Awards, The Drum, and Campaign US, which honored her as a 2025 40 Over 40 recipient.

Madhuri Dhulipala

Managing Director at BlackRock

Global Engineering & Product Exec | Building resilient, intelligent platforms powering revenue & innovation. Driving GenAI adoption and dev productivity to transform SaaS, eCom, and financial systems at global scale. Expert in product-market fit, infra modernization & monetization strategy across Fintech, eCom & SaaS. Delivering growth through platform resilience & GTM alignment. With extensive experience across payments, e-commerce, AI/ML & enterprise SaaS, I’ve scaled teams to 750+ engineers & product leaders to build platforms that power Bns in revenue thru millions of users. At BlackRock, I serve as MD Global Head of Aladdin Platform Engineering Services powering one of the world’s most critical financial tech platforms with 2Bn+ revenue. An trusted advisor to Board & C-suite on technology, risk, and digital innovation and drive AI PDLC platform for 4500 Aladdin Developers. As VP Eng. at Salesforce,I drove technology strategy & execution, tech/product strategy for Commerce Cloud & Salesforce Payments. I launched Salesforce Payments grew to 200+ customers & drove AI insight powered commerce innovation to improve conversion, adoption, & monetization. At PayPal, I led Merchant Services & Onboarding Eng.,unified onboarding, servicing & marketplace integrations that transformed SMB & enterprise merchant experiences and spearheaded quality & reliability transformations.At Amazon, I built & scaled Alexa Weather & QnA domains expanding AI-driven voice commerce in Alexa, & drove transformation initiatives in Amazon Catalog Platform & e-commerce integrations across Quidsi & Audible. I provide visionary leadership across different domains while driving new revenue acquisition by connecting opportunities & managing priorities across cross-functional orgs. I specialize in AI adoption, operational efficiencies & goto market alignment in highly regulatory industries while ensuring resilience across cloud & enterprise technologies.As a board advisor,I bring value to companies undergoing large-scale technology transformation,modernization & strategic growth. Beyond leading product & technology orgs,I am passionate about mentorship&advocacy for women in tech.As a speaker & mentor in WomenInProduct, SheTO, and WomenInTech,I support,retain & elevate diverse leaders.

Tanusree Vinnakota

Director of Engineering, TPM & Quality at Figma

Tanusree Vinnakota is a distinguished strategic leader and visionary change agent, celebrated for her ability to drive organizational success through servant leadership and building impactful business relationships. With a career spanning engineering leadership at every level—from early-stage startups to planet-scale enterprises—Tanusree has mastered the art of transforming chaos into clarity in complex, multi-disciplinary environments. She has built and scaled numerous high-performing teams from scratch, delivering innovative solutions. Known for her hands-on approach to navigating complex programs, governing expansive portfolios, and steering large-scale engineering organizations (Figma, Google, NetApp, HP).

Brooke Skinner Ricketts

CEO at Beyond Barriers

Brooke Skinner Ricketts is a transformational CEO, growth strategist, and Fortune 200 executive who turns ambitious vision into measurable impact. With over two decades of experience leading, scaling, and transforming organizations, Brooke has operated at the highest levels of business—taking two companies public before her 40th birthday and serving as an operator, executive, and board member for category-defining brands. Her career trajectory tells a powerful story: from conducting market research at truck stops as a junior strategist to commanding boardrooms and stages worldwide. This journey from the ground up has given Brooke a rare combination of strategic acumen and operational authenticity that resonates across every level of an organization. Brooke's expertise spans the full spectrum of growth drivers—strategy, brand, product, and marketing—delivering exceptional results for industry leaders including Twitter, CARS, and SC Johnson. As a recognized thought leader, she has been featured in Forbes, Crain's, and The Wall Street Journal, and commands stages at premier events like SXSW and for organizations including Google and Facebook. As CEO and co-founder of Beyond Barriers, Brooke is on a mission to solve one of business's most critical challenges: helping people-powered organizations retain, engage, and develop talent at scale. Her approach combines data-driven strategy with deeply human insight, creating sustainable competitive advantage through exceptional cultures and leadership development. Brooke lives in Wilmette with her wife, three children, and two dogs. Outside the office, she's an avid reader, writer, and self-proclaimed mediocre tennis player who brings the same competitive spirit to her Park District league that she brings to the boardroom— with *slightly* lower stakes and an equally impressive team.

Subha Shrinivasan

SVP/Global Head of Services at Rakuten Symphony

I solve one of the most expensive problems in infrastructure: Operationalizing products in real world deployments. Across Datacenter, Cloud, and Telecom, the constraint to scaling is rarely technology. It is the ability to translate innovation into profitable, repeatable execution at global scale. My work focuses on building AI-First Delivery organizations that turn complex pilots into durable revenue engines. I operate at the intersection of deep technical rigor, operating-model design, and P&L accountability, transforming delivery from a cost center into a strategic growth driver. The manifesto I drive is - Growth through execution and customer value creation. I am a category creator of the AI first delivery model - A framework that leverages AI at the right levers in product deployments & operations. 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 @ 𝗥𝗮𝗸𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝘆 As Global Head of Service Delivery, I drive the integration of Cloud, RAN, and OSS product lines into a single global delivery motion. I lead the organization that is redefining delivery into a strategic leverage by combining Solution Integration, AI-led automation, DevOps, and Infra-as-Code into one live system with closed-loop feedback. My teams don't just "deploy" technology; they accelerate time-to-value for the world’s most complex telco transformations.

Aysha Khan

CIO and CISO at Treasure Data

Aysha Khan is an award-winning CISO and CIO with two decades of success leading cybersecurity, AI, and digital transformation across high-growth startups and Fortune 500 enterprises. Recognized as Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2025 and named one of the 100 Inspirational Women Making a Difference in Cybersecurity, she is a global speaker and trusted boardroom voice. Aysha is also an active angel investor and advisor to multiple funds and startups, and a transformation coach helping high-performing leaders unlock clarity, confidence, and sustainable impact. She is the founder of Inward to Upward, where she shares leadership and transformation insights through her Substack: inwardtoupward.substack.com.

Charu Maheshwari

Product finance & strategy at Anthropic

Charu Maheshwari is on the Product Finance and Strategy team at Anthropic. She builds the financial models behind major model launches, and works on pricing strategy for AI capabilities. A CFA Charterholder and Wharton MBA, she previously spent several years at McKinsey advising C-suite leaders across industries - and now sits at the intersection of financial strategy and frontier AI development.

Kimberly Bailey

VP of IT & CIO at Lemoyne-Owen College

Kimberly Bailey is a history maker and visionary leader who has spent her career breaking barriers, driving innovation, and inspiring the next generation. She made history as the first female Chief Information Officer for the City of Memphis, leading modernization efforts and expanding digital access. Today, she serves as Vice President of Information Technology and CIO at LeMoyne-Owen College, shaping the future of Black tech leadership. A proud native of Memphis, Bailey holds a BS in Management Information Systems from Christian Brothers University and an MS in Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services from Bellevue University. She has held leadership roles with organizations including the Memphis Grizzlies, Technicolor, AutoZone, and CBRE, and is also the creator of the Color and Read children’s book series, which celebrates African American achievements through storytelling. Her accolades include 2024 MEMTech Trailblazer Honoree, 2025 TennesseeCIO ORBIE Award Nominee, and recognition from the Memphis Business Journal and Women in IT Summit and Awards. Through every role, Kimberly Bailey proves that technology is not just about systems, it is about people, progress, and creating a future where everyone has a seat at the table.

Kate Kollerer

Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Face Reality Skincare

Kate Kollerer is the Chief Operations and Technology Officer at Face Reality Skincare, where she partners closely with the executive team to translate business strategy into scalable systems, disciplined execution, and resilient operating models. She oversees end‑to‑end operations and technology, including supply chain, manufacturing, digital commerce, IT, clinic operations, and the Project Management Office, with a focus on prioritization, capital‑efficient growth, and practical adoption of AI. Kate is known for integrating operations and technology to turn complexity into clarity and strategy into repeatable execution. Previously, she held senior leadership roles at Rodan + Fields, where she led global expansions, replatformed e‑commerce and core IT systems, and built technology foundations designed to scale. A core part of Kate’s leadership philosophy is building motivated, high‑performing teams. She believes the strongest results come from clarity, trust, and momentum, paired with a culture that values ownership, recognition, and genuine enjoyment of the work.

Emily Xu

Chief Digital & Information Officer at Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC)

Emily Xu is the Chief Digital and Information Officer at Republic National Distributing Company (RNDC). Xu is responsible for modernizing enterprise technology, including migrating IT infrastructure from on-premise to cloud, unifying enterprise data and analytic platforms, increasing supply chain visibility and automation, and leading digital transformation through technology and AI. Xu’s and her team’s AI-driven upgrades to the company’s e-commerce platform earned more revenue in her first year than two previous years combined, and in 2024, surpassed $1 billion. Before joining RNDC, Emily served as the Chief Marketing Officer at Mitchell Gold Bob Williams (MGBW), a luxury home furnishing retailer and manufacturer, where she was instrumental in shaping the brand's strategy, creative direction, and digital acceleration, both during and post-pandemic. In 2024, Ragan Communications recognized Xu as a Top Woman in Tech/Digital Marketing. Xu holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a master's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Illinois, and a bachelor's degree in Engineering from Tsinghua University, China.

Vidya Shankaran

Field CTO at Commvault

Vidya Shankaran is the Field CTO for Cloud, Security, Cyber Resilience and Emerging Technology solutions at Commvault. A seasoned technologist, she delivers customer value, through pragmatic outcome-based results. Vidya has 2 decades plus years of global experience; This has helped her understand and gain unique perspective on the real-world challenges of IT customers supporting businesses from data management and business continuity point of view. As a certified CISSP member and Forbes Technology Council member, Vidya helps customers and partners strategize and architect towards Cyber Resilience and Recoverability at the forefront. As a thought leader, she ensures a Compliance centric approach to AI adoption and other emerging technologies while ensuring a seamless integration of Commvault’s solutions in customers’ data architecture. She won the “CIO/CTO of the year 2024” Global Awards by “Women Tech Network” for her contributions to Commvault and industry at large.

Lasherelle Morgan

SVP, Legal, AI Innovation and Acceleration at NBCUniversal

Lasherelle Morgan is Senior Vice President, Legal – AI Innovation & Acceleration at NBCUniversal. She leads enterprise-wide AI governance strategy, advising cross-functional teams on embedding legal guardrails into innovation and translating principles into practice. A frequent speaker on responsible AI , she champions pragmatic governance that empowers creativity, compliance, and accountability.

Melissa Sierra

Executive & Leadership Transformation Coach at Melissa Sierra Focal Point Coaching

Melissa Sierra is a media strategy and business transformation leader, Forbes Communications Council member, and owner of Melissa Sierra Focal Point coaching where she works with Executive Leaders to help them through transformation, connecting channel data, creativity, and human insight into scalable growth. With over a decade leading integration at USIM, Melissa now advises C-suite teams on brand strategy, digital evolution, and the intersection of leadership energy and AI innovation.

Jan Beery

CEO at Worlds View Solutions

Jan Beery is the Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Worlds View Solutions, a digital transformation and AI consultancy helping organizations embrace innovation with confidence and purpose. With more than 35 years of experience spanning manufacturing, healthcare, and technology, Jan has built a career around connecting people, ideas, and intelligent solutions. From her start in manufacturing to leading global AI initiatives, Jan is known for her down-to-earth, engaging approach to leadership and her passion for mentoring others. A proud mom of three and grandmother of eight, she brings humor, heart, and real-world insight to every stage she steps on.

Leslie Grandy

Author, Lead Executive in Residence at University of Washington Foster School of Business Executive Education

Leslie Grandy is an author, speaker, and CEO advisor who guides companies and leaders in leveraging creative thinking to accelerate growth. After a 25-year career as a global product executive at Discovery Networks, Best Buy, T-Mobile, Apple, and Amazon, she launched her consulting company, The Product Guild, to help organizations such as Oracle, Starbucks, and Red Robin Gourmet Burgers train creative leaders and build resilience against unexpected events. Leslie co-created and serves as the Lead Executive in Residence of the Product Management Leadership Accelerator at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. An accomplished creativity expert, she spent the early part of her career in the film industry as a member of the Directors Guild of America. Her new book, "Creative Velocity: Propelling Breakthrough Ideas in the Age of Generative AI” was published in May 2025 by Wiley.

Caitlin Kamm

Head of People at Envoy

Caitlin Kamm is a senior People leader and licensed attorney with deep experience scaling high-growth technology organizations and guiding executives through periods of complex transformation. As Director of People Growth at Envoy, she designs and delivers workforce strategies including organizational design, total rewards, and leadership readiness that drive measurable business outcomes and long-term value creation. Caitlin brings a forward-looking approach to People leadership, integrating data, AI, and emerging technologies into workforce strategy to help companies attract, develop, and retain top talent at scale. Her leadership philosophy blends servant leadership with a strong commitment to fairness, respect, and results ensuring that both business performance and employee experience can thrive together.

Kerry Brown

Lead Evangelist at Celonis

Kerry Brown, Lead Transformation Evangelist at Celonis, is a strategist and thought leader who helps companies achieve organizational excellence. She is an international speaker and expert adviser on the future of work, change management, learning, and workforce adoption, interacting with diverse global occupational cultures and industries, including many Fortune 500 companies. As a longtime customer and employee of SAP, leveraging technology to drive business outcomes and advance innovation & the future of work is always top of mind.

Panagiota Dafniotis

Chief Legal & Intellectual Property Officer at Strix Aero

Lawyer with extensive expertise as a legal and strategic advisor in corporate matters, transactions, intellectual property, innovation and emerging and sustainable technologies. Practical mindset and deep experience working on legal, business, operational, governance, risk management and compliance related matters in and with a wide range of industries, companies and Canadian innovation ecosystems. Enabling companies to identify, protect, mitigate, and manage key risks and opportunities across their businesses globally, in a holistic and strategic manner. Areas of focus: Commercial transactions, M&A, partnerships, R&D, collaboration and co-development agreements, related corporate and regulatory matters, procurement, enterprise governance, licensing, digital initiatives, data, AI, patents, trademarks, copyright, trade secrets, disputes and enforcement, commercialization, marketing and sponsorships.

Brandel Kremer

Director of Data Governance at Mars

Brandel Kremer is the Director of Data and Governance at Mars where she leads global initiatives in AI, master data, and data operations across the enterprise. With a master’s degree and over two decades of experience, she has built a career on turning complex data challenges into measurable business impact. She currently holds accreditation from Purdue University in Generative AI as well as AI Audit certification from ISACA.

Jessica Hancock

IT/OT Business Process Director, Data Management at Dow

Jessica is a former U.S. Navy Nuclear Surface Warfare Officer who spent seven years leading high-stakes operations aboard warships—where precision, resilience, and mission-first leadership were non-negotiable. After transitioning to civilian life, she brought that same discipline and systems thinking to Dow Chemical, first as an Instrumentation Engineer and now as a Business Process Director overseeing data management across Operations IT/OT. Jessica is passionate about bridging the gap between military experience and the tech sector, advocating for women veterans whose leadership, adaptability, and technical acumen are reshaping the future of innovation.

Kelsey Rich

VP Digital Product at Employers Insurance Group

Kelsey Rich is VP of Digital Product at EMPLOYERS, a workers' compensation insurance company, where she leads product managers and designers across distribution, customer experience, and claims platforms. She is passionate about building product talent and creating cultures where teams can thrive through technological change. Throughout her 15+ year career spanning Pinnacol Assurance/Cake Insure, Intuit, and EMPLOYERS, Kelsey has consistently led teams through industry-transforming changes, from digital transformation in traditional financial services to building entirely new business models in insurtech. At EMPLOYERS, Kelsey has built a product maturity program focused on developing strategic thinking, customer empathy, and AI fluency. Her team is actively navigating the AI transformation, experimenting with AI-powered tools for product development, establishing ethics guidelines grounded in inclusivity, equity, accountability, safety, human centricity, and sustainability, and redefining what product work looks like in an AI-augmented world. Kelsey recently completed credentials in Product Strategy and AI Business Strategy from Northwestern Kellogg's Executive Education program. Prior to EMPLOYERS, she built and scaled an MGA at Intuit QuickBooks Insurance. Her deep expertise in leading teams through digital transformation in traditional industries positions her uniquely to help others navigate the AI transition.

Raluca Apostol

Chief Product Officer at Nestor

Raluca is co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Nestor, the People Intelligence Platform that helps organizations engage, develop and retain talent in the new hybrid world. With a Ph.D. in machine learning, she leads the research and product development at Nestor. She deeply cares about customer success and makes sure that every employee using the product is becoming better every day. Raluca has over ten years of experience in team management and people development and over 15 years of experience in the software industry and enterprise software consultancy. Her research work was referenced by Intel Corporation and LG Electronics. She is also a Y Combinator Alumni.

Vidya Eashwer

Chief Technology Officer at Forge Global

Vidya Eashwer is Chief Technology Officer at Forge Global. Vidya has 20 years’ experience creating and executing innovative fintech strategies. Prior to joining Forge, Vidya was Head of Technology, Edge Systems, at Intercontinental Exchange where she led overall program delivery ownership and management for software development and data sciences. Vidya also spent six years as Managing Director of IT at the New York Stock Exchange managing software development across the U.S. and Europe.

Elizabeth Moyle

Founder & Principal Consultant, AI & Digital Transformation at Elizabeth Moyle Enterprise Consulting, LLC

Elizabeth Moyle is a strategic product and platform leader who excels at the intersection of technology, manufacturing, and supply chain. With a career spanning more than two decades, she has a proven track record of leading enterprise-wide digital transformations for industry giants like GALLO and innovative startups like 57Blocks. Elizabeth masterminds and executes complex, high-stakes initiatives. She has led global SAP S/4HANA implementations, governed a $10M intelligent automation program with over 150 AI-enabled workflows, and coordinated 19 simultaneous workstreams for a major Greenfield facility buildout. Her work consistently delivers significant financial impact, including over $9M in savings in a single year through Lean Six Sigma Black Belt initiatives. Recognized for her resilient, people-first leadership, Elizabeth has a unique ability to unite executives and frontline teams around a common vision. She is passionate about building scalable platforms and empowering organizations to own their digital future.

Laura Dunwoody

Director of Resident Experience at City & County Of Denver

Laura began her career in Financial Services on Wall St. She later pivoted to large contact center management in support of a wide range of industries including telecommunications, financial institutions, and Human Capital. In 2005, Laura’s site for Virgin Mobile was awarded the JD Powers Site of Excellence award for customer service. In 2019 Laura joined the City and County of Denver to lead their Resident Experience efforts. In addition to optimizing the city’s 311 service center, Laura’s marquee project has been the development and adoption of a resident facing AI powered chatbot that has won multiple Government industries awardees, improved resident experience in Denver, and provided significant reductions in cost to serve.

Sandhya Pillay

VP Equipment Innovation & Freestyle Operations at The Coca-Cola Company

VP Equipment Innovation & Freestyle Operations The Coca-Cola Company Born and raised in South Africa, Sandhya has a 22-year cross functional, multi-country, and culturally diverse career. With a deep-rooted devotion to growing people and businesses, she majored in Marketing and Information Technology. Currently the VP of Equipment Innovation and Freestyle Operations for Coca-Cola North America, Sandhya’s career spans Brand Marketing at Unilever, Innovation and Channel Development at Tiger Brands then Customer, Operations, Supply Chain, Innovation, General Management, Customer & Commercial Leadership at both Coca-Cola bottling partner, ABInBev and The Coca-Cola Company. Sandhya has extensive experience in developing and leading cross-functional teams globally to design mutually beneficial, consumer centric strategies for customers and The Coca-Cola System. Deeply passionate about building the next generation of leaders, including her three daughters, she has led Coca-Cola’s Woman’s Leadership Chapters across multiple countries, including North America and continues to coach and mentor students and young professionals.

Richa Awasthi

Vice President- Credit Risk Analyst — Consumer & Business Cards, Financial Services

Credit Risk Analyst with 10+ years of experience in commercial banking and consumer/ business credit cards, specializing in risk strategy, portfolio analytics, and credit line management. Experienced in data-driven decisioning, risk modeling, and financial analytics to optimize portfolio performance and control loss.

Fiona Lin

COO at inTune

Fiona Lin helps organizations overcome growth and execution challenges to achieve lasting performance improvements. With over 20 years of experience leading business transformations across five industries, she has modernized systems, scaled operations, and led acquisition integrations and portfolio realignments that delivered more than $100 million in savings and helped three organizations double or triple revenue. Fiona began her career in China with Black Diamond and later held leadership roles at Rio Tinto, ZAGG, and Snap! Finance. She is known for bridging the gap between strategy and execution through operational discipline and team empathy. A lifelong learner, Fiona holds an MBA from the University of Utah and a range of professional certifications, including Scaled Agile, Lean Six Sigma, and Change Management.

Siara Nazir

Advisor at Silverside AI

Siara Nazir is an award-winning global marketer and media leader who has pioneered artificial intelligence (AI) based strategies and solutions for marketing programs in the industry. She has led digital transformation for two Fortune 500 companies and her growth-hacking strategies have been featured in several industry publications and podcasts like Forrester, Marketing Land, Sunny Side Up, and others. Siara is also a speaker at various industry conferences & podcasts. She was most recently invited by The Wall Street Journal to speak at their inaugural Executive Forum on Artificial Intelligence and showcase her intent-based AI-powered chatbot that accelerated e-commerce revenue 4x. Siara serves on boards along with being an advisor to Silverside AI.

Wendy Petty

CRO at WorkFusion

As Chief Revenue Officer and a veteran of the enterprise software industry, Wendy Petty has spent her career leading high-performing teams and scaling global businesses. With over four decades in tech, she’s known for her resilience, strategic vision, and ability to drive growth in complex, male-dominated environments. Wendy is passionate about developing leaders, building cultures of accountability and innovation, and turning challenges into catalysts for transformation.

Sharon PrezzyClark

President at Isolv

Sharon Clark is the President of ISolv Consulting and the Chair of the Board of Advisors for WIPP WEI, where she champions innovation, economic advancement, and leadership for women in business. A strategic operator and transformational leader, Sharon drives modernization across government and public-sector organizations through forward-thinking solutions that enhance operational excellence and long-term value. With a proven record of executing sustainable growth strategies, she specializes in revenue-focused business development, organizational scaling, and operational efficiency. Sharon is known for building high-performing teams, strengthening organizational culture, and forging strategic partnerships that deliver measurable impact. She leads with a deep commitment to trust, collaboration, and mission alignment—bringing together executive leaders, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams to achieve shared goals. Passionate about empowering others, Sharon continues to influence innovation, equity, and leadership across the public and private sectors.

Anita Mahon

Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer at EXL

Anita is responsible for driving strategic business expansion plans for EXL and accelerating growth in data and AI. Focusing on client-centric solutions and services, Anita works closely with the firm’s industry and capability teams to ensure the implementation of EXL’s long-term strategy. She is also a member of EXL’s Executive Committee Joining EXL in 2020 as Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, Anita has led key initiatives across the business to develop and execute data-led growth strategies and to transform the execution of go-to-market priorities. Most recently serving for three years as Global Business Head, Health, she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of business strategy, client engagement, service delivery, and financial performance for EXL clients in payer, provider, pharmacy benefit manager, and life sciences organizations. Anita has over 25 years of experience in leadership roles driving growth for data and technology businesses serving multiple large industries with complex strategic and operational needs. Prior to EXL, Anita served as Vice President, Data, Strategy and Portfolio Officer for IBM Watson Health. While at Watson Health, Anita also served as Chief Marketing Officer and led value-based care strategy and marketing. Anita joined IBM with its acquisition of Truven Health Analytics in 2016. As Chief Strategy Officer at Truven while the business was part of Thomson Reuters, Anita led the definition and implementation of the company’s corporate growth strategy and development. Prior to joining Truven Health she served as executive director for a telecommunications software and consulting business that is now part of Ericsson. Anita holds a master of business administration from Columbia Business School, a master of science in computer science from Columbia University, and a bachelor of science in mathematics and computer science from Manhattan University.

Latha Ramamoorthy

Vice President

Latha Ramamoorthy is a Vice President and Lead Technical Program Manager with nearly 20 years of experience driving global transformation programs across banking, fintech, and technology. She has led enterprise-scale initiatives spanning AI-driven platforms, API ecosystems, and large-scale product innovation, impacting millions of users worldwide. Known for bridging strategy and execution, Latha specializes in delivering complex programs that balance efficiency, innovation, and trust at scale. Her leadership approach is rooted in empathy — fostering inclusion, empowering diverse teams, and inspiring organizations to embrace change with confidence. A frequent speaker and mentor, she is recognized for thought leadership in empathetic leadership, generative AI, and product excellence. Latha is passionate about helping leaders reimagine how technology and human values intersect, creating organizations that are not only high-performing but also future-ready.

Julie Gilbert

CEO, Board Director & Trusted Advisor at Full Throttle Growth & Capital

Julie Gilbert is a globally recognized technology and growth strategist, honored as a 2025 “Top Private Board Directors to Watch” by Private Company Director. She is a trust board advisor and director due to her deep proven operator leadership and success in a wide-range of industries. She is a four-time multi-unicorn founder and early AI founder and former McKinsey Partner, Senior Vice President of Growth at Best Buy, Senior Manager at Deloitte in corporate taxation, she specializes in building highly disruptive and financially lucrative AI-enabled, cyber-protected growth engines for public companies, private equity portfolios, and global enterprises. She is a trusted board partner and advisor and partners as a team member directly with CEOs, C-suites, and boards to design new businesses, scale data and AI platforms, strengthen governance, and drive secure, sustainable revenue and NOPAT expansion. A sought-after expert in AI, 'in the journey' quantum leader, cybersecurity, disruptive growth, and board risk management, she is a frequent keynote speaker for Fortune 500 companies and leading institutions including Amazon, Microsoft, Verizon, PNC, EXL, London Financial Times, Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg, the U.S. Military, IMD Switzerland, NYU, University of Michigan, University of Minnesota, TEDx. Known for building high-performance leadership cultures and delivering significant stock accretion, she combines deep technical expertise with a proven record of transforming organizations from start-up scale, multigenerational family businesses and family offices, private equity owned to Fortune 500 globally.

Kendra Edwards

Chief Marketing Officer at Terri Eagle Group

I help ambitious brands build magnetic identities and measurable growth engines through strategic brand positioning, performance-driven marketing, and integrated storytelling. With 15+ years of experience helping brands grow with intention across fashion, retail, and technology. I’ve led marketing for founder-led, family-owned, and private equity backed businesses helping to build brands, drive revenue, and create clarity during moments of growth, reinvention, and transition. As Managing Director of Marketing at Terri Eagle Group, I provide fractional CMO leadership to companies navigating scale, rebrands, leadership shifts, and mergers & acquisitions. My work often supports organizations post-acquisition, aligning brand narrative, go-to-market strategy, and team execution during periods where trust, momentum, and integration matter most. I sit at the intersection of storytelling and performance, ensuring marketing isn’t just visible, but effective and durable. I’m known for translating complex business goals into clear brand direction, guiding teams through change, and building marketing foundations that scale without unnecessary overhead. Whether advising founders, partnering with PE firms, or leading cross-functional teams, my focus is always the same: clarity, alignment, and sustainable growth. I also serve on the Board of Directors for Fashion Group International DC, supporting community and creative leadership in the DMV.

Leslie Hassler

Founder & President at Your Biz Rules

I work with business owners who are ready for more profit, more freedom, and a business that does not depend on them every minute of the day. My team and I step in as your Fractional C-suite to make that happen. As the founder of Your Biz Rules®, I lead a team that works alongside you to bring your vision of what you want to happen in your business to life. We focus on what matters most, from driving profitability and building capacity to strengthening leadership and creating a business that is built to last. Using our Scaling Rich® methodology, we streamline operations, engage your team, and put proven strategies in place so your business runs smoothly without relying on your constant oversight. We work across all industries and guide our clients in areas such as: - Marketing and sales - Financial modeling, cash flow, and profitability - Team building, hiring, and engagement - Culture development and alignment - Systems and process optimization - Technology, AI, and automation - Leadership development - Growth strategy and exit planning Over the years, we have helped clients triple growth in their first year, increase net profit margins to 36 percent, sustain multi-year growth beyond their original goals, and create the capacity to step away from the day-to-day while their business continues to grow.

Christina Joy Whittaker

Founder & CEO | Brand & Leadership Identity Strategist at KNOWN

CHRISTINA JOY WHITTAKER is a sought-after speaker, brand strategist, and leading authority on leadership identity, personal branding, and purpose-driven entrepreneurship. An award-winning strategist, TEDx speaker, founder of KNOWN, and University of Southern California lecturer, and soon to be podcast host, Christina works at the intersection of identity and impact — equipping ambitious women and high-performing leaders to leverage their expertise, elevate their visibility, own their next life and career move, and build profitable brands and businesses with intention. Her keynotes, workshops, and tailored corporate leadership development programs have brought her into partnership with organizations like the NBA, McDonald's, The Walt Disney Company, Voya Financial, and Warner Brothers — designing high-impact experiences for diverse leaders navigating purpose, career evolution, and what it means to lead with greater clarity and influence. Through KNOWN, Christina leads a thriving community and private coaching experiences for purpose-driven professional women who are ready to translate their career capital into profitable businesses — and curates signature retreats and immersive experiences that move women from accomplished to known.

Poonam Garg

Founder & CEO at Beyond the Legacy

Poonam Garg is an engineering leader and Women in Technology advocate, currently serving as Founder of The Beyond Legacy, a platform that shares leadership insights from seasoned professionals. She has a deep background in technology leadership, having led initiatives in platform engineering, DevOps, cloud adoption, and DevSecOps integration. Poonam has coached and mentored 50+ teams on re-architecting systems, improving engineering productivity, and adopting industry best practices. An active member of Women in Technology networks, Poonam frequently speaks at tech events such as Grace Hopper, OpenSource North, and WomenTech Network. She also serves as a reviewer, track chair, and judge for multiple forums, including the Stevie Awards, The Globe Awards, and The Codiee Awards.

Kyler Cheatham

Chief Performance Officer at The Confluencial

Kyler Cheatham is the global Chief Performance Officer at The Confluencial, where she helps organizations unlock the full potential of their people, processes, and technology. A Women in AI thought leader and frequent contributor to industry publications, she has been recognized as a 40 Under 40 Award Winner, a 2025 #empowHERaccess Global Prestige Awards Finalist, and a Women in Tech North America Disruptor Finalist. With a background spanning enterprise tech implementations, leadership development, and complex manufacturing, Kyler brings clarity to spaces often clouded by hype and jargon. She is also the host of ByteSized, a podcast exploring the intersection of business strategy, technology, and human potential, and she lectures at Colorado Mesa University, mentoring the next generation of technology and business leaders. Kyler is known for her sharp perspective on organizational modernization and her commitment to driving measurable outcomes through alignment, authenticity, and trust.

Meeky Hwang

CEO & Co-Founder at Ndevr

Meeky Hwang is the CEO and Co-Founder of Ndevr, a digital solution development agency helping health and wellness brands build resilient, scalable platforms for growth. With over 20 years of experience in web development, DevOps, and content infrastructure, she’s helped teams at Johnson & Johnsons, Pfizer,Forbes, PMC, and Bloomberg optimize digital ecosystems that power millions of users. Meeky works with health & wellness companies to streamline workflows, enhance mobile and web performance, and create seamless cross-functional collaboration between product, design, and engineering. Her 3E Framework: focused on Audience, Creator, and Developer Experience guides Ndevr’s approach to building high-performing platforms. As both a technical strategist and Champion for women in tech, Meeky brings clarity and inclusivity to complex builds. She’s contributed to Forbes, Thrive Global, and speaks frequently on digital transformation, workflow automation, and leadership in fast-scaling healthcare & wellness environments.

Melissa Carson

CEO/Chief Catalyst Officer at Melissa Rider Carson

Melissa Carson is a leadership strategist and ICF-certified coach who partners with women leaders in tech navigating high-functioning leadership burnout—still performing, still showing up, but starting to run on empty and one decision away from breaking. With 25+ years in executive HR and talent strategy across scaling or large tech companies, Melissa brings both strategic thinking and grounded truth-telling to help leaders cut through the noise, clarify what actually matters, and build the endurance to lead sustainably without sacrificing impact. She's affiliated with the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA) and previously served on the board of the Philadelphia Society of People and Strategy and YWCA Delaware. Melissa holds an M.A. in Human Resources Management and lives in Delaware, where she's never met a conversation about leadership she didn't want to dive into.

Shweta Agrawal

Chief Product Officer at Boston New Technology

Shweta Agrawal, is Top 40 Under 40, is a seasoned AI Product Leader and the Chief Product Officer at Boston New Technology (BNT), where she drives one of Boston’s most dynamic platforms for founders, technologists, and investors. She is also the Startup Advisor and mentor to women and underrepresented groups in shaping the future of artificial intelligence. An active speaker and thought leader, Shweta has shared insights on AI and Product leadership at major global stages including AI Summit, Women in Tech Global Conferences and the CPO Summit. Beyond her professional work, she is a trusted advisor to startups and a dedicated advocate for inclusive innovation, empowering underrepresented founders and the next generation of AI product leaders

Nia Joseph

AI Product Leader | LinkedIn Learning Instructor | Founder at TechFren

Nia Joseph is an AI product leader, educator, and founder focused on helping organizations build practical and people-ready AI capabilities. She has architected enterprise-level AI frameworks, developed applied AI curricula, and trained thousands of professionals across universities and global learning platforms. Her work spans AI adoption, workflow automation, digital transformation, and cross-functional enablement for modern teams. Nia is the creator of LinkedIn Learning’s top-rated course on AI Agent Development and has built AI education programs for Microsoft, DataCamp, and academic institutions such as UT Austin, UNLV, and Northwestern University. Through her company TechFren, she develops workshops and frameworks that support AI literacy, team readiness, and responsible use of generative AI across organizations. With a background in product strategy and operational AI systems, Nia focuses on translating complex AI concepts into clear operating models that leaders can use to drive innovation. She helps teams understand how to integrate AI into real workflows, measure impact, and scale adoption in a sustainable way. Nia speaks regularly on AI strategy, digital transformation, and the future of work, offering practical and accessible approaches that empower leaders to build confidence, capability, and momentum in the AI era.

Angella Dagenhart

Co-Founder at The BLU Arc Collective

Angella Dagenhart is a change architect and co-founder of The BLU Arc Collective. She has spent 20+ years leading organizational change across technology, operations, and people strategy—helping teams translate big transformations into real, sustained behavior change. Her work focuses on diagnosing adoption risk early and building the conditions that make new ways of working stick. She brings a practical, human-centered approach grounded in enterprise delivery and leadership realities.

Dessalen Wood

Chief People Officer at Syntax

Dessalen Wood, CHRP, is the Global Chief People Officer at Syntax, a global provider of cutting-edge cloud and managed IT solutions. Dessalen leads company-wide human resource strategies, fostering a vibrant culture for over 2,800 employees in 15 countries. With over 25 years of experience, Dessalen has built and developed People & Culture teams, creating customized professional development initiatives at renowned Canadian and US enterprises like Reitman’s Canada, Hudson’s Bay Company, and The Disney Stores. Before Syntax, Wood served as Chief People Officer at ThoughtExchange and Vice President of Talent Development at Cineplex Entertainment. Recognized with multiple awards, including the Retail Council Award for Talent Development, Waterstone Top 10 Most Admired Corporate Cultures, and most recently, is proud to announce that Syntax has been named a Great Place to Work in all the countries they operate.

Christine Rizzo

Senior Software Engineering Manager at Red Hat, Inc.

Christine Rizzo is a Senior AI & Cloud Transformation Leader with over 18 years of experience in software engineering and leadership, known for transforming complex technological challenges into strategic, high-value business solutions. At Red Hat, Christine was asked to spearhead the AI adoption initiative for our organization, leading the critical transition from experimentation to enterprise-wide scaling. Her expertise spans AI Strategy and Digital Transformation, demonstrated by her leadership in driving the strategic vision for the Hyperfleet architecture, migrating the platform to a globally distributed, multi-regional service, and her certification in Generative AI and LLMs: Architecture and Data Preparation. A graduate of the MIT Sloan + CSAIL Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy Program and the Engineering Leadership Accelerator program, Christine is deeply committed to coaching, mentoring, and fostering team empowerment, specializing in creating inclusive, high-performance cultures that thrive through human-machine symbiosis. She is proficient in English and French..

Sreeja Nair

Director, Product Management at Qualcomm

Sreeja Nair is a Director of Product Management in the Wireless Infrastructure and Networking Business Unit at Qualcomm Inc. She manages the P&L for the World Wide Enterprise segment and is responsible for defining the product roadmap, go to market strategy and customer engagements. In her role, she interacts with Wireless Enterprise Providers to align their connectivity needs with Qualcomm’s prolific wireless portfolio. She is excited to play her part in defining the features and use cases for the next generation of connectivity solutions which are laying the foundations for enterprises, IOT and Smart Homes. She has a Masters’ Degree in Electrical Engineering from Virginia Tech and has 2 patents in the fields of Wireless and Display technologies. She is a 2020 YWCA Silicon Valley Tribute to Women Honoree, an award honoring exceptional women leaders’ in Silicon Valley. In 2019, Sreeja was recognized as Qualcomm’s Global D&I Champion for her leadership in championing D&I at Qualcomm and in the community. She has been a speaker, panelist and emcee at the Watermark Conference, IEEE WIE Lead, Women in Silicon Valley Conference, Products by Women events among many others prestigious events. She is extremely passionate about mentoring new college graduates and building a pipeline of girls for the STEM field. She actively works for the cause by volunteering on various boards and events including NCWIT Bay Area. In her spare time, she volunteers for NGOs working in the education sector. In her spare time, she loves writing and talking about how lessons from products and AI influence her product, organization and career decision making.

Dr. Cynthia Sutherland

Chief Information Security Officer at BlackCrest Cyber, LLC

Dr. Cynthia Sutherland is The Resilience Transformer™—a globally recognized cybersecurity executive, resilience strategist, and transformational speaker with 28+ years of experience securing defense, government, enterprise ecosystems, and industrial control systems across 16 industries. She protected more than $1 trillion in assets, led cybersecurity diplomacy across 50+ nations, and driven measurable reductions in risk, cost, and incidents through human-centered innovation. She served as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Global Chair for a 23-nation NATO security board, and as a Global Automotive Cybersecurity Leader at Amazon Web Services (AWS). Her work spans governance, cybersecurity, cloud integration and compliance, Artificial Intelligence (AI) implementation, and organizational resilience across global platforms. Named a “STEM Pioneer Who Rocks” by NSA, Dr. Sutherland bridges emotional intelligence, organizational strategy, and cybersecurity to engineer environments where ideas and people thrive—because transformation should not burn out the minds that build the future.

Lisa Mazzoni

Leadership Coach at Growth Collaborations LLC

After 30 years in corporate leadership roles, Lisa founded Growth Collaborations LLC to combine her passion for leadership development with the power of the Enneagram personality framework. She brings her practical operations experience, strong facilitation toolkit, and a coaching mindset to her work with clients. She is typically hired when tensions within and between teams start affecting organizational performance. She helps her clients connect with their purpose, align their people, and implement processes that deliver impactful results. Lisa is an accredited Enneagram practitioner and a certified Deep Coaching Professional.

Ivna Curi

Founder & Leadership Advisor at Brave Culture Institute

Ivna Curi is a leadership advisor, Forbes contributor, TEDx speaker, and Fortune 500 consultant who helps organizations design accountability under power differences, risk, and real-world consequences. She is the creator of Brave Culture™, a system for making ownership and speaking up routine, not heroic. Ivna has worked with global organizations to improve decision quality, reduce escalations, and surface risk earlier by redesigning how accountability operates.

Dr. Cecilia Dones

Founder, Chief Data Officer at 3 Standard Deviations

Dr. Cecilia Dones is an AI, data, and analytics transformational leader, founder of 3 Standard Deviations, with expertise spanning Fortune 500 companies (L’Oreal, LVMH) and academia. She specializes in AI applications, technology's impact on human interactions, and bridging data insights across sectors. Her doctoral work focused on understanding interpersonal attitudes in virtual environments. She holds degrees from Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, NYU Stern, and Columbia University. She has taught at top business schools such as MIT Sloan and Columbia Business School and authors the "Authentic Interactions" newsletter exploring technology, data, authenticity, and trust as well as the LinkedIn newsletter, ‘What is a CMO to do with AI?’

Nia Luckey

Charlotte Metro ISSA Executive Board Secretary at International Systems Security Association

Nia Luckey is a cybersecurity risk executive at AT&T, an author, and a TEDx speaker recognized for her strategic acumen in governance, risk, and compliance. A co-author of The CISO Playbook, she blends technical expertise with leadership insight to drive digital resilience and trust transformation across complex enterprises. Drawing on her military background and executive experience, Nia is a global voice on the intersection of trust, technology, and human behavior, and an advocate for inclusive pathways into the cybersecurity field.

Rana Nader

California Employment Attorney at Nader Law Group, PC

Ms. Rana Nader is the Founder of Nader Law Group. As a skilled employment law attorney in California with over 18 years of legal experience. Ms. Nader has dedicated her practice to protecting the rights of workers. Driven by a passion for fighting workplace injustice, Ms. Nader exclusively represents employees. She has successfully litigated a wide range of employment cases, including claims for unpaid wages and overtime, workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, PAGA and Class Action cases. As a female attorney, Ms. Nader knows all too well the uphill battles that women face in the professional world. She understands the unique challenges that women face and is committed to using her legal experience to be a more empathetic, compassionate, and effective advocate for her clients.

Rebecca Sutter

CTO at ASE

A working CTO with over 40 years of experience in software engineering, data and networking. www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccalsutter Rebecca is also a practicing Psychotherapist that specializes in neurodivergence and trauma. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/rebecca-l-sutter-rockville-md/1410597

Lori Lalonde

Founder at Her Executive Ascent Inc.

Lori Lalonde is the Founder of Her Executive Ascent, a power accelerator for senior-level women in leadership who are determined to shape decisions, not just be part of them. She started her career in software development, moved into consulting, and went on to lead digital transformations across Microsoft’s partner ecosystem. From there, she built and led high-performing teams and managed large-scale portfolios, driving innovation and transformation at scale. After nearly three decades in tech, including leadership roles at Microsoft and Manulife, Lori stepped out of corporate life to build the leadership experience she wished had existed earlier in her own career. Lori’s mission is simple: to accelerate the rise of women leaders who are done waiting for permission.

Rashmi Kumari

Principal Solution Advisor at SAP America

As a Business Technologist, my passion lies in solving business challenges through innovative technology. Over the past 17 years, I've gained experience across various industries globally, with a primary focus on Utilities, Retail, Manufacturing, and Consumer Goods. Currently, I serve as a Principal Solution Advisor at SAP, where I am also the dedicated hub lead and champion for the NA Integration Space. My expertise spans Software Development, Architecture, Software Demonstrations, and Design Thinking, with key technical skills as Integration & Automation, Development/Extension.

MJ Patent

Chief Marketing Officer at Logically

Based in Scottsdale, Arizona, MJ is a candid, down-to-earth marketing leader with over a decade of experience driving growth, alignment, and transformation. She brings a proven track record of building and managing high-performing teams, influencing senior leaders, and steering organizations through fast-paced change. Guided by the belief that sales and marketing must work as one, culture and communication are key, and strategy drives success, she blends executive presence with a healthy sense of humor (and a love of puns). When not leading in the business world, she enjoys traveling, exploring new foods, and time with her husband, young son, and two very fluffy cats.

Cleo Escarez

Founder/CEO at Redyoos

2025 Earthshot Prize Award nominee, Cleo Escarez, is a leader in sustainable fashion and accessories. As the founder of Redyoos, she is revolutionizing jewelry production through circular economy principles, bridging the jewelry industry with clean technology. With extensive experience in business strategy, including leadership roles at Starbucks, Williams Sonoma, and Gap Inc., Cleo previously served as COO of Boma Jewelry, overseeing its ethical, sustainable operations. Passionate about driving positive change, she is committed to minimizing waste and promoting responsible consumption.

Kelsey Waldrop

Executive Advisor & Leadership Strategist | Founder at Potential On Point

Kelsey Waldrop is an executive advisor and leadership strategist who partners with senior women navigating inflection points into the C-suite and paid corporate board roles. Through her work with enterprise leaders across technology and complex organizations, Kelsey focuses on clarity of leadership identity, strategic positioning, and high-stakes decision making. She is known for a rare form of pattern recognition—the ability to see and articulate what others sense but cannot yet name—and to translate that clarity into conviction, choice, and decisive action. Her work helps executives move beyond performance and productivity into influence, followership, and enterprise-level impact precisely where visibility, power, and opportunity converge. Kelsey speaks and advises on C-suite readiness, strategic leadership presence, and how senior leaders intentionally design the conditions under which consequential opportunities and influence follow.

Silvana Pimentel

Chief AI Officer at AI Your Superpower

Silvana Pimentel is a Chief AI Officer, TEDx-featured speaker, and founder of AI Your Superpower, IA Para el Éxito, and Happiness by Habit. Known as the AI Superpower Implementor, she helps executive leaders and entrepreneurs implement AI systems that increase efficiency, visibility, and revenue—without burnout. Her work bridges strategy and execution through human-centered AI operating models designed for measurable ROI.

Amreetha Nagaraj

"The AI-Powered Leader: Redesigning How We Work, Decide, and Lead"

Amreetha Nagaraj is an accomplished technology and business consulting leader with more than 15 years of experience in client management and technology consulting. Currently, she serves as the Head of Consulting for the East Coast and Canada at Box and has held various leadership positions in SAAS-based product companies. She has extensive experience collaborating across functions, including product engineering, customer success, support, sales, and marketing, to provide strategic guidance and support that aligns with the company's long-term vision and goals. Amreetha has a wealth of experience developing programs to enhance operational efficiency and drive process improvement initiatives, with a particular focus on professional services, consulting, and delivery excellence. She is passionate about coaching teams on processes and best practices to ensure a world-class customer implementation experience. She is committed to building a highly collaborative culture in the tech world that fosters innovation, knowledge-sharing, and continuous learning across the globe. She resides in Maryland with her husband and two sons. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, traveling, and spending quality time with her family .

Nicole Scheffler

Global Partner Executive and Founder at Cisco Systems and Tech Diva Success

Nicole Scheffler, known as The Tech Diva, is a Global Partner Executive dedicated to inspiring and equipping women to thrive and lead in the male-dominated tech industry. With over 20+ years of experience at top technology firms, Nicole combines corporate expertise with entrepreneurial spirit as the founder of the Tech Diva Success collection-a platform empowering women to unlock their fullest potential. Author of six best-selling books and host of two podcasts, Nicole shares actionable frameworks like the DIVA Code, a mindset and leadership upgrade system that integrates passion, purpose, and practical action for sustained success. Certified as a success coach, she bridges the worlds of technology and conscious impact, advocating a heart-centered approach to leadership, innovation, and personal growth. Nicole actively serves her community-sitting on multiple boards, leading as a Girl Scout troop leader, and nurturing future "tech divas" as a proud mother of two daughters. Her mission is clear: to spark success by leading with service, authenticity, and empowerment, helping women rewrite the rules of success to live aligned, impactful lives.

Shanthi Sivakumar

Founder and AI Ethics Consultant at FairFrame AI Org

Shanthi Sivakumar is a digital health innovator, AI ethics advocate, and founder of FairFrame AI, a nonprofit initiative focused on mitigating algorithmic bias in healthcare, education, and career technologies. With over a decade of experience in healthcare IT and consulting for Fortune 500 companies, Shanthi brings a rare blend of clinical insight, technical strategy, and ethical foresight to the development of responsible AI systems.

SHWETHA SHIVAPRASAD

Director of QE & DevOps at BalsamBrands

I am Shwetha Shivaprasad, a Quality Engineering and DevOps Director at Balsam Brands with over two decades of leadership experience in quality assurance. As a people-first leader, my career has been dedicated to delivering complex projects on time and driving organization-wide transitions to automation. My passion lies in building and leading high-performing automation and performance testing teams from the ground up, all while fostering a culture of continuous learning and excellence. I am a strong advocate for embedded quality as a shared responsibility and an early adopter of emerging technologies that improve our testing practices. My insights have also been featured on the Ultimate QA podcast.

Angela Byers

Senior Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft 365 Copilot at Microsoft

Angela is a Senior Director of Marketing at Microsoft. She currently leads Growth Marketing and Copilot Product Marketing for the Small & Medium Businesses (SMB) segment. She and her team drive product marketing and go-to-market strategy and orchestration: from product roadmap and messaging and storytelling to communications tactics to sales and adoption channels.

Cheryl Tibbs

Chief AI Strategist at AI Marvels Inc

Cheryl Tibbs is a global speaker and strategist who blends business, leadership, and emerging tech to help women reclaim confidence and belonging in spaces where they’re often unseen. Her work centers on reinvention, courage, and building a future where women lead with authenticity.

Julia Atalla

Founder & CEO, Executive Coach at Brightworthy

Julia Atalla is the founder and CEO at Brightworthy, a leadership development and coaching firm. She works with hyper achieving leaders who have lost sight of their why, change agent leaders who are actively shifting organizational systems and culture, and aspiring leaders who are building confidence in their voices. As a Professional Certified Coach with 26+ years leading and developing teams, she brings experience and perspective to her role as coach, facilitator, speaker, and advisor. She believes “who we are is how we lead”. She is known for her positive energy and her ability to get to the heart of the matter.

Madhuri Adettiwar

VP - Product, Strategy & Transformation at Fluence Energy

Madhuri is a global technology and transformation leader with deep experience at the intersection of energy, digital platforms, and large-scale organizational change. She has held executive leadership roles across global enterprises, leading complex transformations spanning product, operations, and strategy in highly dynamic environments. Across her career, Madhuri has navigated industry disruption, organizational shifts, and personal challenges—experiences that have shaped her belief that resilience is one of the most critical leadership skills in times of constant change. She is passionate about helping women in technology build confidence, stay focused through uncertainty, and continue aiming higher despite setbacks. Madhuri is an active mentor and advisor within the technology leadership community and frequently speaks on leadership, change management, and building resilience for long-term growth and impact.

Kate Doerksen

CEO, Cofounder at Sage Haven

Kate Doerksen (pronounced “Dirk-sin”) is a seasoned entrepreneur with a passion for building technology businesses that are change agents for industries and make the world a better place. She has a track record of founding and scaling successful companies across various consumer and enterprise sectors. While earning her Bachelor’s Degree in Entrepreneurship from Ball State University, Kate launched her first venture, Hoopla, an online marketplace for college basketball recruiting that matched coaches and high school student athletes. She leveraged her experience as a Division 1 women’s basketball standout at Ball State where she won a host of awards including MAC Player of the Year, NCAA Academic All-American of the Year, NCAA Indiana Woman of the Year, and All-American Honorable Mention. She moved on from Hoopla to pursue a brief stint in the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun. She was inducted into the Ball State Hall of Fame in 2014 and the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026. After retiring from basketball, Kate expanded her business acumen starting her business career in finance. She moved to New York City where she became an investment banking analyst at Citi in their Mergers & Acquisitions group. After a two year rotation, she moved to Chicago and became a private equity investor at Wind Point Partners where she worked closely with CEOs of portfolio companies to improve their operations. This experience cemented Kate’s desire to become an operator again so she went back to business school at Stanford where she got her MBA in 2011. During her first and second years at Stanford, Kate cofounded another venture, Ditto, which she ran for over 10 years before it was acquired by 1-800-Contacts in 2021. Under Kate’s leadership, Ditto grew to become a global leader in augmented reality virtual try-on and AI recommendation technology in the vision industry which was licensed to leading optical retailers all over the world. Their technology allowed eyewear to be more easily sold online, enabling a drastic reduction in the price of eyeglasses for Ditto’s 70M annual users. Their cutting-edge technology amassed 35 patents and Kate expertly navigated several huge challenges including complex litigation and international expansion. In 2023, Kate felt called back into entrepreneurship once again to start Sage Haven whose mission is to create a world where kids have a healthier relationship to technology and each other. She cofounded Sage Haven with her sister, Anne Pizzuti. They were inspired by a family who went through a mental health crisis contributed to by bullying and harmful social media content and the desire to ensure their own kids have a different experience online. In October 2024, they published a free guidebook to educate parents on technology best practices. In November 2024, they launched a weekly parenting podcast called Sage Sisters. In Q2 2025, they are launching their first technology solution, a safer messaging app for kids with AI-power safety tools for parents.. They hope to eventually layer in content and create a non-toxic alternative to social media. Throughout her career, Kate has been recognized for her strategic vision and leadership and is a sought-after Board Member and Advisor. She currently serves on the the Ball State Foundation Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of LUUM, a robotics/AI technology company in the beauty space, the Board of Directors of Donaldson Capital Management, an investment advisory with over $3B in assets, the Board of Directors of Indiana University Kelly School of Business Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and as an Advisor to Eyebot, an AI-enabled kiosk that does accurate vision tests in less than 90-seconds. Kate lives in Danville, CA with her husband, Chris, and their two kids, Grace (8) and Calvin (6). She’s a member of the PTA at her kid’s public elementary school, coaches both of her kids in basketball, and enjoys playing competitive tennis.

Hope Yin

An award-winning technology executive turned Coach, Speaker, and Advocate for Women In Tech.

I partner with global companies and executives to elevate their leadership presence, team cultures, and business growth.

Urmila Patnaik

Director, Solution Readiness at McDonalds

Urmila Patnaik is a Director of Technology for Solution Readiness at McDonald's lead markets. She began her career as a software engineer coding in Java and has since then embraced a variety of roles, including Agile Coach, Product Owner, and Engineering Manager. In her current role, she leads the deployment and launch of technology initiatives to McDonald's key global markets. Urmila is passionate about technical storytelling and thrives on exploring systems across a broad spectrum of technologies

Kimberly Kearney

Founder, Managing Director at INICIO Executive Consulting

For fifteen years, Kimberly Kearney operated in the kind of high-pressure environments where a single miscalculation could have life or death consequences or ignite geopolitical conflict. As a former covert CIA Case Officer and a U.S. diplomat, her office wasn't a corner suite. It was anywhere from windowless secure facilities to shadowy corners in undisclosed locations across the globe. Now, she brings those hard-won lessons to a very different battlefield: the executive suite. Kimberly’s Silicon Valley-based executive consulting and coaching firm, INICIO, is a secret weapon for leaders who find themselves in situations that can sometimes feel impossible. Solo founders betting everything on a pivot. Senior executives managing explosive growth. Elite national security officials navigating professional minefields. Across industries, high-stakes decision-makers come to her for the same reason: her CIA-trained ability to help leaders thrive amid uncertainty, diffuse conflict, and communicate with clarity.

Ajantha Suriyanarayanan

CEO at MentalLoad

Ajantha is a 20+ year veteran behavioral researcher and product strategist, who has led large global teams across corporate giants such as Meta, DocuSign and Visa, and scrappy startups such as BlueOwl and Culture&. She's built her career on understanding what makes people tick, and what makes teams thrive. Throughout her journey, she's prioritized carving out space to mentor countless women climbing their own career ladders. As a mom to two wonderfully chaotic little ones and part of the sandwich generation, she knows firsthand the weight of carrying it all. The burnout hit hard, but the revelation hit harder: this wasn't just her problem—it was universal. Sometimes the most personal problems demand the most innovative solutions. When she couldn't find an effective affordable solution to address the invisible cognitive load that disproportionately falls on women's shoulders, she decided to build it herself. That's how MentalLoad was born—a platform designed to tackle the relentless invisible load that keeps women from excelling in their chosen paths and truly thriving.

RINU ABRAHAM

Director, Program Management at Visa

Rinu Abraham is a technical program leader with 18+ years of experience delivering large-scale B2B payments, compliance, and enterprise software programs across financial services, healthcare, and telecommunications. Currently at Visa, I lead complex, multi-million-dollar initiatives spanning cross-border payments, managing Compliance AI projects and other agile transformation projects, partnering closely with executive leadership to drive predictable, scalable outcomes.

Dimple Thakkar

Founder & CEO- CoreQuantum LLC | Ex-JPMorgan-Head of Data for AI

Dimple Thakkar is the Founder & CEO of CoreQuantum LLC / PradimeAI, a strategic AI advisory and GenAI product firm focused on helping C-suite leaders navigate complex digital and AI-driven transformations. She advises senior executives on enterprise AI strategy, data and analytics, AI product and engineering, and operating model transformation, with a strong emphasis on measurable business outcomes and responsible innovation.In addition to her executive roles, Dimple is an advisor and mentor to fintechs and emerging startups in AI and quantum-adjacent technologies globally and on the Board of several noted Innovation institutions. With more than 25 years of global leadership experience across the U.S., EMEA, and APAC, Dimple has held senior roles spanning product strategy, data, analytics, and technology within financial services and consulting. Most recently, she served as Head of Data Products & Strategy for Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Operations within Consumer & Community Banking at JPMorgan Chase & Co., where she built and led high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams responsible for delivering scalable AI and data products that enhanced customer experience, improved operational efficiency, and strengthened risk management. Her leadership has been pivotal in developing and deploying scalable AI and machine learning products that drive strategic outcomes across the firm's retail banking, card, asset, and wealth management portfolios—serving both retail and institutional clients globally. Previously, Dimple served as Chief Technology and Data Officer at CUNA Mutual Group (now TruStage), where she led innovation, digital platforms, and enterprise data and analytics technology for digital solutions.

Shayani Roy

SVP Product Management & Design at OpenTable

Shayani is the SVP of Product Management and Design at OpenTable, a global leader in restaurant technology. Prior to OpenTable, Shayani was a product management leader at Meta and SurveyMonkey - leading global teams across consumer and enterprise product portfolios. Shayani has an MBA from Stanford University, an MS in Aeronautics & Astronautics Engineering from Purdue University and a dual degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Drexel University.

Mallika Shah

Engineering Leader at Warner Bros. Discovery

Mallika Shah is an Engineering Leader at Warner Bros. Discovery with several years of experience in software engineering and a Master’s degree in Computer Science. She has led engineering initiatives across investment banking, financial data services, social media advertising, and media at organizations including Goldman Sachs, S&P Global, Twitter, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Mallika’s work spans building and leading high-impact, greenfield engineering initiatives and defining strategy and execution for complex challenges in data and platforms, distributed systems, public cloud migration, privacy, scalability, API design, machine learning and AI. At Warner Bros. Discovery, amongst other initiatives, she leads initiatives focused on AI-driven workflows and machine learning innovation, including guiding teams in building the organization’s first ML systems, AI agents, and AI-powered workflows from experimentation to reliable production systems. As a speaker, Mallika has shared her technical expertise across industry and in various engineering forums at Twitter and Google. At Warner Bros. Mallika regularly speaks at organization-wide forums where she shares insights on emerging technologies, ML and AI adoption. Having grown from engineer to engineering leader through multiple waves of technological change, a journey relatable to many, Mallika brings a perspective shaped by leading teams through both organizational and technological transformation. As an AI Ambassador, she helps teams adopt emerging technologies responsibly while maintaining engineering rigor, trust, and high standards. She is passionate about empowering engineers, leaders and organizations to leverage technical creativity, empathy, and principled decision-making as strategic advantages in the age of AI.

Sydney Hamilton

Aerospace Engineer, Sr. Program Manager of an Autonomous Submarine Program at Boeing

Sydney Hamilton is an award-winning aerospace engineer and trailblazer in STEM. She made history in 2021 as the first African American to receive the SSPI Promise Award for her groundbreaking work in aerospace. As an AAAS IF/THEN Ambassador, she champions diversity and representation in STEM. Through her platform See Syd Soar, she uses storytelling and visibility to empower others—especially young women and underrepresented communities—to break barriers and pursue bold paths in science and engineering. Sydney is redefining what leadership looks like in STEM and inspiring the next generation to believe they belong, they matter, and they can soar too.

Rashi Agrawal

Head of AI at Hinge Health

Rashi is the Head of AI Engineering at Hinge Health, where she leads agentic AI initiatives to transform healthcare delivery. Previously, she served as Head of AI Engineering at the fintech startup Goodleap. An Indian immigrant with a Master's from SJSU and a decade at Yahoo's AdTech business, Rashi is also the founder of Women In Tech AI, a community dedicated to empowering women in the AI space. https://www.linkedin.com/in/rashi283/ https://sessionize.com/rashiagrawal

Sharrin Fuller

CEO at Glass Wallet Ventures

Sharrin Fuller is a serial entrepreneur, author of Unfollow the Rules, and CEO of Glass Wallet Ventures. She has built and sold two accounting firms for seven-figure exits and serves on the Executive Board of the Accounting & Financial Women’s Alliance. As Chair of the Women Who Count Conference, she helps leaders scale smarter, leaner, and with intention

Shelly Jairath

Enterprise AI Leader

Moderator: Shelly Jairath is a technologist, builder, and change-maker with two decades in the industry. At Salesforce, she leads enterprise AI adoption and innovation, helping teams use AI better, faster, and more responsibly. She’s passionate about scaling people and products, and as a board member and advocate, she works to open more doors for women in tech. Panelist: Julie Levin is SVP, Strategic Growth at Stagwell, responsible for driving new business and expanding client relationships across its global network. A proven growth leader with 20+ years across agencies, consultancies, and brand-side roles, she has helped scale and transform businesses while delivering impact for leading brands including Google, Coca-Cola, Verizon, Cadillac, Gillette, Gap, Revlon, and Ally Bank. She specializes in agency investment and operating model design, partnerships and ecosystem development, and full-funnel marketing strategy—bringing together creativity, commercial rigor, and operational excellence to unlock growth. Deepali Vyas is a world-renowned executive recruiter, career strategist, and entrepreneur, shaping the future of talent and personal branding. With decades of experience at the world’s top executive search firms, she has built and led global practices, advising Fortune 500 companies on their most critical leadership hires. Recognized as a Top Global Headhunter, she has reviewed millions of resumes, interviewed thousands of executives, and placed top talent in high-stakes roles across industries. Erica Rooney is a speaker, AI educator, and workplace thought leader helping women and organizations navigate the future of work with more confidence, clarity, and courage. She is the author of the upcoming book The AI Gap: Women, AI, and the Next Great Leap Forward, co-host of the podcast AI: Voice or Victim, and bestselling author of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors. With more than 15 years of leadership experience, including serving as a Chief People Officer in tech, Erica is known for translating complex conversations about AI, bias, and leadership into real-world insight that people can actually use.

Julie Levin

"The Hidden Cost of Tech Layoffs: What Happens to Women Leaders?"

Moderator: Shelly Jairath is a technologist, builder, and change-maker with two decades in the industry. At Salesforce, she leads enterprise AI adoption and innovation, helping teams use AI better, faster, and more responsibly. She’s passionate about scaling people and products, and as a board member and advocate, she works to open more doors for women in tech. Panelist: Julie Levin is SVP, Strategic Growth at Stagwell, responsible for driving new business and expanding client relationships across its global network. A proven growth leader with 20+ years across agencies, consultancies, and brand-side roles, she has helped scale and transform businesses while delivering impact for leading brands including Google, Coca-Cola, Verizon, Cadillac, Gillette, Gap, Revlon, and Ally Bank. She specializes in agency investment and operating model design, partnerships and ecosystem development, and full-funnel marketing strategy—bringing together creativity, commercial rigor, and operational excellence to unlock growth. Deepali Vyas is a world-renowned executive recruiter, career strategist, and entrepreneur, shaping the future of talent and personal branding. With decades of experience at the world’s top executive search firms, she has built and led global practices, advising Fortune 500 companies on their most critical leadership hires. Recognized as a Top Global Headhunter, she has reviewed millions of resumes, interviewed thousands of executives, and placed top talent in high-stakes roles across industries. Erica Rooney is a speaker, AI educator, and workplace thought leader helping women and organizations navigate the future of work with more confidence, clarity, and courage. She is the author of the upcoming book The AI Gap: Women, AI, and the Next Great Leap Forward, co-host of the podcast AI: Voice or Victim, and bestselling author of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors. With more than 15 years of leadership experience, including serving as a Chief People Officer in tech, Erica is known for translating complex conversations about AI, bias, and leadership into real-world insight that people can actually use.

Deepali Vyas

Global Head of Data & AI, ZRG

Deepali Vyas is a world-renowned executive recruiter, career strategist, and entrepreneur, shaping the future of talent and personal branding. With decades of experience at the world’s top executive search firms, she has built and led global practices, advising Fortune 500 companies on their most critical leadership hires. Recognized as a Top Global Headhunter, she has reviewed millions of resumes, interviewed thousands of executives, and placed top talent in high-stakes roles across industries.

Erica Rooney

CEO and Founder, HER Collective

Erica Rooney is a speaker, AI educator, and workplace thought leader helping women and organizations navigate the future of work with more confidence, clarity, and courage. She is the author of the upcoming book The AI Gap: Women, AI, and the Next Great Leap Forward, co-host of the podcast AI: Voice or Victim, and bestselling author of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors. With more than 15 years of leadership experience, including serving as a Chief People Officer in tech, Erica is known for translating complex conversations about AI, bias, and leadership into real-world insight that people can actually use.

Ishita Gupta

Quality Engineering Chapter Lead at Lloyds Banking Group

With 15+ years of experience driving test transformation and building strong quality cultures across industries, Ishita Gupta is redefining what it means to lead with impact. As a Quality Engineering Chapter Lead, she combines technical excellence with a passion for empowering others.
A dedicated advocate for women in tech and an active mentor, Ishita has been inspiring and guiding the next generation of technology leaders

Pradnya Shelar

Software Engineering Manager at Delivery Hero

I'm a Software Engineering Manager with 20 years of global experience spanning financial services, e-commerce, and logistics across the US, India, and Europe. My career began as a mainframe developer and has evolved through leadership roles at JP Morgan, where I worked on the Treasury Services Billing platform; Amazon AWS, where I built the last mile engineering team within the Commerce Platform International Entity Expansion org, responsible for leading India-specific initiatives; and Delivery Hero, where I currently lead full-stack engineering teams in the Customer Logistics tribe. At Delivery Hero, I lead engineering team that builds products and features enabling local brands to run efficient operations and deliver exceptional order experiences across 70+ markets. Throughout my career, I've driven large-scale modernization, migration, and regulatory initiatives across distributed teams spanning the US, Canada, China, and Europe, developing deep expertise in building resilient, high-performing organizations at global scale. My technical evolution—from mainframe systems to modern distributed architectures—combined with my cross-cultural leadership experience has given me a unique perspective on technology transformation and organizational change. Beyond delivering technical outcomes, I'm passionate about mentoring engineers, fostering psychological safety within diverse teams, and helping professionals navigate pivotal career decisions across different cultural contexts. Having guided significant technological and organizational transformations across three major global companies and multiple continents, I bring practical insights on scaling international engineering teams, managing complex cross-border migrations, and cultivating inclusive cultures that drive both innovation and measurable business impact.

Tarin Rickett

Software Engineer at Reddit

Tarin Rickett is a Software Engineer with nearly a decade of experience at companies like Reddit and LinkedIn. Throughout her career, she has participated in social impact programs ranging from on-the-job mentorship to global advising roles. Today, she volunteers as Chief of Staff at Women in Tech UK and as a global Advisor with the Women's Alliance for Knowledge Exchange.

Sonali Goel

Software Development Engineer ||| at Tesco Technology

Sonali Goel is a one-of-a-kind Software Development Engineer III with over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. Passionate about delivering seamless software experiences that drive real-world impact, her work is rooted in engineering excellence—but her influence extends far beyond code. Sonali is also a recognised community leader, mentor, and AI innovator, known for her ability to bridge the gap between technical depth and human connection. As a leader at the Women Coding Community (WCC), she has led multiple high-impact initiatives aimed at empowering women in tech.

Jessica Mansourati

Strategic Advisor and Program Manager at Uppsala Innovation Centre, Innovation Leadership Group

Jessica Mansourati is a startup advisor at UIC (one of the leading Nordic incubators), where she supports early-stage founders with validation, go-to-market, partnerships, and building programs - including initiatives in defence innovation. She is a former startup founder (Antler Sweden’s first cohort and SSE Business Lab) and has worked with strategy and communications at companies such as Spotify and Nextory, as well as at Business Sweden USA, helping Nordic startups expand into the US market. Jessica is passionate about making entrepreneurship and tech more accessible - especially for women building alongside real-life constraints.

Sheetal Kale

Managing Director at DataArt

Meet me! Servant Leader & Salaried Entrepreneur I am the Managing Director at DataArt, a global software engineering firm that delivers cutting-edge technology solutions for various industries. With over a decade of experience in the IT domain, I have developed a strong acumen for niche selling and product marketing, as well as digital and content marketing skills that drive growth & engagement

Juliana Smith

Project Controls Manager at Turner & Townsend

Juliana Smith is a multi‑award‑winning data and reporting expert with a background in Physical Oceanography. For over 15 years she has explored the stories hidden within data. Specialising in project controls analytics, Juliana translates complex cost, schedule, and performance metrics into clear, actionable insights that empower confident decision‑making. Recognised as a thought leader in Power BI and accessible design, she is a sought-after speaker at global events, where she shares practical strategies for ethical data storytelling and digital accessibility in data visualisation. Beyond her professional work, Juliana is a registered STEM Ambassador, Board Member of NorthWest Women in STEM and member of the British Computer Society's Inclusion Committee. Through these platforms, she seeks to inspire future generations, support local communities, and make STEM more accessible to all.

Ana Ciumac

Co-founder, CPO at Kidomo

Strategic Product and Partnerships Leader with 15+ years of experience driving innovation at world-class tech companies, including Google and Meta. Expert in translating complex technologies — including AI and cloud platforms — into scalable, user-centric solutions that deliver measurable impact. As a founder and industry innovator, they focus on how early interactions with digital tools shape lifelong financial behaviors and decision-making. Drawing on hands-on work with families and applied product development, they bring a practical and strategic perspective on designing financial literacy as a core life skill.

Catharina Rieder

Business Communications & Networking Consultant at Catharina Rieder

Catharina Rieder is a communications and networking expert with over 25 years of experience. After career stops from Hollywood to China—and the past 20 years in the tech world—she now works as a solopreneur, supporting founders and organizations in building resilient, high-impact networks. She operates at the intersection of communications, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence, and demonstrates why genuine human relationships remain indispensable in a technology-driven world. Her credo: “Your contacts are your capital and every encounter is a win.”

Merry Mathew

India Lead, Sales Effectiveness at Palo Alto Networks

Merry Mathew is a Sales Enablement Leader with over two decades of experience in the IT industry across marketing, sales operations, and sales training. She currently leads Sales Effectiveness for India at Palo Alto Networks, where she designs and delivers programs that accelerate performance and empower sales teams. She has previously worked with HP, NetApp, and Salesforce, driving initiatives that strengthen sales capability and leadership effectiveness. A passionate speaker, trainer, and mentor, Merry is known for her authentic and practical approach to growth and leadership. Drawing from a non-linear career journey, she brings real-world insights on building confidence, making bold career moves, and choosing growth even before feeling ready.

Sandhya Garapati

IT Chapterlead Engineer at ING Netherlands

Sandhya Garapati is a results-driven engineering leader with 17+ years in financial banking systems, blending deep technical expertise with strategic influence. She specializes in SRE, DevOps, Product Ownership, and Engineering lead, thriving at the intersection of technology, people, and business strategy. Known for bridging technology and vision, Sandhya translates strategy into actionable engineering objectives while fostering strong engineering cultures through mentorship, clarity, and purpose-driven collaboration.

Michelle Hua

UK Global Talent Visa Coach & Recipient

I am a Coach, Speaker and former Founder & CEO of Made With Glove Ltd, a UK wearable tech start-up. In 2016, I was endorsed with Exceptional Talent in Digital Technologies and became the recipient of the UK Global Talent Visa. I was the #TechNationVisa Ambassador and have coached over 1500 applicants with their endorsements. In 2019 I received my ILR and then my British Citizenship. I hold Australian, British and Irish citizenship and coach highly skilled tech entrepreneurs and talent working in digital technologies on how they can receive the endorsement for the UK Global Talent Visa too. My success rate is 90% while the endorsement rate is 40%. In 2019, I was listed in the Top 100 Influencers on Gender Equality and Diversity and in 2016, Top 100 Influential brands in Wearable tech. I have won numerous awards for my start up and advocating for women and diversity in tech by co-founding Women of Wearables. In my previous life, I was a property investor and commercial law property solicitor in private practice, in-house and for the Western Australian Government in Australia and New Zealand for 8 years. I hold Bachelor degrees in Commerce (Curtin University) and Laws (Murdoch University) from Perth, Western Australia.

Kenza Hazeb Hamzaoui

Operations Manager at Akkodis

I’m Kenza Hazeb Hamzaoui, an Operations Manager and computer engineer passionate about technology, leadership, and diversity. My background spans software engineering, information systems, and artificial intelligence, and I’ve led multidisciplinary IT teams delivering digital solutions with real impact. Over the years, I’ve transitioned from purely technical roles to management, bridging the gap between engineering and people. I’m deeply committed to empowering women in tech and sharing insights on how inclusion and leadership can shape the future of innovation.

Laura Taylor

Founder & Professional Visibility Strategist at Social Flow Collective

Laura Taylor is a Founder and Professional Visibility Strategist at Social Flow Collective. In 2020, she discovered LinkedIn as a tool to create her own opportunities, growing from 186 connections to over 11,000 followers and attracting features in Forbes and Stylist along the way. Through her work with hundreds of senior women across technology, leadership, and consulting, she noticed a pattern: high performers were being overlooked, not because they lacked talent, but because their visibility didn't match their capability. Strong work alone wasn't enough to get recognised. It needed to be seen. Her mission is to help women in tech build the kind of professional visibility that keeps them top of mind for the right opportunities, without self-promotion or burnout.

Tara Lawrence

Founder at Origo Consulting

Dr Tara Lawrence is the Founder of Origo Consulting, a business analysis and digital transformation consultancy. Originally trained as a scientist, she holds a PhD in Plant Genetics and spent several years as a research fellow, publishing in leading international journals. After a career break to raise her family, Tara transitioned into technology, joining B13.ai as a business analyst and progressing to CEO. She now helps organisations align business needs with technology strategy, drawing on her blend of analytical rigour, operational leadership and human insight.

Lauren Ackroyd

Agile Coach at Capgemini Invent

Lauren Ackroyd is a certified Agile Coach, with over a decade of experience in the tech space. Her passion lies in the development and growth of others, whether that is working with delivery teams, managers or leaders.

Suellen Espindola

Founder / CTO at Carapace Biopolymers

Suellen Espindola is one of the founders of a deep-tech agricultural biotechnology startup developing biodegradable seed coating technologies to protect crops while reducing reliance on synthetic agrochemicals. With a background in biotechnology and biomaterials, she works at the intersection of plant science, chemistry, and sustainable agriculture. Suellen has led greenhouse trials, secured partnerships with Dutch manufacturers, and is preparing a pilot production facility for 2026. Recognized as a young entrepreneur in Het Financieel Dagblad Talent 2026, she is also a finalist of the 2025 Academic Startup Competition and a nominee for the Marina van Damme Award 2025.

Nandini Tayal

Lead Engineer at Agilon Health

Nandini Tayal is a Lead Engineer with 6+ years of experience in backend engineering, working with Java, microservices, and cloud-based systems. She is an advocate for women in tech and enjoys sharing practical insights on career growth, leadership, AI and building sustainable tech careers.

Oksana Rösch

Founder & CEO at ANOX

I am a deep tech founder and innovation consultant working at the intersection of AI, autonomous systems, and industrial robotics. My background spans linguistics, research, engineering, and leadership across multiple countries and industries. Today, I build AI systems for autonomous machines and mentor women pursuing careers in technology, with a strong interest in non-linear career paths and future-ready skills.

Violetta Pidvolotska

Software Engineer & Technical Leader

Violetta Pidvolotska is a software engineer and technical leader with over eight years of experience building large-scale backend and distributed systems. She has led cross-functional reliability and architecture initiatives, strengthened system resilience, and participated in technical interviewing across a range of hiring contexts. As a hackathon judge and mentor, Violetta is passionate about helping engineers develop strong system-level thinking and design software that behaves predictably under real-world failures.

Gayatri Panda

Investor

Gayatri is a climate tech investor and strategist working at the intersection of technology, capital, and sustainability. She focuses on identifying and supporting technologies aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, with a particular interest in scalable climate solutions and systems-level change. With experience spanning technology, finance, and impact-driven innovation, she is passionate about helping more women access positions of influence—where decisions about the future of technology and the planet are actually made.

Karina Gómez Garcia

Chief Science Officer at Nido Constructech S.L.

Karina Gómez García is a strategic leader in climate innovation, working at the intersection of science, industry, and policy to connect Latin America and Europe through scalable, nature-based technologies. With a background in Biochemistry, a Master’s in Sustainable Business Strategy, and an MBA, she focuses on transforming natural intelligence into high-impact business models capable of decarbonising carbon-intensive industries. She is the Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of NIDO Constructech, a deep-tech startup developing regenerative biomaterials and bio-adaptive building systems that redefine how cities are built, heated, and cooled. Her work spans from bio-fabricated construction materials to off-grid microbial thermal systems, designed not only to reduce emissions but to fundamentally shift value creation in the built environment. Karina is the inventor of three international patents and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International EPD System, where she leads the evolution of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies for biomaterials and Nature-Based Solutions in construction and energy. She actively builds strategic alliances across academia, industry, and public institutions—from Cambridge and Wageningen to EU-level consortia—accelerating investment, regulation, and market adoption of regenerative technologies. Her leadership has been recognised internationally with awards including Startup of the Year 2024 (Rebuild–CEMEX), the Mondragón Deep-Tech Innovation Award, the EIC Accelerator Seal of Excellence (European Commission), and the Inspiratec Chile Award 2025. In 2025, she was highlighted by Smart City Expo World Congress Barcelona as a leading voice in biomaterials, participating in high-level dialogues alongside policymakers and industry leaders on impact measurement and implementation. She is currently part of a European consortium awarded major EU funding to scale macroalgae-based biorefineries and regenerative biomaterials, and was selected by the Chilean government to join an official mission to Japan and Expo 2025 Osaka, contributing to the development of a new carbon methodology under the Japan-Chile JCM and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.

Barbara Negron

SVP Managing Director Embedded Finance & Partnerships at Cogent Bank

Barbara J. Negron is a senior banking and fintech executive with deep experience building and scaling embedded finance and technology platforms across banks and fintech ecosystems. She currently serves as SVP and Managing Director of Embedded Finance and Partnerships, where she leads the development of modern financial infrastructure and strategic partnerships. Barbara is known for bridging innovation with execution in regulated environments and for helping organizations turn complex ideas into scalable, market-ready solutions. She is a strong advocate for women in leadership and mentors emerging leaders across technology and financial services.

Boriana Valentinova

CEO at Initium Software

CEO of Initium Software and brings over 20 years of experience leading digital transformations, organizational restructuring, and continuous improvement programs at an international level.

Sarah Grayson

Senior Project Manager at SG Consult Services

Sarah Grayson is a freelance Project Manager specialising in ERP transformation and change management. With a background in psychology and years of experience leading complex projects, Sarah combines technical expertise with a deep understanding of people and wellbeing. After discovering her own neurodivergence, she became passionate about creating inclusive work environments and helping others adapt their careers to support mental and physical health. Sarah is committed to empowering women in tech to lead authentically and thrive in a rapidly changing world.

Samhita Sarkar

Principal Data Engineering Tech Lead at HP Inc

Samhita is a Data Engineering Tech Lead, having worked across diverse domains including marketing, supply chain and insurance in her career. Samhita is passionate about empowering others having mentored over 100 individuals, guiding them to navigate the career path in data engineering.

Mihaela Onofrei

"From Vision to Reality: Building and Scaling AI in Regulated Healthcare"

Mihaela Onofrei CEO Apollo AI Technologies Mihaela Onofrei is the CO-Founder and CEO of Apollo AI Technologies, where she builds AI-powered tools for healthcare professionals. She leads the development of ApolloMed, an AI medical platform used daily by over 5,000 doctors and pharmacists. With an academic background in Natural Language Processing and artificial intelligence, Mihaela bridges research, regulated healthcare, and real-world deployment, working closely with global pharmaceutical companies such as Novo Nordisk and Boehringer Ingelheim. Her work focuses on building compliant, scalable AI solutions that deliver lasting clinical impact.

Semra Asan

From Vision to Reality: Building and Scaling AI in Regulated Healthcare

Semra Asan MEA Area Senior Director, Digital & Technology AstraZeneca Digital technology leader with twenty years of experience driving business-aligned digital transformation across the pharmaceutical and FMCG industries. She has led large-scale digital, data, and AI initiatives spanning Commercial, Supply Chain, Operations, and enabling functions, turning organizations into value-generating digital ecosystems. Her work focuses on translating emerging technologies into real business impact — designing governance models, scaling AI-driven decision solutions, and leading complex change programs across diverse geographies. She has held regional and global leadership roles at Coca-Cola İçecek and Kraft Heinz MEA, where she led enterprise digital strategy, large-scale IT transformations, and cross-border integrations. Today, she serves as MEA Area Director of Digital & Technology at AstraZeneca, driving the technology agenda to advance science, transform patient care, and build future-ready capabilities for sustainable growth by unleashing the full potential of digital, data and AI. She is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, completed MIT’s Leadership & Entrepreneurship program, holds a Statistics degree, and an Executive MBA.

Viktoriya Tsytsak

Senior Director Intellias

Viktoriya Tsytsak is a senior strategy and transformation leader with 20+ years of experience across Big-4 consulting and global IT services organizations. She currently serves as Senior Director in the CEO Office at Intellias. Throughout her career, she has worked closely with founders and executive teams on strategy execution, governance, and enterprise-scale transformation initiatives. Viktoriya has extensive experience observing and shaping how leadership decisions, promotions, and strategic roles are formed in complex organizations. She is passionate about helping high-performing professionals transition from execution-heavy roles into positions of leadership impact.

Eugenia Dunaeva

From Vision to Reality: Building and Scaling AI in Regulated Healthcare

Eugenia Dunaeva CEO Ultralite, Partner at DVC, Board Advisor Eugenia is an investor, board-level advisor, and former operator with experience leading partnerships and B2B organizations at a global level. Today, she is the founder of Ultralite Consulting, where she supports high-growth startups and scaleups on go-to-market strategy, commercial growth, and open innovation. As an active investor, Eugenia is an LP in four VC funds across the U.S. and Europe, with exposure to over 150 portfolio companies, including multiple unicorns. She has been recognized as 30 Under 35 in Global Travel by Phocuswright (2021) and named among 30 Female VCs and Angels in Climate and Sustainability by ClimateHack (2023). She is also an active mentor supporting women in tech and entrepreneurship.

Kehinde Ndede

Principal Technical Business Analyst ofgem

Kehinde is a Principal Technical Business Analyst at Ofgem with over ten years of experience delivering complex transformation programmes. She specialises in bridging execution and strategy, working closely with senior leadership to shape operating models, drive organisational change, and enable strategic decision making. Passionate about empowering women in technology, Kehinde actively mentors and speaks on leadership, growth, and navigating career progression beyond delivery roles. She is currently part of a senior sponsorship programme, focused on progressing into senior civil service leadership.

swati sharma

VP/ Business Information Security Officer S&P Global

Swati Sharma is the Global Business Information Security Officer for S&P Global’s Enterprise Data Organization, where she defines and executes security strategy to protect critical data assets and enable secure, compliant digital transformation. With 17 + years of experience in cybersecurity governance, risk management, regulatory compliance, cloud security, audits, and data protection, she brings deep expertise in financial data security and privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA. Before joining S&P Global, Swati spent nearly six years at Amazon and AWS, leading global information security governance and building scalable security frameworks across the enterprise. She holds a suite of industry recognised certifications—including CISSP, CISA, CRISC, CISM, CCSP, and others—and is a frequent author and speaker in international security magazines and conferences. A passionate advocate for cybersecurity education and diversity in STEM, Swati has trained over 5,000 professionals and regularly delivers engaging, business focused sessions on security awareness, secure by design engineering, and practical risk management. Her leadership fosters a culture of shared security responsibility across the organization.

Burcak AKBIYIK

Head of Global P&T PMO

Burçak Akbıyık is a technology leader with over 15 years of experience leading global, cross-functional teams in complex, international environments. Most recently, she served as Head of P&T PMO at Adevinta (Amsterdam), where she led global transformation initiatives, established PMO processes, and built an international project management community to strengthen collaboration and delivery across teams. Having worked closely with teams from multiple countries and cultures, she brings deep, hands-on experience in navigating cultural differences and communication challenges in global tech organizations. Previously, Burçak managed and coached global teams in Ebay, Sanofi and Roche, fostered a strong growth and feedback culture across distributed teams. Her work focused on enabling high-performing, inclusive teams by improving communication, psychological safety, and alignment across cultures. Burçak holds both a BSc in Computer Engineering and an MSc in Software Engineering Project Management from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul. She is passionate about leadership, team dynamics, and creating environments where diverse teams can collaborate effectively and thrive.

Dr Kranthi Addanki

From Innovation to Impact: Women Founders Powering Global Deep Tech Through Scalable Ecosystems"

Speaker 1: Dr Kranthi Addanki, AI + IT Researcher Bio: Dr Addanki is a learning science enthusiast experimenting with ways to improve student performance using various digital technologies supported by teaching AI models. She works with educators to improve their instructional design in higher education. She explores cutting-edge learning management systems like Blackboard or Moodle and modifies teaching methods to meet the needs of each student. Her research includes Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Learning Analytics, Natural Language Processing, Digital Twins and Nudge technologies. She aims to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal for high-quality education for all. https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-kranthi-addanki-233347a1?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

May Lalloo

Director, Global Marketing Services Product Management at Mastercard

May Lalloo is a dynamic tech leader whose career spans design, marketing, and product management. With a passion for storytelling and strategy, she has led cross-functional teams and driven innovation across global markets. Her journey — shaped by motherhood and migration — reflects a deep commitment to resilience, reinvention, and inclusive leadership. Currently serving as Director, Global marketing services, product management, May brings a unique blend of creativity, empathy, and commercial acumen to everything she does.

Hilary Watson

From Innovation to Impact: Women Founders Powering Global Deep Tech Through Scalable Ecosystems"

Hilary Watson, VC & Investor Ecosystem https://www.linkedin.com/in/hilarywatson?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

Divya Rao

Senior Engineering Manager at Dover Corporation

Divya Rao is seasoned leader with a blend of product, domain knowledge, people leadership skills with 20+ years of Industry experience. Ability to be agile, aligning to the changing business demands, ability to translate business expectations into tangible goals for the team & operational agility are her key strengths. Some of the highlights of her contributions & achievements in Women in Tech Initiatives include: • Recognition & Awards: Honored with the esteemed "Women in Tech Product" award from HerKey in 2025. • Speaking Engagements: Served as a featured speaker on an AI panel discussion at the STeP.in Summit 2025 and presented on a few occasions via the HerKey platform. • Mentorship & Leadership: Active contributions as a core leadership team member for the LeanIn Women In Tech Network. Having long-standing involvement with the GHCI conference includes roles as a mentor, jury member, and track chair. Contributed to TechNest community as a technical mentor. • Event Coordination: Partnered with LeanIn WiTI to successfully organize and drive numerous events & take care of the creatives. • Thought Leadership: Completed the 100Days of LinkedIn writing challenge, establishing a consistent voice in the industry.

Ashley Lewis

PhD Candidate, The Ohio State University

Ash Lewis is a PhD candidate in Computational Linguistics at The Ohio State University, where she studies how to make conversational AI systems more factual, reliable, and human-aware. Her research focuses on mitigating hallucinations in dialogue through efficient, data-driven methods such as knowledge distillation, self-training, and synthetic data generation. She is currently developing a virtual tour guide for the COSI museum in Columbus, Ohio, an AI system that engages visitors in conversations about language and science, and was part of a team that placed third internationally in Amazon’s AlexaPrize Taskbot Challenge. Her work bridges computational linguistics and AI ethics, emphasizing practical strategies for building systems that know the difference between fluency and truth.

Tracy Ragan

CEO, DeployHub

Tracy Ragan is the CEO and co-founder of DeployHub and a well-known leader in software delivery and security. She currently serves on the OpenSSF Technology Advisory Committee and the Continuous Delivery Foundation (CDF) Technology Oversight Committee. She serves on the CDF Governing Board as a strategic advisor, and has previously served as a governing board member of the OpenSSF. Tracy has co-founded two companies in the software supply chain space, OpenMake Software and DeployHub, where she serves as CEO. Earlier in her career, she also helped establish the Eclipse Foundation, reflecting her long-standing commitment to open-source software, secure software delivery, and industry collaboration. Learn more: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-ragan-oms/

Tom Shemesh

RevOps Leader & Founder

Tom Shemesh is a Berlin-based RevOps leader and founder with over 10 years of experience working across leadership, operations, and go-to-market teams in B2B SaaS. Her work focuses on how organizations scale, how decisions are made, and how power, visibility, and communication shape careers in tech. She brings a pragmatic, experience-driven perspective to leadership and career growth, with a strong interest in making invisible dynamics explicit and actionable.

Rebecca Kay Francis

"From Innovation to Impact: Women Founders Powering Global Deep Tech Through Scalable Ecosystems"

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Sri Adiraju

Director of PMO, TAE Power solutions

I am a Program Management leader in the clean energy sector, specializing in Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) and large-scale infrastructure delivery. I have experience building and leading PMOs, driving cross-functional execution, and scaling complex energy programs from concept through deployment. I am passionate about bringing structure to ambiguity and enabling teams to deliver with clarity and accountability. I also care deeply about advancing project management practices and supporting greater representation of women in leadership roles within energy and technology.

Zethu Lubisi

IT Professional and PhD Candidate in Information Systems at University of the Witwatersrand

Zethu Lubisi is an ICT professional and doctoral researcher whose work focuses on hybrid working models, digital competence, and employee wellbeing within the ICT and telecommunications sector in South Africa. Her research explores how hybrid work shapes identity, performance, and wellbeing, with a particular focus on creating inclusive and sustainable work environments. She brings a practical, evidence-based perspective to conversations on the future of work, bridging research insights with real organisational challenges.

Bree Fouss

Experience Transformation Director, Accenture

Bree Fouss is an experience strategist, behavioral science nerd, and proud public sector champion. She leads customer and resident experience work at Accenture, helping organizations across transportation, health, education, human services, and beyond build smarter, more human-centered technology. With roots in behavioral health, Bree bridges the gap between systems thinking and human emotion, making complex experiences feel intuitive, equitable, and impactful. Her work has been recognized by Core77, the Service Design Network, and Fast Company, but her proudest achievement is getting strategy, policy, and tech teams to genuinely fall in love with design. She’s a sucker for a great service blueprint, a fresh marker set, and creating moments that shift mindsets.

Birgit Hass

Founder at Finfluencer Circle

Birgit Hass is a Senior Marketing Manager at Sopra Financial Technology with extensive experience in B2B marketing, financial services, and technology-driven transformation. She specializes in strategic communication, corporate influencing, content marketing, and thought leadership within the DACH region. She is the founder of the Finfluencer Circle, a platform connecting finance experts and influencers to foster knowledge exchange and visibility. In addition, Birgit advises selected companies on positioning, storytelling, and community building. Her work focuses on topics such as digital finance, AI, blockchain, payments, innovation, and trust in technology. Birgit regularly conducts interviews, produces editorial content, and moderates discussions across LinkedIn, blogs, podcasts, and video formats.

Srilakshmi Bharadwaj

Sr Software Engineer, Linkedin

Srilakshmi Bharadwaj is a Software Engineer with experience building large-scale distributed systems and infrastructure platforms. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Her work spans distributed storage systems, secure data infrastructure, and scalable platform design. She has led initiatives that significantly improved operational efficiency and system reliability. She is passionate about resilient system design, mentorship, and encouraging more women to pursue technically challenging roles in backend and infrastructure engineering.

Rashdeep Kelf

Supplier Co-Innovation Director at RS Group

I’m the Supplier Co-Innovation Director, for a FTSE 100 global business. Dynamic, commercial, excellent stakeholder management, natural influencer of Masters’ graduate calibre, with fifteen years’ experience of leading teams. Leader in a FTSE 100 business. Leading Supplier, Data, and Marketing for RS Think Hub, a digital transformation platform. Agile methodology, working with iterative releases, Certified Scrum Product Owner. Market research led, understanding customers pain points, and launching digital tech to solve these pain points. Customer experience, Data exploitation, & Supplier knowledge at the heart of the proposition. I have held senior Global roles in Digital Transformation, Marketing & Commercial Category management. I have been promoted a couple of times at my time at the RS Group.

Mou Rakshit

Data, Analytics and AI Lead, Microsoft Fabric and Databricks SME and Champion, Accenture / Avanade

Mou Rakshit is a speaker and data, analytics, and AI leader with over 26 years of hands-on and leadership experience. She has spoken at multiple industry conferences and delivered more than 4,500 hours of professional instruction to large in-person and virtual audiences. Mou is an engineer by education, holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science and an MBA in Healthcare, and is a Microsoft Fabric and Databricks Champion Lead within Avanade and Accenture. She focuses on practical, real-world analytics and AI platforms.

Amany Dyab

Database Engineer at Here Technologies

Amany Dyab is not just a Geospatial Data Engineer — she is one of the youngest tech leaders reshaping what global leadership looks like for women from emerging regions. Representing Egypt as a TechWomen 2025 Emerging Leader out of 6,000+ applicants, she turns every “you can’t” into a stage for impact. Founder of She Inspires Egypt, a movement that united 33 speakers and hundreds of women across multiple cities in just 15 days, Amany builds communities where others see barriers. Her work spans from leading data innovation at HERE Technologies to speaking at international tech events and designing mentorship platforms for women in tech across Africa, the Middle East, and the U.S. Her story is proof that leadership is not granted — it is built, relentlessly, by those who refuse to wait for permission.

Bhumika Shah

AI Researcher and Practitioner, University of the Cumberlands

Bhumika Shah is a Data Solution Engineer, PhD scholar, educator, and author with a passion for shaping AI-native data teams and transforming how organizations work in the age of intelligent systems. She brings a unique blend of real-world engineering leadership and academic research, specializing in AI-powered data platforms, human-centered AI, and data-driven decision-making. She is the author of Foundations and Applications of AI in Data Engineering and Healthcare Analytics and a contributor to 17+ peer-reviewed research publications. Her work focuses on AI adoption, governance, and the cultural shift from data-driven to AI-native teams. Her doctoral research explores how AI is redefining workflows, trust, collaboration, and the evolution of roles across modern data organizations. Bhumika actively serves as a judge for international technology and innovation awards and is a strong advocate for STEM education and ethical AI literacy. She mentors aspiring technologists, supports global hackathons, and regularly speaks at industry and academic conferences to empower professionals to thrive in AI-enabled careers. Recognized for bridging technical execution with strategic vision, Bhumika is committed to advancing responsible, transparent, and inclusive AI practices—helping teams adapt to change, build trust in AI systems, and turn innovation into sustainable impact.

Charlene Schubert

Senior Product Manager

Charlene Schubert is a passionate Product Leader with experience across startups, scale-ups, and global corporations — including her time as Head of Product for Digital Health and Experiences at DocMorris and as an individual contributor at PayPal. She has led teams and driven impact both as a people leader and an individual contributor, embracing a non-linear career path that reflects her belief that true leadership is built on grit, curiosity, and impact — not titles. Her journey inspires others to embrace pauses, stay resilient, and redefine what growth and leadership truly mean.

Gerd Bommer

Founder & Managing Partner | Business Angel at Zoenora OÜ

Gerd Bommer is a business angel, founder-first investor, and international business builder with more than 25 years of global experience. He delivers high-energy keynotes on Mature Minds. Young Hearts. — helping founders, leaders, and investors scale organizations and ventures without sacrificing the creativity, speed, and daring that made them successful. Gerd challenges audiences to pause, reflect, and make more conscious, disciplined decisions about growth, funding, and alignment — blending untamed energy with deep purpose. His talks inspire leaders and founders to see scaling not as a trade-off, but as a continuum of mindset evolution, clarity, and long-term value creation. Gerd Bommer Founder First Investor Untamed Energy. Rooted in Purpose.

Corina Taban

Founder, Researcher and Behavioral Strategist at 934 Leadership Advisors

Corina Taban is a leadership strategist, behavioral science researcher, and former tech executive who bridges business, psychology, and global leadership. She spent nearly a decade at major tech companies, including Microsoft and Meta, where she negotiated and led complex, multi-million-dollar partnerships with C-level executives across international markets, gaining first-hand insight into how power, confidence, and human behavior shape decision-making at the highest levels. Currently completing a Doctorate in Organizational Behavior, Corina’s award-winning research on the psychological contract and women’s career trajectories in tech has been recognized internationally, including at the 2025 Academy of Management Global Conference. Named among McKinsey & Co.’s Next Generation Women Leaders, Corina speaks on confidence, bold leadership, and how women in tech can build influence without shrinking themselves.

Madhvi Sharma

Sr Engineering Manager, Oracle

I am a Senior Engineering Manager at Oracle Health Data Intelligence, where I lead the development of generative AI solutions that are transforming healthcare data analytics and management. Based in Seattle, I focus on leveraging advanced AI technologies to enable smarter, data-driven healthcare decisions and improve patient outcomes. Additionally, I play a key role in delivering Oracle’s next-generation AI agents platform, driving innovation in intelligent automation and AI-powered healthcare solutions.

Lucka Bibic

Head of Article Pipeline Management at Springer Nature lucka16_0.jpeg

Dr. Lučka Bibič is a leader and a scientist who uses her own non-linear career as a living case study for how women in tech can lead across uncertainty, AI disruption, and organizational complexity. Currently leading product and data strategy at Springer Nature, Lučka works at the intersection of research, technology, and digital innovation to improve how scientific knowledge moves through the world. With a background spanning pharmaceutical science, PhD research, science communication, and startup founding in biotech and VR, Lučka brings a rare cross-disciplinary perspective on leadership in volatile systems. She empowers women in tech to stop hiding their unconventional backgrounds and start using them as strategic advantage in an automated future.

Ramya Narasimha

Senior Software Engineer, Microsoft

Ramya Narasimha is a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft, where she builds large‑scale AI‑powered systems focused on reliability, evaluation, and user trust. Her work centers on designing AI platforms that operate in complex, real‑world environments—where correctness alone isn’t enough and transparency becomes essential. With a background in large scale cloud diagnostics, and integrating AI into the workflow, Ramya is passionate about rethinking how we measure AI quality and how those measurements shape user confidence.

Julia Grosse

Speaker & Founder at The Cyclical CEO™

Dr. Julia Grosse is a biologist, Arctic researcher, and founder of The Cyclical CEO™. She helps women leaders and tech professionals turn hormonal intelligence into business advantage — blending science, leadership, and wellbeing. Julia’s approach is grounded in evidence, not hype, and she’s delivered workshops and keynotes for HR teams, networks, and organizations across Europe.

Niharika P Pujari

Lead Software Engineer, McGraw Hill

Hi, I’m Niharika P. Pujari, a Lead Software Engineer at McGraw-Hill with over eight years of experience building and maintaining large-scale web applications. I work in the higher education space, where my focus is on designing frontend-driven, accessible experiences that support instructors, institutions, and learners at scale. I specialize in frontend development with Angular, with a strong emphasis on web accessibility as a core part of engineering—not an afterthought. My work centers on creating inclusive, user-centric interfaces, embedding accessibility into component design, frontend architecture, and team workflows to ensure products meet both user needs and compliance standards. Alongside my frontend work, I’ve been expanding my skills in AWS through hands-on learning and certifications to better support scalable, reliable systems. I’m passionate about writing clean, maintainable code, mentoring engineers, and continuously learning, and I’m particularly interested in how artificial intelligence can be applied responsibly to improve learning experiences and student outcomes.

Jo Larby

Accessibility Community Lead, Leighton

Jo is the Accessibility Community Lead at Leighton, a software consultancy in the United Kingdom. Having worked for both public and private sector clients, Jo has experience witnessing and working through the hardship of solutions that have not been designed with accessibility in mind.

Pooja Mehta

Product Manager II, Microsoft

Pooja Mehta is a Product Manager at Microsoft working at the intersection of AI and enterprise solutions. With deep experience shepherding products from concept through launch, they bring strategic clarity and customer focus to every development cycle. Across previous roles, Pooja has collaborated with cross-functional teams to design, build, and scale tech products that solve real-world problems. Their perspective is grounded in both technical acumen and empathetic product leadership.

Angie Stenvall

People Strategy Lead at AspireActs

Angie Stenvall is an HR leader and organizational consultant with 15+ years of experience working with fast-paced startups and global tech organizations. She specializes in remote and hybrid work, leadership, and the human impact of organizational change. Angie also lectures in academic and research settings, bridging psychology, data, and real-world practice to help organizations build more sustainable and human-centered ways of working.

Preeti Gupta

Test Automation Lead at Barclays

I am a QA Automation Lead with 18 years of experience in software testing, having worn many hats over the years — from manual tester to automation engineer, leader, and manager — all with one goal in mind: delivering quality software that makes a difference.

Gayatri Tavva

Senior Data Engineer, Amazon

Gayatri Tavva is a distinguished data and AI engineering leader who designs enterprise-scale, governed AI systems for analytics and decision support. Her work bridges deep technical architecture with AI, governance, and real-world business impact.

Sobhitha Neelanath

Senior Manager, Software Engineering Salesforce

Sobhitha Neelanath is an accomplished industry Leader with diverse technology experience of more than two decades across companies like Wipro, McAfee, EMC and Dell.In her current role at Salesforce India, she leads the quality engineering team for Service Cloud .She is passionate about DEI and contributes actively to multiple technical and women specific communities and mentoring initiatives to enable and uplift women professionals and students. As a Google Women Techmakers Ambassador, she has delivered sessions for global audiences and serves as an Advisory Committee member for GHCI 2025 & the Regional Lead for the AnitaB Bangalore Chapter. She is an IEEE WIE Industry Expert and has been recognised by SWE for DEI Advocacy. A recipient of multiple accolades for her contributions towards women in tech from platforms like HerKey, Women In Cloud and HR SuccessTalks, she was recently selected for the Top 50 Asia Women Tech Leaders Award 2025. Her Mantra for life is "Explore, Believe, Achieve"

Shilpi Mitra

Principal Software Engineering Manager Microsoft

Shilpi Mitra is an Engineering Leader at Microsoft Azure Data, based in Bengaluru, India. With 19+ years of experience, she leads the hybrid and migration charter, focusing on building robust enterprise, cloud, and security solutions. Shilpi is known for developing and guiding high-performing teams and driving innovation in her field. Her role involves overseeing the development of next-generation technologies for the Azure Data platform, contributing to Microsoft’s ongoing success. She is a strong advocate for women and diversity in tech, regularly participating in mentorship and community programs. Shilpi is an established speaker and dedicated mentor to professionals through many communities. Her achievements have earned her industry recognition for Engineering, leadership and advocacy. Shilpi recently received the Career Icons 2025 award from Avtar and Global Mentoring Excellence award by Women Tech Network, EmpowHerAccess and HRSuccessTalks. She believes in ‘work hard, party harder’. Her mantra: Never be afraid to ask and reach out for opportunities. If you can't find one, look at creating one. There are plenty of problems to solve.

Surekha Chikoti

VP, AI Product Strategy, Partnerships & GTM Growth, Lumay.ai

I am a digital transformation and AI-powered product strategy leader with deep experience shaping and scaling enterprise products and platforms, from strategy through implementation, adoption, and go-to-market. I specialize in translating AI and CRM capabilities into clear product direction, strong partnerships, and practical execution that delivers measurable business outcomes. I’m known for bringing focus and momentum to complex initiatives, working closely with global stakeholders across product, engineering, sales, and operations. I care deeply about building high-performing, efficient teams that are aligned, transparent, and trusted, so work moves forward with clarity, speed, and shared ownership. As a forward-thinking leader and award recipient, I value trust, collaboration, and continuous learning. Enablement, mentorship, and training are core to how I lead, helping individuals and teams unlock their highest potential and grow with confidence. I’m especially passionate about empowering women and the next generation of leaders to lead with purpose, make thoughtful decisions, and create meaningful impact in organizations navigating AI adoption and enterprise platform evolution.

Ramayee Suppiah

Chapter Lead Engineer at ING Netherlands

I am an engineering leader with 20+ years of experience in IT infrastructure and platform engineering. I began my career as a help desk engineer and have since led large-scale infrastructure migrations, mergers and acquisitions, and new office infrastructure build-outs across Europe. Today, I lead a critical platform team in the banking sector, where I focus on building resilient systems and cultivating engineering cultures that thrive through change.

Tiffany Rosik

CEO, TGR Management Consulting LLC

Tiffany Rosik is the CEO of TGR, a technology consulting firm that operates at the intersection of technology, operations, and execution. She helps organizations implement and scale software solutions faster by aligning DevOps, delivery teams, and business stakeholders—without creating long-term dependency on consultants. An author, speaker, and advocate for women navigating technical leadership roles, Tiffany is known for translating complex technology concepts into practical strategies that teams can actually use. Her work focuses on enabling sustainable delivery, modern DevOps practices, and empowering women to lead transformation with confidence.

Moran Weber

CEO & Founder of Women on Stage

Founder of Women on Stage | Software Engineer | Social Psychologist at Women on Stage

Pooja Vijay

Engineer Lead at Lloyds banking group

I am a Tech Lead at Lloyds, leading and line-managing three cross-functional teams in a large-scale enterprise environment. With experience navigating career transitions and high-pressure delivery, I bring a grounded perspective on resilience, leadership, and sustained growth in tech. I’m passionate about helping professionals rebuild confidence, lead effectively through change, and thrive in non-linear career journeys.

Liji Thomas

Manager, Generative AI, H&R Block

Liji Thomas, a Microsoft MVP in AI, is a seasoned technologist with over 15 years of experience in creating transformative digital experiences. As Gen AI Manager at H&R Block, she drives innovation by leveraging generative AI to enhance customer experiences and deliver business value. Liji is passionate about harnessing AI's transformative potential to revolutionize business and human interaction with technology. A thought leader in the field, she actively shares her insights through speaking engagements, publications, and community involvement. Committed to diversity and inclusion, she mentors aspiring technologists and advocates for the next generation of AI leaders.

Raluca Voicu

Raluca Voicu

I am a happy mother and wife, a strong and ambitious professional, always ready to learn something new, never to tired to help the people around me, a strong believer that "continous learning is better than delayed perfection"

Myriam Ben Farhat

VP of People Experience & Inclusion at Chess.com

As VP of People Experience & Inclusion at Chess.com, one of the world’s largest digital platforms with a fully remote team across 65+ countries, she builds cultures where performance and humanity rise together. A certified executive coach and internationally recognized voice on human-centered leadership, Myriam blends strategy, emotional intelligence, and lived transformation. After rebuilding her life from zero, she now teaches leaders how to operate with clarity, courage, and the kind of emotional mastery AI can’t replicate. Her work sits at the intersection of culture, psychology, technology, and the feminine, a space where intuition becomes intelligence, empathy becomes strategy, and authenticity becomes a catalyst for high performance. Myriam’s message is simple and bold: AI won’t replace human leaders, but it will expose which ones are brave enough to lead with their whole self.

Ina Dalipi-Turquet

Founder

Founder @MATRY AI

Patricia Gestoso

Inclusion and AI Strategist | Coach |Director of Scientific Support at Gestoso Consulting

Dr Patricia Gestoso is an award-winning inclusion strategist, technologist, and thought leader with over 25 years of experience driving digital transformation across industries, including life sciences and consumer packaged goods. She is the founder of Gestoso Consulting, where she empowers leaders to leverage AI for sustainable growth and ethical innovation. Patricia also serves as Director of Scientific Support at Dassault Systèmes BIOVIA, bridging advanced technologies with impactful business outcomes. Her previous leadership roles include Global Head of Training and Contract Research. A certified work-life coach, Patricia helps ambitious women in tech navigate career advancement and leadership without burnout. She leads UK partnerships for European Women on Boards and advises the British nonprofit We and I, advancing women’s leadership and ethical AI adoption. Featured among the most influential women in UK tech, she is recognised for her expertise in AI, computer simulation, and inclusive design of tech workplaces and products.

Rachel Dickson

Lead Coach & Founder at Culture + Cleanse

Rachel Dickson is a leadership advisor and coach working with high-performing executives and senior leaders under sustained pressure. She brings over two decades of experience from financial services and technology, including holding Global Head roles within a FTSE 100 organisation. Her work focuses on the internal cost of sustaining success - particularly overthinking, over-responsibility, and the quiet strain that accumulates in high-accountability environments. She is known for a grounded, non-performative approach that blends neuroscience, psychology, and lived senior-level experience. Rachel has long mentored, sponsored, and coached women in tech and financial services, and is particularly interested in challenging false narratives that frame self-doubt as personal weakness while ignoring the real pressures and structural conditions people operate within. She works privately with senior leaders and delivers small-group and organisational sessions internationally.

Montse Puig

CEO at Barcelona & Partners

Montse Puig Ponsico is an Industrial Engineer and a Finance and Technology executive with over 20 years of experience, renowned for her leadership style that inspires teamwork and excellence, particularly in managing complex and novel situations. As the Chief Executive Officer of Barcelona & Partners since October 2022, Montse leads a selective agency with a mission to attract innovative companies to the vibrant city of Barcelona. Her role involves connecting businesses with the resources and opportunities the city offers, fostering economic growth, and providing a seamless and effective experience for clients. With a proven track record, Montse has consistently driven organizations to growth through her extensive technological and digital industry expertise, coupled with a clear business vision. Her strategic insights have led to demonstrable increases in company value year after year. Prior to her current role, Montse served renowned organizations like Almirall, Accenture, Hewlett-Packard and as the Group CFO & Corporate Director at Tangelo Games Corp. Her achievements included driving M&A and strategic alliances, defining growth strategies, managing relationships with investors, and negotiating credit lines.

Katja Alissa Mueller

Head of Brand Design at Pliant

Katja Alissa Mueller is a brand design leader and advisor in tech, elevating companies with design in their DNA to new heights. Current Head of Brand Design at Fintech Pliant, she has worked with brands like Informed, Courier Media, AllBright, Mailchimp, Samsung, and Nike. A committed mentor, industry voice and SheSays board member, K advocates for flexible work and more women in leadership positions.

Alicia Scott

Co-Founder - CCO & COO at InReality

Commercial focused co-founder of InReality. 8+ years in Management Consulting, with a focus on developing new digital products and bringing them to market. Alicia took the leap into being a founder. Bringing her proven commercial record to an impact focused solution looking to tackle one of the biggest challenges currently facing society.

Hana Ngo

Executive & Team Coach

Hana is highly experienced Executive & Team coach with 20 years of experience as Management Consultant, Leadership Coach, Team Coach & Agile Coach for more than 300 international companies and organization . She has coached more than 100 international teams and guided leaders, managers, executives and founders in their personal and professional growth.

Rawdhah Saleh

Founder at Catalyst Sparks

Rawdhah Saleh is an HR leader and Certified Executive Coach with over 10 years of experience at American Express, specializing in leadership development, employee engagement, and organizational growth. She founded Catalyst Sparks, an initiative empowering professionals to lead with authenticity and purpose through coaching and learning experiences. Rawdhah is a Chartered FCIPD, SPHRi, and SHRM-PMQ certified professional, passionate about helping others overcome imposter syndrome and unlock their leadership potential.

Ebony Belhumeur

CEO at DappleAI

Ebony is a female founder, mom of four, and former Executive Assistant and Chief of Staff to leaders at Twitch and Sephora who spent over a decade building behind the scenes in Silicon Valley. She now leads DappleAI, a platform focused on making AI genuinely usable and accessible for everyday people — not just technical experts. Ebony brings a rare combination of lived experience, operational leadership, and hands-on AI product building to the AI usability conversation.

Sukanya Meher

Staff Engineer at Synopsys

Sukanya S. Meher is a Staff Engineer at Synopsys with a background in semiconductors, superconducting electronics, and emerging technologies. She has led cross-functional projects and supported global collaborations in electronic design automation (EDA). Passionate about advancing women in technology, Sukanya actively contributes to several IEEE initiatives. She currently serves as Co-Vice Chair of the IEEE Young Professionals Climate and Sustainability Taskforce and as Co-Chair of the IEEE Council on Superconductivity Young Professionals. She also volunteers with AnitaB.org and the Women in Circuits group under the IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society. In recognition of her leadership and technical contributions, Sukanya was honored as one of Computing’s Top 30 Early Career Professionals for 2024 by the IEEE Computer Society. She holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University

Fatima Taj

Senior Software Engineer at Yelp

Fatima is a Senior Software Engineer at Yelp and a LinkedIn Learning Instructor with a passion for ensuring there is no knowledge gatekeeping in tech. She believes that career growth and technical skills should be accessible to everyone, and she actively mentors professionals by sharing candid lessons and practical strategies - so others don’t have to learn the hard way. On LinkedIn, she shares actionable insights with a wide community, making career development guidance approachable and practical. An experienced international speaker, Fatima has presented at leading conferences including Berlin Buzzwords, Developer Week, SCALE, NDC Copenhagen Developer Festival, Women of Silicon Roundabout, cdCon+GitOpsCon (as a keynote), and Momentum, as well as at more than 80 hackathons across North America. Her sessions are known for being interactive and packed with hands-on advice, leaving attendees with strategies they can apply immediately. With a master’s degree in Data Science from HEC Montreal and a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, Fatima combines technical expertise with a commitment to building an inclusive and supportive tech community. Her mission is simple: make knowledge in tech open to all.

Mia Wang

President, Lotus Love

Mia Wang is President of Lotus Love LLC, a technology firm in Virginia, and serves as Director of Programs for PMI Central Virginia Chapter. A Toastmaster and AI Scientist & Trainer with over 12 years of project management experience, she specializes in making AI practical and accessible for project managers — bridging the gap between cutting-edge tools and the real-world challenges PMs face every day. Mia holds an M.S. in Computer Science from William & Mary, along with a deep portfolio of credentials spanning agile, SAFe, and AI-focused project management, including PMP, AI-Driven Project Manager (APMG), A-CSM, CSPO, SAFe 6 (ARCH, RTE, LPM), and MCSD.

Prathusha Prakash

Engineering Manager at TikTok

Engineering Manager & AI Leadership Strategist I am a distinguished Engineering Manager and strategic leader at the forefront of the 2026 autonomous AI revolution. With over a decade of experience in scaling high-performance technical organizations,I specialize in bridging the gap between complex machine learning architectures and enterprise-level business transformation. Currently serving as an Engineering Manager at TikTok, I lead the integration of agentic AI workflows or the modernization of legacy engineering systems. I am the pioneer of the "Change Fitness" leadership framework—a proprietary methodology designed to help engineering teams move beyond traditional agility to thrive in an era of non-deterministic, AI-augmented software development. A recognized authority in AI Governance and Engineering Leadership, her work focuses on the technical orchestration of multi-agent systems and the operationalization of responsible AI guardrails. As a prominent woman in technology leadership, I am dedicated to redefining the engineering persona and architecting the future of human-AI collaboration.My insights drive the conversation on how global enterprises can achieve measurable ROI while maintaining technical resilience and ethical standards.

Mansi Kapoor

Senior Data Engineer , Zola Intelligence

Mansi Kapoor is a Senior Data Engineer at Zola Intelligence, where she leverages advanced data analysis, AI, and data security to optimize energy infrastructure and deliver actionable insights for emerging markets. She has contributed to multiple AI-driven projects aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and sustainability, while also participating as a judge at top hackathons such as CalHacks and HackMIT. Mansi has published articles in Zola Intelligence’s blog, the AI Journal, and Silicon Valley journals, sharing thought leadership on the intersection of technology, data, and social impact. She holds a Master’s degree in Computer Science from USC.

Brittany Wolfrom

Customer Solutions Leader at Amazon Web Services

Brittany Wolfrom is Leader of Customer Solutions for Strategic Accounts at AWS, where she combines 15+ years of technology leadership with a passion for human-centered AI adoption. As a self-described introvert who "plays extroverted," she has moderated sessions at WE25, SWE Conference (700+ attendees), and organized the AGS Women in Tech Conference. Brittany specializes in helping leaders harness both technical and human capabilities to drive meaningful change, proving that introverts don't need to become extroverts—they need to become strategically authentic.

Lori Edwards

Director of Product, Niche

I'm Lori, a modern day product wrangler and Director of Product. I have 10 years of experience wrangling products and teams in fast-paced, high-growth environments. I thrive when leading complex product challenges, orchestrating cross-functional teams, and driving innovative solutions that scale. At Niche, I’m focused on shaping the future of education enrollment solutions while steering my team through new opportunities and constantly evolving challenges. Outside of work, I'm always exploring new things and pushing my own boundaries—whether that means navigating a new product strategy or embarking on an exciting adventure.Lastly, as a founder of the Women In Product Toastmasters club, I love helping others embrace the unknown and take risks, just as I do every day.

Misty Mastracco

Sr Advisor @ Splunk/Cisco; Founder of Stacked

Senior Advisor at Cisco/ Splunk Founder of Stacked: a "Career Operating System" for Women in Tech.

Vidya Wadkar

Distinguished Engineer, Verizon

Vidya Vishal Wadkar is a Distinguished Engineer and AI systems architect with expertise in conversational AI, agentic systems, enterprise-scale AI platforms, and cloud-native architectures. She leads the design of large-scale intelligent systems focused on contextual reasoning, automation, and customer-centric AI experiences. Her research and engineering work includes memory-augmented conversational AI, agentic RAG frameworks, and observability for distributed AI systems. She is passionate about building practical, trustworthy, and human-centered AI solutions that bridge research and real-world enterprise impact.

Priyanka gunakala

Lead Analyst at The Vanguard Group

Priyanka is a Lead Analyst at Vanguard, speaker, and mentor focused on helping professionals transition into tech using no-code tools, practical skills, and real-world strategies. She serves as an Accessibility Champion at Vanguard, leads community initiatives with Women in ETFs, and hosts free career and leadership workshops through FemoraGen to empower the professionals.

Carly Walter

CEO Founder at MAGI

Carly Walter is an award winning digital wellbeing innovator, therapist, and founder of MAGI, a disruptive app supporting neurodivergent and hormonally challenged women. She turns lived experience into purpose, creating inclusive solutions that close the wellbeing gap.

Chathri Ali

Co-Founder & CEO at Accel Health

Chathri is CEO & Co-Founder of Accel Health, an AI-powered healthcare recruiting and credentialing platform. Previously, she scaled Recharge from 10 to 350 employees and served as Head of Apps Marketplace at Klaviyo (pre-IPO). She brings deep expertise in building AI-native products and go-to-market strategy at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Smita Saxena

Board Member / Executive Director

Smita Saxena is a product leader and founder working at the intersection of AI, education, and applied systems design. She is the founder of Maestro, a human-in-the-loop AI coaching program that helps public school teachers analyze classroom data, understand student misconceptions, and generate targeted instructional materials in minutes rather than hours. Previously, Smita founded and scaled Stanza, a consumer data platform used by tens of millions of users and adopted by major professional sports organizations including the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, and major international soccer leagues. Her work focuses on building AI systems that amplify human judgment rather than replace it, with an emphasis on trust, real-world workflows, and measurable outcomes. She currently works directly with teachers and schools across Texas and California and is deeply involved in designing practical, ethical AI deployments in high-stakes public systems.

Selu Gupta

Engineering Manager at Tektronix

Selu Gupta is an Engineering Manager at Tektronix with over 25 years of experience in the industry. As an electrical Hardware Design Engineer, she developed test and measurement products like Probes, oscilloscopes and AWGs and led the development of new company processes. As an Engineering Manager she supports the technical and professional development of engineering teams. Selu was the co-founder of the Women in Teknology (WIT) employee resource group at Tektronix and also helped stand-up the Women's Alliance and Leadership Council (WALC) at Fortive. She is a life-long learner, as well as an advocate and mentor for women in STEM. Selu has contributed to and been featured in articles from Electronic Design (US), Electronic Specifier (UK), Manufacturer's Alliance Foundation and Electronica (IT). She has also been featured on the Results Driven Organizations Podcast and the Electronic Specifier Women in Tech Takeover Podcast.

Neeti Patel

Founder/GTM Advisor at Mosaic Growth Solutions

Neeti is Founder & CEO of Mosaic Growth Solutions, a company that partners with investor-backed lower- to middle-stage companies to build scalable go-to-market (GTM) Systems that accelerate growth and value creation. Leveraging deep GTM expertise and years of experience acting as a fractional CMO across dozens of PE-backed B2B software companies, Neeti has a proven track record of delivering measurable impact with speed and efficiency. Neeti holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a bachelor's degree in Marketing and Finance from the Stern School of Business at New York University.

Catherine Leduc

Job Search & Career Management Coach at Catherine Leduc Coaching & Consulting

Catherine is a certified NLP and RSCI coach, speaker and author of multiple online courses on job searching and career management and brings 17+ years of experience in senior consulting roles in strategic planning & marketing in lifescience. She has been the go-to person for job searching and career advice in her expat circles for over a decade before deciding to launch as a career coach. Her approach is focused on a strong strategic marketing background, extensive experience building and managing multi-disciplinary & multi-cultural teams across the World and a special attention to addressing mindset issues that often stand in the way of reaching our goals.

Alysia Eve

VP of GTM at Array

Alysia Baker Eve is a go-to-market leader with nearly 20 years of experience helping organizations transform the way they deliver, monetize, and position their technology products. At Progress, she leads the Pricing and Commercialization team, where she drives strategy to optimize growth, profitability, and customer value across product portfolios. A passionate advocate for empowering women in the workplace, Alysia frequently writes and speaks on career growth, leadership, and building confidence, with her insights featured in industry publications and platforms like LinkedIn. She recently published her first novel - All That Comes After - which explores motherhood, reinvention, and rediscovering your self.

Ramona Cedeno

Founder & CEO at FiBrick

Ramona Cedeño is a capital readiness expert, CPA, and CFP with 20+ years in finance and executive leadership. As Founder and CEO of FiBrick, she helps founders and leaders build businesses that are prepared for opportunity before it arrives — drawing on experience at Fortune 500 companies like Time Inc. and high-growth startups like Handy. She is also the author of Simple Choices, Big Rewards in Money. On stage, Ramona makes complex financial topics accessible, helping audiences understand what capital looks for, why opportunities are lost before the pitch, and how to build readiness through everyday leadership habits.

Mankirat Kaur Bajwa

Senior Product Manager, Microsoft

AI product leader at Microsoft with experience building and scaling enterprise AI platforms. Works at the intersection of AI, product strategy, and real world deployment, focused on turning emerging technology into practical, trusted systems used at scale.

Jane Hanson

Emmy Award-Winning Journalist/Executive Communication Strategist at HHH Productions

Jane Hanson is an Emmy award-winning, journalist, and executive speaking coach. She has spent over 30 years helping people learn to communicate authentically and across group dynamics in every industry. Her goal: communication success imperative in this digital driven world.

Rosanne Longmore

CEO at Coroflo

Rosanne Longmore has served as the CEO of Coroflo since its inception in 2017. Over the past nine years, she has navigated the company through the complexities of deep-tech R&D and rigorous clinical validation. Under her leadership, Coroflo has built huge anticipation for its consumer market launch in late 2026. As a prominent female founder in the FemTech sector, Rosanne’s visionary leadership has garnered significant international acclaim. Her recent achievements include. In January, she made history at CES by winning four major awards, which has never been done before in CES history. She was recently honoured in Inc. Magazine’s prestigious Female Founders 500 list.

Anastasia Dellis

CEO at Orbisk

Anastasia Dellis is the CEO of Orbisk, an AI powered food waste intelligence company working with global hospitality and food service operators to cut food waste at scale. Orbisk helps commercial kitchens reduce food waste by up to 70 percent using computer vision, data, and behavioural insights. Anastasia has over 17 years of leadership experience across high growth technology companies, spanning Europe, the UK, and international markets. Prior to Orbisk, she held senior commercial and general management roles in fast scaling businesses, leading revenue growth, market expansion, and large operational teams. Known for combining commercial rigour with people centred leadership, Anastasia focuses on turning sustainability into measurable business outcomes. She speaks regularly on AI, climate impact, and modern leadership, with a strong emphasis on execution, accountability, and cultural change.