Speakers

His Excellency Essa Kazim is the Governor of Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), Chairman of Borse Dubai, Deputy Chairman of Supreme Legislation Committee in Dubai, and a member in Dubai Supreme Fiscal Committee.

H.E. ESSA
KAZIM

Governor

DIFC

Adena Friedman is the Chief Executive Officer of Nasdaq and is Chair of the Board of Directors. She brings more than 20 years of industry leadership and expertise, and is credited with significantly shaping Nasdaq’s transformation into a leading global exchange and technology company serving the financial industry.

ADENA T.
FRIEDMAN

Chair and Chief Executive Officer

Nasdaq, Inc.

Nic has been CEO and Member of the Executive Boards at Julius Baer since February, 2024, having enjoyed previous roles including Global Head for the integration of Merrill Lynch’s International Wealth Management business and Chief of Staff to the CEO.

NIC
DRECKMANN

Chief Executive Officer

Bank Julius Baer & Co Ltd

Switzerland

Former CEO of NYLIM with extensive financial leadership experience. Recognized in Barron’s 100 Most Influential Women (2022), American Banker’s 25 Most Powerful Women (2022), and Forbes' 50 over 50 (2021). Board member of Northwestern University, ICI, Women’s Forum of New York, and National Association of Corporate Directors.

YIE-HSIN
HUNG

President & Chief Executive Officer

State Street Global Advisors

Alfonso is the President and CEO of Banco Santander International, Head of Santander Private Banking International, and Global Head of Private Banking in the Wealth Management Division. Alfonso has more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry. Before joining Santander, Alfonso worked at Credit Suisse, Barclays, and Bankinter, where he was responsible for developing the Private Wealth business model. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Banco Santander International, Banco Santander International SA, and the Spain-United States Chamber of Commerce in Miami.

ALFONSO
CASTILLO

President and CEO

Banco Santander International

Oh Se-Hoon, the Mayor of the Seoul Metropolitan Government, entered the National Assembly in 2000 and began his political career in earnest. Seoul won the UN Public Service Awards consecutively by introducing creative administrative approaches through initiatives such as the “Seoul Hope Plus Savings Accounts Program” and the “Seoul Women-Friendly City Project.”

OH
SE-HOON

Mayor of Seoul

South Korea

Nik Storonsky launched Revolut in 2015 to transform the way we spend and transfer money abroad. Since then, he has put Revolut on the path to becoming the world’s first truly global bank, changing the way we do all things money. Previously an Emerging Markets Equity Derivatives Trader at Credit Suisse and Lehman Brothers, he traded over $2bn across various options, swaps, and FX instruments. Nik holds an M.S. in Applied Physics and Mathematics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and an MA in Economics from the New Economic School, Moscow. He is a keen kite surfer, mountaineer, and championship swimmer.

NIK
STORONSKY

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Revolut

H.E. Abdulla Bin Touq Al Marri was appointed Minister of Economy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the new government structure approved in July 2020. He is the Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority, UAE International Investors Council, and CSR UAE Fund’s Board of Trustees.

H.E. ABDULLAH
BIN TOUQ AL MARRI

Cabinet Member & UAE Minister of Economy

Bim Afolami was appointed Economic Secretary to the Treasury on 13 November 2023. He is the City Minister and is responsible for financial services.

BIM
AFOLAMI MP

Economic Secretary to the Treasury

UK Government

Brad is the CEO of Ripple and a member of the Board of Directors. Prior to Ripple, he served as the CEO of file collaboration service Hightail. From 2009 to 2012 he was the President of Consumer Applications at AOL and prior to that in executive positions at Yahoo.

BRAD
GARLINGHOUSE

Chief Executive Officer

Ripple

His Excellency Helal Saeed Almarri is the Director General of Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism. He is a member of the Executive Council of Dubai and the Director General of the Dubai World Trade Centre Authority (DWTCA).

H.E. HELAL SAEED
AL MARRI

Director General

Department of Economy and Tourism, Dubai

He is Hungary's central bank Governor since 2013, is a seasoned economist and former Minister of National Economy. Renowned for shaping sustainable economics discussions, his impactful leadership extends to key roles in economic development and global forums.

H.E. DR. GYÖRGY
H MATOLCSY

Governor

Magyar Nemzeti Bank, The Central Bank of Hungary

Hungary

In addition to his role as CEO of QDB, Mr. Al Sowaidi is COB at Elan Qatar and QBIC, he also serves on the boards of the National Food Security Committee, QTech, Injaz Qatar, and Manateq.

ABDULRAHMAN
AL SOWAIDI

Chief Executive Officer

Qatar Development Bank

Arif Amiri is the Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority where he is responsible for setting the strategy and growth direction of the Authority. Under his leadership, DIFC has emerged as a powerful catalyst for the financial services sector, as well as the leading global financial centre in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region.

ARIF
AMIRI

Chief Executive Officer

DIFC

Michael Gronager, CEO of Chainalysis Inc. and co-founder of Kraken, a major Bitcoin exchange, has extensive experience in digital assets. Prior to his crypto ventures, he led international research projects and served on boards such as the Swedish National Supercomputer Center and the Blockchain Working Group for the 5th European Anti Money Laundering Directive.

MICHAEL
GRONAGER

Chief Executive Officer

Chainalysis

Michael is the CEO and co-founder of Fireblocks, a secure digital asset infrastructure company. Prior to Fireblocks, he co-founded Lacoon Mobile Security, which was acquired by Check Point.

MICHAEL
SHAULOV

Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Fireblocks

Vanessa Colella is Visa’s Global Head of Innovation and Digital Partnerships. In her role, Vanessa leads the development and commercialization of Visa products and solutions for Big Tech, Fintech, and Platform Partners. Colella also leads Visa’s global network of Innovation Centers. She joined Visa in 2022. Before joining Visa, she served as the Chief Innovation Officer at Citi and as the lead for Citi Ventures and Citi Productivity. Prior to this role, she ran marketing for Citi’s North America Consumer Bank. Previously, Vanessa held roles with U.S. Venture Partners (USVP), Yahoo, McKinsey & Company, and was teacher and charter corps member of Teach For America.

VANESSA
COLELLA

Global Head of Innovation and Digital Partnerships

Visa

Adrian is the founder and Group CEO of FNZ and has overseen the development of the company since it started in 2003. He is currently based in the company’s Munich office.

ADRIAN
DURHAM

Founder and Group CEO

Germany

Antony Jenkins CBE is the Founder, Chair and CEO of 10x Banking, a fintech company that aims to redefine how banks operate and engage with customers. His ambition is to be the global bank operating system of choice by applying cloud native technology to everything from checking accounts to savings to loans.

ANTONY
JENKINS CBE

Founder, Chair & Chief Executive Officer

10x Banking

Arik Shtilman: Global Fintech innovator and CEO transforming business through Fintech-as-a-Service at Rapyd.

ARIK
SHTILMAN

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Rapyd

Henry Ward is the CEO and Co-founder of Carta. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 7,000 funds and SPVs, and over two million equity holders to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. Carta’s liquidity solutions have returned $15B to shareholders in secondary transactions.

HENRY
WARD

Chief Executive Officer

Carta

Jack Zhang is an entrepreneur and one of the most sought-after technology and thought leaders in financial services. As CEO and Co-founder of Airwallex, he has built a successful company with a vision to become the global economic infrastructure to empower modern businesses of all sizes to grow beyond borders.

JACK
ZHANG

Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder

Airwallex

Sergio Furio is the Founder & CEO of Creditas, the leading Fintech platform operating in Latam across 3 ecosystems: Home, Auto and Employee Benefits. With $400mn in revenues and 2,000 employees, Creditas is one of the top tech companies in Latam and a reference in innovation and talent management.

SERGIO
FURIO

Founder & Chief Executive Officer

Creditas

Brazil

With over 15 years of experience, Al Marri has been responsible for ensuring the success of various programmes within the UAE National Space Programme including Mars 2117, Emirates Mars Mission, UAE Astronaut Programme, and the UAE Satellite Programme. He has also overseen the expansion of MBRSC into new scientific and technical fields alongside ensuring continuous developments in the space sector.

H.E. SALEM HUMAID
AL MARRI

Director General

Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre

Florian Tursky is State Secretary for Digitalization at the Ministry of Finance and currently coordinates issues relating to digitalization, information technology and telecommunications in Austria, as well as at the level of the European Union and internationally.

H.E. FLORIAN
TURSKY

State Secretary for Digitalization

Ministry of Finance

Austria

Kfir L Godrich, Managing Director, is Chief Innovation Officer for BlackRock. He is responsible for driving firm’s innovation agenda, the connection with the broad financial and technology ecosystems, including partnerships and ventures that accelerate growth.

KFIR
GODRICH

Chief Innovation Officer

BlackRock

Eva Landrichtinger is the Secretary General in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy, Austria and now fully devotes herself to this role. She is responsible for handling all resort related matters, especially tasks concerning the strategic planning and controlling of the Federal Ministry.

H.E. EVA
LANDRICHTINGER

Secretary-General

Federal Ministry of Labour and Economy

Austria

Dr. Peter Gassmann is the global leader of Strategy&, the international strategy unit of PwC. He has been one of the leading figures to develop Strategy&’s unique “strategy through execution” approach. With his deep expertise Peter supports his clients to navigate the new business environment and to adapt their strategies and operating models.

DR. PETER
GASSMANN

Global Leader

Strategy&

Germany

Alex Manson set up SC Ventures, launched in 2018 as a unit of Standard Chartered Bank to provide a platform to promote innovation, invest in disruptive financial technology and explore alternative business models.

ALEX
MANSON

SC Ventures

Singapore

Rob Schimek is the Group Chief Executive Officer of bolttech. He leads the bolttech team across our operations globally, overseeing our growth and partnership opportunities. With more than 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry, Rob has previously held senior leadership roles in insurance, including Managing Director & Group Chief Operating Officer for FWD Group, President and CEO of AIG’s commercial insurance businesses worldwide and Chief Executive Officer of the Americas for AIG.

ROB
SCHIMEK

Group Chief Executive Officer

Bolttech

Singapore

Mr. el Hachem joined Edmond de Rothschild Group in 2002 where he created Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity. He initiated and developed resilient investment strategies with a forward-looking approach. As current CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity, he has led its development into a leading Private Equity firm.

JOHNNY EL
HACHEM

Chief Executive Officer

Edmond De Rothschild Private Equity

Switzerland

Entrepreneur and Investor in the private markets with 25+ years of experience | Vice Chairman of the Dubai Chambers | Chairman of J&F Holdings, a private family office | Vice Chairman and Senior Advisor of Speedinvest Growth Markets Fintech Fund | Judge on Shark Tank Dubai, Season 1 Previously the Founder and Executive Chairman of Ithmar Capital and Amanat Holdings PJSC. In addition, Faisal served as Chairman and board member of multiple businesses regionally and internationally including a FTSE 250 healthcare company that he led its listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). Recognized by Arabian Business as one of the top 100 Executives in the Gulf region in 2007. Studied Manufacturing Engineering at Boston University and subsequently completed a senior executive leadership program with Harvard University

H.E. FAISAL
BELHOUL

Vice Chairman of the Dubai Chamber

Chairman of J&F Holding

Prof. Edward Scicluna was appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Malta for five years with effect from 1 January 2021. He has also been appointed as Deputy Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the Malta Financial Services Authority. He is a member of the Governing Council of the European Central Bank, Governor for Malta at the International Monetary Fund, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. He is Malta's Alternate Governor for the World Bank.

H.E. PROF. EDWARD
SCICLUNA

Governor

Central Bank of Malta

Malta

Hon. John Rwangombwa was appointed Central Bank Governor on the 25th February 2013. His career started in Rwanda Revenue Authority where he grew through ranks to the Deputy Commissioner of Customs for Operations. He then joined the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in 2002 as the Director of the National Treasury Department.

H.E. JOHN
RWANGOMBWA

Governor

National Bank of Rwanda

Rwanda

Martin Galstyan is the Governor of the Central Bank of Armenia. Before joining the Board he held numerous executive positions at the Bank, namely; Director of research and training center in Dilijan, Head of Statistics department and the Head of reserves management.

H.E. MARTIN
GALSTYAN

Governor

Central Bank of Armenia

Armenia

H.E. Tatiana's professional career has taken place in the banking, financial, and cooperative fields. She has solid knowledge of Cyberlaw applied to business, development, and implementation of financial public policies and regulations. She has carried out her work in private and public national and foreign financial entities, with recent emphasis on the control and supervision of entities of the popular and solidarity economy.

H.E. TATIANA MARIBEL
RODRÍGUEZ CERÓN

President of the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board

Central Bank of Ecuador

Ecuador

On March 4, 2020, he was appointed President of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Uruguay. Economist Labat was recognized as “Central Banker of the Year 2023 for the Americas” by the British magazine The Banker.

H.E. DIEGO
LABAT

President

Central Bank of Uruguay

Uruguay

She is passionate about financial inclusion and women economic empowerment. Achievements include establishment of Credit Bureau Cambodia and the introduction of financial literacy into the general education program. Holds a PhD in economics, member of AFI Board of Directors and WEF's Young Global Leaders.

H.E. CHEA
SEREY

Governor

National Bank of Cambodia

Cambodia

Progresses the DFM Board’s vision to achieve robust expansion of Dubai’s capital markets. He has been leading Nasdaq Dubai as CEO since 2012 and was previously Deputy CEO at DFM from July 2020 – November 2021. His prior roles saw him as COO of the DIFC Authority and as Executive Director of the Dubai Knowledge & Human Development Authority. He holds an Executive MBA from the London Business School.

HAMED
ALI

Chief Executive Officer

Dubai Financial Market

Ian Johnston was appointed Chief Executive of the DFSA in 2022, a position he previously held from 2012 to 2018. From 2018 until his reappointment, Mr Johnston provided advice and consultancy to a number of regulatory bodies across the Middle East, Europe and Asia, including on projects funded by the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.

IAN
JOHNSTON

Chief Executive

Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA)

Akash Shah is the Chief Growth Officer for BNY Mellon, where he leads their market-leading data & software, private markets, and wealth technology businesses.

AKASH
SHAH

Chief Growth Officer

BNY Mellon

Mudassir Sheikha is the CEO and Co-Founder of Careem. He grew up in Karachi, Pakistan, before graduating from the University of Southern California with dual degrees in Economics and Computer Science, and obtained his Master’s in Computer Science with a specialization in Databases from Stanford University.

MUDASSIR
SHEIKHA

CEO and Co-Founder

Careem

Hosam is the CEO and Co-founder of Tabby, a shopping and financial services app designed to create financial freedom.

HOSAM
ARAB

Co-founder and CEO

Tabby

Tomaso Rodriguez is an accomplished technology executive and entrepreneur, startup enthusiast, and venture capitalist currently holding the role of CEO at talabat. With extensive experience across the world, Tomaso is responsible for ramping up talabat’s presence in the Middle East and further building strategic partnerships. He joined talabat from Singapore-based Grab, Southeast Asia’s market leading super-app and the region's most valuable startup. He headed the GrabFood division, and grew the food delivery business from one city to 200 in just 18 months.

TOMASO
RODRIGUEZ

Chief Executive Officer

Talabat

25+ years in payments and banking technology. Early investor/advisor - N26, Wefox, Wayflyer, Bitpanda, Moove and Iyzico.

STEFAN
KLESTIL

General Partner

Speedinvest

Austria

John R. Selby (Jack) is a technology, finance and independent film entrepreneur. His primary role is as Managing Director at Peter Thiel’s family office, Thiel Capital, in Los Angeles, California.

JACK
SELBY

Managing Director

Thiel Capital

Igno is a managing partner of Aquiline. Prior to joining the firm in 2012, he was in the corporate finance teams at Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan in London. He holds an LL.M. in (International) Tax Law from Erasmus University Rotterdam, and completed the General Management Program at Harvard Business School.

IGNO VAN
WAESBERGHE

Managing Partner

Aquiline Capital Partners

Shirley Romig, Chief Accelerator Investment Officer at Techstars, a leading pre-seed investor, manages global entrepreneur selection, funding, and mentoring. With 20+ years in consumer technology and operations, she has scaled high-growth businesses and led operations at Lyft, Equinox, and Saks Fifth Avenue. Formerly the CEO of Mixo, a startup entrepreneur, Shirley serves as a board director at Lovesac (NASDAQ: LOVE) and MamaMancini's (NASDAQ: MAMA). She holds an M.B.A. from the Darden School of Business and a Bachelor of Science from the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia.

SHIRLEY
ROMIG

Chief Accelerator Investments Officer

Techstars

Courtney Powell is tasked with helping venture capital firm 500 Global scale globally and explore new opportunities across both new and existing markets.

COURTNEY
POWELL

Chief Operating Officer & Managing Partner

500 Global

Blythe Masters joined Motive Partners in 2019 and is a Founding Partner. At Motive, Blythe sources and executes investment opportunities with a focus on strategy and growth for Motive portfolio companies, through her extensive experience as a financial services and technology executive.

BLYTHE
MASTERS

Founding Partner

Motive Partners

At Peak XV, GV advises on tech & non-tech investments. He’s deeply interested in tech’s role in helping drive efficiencies, reduce costs and improve access in fintech, healthcare and consumer markets.

GV
RAVISHANKAR

Managing Director

Peak XV Partners

Mr. Yang leads Ant International’s efforts in delivering a full stack of innovative digital payment, growth and cross-border fund-management solutions. These solutions are aimed at enabling online and offline merchants, including small and medium-sized businesses, to more effectively cater to consumers across international markets.

PENG
YANG

Chief Executive Officer

Ant International

Singapore

Over 40 years in emerging markets, managed $50B+ assets. Former Executive Chairman at Franklin Templeton Emerging Markets Group. Key in global emerging markets policy, served on World Bank's Corporate Governance Forum. Lifetime Achievement Award in Asset Management (2017). Author, Ph.D. from MIT.

MARK
MOBIUS

Founding Partner

Mobius Capital Partners

Prior to his appointment as Governor, he served as  the Chief Executive Officer of Eswatini Sugar  Association for 6 years and Chief Executive Officer of  Standard Bank Eswatini for 4 years. He was  previously the Assistant Governor of the Central Bank  of Eswatini, a position he held for 4 years.

H.E DR. PHIL
MNISI

Governor

Central Bank of Eswatini

Eswatini

As Vice-Governor of Oesterreichische Nationalbank since 2019, I oversee Financial Market Stability, Banking Supervision, and Statistics. Additionally, I hold roles as a Member of the SSM Supervisory Board of the ECB, Alternate Member of the ECB Governing Council, and Alternate Governor at the International Monetary Fund. Formerly a Professor at Danube University Krems, I have been on leave since 2019.

H.E. GOTTFRIED
HABER

Vice – Governor

National Bank of Austria

Austria

In September 2018, she assumed the role of Deputy Governor at Banco de España. In this capacity, she serves on the Supervisory Board of the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism and holds key positions in various financial institutions and committees. Since 2019, she has chaired the Spanish Macroprudential Authority (AMCESFI).

H.E. MARGARITA
DELGADO

Deputy Governor

Bank of Spain

Spain

H.E. Dr. Susan Koech is the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and has served since March 10, 2023. She has over 20 years distinguished career in the Banking industry having served in various senior leadership positions before transitioning into the public sector.

H.E. DR. SUSAN
KOECH

Deputy Governor

Central Bank of Kenya

Kenya

Mr. Al-Fulaij is a long serving NBK leader focused on customer-centric, solution-based financial products and services geared for consistent growth. He currently serves as the Vice Chairman of NBK Capital and the Chief Executive Officer of National Bank of Kuwait - Kuwait and Board member of Watani Financial Brokerage Company and Board Member of NBK-France.

SALAH Y.
AL-FULAIJ

CEO - Kuwait

National Bank of Kuwait

Kuwait

Fabian Wesemann, a former investment banker, currently oversees wefox's financial and data strategy, driving fundraising initiatives that have secured over €1bn in funding to date.

FABIAN
WESEMANN

Co Founder, Chief Investment Officer and Member of the Board of Directors

wefox Holding AG

Germany

Jigar Patel is a seasoned professional with over 15 years of experience in the financial services and technology industry.

JIGAR
PATEL

Managing Director - Global Head of FinTech & Internet

Morgan Stanley

Sanjay Saraf is Managing Director, Chief Product & Customer Strategy Officer for Payments organization. Specifically, he is focused on leading our end-to-end product strategy for our new and emerging commerce centric payments across merchant and treasury services.

SANJAY
SARAF

MD, Chief Product and Customer Officer

JP Morgan

Joe has a passion for FinTech and the crucial role it can play in enabling financial inclusion and well-being, helping to create financially healthier populations.

JOE
PARKIN

Managing Partner

FinTech Growth Fund

Ian Cramb joined UBP in November 2009 as Chief Operating Officer and Member of the Executive Committee. Before joining UBP, Ian Cramb, was EMEA Consumer Chief Operating Officer with Citigroup. During his career with Citigroup, where he started working in 1992, Ian Cramb held several high-level positions, including Risk Manager, Head of Human Relations, Chief of Staff and COO. Mr Cramb holds a modern languages degree from Durham University.

IAN
CRAMB

Chief Operating Officer

Union Bancaire Privée (UBP)

Switzerland

Sergey Nazarov is the co-founder of Chainlink, the industry-leading decentralized computing platform.

SERGEY
NAZAROV

Co-Founder

Chainlink Labs

Roham is the CEO of Dapper Labs, the creators of NBA Top Shot. CryptoKitties and Flow. Roham started his first startup at the age of 14 and has since funded and built over a dozen companies.

ROHAM
GHAREGOZLOU

Chief Executive Officer

Dapper Labs

Canada

Asiff is President at MoonPay, the world’s leading Web3 infrastructure company enabling fast and simple ways to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

ASIFF
HIRJI

President

MoonPay

After graduating from secondary school, Sergej began studying to become a programmer. He has worked as a software engineer, full-stack developer, software architect and information security expert. While working for various companies, in his spare time, he built an SMS aggregation system that allowed users to send text messages at the cheapest rates.

SERGEJ
KUNZ

Co-Founder

1inch Network

Germany

Mr. Douglas FEAGIN serves as Senior Vice President for Global Strategic Partnerships and Investments of Ant Group and as President of Ant International.

DOUGLAS
FEAGIN

Senior Vice President, Ant Group

President, Ant International

Lane Kasselman is the President of Blockchain.com, where he has transformed the startup unicorn into a fast-growing multinational business. Kasselman has spent over two decades consulting on business strategy, public policy, crisis management and communications, running communications and public affairs for Uber, AT&T, The Messina Group and his own firm, Greenbrier.

LANE
KASSELMAN

President

Blockchain.com

Paul Taylor is the founder and CEO of Thought Machine, the leading cloud-native core banking and payments technology provider. Thought Machine is present in 18 countries with a client list of more than a dozen Tier 1 banks worldwide.

PAUL
TAYLOR

Founder and CEO

Thought Machine

Jouk Pleiter is the CEO and co-founder of Backbase, a software company helping banks with their digital transformation.

JOUK
PLEITER

CEO & Co-Founder

Backbase Inc.

Netherlands

An industry leader in payments and financial technology, Happach brings over 15 years of payments experience to Coda. Happach spent a decade driving more than 500% growth at Worldpay, one of the world’s largest payment service providers, leading the commercial function of its online payments division from 2011 until 2016 and serving as its Executive Vice President from 2016 to 2021.

SHANE
HAPPACH

Chief Executive Officer

Coda Payments

Singapore

As Co-CEO and President, Mike oversees Trumid’s business operations and is responsible for the company’s strategy and growth. He sits on Trumid’s Board of Directors. Mike joined Trumid in 2014, prior to which he held credit trading and management roles at Lehman Brothers and Barclays.

MICHAEL
SOBEL

Co-CEO and President

Trumid

Michael Chalhoub is the President of Strategy, Growth, Innovation & Investment and of the Joint Venture department for Chalhoub Group, the leading partner for luxury across the Middle East. Within its portfolio of joint ventures are partnerships with Louis Vuitton, Dior, Fendi, Sephora, Coty, Puig, Havas and Farfetch.

MICHAEL
CHALHOUB

President of Joint Ventures and of Strategy, Growth, Innovation & Investment

Chalhoub Group

Prajit Nanu leads Nium's corporate and product strategy as we move toward on-demand money movement. Under his leadership, Nium has won several accolades, including being named twice to the CB insights Fintech 250 and the Financial Times list of High-Growth Companies

PRAJIT
NANU

Co-Founder and CEO

Nium

Singapore

Gary Hoberman is an entrepreneur and technology chief executive who has been innovating and bringing transformative solutions to market for more than 30 years. In 2017, Gary founded Unqork to break through the biggest barrier to growth he saw serving in technology leadership roles at Fortune 500 organizations

GARY
HOBERMAN

CEO & Founder

Unqork

Adolfo Babatz is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Clip. Before founding Clip in 2012, Adolfo held different positions at PayPal, where he was first responsible for leading the team that opened PayPal in Mexico and then became Customer Engagement and New Product Development Manager for PayPal Latin America.

ADOLFO
BABATZ

Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer

Clip

Michael is the Head of Applied AI and Practice at BNY Mellon, leading a team of practitioners building AI enabled products, solutions and capabilities.

MICHAEL
DEMISSIE

Head of Applied AI and Practice

BNY Mellon

René Michau is Global Head of Digital Assets for the Standard Chartered banking group working across the bank to lead innovation and delivery to provide clients with safe access to digital asset solutions. René previously led the establishment of the Fintech Banking business at SC and has worked across Financial Markets, Transaction Banking, Risk and Technology for several banks including HSBC, ANZ and NAB. His early career was spent as an Officer in the Australian Defence Force.

RENE
MICHAU

Global Head of Digital Assets

Standard Chartered Banking Group

Singapore

Jessica Renier leads technological development and policy on artificial intelligence and machine learning, digital identity, digital assets and Central Bank Digital Currency, payments innovation, data management, cloud technologies, and quantum computing.

JESSICA
RENIER

Managing Director - Digital Finance

Institute of International Finance

Amna Al Owais is the Chief Registrar of the DIFC Courts and provides high level support to operations, the administration of the Registries, as well as the delivery of a comprehensive suite of ancillary court public services.

AMNA
SULTAN AL OWAIS

Chief Registrar

Dubai International Financial Centre Courts

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil is a seasoned strategic investor and visionary in the healthcare industry. As the Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings, he spearheads one of the leading healthcare services providers in the MENA region employing over 10,000 professionals and catering to over 5 million patients yearly.

DR. SHAMSHEER
VAYALIL

Founder & Chairman

Burjeel Holdings

Siobhan oversees Finastra’s Universal Banking business, including market leading core banking and digital solutions globally. She has deep technology industry expertise, and more than 25 years of experience in IT and channel management, as well as leading and growing prominent technology companies across a range of sectors such as financial services, insurance, manufacturing, and public sector.

SIOBHAN
BYRON

EVP Universal Banking

Finastra

Canada

Chairman of Bank of Palestine Group and a Tech-Ecosystem builder in Palestine.

HASHIM
SHAWA

Group Chairman

Bank of Palestine Group

Palestine

Mr. Al-Tuwaijri joined Boubyan Bank in December 2011 and has more than 32 years of banking experience, including 23 years at NBK. During his time with NBK, he held different leadership roles in retail banking in Kuwait and London. Mr. Al-Tuwaijri got his bachelor’s degree in Finance from Kuwait University, and attended several executive development programs at Harvard Business School, INSEAD, and other reputable institutions.

ABDULLAH ABDULKAREEM
AL-TUWAIJRI

Chief Executive Officer - Consumer, Private, and Digital Banking

Boubyan Bank

Kuwait

Gene Hoffman has built and sold three companies to PGP, Inc., Vivendi-Universal, and Amdocs. He has 23 years of working in high compliance security environments with 12 years of managing PCI and SSAE-16 compliance for the storage of 220,000,000 credit cards. Gene has built and scaled companies in enterprise software and SaaS, consumer subscriptions, cryptography, and software development and has served as chief executive of a public company.

GENE
HOFFMAN

Chief Executive Officer and President

Chia Network

Shashvat is the Founder of BharatPe. He is also the Chief Operating Officer at the company. He started this company with the vision of building financial services for small merchants in India. Shashvat started his entrepreneurial journey by dropping out of IIT Delhi at the age of 19 years, with a vision to build something that can bring about a transformational change in lives of SMEs and small offline merchants in the country.

SHASHVAT
NAKRANI

Founder and COO

BharatPe

India

Emre Kenci, a tech leader with a BS degree in Computer Engineering from Bilkent University, has embarked on a journey through pivotal roles in prominent tech companies. He worked as a Senior Engineer at Microsoft. Became partner and CTO of Turkey's foremost cryptocurrency exchanges, BtcTurk and BTCTrader. Subsequently, he took on the responsibilities of a board member and CTO at Papara, Turkey's largest fintech. In April 2022, Emre Kenci ascended to the position of CEO at Papara, further underscoring his commitment to driving technological advancement and innovation. Through a product and technology-oriented growth approach, Emre Kenci leads Papara towards new horizons.

EMRE
KENCI

Chief Executive Officer

Papara

Turkey

Devoted to creating simple and fair financial products and services, Jaidev joined Zopa in October 2014. Since then Zopa has secured its banking license and grown to 1 million customers.

JAIDEV
JANARDANA

Chief Executive Officer

Zopa Bank

William Li is the CEO and founder of Akulaku Group, a leading financial technology company improving the quality of life in Southeast Asia through the advancement of digital financial services. William has more than 10 years' experience in legal and financial services, previously with PingAn and King & Wood Mallesons. William holds a B.A. in Law from Tsinghua University and a M.A. in law from Washington and Lee University.

WILLIAM
LI

Chief Executive Officer and Founder

Akulaku Group

Singapore

William is Managing General Partner at Orbit Startups, the first and longest running startup program in Asia and a Venture Partner at SOSV.

WILLIAM
BAO BEAN

Managing General Partner

Orbit Startups

Alain Baron, 20-years private banking veteran, serves as Equity Partner and Strategic Advisor for Wealth Management at Mirabaud Group, Board Member at Mirabaud Middle East and Mirabaud Abu Dhabi.

ALAIN
BARON

Group Equity Partner

Mirabaud Group

John is Chief Growth Officer at DriveWealth, responsible for evolving existing Partner relationships by driving deeper client penetration and asset class expansion.

JOHN
SHAMMAS

Chief Growth Officer

DriveWealth

Varun is Partner at Quona Capital, an emerging markets fintech VC with over US$ 750MM. Varun co-leads Asia investments for Quona.

VARUN
MALHOTRA

Partner

Quona Capital

Dominik is a sustainability and technology entrepreneur. He is the Co-Founder of IOTA and Chairman of the IOTA Foundation, the non-profit foundation based in Germany, Switzerland and the UAE. As Chairman he leads and oversees the efforts to expand IOTA’s digital infrastructure to create new digital economies for trade and logistics, digital finance and digital identity. He has been a technology entrepreneur for over a decade, with his core expertise including Blockchain, AI, IoT, digital finance, startups and the creation of digital ecosystems.

DOMINIC
SCHIENER

Co-Founder of IOTA

Chairman of the IOTA Foundation

CHARITH
MENDIS

Head of Worldwide Banking Industry

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

As EVP, Head Wholesale Digital Banking & NeoVentures, Amith leads the transformation of Mashreq Bank into a more digital and analyticsdriven organization. He has deep business knowledge and exceptional ability to bridge the gap between business and technology realms, resulting in a seamlessly integrated approach to strategic decision making and delivery.

AMITH
RAJAN

EVP - Head Wholesale Digital Banking & NeoVentures

Mashreq

Professor Sarah Hammer is a global regulatory leader and financial services executive with 20+ years of progressive international experience in policy and academia at the University of Pennsylvania.

PROF SARAH
HAMMER

Professor and Executive Director

The Wharton School and the University of Pennsylvania Law School

Prior to joining Crystal as CEO Navin Gupta was Managing Director for South Asia and MEA regions at Ripple and engaged with Regulators, Commercial Banks, Fintechs and Crypto Exchanges.

NAVIN
GUPTA

Chief Executive Officer

Crystal Intelligence

One of the most prominent faces of India's Fintech industry, built the country's largest marketplace for lending products and free credit score platform.

NAVEEN
KUKREJA

Co-founder & CEO

Paisabazaar

India

Group Head Payments of Standard Bank Group, a banker with a great passion for harnessing the power of Fintech.

SIMON
JUST

Group Head Payments

Standard Bank Group

South Africa

Bernard-Louis Roques is a Pioneer in European FinTech / InsurTech. He founded the 1st European FinTech Incubator in 2014. 8 Fintech related startups were created or funded by Truffle of which 4 have already exited with significant multiples.

BERNARD-LOUIS
ROQUES

CEO & Co-Founder

Truffle Capital

France

Melissa C. Guzy is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Arbor Ventures. Melissa is a member of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong and the Singapore Venture Capital Associations and a former member of the advisory counsel to the Hong Kong SFC on Innovation.

MELISSA CANNON
GUZY

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Arbor Ventures

Singapore

Hany Rashwan is the Co-Founder and CEO of 21.co – the world's leader in providing access to crypto through simple and easy to use products, and parent company of 21Shares. He is a serial entrepreneur and Forbes 30 Under 30 alum. He previously founded social commerce company, Ribbon, and enterprise fintech company, Payout. Hany was born and raised in Egypt and the United States and attended Columbia University where he graduated with a BA.

HANY
RASHWAN

Co-Founder and CEO

21.co

Switzerland

Nadir Abdellatif Mohammed is the EFI Regional Director, Middle East and North Africa (MNA) region of the World Bank. Prior to this, he was the Director of Strategy and Operations in the Human Development Practice Group of the Bank overseeing human capital project and the education, health nutrition and population and social safety nets, Labor and migration. During 2014-2018, Mr. Mohammed was the Country Director of the GCC Countries in the MENA region of the World Bank.

NADIR
MOHAMMED

Regional Director - Equitable Finance, Growth, Institutions - MENA

World Bank

Christine is the CEO of the EMEA region of InvestCloud. She has a career of successfully building businesses across Europe and Asia. In addition, she is on the Board of Barclays Private Bank Switzerland and Institut Pasteur Switzerland.

CHRISTINE MAR
CIRIANI

Head of International Digital Wealth

InvestCloud

Switzerland

With nearly 24 years of expertise in retail banking and consumer finance, Tomas Skoumal serves as the Chairman of Dyna.Ai, overseeing the company's strategic direction in providing AI-driven solutions.

TOMAS
SKOUMAL

Chairman

Dyna.Ai

Singapore

Award winning entrepreneur, Co-Founder and CMD of a Global Enterprise, Finvasia.

SARVJEET
VIRK

Co-Founder and Managing Director

Finvasia

India

Sumit is a visionary entrepreneur and technology leader who ignited the crypto revolution in India. As the co-founder of CoinDCX, he has built India's first Crypto Unicorn from a 2-person team to a workforce of over 700 dedicated professionals. With a long-term vision, Sumit prioritizes user protection and customer experience, establishing CoinDCX as the most secure and credible platform in India's crypto industry.

SUMIT
GUPTA

Co-Founder

CoinDCX

India

Dr. Manas Human is the Co-founder and CEO (Custodian of Entrepreneurship) at Nagarro and chairperson of the Executive Board of Nagarro. He was also the member of the Executive Board of Allgeier SE, Nagarro's parent company. Nagarro is a global digital engineering leader, that employs over 18,000 people in 36 countries. Nagarro is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and a part of the prestigious TecDAX index. Dr Human co-founded Nagarro in 1996.

DR. MANAS
HUMAN

Co-Founder and CEO

Nagarro

India

Diana is the Global Head of Banking and Expansion at Wise, bringing the magic of Wise to all corners of the world. Prior to working at Wise, Diana was a Financial Lawyer in Bogota, Colombia. Diana is passionate about financial inclusion and after working for a law firm decided she wanted to focus her career on helping to change the world of banking, making it fairer for everyone.

DIANA
AVILA

Global Head of Banking and Expansion

Wise

Vice President overseeing the Middle East & Africa at Circle, issuer of leading regulated stablecoin, USDC.

MIRIAM
KIWAN

VP EMEA

Circle

General Manager of the BCE and university professor on macroeconomics, microeconomics, public finance, financial mathematics, and corporate finance.

GUILLERMO
AVELLAN

General Manager

Central Bank of Ecuador

Ecuador

Harry Gill is a forward-thinking leader and a seasoned entrepreneur with a focus on fintech innovation and investment. As the Chairman of Eastern Fortune Investments LLC (EFI) and Pay10 Global, he has spearheaded the transformation of these ventures into global players in the financial technology sector. With a strong educational background in finance and a track record of founding and leading multiple successful ventures, Harry Gill is recognized as a driving force behind the evolution of fintech in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and South Asian regions.

HARRY
GILL

Chairman

Pay10

Julia Cillikova currently serves as the Executive Director at the National Bank of Slovakia, where she oversees consumer protection, financial innovations, insurance and pension regulation and supervision. She commenced her professional career after graduating from the Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics.

JULIA
CILLIKOVA

Executive Director

National Bank of Slovakia

Slovakia

Jorgen has over 16 years of experience in the banking sector, mainly on International Retail Banking where he held senior positions focusing on Mergers and acquisitions, restructuring banks and Leading digital and innovation.

DR. JORGEN
OUAKNINE

Global Head of innovation and digital assets

Euroclear

France

Charlie Kerr is the chief executive officer of With Intelligence, a company he co-founded over 25 years ago. He recently spearheaded an overhaul of With’s strategy, transforming it from a traditional B2B media business into a leading provider of data and intelligence for the global investment management industry.

CHARLIE
KERR

Founder & CEO

With Intelligence

John Liu is the Senior Vice President, Decision Science and Analytics of Dyna.Ai, and leads the decision science and analytics groups. Prior to joining Dyna.Ai, he served as the Director of Analytical Consulting at FICO, and SVP, Director of Analytics at Citi Cards.

JOHN
LIU

Senior Vice President, Decision Science and Analytics

Dyna.Ai

Singapore

Tajinder Virk is the Co-Founder and CEO of Finvasia. He has broad experience in the financial services industry, having held key positions across geographies and noteworthy hedge funds.

TAJINDER
VIRK

Co-Founder and CEO

Finvasia

India

Gautam Jain is an accomplished 35-year banking technology veteran, and a member of SC Ventures, the fintech ecosystem of Standard Chartered. He is also Chairman of two SC Ventures portfolio companies, digital supply chain startup TASConnect and cross-border payments venture Zai. He joined SC Ventures in April 2018 after an 11-year career with Standard Chartered Bank, culminating in the role of Global Head of Client Access. Previously, he held several senior positions at Barclays, HSBC and Citigroup in the payment and commercial product departments, based in Singapore, London and India. He is known for driving excellence, and his leadership in turning concepts of the future into reality. Gautam holds a bachelor’s in aerospace technology from the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur.

GAUTAM
JAIN

Member

SC Ventures

Singapore

Pawel Michalski is a Partner at the BCG Dubai office. He joined the company in 2014, starting in the Warsaw office in Poland and moved to Middle East in 2023. He is a core member of the Financial Institutions and Technology Advantage practice areas and works exclusively for banking clients.

PAWEL
MICHALSKI

Partner

Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

Poland

Fred Roeder is a consumer advocate at heart. He has been working in the field of grassroots activism for over ten years. He is a Health Economist from Germany and has worked in healthcare reform in North America and Europe. One of his passions is to analyze how disruptive industries and technologies allow consumers more choice at a lower cost. He also loves researching how innovation makes our lives better.

FRED
ROEDER

Managing Director

Consumer Choice Center

Unicorn Fintech Co-Founder & CTO - Built one of India's largest profitable consumer lending business.

PARIKSHIT
CHITALKAR

Co-Founder

Stashfin

Singapore

Managing Director of the World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC), a non-profit association fostering collaboration among leading financial centers on five continents

DR. JOCHEN
BIEDERMANN

Managing Director

World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) AISBL

Germany

Craig Moore is the Founder and CEO of Beehive, an e& enterprise company based in Dubai, and the first peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform in MENA to be regulated by the DFSA.

CRAIG
MOORE

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Beehive

Mark co-founded Sarwa in 2017 and is a new generation executive with 10 years of experience across diverse roles spanning strategy, management, operations and technology.

MARK
CHAHWAN

Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Sarwa

Ola Doudin is the co-founder & CEO of BitOasis, the first and largest digital asset platform in the Middle East. She has an engineering background and has worked in tech consulting in a Big4 firm in London and engineering research prior to her move back to the region where she got involved in tech entrepreneurship and later started BitOasis in 2015. Most recently, Forbes Middle East featured Ola among the ‘Top 10 Women Behind Middle Eastern Tech Brands 2021’. She has also been selected as a ‘Young Global Leader 2022’ – An initiative by the World Economic Forum.

OLA
DOUDIN

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

BitOasis

Dan Murphy is CNBC’s Anchor and Correspondent based in the United Arab Emirates, reporting on business, markets, economics and geopolitics from across the Middle East region.

DAN
MURPHY

Anchor & Correspondent

CNBC

Joumanna is an anchor for Bloomberg Television based in Dubai. She has interviewed key central bankers, policymakers, CEOs & CFOs in EMEA & MENA. She worked in banking for 11 years before journalism.

JOUMANNA
BERCETCHE

TV Anchor

Bloomberg

Yousef Gamal El-Din is a business news anchor who interviews heads-of-state, ministers, CEOs as well as billionaires. His career spans Bloomberg and CNBC with daily live shows over 15 years.

YOUSEF
GAMAL EL-DIN

Anchor

Stagespring

Bryan leads the regulatory financial services practice for EY with more 35 years of experience in financial services across public and private sectors.

BRYAN
STIREWALT

MENA Financial Services Regulatory Leader

Talal Bayaa, CEO & Co-founder of Bayzat, a UAE-based tech startup revolutionizing HR, payroll, and insurance solutions, leveraging his expertise in finance and investment.

TALAL
BAYAA

Chief Executive Officer

Bayzat

Co-Founder, CEO at FinFlx. Amr is a certified wealth manager with 15 years of experience in wealth and asset management. He held multiple positions in international firms in Egypt, UK and the UAE.

AMR
YUSSIF

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder

FinFlx

CEO and Co-Founder of CoinMENA, a regulated cryptocurrency exchange under the Central Bank of Bahrain and VARA in the UAE.

TALAL
TABBAA

Chief Executive Officer

CoinMENA

Founder and product leader in the embedded savings space, enabling customers to save with their preferred brands

KARAM
EL DIK

Founder

TWIG Solutions

Faisal Toukan has built a successful company with a vision to become the leading force in democratizing financial services across the Middle East, making digital payments accessible to all.

FAISAL
TOUKAN

Chief Executive Officer

Ziina

Tariq Sheikh is the Founder and CEO of Postpay, a leading BNPL provider in the Middle East. Tariq is committed to fostering financial empowerment and driving meaningful change in people's lives.

TARIQ
SHEIKH

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Postpay

Ronit Ghose runs the Future of Finance team in Citi Global Insights, Citi’s thought leadership unit. His team focuses on the intersection of the future of money and finance with emerging technologies.

RONIT
GHOSE

Global Head, Future of Finance, Citi Global Insights

Citi

Sharif El-Badawi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Dubai Future District Fund, an evergreen venture fund of funds and direct investment vehicle of the emirate of Dubai.

SHARIF
EL-BADAWI

Chief Executive Officer

Dubai Future District Fund

Mirna Sleiman, leading Fintech Galaxy, champions Open Finance across MENA with a vision for inclusive, tech-driven financial services, backed by global expertise and top-tier education.

MIRNA
SLEIMAN

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Fintech Galaxy

Karl is the Founder and CEO of iAdvisory, a Dubai Future Fellow, and board advisor pioneering the digital economy and driving innovation across government, enterprise and venture space.

KARL
TLAIS

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

iAdvisory

Jack is a financial services and technology specialist with significant experience and leads the Tier 1 fintech and regulatory teams in the Middle East, working for regional and international clients.

JACK
HARDMAN

Partner

Clifford Chance

Entrepreneur, investor, and dynamic executive. Esports and gaming expert. He is building businesses at the cutting edge of technology and media.

PAUL
DAWALIBI

Chief Executive Officer

Holodeck Ventures

Cal is an award winning international lawyer and founder in the digital asset space. He is also a founding board member of the British Blockchain Association.

CAL
EVANS

Managing Associate

Gresham International

Zaher Agha is the Managing Director at Direct TT, overseeing the company’s B2B operations across Europe, Latin America and the Middle East. Zaher is a seasoned professional and visionary leader with over 25 years of experience in the financial services and fintech industry; and with a profound understanding of the complexities of the financial world, Zaher has played a key role in enabling companies to establish their own brokerage enterprises using Direct TT’s cutting-edge white label brokerage solution.

ZAHER
AGHA

Managing Director

Direct Trading Technologies

A seasoned executive manager with a track record of 50+ successful projects and 9 years of experience in the areas of management consultancy, project management, business development, systems development and implementation with particular focus on risk management, compliance, core banking and reporting. Seeking to utilize my professional expertise to leverage proven management techniques in delivery of core business projects.

TAIMUR
KALEEM

Chief Executive Officer

BenchMatrix

Bahrain

Natalia boasts vast experience in FinTech and Big Four consulting. Excels in business transformation, digitalization, and sustainable development strategies. TOP 50 contributors by e27 Voices.

NATALIA
ISHCHENKO

Chief Executive Officer

UnaFinancial

Mr Helal Tariq Lootah is the Co-CEO and Co-Founder of Lune Technologies a leading, DIFC based Financial Data Science Company. Mr Lootah is also currently a Board Member of the Al Etihad Credit Bureau.

HELAL
LOOTAH

Co-Chief Executive Officer

Lune Technologies

Managing Director & Growth Agenda Owner of DefineX Middle East Consulting, dedicated to establishing the regional footprint of the boutique digital & technology consulting company in Middle East.

CANSEN
ERGUN

Managing Director

DefineX Middle East Consulting Ltd

Adam Reeds is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ledn, a global company regulated in the Cayman Islands that focuses on building financial products to help people save in bitcoin and digital assets.

ADAM
REEDS

Co-Founder & CEO

Ledn

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