MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Antonia‑Catharina Gartner is a seasoned technology leader at IBM with more than a decade of experience shaping the future of Data, AI, and Hybrid Cloud across Europe. As Technology Sales Leader for IBM’s Data Platform in Germany, she helps organizations build trusted, scalable data foundations that unlock enterprise‑grade AI. Throughout her career, Antonia has led high‑impact technical teams and strategic transformation engagements to accelerate clients’ digital modernization journeys. Her academic and professional journey reflects a deep commitment to pioneering what’s possible with data—combining engineering rigor with business informatics and a passion for shaping responsible, high‑value AI ecosystems. Antonia speaks passionately about the intersection of data, responsible AI, and enterprise transformation—and how organizations can turn these capabilities into sustainable competitive advantage.

Alexander Schmitt has over 15 years of experience in Voice Assistants, Voice AI research, and product development. He began his career at the University of Ulm, joining Germany’s first spoken dialog system research lab in 2007, where he pursued a PhD on AI-driven Speech Dialog Systems in collaboration with New York-based SpeechCycle Inc.

In 2012, Alex joined Mercedes-Benz, contributing to research, advanced engineering, and product development for next-generation in-car voice assistants and emotion AI. A prolific author, Alex has published over 60 international papers in voice assistant-related fields. He currently leads the development of the next-gen #HeyMercedes Voice Assistant, working with a talented team of software developers, data scientists, and product owners to push the boundaries of conversational AI.

Aura Hita Losa is a CX Automations Specialist at On, where she leverages over a decade of global digital expertise and more than five years in the Conversational AI industry. As a CX advocate and seasoned marketer, Aura is passionate about advancing Conversational Automation to elevate customer-brand interactions through cutting-edge AI technologies.

Her work focuses on crafting meaningful conversations by understanding user experience (UX) and cross-cultural consumer behavior. Aura’s dedication to fostering impactful and innovative solutions reflects her commitment to transforming the way brands engage with their customers, creating seamless and personalized interactions that leave a lasting impression.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Gerhard Wunder is a Professor of Cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence at Freie Universität Berlin, leading the Cybersecurity and AI (C-AI) Group.

Supported by Bundesdruckerei GmbH, his group focuses on AI with cybersecurity and cybersecurity through AI, hosting the Center for Trustworthy AI at the university. Prof. Wunder's research encompasses generative AI, resilient networks, privacy-preserving synthetic data, explainability and fairness in AI, quantum crypto analysis, AI engines for anomaly detection, cybersecurity architectures in IoT, AI-assisted device biometrics, and low-resource federated learning with blockchains.

His work bridges the gap between advanced AI technologies and practical cybersecurity solutions, driving progress in creating secure and intelligent systems for real-world applications. Prof. Wunder is dedicated to promoting innovation in AI and cybersecurity, making significant contributions to both academic research and industry practices.

Stefanie Söhnchen is Vice President Strategy / Lead Digital at PIABO Communications, the leading communications agency for the world’s most innovative companies. She has been a recognized expert in digital communication strategies for over a decade. Whether it's corporate ambassador programs, social media, newsletters, app and website concepts, content development, SEO, or storytelling – when it comes to strategic (digital) communications at PIABO, all roads lead to her.
With a background in multimedia journalism, Stefanie combines editorial expertise with a strong strategic mindset. Throughout her career, she has successfully supported companies across a wide range of industries – including insurance, energy, automotive, tech, beauty, and healthcare – in strengthening their digital brand presence. Her broad perspective on what drives success in both German and international markets makes her a sought-after strategic partner.
Outside the world of digital strategy, Stefanie is a passionate foodsaver and advocates for sustainability, equality, and diversity – in both her professional and personal life.

Thomas Neumann is a visionary leader in leveraging new technologies to transform customer experiences, with a focus on digital channels that create the "wow" effect. As a driving force behind global chatbot and voice assistant solutions, he is passionate about innovations that enhance customer satisfaction and boost Net Promoter Scores (NPS).

With over 15 years of experience in the mobile industry, Thomas brings a unique blend of international expertise, diverse roles, and exceptional interpersonal skills to the table. His work bridges the transition from traditional app-based solutions to cutting-edge conversational interfaces, enabling businesses to navigate the evolving digital landscape and deliver impactful, customer-focused results.

Felix Colaci is a Senior Solution Engineer specialized on Auth0 and Fine Grained Authorization with a decade of experience in API Management and Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM). He has a developer background and provides consulting on customer identity use cases for small to large businesses across various industries.

Leander leads Go-to-Market for ElevenLabs in EMEA, focusing on scaling ElevenLabs Agents. He works closely with leading enterprises to deploy AI voice agents across products and operations, helping them unlock scalable applications and measurable ROI. Based in Amsterdam, Leander combines a consultative approach with a proven track record in business development, building trust and long-term partnerships that drive transformative customer experiences.

Clara Rizzo is a Global Customer Service Project Specialist at On, where she drives transformative AI and automation solutions for customer service teams across EMEA, NA, and APAC regions. Passionate about enhancing customer service experiences, Clara excels in understanding the unique needs of diverse teams and shaping automation strategies that align with customer experience goals.

With a strong focus on innovation, process optimization, and stakeholder collaboration, Clara is dedicated to delivering impactful solutions that improve efficiency and drive business growth. Her expertise in AI automation, project management, and team leadership makes her a valuable force in revolutionizing customer service processes on a global scale.

With a PhD in Algorithmic Optimization from Trier University, Lukas has established a prominent career at Bayer Pharmaceuticals. Initially serving as an IT Product Manager for supply chain planning and inventory optimization software, hew now leads the AI transformation efforts in Supply Chain Management as the Digital Lead. Their current focus is on holistically rethinking business domains, encompassing a reimagined approach to technology, processes, organization, and culture. Lukas' strategic vision and expertise in AI positions him as a key influencer in the future of supply chain management at Bayer Pharmaceuticals.

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Chen Markman is the co-founder and CEO of Avon AI, a platform that helps organizations safely deploy, monitor, and govern generative AI agents in production, with a strong focus on regulated and sensitive industries. He brings 18 years of experience leading R&D, AI, and ML organizations, including extensive hands-on work deploying AI systems in highly regulated environments. Chen previously held senior roles at Pagaya and Dream Security, is an alumnus of the Talpiot program, and holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and mathematics, along with two master’s degrees, one in economics and one in electrical engineering.

Martin Woodward is Director Global Legal and Global Responsible AI Officer at Randstad, where he leads the design and implementation of the company’s Responsible AI program while overseeing global tech, procurement, and IT contracting. A seasoned in-house attorney and AI law leader, Martin works at the intersection of law, technology, and digital innovation, advising on large-scale IT projects, data protection, and AI governance. He is admitted to the Dutch Bar, chairs the NGB digitisation working group, and is an active contributor to leading AI and IT law associations.

Ardian Friedrich is a technical specialist at IBM focusing on AI governance, development and deployment of AI and business process automation based on AI. He supports customer AI projects from the idea towards the production environment and ensures that AI is not only stuck in the development phase. He is specialized on planning and implementing agentic workflows and ensures that these workflows are transparent and observable on production environments.

Alex is the co-founder and CEO at Giskard, a startup dedicated to secure AI agents through exhaustive testing. Previous experience includes big data & analytics consulting at Capgemini, and lead data scientist at Dataiku where he worked the development of the NLP and time-series stack.

At Giskard, he's leading a team developing an AI testing platform that advances Responsible AI, enhancing business performance while respecting the rights of citizens.

"Denis Turkov is a technology advisor and ex-Spryker Chief Architect with 15+ years in e-commerce and 9 years leading platform architecture.

He has helped 30+ commerce teams, including ALDI, Siemens Healthineers, Hornbach, and Pistor, launching across 16 countries and scale systems to 300M–3B EUR GMV, with peak throughput reaching 50,000 orders per minute.

Denis specializes in building AI-ready commerce foundations by combining product and data architecture, agentic selling UX, and support automation, helping D2C manufacturing and retail brands improve conversion on complex products, increase AOV, and reduce support load. "

Jan Zubíček serves as AI Business Strategist at ČSOB, Czech Republic's leading bankinsurance group and part of KBC Group, where he bridges technical capabilities with business objectives to shape and execute strategic AI initiatives. With over 20 years of experience spanning IT, data, and AI domains, he played a key role in bringing Kate to life - ČSOB's groundbreaking conversational AI assistant that has handled over 10 million customer interactions and set new industry standards for personalized banking services.

His current focus is on advancing conversational AI as a transformative force for both customer and employee experience, identifying opportunities where AI creates value and guiding implementation across the organization. This includes product ownership of MyKate, an internal LLM-based assistant that enhances employee productivity across customer service, daily operations, and content generation tasks. His expertise combines deep technical knowledge with strategic business insight, gained from working with both startups and enterprise organizations throughout his career.

Peter M. Buch is the founder of Findable, an AI-SEO platform making brands discoverable in ChatGPT and other AI search engines. A serial entrepreneur and Forbes 30 Under 30 alum, he explores how agentic AI is reshaping marketing and customer growth.

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Jarno M. Koponen is a seasoned product design and innovation leader who combines AI with product design and business to build impactful products, effective teams, and innovative organizations. He's work has been featured in notable publications such as Fast Company, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat among others. Jarno is currently leading product design for Personalization, Recommendations, Search and Browse (PRSB) at Zalando.