Speaker Bios (back to Event Summary)

Michael Diekerhof is a seasoned professional in the energy sector, currently serving as Vice President of Portfolio & Strategy Management at E.ON since September 2020, with a focus on enabling the energy transition through digitization. Prior roles include Vice President of Ecosystem Management and Chief of Staff for B2C Solutions & eMobility at E.ON, along with experience as Head of Smart District Furniture at innogy SE. Additionally, Michael serves on the Advisory Board of NFDI4Energy and acts as an External Expert for the European Commission on Horizon Europe Projects. Michael holds a Doktor (Dr.-Ing.) degree in Elektrotechnik from RWTH Aachen University and has completed fellowships at Tsinghua University and Princeton University, alongside a Master's degree in Industrial Engineering from TU Dortmund University and certification as a Post Merger Integration Expert from the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions and Alliances (IMAA).

Dr. Marko Komssi is a Senior Scientist at VTT, specializing in AI-driven strategic foresight and corporate strategy. He advises leadership and AI teams on AI research topics and investments for companies driving innovation with AI. Marko has received best speaker recognition both nationally and internationally, as well as three international research awards for his publications. 

Marko’s expertise in artificial intelligence began in 1997 at Lingsoft, where he was part of the team that developed spell checkers for Danish and Norwegian languages for Microsoft. He has extensive experience in globally oriented software business, particularly in cyber-security software, and was a core member of the Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence at WithSecure.

Pascal has 25+ years of experience as a senior leader in Global Business Management, Marketing, Branding, Consultative Sales, Ecommerce, Innovation and Business Transformation in Fortune 500 B2C and B2B companies in many industries.

At Philips he is currently Transformation Program- & Business Excellence Lead for profitable growth programs set up and execution; includes redesign of global Commercial setup and Innovation sustainable improvement. Chief of Staff role. Also it involves AI business roadmap and execution.

Maria is a Data People Strategy visionary, driving AI transformations from business and human perspective as part of her corporate and big 4 consulting experience, advisory and board services, mentoring and trainings. She is passionate about topics of how to get value out of data, put humans in the center of AI transformation, revise business models, organizations and workplace to be relevant for the data-driven future.

Hosanna is a Keynote speaker and panelist on topics in product strategy, navigating organizational complexity, and leadership challenge. Hosanna is a seasoned Product Strategist and Delivery Lead with a track record for success at Spotify, Twitter, Airbnb, HPE, SurveyMonkey, and other Fortune 500 companies. Hosanna’s engineering background, start-up and scale-up expertise over 10 years has prepared her to be an expert at pivoting, building, and scaling products & tech organizations to IPO in fast-moving tech environments. She has extensive experience in business strategy, organizational strategy & implementation, business process optimization, product strategy, and growth & experimentation.

Nora is a a strategic product operations and technical delivery leader with a strong track record across Gousto, Spotify, BBC and BT. She specialises in building impactful products, scaling agile delivery and embedding data-informed ways of working in complex organisations. With deep expertise across product strategy, technical delivery, operating model design at scale, Nora has led high-impact transformations across global teams. Her foundation in both programme delivery and product development allows her to bridge business strategy with execution, helping teams focus on real outcomes by using data and insights to drive alignment and impact.

Laura Lazzerini Neuwirth is an accomplished head of project management office (PMO) and a former director on the CEDIA board of directors, where she served for three consecutive terms. She holds a master’s degree in electronic engineering with a specialization in microelectronics from the University of Pisa in Italy, marking the beginning of her professional journey. With over two decades of experience in project management across various industries, including automotive, energy, yachting and telecom, Laura’s strategic thinking, executive stakeholder management and people management skills have been instrumental in driving organizational success. Laura is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP)® and a certified PMI PMO Certified Professional (PMI-PMOCP)™. Fluent in Italian, Czech, English and German, Laura excels in leading cross-functional teams and managing complex challenges across different geographies. As a public speaker, Laura shares her expertise on PMO leadership, strategy execution and executive stakeholder management at international conferences and seminars. Known for her ability to connect with diverse audiences and simplify complex concepts, she inspires others to achieve excellence and embrace innovation.

With over 20 years of experience in top-tier Life-Science corporations, I shape and execute large-scale change that delivers strategic value through cultural change, digital enablement, and process reengineering.
I have a passion for building and inspiring global teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration to institutionalize Operational Excellence as a long-term competitive advantage.

Melvyn Chungath is a seasoned leader in M&A integration, finance transformation, and operational excellence, with over two decades of global experience driving business growth and synergy realisation. Currently managing transformation initiatives at Collinson Group, he has delivered cost savings and operational improvements across finance. Previously, as Senior Director of M&A Integration at Salesforce, Melvyn successfully managed acquisitions across EMEA, achieving measurable revenue growth through strategic post-merger integration. He has also held senior leadership roles at Cognizant, EPAM (PolSource), and WNS, where he developed and executed integration frameworks, led due diligence, and built global teams to deliver scalable outcomes. A London Business School executive education alumnus and certified Portfolio and Project Management Professional, Melvyn brings deep expertise in strategy, cross-functional leadership, and delivering transformational change at scale.

Tom Nijenhuis is CEO of equensWorldline NV, a subsidiary within Wordlline Group with a particular focus on providing regulated payment processing services to clients in the Dutch market and other countries. Tom has been working within Worldline Group and its predecessors since 2003. In previous positions he was responsible for strategy, mergers and acquisitions, corporate development, legal and communications. The various positions he held enabled him to gain a lot of knowledge and experience in the European payments industry.

Jan is a Strategy & Growth leader with 15 years of industry & consulting experience. He has operated in B2B complex product environments, has been part of the strategy office of Deloitte for a fyll exco cycle, is part of the leadership team of a 500M Global Business Units, facilitated +200 strategy workshops from Atlanta to Shanghai (and back).

Patrick Pommerenke is an experienced strategy and operations leader with over 15 years of experience shaping business transformation across industries. As Head of Strategy at Vonovia, Europe’s leading residential real estate company, he is driving the execution of the growth strategy "Accelerate" and the evolution toward a B2B service model. Patrick previously held senior roles at thyssenkrupp and E.ON, delivering major initiatives in strategy, transformation, operations, and performance improvement. He is passionate about turning strategy into tangible results and building organizations that deliver lasting impact.

Tuuli Lindroos is an accomplished Cyber Policy and External Partnerships Manager at F-Secure Corporation, where she has been driving strategic initiatives several years. With a Master's degree in Social Sciences from Tampere University and ongoing studies in Responsible Business Management & Sustainability at Turku School of Economics, she brings a unique blend of policy expertise and business acumen to the cybersecurity sector. Her career spans both public and private sectors, including a pivotal role as Desk Officer for Technology and Security at Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, where she managed cyber diplomacy and represented Finland in EU, UN, and OSCE policy forums. At F-Secure, Tuuli leads the company's cyber policy strategy and manages complex EU research collaborations, particularly European wide funding initiatives.

Specializing in regulatory intelligence and sustainability leadership, Tuuli excels at translating complex policy landscapes into strategic business opportunities while integrating ESG principles into cybersecurity innovation. Her expertise in building bridges between policymakers, researchers, and industry leaders positions her at the forefront of securing Europe's digital future sustainably.

Gerald is a passionate executive with 25+ years of accumulated general management & leadership experience in several industries: Pharma, Biotech, Medical Devices, and Diagnostic Industry and international environments. He has extensive experience leading complex, cross-functional and international units and teams. He has worked in several countries, both as a top management consultant (Ernst & Young, Cap Gemini), as a senior business unit director (Gilead & AbbVie) and VP/General Manager (Galapagos and Mikrogen).

HBS shaped his leadership toolkit, but it’s cycling up mountains, DJ’ing since high school, and mentoring future leaders that keep him balanced. His leadership mission? Inspiring others to achieve greatness - while having fun along the way.

Faidra has a rich background in project management and with licensing and partnerships in the pharma industry.

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