by BFM | 30 November 2022 | In The News
Listen to the full interview below.
Professor of Practice and Director of Central Banking Research Centre (CBRC)
Ozer is a Professor of Practice, and the Director of the Central Banking Research Centre. He joined ASB in January 2022 after three years with the Southeast Asian Central Banks Research and Training (SEACEN) Centre in Kuala Lumpur where he was a senior economist. At ASB he teaches research methods, data analytics, and contemporary issues in macroeconomics. He also delivers related executive education courses, which can also be customized on demand. Prior to moving to Malaysia, he had been a central banker for 17 years.
Managing Partner of 500 Global
Khailee Ng is a managing partner at U.S. venture capital firm 500 Global and its 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. He has led more than 180 seed investments in Southeast Asian tech startups, including unicorns Grab, Carousell, Bukalapak, Carsome, Prenetics, FinAccel, and other regional champions. Prior to 500, he was the founder of Groupsmore (acquired by Groupon) and Malaysia’s largest online media company, Says.com (acquired by Media Prima).
As new technology and evolving consumer landscapes continue to disrupt industries, Khailee focuses on discovering patterns of economic opportunity and backing the entrepreneurs who realize them. His investment activity and commentaries on industry trends have been featured in The Economist, Financial Times, Bloomberg, TechCrunch, Wall Street Journal, and Fortune.
Professor of Physics and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT
Prof. Chuang is a pioneer in the field of quantum information science. His experimental realization of two, three, five, and seven quantum bit quantum computers using nuclear spins in molecules provided the first laboratory demonstrations of many important quantum algorithms, including Shor’s quantum factoring algorithm. The error correction, algorithmic cooling, and entanglement manipulation techniques he developed provide new ways to obtain complete quantum control over light and matter, and lay a foundation for possible large-scale quantum information processing systems.
Prof. Chuang came to MIT in 2000 from IBM, where he was a research staff member. He received his doctorate in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, where he was a Hertz Foundation Fellow. Prof. Chuang also holds two bachelors and one masters degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from MIT, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of California at Berkeley. He is the author, together with Michael Nielsen, of the textbook Quantum Computation and Quantum Information.
Website: Isaac Chuang ’90 » MIT Physics
Steven and Renee Finn Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT and co-founder of SafelyYou Inc.
Dr. Pulkit Agrawal is Steven and Renee Finn Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. He earned his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley and co-founded SafelyYou Inc.
His research interests span robotics, deep learning, computer vision and reinforcement learning. Pulkit completed his bachelor’s from IIT Kanpur and was awarded the Directors Gold Medal. His work has appeared multiple times in MIT Tech Review, Quanta, New Scientist, NYPost, etc. He is a recipient of Sony Faculty Research Award, Salesforce Research Award,
Amazon Machine Learning Research Award, Signatures Fellow Award, Fulbright Science and Technology Award, Goldman Sachs Global Leadership Award, OPJEMS and Sridhar Memorial Prize among others.
Abstract: Humans perform many physical tasks out of necessity to support their lives (e.g., household chores), help others (e.g., elderly care), and other times as a means of livelihood (e.g., mining, manufacturing). These tasks consume time and energy — they are tedious, monotonous, physically taxing, and sometimes dangerous. For a long time, fiction has had robots that can do all of it, give humans back their time, and free humans from the necessity of physical labor — an unprecedented advance in human civilization. In recent years, the science of making these robots has progressed at an unparalleled speed — I will discuss where we stand, the challenges in the field, and when these robots can become a reality.
Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT
Daniela Rus is the Andrew (1956) and Erna Viterbi Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT. Rus’ research interests are in robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, and their applications toward a better world. Rus is a MacArthur Fellow, a fellow of ACM, AAAI, AAAS, and IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is the recipient of the Engelberger Award for robotics and the IEEE RAS Technical award. Rus earned her PhD in Computer Science from Cornell University.
Website: https://danielarus.csail.mit.edu/
AI is an important technology of the future, with great potential for broad business and societal impact. The past few years have brought about significant breakthroughs in A.I., from self-driving cars and instant language translation to large language models like chatGPT. CEOs believe it will significantly change the way they do business. Working together with AI systems, humans can augment and amplify many aspects of work and life. Not surprisingly, people are also asking important questions about the long-term social implications of these advances. In this presentation I will discuss recent trends and advances in AI. I will also highlight emerging opportunities and worries for individual people and for society.
Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Professor of Practice in Finance
Joseph Cherian is Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Professor of Practice in Finance at the Asia School of Business (in collaboration with MIT Sloan) and at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management at the SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University (Visiting). He was most recently a Practice Professor of Finance and the Founding Director of the former Centre for Asset Management Research & Investments (CAMRI) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Business School.
Director of Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Wong Siew Li is Director of Corporate Governance & Sustainability at Iclif Executive Education Center under Asia School of Business. Over the past 10 years, she has played a key role in developing, managing and providing content enhancements to a whole host of corporate governance programs including the Financial Institutions Directors’ Education (FIDE) program for directors of financial institutions and the Mandatory Accreditation Program (MAP) for directors of public listed companies. During this time, Iclif expanded its range of corporate governance offerings beyond the financial sector to include all sectors of the economy as well as government. She has taught in governance programs and facilitated in the Money Services Business Directors’ Education Program (MSB-DEP).
Helianti is the forefront promoter of Indonesia’s food biodiversity, bringing indigenous food products of remote and rural Indonesia to a broader audience, at home and internationally. Founded Javara in 2008, she builds value chain to turn local ingredients into gourmet organic or natural artisanal products with market relevance. Today Javara works with tens of thousands of farmers and food artisans, creating more than 600 products of which over one-third are certified organic under US, Europe and Japan standards. Javara products are sold to over 20 countries in 5 continents, including supplying to over 500 high-end stores and F&B businesses.
Believing the role of entrepreneurship as an effective tool in creative inclusive economy, in 2016 she founded Javara Academy, now known as Sekolah Seniman Pangan (School of Food Artisans) a network of action-based rural entrepreneurship school and business support services dedicated for smallholder farmers, foragers and fishers.
Helianti has been recognized as an award-winning social entrepreneur with global footprints. For her work, Helianti has received numerous plaudits, amongst which include the 2019 Iclif Leadership Energy Award (Business Leaders Category), 2016 Asia’s Top 10 Social Entrepreneurs, 2015 Schwab Foundation’s Social Entrepreneur of the and 2013 Ernst & Young Indonesia Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
Helianti Hilman graduated Cum Laude in 1993 from Padjadjaran University, Bandung, where she majored in International Law. She later completed a Master of Law in Intellectual Property Rights at King’s College, University of London. Helianti is a sought-after speaker and expert in the area of indigenous food systems, commercialisation of food biodiversity, and social entrepreneurship. She was a freelance consultant with various international development agencies, amongst other the World Bank, UNDP and UNEP before a casual meeting with network of indigenous farmers in 2006 led to her establishing Javara.
Vinesh Sinha is the founder and CEO of FatHopes Energy, which collects and converts waste oils into biofuels that are supplied to global oil and gas companies as an environmentally compliant liquid fuel alternative.
He embarked on his sustainability journey in 2007 and got his big break when McDonald’s contracted him to collect used oil from its network of restaurants across the region and convert it into biodiesel. Today, FatHopes Energy not only dominates in regional market share of waste cooking oil collection, but has also diversified its waste oil feedstocks; the company now collects a variety of different types of used oil for processing into biofuels.
Vinesh’s passion for waste recovery and the potential of waste, which blossomed in his teenage years, has taken him places – he has been the Waste Recovery Policy Advisor at the Penang Institute, the Alternative Energy Advisor for a many public listed companies in the region and he has started many different ventures that have all had a positive impact on the environment. He has now embarked on his family office ; Sinha Ventures – a venture fund solely focussed in naturing and investing into high impact start-ups.
Vinesh dropped out of London’s School of Commerce, where he was pursuing a Bachelor’s of Business & Finance, and used the refund money to start the first iteration of his current groundbreaking enterprise. He believes he has more than made up for it with a host of accolades, including the 2018 Iclif Leadership Energy Awards (Business Leaders Category), Outstanding SME at the 2017 Golden Bull Awards, a nomination for the EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2017, and a spot on the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2018.
After many years of dropping out of LSC, he decided he had to have the experience of university and after many attempts got accepted in Harvard Business School. He finally completed his program at HBS and now hold the alumni status at Harvard Business School.
Deployment Engineer, MIMOS
Digitalization
Email: ashok.vadioaloo@mimos.my
Ashok supports the Digitalization Initiative at the Center for Sustainable Small-owners (CSS) in his role as Deployment Engineer for MIMOS Berhad.
He graduated from Oxford Brookes University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Computing and Software Engineering. With nine years of experience Ashok’s expertise is in troubleshooting and resolving issues related to Linux and Windows based servers.
He is proficient in Continuous Integration with automation scripts. He has also specialized in setting up high-availability database and load-balancing for web based applications for various projects.
Field Officer
Digitalization
Email: ikjaffar@misi.edu.my
Izzah is the Field officer for the Digitalization initiative, with a background in geographic information system (GIS) and Geography, manages the internal database and standardization for all initiatives through Oil Palm Data Warehouse (OPDW). She is also responsible for the social and traceability compliance aspect of No-deforestation, No-peat and No-exploitation (NDPE) policy for the program.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Arts (Geography) from University of Malaya. She started her career as an intern with Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) then as a Data Collection Assistant at Malaysian Green Technology Corporation (Greentech) for low Carbon City Framework (LCCF). Thereafter, Izzah joined Wild Asia as Assistant Field Officer, working closely with independent smallholders in Batu Pahat towards Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) certification.
Izzah just give birth to her first child in 2020. As a working mom, she realizes it’s a challenging journey to breastfeed her child. She has been attending classes on breastfeeding and understanding baby language. This has helped develop a greater understanding of child development. She believes in educating and supporting the working mothers’ community to not be discouraged to breastfeed their children.
Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management
Dr. Asad Ata is an Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Asia School of Business. His primary areas of research include sustainable sourcing and supply chain management.
Dr. Asad has worked full-time in the industry for over 12 years on various supply chain IT, telecom, and e-commerce projects. He has also worked extensively with food and agricultural supply chains with multinational corporations, NGOs, government organizations, and agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and SWIFT.
Academic Associate
Dr. Lin Sakrawathi joined ASB in November, 2020 as an academic associate. Prior to joining the ASB team, she was working with one of the Big-4 global accounting and audit firms in the division of People & Change, handling the talent management and recruitment for the business performance services unit. Lin’s passion for connecting people with the right career has ignited her interest to pursue a PhD to understand employee’s engagement and the retention factors among the Gen-Y as her main research topic for her PhD studies.
Academic Associate
Hazri Aris is an Academic Associate at Asia School of Business. He graduated with a Bachelor of Customer Service Management from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and MBA from Arshad Ayub Graduate Business School, UiTM.
Lead Academic Associate
Currently as Lead Academic Associate, he joined as Teaching Assistant at ASB since January 2018. After graduating from MIT with B.S. in Physics and a minor in Management, he was drawn back to Malaysia with a specific goal of building an educational platform to help underprivileged students gain better financial literacy. Working with Teach for Malaysia he was able to narrow in on the issue and hopes ASB will be the next step in guiding him towards his pedagogical pursuits.
Assistant Professor of Finance
Ikuo Takei joined Asia School of Business faculty in 2021 as an Assistant Professor of Finance. He earned a Ph.D. degree in Finance and a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Master’s and Bachelor’s degrees in Physics from Waseda University.
Before coming to Kuala Lumpur, Takei was an economist at the Bank of Japan. His current research interest focuses on corporate finance, macroeconomics, and banking.
Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior
International Faculty Fellow at MIT
Yi-Ren Wang is an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at Asia School of Business. She received her Ph.D. in Management from the University of Alabama. She received her master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York, and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from National Taiwan University. In 2022, she was selected by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology to receive the 2022 S. Rains Wallace Dissertation Award.
Wan Yon is the Chief Development Officer of Pembangunan Sumber Manusia Berhad, a government agency responsible in managing the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) to level up human capital development of the Malaysian workforce.
With 27 years of experience in various industries including banking, process manufacturing and non-profit services, she plays a strategic role in encouraging the active participation of Malaysian employers to continuously upgrade the knowledge and skills of their employees. She’s a passionate supporter of technological innovation in driving efficiency and business results.
Being a prominent female leader, she’s a staunch supporter of women development. Wan Yon is actively involved in a special government project to rejuvenate skills and competencies of latent educated women, increasing their participation in the economic development of the country.
She has numerous certifications from prestigious institutions like Cambridge University, UC Berkeley, Harvard University, IMD Lausanne and HAAS Business School. She is a Professional Member of Australian Human Resource Institute (MAHRI).
Under stringent and transparent criteria, the Award winners are judged by an independent panel of regionally and globally-respected corporate executives, public and societal leaders.
All nominations are required to undergo the following three stages of selection:
Nominations are submitted by the general public across Asia as part of an open call for nominations. Additionally, nominees may be identified through internal research by a nomination committee from Asia School of Business.
The top seven nominees in each category are shortlisted for judging by the ILEA Advisory Council, comprising over a dozen prominent leaders from the corporate and the public sectors. Shortlisting is based on transparent and stringent criteria, outlined below under ‘Judging Criteria’.
The Advisory Council will make the final selection of winners of the awards. Winners will be invited to receive the awards at Leadership for Enterprise Sustainability Asia (LESA) 2023.
Senior Business Development Adviser, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Elsa is the Senior Business Development Advisor Corporate Governance and Sustainability at Asia School of Business. She conducts training programmes and carries out research in corporate governance. She also teaches in the Pathway to a Governance Practitioner Programme (namely, the Governance and Integrity module).
Senior Director of Corporate Governance and Sustainability
Gillian Ng is Senior Director of Corporate Governance and Sustainability at the Iclif Executive Education Center of the Asian School of Business. She heads the team that is responsible for the running of a whole host of corporate governance programs including the Financial Institutions Directors’ Education (FIDE) program, the Mandatory Accreditation Program (MAP), the Money Services Business Directors’ Education Program (MDEP) and the Shariah Leaders Education program for shariah committee members of Islamic financial institutions. Gillian is the Lead Faculty for MDEP. She also teaches in the Pathway to a Governance Practitioner Program namely the Risk Management module and other custom-built programs.
Chairman CX Technology & Lawrence S. Ting Memorial Foundation
Topic: Leading Lasting Transformation (with Tito Mboweni)
This session explores large-scale, far-sighted, long-term transformations, and what it takes to lead a nation & organization to achieve results, which were not even on the horizon of normal imagination.
Tito Mboweni & Albert TIng share their stories and reflections on how they have driven and persevered through long term transformation projects in their respective countries within the backdrop of ongoing obstacles and continued uncertainty.
From freedom fighter to policymaker, Tito has been a consistent agent of change in the fascinating transformation story of South Africa while Albert Ting has remodeled the landscape of HCMC while being a silent catalyst to Vietnam’s expanding economic growth.
Professor of Economics
Senior Director of Central Banking and Finance Programs
Prof. Hans Genberg is a respected thought leader with considerable publications on issues related to exchange rate regimes, reserve management, and capital markets development.
With experience holding senior roles at the South East Asian Central Bank (SEACEN) Research and Training Centre, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), and at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Prof. Genberg has incredible insights into the future of the international monetary system.
While many people speculate the possibility that the Chinese Renminbi will one day replace the US Dollar as the premier international currency—just as the US Dollar once replaced the Pound Sterling as the main international currency—Prof. Genberg presents a different possibility.
In this Masterclass, Prof. Genberg provides a case as to why a substantial switch from Dollar to Renminbi hegemony in the international monetary system is unlikely in the foreseeable future. Rather, what may happen is that technological advances will reduce the importance of any single currency in the system and that a somewhat more multipolar arrangement will emerge in certain aspects of international monetary relations.
Leaders and businesses dealing with international trade and currencies, global markets, and investments cannot afford to miss out on this Masterclass. Participants will gain valuable insights on how to prepare for these new technological advances in the international monetary system that will likely impact global growth and national economic developments.
Senior Lecturer
Masterclass: Storytelling for Leaders
The most powerful leaders and successful entrepreneurs are also great storytellers. Stories are a very powerful vehicle to communicate a message while evoking emotion to spark action.
In leadership communication, stories can convey certain messages that cannot be shared as effectively otherwise. Stories allow listeners the privilege of being immersed in the plot and form powerful imageries that will be imprinted in their hard drives for a very long time.
This short session will share tips and best practices on how leaders can use storytelling to inspire listeners. Participants will learn how to deliver stories that create an impact on their listeners. Topics covered will include how to share powerful stories succinctly as well answer questions like, “Do I make stories up or must it always be a true story?” and “How can I learn the best skills to tell stories in my presentations?”
Leaders and managers who attend this session will walk away with knowledge on how to develop storytelling skills that will help them communicate more effectively to inspire action. This skill will be invaluable when you want to convince investors, clients, customers, or your teams to be aligned with your vision and take action.
Professor of Practice
Masterclass: The Leadership Energy Journey
If leadership is a journey, where is the map? This is what Dr. Thun Thamrongnawasawat strives to equip today’s managers, leaders, and changemakers with.
Dr. Thun is one of the foremost experts on dissecting complex management and business models and cascading them for easy implementation by companies across different industries. His robust B.A.S.E. model has inspired numerous organizations to transform.
In his Masterclass, Dr. Thun will go through an intricate framework that explains why some leaders thrive while others fail. Participants will learn:
This Masterclass is for for managers, leaders, organizational transformation teams, changemakers, and anyone interested in igniting their own leadership to become more effective at getting results from their teams.
Assistant Professor of Economics and Research Affiliate, Asia School of Business
International Faculty Fellow at MIT
Masterclass: Platforms & Social Good
Prof. Melati Nungsari is an applied microeconomist specializing in industrial organization, public economics, market design, and economic education. Her research focuses on two-sided matching platforms with search, and how firms use pricing to correct for negative externalities on the platform.
Platforms are environments, digital or otherwise, that connect different groups and derive benefits from others participating in the platform. Dr. Nungsari’s Masterclass will introduce participants to the concept and practice of platform strategies and how these strategies differ fundamentally from strategies with other business models. The topics covered will include an overview of micro-engineering in marketplaces and how to win in platform competition.
Leaders of companies and startups devoted to platform businesses, or business divisions devoted to developing platforms within a large company, can really benefit from this Masterclass. By the end of the Masterclass, participants will learn how to leverage the strategies to make a well-functioning platform, optimally price platforms, and scale-up platform businesses.
Assistant Professor of International Law and Ethics, Asia School of Business
International Faculty Fellow at MIT
Masterclass: Responsibility in Action
Prof. Crow’s research focuses on corporate subjectivity to international law, how understandings of economic and institutional morality affect international adjudication, and most recently, how understandings of ‘the natural’ inform legal and market logics.
Across the globe, as corporate leaders are under more pressure to articulate and deliver results in “Corporate Responsibilities”, the question is how can organizations fulfill these responsibilities and go well beyond delivering financial returns to shareholders?
A survey of CSR policies across Fortune 100 companies suggests that increasingly CSR efforts reference various forms of sustainability linked to international legal instruments, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Guiding Principles, the Rio Declaration, and various OECD instruments. In parallel, international courts have increased references to components of international law that arbitrators perceive as binding upon corporations, rather than as ‘soft’ or aspirational statements.
This session will overview successful CSR practices of leading companies in relation to these human rights or environmental policies to create social impact and shareholder returns. Leaders who attend this talk will gain insights on a path forward to strengthen their CSR efforts and results.
Assistant Professor of Business and Society
Research Affiliate at MIT
Masterclass: Energy, Markets, and Sustainability
Renato Lima de Oliveira’s main research interest lies in the political economy of development and state-business relations, particularly in the areas of energy, industrial and innovation policies, government accountability, and non-market strategies.
In this talk, de Oliveira shares his expertise on the main issues surrounding the energy industry. Some of the topics that will be covered include how public policies and geopolitical factors will affect investment decisions and the rate of transition towards a low carbon, environmentally-friendly, energy production, and consumption standard.
The talk will also explore how global trends in the energy industry can affect business operations. By the end of this session, participants will have a better understanding of how the business environment of different sources of energy are evolving, and the trade-offs involved in transitioning to renewable sources of energy.
Those who can’t afford to miss out on this session include senior and middle managers from the energy industry looking for innovations and strategies that can propel them into a sustainable future, as well as entrepreneurs who want to expand their business to reap new opportunities in the energy sector.
Professor of Management
Masterclass: The Psychology of Excellent Entrepreneurship
Associate Dean and Faculty Director for Action Learning
International Faculty Fellow at MIT
Masterclass: The Strategic Intra/Entrepreneurial Organization: Nail it, Scale it, Sail it
Prof. Loredana Parudean is a global entrepreneurial academic with a track record of program, school, and intellectual leadership for multiple degrees. In this Masterclass, she will take participants through an action learning journey based on her popular “Nail it, Scale it, Sail it” TedX talk.
Amongst the key insights and actionable steps participants will gain from this Masterclass are:
This Masterclass is an exclusive opportunity for leaders to learn the original framework taught several times in MIT programs and at ASB. By the end of the Masterclass, leaders will understand the tools they need to lead their companies into a new stage of growth, as well as understand the kind of employees they need to succeed at each stage of growth.
MIT Lecturer of Urban Planning and Negotiation | Executive Director of MIT-Harvard Mexico Negotiation Program | Instructor at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation
Topic: Re-Negotiating in Moments of Crisis: Empowering Through Trust & Foresight
A well-respected thought leader in the field of negotiation and leadership, Bruno Verdini has led award-winning research on how to negotiate high-stakes agreements that foster energy transition and enhance natural resource management by erasing decades of mistrust and confrontation. He has also been fortunate to coach and design executive training in the art and science of negotiation for presidents, supreme court justices, and CEOs from over 80 countries.
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders and communities are challenged to navigate three main factors: the re-configuring of business and commercial interests amidst social distancing; the rapid adoption and deployment of scientific and medical insights without extensive practice; and the diverging social justice and political interpretations of an array of stakeholders.
Join him to explore how to approach the renegotiation of contracts with tremendous financial consequences on a radically short period of time, navigate dispute resolutions clauses when faced with emergencies that exceed expected benchmarks, and draw upon case studies with insights on leadership practices that build bridges to forge winning partnerships.
Group President, RedBeat Ventures, AirAsia
Topic: Entrepreneurial Spirit in Uncertain Times
As Group President of RedBeat Ventures, Aireen Omar is responsible for AirAsia’s digital strategy, transforming airasia.com into more than just an airline platform. She has also been pivotal in incubating and growing the digital and fintech businesses such as BigLife, BigPay, Teleport, and Santan.
By the end of 2019, AirAsia achieved record profits and multiple awards. With the low-cost travel industry booming, AirAsia seemingly had nothing to worry about. When COVID-19 struck down the travel industry across the globe, many companies in the airline industry were left crippled. However, AirAsia was able to pull through by launching new businesses in other sectors. In fact, they were one of the fastest to do so post the initial pandemic.
In this session, Aireen reveals how AirAsia had the foresight and entrepreneurial spirit to accomplish this feat. Long before COVID-19 was on anyone’s radar, AirAsia’s leaders had already adopted the entrepreneurial spirit of continual learning and growth—a move that helped them already have the gears in place to open up new lines of business growth when the pandemic hit.
This session unveils the value of how every leader at any level can benefit from adopting the entrepreneurial spirit to solve problems with innovation and creativity during unexpected thunderstorms. Participants will gain insights on how to lead their teams to be adaptable, flexible, and resilient to keep their business flying high even during uncertain times.
Professor of Applied Economics, MIT Sloan School of Management
Topic: The Cycle of Self Discovery & Economic Transformation
Roberto Rigobon is a Venezuelan economist whose areas of research are international economics, monetary economics, and development economics. Rigobon focuses on the causes of balance-of-payments crises, financial crises, and the propagation of them across countries—the phenomenon that has been identified in the literature as contagion.
With Covid-19 affecting local and global economics across the board, there is no denying that it has been the catalyst for whole transformations of businesses at a deep level. As we collectively figure out this dynamic ‘New Norm’, we have also risen and demonstrated our true capacity to adapt to change when needed.
In this session, Rigobon explores the effects of the transformation of countries, organizations, and individuals in the post-pandemic era. Join him to discover what the impact of these transformations will mean for your business and how you need to be prepared to tackle the challenges it brings.
Founder and Chairman, Ancora Group
Topic: Sustainable Leadership in an Uncertain World: The Need for Speed, Agility & Humility
The former Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, Gita Wirjawan is currently Chairman of Ancora Group, an Indonesian business group with interests in private equity investing, natural resources, real estate, sports, and music, which he founded in 2007. His wealth of experience across the highest levels of government and business has given him unique insights on sustainable leadership.
In this talk, Wirjawan will take participants through how they can integrate COVID-19 concerns with the ongoing efforts for long-term sustainability in business. Leaders who attend this talk will learn how to manage companies and motivate their teams to spearhead innovations and maintain productivity in an uncertain world.
Participants will also gain insight into how to lead their teams and companies to achieve long-term sustainable development goals that benefit the environment and society while maintaining financial performance.
Professor of Management, MIT Sloan School of Management
Topic: COVID19 & Climate Change: What’s Connection?
Prof. John D. Sterman is renowned for his research centers that improve decision-making in complex systems through interactive simulations. He pioneered the development of “management flight simulators” of corporate and economic systems which are now used by corporations, universities, and governments around the world.
In this insightful talk, Prof. Sterman explores the connection between climate change and COVID-19 in terms of impacts and policies that affect businesses. As organizations are now grappling to cope with the market changes and new government policies on a local and global stage to contain the spread of the coronavirus, there is a lot they can learn from simulation models designed to spearhead the control of climate change.
Leaders who attend this talk will better understand what it takes to lead their teams through the organizational change required to adapt to complex global situations and existential threats such as pandemics and climate change. This will equip leaders with the right mindset to successfully navigate through any unexpected event.
Minister of Finance, South Africa
Topic: Leading Lasting Transformation (with Albert Ting)
This session explores large-scale, far-sighted, long-term transformations, and what it takes to lead a nation & organization to achieve results, which were not even on the horizon of normal imagination.
Tito Mboweni & Albert TIng share their stories and reflections on how they have driven and persevered through long term transformation projects in their respective countries within the backdrop of ongoing obstacles and continued uncertainty.
From freedom fighter to policymaker, Tito has been a consistent agent of change in the fascinating transformation story of South Africa while Albert Ting has remodeled the landscape of HCMC while being a silent catalyst to Vietnam’s expanding economic growth.
Founder of MERCY Malaysia | Special Advisor to Prime Minister of Malaysia on Public Health
Topic: Lessons from Flattening the Curve
A known humanitarian with more than two decades in national and international humanitarian organizations, Tan Sri Jemilah is a shining example of Leading-in-Action. She has been involved in the highest level of global humanitarian aid work with the United Nations and MERCY Malaysia, a medical charity that she founded in 1999.
Dr. Jemilah was appointed as Special advisor to the Malaysian Prime Minister in the area of Public Health to support the fight against COVID-19. Join her as she shares behind-the-scenes, war-room insights of the ongoing fight against the pandemic.
This fascinating session will inspire participants, not just with lessons that humanity can extract from the pandemic, but also with insights on the grit, discipline, and vision to lead a nation through a crisis. Join the session to be inspired on how to evaluate data when making tough decisions, how to lead and coordinate a large team to execute quickly, and the importance of clear and transparent communication to achieve results.
2019 Nobel Prize in Economics | Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics, MIT
Topic: An ‘Economist In Action’, Leading a Mission to Change the World
Esther Duflo is one of the brightest minds leading the way in economics research methodology and poverty alleviation policy. The recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2019 and the youngest economist to ever win the prize, Duflo’s radical rethinking of using science-based insight to policymaking in poverty alleviation has garnered worldwide acclaim.
Join her to discover the socio-economic and psychological challenges of current poverty alleviation solutions. The thought-provoking session will also explore a progressive approach of systematically applying experimental evidence to create actions with replicable results that can save millions from poverty, hunger, and disease, in the same way, that modern medicine’s vigorous research and testing methods have led to solutions that saved millions of lives.
This session will be invaluable to leaders interested to lead their businesses into creating a more significant social impact for their CSR programs, as well as business leaders with an interest to work with policymakers in a socioeconomic collaboration to create an uncharted new future of possibilities.
Theresa Goh has over 20 years’ experience in the Technology Sales, Executive Search and Leadership Development business in Asia. Her career began with IBM Singapore where she managed global client accounts such as Shell and British Petroleum. After IBM, she was the equity partner and Co-chairman of a boutique executive search firm which she established and operated as a global partner of International Technology Partners (ITP World-Wide), Houston.
In 2008, she started another outfit to provide talent advisory services to align talent strategy to missions and also leadership recruitment, assessment and development. Also in 2008, she was selected by Business Week as one of ‘The World’s 100 Most Influential Headhunters’.
Theresa is also an associate coach with The Centre for Creative Leadership, a top 5 leadership development firm based out of the USA. She is currently the Chairman of SATA CommHealth, a social enterprise, and sits on the boards of Agency for Integrated Care (Ministry of Health) and National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre. She was the Chairman/President of The Centre for Non-Profit Leadership from 2010 to 2016.
Besides her work, Theresa has also started a mission in Myanmar that supports a programme to train young ladies to become boarding house caregivers; these ladies, in turn, care for over 1,500 young children across Myanmar. She has also built a pool of volunteers who create livelihood products and transfer skills to Myanmar people to sustain their own income.
Theresa holds a Masters in Science (Organisational Psychology) from City University of New York and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the National University of Singapore. She is a Certified Behavioral Analyst with several psychometric tools.
In addition to Datuk Nora Manaf’s role as the Group Chief Human Capital Officer and member of the Group EXCO of Maybank, Datuk Nora chairs several national-level committees and holds several Board memberships. Datuk Nora is an Adjunct Professor appointed by the College of Business, University Utara Malaysia (UUM) since 2015. In July 2019, Datuk Nora was also appointed into the Board of Advisors for UUM’s undergraduate programme for Bachelor of Applied Linguistics and Business Administration with Honours.
Datuk Nora is actively engaged in the country’s Financial Institutions, Employers’ and Education circles via the leadership roles she holds. In 2018, Datuk Nora was appointed to the Malaysian Human Resource Minister’s Advisory Group. She is also Chairman of the Malayan Commercial Banks’ Association, Chairman of the Banking Sector HR Networking Group (HRNG), Council Member of the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), a member of the National Labour Advisory Committee (NLAC), Advisory Committee for UUM Master of Science (Finance) and an Advisory Council Member of Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera as well as for the University-Industry Advisory Council Universiti Utara Malaysia. Datuk Nora was recognised as a Global Top50 Human Resource Professional and was appointed into Talent Compact 4.0, an Industry Talent Advisory Panel of Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad.
Datuk Nora’s Board memberships include the Board of Etiqa General Insurance Berhad, Etiqa Life Insurance Berhad, MBB Labs Private Limited, Bangalore and the Malaysian American Commission on Educational Exchange (MACEE).
Datuk Nora is also a Member of the Board of Examiners for the Asia Institute of Chartered Bankers (AICB), Member of the Asia Pacific Industry Advisory Panel for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and a Qualified Person for Training (QPRT) for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
Datuk Nora is active in her quest to make a difference to empower women. She is the Executive Sponsor for Maybank’s Women Mentor Women Council established in 2013, as well as a Mentor for the ICAEW-TalentCorp Women in Leadership Programme. In 2016, Datuk Nora was awarded the “Beacon of Light” award at the National Women in Leadership Summit organised by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI) in partnership with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development. Datuk Nora also spoke at the Women in Leadership seminar at Oxford University in 2016.
Datuk Nora is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is registered with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA). Datuk Nora also holds a post-grad certification in Human Resource Development from Cornell University and is a certified Gallup Strengths finder Coach Level II. She is also a graduate of the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School.
Malek is the founder of BFM Media, which runs BFM89.9, independent radio station focused on business news and current affairs. BFM’s purpose is to build a better Malaysia by championing inclusiveness, rational discourse and good governance as the basis of economic and social growth. BFM also applies its discourse-based approach to other programming areas, such as entrepreneurship, health, fashion, the arts, sports and music, as well as to its executive education initiative, The BFM-Edge Business School.
BFM can be heard on frequency 89.9 MHz in Wilayah Persekutuan, Selangor, and parts of Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.
Prior to founding BFM Media, Malek was part of the pioneer team of JobStreet Corporation Bhd, Malaysia’s most successful Internet company. He has also led the development and deployment of new mobile services to Malaysian and regional markets as head of mobile operations for Yahoo! South-East Asia and as head of mobile content for Maxis Communications. In line with the theme of bringing new products to market, Malek had, in his early entrepreneurial career, founded and launched KL Classifieds, Malaysia’s first all classifieds publication.
Malek’s other experience includes management consulting experience with US-based The Boston Consulting Group, a leading international management consulting firm, and legal experience as a solicitor with Allen & Overy, a UK-based international law firm.
Malek is an MBA graduate of Harvard Business School (1995) and a law graduate of Bristol University (1989). He is currently a member of the Asia-Pacific advisory board of Harvard Business School.
Eddie Ahmed is the Chairman, President and CEO of MassMutual International LLC based in Hong Kong. Eddie joined the MassMutual Financial Group (MassMutual) in October 2015 as Chief Human Resources Officer. Eddie brings with him an impressive history of more than 20 years of global financial services and leadership experience, ranging from Operating to HR roles. He joined MassMutual from Citigroup, Inc. in London, where he was Managing Director and Head of Human Resources for Europe, the Middle East and Africa as well as the Global Head of Recruitment for the firm. Previously, he led Global Shared Services in the Operations & Technology Division for all of Citigroup employees.
Prior to joining Citigroup in 2010, Eddie began his career at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, rotating through various roles including Corporate Finance, Operations, Credit and Human Resources. He then spent 17 years at Morgan Stanley in New York, Tokyo, Sydney and Hong Kong, during which time he held a range of roles including Chief Administrative Officer, and Head of Human Resources, Asia.
Eddie holds a BSc in Computer Science, a BA in International Relations, and an M.B.A., all from Tulane University.
Callister Koh is the Regional Head of Learning, Talent & Leadership for HSBC Asia Pacific based out of Hong Kong. He was previously the Head of HR for HSBC Malaysia. Callister’s professional background spans a number of Heads of HR roles; operating at Country, Regional and Group level across all the key disciplines within the HR function.
As the Regional Head of Learning, Talent & Leadership for HSBC Asia Pacific, Callister plays an important role in accelerating the organisation’s people agenda through attracting and developing the best talents in the market and building a high performance and engaged culture.
He has a solid track record and expertise in designing and delivering integrated plans, facilitating strategic executions, organisational transformation, merger and acquisition, and a comprehensive suite of HR spectrum through his focus on strategy and tenacious execution.
Through his career, he has worked in the UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
Under his leadership, the Bank has been recognized with several talent acquisition awards, best in class in talent management and best employee engagement. He has also been named recently as Chief HR Officer of the Year in 2018.
Outside work, Callister is an extensive traveler having been to 89 countries to-date and he enjoys baking, reading, playing the harp and involve in cultural and arts related activities during his free time.
A respected and well-known corporate figure, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Zamzairani’s vast experience in the telecommunications industry spans more than 30 years, beginning at Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) where he served for 13 years before assuming key positions in several multinationals such as Global One Communications and Lucent Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. He returned to TM in 2005 as Senior Vice President, Group Strategy and Technology, and was promoted to CEO, Malaysia Business, before being appointed as the Group CEO and Managing Director in April 2008 until his retirement in April 2017. Under his leadership, TM launched and successfully rolled out the high speed broadband service in 2010, in a historic collaboration with the Government of Malaysia.
Throughout his storied career, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Zam has garnered many accolades, including Business Person of the Year 2015 at the Asian Academy of Management International Conference, CEO of the Year 2015 at the MSWG’s Annual Corporate Governance Awards, and a special individual award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to the Industry’ at the 2017 Frost & Sullivan Malaysia Excellence Awards. He was also named the prestigious Telecom CEO of the Year at the 20th Telecom Asia Awards 2017.
Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Zamzairani holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications Engineering and has completed the Corporate Finance, Strategies for Creating Shareholder Value programme at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, USA. He also attended the Strategic Leadership Programme at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School and the IMD CEO Roundtable at Lausanne, Switzerland.
Yvonne Corpuz is an accomplished HR practitioner with more than 30 years of corporate experience in the financial services industry. A lifelong learner, she brings her passion for leadership excellence and talent development to her current role as Global Chief Learning Officer (GCLO) of The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd.
Heading up the Global Learning function, Ms. Corpuz leads the global effort to shape and align the bank’s overall learning strategy to enable business success. This includes the development and delivery of a global learning curriculum that focuses on building the leadership, culture and strategic business capabilities required to drive organisational performance.
Prior to joining MUFG, Ms. Corpuz held regional and global HR leadership roles with Standard Chartered Bank and American Express, while her roots in learning and development go back to her early career with Security Bank & Trust Co. She has been based in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Australia and currently commutes between Singapore and Japan for her work.
Before joining the corporate world, Ms. Corpuz was active in academia and public service. She taught Psychology courses at Saint Louis University in Baguio City, and years later, served in the Executive Office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives in the Philippines.
Ms. Corpuz holds a Master’s degree in Education and a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology (summa cum laude) from Saint Louis University, Philippines. She has since earned a variety of professional certifications in the areas of facilitation, psychometric assessment and strengths-based leadership coaching.
Raja Tan Sri Dato’ Arshad bin Raja Tun Uda is the Chairman of Ekuiti Nasional Berhad, Icon Offshore Berhad, Yayasan Raja Muda Selangor and Yayasan Amir respectively. He is presently a member of the Board of Trustees of Yayasan DayaDiri. He is also the Chancellor of University Selangor and the Non-Executive Independent Director of Maxis Berhad.
He was formerly a Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Chairman of Maxis Berhad, Executive Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers (“PwC”) Malaysia, Chairman of the Malaysian Accounting Standards Board and Danamodal Nasional Berhad. His previous international appointments include being a member of the PwC Global International Financial Reporting Standards Board and the Standards Advisory Council of the International Accounting Standards Board.
A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW), Raja Arshad is also a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) as well as the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) where he served on its Council for 24 years, three of which as President.
Dr. Jemilah Mahmood began her mandate as Under Secretary General for Partnerships at the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cres cent Societies (IFRC) – the world’s largest humanitarian organisation – in 2016.
Before joining the IFRC, she was the Chief of the World Humanitarian Summit secretariat at the United Nations in New York. The founder of MERCY Malaysia, which she led from 1999 – 2009, her previous appointments include Chief of the Humanitarian Response Branch at UNFPA; Senior Fellow at Khazanah Nasional, and Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the Humanitarian Futures Programme at Kings College in London. In 2006, she was one of just 16 members appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to the Advisory Group of the Central Emergency Response Fund.
She has also held many board positions in NGOs, including Teach for Malaysia and Save the Children UK; she is the current Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Humanitarian Leadership Academy. Dr. Mahmood’s work has garnered her countless accolades, including the inaugural Isa Award for Service to Humanity in 2013 and the prestigious Merdeka Award 2015 most for Outstanding Malaysians in the category of Community and Education.
Dr. Jemilah is a Doctor of Medicine (MD) from the National University of Malaysia, has a Masters in Obstetrics & Gynaecology from the same university and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists United Kingdom. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.
Christopher Tock is the CEO of Digitally.Asia Group, a regional digital strategy consultancy which owns the award-winning boutique digital agency SocialGrooves.com, performance agency Cause Effect Digital and Loyalty SaaS provider Membership.Digital. He is also Director at Youth Ventures Asia, a social enterprise that aims to be a university for the unemployed youths across Asia.
Christopher helped found several grassroot NGOs including Global Shapers Community KL hub under the World Economic Forum and Young Corporate Malaysians. He is also the advisor to ADAPT Ventures, a proptech-focused venture builder focused on developing smart cities in Asia. Additionally, Christopher serves as the Head of Digital PR at Social Media Chambers Malaysia.
Christopher is often found speaking at local and international conferences on the topic of social entrepreneurship and all things digital, consulting and managing brands ranging from Fortune 500 companies to sports personalities such as World No 1 badminton player Lee Chong Wei. He spends his time working with youths with the mission to unlock their talents, while discussing the 4th Industrial Revolution on social media channels as @spinzer
Suit Fang is currently an Independent Non-Executive Director of Bank Negara Malaysia.
She started her career in PwC Malaysia. Before her retirement she was the firm’s Markets Leader and part of the Malaysian Country Management Team and Executive Board of the MYVN firm (the merged PwC Malaysia and PwC Vietnam firms). As Markets Leader she oversees business development, marketing and communications, branding and business research to drive the firm’s growth and strategic agenda. Suit Fang was also the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion Leader and led the firm’s Corporate Responsibility initiatives.
Throughout her 40 years with the firm, she has worn many hats including Human Capital Leader and was on the PwC Global Gender Advisory Council. She played a key role in driving the dialogue on trust in business by engaging the youth and in shaping the firm’s inaugural Building Trust Awards for corporates.
Suit Fang has mentored many female talents in PwC and externally. She was a mentor for the ICAEW Women in Leadership program from 2014-2019 and also an advisor to Young Corporate Malaysians (YCM), Malaysia’s leading and largest corporate and business networking community for young Malaysian professionals from 2010-2015.
Suit Fang is a qualified accountant with the Malaysian Institute of Certified Public Accountants (MICPA) and a member of the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA).
A mother of two daughters, Suit Fang enjoys good food and staying fit.
Dr. Zeti was the former Governor of the Central Bank of Malaysia. She served as the Governor for 16 years and was with the Central Bank since 1985, in a career spanning several senior positions in the Bank in the areas of monetary and financial policies and reserve management.
During the height of the Asian financial crisis, Dr. Zeti was appointed as Acting Governor on 1st September 1998 and led the Central Bank team to successfully implement the selective exchange controls to restore stability and promote economic recovery in Malaysia. Prior to her career in the Bank, Dr. Zeti served in the South East Asian Research and Training Centre (SEACEN) from 1979 – 1984, conducting research in the area of financial policies and reform in the South-East Asian region. She has written extensively in the areas of monetary and financial economics, capital flows, macroeconomic management, financial reform and restructuring. She received her B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Malaya and her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania.
In 2008, Dr. Zeti was selected as one of the members of a special task force for the United Nations to examine reforms of the global market system. In 2009, Global Finance magazine named her as one of the world’s best central bank chiefs. In 2013, Tan Sri Dr. Zeti Akhtar Aziz was accorded “Grade A” among the heads of central banks for the tenth time by Global Finance magazine.
Professor of Practice
Ong Shien Jin is a Professor of Practice at the Asia School of Business (ASB). His research interests are in Finance & Analytics.
Shien Jin’s background spans finance, tech & academia. He started his career as a Quantitative Strategist at Goldman Sachs Asset Management Fixed Income, specializing in mortgage-backed securities.
Datuk Nicol David is one of the most decorated athletes of a generation and has broken a succession of remarkable records during her career. After turning professional in 2000 at the age of 17, she won the World Open title 8 times and retained the no. 1 ranking for 112 months (109 consecutive months), the longest reigning World no.1 squash player.
Datuk Nicol has also been active in promoting sports as a vehicle to empower children. She is the Ambassador for the StreetSquash New York, a programme under the National Urban Squash and Education Association USA. Her other involvements include a Sport for Good Ambassador for the Laureus Foundation and the National Goodwill Ambassador for UNDP.
Datuk Nicol has been recognised and awarded internationally and locally. A notable award was the Tournament of Champions Women’s Leadership Award 2017 (the only Asian to receive this award). She has been awarded the WSA Player of the Year on seven occasions: 6 consecutive years between 2005 to 2010 and 2012. In Malaysia, she was conferred the Federal title of “Datuk” by HRH the King on 9 September 2017 for all her contributions to the nation’s sports achievements. In June 2019, Datuk Nicol retired from the professional squash arena. Her last tournament, the British Open, was a fitting end to a stellar and illustrious career.
Rajeev’s professional roots are in the industry. He has been Chief Learning Officer of both Coca-Cola and Morgan Stanley, and has formerly held senior positions at American Express and Goldman Sachs. He has provided coaching, consulting and advisory services globally. His clients include Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mitsubishi, Johnson & Johnson, MetLife, The World Bank, US Treasury, PwC, Nestlé, Prudential, Maybank, Great Eastern, Citibank and many more.
Rajeev is a sought after international speaker and has been widely featured in international media platforms such as Bloomberg TV & radio, National Public Radio (NPR), Harvard Business Review, Mint-Wall Street Journal and the Conference Board.
He has been named one of Top 100 Global Thought Leaders for Trustworthy Business in 2014, and a 2017 Top Thought Leader in Trust by ‘Trust Across America’. Rajeev and his family have lived in fourteen cities in eight countries.
Rosaline Chow Koo founded CXA Group in 2013 to overcome antiquated processes and to address escalating costs from worsening employee health. Taking a major risk, she invested SGD5 million of her own life savings and secured another SGD5 million in a personal loan to build her own company. Currently valued at US$100 million and having raised US$33 million in funding, CXA has grown to serve 400,000 end-users across 20 countries in Asia.
As Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CXA, Rosaline has accumulated numerous industry accolades, with the most recent ones being the Woman Leader of the Year Award at the 22nd Asia Insurance Industry Awards 2018 and Asia’s Top CEO Award by Influential Brands® at the 6th CEO Asia Summit 2018.
Prior to starting CXA, she spent eight years as the Asia-Pacific leader of Mercer Marsh Benefits. Rosaline also led start-ups and managed corporate turnarounds for 25 years in the US and Asia.
Fredrik Haren is an author and global keynote speaker on Business Creativity, Change and Global Business. He talks on creativity, innovation and idea generation – and on how to develop a global mindset and build a truly global company. Haren has delivered 2,000 presentations in over 65 different countries on 6 continents. His speeches help the audience understand how valuable it is to think in new ways – and how difficult this is to achieve.
He is also the author of 10 books, including ‘The Idea Book’ which was included in ‘The 100 Best Business Books of All Time’ as well as the author of “One World. One Company” – a book about what it means to be a Truly Global Company.
Sophie Hackford is a futurist, synthesizing explosive and interconnected technology and science breakthroughs from around the world. From satellite swarms to AI demonstrating intuition, we are becoming entangled with machines and will be surprised by the consequences. As part of her research, Hackford advises executive teams and boards of large companies onunderstanding new technologies defining the new economy.
Hackford is also founding CEO of a data and AI company, 1715 Labs, which she is currently working on out of the Astrophysics department at Oxford University. This follows a career building businesses for WIRED magazine, for Singularity University at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley, and prior to California, the interdisciplinary Oxford Martin School at Oxford University, where she raised more than US$120m of research investment.
Stefan Olander is the founder of BrandNew, a company that helps organisations bridge the gap between physical and digital, and delivers solutions that create value for both consumers and businesses by leveraging on a network of innovators.
Olander was also at Nike for 21 years, where he held several key marketing leadership positions. As Vice President of Global Digital Innovation, he led a team of innovators to create Nike’s future platforms for consumer connection, contributing new revenue streams towards Nike’s $50BN target by 2020.
In 2012, he published an Amazon top 10 book along with Ajaz Ahmed, founder and Chairman AKQA, titled ‘Velocity: The Seven New Laws for a World Gone Digital’. The book gives up-to-date examples that illustrate key lessons, together with insights, ideas and inspiration that individuals and businesses should adopt to thrive inthe digital age.
Aron Ralston’s extraordinary story of survival, as told in the New York Times bestseller, ‘Between a Rock and a Hard Place’ and the film, ‘127 Hours’, starring James Franco as Ralston, captured headlines around the world in 2003 when he freed himself from being trapped between two boulders in a remote canyon by severing his own arm. After six days without water, means of communication or hope of escape, Ralston, an experienced climber and avid outdoorsman, harnessed his determination to live; using a pocket-knife to sever his arm below the elbow, trekking seven miles to find his would-be rescuers. With an unforgettable story of an ordinary man pushed to extraordinary limits, Ralston captivates us all with his incredible story of survival in the face of insurmountable odds, inspiring others to harness the power of inner strength and one’s relationships to overcome life’s adversities, regardless of how large or daunting their “boulder” may be.
Professor of Management
Prof. Frese holds appointments at Asia Business School (Malaysia) and Leuphana University of Lueneburg (Germany) and a visiting appointment (former Head of Dept. and Provost chair) at NUS Business School. Prior appointments were at NUS, at University of Giessen (chair for work and organizational psychology) and visitng professor at London Business School; professorial appointments also at University of Bremen, at University of Pennsylvania, at LMU (Munich) and at UvA (Amsterdam). He lectured internationally – as visiting professor in the USA (e.g., Maryland, Michigan State), Sweden, Zimbabwe, Brazil, China (Zheijang Univ), Uganda (continuous visiting professor at Markerere University Business School), and elsewhere. Prof. Frese was a student at Univ of Regensburg (BA=Vorplom), Free University of Berlin (Diploma = MSc) and Technical University Berlin (PhD).
Former Governor Central Bank of Cyprus
Professor of the Practice Global Economics and Management
Athanasios Orphanides is a Professor of the Practice of Global Economics and Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
He is also an Honorary Advisor to the Bank of Japan’s Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, a member of the Shadow Open Market Committee, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research, a Senior Fellow at the Center for Financial Studies, and a Research Fellow at the Institute for Monetary and Financial Stability.
Donald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship,
Professor Global Economics and Management,
Former Chief Economist of the IMF
Simon Johnson is the Ronald A. Kurtz (1954) Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he is also head of the Global Economics and Management group and chair of the Sloan Fellows MBA Program Committee. He co-founded and currently leads the popular Global Entrepreneurship Lab (GLAB) course – over the past 18 years, MBA students in GLAB have worked on more than 500 projects with start-up companies around the world.
He is the co-author, with Jon Gruber, of Jump-Starting America: How Breakthrough Science Can Revive Economic Growth and the American Dream, which will be published in April 2019.
Johnson works closely with MIT’s Digital Currency Initiative (DCI). Specifically, Johnson supervises research projects related to blockchain technology, and is a co-founder of the Blockchain Lab course (with Michael Casey, Gary Gensler, and Neha Narula). Johnson is not an investor in Bitcoin or any cryptocurrency-related assets or startups, but he helps MIT students and others who want to build better companies.
Professor of Finance
Jonathan A. Parker is the Robert C. Merton (1970) Professor of Finance at MIT’s Sloan School of Management and Codirector of the MIT Golub Center for Finance and Policy. An expert in finance, macroeconomics, and household behavior, he has published on topics such as macroeconomic risks and asset returns, fiscal stabilization policy, national saving, household financial decisions, the measurement of business cycles, and behavioral economics.
Assistant Professor of Economics, Asia School of Business
International Faculty Fellow at MIT
Dr. Flanders is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Asia School of Business and an International Faculty Fellow at MIT. His research interests include applied microeconomic theory, industrial organization, and empirical microeconomics.
His research focuses on matching theory–the study of how firms and workers, schools and students, and romantic partners, among others, match to one another.
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