The Leading Speakers Bureau

Innovation & Technology Expert, Head of ESA’s Technology Transfer Programme

Frank Salzgeber is a leading expert on innovation, entrepreneurship, technology and trends. He is Head of the European Space Agency’s Technology Transfer Programme Office being responsible for innovation management, the defining of the overall approach and strategy for the transfer of space technologies, including the incubation of start-up companies and a related venture fund. From 2015, under his leadership, more than 100 new start-ups will be supported in 11 ESA Business Incubation Centers across Europe.

“ A global authority on the topic of innovation and industry 4.0”

[expand title=”In detail”] Frank is an advisory board member of the Triangle Venture Capital Group, was founding chairman of the EIROforum (CERN, EFDA-JET, EMBL, ESA, ESO, ESRF, European XFEL, ILL) working group on Innovation Management, Knowledge and Technology Transfer and was Strategy Audit Advisor to Fraunhofer IIS. He also held management positions at Apple covering Central Europe and was COO and CFO at a German IT start-up. Frank holds a degree in Graduated Industrial Engineering.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]With an extensive international experience gained from many years of working with leading research organisations, Frank communicates the importance and fascination of science to a wide audience. He shows decision makers from all industries the importance to foster innovation and to stimulate the transfer of technology.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]An inspiring and charismatic speaker, Frank delivers a powerful message on how innovation and technology will shape our future.[/expand]

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Economist, Strategic Leadership, Businessman

Christopher Rodrigues was appointed Chair of the British Council in May 2016. He divides his time between the British Council, VisitBritain, the British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association, Openwork Holdings Ltd and the Port of London Authority, all of which he is also Chair. He is pro-bono Chairman of The Almeida Theatre and is a Vice Chairman of the World Travel and Tourism Council.

“A great ambassador for British tourism”

[expand title=”In detail”] His previous career includes terms as President and CEO of Visa International; Group Chief Executive of Bradford and Bingley, Group Chief Executive at Thomas Cook and various senior positions at American Express. He stepped down as Chairman of International Personal Finance and Windsor Leadership at the end of April 2015, following a period of 8 years as Chairman of both organisations. Christopher was also on the Council and a Trustee of the National Trust until he stepped down in July 2016. Christopher is a graduate of Cambridge University and the Harvard Business School. Christopher was made a Commander of the British Empire in the 2007 New Year Honours list for services to British business interests and charitable works in the UK and USA.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]Christopher works alongside the private and public sector partners in England, Scotland and Wales to strengthen the marketing of Britain as a tourist destination overseas. Christopher has a vast knowledge of international cultural and educational topics and with many years’ experience in tourism; he is knowledgeable and passionate about his subject.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Christopher is a highly successful businessman who speaks with an incisive understanding and enlightened capacity to explain and discuss invaluable business insights to his audience.[/expand]

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Author & Chief Misfit

Alexa Clay is a writer, public speaker and researcher with a focus on subculture, informal economy and new economic thinking. She is the co-author of ‘The Misfit Economy’, a book that examines the role of creative thinking and ingenuity among society’s “misfits.” The Economist called the book “a paean to the quirkier members of society.” It was named a top business book by The Telegraph and the World Economic Forum. Alexa has appeared in Dazed Digital, on NPR’s Marketplace, The Takeaway, Australia’s morning show Weekend Sunrise and the Laura Flanders Show. ‘The Misfit Economy’ loosely inspired the NatGeo show Underworld Inc, for which Alexa was a consulting producer.

“Amid the characteristics that make a successful entrepreneur, one stood out: juvenile delinquency.”

[expand title=”In detail”] Alexa Clay was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the daughter of two anthropologists. She has been active in the fields of social business, technology studies, and social change. She has been an advocate for “inclusive innovation,” examining the ways in which entrepreneurs in the black market and informal economy are given access to economic opportunity. Formerly, Alexa led work focused on scaling social innovation at Ashoka and co-founded the League of Intrapreneurs, a network focused on scaling the movement of social intrapreneurship.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Alexa’s projects tend to utilize “misfit approaches” or philosophies – inspired by Nigerian spammers, performance artists, wise hermits, and tempered radicals working to transform our institutions from the inside. Alexa hacks, hustles and provokes systems in need of change. Some of her work is romantic, ephemeral and “pop-up,” while some is more systemic and long-term.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Alexa Clay is a fresh voice and fast-rising star with an edgy and thought-provoking message from the front lines of the often invisible creative economy.[/expand]

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Renowned Computer Scientist, VP Watson Core Technology at IBM

Jerome Pesenti is the Vice President of Watson Core Technology at IBM where he leads a global team of researchers and software engineers. He is also responsible for the Watson Developer Cloud, which exposes cognitive technologies as easy-to-consume cloud services. In 2000, Jerome co-founded the search and text analytics company Vivisimo which was acquired by IBM

“Jerome is lead developer of IBM’s Jeopardy-winning Watson supercomputer”

[expand title=”In detail”] He is also active in the Big Data community through a non-profit that he created, Pittsburgh DataWorks, whose mission is to promote and provide access to big data education, projects, talent and technologies. In addition, Jerome is a Visiting Scientist at the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. At Vivisimo he advised many large corporate and government customers such as P&G, Airbus, J&J, DIA, SSA, or the US Air Force. Vivisimo’s technology was based on the machine learning research he conducted with his co-founders in the CS department of CMU from 1998 to 2000.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Recognised as a leading computer scientist, Jerome has been involved with natural language processing, search, big data and machine learning for the past 16 years. He offers organisations valuable insights based on his research, and in his presentations he focuses on showing how to create value through innovation and how the use of new technologies can stimulate growth. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]A distinguished expert, Jerome Pesenti provides excellent and useful inside knowledge on the topic of computer science.[/expand]

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Brand and Social Media Strategist

Alex Hunter is a company incubator, angel investor, and branding expert. He is also a noted public speaker, appearing at events all over the world such as ad:tech, Future of Web Apps, Thinking Digital, Marketing 2.0, iStrategy, Tech4Africa, MARKA and Internet World. He’s also spoken at private events for organizations such asCisco, Infosys, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, O2 and the BBC.He is also the creator and host of Attaché, a new kind of travel show.

“One of the most sophisticated professionals in today’s Online and Social Media Landscape”

[expand title=”In detail”] Previously, Alex served as the globalHead of Online Marketing forthe Virgin Group, curating the Virgin brand’s global digital strategy.He currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the UK non-profit Drinkaware. He has also served as an adviser to the Prince of Wales’ Rainforest Trust specifically around the use of social media andengagement to propagate the Trusts’ message.Alex’s work has beenfeatured in the best-selling book ‘The Whuffie Factor’ by Tara Hunt, and he was recently profiled in the critically acclaimed book ‘Insites’ by Keir Whitaker and Elliot Jay Stocks.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Alex advises start-ups on strategy and business plans and is a popular and energetic speaker on brand and social media. As well as assessing with the power (and weaknesses) of brands online, he explores how a brand evolves, what makes anyone loyal to it and how to keep customers in an age of peer-to-peer power and media saturation.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Alex is a passionate, energetic and knowledgeable speaker who can engage any size audience in any industry.[/expand]

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Journalist, ME and Global Business Expert, Conference Chair

Nima Abu-Wardeh is an award winning bilingual English-Arabic broadcast journalist. She is the Founder and CEO of Cashy and its versions Cashy campus and cashy.me: social media platforms focused primarily on personal financing. Until 2015, Nima was part of the team that launched BBC World’s Middle East Business Report covering business and finance issues of the region. She is a Young Arab Leader and the winner of the New Arab Woman Forum’s WOW media award for 2013.

“A prestigious expert on global and particularly ME business issues”

[expand title=”In detail”] Nima started her career in journalism working for Spectrum International where she created and presented a weekly broadcast focusing on social issues. She went on to work for MBC as a producer and reporter, then she worked for FT TV, and following that, she joined the Al Jazeera London office as a business reporter. In 2000, Nima moved to Dubai to work with The Business Channel where she created, produced and presented current affairs and business programmes. In 2008 Nima was a member of the Arab Thought Foundation’s Advisory Committee.[/expand]

[expand title=”What she offers you”]Regarded as an opinion leader, Nina is approached by think-tanks, the corporate world and government organisations for her insights on global business and social issues. In addition, her experience in interviewing numerous politicians, global business leaders and decision makers make her a perfect choice to chair prestigious conferences and business meetings around the globe.[/expand]

[expand title=”How she presents”]Versatile and charismatic, Nima Abu-Wardeh is a sought after commentator on global business issues and an experienced event chair.[/expand]

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“Mental Toughness” Expert, Inspirational Speaker and Executive Coach

Gavin Ingham is a leading global business speaker. His passion is to help people to “Be More”, “Do More” & “Have More” in their businesses and their lives. He is an expert in knowing what makes high performance teams and individuals tick and has given over 1,000 paid talks to over 100,000 audiences and reached a worldwide audience through his online blogs, videos and articles. He has appeared on The Brian Tracy TV Show shown on ABC, CBS, NBC& Fox in the USA.

“Gavin Ingham will empower your teams to take action”

[expand title=”In detail”] Gavin Ingham is the author of three books and numerous multi-media programmes including the ground-breaking Sales Juice. His expertise has been sought out by multi-nationals that include: UBS, The Royal Bank of Canada, Microsoft and Renault Trucks. His insights, tips and motivational strategies are shared by high-performing professionals, business leaders and organisations around the world to achieve commercial success.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Gavin’s presentations combine high level commercial intelligence, inspirational tips, killer success strategies and powerful stories. Your teams will not only enjoy your event but will leave with their heads buzzing with practical tactics that they can use right away to help them be more, do more and achieve more.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Gavin’s high energy keynote talks have inspired thousands of professionals to understand how they can use ‘mental toughness’ to be more successful in today’s competitive markets, starting NOW. He acts as a catalyst for change by using real-world stories.He has an engaging style with a great ability to change the energy in a room, encouraging everyone to participate, not only by listening by doing. [/expand]

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WWII Treasure Retriever, Speaker, Detective and Author

Yaron Svoray is an Israeli former police detective, author, and lecturer, most notable for his work against Neo-Nazis. He infiltrated German Neo-Nazi groups and has also been active in searching for treasure looted by the Nazis.To the general public Yaron is probably best known for his hunt of Nazi era diamonds. His search was documented on the History Channel’s special Blood from a Stone.In 2013 Yaron and his team began a search for boxes full of Gold dumpedinto Lake Stolpsee in Germany.This project has been filmed by National Geographic.

“A master story teller”

[expand title=”In detail”] Yaron worked as a detective in the Israeli Central Police Command.He then travelled to the USA where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degree in media and communication, and worked as a journalist and a lecturer.Today, as terrorism spans borders and continents, Yaron’sexpertise and proven abilities have made him a very popular speaker for “intelligence gathering organizations” such as SHABAK (Israeli Secret Service), the German GSG (German Anti-Terrorist Organization) and the Italian Carbinieri, plus many more security and law enforcement agencies.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]Yaron’slectures are both uplifting and motivational. They are about bravery, selflessness, learning to be on the run, never giving up against all odds and about a deeper understanding of the world we live in. He has a distinct gift for tying his stories to whatever theme you are sounding and for doing it tightly within the time allotted.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Yaron’s proven work both as a spy inside terrorist cells and as a hunter of escaped Nazi criminals give an audience an up-close and personal look at our world’s greatest threats. He can regale an audience with laughter one moment and bring them to tears in the next.[/expand]

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Leading IT Specialist and Chairman, One Laptop per Child Foundation

Nicholas Negroponte is a world-renowned technology visionary with the keenest understanding of technology and its impact on business and society. He is a pioneer of visionary technology, and the driving force behind One Laptop per Child (OLPC), a non-profit organisation that seeks to provide children around the world with new opportunities to explore, experiment and express themselves via computers. To date, OLPC has two million laptops committed and one million already in the hands of children in 19 languages and 31 nations including Haiti, Afghanistan, Mongolia, Rwanda, Ethiopia and Palestine.

“A pioneer in the field of computer-aided design”

[expand title=”In detail”] An original investor in WIRED (and the magazine’s “patron saint”), for five years he penned a column exploring the frontiers of technology — ideas that he expanded into his best-selling book Being Digital. An angel investor extraordinaire, he’s funded more than 40 startups and in the private sector, Nicholas Negroponte served on the board of directors for Motorola, Inc. and as general partner in a venture capital firm specializing in digital technologies for information and entertainment.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]An exceptional speaker, Nicholas’ broad range of experience and thorough understanding of digitization and its effect on industry make him the foremost authority on transformations that define our future.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Nicholas is a brilliant speaker who brings great depth to his immaculately researched presentations. Highly engaging and fluid, his style is nonetheless very well punctuated allowing time to absorb his powerful messages.[/expand]

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Record Producer, Songwriter, Radio and Club DJ, Television Presenter

Pete Waterman rose from a working class Coventry kid to the global pop phenomenon today, producing and writing over 200 hit songs in the last 25 years, including smash hits for Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley and Steps. In recent years, Pete’s celebrity status has soared thanks to his involvement in TV talent shows Pop Idol, Pop Stars – the Rivals and Pop Idol 2. A very successful entrepreneur, Pete has many business interests.

“Music Legend”

[expand title=”In detail”] A late developer who couldn’t read until he was thirteen, Pete started his working life as a fireman in Wolverhampton in 1961. He subsequently worked as a gravedigger and for General Electric, where he became a shop steward aged 19. As a boy, born in 1947 amidst the war-shattered ruins of Coventry, he had sold coal from the back of a pram to augment the family income. Most people will know Pete from his success in the 1980s when he was a member of the highly successful music trio Stock Aitken Waterman.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]After spending more than four decades in the entertainment business, Pete Waterman’s depth of knowledge and his breadth of experience is unsurpassed. His passion, drive and talent have helped ensure that he remains a musical force to be reckoned with. Amongst his many awards and accolades he has been a winner of British Phonographic Industry Award for Best British Producer in 1988 and was awarded the O.B.E. in the 2005 Queen’s New Years Honours List for his services to music as composer and producer.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Pete Waterman’s speeches are full of anecdotes and little-known pop facts about his incredible journey that took him to the multi-millionaire record producer and celebrity status he now enjoys.[/expand]

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