The Leading Speakers Bureau

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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Head of the Society and Technology Research Group, DaimlerChrysler AG

Eckard Minx is one Europe’s leading experts on innovation and future technologies and is currently head of DaimlerChrysler’s Society and Technology Research Ground. Established in 1978, the Group has offices in Berlin, Germany, California and Japan and addresses the issue of future mobility and examines developments that will shape the face of tomorrow’s markets.

“One of Europe’s most respected innovators”

[expand title=”In detail”] After studying economics and law Eckard worked for multinational companies in Saudi Arabia and Algeria before he started working for DaimerChrysler in 1980. He is co-editor of the journal Organisationsentwicklung, lecturer at the FU Berlin and TU Berlin as well as honorary professor for sociology and technology at the University of Technology and Economics in Berlin. [/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]A specialist in scenario planning Prof. Minx works with corporations and institutions around the globe to create alternative perspectives of the future and develop innovative strategies based on the latest technologies.[/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]Prof. Minx delivers his expertly researched presentations with flair and precision. He offers audiences great insight into new developments and the very latest in cutting edge technologies.[/expand]

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Italian Journalist & Writer

Roberto Saviano is the author of the book that inspired the prize-winning movie Gomorra. He uses literature and reportage to analyse reality and his first book, ‘Gomorra’, soon became a bestseller. In 2008, six Nobel Prize-awarded authors and intellectuals (Orhan Pamuk, Dario Fo, Rita Levi Montalcini, Desmond Tutu, Günter Grass, and Mikhail Gorbachev) published an article in which they say that they side with Saviano against Camorra.

Because of his courageous stance, he is considered a “national hero” by author-philosopher Umberto Eco

[expand title=”In detail”] Roberto Saviano graduated in philosophy at the University of Naples Federico II. As a journalist, he collaborates with L’Espresso and La Repubblica, and other magazines including: Nuovi Argomenti, Lo Straniero, Nazione Indiana and Sud. The New York Times placed ‘Gomorrah’ amongst the most important books of 2007, while The Economist included it among the hundred books of the year. Saviano is the only Italian to be placed in both lists. As a consequence of the book’s outstanding success and of its uncompromising attack on organized crime, Roberto Saviano received a number of serious death threats that obliged the Italian authorities to provide him with 24-hour police protection.
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[expand title=”What he offers you”]Roberto Saviano employs prose and news-reporting style to narrate the story of the Camorra (a powerful Neapolitan mafia-like organization), exposing its territory and business connections. He provides insights into his personal journey into the violent international empire of Naple’s organized crime system. With his shaved head, dark close-cropped beard and piercing eyes, Saviano has become a symbol of the fight against organized crime for a new generation of Italians.[/expand]

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Roberto Saviano’s presentations are fascinating and delivered in his unique style, powerful and intriguing.[/expand]

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British Award Winning Author

David Almond is an acclaimed author who has written several novels for children and young adults from 1998, each one receiving critical acclaim. He is one of thirty children’s writers to win the biennial, international Hans Christian Anderson Award, “the world’s most prestigious prize in children’s literature”. For the 70th anniversary of the British Carnegie Medal in 2007, his debut novel ‘Skellig’ (1998) was named one of the top ten Medal-winning works. David’s work is translated into more than 20 languages.

“One of the finest British writers”

[expand title=”In detail”] Educated at the University of East Anglia and Newcastle Polytechnic, after graduating, David worked as a teacher before moving to a remote artists’ commune in Norfolk to concentrate on his writing. He is an experienced creative writing teacher and has worked for the Arvon Foundation, for schools, colleges and universities and is in demand as a speaker at festivals and conferences around the world. David is the recipient of numerous prestigious global awards.[/expand]

[expand title=”What he offers you”]A powerful storyteller, David has lectured, done extensive book tours and has taught at several educational institutions around the globe. His emotional and magical writing make him an extraordinary guest at a wide range of events. [/expand]

[expand title=”How he presents”]David Almond is a wonderful writer whose highly popular and critically acclaimed work have made him a firm favourite among young readers, teachers and parents and a sought after speaker at conferences around the globe.[/expand]

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