LISTEN TO THE Event Speakers
Ali Safri
Chief Technology Officer, Avanza Innovations, UAE
Ali Safri
Chief Technology Officer, Avanza Innovations, UAE
Ali Safri serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Avanza Innovations, where he stands as a pioneer, architect, and visionary in the realm of cutting-edge technologies such as Blockchain, Web3, Artificial Intelligence, and the Metaverse.
Throughout his career, Ali has conceptualized and brought to life numerous innovative products, demonstrating real-world applications of emerging technologies like Web3 across diverse sectors. His portfolio includes achievements such as pioneering Real World Asset Tokenization with Fragments, establishing NFT Marketplaces, Developing the Blockchain Orchestration Engine (CIPHER), Enterprise Metaverse Product (ORION), and AI-driven Enterprise Oracles (Impulse). Notably, Ali has led national infrastructure initiatives such as Haifen, a groundbreaking system leveraging Blockchain and AI to combat invoice duplicate finance fraud, adopted by 16+ financial institutions in the UAE. Along with it Ali architected and delivered the Invoice Verification eco-system for ARAMCO and its partners over blockchain, Lost Passport use case over blockchain for UAE, e-KYC Eco-system over blockchain deployed within Bahrain and Pakistan, Shipping Nomination over blockchain use case for K-Companies of Kuwait, E-Commerce eco-system over blockchain for Dubai Customs along with 20+ partners and Tokenization of loyalty points using blockchain.
Beyond his role at Avanza Innovations, Ali also serves as the CTO at ourPol, a platform specializing in real estate tokenization, where he is one of the co-founders.
Drawing from his extensive experience in delivering blockchain-based solutions, Ali is a sought-after speaker at various conferences, where he shares insights on the practical implementation of emerging technologies. Along with Technology, he addresses topics ranging from the risks and compliance considerations to the legal aspects of Crypto and Web3, enriching the discourse on the transformative potential of these technologies.
Asih Karnengsih
Executive Director, Indonesia Blockchain Association, Indonesia
Asih Karnengsih
Executive Director, Indonesia Blockchain Association, Indonesia
A doctor candidate in anthropology and a Master in management. Having experience in the blockchain industry for nearly half a decade, Asih Karnengsih is actively involved in multiple international engagements, one of many, as a council member of the International Digital Asset Exchange Association (idaxa) and executive committee for ASEAN blockchain consortium while taking her role as the Executive Director of the Indonesia blockchain association. Leading the association, she has actively supported Indonesian policymakers and business actors inregulatory approaches toward sustainable, secure, and progressive blockchain implementation. She is eager to see the future, which is blockchain technology's potential for advancing civilization.
Guy Sheppard
Chief Commercial Officer, Aboitiz Data Innovation, Singapore
Guy Sheppard
Chief Commercial Officer, Aboitiz Data Innovation, Singapore
As Aboitiz Data Innovation (ADI)’s Chief Commercial Officer, Guy Sheppard plays a key role in continuing the advancement of ADI’s mission to drive the adoption of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence tools and solutions that can help reduce operational cost, drive effectiveness within financial crime processes, collections, alternate lending, data sharing processes, and ultimately accelerate more inclusive financing.Guy has over 16 years of experience in Financial Crime, Cyber and Fraud having led Financial Crime commercial and markets teams for SWIFT in the Americas, UK and the Asia Pacific. In his career, he has worked for Bankers Almanac (now Accuity), Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, LexisNexis and with the Metropolitan Police Terrorist Finance Investigations Unit on a Joint Venture. As a recognized domain expert and speaker in Due Diligence, Fraud, Cyber and Sanctions technology assurance, he is also an active individual in the community, having held various positions such as being a former member of the Singapore FinTech Association’s RegTech sub-committee and Course Director for the Wealth Management Institute’s InfoSec Central Bank training programme. Guy graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English and Medieval Literature from the University of Exeter and holds a Master of Arts in Marketing from Kingston University.
Arjun Chib
Managing Director Financial Crime, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore
Arjun Chib
Managing Director Financial Crime, Standard Chartered Bank, Singapore
Arjun Chib, Managing Director Financial Crime at Standard Chartered Bank, brings over 2 decades of experience from esteemed institutions such as Citi, ABN, and SCB, where he has demonstrated expertise in Retail, BB, and Wealth Products. With a comprehensive background spanning operations, technology, financial crime, risk, governance, digital, transformation, data standards, and client journey, Arjun is recognized as a thought leader in the field. He possesses a proven track record in leading large-scale transformation programs, driving new business growth, overseeing product and platform buildout, and spearheading digitization efforts. Arjun's core expertise lies in running large-scale multicultural diverse operations teams, managing close to 1000 team members, leading significant transformation initiatives, transitioning manual operations to digital platforms, and building greenfield end-to-end digital client journeys
Oonagh van den Berg
CEO & Founder, RAW Compliance, Portugal
Oonagh van den Berg
CEO & Founder, RAW Compliance, Portugal
Oonagh van den Berg is an award winning Compliance Officer and recognised as one of the leading voices and trainers globally in compliance risk management, with over 20+ years’ experience. She has built and led various compliance risk framework developments and teams across the industry for a diverse range of financial entities, including traditional banks, Fintech, and Crypto firms, and is known for her proven expertise in management of complex compliance remediation challenges. She is an advocate for ethical compliance leadership and framework development, with increased automation, including AI and Machine Learning integration.
Aly Madhavji
Managing Partner, Blockchain Founders Fund, Singapore
Aly Madhavji
Managing Partner, Blockchain Founders Fund, Singapore
Aly Madhavji is the Managing Partner at Blockchain Founders Fund which invests in and venture builds top-tier startups. He is a Limited Partner at Loyal VC and Draper Goren Holm. Aly consults organizations on emerging technologies such as INSEAD and the UN on solutions to help alleviate poverty. He served as Senior Blockchain Fellow at INSEAD and was recognized as a “Blockchain 100” Global Leader.
He is an internationally acclaimed author, publishing three books, and a columnist for leading Web3 publications. Aly served as a board member of Soluna Holdings (NASDAQ: SLNH) and on various advisory boards including the University of Toronto’s Governing Council, which manages a $2.5B budget. He is a mentor with Orbit Startups, an elite accelerator program operated by the venture fund SOSV with $1.5B+ AUM and the Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX).
Aly holds a Master of Global Affairs as a Schwarzman Scholar from Tsinghua University (清华大学), a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD (Singapore and France), and a Bachelor of Commerce with Distinction from the University of Toronto.
Peter Hoogervorst
Regional Head of Transaction Banking Products Asia & Middle East, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Singapore
Peter Hoogervorst
Regional Head of Transaction Banking Products Asia & Middle East, Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, Singapore
Having worked in the Transaction Banking space for the past 18 years, across various geographies, Peter heads the Internation Trade & Transaction Banking Product Management team in Asia for Credit Agricole CIB for the last 9 years. He has extensive experience in payments, cash management and supply chain finance.
Arvid Swartsenburg
Head of Digital Strategy & Transformation, UOB, Singapore
Arvid Swartsenburg
Head of Digital Strategy & Transformation, UOB, Singapore
Arvid Swartsenburg is a senior banker with over two decades experience as a financial services practitioner and consultant across Europe, US, Africa and Asia. Arvid currently in Group Strategy & Transformation for UOB leading the rollout of key strategic projects to digitalize and transform the bank. From 2010 to 2020, Arvid was a Principal at Arete Financial Partners, a boutique Management Consultancy leading complex projects across Asia and Africa focused on Strategy, O&T, digital transformation, risk management and M&A. From 2000 to 2010 he worked at Citi’s Global Consumer Business across the US, Europe and Asia, where he held a variety of senior roles across product, channel, sales & distribution, wealth management & strategy. Arvid is passionate about digital transformation & innovation and how this is increasingly changing the way we work, live and play. He has gained extensive experience in working with a wide range of FinTechs and startups in his consulting role and remains an investor, mentor and advisor across various startups globally.
Abhijit Dey
Vice President, Digital Banking and Transformation, Axis Bank Ltd, India
Abhijit Dey
Vice President, Digital Banking and Transformation, Axis Bank Ltd, India
Mr. Abhijit Dey is an accomplished Product Head with a rich background in the Banking and Fintech industries. With a demonstrated track record of driving innovation through API management and monetization, Mr. Dey has made substantial contributions to the industry. His expertise extends to the creation of an Open API framework tailored specifically for banks, showcasing his forward-thinking approach and proficiency in navigating the dynamic landscape of financial services. With a keen understanding of how technology and banking intersect, Mr. Dey is poised to share invaluable insights in his abstract.
Dr Edwin Lee
Group CEO, Focus Digital Technology Group, Singapore
Dr Edwin Lee
Group CEO, Focus Digital Technology Group, Singapore
Edwin Lee has over 25 years of experience in the IT industry, largely involved in technology consulting with leading consulting organisations such as Accenture, Avanade, HP, CenturyLink and DXC Technology prior to his appointment as Group CEO of Focus Digital Technology Group.
As a highly experienced Technologist, Edwin has extensive systems architecture and design experience on various platforms and applications, as well as project management experience that spans across multiple industries and solutions.
He is a certified PMP with over 20 years of experience in building, managing and leading teams as well as an extensive enterprise systems integration experience. In his extensive career, Edwin has worked in Asia and North America, with clients in the government, education, healthcare, financial, products and resources industries.
Kaia R. Parv
Partner and Chief Investment Officer, CrediLinq.Ai, Singapore
Kaia R. Parv
Partner and Chief Investment Officer, CrediLinq.Ai, Singapore
Kaia is an experienced investment executive, having spent over a decade in asset management and banking related roles. She is currently the Chief Investment Officer at CrediLinq.Ai, responsible for managing the embedded lending portfolio, establishing partnerships well as capital raising activities.
Ms. Parv was previously the Head of Investment Research at a European brokerage house. She gained experience in private credit working for a Singapore based US$ 1.3 billion credit hedge fund, overseeing a US$ 250.0 million portfolio. She also spent six years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in various roles in investment banking, global markets and operations.
Ms. Parv holds a degree from Estonian Business School and is a CFA® charterholder.
Danny Lung
CEO, PQA Labs, Hong Kong
Danny Lung
CEO, PQA Labs, Hong Kong
Danny is the Co-Founder and CEO of PQA Labs, an issuer of a post-quantum stablecoin and a company dedicated to building best-in-class blockchain applications that are resistant to the vulnerabilities presented by quantum computing. Prior to founding PQA Labs, Danny honed his expertise through a 20+ year career in traditional finance, with extensive experience in banking, private equity, and venture investing across North America and Greater China. He holds an MBA from NYU Stern and a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from McGill University. Danny's career began at Ericsson Canada, where he was an early contributor to the Bluetooth technology.
David Hanna
Chief Executive Officer, Finmo, Singapore
David Hanna
Chief Executive Officer, Finmo, Singapore
David is the CEO and co-founder of Finmo and has over 20 years of expertise in the financial services and payments sector. Prior to founding Finmo, he held global leadership roles in Risk and Compliance for Financial Services companies headquartered in various locations globally. He has held senior roles across companies such as PayPal, Ernst & Young, Zurich, ING Bank, Banxa and others. He serves on several advisory boards and has invested in many startups around the world.
Henry Wang
Founder, World Web3 Alliance (W3A), Singapore
Henry Wang
Founder, World Web3 Alliance (W3A), Singapore
Henry Wang is a visionary entrepreneur known for his pioneering work in Web3.0 and universal connectivity. During his Computer Science PhD studies at Washington University in St. Louis, he conceptualized "One World One Web" in 2003. Wang's achievements include developing Moki, the first cross-lingual social network, and defining Token Switching for the Value Internet. As Founder and CEO of SmartMesh (https://www.smartmesh.io), Wang leads the creation of an InterPlanetary Decentralized Autonomous Mesh Network, driving innovations like the MeshBox hardware protocol. SmartMesh pioneers "Internet over Blockchain," facilitating peer-to-peer mobile connections and offline cryptocurrency payments. Wang's commitment to advancing Web3.0 led to founding the World Web3 Alliance (W3A), advocating for data/application separation and users' data ownership. His vision extends to MetaLife, a platform supporting NFTs, DeFi, and DAOs. Henry Wang is also a Fellow of SUSS (Singapore University of Social Sciences) and advises LingoAI.io and MeshBox.io, shaping the future of technology and society.
Saim Yeong Harng
Founder & Director, Evolvx, Singapore
Saim Yeong Harng
Founder & Director, Evolvx, Singapore
Saim is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in digital transformation across consulting, financial services, and technology sectors. He's excelled as an analyst, consultant, CEO, and board director, with a strong track record in venture building. Notably, he spearheaded the growth of CardsPal, a digital venture backed by Standard Chartered Bank, culminating in its successful acquisition by a travel technology company in 2023.
In the realm of education, Saim is a guest lecturer at NUS, SMU, and SUSS, offering paid workshops and keynote speeches at esteemed events. He's deeply involved in mentoring initiatives, guiding students, young professionals, and startup founders alike. Saim is also committed to community service, serving as an independent director for a non-profit empowering disadvantaged children and youth. Furthermore, as an executive coach, he aids CEOs and business owners in achieving strategic innovation and operational excellence.
Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh
Independent Non Executive Director (INED), United Bank for Africa (UK) Ltd., United Kingdom
Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh
Independent Non Executive Director (INED), United Bank for Africa (UK) Ltd., United Kingdom
Dr. Nashwa Joy Saleh, CFA. Nashwa has more than 25 years experience across global EM with a special focus on EMEA. She is a Chartered Director (CDir) by the UK IoD. She has held various senior equity, debt and capital markets roles with a number of international organizations and regulatory bodies. Her track record spanned mandates with USAID, EBRD, AfDB, Central Bank of Egypt, S&P Global and KPMG Corporate Finance.
She holds a PhD in Finance from Cass Business School on Early Warning Signals for Financial Crises, is a Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (FHEA) an MSc in Finance from London Business School and an undergraduate degree from the American University in Cairo and is author of An Anatomy of the Financial Crisis: Blowing Tumbleweed, 2010. Anthem Press Publishing.
Qin En Looi
Partner, Saison Capital, Singapore
Qin En Looi
Partner, Saison Capital, Singapore
Qin En Looi is a Partner at Saison Capital where he actively leads pre-seed and seed investments in startups across fintech, B2B commerce and web3. He is advisor to Southeast Asia-based web3 startups including Avium, Avarik Saga, Helix, D3 Labs, Magically and Mythic Protocol, and also co-founded a web3 growth blog and Asia’s first real-world asset conference. He is also a board director / observer for fintech companies across Southeast Asia including Helicap, Lista and SkorLife.
Qin En was previously the Co-Founder and COO at Glints, the leading talent ecosystem in Southeast Asia (Series D). During his tenure, he was recognised by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Entrepreneurs 27 Under 27 for being one of the youngest founders to have raised venture capital in Southeast Asia.
In his personal time, Qin En is also the creator and host of Parents in Tech, a podcast for parents in Southeast Asia that has topped charts in Singapore, Indonesia and Philippines in the Parenting and Kids & Family Categories.
Kohei Ueda
Head of Digital Transformation/Global Transaction Banking Department, Mizuho Bank, Singapore
Kohei Ueda
Head of Digital Transformation/Global Transaction Banking Department, Mizuho Bank, Singapore
Kohei Ueda is the Head of Digital Transformation, Global Transaction Banking Department at Mizuho Bank, Limited. Based in Singapore, he leads the overall DX initiatives globally with a focus on transaction banking related services/products. He actively engages with government agencies, regulators, financial institutions and corporates to implement new services for customers by leveraging the latest technologies.
Colin Richard Dinn
Chief Transformation Officer, Vietcombank, Vietnam
Colin Richard Dinn
Chief Transformation Officer, Vietcombank, Vietnam
Colin has worked across financial services, consulting and vendor management in Asia and Europe. His role in VCB has been to address the technology, designing and building for the future, growing digital and data, while ensuring the resilience and growth within core technology and delivery. This has been coupled with the wider accountability of designing the next stage of transformation for the bank, across business and technology positioning the bank to exploit new business models alongside the traditional banking capability.
Prior to this Colin has worked across several transformations in different Asian markets with a mandate to revamp the technology and operations capability, while driving through a transformation agenda. These included roles within a major consultancy as well as in the ‘C’ Suite, leveraging technology to exploit the new market capability. In the role of CTO and Head of Operations for Siam Commercial Bank (SCB). Colin created new technology capability to provide advanced digital and data services, coupled with an increase in stability of the core technology capability. This journey entailed a leapfrog in technology architecture using core components such as Data and Orchestration API building out the decoupling layer and deployment of micro services to increase speed and agility into the delivery. Incorporated in the migration is the move from traditional to agile delivery with customer centric design thinking, ‘tagging’ this as assembly architecture in reducing time and cost to market. The journey into Cloud Computing progressed to provide scalability and more adaptable solutions for improved business agility. Additionally, disruptive technologies were exploited such as block chain to provide the first live international remittance in Asia, second worldwide.
Previously Colin was Group Executive for ANZ assigned with overall delivery responsibility for build of a new wholly owned ANZ subsidiary bank ANZ Thai in 9 months, this encompassed all aspects of the business and technical design, property, recruitment training with the final step being regulatory approval. Other roles in ANZ included strategic planning & solution delivery, design and build of a regional based retail and corporate banking model. Colin has worked in Asia for 29 years, with various roles; Managing Director with Fidelity Information Systems and Head of IT Strategy with Standard Chartered. Colin’s early career in banking was in HSBC (Midland Bank) in the UK covering technical and business roles.
Akina Ho
Venture Partner (Advisor), Pi Labs, Hong Kong
Akina Ho
Venture Partner (Advisor), Pi Labs, Hong Kong
Akina Ho is a seasoned business executive specializing in driving growth through digital transformation and innovation across various industries. With a track record of doubling and tripling businesses, Akina excels in change management, corporate strategy, and market expansion.
Her expertise extends to web3 technologies such as Metaverse, NFTs, blockchain, DeFi, GameFi, and DAOs. From leading product management teams in Silicon Valley to building a Unicorn valued at $1B USD in Hong Kong, Akina brings startup experience and P&L responsibility.
Passionate about creating better customer experiences and increasing sales, Akina drives operational efficiencies through innovative technology. Skilled in marketing, branding, and franchise development, she believes in nurturing diverse teams for business expansion. As a results-driven leader, Akina connects with professionals and leads by example in driving aspirations.
Ethan Seow
Director and Co-Founder, Centre for AI Leadership (C4AIL), Singapore
Ethan Seow
Director and Co-Founder, Centre for AI Leadership (C4AIL), Singapore
Ethan Seow is ISACA Singapore�s 2023 Infosec
Leader, ISC2 2023 APAC Rising Star Professional in
Cybersecurity, TEDx and Black Hat Asia speaker,
educator culture hacker and entrepreneur with over 11
years in entrepreneurship, training and education.
His passion for effective technical training led him to
form a cybersecurity training organisation that has, to
date, trained more than 200 individuals and supported
the entry of more than 100 individuals into the industry.
Currently the director and co-founder of Centre for AI
Leadership (C4AIL), a non-profit dedicated to fill in the
gap in artificial intelligence regarding actionable
intelligence, best practices and talent development,
Ethan works with private and public organisations and
top AI experts to support the next technological wave -
artificial intelligence.
His expertise in adult education and training has lent a
great value to adapting top-notch cybersecurity and AI
training designed for other cultures to be relevant and
effective for Singapore and Asia.
Rana Bhattacharjee
Director and Senior Client Advisor Alpha Quest Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Rana Bhattacharjee
Director and Senior Client Advisor Alpha Quest Pte. Ltd., Singapore
Rana Bhattacharjee is the Director and Senior Client Advisor at Alpha Quest Pte. Ltd., a licensed fund management company, regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, providing wealth and portfolio management services to its clients.
Rana has an extensive experience of over 20 years in the wealth management industry and worked for Private Banks including Fortis, Standard Chartered Private Bank and CIC Banque Privee before setting up Alpha Quest with his partners. He focuses on allocation across all traditional and alternative asset classes to achieve the portfolio goals for his clients.
He is a CAIA, CFP, CMT and CFTe charterholder and has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta.