Theme: Accelerate

The event is tailored to the latest digital trends in a fast-changing world.

Topics include technological disruption from FINTECH and ROBOTICS to ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE and VIRTUAL REALITY, with the opportunity to experience AI Avatars and VR first-hand.

Weston Theatre
Museum of London
London, London, City of, EC2Y 5HN
United Kingdom

Christopher Mortensen

Chris is the Technical Director for Hydrock’s London based Building Performance Engineering group and comes with more than fifteen years of international experience in the design of high performance buildings and systems. Chris has a particular expertise in early design integration of environmental and building systems within architecture, thermal mass energy storage technologies and high efficiency building conditioning systems. Over his career, he’s led building services and sustainability design teams on projects ranging from a zero-net energy educational research centre to the engineering concept design for Google HQ in Mountain View CA. While delivering low energy, responsible design is at the heart of what Chris enjoys, he believes that engaging with the next generation of designers is vital to the continued improvement in design, sustainability and collaboration. Chris has taught and lectured at the University of Cambridge, the AA School of Architecture and Oxford Brookes University on various topics ranging from sustainable design to occupant comfort.

Dr. Paolo Aversa

Dr. Paolo Aversa is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Strategy at Cass Business School and the Course Director of the full time MBA programme. A visiting Professor at the University of Trento (Italy), he is also a Fellow of the Center for Automotive and Mobility Innovation (CAMI) at University Ca' Foscari in Venice (Italy), and Research Fellow at the Center for Sport and Business at the Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden). His research includes determinants of performance in technology-based settings characterised by fierce competition and changing environments. He is one of the leading academic experts in the motorsport industry with empirical fields of research often based on Formula 1, motorcycles, and automotive. His research featured around 300 times around the world in international media, including in the Financial Times, New York Times, BBC, Forbes, Reuters, and in most sport-related outlets.

Dr. Rodney Adeniyi-Jones

Dr. Rodney’s background in hospital-based endocrinology was an unlikely starting point for his more than 25-year journey through alternative, complementary, integrative and functional medicine. A root-cause approach to clinical practice was the uniting thread along this path, he remains at the cutting edge of the move into personalised, lifestyle and precision medicine and mind-body medicine. His studies include the role of wellness in long-term health, and the effects of hidden stress on health and performance. Dr. Rodney also has extensive experience with the new wellness technologies.

Dr. Shafi Ahmed

rofessor Shafi Ahmed is a surgeon, teacher, futurist, innovator, entrepreneur and an evangelist in augmented and virtual reality. He is a cancer surgeon at The Royal London and St Bartholomew’s Hospitals, Associate Dean of Bart’s Medical School and Honorary Professor at Bradford University. He cofounded Medical Realties who have just released the worlds first VR Interactive Surgical Training Module. In December 2016 he used Snapchat spectacles to teach surgery which has been viewed by over 2 million people, had over 100 000 downloads and reached 54 million people on twitter. Shafi is multi TEDx and international keynote speaker and is faculty member at Exponential Medicine, Singularity University. He made world headline news in 2014 by streaming a live operation using Google Glass to 14,000 students in 132 countries. On April 14th, 2016 he performed the world’s first virtual reality operation which was watched by 55,000 people in 140 countries, and reached 4.5 million on Twitter.

Hussain Hilli

Hussain Hilli is a British-Iraqi entrepreneur. He is Co-founder & Chief Operating Officer at Byoot, a London based PropTech startup founded in 2013. Hussain graduated with a BA in Chinese & Economics from The School of Oriental & African Studies. There he founded TedxSoas where he ran a successful event with a theme of 'shifting paradigms'. Hussain is also a keen sportsman, chess player and voracious reader.

Ilyas Khan

Prior to establishing CQC (world's leading independent quantum algorithm developer with a strong focus on AI), Ilyas was the founding partner in Accelerate Cambridge, the University of Cambridge Judge Business school's highly successful accelerator programme where he is also the Leader in Residence. Ilyas is also the Chairman of The Stephen Hawking Foundation. He is a regular and extensive writer, commentator and speaker on topics relating to quantum computing and free will in the context of quantum information, and has a long-standing interest in the foundations of mathematics and category theory. He is a Life Member of the American Mathematical Society.

Karsen Cheung

An experienced digital marketer, Karsen Cheung has managed 8-figure USD annual digital marketing campaigns for Expedia, Hotels.com, and Google’s top 5 spending advertisers. As an entrepreneur, Karsen is now building several cross-border distribution & logistics businesses in the coffee & home-ware industries. He is also scaling many high-growth companies in the fintech & health spaces using online & offline strategies. He also worked with Proctor & Gamble (P&G), ING-Bank of Beijing, Bain & Company and the London 2012 Olympic Games, as well as prominent start-ups, venture capital funds and social enterprises.

Khalia Newell

Khalia D. Newell is Vice President at Barclays where she works within the Core Governance and Infrastructure Team. The team focuses on enhancing the existing governance frameworks and infrastructure for the Barclays Group. She has been identified as a Rising Star within Financial Services by We Are The City and the Black British Business Awards and has extensive experience in diversity and inclusion from her consulting work with several diversity networks and large public and private sector organisations.

Moe Soliman

Mr. Soliman started his career in International Business Development within the Tourism Industry in Egypt and later moved to China, where he lectured on business management and verbal communication at both private and public institutes. He was appointed by the Chinese Government as the Chief Marketing Planner / Assistant Director of the ZhangjiaJie Municipal Tourism Bureau. Since then, he has served international companies in their market expansions and development in the international arena. Mr. Soliman is very well versed on developing and maintaining relationships that result in sustainable business for all parties involved. Born on the Island of Malta and having lived in a multitude of countries, Mr. Soliman has a unique insight into the importance of cultural immersion in the process of developing international markets. Mr. Soliman is currently running a boutique consulting practice focused on international business development, as well as being strategically involved in two unique startups.

Robert Cleave

Robert Cleave is currently leading a stealth start-up company focusing on the satellite sector. He has over 30 years experience in the space industry, working as an engineer, program manager, and general manager with P&L responsibility. Cleave founded a start-up to provide services to government agencies, and became the youngest chief systems engineer in company history at Boeing. A prolific author with one patent, Robert has participated in multiple international panels. Cleave earned a degree in aerospace engineering from Arizona State University and a master’s in systems engineering from the University of Southern California.

Sarah Rench

Sarah currently leads a global team to implement and deliver a cognitive virtual agent product, called Amelia, for large financial institutions, UK government, and large private and public sector companies. Sarah studied Anthropology and African Studies followed by a Masters in Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. She has now worked in the IT sector for a number of years in various roles, from software engineering to management. She is currently a part-time Executive MBA at Cass Business School, focusing on Artificial Intelligence and Creating Shared Value. Sarah is also on the Board of a non-profit community, DevelopHer, Co-President of the Cass Women in Business society, and Executive Board Member for Cass Global Women’s Leaders Programme. She facilitates events in diversity, inclusion and technology to enable networking, driving collaboration and positive changes in our society.