Nils researches competitive digital innovation and how organizations are redesigning themselves to realize greater impact from a diverse portfolio of innovation efforts. In 2010, he co-founded with CIONET the annual European CIO of the Year Awards to raise awareness of especially-accomplished digital leaders.

Based in Madrid, Nils is responsible for both fostering relations with organizations from Europe and Latin America and conducting research on how firms maximize business value and minimize risks from digital.

John Abel is a developer turned innovator. His focus is driving customer success blending new technologies such as Blockchain, AI , Internet of Things with existing, deployed, systems to help make ideas become not just reality, but commercially relevant.

John works within a diverse team drawn from multiple backgrounds and skill sets to ensure synergies of different perspectives working together comes to the fore. John also supports a number of STEM projects that are aimed at increasing participation overall but particularly from a wider range of backgrounds. John is also very proud of being an ambassador for British Dyslexia Association.

John began his technology career nearly 30 years ago, working on early AI and even distributed ledger technologies that were deployed to great impact in private and public sector environments. His expertise across many roles within Oracle and now Google in security and data technologies have led to him being a renowned industry speaker, author and commentator on technical and business innovation issues.

Thomas Mannmeusel is is the Executive Vice President Process Optimization & Group CIO at Webasto Group. Based in Munich, Germany, Thomas is responsible for driving digital transformation of the Webasto group to further
improve efficiency and profitability on the four pillars “digital services”, “digital factory”, “digital processes” and “digital workplace”. He feels best at managing intercultural and cross-functional teams in global business environments, overcoming organizational boundaries and silos, thus driving operational excellence and business innovation through technology.

Thomas started his career over 25 years ago and prior to his current role, he was Lead Engineer in Siemens, he worked at Infineon Technologies and ADVA Optical Networking as Senior Vice President – Information Systems & HR.

Thomas has PhD and MBA at Business Management from Otto-Friedrich-Universität Bamberg, Germany.

As Global Managing Director of Prosegur Javier Cabrerizo is responsible for Finance, HR, Technology, Shared Services and Innovation for the Group. As such he is responsible for the day to day operation of the company and for the innovation and transformation programs, affecting all lines of business in all geographies.

From August 2014 to November 2017, he was Managing Director and Member of the Board at Unidad Editorial, one of the biggest media groups in Spain (editor of El Mundo, Marca, Expansión, Telva, etc.) where he led the company’s business transformation process.

Javier developed an extensive career in the technology industry. From 2004 to 2014 he worked for Oracle where he was Vice President, for Database, Big Data, Database Cloud and Exadata in Silicon Valley. He also worked at Meta4 until the listing of the company in Nasdaq Europe in 1999 and founded two other start ups. 

He is a member of the Board of the CXO Advisory Council at the Digital Value Institute and a member of the Advisory Board of CIONET chapter in Madrid.

Sebastian Grams is the CIO of SEAT & Cupra and a member of the supervisory board at SEAT:CODE in Barcelona (Spain), where he has been responsible most recently for the digital transformation of the Spanish VW subsidiary. Created in 2019 under his leadership, the software company SEAT:CODE is opening up new business areas with purely digital products both for the VW Group and in the external market.

From 2010 to 2018, Sebastian held various management positions in the areas of Technical Development and IT/Digitalization. His broad experience ranges from high-performance engines and electric powertrains to software development and the introduction of new business models.

Sebastian has PhD from University of Karlsruhe and Master degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Koen Vermeulen is the Orange Chief Information Officer for the Group, and Senior Vice President of Orange Labs Services. He has a wealth of experience spanning
20+ years in telco and internet industries, digital transformation and innovation.

Under his leadership as CIO, he is accelerating the implementation of a digital and information strategy that is transformative in its ambition to deliver cutting-edge
solutions for the retail and business customers in 27 countries.
And, as SVP, he is responsible for the global network of research and innovation teams present on four continents which carry out research, anticipation and in-
field deployment of infrastructures, technologies and processes required to introduce innovative B2C and B2B services across the Orange group footprint.

Previously, he was successively IT Transformation Director and Chief Information Officer of the Orange France Business unit and has successfully contributed to the
transformation of Orange France IT. Before joining the Orange Group in 2012, Koen was the IT Director of Belgacom/Proximus.

Koen is a board member of Viaccess-Orca, a global solutions provider of OTT, content and advanced data solutions for a personalised TV experience; and a
board member of SoftAtHome which creates software for operators to deploy services for connectivity, pay TV and Smart Home products.

Koen is a Commercial Engineer Computer Sciences, graduated from the KU Leuven in Belgium.

Graduated with honors in Business Administration at Bocconi University in Milan, Barbara Poli began her career in Accenture’s Strategy Group, gaining significant experience in the areas of corporate strategy, business organization and marketing, in particular in the Media and TLC sectors, managing complex projects of change and innovation at the most important national and international players.

In 2011 Barbara joined RINA, a Certification Company, with the role of Marketing Director and over the years, she also assumed responsibility for the Corporate Organization area and the ICT area, with the title of Chief Digital Officer. After overseeing the IT and organizational redesign project of the entire Group, which led to a radical revision of the global operating model, she introduced and coordinated IT-driven transformation projects, aimed at positioning the company in the new “digital” scenario.

Since 2019 Barbara has been Chief Information & Technology Officer at GNV, MSC Group Company, and leader in the transport of freight and passengers in the Mediterranean area. At GNV she started the company’s cyber security program and coordinates ICT activities related to covid emergency management, including the “Hospital Ship”. In parallel, she is starting the digital transformation path for the Company.

She recently joined the Advisory Board of Kellify, a pioneering startup in emotional AI, which uses artificial intelligence to understand how visual stimuli – images and videos – affect our perceptions and attitudes.

Nik Puri is Senior Vice President, Information Technology FedEx Express International. Based in Hoofddorp, the Netherlands, Nik is responsible for strategy and management of mission critical IT systems and resources within 200+ countries outside of USA.

Prior to his current role, Nik was regional CIO for Europe and the MEISA Region, setting strategic direction for IT architecture, priorities and culture. He also served as the lead for Global Integration of TNT, a $6.9B global express parcel delivery entity based in Amsterdam.

Nik has a Master’s Degree in International Business from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (India).

Patryk Dolewa is the CIO of Gemini Polska – leading pharmacy chain in Poland – and has more than 15 years of IT experience in various industries and markets such as manufacturing, banking, retail and, recently pharmaceutical. Based in Poland, Patryk is responsible for IT organization. Since joining the company in 2019, he executed comprehensive digital transformation creating modern organization and application landscape adopting Agile, DevOps and service management practises.

Prior to his current role, Patryk was Head of eCommerce and Marketing Systems at Staples Solutions and ICT Service Management Director at GE Capital where he was responsible for consolidation with the BPH Bank after acquisition (consolidating billing processes, teams and systems).

Patryk has a Master degree in computer networks engineering and IT management from Technical University of Gdansk in Poland. He was awarded as IT Manager of Tomorrow in 2018.

Cindy joined AstraZeneca in January 2020, as Chief Digital Officer & CIO.

She started her career at American Medical International as an application development programmer and continued to work in the healthcare industry for a further 5 years.

Over her career, Cindy has gained deep technical expertise and extensive global experience spanning a variety of industries.  She spent 16 years at Mars, Incorporated, followed by a move to ITT – a military/defense and high-tech manufacturing company. From her role at ITT, Cindy then took the position of CIO for Africa at SABMiller (consumer goods) based in Johannesburg, South Africa.  Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Cindy was the Global Vice President, Technology at Unilever, based in London.

Cindy holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Information Systems from DeVry Institute of Technology.

Marina F. Bellini has been in Consumer Goods Companies and Consulting for over 25 years in Digital, Technology & GBS roles.  She is currently a Management Board member and Chief Information and Digital Officer for BAT.

After years in PWC Consulting, where she worked in Management Trainee to Senior Consultant roles in Finance and IT engagements in Brazil and overall Latin America for clients. She also worked for Anheuser-Busch InBev in regional and global roles based out of the Americas (USA, Mexico and Brazil) and Europe (Belgium) in the IT and GBS organisation, ultimately being global CIO and GBS lead. Marina then spent several years in PepsiCo Latin America, based out of New York, as their CIO. She was also CIO for global PepsiCo CMO, Brands & Categories function.

Marina has always focused on Digital, Technology and GBS enablement of company growth, bottom line efficiencies and talent development, in established organisations and in large M&A processes, leading complex business transformations.  Now leading the digital transformation in BAT, she is a key force for the company on its delivery of A Better Tomorrow.

A Brazilian and Italian citizen, Marina is a proud mom of 2 daughters, Catarina & Victoria, sharing the life adventure with her husband Emilio, enjoying travelling, spending time with family and friends, running & listening to music (at the same time) and savouring the Italian cuisine.