Our Panelists
Meet our stellar lineup of panelists
Ralf Buechsenschuss Employee Experience Lead
MICROSOFT
Ralf Buechsenschuss is currently Employee Experience Lead at Microsoft based in Switzerland. Prior to this position, he was the Global Head of Organizational Design, People Analytics & Digitalization at Zurich Insurance; he also held other HR management positions during his time at Zurich Insurance. Before joining Zurich Insurance, Ralf worked as Global People Analytics Manager for Nestlé as well as in different positions related to HR Strategy, People Analytics and Planning for the Telefónica/O2 Group. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, and a MBA in general management from IE Business School and is working on his PhD at the University of Mannheim.
Mattijs Mol VP HR Technology, Strategy & Insights WÄRTSILÄ
Mattijs is an HR executive with over 15 years of experience in People Analytics, HR Technology and HR Strategy/Transformation. He is driven by continuous improvement, fueling new perspectives and applying insights to increase data-informed (and not data-driven!) decision-making around work and workforce matters. Mattijs is based in Netherlands and worked for Philips, Dorel Juvenile and ASML before joining Wartsila in 2020. Here, he is leading the HR Strategy, Tech and Insights function, contributing to Wartsila's mission to bringing innovative technologies and lifecycle solutions to the marine and energy markets.
Irmgard NaudintenCate EMEIA Director of Talent Attraction and Acquisition EY
As EY EMEIA’s Talent Attraction and Acquisition Leader, Irmgard is responsible for EY’s recruiting and attraction strategy, and operational leadership to the business across all service lines and geographies. The EMEIA organization attracts over 1.5 million applicants a year and hired 60.000 people last year.
Our EMEIA TA² team has around 600 TA² specialists who are responsible for sourcing, attracting and hiring diverse talent at all levels, across all EY’s locations in EMEIA and lines of business. With more than 20 years of recruiting experience, Irmgard also regularly consults with EY clients on their global recruitment, talent attraction and employer brand strategies.
Her specialties include recruiting strategy, change leadership, recruiting technology (including AI and RPA), talent acquisition, talent attraction, executive, experienced and campus recruiting, diversity equity & inclusion, social media, employee advocacy and public speaking.
Anish Lalchandani Global Head Talent Management A.P MOLLER MAERSK
Anish Lalchandani is the author of the book ‘The Skills Advantage: A Human-Centered, Sustainable and Scalable Approach to Reskilling’. Having held leadership roles at leading firms like A.P. Moller Maersk(current), General Electric, Standard Chartered Bank and other organizations, he has developed extensive expertise in Talent, OD, Leadership and HR Strategy. In addition to being a Chartered Fellow of the CIPD, he is also a certified professional coach and mentor to start-up founders. Several publications, including Economic Times, Thinkers360, Leadershum and HRD, rate him as one of the top influencers in HR and the Future of Work.
Judith Kuhn HR Director Europe LEGGETT & PLATT
Judith Kuhn is a Lawyer, Business Economist and certified Executive Coach from Henley Business School. With Leggett & Platt since Dec 2020 she is as HR Director responsible for the "Specialised Products" segment in Europe and for Hydraulics on a global scale: focus on defining the global HR strategy, introducing and standardising structures and traditional HR tools in collaboration with global colleagues in North America and Asia, thereby taking appropriate account of regional circumstances and cultural differences. Previously, she worked in various key Legal and HR European positions, including 10 years at Hertz Car Rental.
Alejandro Giordanelli
Lead SWP & People Analytics (Group)
MERCK GROUP
Coming soon
Jessica Stack FRSA
Co-founder
WAVELENGTH
Jessica co-founded Wavelength, a UK-based executive education business with a global reach and specialism of ‘bringing the outside world in’ for leaders, in 2008. Under Jessica’s leadership, Wavelength has taken thousands of leaders inside the boardrooms and shop floors of some of the world’s most admired organisations as part of the immersive, experiential leadership programmes in China, Silicon Valley, India, and Europe. Passionate about providing access to world-class inspiration, education and provocation, Jessica’s vision is to equip leaders with the skills needed to drive change and thrive in today’s business world. Jessica runs Wavelength Connect - a nine-month-long leadership programme - ensuring the experience drives maximum application and impact for participants. Jessica is also deeply involved in the design and execution of Wavelength's other programmes including Wavelength’s bespoke Behind The Brand visits in Europe and the Power of Purpose study tour in India. She additionally oversees the Wavelength brand, finances and governance, as well as Wavelength’s great people. Jessica began her career as a set and costume designer in the theatre having studied Drama at Manchester University and Design at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before transferring her skills and vision to co-found Wavelength. In 2019, Jessica was invited to become a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).
Gerard Penning Executive Board Member ALLIANDER & SEforALL
Gerard Penning is a senior HR executive with extensive global experience in the energy sector, sustainable business models and finance/Banking. Up to end 2022 he was CHRO/member of the Executive Board of ABNAMRO Bank. Before this he has held various positions within Shell building up to EVP HR for respectively the Upstream and Downstream businesses in The Hague and London. Since 2018 he has been a member of the Supervisory Board of SEforALL, a UN related globally operating NGO focused on SDG 7 based out of New York & Vienna.
Since 2021 he has been a member of the Supervisory Board of Alliander (the largest NL based Power Network provider) where he was elected as Chair of Remco/Nomco in 2023. At the beginning of 2023 Gerard joined Inuka BV, a B corp start up with a focus on providing coaching to an ever growing group of (young) professionals in need of such. Gerard is a regular keynote speaker on topics such as leadership & talent and in his spare time he enjoys mountain biking, (flamenco) guitar and travel.
Michel Guye-Bergeret
Sr. Sparring Partner SPARRING LAB
Coming soon
Peter van Hoof
Head of HR
ED&F Man
Peter van Hoof is a seasoned HR-professional with solid experience in several multinational companies in FMCG, Retail and Trading. Peter follows, detects and encourages trends in the people and organization domain. He does so by creating compelling and provocative visions/strategies for the future of HR and organisations, in doing so he always takes a very human-centric approach.
TBC
Coming soon
TBC
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Elena Gallo VP HR International Paramount + PARAMOUNT
Coming soon
Olga Martens-Stuurman Director Future Ready Work Experiences HP
Olga Martens-Stuurman is working for HP since 1997. She has fulfilled various EMEA and WW leadership roles in HP’s Customer Support Organization till May 2022 when she moved to the People Org to lead a cross-functional, agile, enterprise program called Future Ready Work Experiences. This program focuses on designing and testing work experiences that empower HP people to do their best work. Olga holds a master’s degree in political sciences from the University of Amsterdam. As life-long learner, she continued her education at INSEAD, Harvard, Nyenrode, MIT, Stanford, and the University of Cambridge. She is intrigued by the possibilities of Artificial Intelligence, a fan of design thinking and passionate about learning.
Mariana Machado HR Director Southern Europe, CIS & Georgia IHG
Once upon a time there was a young woman who wanted to make a difference.
With a MBA in Marketing and Postgraduate in Behavioral Neuroscience, my career can be defined by one sentence: what do people want? My professional path started long ago with different activities in the Tourism section, specially at Accor where I grew from marketing analyst to a Global CRM Director, always searching for ways to answer to customer needs: brand strategies, loyalty programs and segmented customer communications were my things. When life brought me and my family to Paris, I discovered that my passion and curiosity towards customers was even more powerful when it came to colleagues.
As a VP of Cultural Transformation, I dedicated myself to learning more about how I can impact people's lives by improving their work experience. I got the chance to see it happening at Groupe ETAM, where I was Head of People & Culture. I implemented a HR strategy to increase the learning and talent development culture inside the company, by analysing HR data, creating career programs and implementing a human first approach to our development plan.
Now at IHG, I am challenging myself again. Back to hospitality, I take a big lead at how HR can support our business by innovating the way we see our processes, our people and our community. With a concrete action plan towards the people cycle inside our company, my job is to make sure that IHG is a true place to for people to grow, develop and make a difference.
I truly believe that if we focus on people, the performance will follow. As you can probably guess by now, I love good stories. Books, movies, series, but most of all people. From Harry Potter to "how was your weekend?", I love to celebrate the nuances and surprises of life!”
Nazim Ünlü
Global People & Organization Director NOVARTIS
As a Human Resources Leader with over 15 years of experience in the healthcare, agriculture and food, consumer goods, and banking industries, I call myself an HR Scientist. I have gained a reputation for simplifying complex problems, building consensus across various regions and cultures, and successfully delivering change initiatives and transformations in complex, global environments. My strategic and insightful approach to transforming organizations has helped me build a collegial and collaborative work culture that encourages transparency, innovation, and engagement. I have a pragmatic leadership style that has facilitated positive changes in corporate culture and supported better business results. I am passionate about developing partnerships with business leaders to drive affirmative change and promote expansion.
Sara Lupi
Head of Human Ressources South Europe
BEIERSDORF
Coming soon
TBC
Coming soon
Lei Pan
Global Head of People Insights and Analytics SHELL
I am a strategic leader in data analytics with strong communication and stakeholder management skills strengthened by 15+ years of experience as a data science and behavioural science expert. I drive the team's strategy and vision to enable business to leverage data and insights in decision making and process simplification. I currently lead Shell's People Insights and Analytics teams. I have a broad range of experience in multiple sectors including energy, banking, international organisations, consultancy, and academia.
Ben Harris
Regional Vice President, Enterprise, EMEA VISIER
Ben Harris leads Visier's EMEA Enterprise business, leveraging more than 15 years of expertise in steering high-growth B2B technology ventures. Throughout his career, he has been instrumental in cultivating propositions aimed at enriching both the employee and customer journey, solidifying his reputation as a dynamic leader in the field.
Laurent Durys
Global People Analytics Lead
LEVI STRAUSS & Co
Coming soon