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Jeffrey L. Sampler is a Professor of Practice in Strategy and Technology at China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Previously he was a faculty member of London Business School and the University of Oxford for over 20 years. In addition, he has been a collaborator with MIT’s Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) for over two decades. His research interests include the strategic implications of new technology, and the management of information as a strategic resource. His work has appeared in such journals as Accounting, Management, and Information Technology, Fortune, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Management Information Systems, MIS Quarterly, Sloan Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal. His paper with John Cross and Michael Earl on the “Transformation of IT at British Petroleum Exploration” won first prize in the Society of Information Manager’s paper competition. He has written two books on the economic transformation of Dubai, Sand to Silicon and Sand to Silicon - Going Global. Dr. Sampler’s research straddles the intersection between strategy and technology. He is currently researching digital technologies as a driving force in the transformation of many industries. His other area of focus is exploring the nature of strategic planning in very turbulent and rapidly growing markets – his recent book, Bringing Strategy Back, gives companies insights for planning in such environments. He is also a frequent speaker at conferences and corporate management retreats and has travelled over 4 million miles giving lectures in over 35 countries. He has advised and been a board member of both FTSE 100 corporations and start-ups. Notable assignments include being advisor to the former president of Nokia for 5 years and advising 2 Heads of State. Also, he was a non-exec director of an internet travel company for four years and during that time annual revenue increased from $16M to over $1B. In addition, he has extensive experience advising family business and has worked with top family groups in India, Thailand, and China for many years. Also, he has been featured in Newsweek, BBC Television, BBC World Service, BBC Radio, CNBC, Economic Times, Financial Mail, and IT Web.

John Mullins is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School. He has published five books, dozens of cases and more than 50 articles in a variety of outlets, including Harvard Business Review, the MIT Sloan Management Review, and The Wall Street Journal. He is a sought-after speaker and educator for audiences in entrepreneurship and innovation.

John’s first trade book, The New Business Road Test: What Entrepreneurs and Executives Should Do Before Launching a Lean Start-Up, has become the definitive work on the assessment and shaping of entrepreneurial opportunities and is widely employed in universities worldwide.

His second book, the critically acclaimed Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model, co-authored with Randy Komisar, a partner at the esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, was named to “Best Books of 2009” lists by BusinessWeek and INC Magazine.

John’s third book, The Customer-Funded Business: Start, Finance or Grow Your Company with Your Customers’ Cash, was named one of five “not-to-be-missed books” for 2014 by Fortune magazine. It challenges the commonly held assumption that among an innovator’s first and most important tasks is that of raising capital. Its material provides the foundation for John’s widely viewed online course on Coursera.

John’s forthcoming book, Counter-Conventional: How the Six Break-the-Rules Mindsets of Entrepreneurs Can Help Anyone Change the World, enables practitioners to apply these entrepreneurial mindsets to their innovation challenges.

John has done executive education on five continents for a variety of organizations both large and small and has served on the boards of fast-growing companies in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Asia.

Top 100 Digital Influencer, Author Radical Business Model Transformation, Global Head Center for Digital Leadership. Carsten Linz is an entrepreneurial leader with more than twenty years of business experience and a proven track record for driving innovation, growth, and transformation.

He serves as digital advisory board member, advises CEOs of fast-growing companies, is an active business angel and member of the investment committee of Europe’s largest seed stage fund. He successfully built-up several €100 mio. businesses and led company-wide transformation programs affecting more than 60.000 employees. He is a sought-after keynote speaker (listed at London Speaker Bureau) and panelist at conferences around the world.

As adjunct faculty member, he teaches in Executive Programs at Mannheim Business School, University of St. Gallen and Stanford Graduate School. He published several books including his recent best-seller “Radical Business Model Transformation: Gaining the Competitive Edge in a Disruptive World” (Top-Business Book 2017, Translations: Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese, Hungarian). His articles appeared in renowned journals such as Forbes, Harvard Business Review/Manager, ZDNet, CIO Magazine, Computerwoche, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, D!gitalist Magazine.

As Business Development Officer at SAP SE he repeatedly leads the build-up and scale-out of new businesses. In his role as Global Head of the Center for Digital Leadership, he drives SAP’s own digital transformation and acts as advisor to other CEOs, Chief Digital Officers, and CIOs by showcasing next-generation digital innovation and transformation approaches.

Dr. Linz holds a PhD in Innovation Management from University of Bern/Switzerland (“summa cum laude”) and a Diploma degree in Economic Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (“with honors”). He studied System Dynamics and Entrepreneurship at MIT Sloan School of Management, Leading Change and Organizational Renewal at Harvard Business School, and Corporate Strategy at INSEAD Fontainebleau.

He was named “Top-100 Digital Influencer”, awarded as “Innovation Landmark” by the German President, honored with the coveted “Award of Excellence” from the Global Institute of Logistics and ranked as “Leader” in the Gartner Magic Quadrant. He is an advisory member of the World Economic Forum’s “Digital Enterprise” and “Digital Platforms and Digital Ecosystems” projects.

He supports Social Entrepreneurs as Advisory Board Member of Social Impact, Berlin.

He is married, has one daughter, and lives in Frankfurt/Main.

George Yip is an expert on China innovation and strategy, having conducted research about China for over 20 years and served on the faculty of the top Chinese business school, China Europe International Business School (CEIBS), from 2011 to 2016. Previous academic positions include Dean of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University; and at Harvard, UCLA, Cambridge Judge, and London Business School. Previous business positions include Vice President and Director of Research & Innovation at Capgemini Consulting, senior manager at Price Waterhouse (USA), manager at Unilever, and various boards. Author or co-author of Pioneers, Hidden Champions, Change Makers, and Underdogs: Lessons from China's Innovators (2019), China’s Next Strategic Advantage: From Imitation to Innovation (2016), Strategic Transformation (2013), Managing Global Customers (2007), Asian Advantage: Key Strategies for Winning in the Asia-Pacific Region (1998), and Total Global Strategy (1992 and 2012).

Dr. Chris Brauer (Dr. Chris) is Director of Innovation and founder of the Centre for Creative & Social Technologies (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London where he teaches innovation, project management, and behavioural economics. His research specialises in the intersections of emerging technologies and human behaviour, socio-economic and socio-cultural life. His projects focus on public engagement and impact and have been covered extensively in over 400 media outlets worldwide. Current research focuses include industrial internet, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, blockchain, driverless cars, emotion tracking, and the psychology of openness and common ground.

Clive Roach is the Director of Social Media for Signify (formerly known as Philips Lighting). He is responsible for social media strategy development, success measurement, activation, governance and training within Signify. Clive has been working in the digital marketing area since 1997, and previously held roles in engineering, design and sales going back to 1985. Clive has his own blog, tweets daily on two Twitter accounts, and has a Facebook fan page, three Instagram accounts, Pinterest, and YouTube.

Amit Joshi is a Professor of AI, Analytics and Marketing Strategy at IMD. He is the Program Director of the Digital Analytics open program, and the co-director of the program on Artificial Intelligence. In 2020, he was named a ‘Digital Shaper’ in Switzerland, as one of a handful of individuals who would shape the digital economy in the future.
Amit is an award-winning professor and researcher and has interacted with a variety of corporate clients in several industries, including telecom, banking and financial services, media, manufacturing, retailing, pharma, education and automobiles. Previously, he worked for Cadbury India Ltd., a company that is now a part of the Mondelez International group.
Amit’s research, which focuses on long-run marketing strategy, analytics and AI applications, has been published in top journals, including Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Culture, Journal of Cultural Economics and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. His research has twice won the MSI / H. Paul Root Award, for the best paper in the Journal of Marketing (2010 and 2015) the Robert D. Buzzell Best Paper Award (2006) for the MSI publication with the most long-term impact and bee nominated for the Sheth Foundation Award for long-term contributions. His dissertation won an honorable mention in the 2004 Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition. He is also an award-winning case writer.
His research and opinions have been extensively covered in the popular press and media, appearing in outlets including NPR, CNN, NBC, Nikkei, Fast Company, Business Standard, Fox News, Bloomberg, Forbes, Investor Relations Magazine, The Conversation, and Science Daily.
Amit earned his bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Pune, a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (P.G.D.M.) from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, India, and a Ph.D. is from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

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Danielle Jones-Hunte is an agile storyteller with over a decade of executive experience in marketing and communications.
She led the people and culture communication for the largest transformation in bp’s history and was the communication strategist for the agile transformation of the company’s Upstream business. Danielle has also led and coached teams on 3 continents while working for multinational corporations, conglomerates changing India and start-ups poised to change the world. She now leads the global employee advocacy efforts for bp – harnessing the passion of teams across the globe to reimagine energy for people and the planet.
In addition to her corporate pursuits, Danielle is also an author, television host, university lecturer and a motivational speaker. She has designed for a fashion label, was a finalist at Miss Universe, has been featured on reality TV and is a passionate advocate for breast cancer awareness.
Danielle holds a Master of Arts in Communication and Culture from Howard University and has a certificate in leadership from Stanford University but is most proud of her role as a wife, boy mom and career coach. Danielle is a proud Trinidadian who and is always up for a conversation about culture over great cuisine.

Roopesh has 20+ years of joy as a Talent Acquisition Leader and believes that the best is yet to come. At present he has the privilege of leading the Global Executive Talent Acquisition teams for all Uber businesses worldwide. Roopesh has had the fortune to work with incredible leaders who have pushed and challenged him over his career working for amazing brands such as SAP, Workday, Expedia and VMware. Building teams that have tangible impact and help to create optimal experiences at every touchpoint of the hiring process, that's the goal. A magnifying lens on inclusivity and data driven strategies have been the common thread across all that he has done whilst making sure to have fun along the way.

Armin is a professor for human resource management at the top-ranked business school of Furtwangen University. Beyond being an engaged teacher, Armin is well known as a thought-leading author, inspiring keynote-speaker and trusted advisor. He is committed to a new and modern way of human resource management. In times of digitization, talent shortage, and knowledge economy, he is deeply convinced about the urgent need for new solutions to long lasting people-related challenges. Through his work, Armin makes make a valued contribution to this important field.

Dr. Chris Brauer (Dr. Chris) is Director of Innovation and founder of the Centre for Creative & Social Technologies (CAST) at Goldsmiths, University of London where he teaches innovation, project management, and behavioural economics. His research specialises in the intersections of emerging technologies and human behaviour, socio-economic and socio-cultural life. His projects focus on public engagement and impact and have been covered extensively in over 400 media outlets worldwide. Current research focuses include industrial internet, artificial intelligence, machine learning, IoT, blockchain, driverless cars, emotion tracking, and the psychology of openness and common ground.