Hugues Hallot led the venture capital arm of a single family office, where he specialized in investing in early-stage startups, providing insights on funding rounds, equity sales, revenue growth, and acquisitions.

With over 14 years of experience in management consulting, he has a proven track record in startup incubation and business scaling, including leading initiatives at RioDeFi, a blockchain startup and incubation hub, where he coached the development of Web3 products and established remote blockchain development units, and cross-regional development coordination.

His expertise spans project management, strategic planning, and technology sectors. Hugues hold a master of science in general engineering from a top French engineering school and a master in Management Science from the University of Southampton.

Saravanan Krishnan is an accomplished senior technology executive with over 25 years of experience in the tech industry, recognized for driving strategic growth and operational excellence. He is a trusted advisor to clients navigating complex digital transformation initiatives, leveraging a deep understanding of both technology and business strategy.

His significant leadership roles at Dell Technologies include his recent position as Managing Director for Malaysia and his prior success as General Manager for Data & AI Platforms across Asia Pacific, Japan, and Greater China from 2021 to 2024. Before that, he was the General Manager of Cyber Resiliency Platforms for South Asia and Emerging Markets from 2016 to 2020.

Saravanan is an award-winning leader, having earned the South Asia Sales Leadership Award in 2021. His extensive background includes senior roles at global companies such as EMC, Hitachi Vantara, HPE, Sun Microsystems, StorageTek, IBM, CSC, and MediaCorp. He holds an Executive MBA from Aalto University School of Business and actively contributes to the broader business ecosystem, serving on steering committees for SGTech’s cybersecurity and sustainability initiatives.

Marc Essig graduated (PhD) from a computer science engineer school in 1989 (ESIEA). He entered in Thales the same year and started is carrier in Kenya as a site software maintenance manager for ATC (Air Traffic Control Systems).

Between 1991 and 1992 he is Software project manager for the Air Traffic Control System in Finland. From 1993 to 1997, he participated to the Air Traffic Control Simulator for the French Civil aviation. From 1997 to 2008, he is in charge of development of Air Traffic Control System for Finland and Sweden and Managing Director of the branches in Sweden and Denmark.

In 2008, he joins ThalesRaytheonSystems as a CTL (Capture Team Leader) for a radar project for Finland and Estonia and run the program until 2011.

From April 2011, he takes the position or program Director for the Ballistic Missile Defence system for NATO).

In January 2015, he takes the position of CEO Thales Denmark and country director for Nordic and Baltic States for all Thales portfolios.

In October 2018, he takes the position of Chairman & CEO Thales Hellas and country director for Greece, Cyprus & Eastern Balkan for all Thales portfolios. In 2020, he created a consulting company to support SME in defence, aerospace, transport and security for international market In May 2022, he takes the position of Business strategy director Electronic Warfare & Cyber in EDGE based in Abu Dhabi UAE.

In 2023, he joined EOS (Australian based company) as Vice president Special Projects.

Since 2001, he is Counsellor for France (Ministry of trade and Finance) for International Trade (Conseiller du Commerce Extérieur), President of the Finland comity from 2005 to 2014 and president of the Denmark comity from 2015 to 2018, member of the Greek then French comity, he is member of UAE comity since 2022. President of Europe committee and member of the board from 2012 until 2022.

Since 2021, he has been a member of EuroDefense Denmark (as a founder) and then join EuroDefense France, a European network (15 states) to promote a European security and defence identity. He is also a member of IRCE (Institut de Recherche et de Communication sur l’Europe) a Think & Do Tank on European dynamics.

Since 2025, he is a board member of TesPack a Finnish startup specialized in electric batteries.

Koh Boon Pin is the Head of M&A and IPO at Soochow Singapore Capital Markets (Asia) Pte Ltd, and he helps companies to raise funds through the capital markets and/or to list on the SGX, as well as to help companies to grow through strategic M&As.

He has more than 20 years of experience in the investment banking industry, including 15 years with DBS Bank, where he completed numerous IPOs of local and foreign large corporates, SMEs and real estate investment trusts. He was also involved in corporate spin offs, listing via introduction and the evaluation of potential acquisition targets.

Boon Pin holds an Executive Master of Public Administration and Second Upper Honours in Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University. He is a CFA charterholder, a Chartered Fintech Professional (CFtP) and a Fellow Chartered Accountant of Singapore.

He currently sits on the board of CFA Society Singapore and is in the Secretary-General of the Nanyang Centre for Public Administration Alumni Association.

Adrian is a serial entrepreneur with experience across diverse industries, from luxury fashion to cutting-edge technology. His skills include business strategy and scaling, value creation, market expansion, digital marketing, branding and E-Commerce.

Adrian is the Business Strategy Director of Blazing Conversions Pte Ltd, a data-driven business consultancy and digital marketing agency.

Adrian also serves as Strategy Advisor at Beltap Capital, where he provides insights on market selection, fundraising, and user growth. He was previously Director of Marketing & Sales at ATJK Global Pte Ltd where he orchestrated successful omnichannel marketing campaigns with a 70% closing rate.

Adrian is a natural connector who thrives on fostering strong partnerships.

Adrian serves as a mentor at NUS Entrepreneurship Society, providing guidance on corporate growth and market strategy. He is also a guest lecturer at National University of Singapore (NUS) and has created business accelerator programs for venture capital firms.

Adrian graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with a Bachelor of Applied Science, (hons), Economics and Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology. Adrian received his MBA in Finance and Entrepreneurship from Haroun Education Ventures.

Adrian is the author of “Smart Business Startup Founder’s Guidebook”, a

roadmap for navigating the startup journey.

Linda has worked in the Singapore public service for over 33 years, primarily with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) – the lead government agency responsible for developing and implementing strategies to create sustainable economic growth and enhance Singapore’s position as a global business centre. Her last position before she left the EDB was Senior Vice President and Head of the Investment Facilitation Division. In her former role heading the Investment Facilitation Division which she took up in 2018, Linda and her team engaged and assisted a range of foreign companies in the manufacturing and internationally tradeable service sectors interested in setting up business presence in Singapore.

Linda previously held leadership roles in various divisions in the EDB including the International Business Development Division which spearheaded Singapore’s regionalization initiative in the early 2000s, the Services Development Division, the Industry Promotion Division, the Precision Engineering Cluster and the Infocomms & Media Cluster. From 2000-2001, concurrent with her responsibilities in the EDB, Linda was a member the Singapore team that negotiated Singapore’s Free Trade Agreement with Japan which was signed in January 2002. She was the lead negotiator for the Investment Chapter of the Agreement.

From 2009 -2011, Linda was seconded to the JTC Corporation, another statutory board under the Ministry of Trade and Industry, responsible for the planning, promotion and development of Singapore’s industrial infrastructure landscape. She was the Director of Corporate & Strategic Planning at JTC for two years before returning to the EDB at the end of her secondment where she then led the Global-Asia Programme Office as Executive Director, until 2017. The Global-Asia Programme was an inter-agency initiative led by EDB and MAS, with the collaboration of GIC and Temasek. The Programme Office conceptualized and organized the annual Singapore Summit to build connections and linkages with global and Asian business leaders to advance Global-Asia thought leadership and support the efforts of the agencies in the development of Singapore as a Global-Asia hub.

Linda has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University.

CEO

VANDA ELECTRICS

Named one of the “Economic Times Most Influential Business Leaders in Asia” for 2017-2018, Larissa Tan is one of the few female leaders in the technology and automotive industry and is CEO of Singapore’s first electric automotive company, Vanda Electrics. In 2019, she was awarded “Asia’s Woman Leaders” by the World Women Leadership Congress and awarded “Women Icons Asia”. As a thought leader, she is a keynote and public speaker on digital disruption, innovation and technology, digital and cultural transformation; the future of transport; and women in business and leadership. Under her leadership, Vanda Electrics has successfully launched the Dendrobium, Singapore’s first electric hyper car and the iconic electric scooter, Motochimp.

Larissa is in a unique position having both ample MNC and start up experience, starting her career in banking and finance before moving towards strategic branding and marketing, an experience which proved to be fundamental in the pursuit of her career. She is the brand and communications strategist and business lead for many startup companies, in retail, consumer, luxury and technology, taking them from the startup phase to the international platform and making notable international impact on the brand reputation of these companies. Prior to her role as CEO of Vanda Electrics, Larissa headed up the branding, communications, marketing and innovation as CMO during the IPO of Wong Fong Industries, where she saw to the rebranding strategy and restructuring of the entire group.

Being at the forefront of digital, technological and cultural transformation, Larissa’s passion in digital and technology is fueled not only by how disruption will affect the way companies operate for success but also how people and culture are affected and the impact cultural and digital transformation will have on each other.

Teuku Johas Raffli is a seasoned entrepreneur with extensive experience across the insurance, manufacturing, and hospitality sectors. With more than 25 years of expertise, his career has been defined by his strong capabilities in corporate strategy, investment management, and business transformation. He is widely recognised for his turnaround leadership, successfully guiding companies through complex restructuring processes and navigating special situations.

Johas is the Founder and Partner at ARK Kapital Asia, an advisory services firm that specialises in special situation corporate restructuring, debt restructuring, distressed asset buyouts and sales, as well as corporate spin-offs. His leadership at ARK Kapital Asia reflects his commitment to supporting businesses in challenging circumstances and driving successful outcomes.

Prior to establishing ARK Kapital Asia, Johas served as President Director of PT Keramik Alamsri Industri Tbk (IKAI), a pioneering producer of homogeneous tile products listed on the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX). Under his guidance, the group diversified its business activities to include hospitality and area development, managing and owning several hotel properties in Indonesia. During his tenure, he successfully transformed IKAI from the brink of bankruptcy into a sustainable and high-performing enterprise.

Before his role at IKAI, Johas was a shareholder and Executive Director of PT Asuransi Paloramas from 2007 to 2016. In 2015, PT Asuransi Paloramas was acquired by Insurance Australia Group, marking a significant milestone in the company’s evolution.

Johas holds a Master of Science degree in Risk Management and Insurance from Cass Business School, City University, London. He also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration, with a concentration in Finance and Insurance, from Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Further enhancing his expertise, Johas completed an executive education programme in Value Investing at Columbia Business School, New York, USA.

Sandeep is a regional leader with over 20 years of experience in driving revenue growth, customer acquisition, and scale through a diverse partner ecosystem across Asia Pacific, Greater China, and Japan. His extensive background includes successfully managing partner sales in Applications/SaaS, Infrastructure Products, and Cloud Platforms across various industries. At prominent Fortune-500 technology companies like AWS, Dell, and SAP, he has demonstrated a strong track record of achieving exceptional non-linear growth, such as a 4x increase in revenue in 5 years while being a P&L leader of a business which he grew to $700 Mill in APJ.

Beyond his corporate achievements, he is also an accomplished entrepreneur, having co-founded a company in collaboration with SAP Co-Innovation Labs where he was instrumental in developing multiple products delivering mobility based applications integrated with SAP.

Currently, he leads the partner ecosystem at Confluent Asia Pacific and Japan, driving business wth Regional and Global SI’s, ISV’s, CSP’s.

Dylan has over 25 years upstream oil and gas experience in operations consulting, asset valuation, exploration strategy and digitalization. He is currently Vice President of Upstream & Carbon Management at Wood Mackenzie.

Dylan has led global and regional consulting, research and support teams at IHS Markit with commercial roles in asset valuation and data room evaluation. He also led the subsurface consulting practice for Halliburton in Asia Pacific, managing field development and exploration teams on behalf of oil and gas operators and developing geoscience training programs onboarding hundreds of graduates.

Dylan is active in several industry societies, including chairing conferences for SEAPEX and AAPG. He has published over 40 papers and presentations on geoscience, exploration and digital transformation. He has a Bachelors of Science in Geophysics from University of Melbourne and a Masters in Data Science from UC Berkeley.

Piyush is a disruptor, innovator, and an accomplished Head of Innovation with a passion for pioneering change through research and development. He has a proven track record of constructing data and engineering platforms that drive organizational growth. Piyush thrives on staying at the forefront of emerging technologies, directing R&D initiatives that have yielded transformative outcomes for various organizations. With strong technical expertise and a deep understanding of complex architectural systems, Piyush integrates cutting-edge technologies into organizational infrastructure, enhancing efficiency and productivity. His visionary leadership fosters a culture of innovation, inspiring cross-functional teams to turn creative ideas into actionable projects. Throughout his career, Piyush has demonstrated the ability to identify growth opportunities, develop innovative strategies, and execute them successfully. He excels in collaborative communication, translating technical concepts into practical solutions, and effectively leading multidisciplinary teams toward a shared vision of innovation. Piyush’ professional journey has coursed through top-tier organizations like STMicroelectronics, GE Healthcare, WalmartLabs, Optum and Tata AIA and a few others. Currently, he is SVP, Head – Research & Innovation at ProHance.

Kevin Chan brings over 27 years of experience in the tech industry, having led global, regional, and local leadership roles across Malaysia, Singapore, and the United States. Until October 2024, he served as Chief Partner Officer at Microsoft Singapore, where he was responsible for the company’s overall partner strategy — working with global and regional systems integrators, ISVs, distributors, and resellers to drive growth, build technical capability, and accelerate the adoption of emerging technologies. Over the course of his career, Kevin has engaged directly with customers across the enterprise, corporate, SMB, and public sectors. His expertise spans AI, data platforms, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and productivity solutions. In his global roles, he supported partners expanding across geographies, strengthening their go-to- market, sales, and delivery capabilities. He has also collaborated with government agencies to advance AI adoption among SMBs in Singapore. Known for his ability to connect business strategy with emerging technologies, Kevin helps leaders see the bigger picture — and act on it. He brings deep ecosystem insight, real-world operational experience, and a practical approach to navigating change. Since leaving Microsoft, Kevin has focused on equipping leaders with the knowledge and tools to engage meaningfully with AI. He designed and personally delivers a high-impact executive course on AI and Prompt Engineering at SMU Academy, and has directly taught over 700 professionals across private and public sectors. The program is immersive and highly interactive, empowering participants to become expert prompt engineers who can apply AI to solve real business problems. Today, Kevin advises startups, VCs, and enterprises on AI, partner strategy, and digital transformation — helping them rethink what’s possible, and build toward it with clarity and confidence.