Igor builds probabilistic programming and real-time inference systems in Elixir. His current project, eXMC, is an open-source PyMC-style framework running MCMC sampling on Nx/EXLA across 88 cores for live financial signal processing. Before Elixir, three decades of systems architecture across telecom, finance, and manufacturing — from ITMO (St. Petersburg) to Wayne State (Detroit) to production systems that had to work on Monday morning. He believes the best runtime for numerical computing was designed for telephone switches.

Igor builds probabilistic programming and real-time inference systems in Elixir. His current project, eXMC, is an open-source PyMC-style framework running MCMC sampling on Nx/EXLA across 88 cores for live financial signal processing. Before Elixir, ... Show more

Jason Paolasini drives RBC’s hybrid cloud strategy, integrating on-prem and public cloud infrastructures using CNCF projects and Kubernetes. As a Kubernetes-first organization and CNCF Silver sponsor, RBC leverages open source frameworks to streamline security and operational efficiency. Jason fosters open source contributions while scaling multi-cluster environments to hundreds of thousands of cores, positioning RBC as a leader in financial cloud infrastructure.

Jason Paolasini drives RBC’s hybrid cloud strategy, integrating on-prem and public cloud infrastructures using CNCF projects and Kubernetes. As a Kubernetes-first organization and CNCF Silver sponsor, RBC leverages open source frameworks to streamlin... Show more

Solomon Olalemi is a seasoned product manager with a rich background spanning over 6+ years in the industry. His journey in product management has been marked by a diverse portfolio of projects, each contributing to his expertise and insight into the field.

Solomon's career began with groundbreaking work at Payercoins Inc., where he spearheaded the development of a cryptocurrency infrastructure, laying the foundation for innovative financial solutions. His passion for driving impactful change led him to the forefront of the remittance industry in Africa, where he played a pivotal role in building a remittance platform that revolutionized payment systems across the continent.

Transitioning to the banking sector, Solomon joined the ranks of a prominent Nigerian bank, where he currently leads the charge in developing a cutting-edge digital banking platform. Under his guidance, the bank, Polaris Bank, has garnered prestigious accolades, including the coveted title of Digital Bank of the Year in Nigeria for three consecutive years, affirming Solomon's prowess in the realm of digital innovation.

Beyond his professional endeavours, Solomon is known for his unwavering dedication to personal growth and knowledge acquisition. A voracious reader, he embarked on a remarkable journey in 2017, devouring an impressive 104 books in a single year—an achievement that speaks volumes about his thirst for learning and self-improvement.

When he's not at the helm of the product team, Solomon can often be found immersed in the intricacies of revamping lending products, leveraging his expertise to drive innovation and excellence in financial services.

With a relentless drive for excellence and a passion for pushing boundaries, Solomon Olalemi continues to make indelible contributions to the world of product management, shaping the future of fintech and digital innovation one breakthrough at a time.

When I am not working, you will find me reading or talking to friends.

Solomon Olalemi is a seasoned product manager with a rich background spanning over 6+ years in the industry. His journey in product management has been marked by a diverse portfolio of projects, each contributing to his expertise and insight into the... Show more

George is a seasoned IT professional with 15+ years of experience, evolving from technical roles to leading engineering teams in security-critical sectors. Passionate about coaching and empowering others, he combines hands-on expertise with strategic leadership.

A former professional chess player, George won the "Romanian Chess Champion" title with his club team in 2004. At 16, he founded and grew an ISP company in Bucharest to 600 clients before selling it at 18. He later pursued an Executive MBA at IMT Paris to strengthen his leadership skills.

Recognized in the Financial Times' "100 Faces of Innovation" in 2016, George is a sought-after Cybersecurity expert specializing in Fraud and Deepfakes. He has spoken at over 20 conferences all around the world, and his beginner’s Cybersecurity course has helped 150,000+ students start their careers in the field.

George is a seasoned IT professional with 15+ years of experience, evolving from technical roles to leading engineering teams in security-critical sectors. Passionate about coaching and empowering others, he combines hands-on expertise with strategic... Show more

Deep Patel is a senior data engineering and analytics leader with over a decade of experience designing and scaling large-scale data platforms across fintech and technology organizations. He has led enterprise-critical initiatives spanning executive metrics, real-time analytics, and AI-driven decision systems, helping leadership teams measure ROI, manage risk, and operate with data they can trust. Deep frequently speaks and writes on modern data infrastructure, AI governance, and translating complex systems into clear business outcomes.

Deep Patel is a senior data engineering and analytics leader with over a decade of experience designing and scaling large-scale data platforms across fintech and technology organizations. He has led enterprise-critical initiatives spanning executive ... Show more

Eric has helped thousands of people buy homes, build wealth, and feel confident about one of life’s biggest financial decisions. Since entering the mortgage industry in 2015, he’s closed over $1 billion in home loans and earned a reputation for solving complex financing scenarios with clarity, speed, and care. He also has extensive experience helping veterans use VA IRRRLs to reduce their monthly payments quickly with minimal documentation.

Eric’s approach is deeply shaped by the customer service philosophy in Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard—a book he credits as a major influence in his career. He believes every client deserves more than a smooth transaction—they deserve a standout experience that’s personal, consistent, and always better than expected. That mindset drives everything he does at LendFriend, from how his team communicates to how they show up when things get complicated.

While Eric works with a wide range of homebuyers and homeowners, he has deep expertise in helping clients who fall outside the traditional lending box—self-employed borrowers, real estate investors, crypto holders, and others with unique financial profiles. He specializes in VA, Conventional, and Jumbo loans, as well as Non-QM solutions like bank statement, DSCR, and asset depletion programs.

Whether you're buying your first home or financing your fifth, Eric brings the same thoughtful, personalized approach to every deal. He leads the LendFriend team with a focus on transparency, creativity, and making sure every client walks away feeling like they had someone in their corner from day one.

Eric has helped thousands of people buy homes, build wealth, and feel confident about one of life’s biggest financial decisions. Since entering the mortgage industry in 2015, he’s closed over $1 billion in home loans and earned a reputation for solvi... Show more

Tanvi Mittal is an experienced QA professional with over 14 years in test automation, software quality, and DevOps practices. She has worked across enterprise and banking systems, solving complex testing challenges where reliability and compliance are critical. In recent years, Tanvi has focused on integrating AI into QA—pioneering self-healing frameworks, predictive defect analysis, and intelligent pipelines that reduce test maintenance and accelerate delivery. Beyond her technical expertise, she mentors professionals transitioning into AI-enabled QA careers and speaks about the evolving role of quality engineering. She is passionate about building resilient systems and empowering QA professionals to thrive in the AI era.

Tanvi Mittal is an experienced QA professional with over 14 years in test automation, software quality, and DevOps practices. She has worked across enterprise and banking systems, solving complex testing challenges where reliability and compliance ar... Show more

Andersen LLP is an award-winning tax advisory firm with a specialist Web3 tax and accounting team. It offers a range of services, from international token structuring, token incentives, fractional CFO services and back-office financial support for businesses to personal income-tax planning and compliance.

Having advised crypto clients since 2018, Ben is a member of numerous digital asset working groups focussing on tax policy and financial reporting and was awarded Spears' 500 Top Recommended Cryptocurrency Advisor in 2022 & 2024 and City Wealth's Top 50 Professionals in Crypto in 2023.

Ben is a seasoned speaker and contributor for media outlets such as Bloomberg, the FT and Tax Journal, Ben is committed to the furtherance of the UK as a jurisdiction for crypto to thrive.

Andersen LLP is an award-winning tax advisory firm with a specialist Web3 tax and accounting team. It offers a range of services, from international token structuring, token incentives, fractional CFO services and back-office financial support for bu... Show more

I’m a Principal Software Engineer at Mastercard with 18 years of experience across software engineering, data analytics, distributed and large-scale systems. I’ve built and optimized software architectures globally in payments, banking, telecom and manufacturing, worked across multiple countries, and mentored engineers and organizations. I explore AI, Payments, HPC, and emerging technologies to create systems that are scalable, high-performance, efficient, reliable and importantly secure systems.

I’m a Principal Software Engineer at Mastercard with 18 years of experience across software engineering, data analytics, distributed and large-scale systems. I’ve built and optimized software architectures globally in payments, banking, telecom and m... Show more

I am a tech founder and recognized data science leader with over 10 years of experience in financial intelligence and advanced data engineering. As Co-Founder and CTO of ClearPic.ai, I lead the technical vision for an intelligence platform that uses Python, AI, and graph databases to uncover hidden corporate risks. With past leadership roles including Head of R&D at Urus Advisory and data consulting at Deloitte and PwC, I specialize in turning complex, messy data into clear networks.

I am an active speaker in the global tech community (OpenTalks.AI, PyCon), dedicated to sharing practical strategies for building resilient, AI-driven business tools.

I am a tech founder and recognized data science leader with over 10 years of experience in financial intelligence and advanced data engineering. As Co-Founder and CTO of ClearPic.ai, I lead the technical vision for an intelligence platform that uses ... Show more

Tuesay Singh is a seasoned technology leader with over a decade of experience at the intersection of AI, fintech, and cloud engineering. She is currently a Product Lead at Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco, and provides AI Engineering as a Service to banking clients. Prior to Deloitte, she was as a Senior Technical Product Manager at Amazon's Hazardous Goods Compliance vertical, leading OCR optimization across Seattle and European Union. She has an MBA from the Kelley School of Business and an MS from the University of Southampton. Outside of her professional role, she is a Board Advisor, Chapter Lead for Girls Who Code, member of Women in Product.

Tuesay Singh is a seasoned technology leader with over a decade of experience at the intersection of AI, fintech, and cloud engineering. She is currently a Product Lead at Deloitte Consulting in San Francisco, and provides AI Engineering as a Service... Show more

With over 16 years of experience as a software and solutions architect, I specialize in modernizing large-scale financial systems through cloud transformation and AI-driven innovation. My work spans enterprise architecture, secure cloud modernization, and the responsible adoption of intelligent systems within regulated environments. I have led critical banking platform migrations, designed reusable architectural frameworks, and delivered scalable cloud solutions for major U.S. financial institutions.

With over 16 years of experience as a software and solutions architect, I specialize in modernizing large-scale financial systems through cloud transformation and AI-driven innovation. My work spans enterprise architecture, secure cloud modernization... Show more

Massimo Forno is the Technical Founder & CEO of QuantikMind, a deep-tech startup pioneering intelligent chaos experiment and test selection for large-scale distributed systems. With 20+ years spanning QA, DevOps, SRE and Software Architecture, including leadership roles at major Swiss financial institutions, he has driven digital transformation programs focused on high-reliability engineering in regulated environments.

His expertise covers resilient architectures, observability-driven decision making and automated risk-based validation.
Massimo's research explores quantum-inspired logic, probabilistic modeling and ML-powered analysis to optimize failure-mode detection in microservice ecosystems.

He is passionate about translating advanced concepts into practical engineering tools that enable teams to validate system resilience more efficiently, intelligently and at scale.

Massimo Forno is the Technical Founder & CEO of QuantikMind, a deep-tech startup pioneering intelligent chaos experiment and test selection for large-scale distributed systems. With 20+ years spanning QA, DevOps, SRE and Software Architecture, includ... Show more

Seetaram Rayarao is a Vice President and Senior Lead Engineer at JP Morgan Chase with over 18 years of experience driving innovation in cloud computing, AI, and microservices. He leads transformative projects, including the LLM Suite, integrating Generative AI frameworks such as LangChain and LangGraph with enterprise cloud solutions to deliver scalable, AI-driven applications. A Delaware AWS Community Leader (AWS Builder), Seetaram is an invited speaker at the New York AI Summit, where he presented on real-world enterprise adoption of Generative AI and agent-based systems, sharing practical lessons on scaling, governance, and measurable business impact. He is also a speaker at AI4, contributing advanced insights on production-ready AI architectures, RAG systems, and evaluation frameworks used in regulated financial environments.

Seetaram Rayarao is a Vice President and Senior Lead Engineer at JP Morgan Chase with over 18 years of experience driving innovation in cloud computing, AI, and microservices. He leads transformative projects, including the LLM Suite, integrating Gen... Show more

With 11+ years of experience at Meta, Amazon, Block, and MongoDB, I specialize in building distributed microservices for 10M–100M+ Daily Active Users. At Block, I led the redesign of Cash App's peer-to-peer payment engine, supporting 25M weekly senders and driving $109M in Q1 2024 revenue, while building a 10K event/sec platform that prevented $220M in fraud losses via ML risk signals. My work at Meta involved optimizing replica synchronization for ZippyDB, their largest distributed key-value store, and at Amazon, I led a cross-functional team to build Alexa News microservices, resulting in a 32% engagement lift and $4.5M in Ads revenue. I am currently engineering LLM-powered code generation at MongoDB to automate the modernization of legacy Oracle PL/SQL to Java and MongoDB for global financial institutions. I am also a key contributor in an open source library for model distillation (https://github.com/horus-ai-labs/DistillFlow/) which has gotten over 150 stars on Github.

With 11+ years of experience at Meta, Amazon, Block, and MongoDB, I specialize in building distributed microservices for 10M–100M+ Daily Active Users. At Block, I led the redesign of Cash App's peer-to-peer payment engine, supporting 25M weekly sende... Show more

Equal parts strategist and storyteller, Leslie Schall brings humor, heart, and hard-earned expertise to every stage. As Director of Channel Partnership, Microsoft at Corpay, she leads the powerhouse alliance connecting fintech innovation with Microsoft’s global ecosystem—helping businesses simplify payments and scale smarter.

Leslie’s sessions blend real-world insights with relatable energy, turning complex financial topics like fraud prevention, cash flow optimization, AP automation, and workflow efficiency into engaging, actionable discussions. Audiences walk away inspired, informed, and ready to rethink what modern financial operations can be.

When she’s not sparking collaboration across the Microsoft ecosystem, you’ll find Leslie in Fort Collins, Colorado, chasing her three kids, mountain views, and the next great cup of coffee.

Equal parts strategist and storyteller, Leslie Schall brings humor, heart, and hard-earned expertise to every stage. As Director of Channel Partnership, Microsoft at Corpay, she leads the powerhouse alliance connecting fintech innovation with Microso... Show more

Especialista en Estrategia, Producto y Finanzas por UPenn y London Business School. Becado Internacional en Innovation & AI por la IE university. Desarrollador de agentes y agencia IA para la optimización de análisis financieros y corporativos.

Especialista en Estrategia, Producto y Finanzas por UPenn y London Business School. Becado Internacional en Innovation & AI por la IE university. Desarrollador de agentes y agencia IA para la optimización de análisis financieros y corporativos. Show more

Data Engineer with 3+ years of experience building production data platforms at NatWest, Accenture, and Dpoint. Specialized in cloud-native architectures, real-time processing with Kafka and Spark, and data quality frameworks. Published technical writer on Medium, sharing practical lessons from production systems. Passionate about making data platforms reliable and trustworthy.

Data Engineer with 3+ years of experience building production data platforms at NatWest, Accenture, and Dpoint. Specialized in cloud-native architectures, real-time processing with Kafka and Spark, and data quality frameworks. Published technical wri... Show more

I’m a Senior IT Internal Auditor at American Express Global Business Travel, specializing in cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, SOX, and PCI DSS. As a cybersecurity professional who began with hands-on skills in penetration testing, exploit development, and digital forensics before choosing a career in governance, risk, and compliance, I bring a hacker’s mindset into the world of audits.

I’m also the author of a top-ranked digital forensics blog on the Autopsy tool, with over 75,000 views and the #1 spot on Google. Today, I lead the integration of Generative AI into internal audit processes, architecting a multi-phase roadmap that transforms legacy governance systems into dynamic, AI-powered frameworks. Alongside strategy, I actively design techniques for generating highly targeted GenAI prompts, enabling audit teams to extract precise, actionable intelligence while reducing noise and false positives.

By combining hacker-style curiosity with AI-driven execution, I offer a unique perspective on the future of IT audits. My talks challenge the perception of audits as checklist exercises and present a vision for Audit 2.0, where passion-driven professionals and AI together redefine assurance as resilience-building rather than compliance alone.

I’m a Senior IT Internal Auditor at American Express Global Business Travel, specializing in cybersecurity governance, risk management, and compliance frameworks including ISO 27001, SOX, and PCI DSS. As a cybersecurity professional who began with ha... Show more

Jasper is a curious, creative and versatile data & visualization expert who loves to tackle data challenges.
He strongly believes in the power and the value of data and will only be satisfied when stories can be told based on the gained insights.
Initially started as a SAS developer but evolved to a seasoned all-round BI profile with proven experience (15y+) on different Business Intelligence platforms. He worked for various financial institutions in Belgium but loves exploring other sectors as well: telecom, public services, retail and healthcare...

Jasper is a curious, creative and versatile data & visualization expert who loves to tackle data challenges. He strongly believes in the power and the value of data and will only be satisfied when stories can be told based on the gained insights. ... Show more

Kattya García, Ingeniera de sistemas con 5 años de experiencia, que a lo largo de todo este tiempo uno de mis principales objetivos es apoyar e inspirar a más generaciones de mujeres a que se adentren en el mundo de la tecnología, demostrándoles que el talento y la pasión no tienen género.

Kattya García, Ingeniera de sistemas con 5 años de experiencia, que a lo largo de todo este tiempo uno de mis principales objetivos es apoyar e inspirar a más generaciones de mujeres a que se adentren en el mundo de la tecnología, demostrándoles que ... Show more

Kamil Panfil er CFO, styreleder og foredragsholder med bred erfaring fra både oppstartsbedrifter og etablerte selskaper. Han kombinerer solid finansforståelse med praktisk innsikt i teknologi, automatisering og ledelse. Kamil har jobbet med å bygge selskaper fra idé til skalering, ledet digitale transformasjonsprosesser og hjulpet ledere å ta smartere beslutninger raskere. På scenen er han kjent for sin energiske, ærlige og inspirerende stil som gjør komplekse temaer konkrete og relevante – enten det handler om vekst, strategi eller menneskene bak tallene.

Kamil Panfil er CFO, styreleder og foredragsholder med bred erfaring fra både oppstartsbedrifter og etablerte selskaper. Han kombinerer solid finansforståelse med praktisk innsikt i teknologi, automatisering og ledelse. Kamil har jobbet med å bygge s... Show more

Soujanya Vummannagari is an accomplished Senior Product/Delivery Manager with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation across healthcare, retail, finance, and insurance industries. Currently serving as Senior Development Consultant at Evernorth/Express Scripts through Endava Solutions, she leads a comprehensive product portfolio encompassing 50+ Spring Boot services and 400+ DataPower/Mainframe services while managing a 30+ member global team.
Her expertise spans the full technology spectrum, from legacy mainframe systems (PLI, CICS, COBOL) to modern cloud-native architectures using Java, Spring Boot,Openshift and AWS. Soujanya has demonstrated exceptional leadership in large-scale system modernization, successfully migrating monolithic systems to microservices architectures, achieving 1300+ MIPS savings and delivering $2.5M in license cost reductions through strategic technology transitions.
Notable achievements include developing innovative certification frameworks that contributed to $1.75M in cost savings, building analytics platforms that drove incremental revenue growth, and leading FHIR API migrations that enhanced healthcare data interoperability across multiple organizations. Her technical proficiency extends to DevOps practices, utilizing tools like Jenkins, Git, and Pivotal Cloud Foundry, while maintaining robust monitoring and security standards through Grafana, Splunk, newrelic , and Dynatrace.
Prior to her current role, Soujanya held key positions at Clopay Doors, PNC Healthcare, State Farm Insurance, and Citigroup, where she consistently delivered scalable solutions and led cross-functional teams to achieve strategic business objectives. Her experience includes extensive work with HIPAA compliance, EDI transaction processing, and claims management systems.
Soujanya holds a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and maintains Project Management Professional (PMP) certification alongside OBIEE Foundation Suite 11G certification, reflecting her commitment to continuous professional development and excellence in technology leadership.

Soujanya Vummannagari is an accomplished Senior Product/Delivery Manager with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation across healthcare, retail, finance, and insurance industries. Currently serving as Senior Development Consultant ... Show more

Shobhit Verma (aka TheJugaadGuy) is an SRE Lead with 15 years of experience in Infrastructure, Cloud, and Observability. He has led large-scale projects in banking and telecom, working extensively with AWS, Terraform, ELK, and Dynatrace to build reliable and scalable systems. Beyond engineering, he is a filmmaker and content creator with 50,000+ followers, known for simplifying complex technical topics through engaging content.

As an active community member in AWS User Group Pune, Atlassian Community, and Toastmasters, Shobhit brings a unique mix of technical depth, storytelling, and stage presence. He is now building his journey into Developer Relations (DevRel), where his mission is to empower developers with the right tools, stories, and confidence to succeed.

Shobhit Verma (aka TheJugaadGuy) is an SRE Lead with 15 years of experience in Infrastructure, Cloud, and Observability. He has led large-scale projects in banking and telecom, working extensively with AWS, Terraform, ELK, and Dynatrace to build reli... Show more

Hernan Huwyler is a Global Risk Management Executive and the Academic Director at IE Law and Business School (Executive Education). With a dual background as an MBA and CPA, Hernan specializes in the intersection of Law, Technology, and Quantitative Risk.

He focuses on "translating" complex regulatory frameworks (EU AI Act, GDPR, ISO 42001) into actionable architectures for engineering and business teams. Unlike traditional compliance officers, Hernan advocates for data-driven risk management, moving beyond "heatmaps" to utilize Monte Carlo simulations, convolution models, and Python-based risk quantification.

Hernan has led Risk, Control, and Audit functions for major multinational corporations across Europe and the Americas. He writes and speaks extensively on Adversarial AI, Algorithmic Auditing, and the financial quantification of Cyber Risk. Past keynote venues include Risk Awareness Conferences (>2,000 risk managers), IIA and ISACA Summits, ProcureCom Europe, IKN Madrid, IE University, and closed-door sessions for international organizations and national regulators. Hernan’s talks consistently rank in the top 5% of conference feedback scores because he makes complex security requirements, business needs and regulations feel like a competitive advantage.

Speaking Topics:

AI Governance: Implementing ISO 42001 and navigating the EU AI Act.
Risk Quantification: Why "Impact x Probability" fails and how to use convolution models.
Adversarial AI: Balancing transparency with security to prevent data poisoning.
AI ROI: Risk-adjusted financial modeling for Generative AI deployments.

Ready-to-Submit Talk Proposals:

Session 1: The Technical/Quant Talk

Title: Kill the Heatmap: Quantifying AI Risk with Python & Monte Carlo Simulations
Abstract: Most organizations manage AI risk using colorful 5x5 "heatmaps." This is mathematically flawed and dangerous for high-stakes AI deployment. In this talk, we will ditch the gut-check methodology. I will demonstrate how to use convolution and Monte Carlo simulations to model the "tail risk" of AI hallucinations and regulatory fines. You will leave with a method to calculate the actual financial exposure of your models—no expensive GRC software required, just math and logic.

Session 2: The Governance/Security Talk

Title: The Transparency Trap: How to Audit AI Without Creating Vulnerabilities
Abstract: New standards like ISO/IEC 12792 demand AI transparency, but in the age of Adversarial Machine Learning, "oversharing" is a security vector. If you reveal your full architecture and training sources, you invite data poisoning and model inversion attacks. This session outlines a "Tiered Disclosure Architecture." We will discuss how to route specific data to auditors, regulators, and users differently, ensuring compliance with the EU AI Act without handing the keys to bad actors.

Session 3: The Business/Strategy Talk

Title: The Real Cost of Intelligence: A Risk-Adjusted Framework for AI ROI
Abstract: Companies are deploying Generative AI based on productivity hype, but they are ignoring the "OpEx Iceberg"—model drift, inference costs, and liability reserves. This talk presents a financial framework for calculating the true ROI of AI. We will cover how to factor in the "Risk Delta" (new risks vs. automated risks), calculate the Levelized Cost of AI (LCOAI), and determine when to build vs. buy based on process uniqueness. A session for leaders who need to justify the cloud bill to the CFO.

Hernan Huwyler is a Global Risk Management Executive and the Academic Director at IE Law and Business School (Executive Education). With a dual background as an MBA and CPA, Hernan specializes in the intersection of Law, Technology, and Quantitative ... Show more

Fauwaz is the Sr. Director of B2B Strategy with 15 years of experience in electronic payment technology, specializing in ERP integration, payment security, and sales. He has a strong background in leading software sales teams at Nodus and EVO Payments, contributing significantly to strategic acquisitions. With expertise in various ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics, Acumatica, Sage, and SAP, Fauwaz excels in driving partner success and customer satisfaction in the payment industry.

Fauwaz is the Sr. Director of B2B Strategy with 15 years of experience in electronic payment technology, specializing in ERP integration, payment security, and sales. He has a strong background in leading software sales teams at Nodus and EVO Payment... Show more

Dave Coles brings more than 20 years of hands-on experience in IT, security, and managed services, working everywhere from small nonprofits to heavily regulated financial firms. As the Managing Partner in charge of Technical Services at Castle Rock Sky and creator of Zero Trust for Humans™, he focuses on the real front line of modern security: the people who move money, approve changes, and answer “just one quick question” in the middle of a busy day.

His work sits at the intersection of identity, fraud, and human behavior. Dave helps organizations—especially RIAs, financial services firms, and MSPs—design verification workflows that assume every request is fake until it proves itself real, without turning staff into robots or killing productivity. He takes concepts like Zero Trust, SEC/HIPAA/industry compliance, and wire-fraud risk and translates them into clear language, simple rules, and repeatable processes that real people can follow.

Dave also cares deeply about the humans doing the work. Through talks like Zen and the Art of IT Support, he addresses burnout, emotional load, and how support and security teams can stay grounded while living in always-on, high-stakes environments. His sessions are candid, practical, and built from real incidents and real tickets—not theory.

Whether he’s speaking to financial executives, compliance teams, or front-line MSP techs, Dave’s goal is the same: help humans stay human while making it brutally hard for attackers to win.

Dave Coles brings more than 20 years of hands-on experience in IT, security, and managed services, working everywhere from small nonprofits to heavily regulated financial firms. As the Managing Partner in charge of Technical Services at Castle Rock S... Show more

I'm Stuart Blackler, a Principal Engineer with over 15 years of professional experience building software systems at scale. I create content under the CodeWithStu brand, sharing practical knowledge about .NET, AWS, DevOps, and cloud architecture.

My career has spanned fintech, Web3, and enterprise software:
- CTO at Illuvium (2024-2025): Led engineering for a Web3 gaming platform
- Principal Engineer at Checkout.com (2019-2022): Scaled payment infrastructure serving global merchants
- Lead Architect at ClearBank (2017-2018): Architected core banking systems for the UK's first clearing bank in 250 years
- Various Senior Engineering roles (2009-2017): Including positions at Loupe and GfK

I'm Stuart Blackler, a Principal Engineer with over 15 years of professional experience building software systems at scale. I create content under the CodeWithStu brand, sharing practical knowledge about .NET, AWS, DevOps, and cloud architecture. ... Show more

With her CPA firm The Dancing Accountant, Nancy has been on a lifelong mission to support small businesses and their communities – as well as educate the professionals who serve them. Known for her fun, personal and direct style, it’s no surprise she insists that the future of accounting is built on relationships.

She also runs the 'Ask a CPA' community: a non-judgmental, safe space for bookkeepers who want to learn more about preparing tax-ready books, collaborating with CPAs, booking complex accounting transactions, and breaking into advisory services.

Named one of the Top 10 ProAdvisors by Insightful Accountant, as well as one of Ignition’s Top 50 Women in Accounting, she writes an award-winning blog with insights and resources for business-owners and accounting professionals, and is an engaging speaker… and 60’s go-go dancer!

With her CPA firm The Dancing Accountant, Nancy has been on a lifelong mission to support small businesses and their communities – as well as educate the professionals who serve them. Known for her fun, personal and direct style, it’s no surprise she... Show more

Gregory Thoke is an entrepreneur based in Fort Collins, Colorado, with over a decade of professional experience in finance, strategy, and business development. He applies a disciplined, data-driven approach to building and scaling ventures, focusing on long-term growth, operational efficiency, and calculated risk management.

After beginning his career in financial services, Gregory transitioned into entrepreneurship, where he leverages his financial expertise to evaluate opportunities, manage cash flow, and execute sustainable growth strategies. His background provides a structured foundation for decision-making while allowing flexibility to innovate and adapt in competitive markets.

He earned his degree in Finance from the University of Northern Colorado’s Monfort College of Business in 2012. He is currently pursuing his MBA at Colorado State University, further strengthening his expertise in leadership, operations, and strategic management.
Outside of business and academics, Gregory enjoys skiing, hiking Colorado’s mountains, volunteering, and spending time with his family — embracing the same resilience, preparation, and long-term mindset that guide his professional work.

Gregory Thoke is an entrepreneur based in Fort Collins, Colorado, with over a decade of professional experience in finance, strategy, and business development. He applies a disciplined, data-driven approach to building and scaling ventures, focusing ... Show more