I’m a Staff Engineer and Computer Engineer with 12 years of full experience in the IT industry, with passion for learning cutting-edge technologies.

I’ve participated in more than 15 projects in cross-functional teams between 6 and 12 people, with clients like Paypal, Ancestry, Salesforce, Mercedes Benz, Bancolombia, just to name a few, so I feel comfortable being involved in industries like Software, Health, Finance, Energy. etc.

In my latest projects I met Elixir and I just fell in love with this functional programming language, and how complex problems can be solved in a fancy way, tackling situations like high availability, concurrency and distributed systems.

I was one the speakers at ElixirConf 2024 in Orlando, at Code BEAM America 2025 in SF, and ExMex 2025 in Austin!!

I really enjoy being able to support and encourage the growth of the Elixir community!

I’m a Staff Engineer and Computer Engineer with 12 years of full experience in the IT industry, with passion for learning cutting-edge technologies. I’ve participated in more than 15 projects in cross-functional teams between 6 and 12 people, with... Show more

I'm David, 29 years old, and I've been working for almost four years almost exclusively with the Microsoft Power Platform and now also with Copilot. During this time, I've had the chance to work on projects and AI transformations for a wide range of industries, from entertainment and energy to the public sector and banking. My focus is on implementing modern low-code solutions in companies in a secure, scalable, and practical way.

I'm David, 29 years old, and I've been working for almost four years almost exclusively with the Microsoft Power Platform and now also with Copilot. During this time, I've had the chance to work on projects and AI transformations for a wide range of ... Show more

Priya Namasivayam is a Staff Platform Engineer at EarnIn, where she builds and operates cloud-native platform infrastructure at scale. She specializes in Kubernetes, service meshes, and GitOps-driven delivery, and led EarnIn's migration from AWS App Mesh to Linkerd—improving security, reliability, and developer experience.

She focuses on treating platform infrastructure like application code: modeling infrastructure tests as Kubernetes resources and gating Flux-driven changes with in-cluster validation using Testkube. Priya is passionate about simplifying complex systems and sharing practical patterns teams can adopt in production.

Priya Namasivayam is a Staff Platform Engineer at EarnIn, where she builds and operates cloud-native platform infrastructure at scale. She specializes in Kubernetes, service meshes, and GitOps-driven delivery, and led EarnIn's migration from AWS App ... Show more

When you do things right, no one can be sure you did anything at all (Futurama Season 3)

I specialize in the software no one sees. The high performance, concurrent, real-time, high-reliability systems that enable our way of life. I love software, especially the kind no one notices.

My software fights fraud, and drives tractors. I've baked solar cells, made escalators more efficient, optimized fantasy sports and my software helps airplanes land safely.

I've improved data center efficiency, and implemented risk-management microservices for high-performance payment systems behind Zelle.

When you do things right, no one can be sure you did anything at all (Futurama Season 3) I specialize in the software no one sees. The high performance, concurrent, real-time, high-reliability systems that enable our way of life. I love software,... Show more

"Ram Brij is a Senior Engineering Manager with over 17 years of experience leading the design and delivery of secure, scalable, cloud-native systems within the financial services industry. He specializes in distributed systems, microservices architecture, payments infrastructure, fraud prevention platforms, and compliance-driven enterprise solutions.

Throughout his career, Ram has spearheaded the development and modernization of mission-critical platforms including credit card authorization systems, fraud detection services, secure API ecosystems, and high-throughput transaction processing infrastructures. His work also includes building EMVCo-certified Access Control Server (ACS) platforms for 3-D Secure authentication used in modern digital payment ecosystems.

Ram has extensive experience implementing modern engineering practices such as cloud-native development, CI/CD automation, continuous testing, observability-driven quality engineering, and platform engineering. He is particularly passionate about improving developer productivity, engineering reliability, and software delivery confidence through strong DevOps and quality engineering practices.

Recently, Ram spoke at STAR EAST 2026 and at Capital One’s internal engineering conference, where he shared insights on modern quality engineering, continuous delivery strategies, and the evolving role of AI in software testing.

Currently, Ram is actively focused on advancing Agentic AI contributions within quality engineering ecosystems — exploring how autonomous test agents can be designed, orchestrated, and integrated into CI/CD pipelines to improve testing intelligence, deployment confidence, and engineering productivity in modern software delivery environments.

He is also the inventor of a fluent-style log redaction wrapper currently under patent review, designed to strengthen secure logging practices without compromising developer ergonomics. In parallel, he is exploring a second patent focused on Integration Testing-as-a-Service (ITaaS) — a platform-driven approach for validating multi-service interactions across complex distributed architectures.

Ram is an active Senior Member of IEEE and a contributor to the broader technology community, volunteering as a reviewer for IEEE conferences and technical publications. His talks are known for blending deep technical insights with practical real-world implementation lessons, making him a compelling speaker for engineering, developer, quality engineering, DevOps, and architect audiences alike."

"Ram Brij is a Senior Engineering Manager with over 17 years of experience leading the design and delivery of secure, scalable, cloud-native systems within the financial services industry. He specializes in distributed systems, microservices architec... Show more

Tech Lead and Software Architect with over 18 years of experience in Java and distributed systems, mostly in fintech and payments. For the last 5 years I've worked on international teams, modernizing systems, leading and applying AI engineering. I speak about career, AI and software development at tech conferences and communities, and I write at blog.fhgomes.com.

Besides working on the front line, I help developers who are growing their careers turn technical skill into strategic influence. My mission is to develop leaders who stop being "firefighters" and become decision partners respected by leadership, earning global recognition and quality of life.

Outside of code, I'm a motorcyclist, world traveler and One Piece fan.

Tech Lead and Software Architect with over 18 years of experience in Java and distributed systems, mostly in fintech and payments. For the last 5 years I've worked on international teams, modernizing systems, leading and applying AI engineering. I sp... Show more

Owners of founder-led and family-owned businesses who are preparing to buy or sell can work with Andrew Fred Russ, CPA, on quality of earnings and financial diligence. As a Partner at Ellacap, Russ leads that work. He brings to it a 25-year corporate career at a $50B+ consumer-facing company, where he advanced from hourly store operations, a job he held while still in school, to Vice President of Planning & Analysis. Most people call him Andy. He is based in Texas and works as a finance executive and business advisor.

Ellacap serves founder-led and family-owned companies valued at up to $100 million in enterprise value, offering advisory, accounting, and investing services. The firm handles buy-side and sell-side advisory, cleans up accounting, provides fractional CFO support,t and performs quality of earnings (QoE) reviews. Within Ellacap, Andy Fred Russ heads the quality of earnings and financial diligence work, guiding owners through the purchase or sale of a company. He brings more than twenty years of experience planning, forecasting, and analyzing results in a large, complex organization.

He also runs Russ CPA, a Texas CPA firm he owns and leads as Principal. Through that firm, Andrew Fred Russ offers quality-of-earnings and transaction diligence services directly to clients. He concentrates on preparing businesses for a sale, producing clean books and credible numbers able to withstand diligence, supporting companies as a fractional CFO, and item-level profitability, meaning a clear understanding of which products actually earn money.

Russ started in front-line store operations roles, working through high school and college between 1996 and 2002. While in school, he added a 2001 internship in Assurance, IT and Risk Consulting at Deloitte. After graduating, he shifted to finance and took on progressively larger analyst and finance manager roles across several business divisions between 2002 and 2008.

Between 2008 and 2015, he held Director and Senior Director positions in Planning & Analysis for Store Operations. Andy Fred Russ directed finance and strategy for a major expansion into a new market, and over time his portfolio expanded to include financial infrastructure, annual planning, reporting, and multi-year roadmaps for operating divisions throughout Texas.

In his next chapter, from 2016 through 2023, he served in Senior Director and Managing Director roles as Head of Merchant Planning & Analytics. In those roles, Russ served as the merchandising organization's senior financial and analytical partner, and the senior executive committee regularly relied on his advice on financial performance, trends, and strategic planning.

Andrew Fred Russ became Vice President of Planning & Analysis in 2024 and served in the position through 2026. He oversaw more than 100 professionals working across finance, analytics, data science, and pricing. The company's enterprise planning process, covering the annual plan, five-year plan, and weekly forecast for both U.S. and international operations, ran under his leadership at an organization with 60 officers and more than 400 locations.

Several of Russ's contributions at the company involved starting from nothing. He built two company-wide teams from the ground up, one dedicated to cost of goods and the other to decision science and data. Each became a lasting part of the company's operations.

He also created the company's first item-level merchant profit and loss statement (P&L). It gave buyers and store leaders a single, consistent view of performance, and it moved 100 buyers and 400 store leaders away from offline spreadsheets.

When one division needed a turnaround, Andy Fred Russ served as its principal strategist, and the business moved from losses to strong profitability. In a separate effort, he produced the analytics supporting five company-wide price investments over two years, each paid for through cost savings.

Russ considers developing people central to leading. A department-wide leadership development program he built and led yielded five director promotions, one senior director promotion, and seven manager promotions within two years, and team retention improved over the same period.

He sums up his leadership in three ideas. First, developing people and building teams. The second is bringing order to chaos. The third is democratizing intelligence, his term for delivering the right insight to decision makers at the moment it matters most.

Andrew Fred Russ completed an MBA in Finance and Economics at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. At Texas State University, he earned two degrees with Honors, a BBA in Accounting and a BBA in Computer Information Systems, and was honored with the LBJ Outstanding Senior Award. He earned his Texas CPA license in 2003.

Boards at nonprofits and universities have been part of his life throughout his career. For 20 years, Russ sat on the advisory board of the Texas State University McCoy College of Business, chairing it from 2021 to 2025. An Eagle Scout, Andy Fred Russ chaired the Audit Committee of the Boy Scouts of America, Alamo Area Council, from 2018 to 2022, work closely tied to his scouting background. He has been a Trustee of the San Antonio Botanical Garden and a member of its Finance & Executive Committee since 2022.

He also volunteers at his local church. His support has extended to Oak Hills Church in San Antonio and to First Baptist Church and MDPC Church in Houston.

Andrew Fred Russ grew up in Austin and lives in Alamo Heights, Texas. Husband, son, and girl dad, he is also a dog dad to Dutch, his English Cream Golden Retriever.

When he is not working, Russ tends to burn out, hit the mountains, ski, or map out his next trip. He has run 14 marathons, including New York, Marine Corps, Houston, and Seattle. He has also finished Disney's Goofy Challenge, a half marathon followed by a full marathon the next day. Several of Colorado's 14ers are behind him, though Half Dome in Yosemite remains the hike he remembers most. Skiing, cycling, and regular CrossFit round out his routine.

His travels have taken him to Oktoberfest in Munich and onto the slopes of the Swiss and French Alps, and his summers include time with family in Chicago. Andy Fred Russ is a lifelong learner who plans each race, climb, and trip with the curiosity he applies to his advisory work.

Owners of founder-led and family-owned businesses who are preparing to buy or sell can work with Andrew Fred Russ, CPA, on quality of earnings and financial diligence. As a Partner at Ellacap, Russ leads that work. He brings to it a 25-year corporate... Show more

Marco Kelderman is een ervaren Enterprise Architect bij AZL, met meer dan 25 jaar ervaring in de financiële sector. Hij behaalde een Master Degree in Enterprise IT Architecture aan de Antwerp Management School. Gedurende zijn carrière heeft Marco verschillende grote bedrijfstransformaties ontworpen

Marco Kelderman is een ervaren Enterprise Architect bij AZL, met meer dan 25 jaar ervaring in de financiële sector. Hij behaalde een Master Degree in Enterprise IT Architecture aan de Antwerp Management School. Gedurende zijn carrière heeft Marco ve... Show more

Milan Cheeks is the founder and CEO of SELF Labs Inc., a technology company developing AI-powered products and infrastructure designed to improve how people live, work, create, and interact with technology.

He is leading the development of SELF OS, an AI-native operating environment designed to bring intelligent agents, decentralized applications, digital identity, and user-controlled computing into a unified ecosystem. He is also developing ESSENCE, a blockchain-based utility and economic layer intended to reward verified participation and contributions within the SELF network.

Through SELF Labs, Milan works across artificial intelligence, decentralized infrastructure, robotics, real estate technology, digital economies, and next-generation human-computer interaction.

His broader mission is to build technology that gives individuals greater ownership of their data, intelligence, devices, and economic value—helping move society from centralized digital platforms toward more personalized and user-owned technological systems.

Milan Cheeks is the founder and CEO of SELF Labs Inc., a technology company developing AI-powered products and infrastructure designed to improve how people live, work, create, and interact with technology. He is leading the development of SELF OS... Show more

Over the course of his career, Craig Bonn has dedicated more than thirty years to developing strategies that help investors participate in opportunities outside of traditional markets. He focuses on alternative investments, private equity, and pre-IPO companies. Today, he is the Managing Partner of Harley Capital LLC, an independent broker-dealer, and the Managing Member of Edge Partners LLC, which organizes Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) for accredited investors seeking access to late-stage private companies. His professional record includes exposure to various industries—technology, healthcare, energy, and consumer markets—and early involvement in companies such as Facebook, Databricks, and Anthropic.

Craig’s path began in New York, where he was born and raised, before pursuing his undergraduate education at the University of Hartford. Soon after completing his degree, he joined Lehman Brothers. Working at the firm placed him amid global financial activity, where he learned to evaluate risk, manage portfolios, and advise clients across diverse situations. While the environment was demanding and competitive, it also revealed to him the limitations of conventional financial instruments. He observed that not every client’s long-term goals could be met through traditional markets alone, which inspired him to look more closely at alternatives.

Guided by this insight, Craig established Harley Capital LLC. He aimed to create an independent, transparent, and long-term client service firm. Harley Capital grew into a boutique investment company, serving high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and trusts. Clients of Harley Capital benefit from carefully selected opportunities in areas such as private equity and pre-IPO investments, which are often beyond the reach of conventional investors. The firm emphasizes diversification, clear communication, and fiduciary responsibility as central to its mission.

Craig further extended his professional focus through Edge Partners LLC. At Edge Partners, he applies the SPV model to give accredited investors structured participation in pre-IPO and late-stage venture opportunities. Organized under a Delaware Series LLC, the firm is efficient and flexible while maintaining thorough due diligence. Edge Partners has prioritized investments in fields such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, robotics, and software, which are industries positioned for long-term growth. He oversees acquiring securities in private companies and holding them until liquidity events such as acquisitions or public offerings occur.

His approach to investing emphasizes three pillars: disciplined risk management, appropriate timing, and a long-term vision. Craig believes that successful outcomes require choosing companies with potential and structuring the investments to safeguard participants. His preference for SPVs reflects this philosophy, providing both access to growth and a framework that manages risk.

Beyond pre-IPO markets, Craig has been active in natural gas mineral funds, venture partnerships, hospitality REITs, and specialized financing. His involvement includes WhiteHawk Energy and investments in Outstanding Foods, Braemar Hotels and Resorts, Prospect Capital, and Urica Therapeutics. Each reflects his practice of assessing industries, market conditions, and company fundamentals before committing capital.

Craig has remained committed to philanthropy and community involvement outside his professional roles. He supports organizations such as Pink Aid and Fred’s Team, which fund cancer research and health initiatives. His contributions include both financial support and participation in awareness-building events.

Craig has lived with his wife in Westport, Connecticut, for over 25 years. He is a runner who has completed five marathons, including the New York Marathon. He also enjoys traveling and gaining perspective by engaging with different cultures and economies.

Balancing his career achievements with philanthropy and personal pursuits, Craig Bonn continues to follow a path that reflects dedication, long-term vision, and community engagement.

Over the course of his career, Craig Bonn has dedicated more than thirty years to developing strategies that help investors participate in opportunities outside of traditional markets. He focuses on alternative investments, private equity, and pre-IP... 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

Jitendra Rout is a Principal Enterprise AI Engineer, AI Researcher & Author, and IEEE Computer Society member with 18+ years of experience in AI, FinTech, and Application Security. He serves on the ACM SIGCSE TS 2027 SRC Program Committee and is a technical reviewer for ACM FAccT 2027, YLAI, BPB Publications, and Orange AVA. He is also a MobileWebAwards & DECA judge, Hack Red Conference 2026 speaker, and GEN member. His research and Trustworthy Enterprise AI newsletter focus on secure, reliable, and responsible AI.

Jitendra Rout is a Principal Enterprise AI Engineer, AI Researcher & Author, and IEEE Computer Society member with 18+ years of experience in AI, FinTech, and Application Security. He serves on the ACM SIGCSE TS 2027 SRC Program Committee and is a te... Show more

With nearly a decade of experience across sectors such as e-commerce, healthcare, gaming, open-source, and cybersecurity, within both large enterprises and agile startups, Shivam brings a creative, solutions-driven approach to complex challenges. Committed to community engagement, he actively mentors early-career cybersecurity professionals, judges prestigious tech awards, peer-reviews academic research, and contributes to tech-for-good initiatives with nonprofit organizations. He currently leads cloud security efforts at JPMorganChase, driving robust solutions to support the firm’s ongoing growth.

With nearly a decade of experience across sectors such as e-commerce, healthcare, gaming, open-source, and cybersecurity, within both large enterprises and agile startups, Shivam brings a creative, solutions-driven approach to complex challenges. Com... Show more

Adriana Kugler is an American economist and a Full Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy and Economics at Georgetown University. During her more than 15 years at the university, she has served in several leadership roles, including Vice Provost for Faculty from 2013 to 2016. In that position, she worked to improve the Promotion and Tenure process, expanded faculty development through an NSF grant supporting women in STEM, redesigned new faculty orientation, and helped establish a new framework for non-tenure-track faculty.

Dr. Kugler served as Governor of the Federal Reserve Board from September 2023 to August 2025 after being nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate. During that time, she participated in several Board committees, served as a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, and represented the Board at the Center for Latin American Monetary Studies. She also delivered speeches on inflation, monetary policy, employment, expectations, and housing while visiting 10 of the 12 Federal Reserve districts and meeting with communities across the country.

From 2022 to 2023, Dr. Kugler served as the U.S. Executive Director of the World Bank. In that role, she supported efforts to strengthen multilateral development institutions with a focus on climate change, pandemics, conflict, food security, education recovery, and opportunities for women and underrepresented groups. Her contributions were recognized with the Chase Award from the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Earlier in her career, Dr. Kugler co-founded and served as Co-Director of the International Summer Institute on Policy Evaluation from 2010 to 2013. She also served as Chief Economist at the U.S. Department of Labor from 2011 to 2013. Before joining Georgetown University, she held faculty positions at the University of Houston and the University of Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, where her research focused on labor markets, policy evaluation, payroll taxes, employment protections, occupational licensing, unemployment, and immigration.

Adriana Kugler has been recognized by Barron's as one of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance in 2024 and 2025 and was named among Bloomberg Linea's top 500 most influential people in Latin America in 2023. She has remained committed to mentoring students, graduate researchers, and junior faculty while publishing research in leading journals, contributing to major policy discussions, testifying before Congress, and speaking at academic and policy events worldwide. She earned her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley in 1997 after completing a Joint BA in Economics and Political Science with First Class Honors from McGill University in Canada in 1991. She continues to contribute to research, education, public policy, and mentorship through her academic and professional work.

Adriana Kugler is an American economist and a Full Professor at the McCourt School of Public Policy and Economics at Georgetown University. During her more than 15 years at the university, she has served in several leadership roles, including Vice Pr... Show more

I am an Engineering Manager with 14+ years of experience in the mobile ecosystem, spanning Fintech, Banking, and Medtech. My journey from Staff Engineer to EM II at Housecall Pro is driven by a simple belief: high-quality code is only as valuable as the impact it has on the user and the business.

How I Drive Results:

🚀 Mobile-First Strategy: I help organizations transition from treating mobile as an afterthought to making it their primary growth engine. I build scalable architectures that are technically sound and business-aligned.

🤝 Extreme Ownership: I lead with a mix of high standards and deep empathy. My role is to clear the path, foster a culture of accountability, and help engineers master their craft.

📈 Product & Tech Alignment: I bridge the gap between business vision and engineering execution, translating complex technical needs into roadmaps that stakeholders understand and champion.

My Strengths in Action:
As a Learner and Achiever, I am constantly evolving my leadership style to stay ahead of the mobile curve. My Analytical nature ensures decisions are data-driven, while Focus and Significance ensure we aren’t just building features—we��re building legacy.

I am an Engineering Manager with 14+ years of experience in the mobile ecosystem, spanning Fintech, Banking, and Medtech. My journey from Staff Engineer to EM II at Housecall Pro is driven by a simple belief: high-quality code is only as valuable as ... Show more

Software engineer with experience in leading teams on the development of systems for psychometrics and finance. Ricardo is passionate about development and how developers can achieve their expertise and excellence of their skills set.

Software engineer with experience in leading teams on the development of systems for psychometrics and finance. Ricardo is passionate about development and how developers can achieve their expertise and excellence of their skills set. Show more

Antonio has +20 years experience developing software solutions across 3 different continents. He has worked for organizations like Wise or the European Commission.
He started his career as a software engineer and held IC positions for almost 10 years before jumping into the leadership path.
For the last 10 years he has had multiple positions (from engineering manager to VP of Engineering or currently CPTO) in different companies and industries but the last 7 years he has focused on the fintech industry leading teams and solving problems in domains like cross currency transfers, trade financing or open banking.

Antonio has +20 years experience developing software solutions across 3 different continents. He has worked for organizations like Wise or the European Commission. He started his career as a software engineer and held IC positions for almost 10 year... Show more

Aivars Kalvāns is a FinTech developer and spent more than 18 years developing and architecting payment card software for acquiring and issuing, as well as for accounting and utility payments, through mobile phones, ATMs, and POS terminals. At the moment, he is a contractor exploring Foreign Exchange, SWIFT, SEPA, ledgers, and other areas of the FinTech landscape.
The rest of the time is spent smashing with BJJ team Jelgava and participating as a Linux team member for Latvia in Locked Shields.

Aivars Kalvāns is a FinTech developer and spent more than 18 years developing and architecting payment card software for acquiring and issuing, as well as for accounting and utility payments, through mobile phones, ATMs, and POS terminals. At the mom... Show more

Ghassan Barakat has demonstrated a rare ability to move between sectors such as finance, law, technology, and philanthropy, applying strategy while keeping community needs at the forefront. Whether launching startups, growing multi-million-dollar platforms, or supporting charitable initiatives, he has always emphasized systems that strengthen people's lives and leave a lasting legacy.

In 2022, Jason founded Nolos Cabinet Multidisciplinaire Inc., serving as Founder & CEO. Nolos was created to integrate FinTech, InsurTech, and LegalTech under a single platform. This venture aims to democratize financial and legal services, particularly for middle-class families. The company combines a Quebec-based legal firm, a notarial study, and a national financial MGA distributing solutions from Canada's leading institutions. With his leadership, Nolos has expanded through acquisitions and new partnerships. Among these was the acquisition of Skylegal in 2022, followed by creating a charitable foundation in 2023 to help families access justice and financial protection during estate and legacy planning. More recently, Jason acquired a technology firm that builds software for public and private organizations, further enhancing the B2B reach of the Nolos platform.

Before establishing Nolos, Ghassan gained experience as a Strategic Senior Consultant, working with Chubb Insurance and other major industry players. From 2003 to 2021, he was President and Principal Officer with AMF of La Capitale Services Conseils, where he grew assets under management from $300 million to over $3 billion, serving public sector employees with specialized solutions. In 2017, he became President of La Capitale Financial Security, where he expanded national operations for disability and personal finance services, redesigned compensation structures, and created an inclusive and high-performance culture. He also served as President of SSQ Financial Group Distribution, where he modernized retirement planning, oversaw post-merger alignment, and improved client experience and compliance.

Philanthropy has been a central part of Jason Barakat's life for over two decades. He has supported the Guignolet de Saint-Vincent de Paul tradition and contributed to various charitable efforts connected to public institutions and retirement planning. In 2021, he partnered with Peartree Canada to advance philanthropic planning for organizations and families. He later launched the Nolos Foundation, which is dedicated to expanding access to Justice & Family Legacy Planning. Jason is also a volunteer leader for nonprofit boards and interfaith humanitarian initiatives.

Jason studied at Concordia University, John Molson School of Business, focusing on finance, business law, and theology. He has also completed studies in securities, investments, estate planning, insurance, venture capital, and strategic philanthropy, earning certifications in these areas.

Outside of his professional accomplishments, Ghassan Barakat is a devoted husband and father of two. His family provides daily motivation and guides his values of love, faith, and responsibility, shaping his personal and professional life. With empathy, service, and humility, he remains committed to leaving a legacy for his children, his community, and future generations.

Ghassan Barakat has demonstrated a rare ability to move between sectors such as finance, law, technology, and philanthropy, applying strategy while keeping community needs at the forefront. Whether launching startups, growing multi-million-dollar pla... Show more

Vishwak Thatikonda is a Lead Full-Stack Developer at SDH Systems specializing in high-resilience, mission-critical systems. Known for building complex platforms from the ground up, his work ranges from contributing to ground-segment software for the Mastcam-Z instrument on NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance rover to architecting the master data platform for a Fortune 500 global retail enterprise with tens of thousands of locations, a foundational layer for its next-generation point-of-sale system.

A technical pioneer in both the startup and enterprise worlds, Vishwak was the founding full-stack engineer at AirWorks, an MIT-born GeoAI company, where he built the platform from zero through its $7.9M Series A. He has led industry-first credit and banking initiatives serving 18 million users and directed blockchain-logistics pilots for UPS. Vishwak bridges the gap between deep-tech research and large-scale production reality. His latest open-source project, LambdaForge, is a serverless algorithmic trading engine built on AWS Lambda and EventBridge that empowers engineers to run professional-grade financial automation with near-zero operational overhead.

Vishwak Thatikonda is a Lead Full-Stack Developer at SDH Systems specializing in high-resilience, mission-critical systems. Known for building complex platforms from the ground up, his work ranges from contributing to ground-segment software for the ... Show more

I am Principal Architect at Intuit leading the security architecture and engineering for the Small Business Group, which includes the QuickBooks product line and Small Business APIs that accounts for nearly 2M transactions per day and is used by an ecosystem of 500000 external developers

I am Principal Architect at Intuit leading the security architecture and engineering for the Small Business Group, which includes the QuickBooks product line and Small Business APIs that accounts for nearly 2M transactions per day and is used by an ... Show more

Anastasia Krivenkovskaya is CTO of AKVANT Technologies, an independent applied-AI practice based in Prague. Since 2019 she has designed and delivered data and AI systems end to end for companies across the EU, from the data model and backend to the AI layer and the screens people work in, in industries from private capital to construction and manufacturing.

Her current work is AI agents for finance and operations: systems that read documents, propose accounting entries and check the books against the bank, with a person confirming every step, and control panels that give owners of mid-sized companies one honest view of their business. She is particularly interested in what it takes to move an AI system from an impressive demo to something a finance team is willing to rely on every day.

She speaks English, Czech, French, Spanish and Russian.

Anastasia Krivenkovskaya is CTO of AKVANT Technologies, an independent applied-AI practice based in Prague. Since 2019 she has designed and delivered data and AI systems end to end for companies across the EU, from the data model and backend to the A... Show more

Brad is an experienced speaker with a strong track record of presenting to regional and national audiences ranging from 25 to more than 250 attendees. His portfolio includes more than 20 professional presentations at leading industry events, including:

National conferences: Brad has delivered multiple sessions at Kscope, ODTUG’s annual national user conference, Oracle Collaborate, now Blueprint, and Oracle OpenWorld, now Oracle AI World.

User group advocacy: Brad has led dozens of sessions for regional user groups, focusing on technical implementation roadmaps and the evolution of financial systems.

Industry expertise: Brad brings extensive experience and delivers sessions with a professional, engaging, and highly technical perspective that resonates with Oracle NetSuite’s national audience.

Brad can be found on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradkwiatek/

Brad is an experienced speaker with a strong track record of presenting to regional and national audiences ranging from 25 to more than 250 attendees. His portfolio includes more than 20 professional presentations at leading industry events, includin... Show more

Oliver Voss führt Organisationen durch Veränderung – als Geschäftsführer, COO und Interim Manager in Banken, Versicherungen und regulierten Finanzdienstleistern.

Seine Stationen reichen von der Capgemini Managementberatung, Atradius Kreditversicherung über Strategie- und Transformationsverantwortung bei Barclays bis zur Rolle als Executive Director Data & Insights bei CRIF Bürgel, wo er parallel als Geschäftsführer die Tochtergesellschaft EURO-PRO führte.

Als Director Operations und Mitglied der Geschäftsleitung von Auto Fleet Control verantwortete er das operative Tagegeschäft des Unternehmens.

Zuletzt leitete er interimistisch 1,5 Jahre die IT eines Instituts der Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, einschließlich DORA-Umsetzung und IT-Outsourcing.

Seine Erfahrung: Transformation scheitert selten an Technologie oder Methode, sondern an Führung. In seinen Vorträgen teilt er, was er über Klarheit, Verantwortung und Umsetzungsstärke gelernt hat – aus Erfolgen ebenso wie aus Rückschlägen.

Oliver Voss führt Organisationen durch Veränderung – als Geschäftsführer, COO und Interim Manager in Banken, Versicherungen und regulierten Finanzdienstleistern. Seine Stationen reichen von der Capgemini Managementberatung, Atradius Kreditversiche... Show more

Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, based in Chicago, with deep expertise in cloud architecture, data and analytics, containers, and application modernization. He partners with financial service industry customers to translate business goals into secure, scalable, and compliant cloud solutions that deliver measurable value. Venu is passionate about using technology to drive innovation and operational excellence.

Senior Solutions Architect at AWS, based in Chicago, with deep expertise in cloud architecture, data and analytics, containers, and application modernization. He partners with financial service industry customers to translate business goals into secu... Show more

Lazetta Rainey Braxton, MBA, CFP® is a high-impact, solution-oriented founder with a proven track record of building successful entrepreneurial ventures, driving innovation, and navigating the complexity of cultural competency in the financial services industry.

As Founder and Principal of The Real Wealth Coterie, a financial planning and wealth management firm, and Lazetta & Associates, a speaking and business consulting firm, Lazetta equips individuals and leaders to align their finances with their vision and values and achieve sustainable wealth. She is passionate about amplifying culture, talent, life, and money, and extends her expertise through public speaking, writing, consulting, and coaching.

Lazetta was named one of Crain's New York Business Notable Black Leaders and Executives and one of the top 10 of Investopedia’s 100 Top Financial Advisors for three consecutive years. Lazetta's national media presence includes TV appearances on NBC, CNBC, and CheddarNews and mentions in the WSJ, NY Times, LA Times, and Black Enterprise.

Lazetta Rainey Braxton, MBA, CFP® is a high-impact, solution-oriented founder with a proven track record of building successful entrepreneurial ventures, driving innovation, and navigating the complexity of cultural competency in the financial servic... Show more

David Handlos is a software engineer, technologist, educator, and conference speaker with over two decades of experience building enterprise software, automation frameworks, and integration solutions within the financial services industry. He specializes in applying AI, software engineering, and automation to solve complex business and technical challenges.

In addition to his industry work, David serves as an adjunct instructor at Southern New Hampshire University, where he teaches software engineering, software testing, and automation. He also works as an independent genealogist, using technology, historical records, and AI-assisted research to solve complex family history problems, locate ancestral records, and document lineage for citizenship-by-descent and other genealogy projects.

David enjoys speaking about AI, automation, software engineering, and the creative ways technology can be applied to solve problems beyond traditional software development.

David Handlos is a software engineer, technologist, educator, and conference speaker with over two decades of experience building enterprise software, automation frameworks, and integration solutions within the financial services industry. He special... Show more

Anita Chinwendu Opara is a Treasury Sales Trader with experience in foreign exchange trading, liquidity management, client relationship management and cross-border payments. Her work sits at the intersection of financial markets, treasury operations and commercial growth, with a focus on helping businesses navigate FX needs and move money across markets.

Beyond executing trades, Anita is involved in deal origination, client acquisition, market intelligence and growing merchant portfolios. Her experience includes working with African currency markets, developing client relationships and identifying opportunities to expand trading activity across payment corridors.

She is also the host of The Treasury Professionals Podcast, a platform created to spotlight treasury professionals, share practical industry knowledge and make the stories behind cross-border money movement more accessible.

Anita speaks on FX trading, treasury management, liquidity, African currency markets, cross-border payments, treasury sales and the evolving role of technology in financial services. Through her work, she is passionate about making treasury more visible, sharing practical industry insights and contributing to the development of the next generation of treasury professionals.

Anita Chinwendu Opara is a Treasury Sales Trader with experience in foreign exchange trading, liquidity management, client relationship management and cross-border payments. Her work sits at the intersection of financial markets, treasury operations ... Show more

Viktoria Izdebska is an Austrian entrepreneur and researcher based in San Francisco and Vienna. She works on distribution for AI rollups: which customer bases are worth buying, and why. She founded Dis·tribution, a research and advisory practice for AI rollups and the investors behind them, and wrote The Prediction Economy, a long-form thesis on what stays scarce once AI makes software and operations cheap. Her automation band turns the 30 to 70% automation range into a rule for when buying service companies beats building them. At nineteen she founded Octrace, a sales-intelligence company in Vienna. More at izdebska.com.

Viktoria Izdebska is an Austrian entrepreneur and researcher based in San Francisco and Vienna. She works on distribution for AI rollups: which customer bases are worth buying, and why. She founded Dis·tribution, a research and advisory practice for ... Show more

My background combines entrepreneurship, capital markets, research, and working with institutional GPs. In 2020, I founded a company focused on tokenized investment syndication. The experience eventually became a thesis: the development of private markets depends on the quality of the information, governance, and infrastructure supporting them.

I've authored multiple research publications, hold NGO Board positions, and advise companies developing digital infrastructure. In each, my interest is how PropTech, AI, Big Data or Tokenization can improve the management and allocation of capital.

As an international speaker and lecturer, I engage with industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers on the evolution of real estate and private markets. I also host Code and Concrete, a podcast about real estate, technology, and other exciting innovations.

My background combines entrepreneurship, capital markets, research, and working with institutional GPs. In 2020, I founded a company focused on tokenized investment syndication. The experience eventually became a thesis: the development of private ma... Show more