Finance & Banking

Experienced individuals involved in financial services, including banking, investment, insurance, and real estate

Álvaro Rodríguez

Álvaro Rodríguez

Partner, Trainer Microsoft | Formación y consultoría análisis de datos | Excel, PowerBI, PowerPoint, Python, Azure, Power Platform | Msc Data Science | Financiero | Mercadólogo | CEO Finanzas VLR | Docente universitario.

Partner, Trainer Microsoft | Formación y consultoría análisis de datos | Excel, PowerBI, PowerPoint, Python, Azure, Power Platform | Msc Data Science | Financiero | Mercadólogo | CEO Finanzas VLR | Docente universitario. Show more

Wellyson Freitas

Wellyson Freitas

Senior Software Engineer specialized in software architecture and cloud-native, data-intensive systems within regulated financial environments.

Experience across European digital banks and Brazilian financial institutions, building and operating large-scale platforms for fraud prevention, anti-money laundering (AML), and financial risk monitoring.

Focused on event-driven architectures, real-time data processing, and integration with third-party risk platforms and government infrastructures.

Technical strengths include system reliability, interoperability across heterogeneous platforms, and applied machine learning for anomaly detection.

MBA in Data Science and Analytics (University of São Paulo) and postgraduate degree in Software Architecture. Strong combination of hands-on engineering, architectural thinking, and data-driven decision-making.

Originally from Brazil, based in Barcelona.

Senior Software Engineer specialized in software architecture and cloud-native, data-intensive systems within regulated financial environments. Experience across European digital banks and Brazilian financial institutions, building and operating l... Show more

Samia Durrani

Samia Durrani

Samia leads the pre sales and delivery of large scale and complex security projects across a diverse portfolio of financial services clients. Samia is passionate about encouraging people from diverse backgrounds into technology careers. She does this by providing mentoring sessions, guest lectures to university courses and helping to lead D&I initiatives.

Samia leads the pre sales and delivery of large scale and complex security projects across a diverse portfolio of financial services clients. Samia is passionate about encouraging people from diverse backgrounds into technology careers. She does this... Show more

Steven Annegarn

Steven Annegarn

Steven started his career in finance and ventured into analytics around 2018. He is currently Co-owner and CTO of DATA KINGDOM, a scale-up in Data Analytics consultancy. Steven focuses mainly on building the Power BI architecture, Data Modeling and Governance. Trough this, he helps clients get more value out of their data.

Steven started his career in finance and ventured into analytics around 2018. He is currently Co-owner and CTO of DATA KINGDOM, a scale-up in Data Analytics consultancy. Steven focuses mainly on building the Power BI architecture, Data Modeling and G... Show more

Ben Lee

Ben Lee

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

Shahid Malika Kandy

Shahid Malika Kandy

AI engineer with five years of experience building distributed, production-ready AI systems across crypto, wealth management, and institutional finance. Expert in real-time pipelines, agentic AI, and high-volume, low-latency systems.

AI engineer with five years of experience building distributed, production-ready AI systems across crypto, wealth management, and institutional finance. Expert in real-time pipelines, agentic AI, and high-volume, low-latency systems. Show more

Ing. Alvaro Ricardo Valdez

Ing. Alvaro Ricardo Valdez

Alvaro Ricardo Valdez es Founder & CEO de AV Finance, holding que construye la infraestructura financiera digital para Bolivia y LatAm. Opera tres entidades cross-border (Delaware, Chile, Bolivia) con plataforma sobre Stellar mainnet y arquitectura AWS activa en producción.

AV Finance está en proceso de adecuación bajo el Decreto Supremo 5384 como Empresa de Tecnología Financiera ante ASFI, primera empresa boliviana bajo el nuevo marco regulatorio de activos virtuales.

Combina su rol de founder con el de ingeniero principal del stack — construye y mantiene ~34,000 líneas de código con Claude Code como copiloto de ingeniería. Apasionado por construir infraestructura financiera seria desde Bolivia con criterio técnico de nivel internacional y compartir el cómo con la comunidad regional.
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Alvaro Ricardo Valdez is Founder & CEO of AV Finance, the holding building digital financial infrastructure for Bolivia and LatAm. Operates three cross-border entities (Delaware, Chile, Bolivia) with platform on Stellar mainnet and AWS architecture active in production.

AV Finance is in compliance process under Supreme Decree 5384 as a Financial Technology Company before ASFI, one of the first Bolivian companies under the new virtual asset regulatory framework.

Combines his founder role with that of principal engineer of the stack — builds and maintains ~34,000 lines of code with Claude Code as engineering copilot. Passionate about building serious financial infrastructure from Bolivia with international-grade technical criteria.

Alvaro Ricardo Valdez es Founder & CEO de AV Finance, holding que construye la infraestructura financiera digital para Bolivia y LatAm. Opera tres entidades cross-border (Delaware, Chile, Bolivia) con plataforma sobre Stellar mainnet y arquitectura A... Show more

Vyshak Bellur

Vyshak Bellur

Vyshak Bellur is a Software Engineer III at JPMorgan Chase with over 10 years of experience building enterprise-scale systems across financial services, automotive, and retail.

He specializes in applying AI in real-world production environments, including LLM-powered workflows, observability-driven systems, and large-scale API platforms. His work focuses on making AI reliable, scalable, and compliant within regulated industries.

Vyshak has led initiatives that improved system reliability, reduced production incidents, and supported high-volume transaction systems. He is particularly interested in bridging the gap between AI innovation and practical enterprise adoption.

He is currently pursuing a PhD in Computer Science, with research spanning applied machine learning, computational linguistics, and bioinformatics.

He speaks about building AI systems that work in production — not just in demos.

Vyshak Bellur is a Software Engineer III at JPMorgan Chase with over 10 years of experience building enterprise-scale systems across financial services, automotive, and retail. He specializes in applying AI in real-world production environments, i... Show more

Clas Beese

Clas Beese

I am Clas Beese, an experienced freelance journalist and content creator for fintech with a deep understanding of the financial technology industry. Since the beginning of 2024, I have been self-employed and dedicated to my passion: creating high-quality journalistic content on fintech, digitalisation and innovation in the financial sector.

With almost 15 years of experience in the fintech world, I have extensive knowledge in fintech content creation. My professional background includes producing industry events, management roles and managing a limited company. I also founded a fintech startup. And made a mess of it. Today, I focus entirely on producing informative and engaging content for digital and print media, newsletters, social media and podcasts.

My strengths are strategy, performance-orientation and imagination, which help me to successfully shape my work as a freelance content creator. With a background in business administration and several business start-ups, I have commercial qualifications and entrepreneurial experience.

I am Clas Beese, an experienced freelance journalist and content creator for fintech with a deep understanding of the financial technology industry. Since the beginning of 2024, I have been self-employed and dedicated to my passion: creating high-qua... Show more

Aki Asahara

Aki Asahara

Aki Asahara, Ph.D., is an AI systems performance engineer and the Chief Marketing Officer at Fixstars. With a doctorate in astrophysics and more than 15 years of hands-on engineering and project management experience, he specializes in GPU performance engineering for large-scale AI training and inference workloads. His work spans autonomous driving, finance, healthcare, and industrial AI applications, with expertise in distributed training, mixed-precision optimization, and cluster-level observability on NVIDIA H100/H200/B200 architectures.

Aki serves as a Session Chair and Speaker at HPC Asia 2026 and has delivered invited talks at multiple GenAI-focused conferences in Japan. He also represents Fixstars as an exhibitor at the Supercomputing Conference (SC). He contributes to publications in AI systems performance engineering and leads industry projects that significantly improve throughput and cost efficiency.

Aki Asahara, Ph.D., is an AI systems performance engineer and the Chief Marketing Officer at Fixstars. With a doctorate in astrophysics and more than 15 years of hands-on engineering and project management experience, he specializes in GPU performanc... Show more

Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph Estep Jr.

Ralph V. Estep Jr. is an LPA, MBA, and the founder of Saggio Management Group in Middletown, Delaware, a cloud-based accounting firm serving hundreds of business and individual clients since 2005. He holds additional designations in tax and accounting (ABA, ATA, ATP) and spent years as CFO at Westminster Presbyterian Church, EVP at American Spirit Federal Credit Union, and controller at Morris, James, Hitchens, and Williams law firm.

What sets Ralph apart: he's built his entire career at the intersection of faith, money, and entrepreneurship. He's the creator and host of The Content Creator's Accountant and co-executive producer of The Podcasting Morning Show, where he helps creators and business owners move from financial anxiety to actual confidence. He's also a Junior Achievement mentor and invests in leadership development through Dale Carnegie training.

Ralph and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons and co-founded Estep Farm LLC, raising black Angus cattle in Delaware.

Ralph V. Estep Jr. is an LPA, MBA, and the founder of Saggio Management Group in Middletown, Delaware, a cloud-based accounting firm serving hundreds of business and individual clients since 2005. He holds additional designations in tax and accountin... Show more

Itana Bulatović

Itana Bulatović

I’m a Senior Machine Learning Engineer with proven track record of building AI systems across domains including finance, geospatial intelligence, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. My experience spans startups, research labs, and global enterprises, delivering real-world impact through deep learning, computer vision, and scalable MLOps pipelines.

Currently, at Schneider Electric, I'm a part of the Global Finance team working on AI-based solutions for financial intelligence. Previously, I led aerial imagery computer vision-based pipelines at MGGP Aero and developed end-to-end MLOps infrastructure at AI Clearing. My academic work at Shanghai Jiao Tong University focused on deep learning models for mammographic diagnostics where I published research articles at international IEEE conferences.

I’m a Senior Machine Learning Engineer with proven track record of building AI systems across domains including finance, geospatial intelligence, healthcare, and environmental monitoring. My experience spans startups, research labs, and global enterp... Show more

Matt Fenner

Matt Fenner

Matt Fenner is a finance and operations executive with more than 30 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and investors build scalable, high-value businesses. He currently serves as COO of Caplin Ventures, a Jacksonville, Florida investment firm managing 10 operating companies and 20+ passive investments across healthcare staffing, technology, engineering, and professional sports.

Matt is available to speak on topics including: M&A strategy and execution, financial management for growth-stage companies, building and exiting micro-cap businesses, private investment strategy, and operational leadership in diversified portfolios. He holds an MBA in Finance and a BBA in Accounting from the University of North Florida.

Matt Fenner is a finance and operations executive with more than 30 years of experience helping entrepreneurs and investors build scalable, high-value businesses. He currently serves as COO of Caplin Ventures, a Jacksonville, Florida investment firm ... Show more

Prajakta Talathi

Prajakta Talathi

Prajakta Talathi is a Strategic Analytics and Marketing Performance leader with over 16 years of experience across FinTech, consulting, and the services industry. She specializes in building enterprise-wide reporting and analytics ecosystems that enable organizations to make faster, data-driven decisions.

Her work focuses on optimizing acquisition marketing funnels, developing forecasting and planning models, and delivering channel and segment performance measurement frameworks that improve marketing efficiency and business growth. Prajakta is also deeply involved in data modernization initiatives, helping organizations transition from legacy reporting environments to scalable, cloud-based data and analytics platforms that support real-time insights and advanced analytics.

She is known for bridging the gap between technical data teams and business leadership, including the C-suite, translating complex analytics into actionable strategic insights. Prajakta has led the transformation of traditional reporting functions into intelligent, cloud-enabled, self-serve platforms by leveraging automation and AI—enabling faster strategic planning, improved decision-making, and greater operational agility.

Prajakta Talathi is a Strategic Analytics and Marketing Performance leader with over 16 years of experience across FinTech, consulting, and the services industry. She specializes in building enterprise-wide reporting and analytics ecosystems that ena... Show more

Victor Mambu

Victor Mambu

Victor Mambu is an Information Systems professional, IT Auditor, youth advocate, and dynamic public speaker from Sierra Leone with a strong passion for digital transformation and inclusive governance in Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems from the Institute of Public Administration and Management (IPAM), University of Sierra Leone, a Master’s degree in Information Systems with a specialization in Project Management at Njala University.

Victor currently serves as an IT Auditor at Rokel Commercial Bank Sierra Leone Limited where he contributes to strengthening technology governance, cybersecurity oversight, digital risk management, and institutional resilience within the banking sector. His professional interests include IT governance, cybersecurity, digital policy, and the role of emerging technologies in advancing sustainable development across Africa.

Beyond his corporate role, Victor is widely known as MC VIKMA an accomplished event host and communication professional recognized for engaging diverse audiences and facilitating high-level conversations across public and private sector platforms. He is deeply committed to youth empowerment and believes that young people must play a central role in shaping Africa’s digital future.

Victor actively advocates for greater youth participation, gender inclusion, digital literacy, and equitable access to digital opportunities. Through his work, he seeks to bridge the gap between technology, governance, and community impact, championing a digital ecosystem where young Africans are not just users of technology, but active contributors to policy and innovation.

Victor Mambu is an Information Systems professional, IT Auditor, youth advocate, and dynamic public speaker from Sierra Leone with a strong passion for digital transformation and inclusive governance in Africa. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree ... Show more

Lehel Iszlai

Lehel Iszlai

I'm a software engineer and engineering leader with 15+ years in backend and distributed systems, specializing in fintech and investment banking. Currently, I focus on ledger systems and reconciliation, building scalable, high-performance solutions.
I've led multiple teams (up to 20 engineers) from Series B to IPO, scaling payments, ledger, and reconciliation systems while driving key processes like incident management, career frameworks, and coaching. With a strong product engineering mindset, I bridge engineering and business needs to deliver real impact.

I'm a software engineer and engineering leader with 15+ years in backend and distributed systems, specializing in fintech and investment banking. Currently, I focus on ledger systems and reconciliation, building scalable, high-performance solutions. ... Show more

Maxim Olkhovskiy

Maxim Olkhovskiy

I work at the intersection of commodity trade finance, cross-border treasury, and digital settlement infrastructure.

Over the past decade, I have built and managed finance, treasury, liquidity, and transaction-control functions across energy, commodity trading, and UAE-based cross-border business environments. My work has focused on practical problems inside real trade flows: counterparty trust, settlement timing, banking constraints, documentation risk, liquidity visibility, and transaction execution across jurisdictions.

I am now developing Valtis.io, a platform concept focused on trusted infrastructure for commodity traders, treasury teams, and trade-finance participants. The goal is not to add more speculation to the digital-assets market, but to help commodity-market participants make cross-border flows more transparent, auditable, and operationally reliable.

I write about commodity trade finance, treasury architecture, settlement risk, AI in trading operations, and blockchain-based trust infrastructure for real-world trade.

I work at the intersection of commodity trade finance, cross-border treasury, and digital settlement infrastructure. Over the past decade, I have built and managed finance, treasury, liquidity, and transaction-control functions across energy, com... Show more

Sidharth Gopakumar

Sidharth Gopakumar

Sidharth Gopakumar is a product manager at Molecule Software, where he leads product development for an energy trading platform used by hedge funds and Fortune 100 energy companies, processing nearly $100B in commodity value daily. Before that, he built conversational GenAI and vector search infrastructure at a YCombinator-backed enterprise startup, taking the platform from zero to 10 enterprise customers. He has published IEEE research on predictive AI frameworks and prescriptive analytics in operations.

Sidharth Gopakumar is a product manager at Molecule Software, where he leads product development for an energy trading platform used by hedge funds and Fortune 100 energy companies, processing nearly $100B in commodity value daily. Before that, he bu... Show more

Eriko Moreira

Eriko Moreira

Ériko Moreira atua como gestor no Banco do Nordeste (BNB), liderando atualmente iniciativas de modernização tecnológica de sistemas de informação, com forte ênfase em transformação ágil e evolução de arquitetura.

Com mais de 20 anos de experiência em Engenharia de Software, Ériko tem se destacado, desde 2015, na liderança de processos de gestão e transformação organizacional, especialmente na adoção e escalabilidade de metodologias ágeis em ambientes corporativos complexos. Ao longo de sua trajetória no BNB, atuou como PMO de TI, conduzindo a implantação de práticas ágeis em projetos e processos institucionais, além de participar ativamente da concepção de modelos inovadores de contratação orientados a desenvolvimento ágil de software.

Na academia, contribuiu como professor em cursos de graduação e pós-graduação nas áreas de Engenharia de Software, Gestão de Projetos e Agilidade, mantendo-se atualmente como professor convidado em programas de pós-graduação, onde compartilha experiências práticas sobre transformação digital e agilidade organizacional.

É mestre e bacharel em Ciência da Computação pela Universidade Federal do Ceará (UFC) e possui MBAs em Gestão Empresarial e Gestão de Projetos pela Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV).

Ériko Moreira atua como gestor no Banco do Nordeste (BNB), liderando atualmente iniciativas de modernização tecnológica de sistemas de informação, com forte ênfase em transformação ágil e evolução de arquitetura. Com mais de 20 anos de experiência... Show more

Rytis Tekorius

Rytis Tekorius

Leading a FinTech banking core team by day, making videos by night — Rytis is an IT consultant with 12+ years of experience, too many hobbies, and a rewritten Danish Tax System somewhere in between.

Leading a FinTech banking core team by day, making videos by night — Rytis is an IT consultant with 12+ years of experience, too many hobbies, and a rewritten Danish Tax System somewhere in between. Show more

Naki Jannet Dejo Vicente

Naki Jannet Dejo Vicente

Hi, I’m Naki Dejo, a Technical Lead at BCP with over six years of experience building high-transaction distributed systems in the financial sector. I specialize in Java development and have also worked as a Solutions Architect and Scrum Master, leading both legacy and modern projects, including large-scale technology migrations and the development of critical enterprise components.

I am currently focused on integrating artificial intelligence and cloud technologies into scalable, inclusive software solutions. I am passionate about creating systems that not only perform at enterprise scale but also promote accessibility, fairness and long-term sustainability.

Hi, I’m Naki Dejo, a Technical Lead at BCP with over six years of experience building high-transaction distributed systems in the financial sector. I specialize in Java development and have also worked as a Solutions Architect and Scrum Master, leadi... Show more

Varsha Shah

Varsha Shah

Varsha Vidit Shah is an AI and Enterprise Finance Transformation Architect with over 12 years of experience in designing and delivering automation solutions for global finance and compliance operations. Her work focuses on applying artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve efficiency, accuracy, and governance across enterprise financial systems.
Currently a Technical Architect at Tata Consultancy Services, Varsha contributes to large-scale finance and compliance transformation initiatives. She has led the design and development of AI-based solutions for areas such as revenue recognition, partner incentive programs, employment tax compliance, and procure-to-pay processes.
Her experience includes building systems for contract intelligence, audit validation, financial exception monitoring, and sustainability reporting across multi-country operations. These solutions have helped reduce manual effort and improve reporting accuracy within enterprise environments.
Varsha has also contributed to enterprise platform development for audit collaboration, policy governance, and financial workflow automation. In addition to her technical work, she supports team development through mentoring and has conducted training sessions on AI technologies.
She holds a Master of Computer Applications from Pune University and has earned Microsoft certifications in Azure Fundamentals, Power Platform Fundamentals, and Fabric Data Engineering.

Varsha Vidit Shah is an AI and Enterprise Finance Transformation Architect with over 12 years of experience in designing and delivering automation solutions for global finance and compliance operations. Her work focuses on applying artificial intelli... Show more

Shalini Sivasamy

Shalini Sivasamy

Shalini Sivasamy is a Senior AI & Machine Learning Engineer specializing in building scalable, enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions across financial services and cloud ecosystems. Currently contributing to advanced AI initiatives at leading institutions, she focuses on leveraging Generative AI, Agentic AI, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) to transform complex business workflows and decision-making processes.

With deep expertise in machine learning, natural language processing, and intelligent document processing, Shalini has developed production-ready AI systems that enhance operational efficiency, reduce processing time, and unlock actionable insights from unstructured data. Her work spans end-to-end AI system design from model development and evaluation to deployment using cloud-native architectures.

A strong advocate for responsible and trustworthy AI, Shalini actively explores challenges related to model reliability, governance, and real-world deployment of large language models. She has authored peer-reviewed publications and contributed to academic and industry research, while also serving as a reviewer for international conferences and journals in AI and data science.

Beyond her technical contributions, Shalini is a recognized thought leader and speaker in AI innovation, frequently sharing insights on enterprise RAG systems, agentic workflows, and AI-driven transformation in financial institutions. Her unique ability to bridge traditional software engineering with cutting-edge AI makes her a key voice in advancing intelligent, scalable, and responsible AI solutions.

Shalini Sivasamy is a Senior AI & Machine Learning Engineer specializing in building scalable, enterprise-grade artificial intelligence solutions across financial services and cloud ecosystems. Currently contributing to advanced AI initiatives at lea... Show more

Umamaheswara Rao Kukkala

Umamaheswara Rao Kukkala

Lead Data Engineer with extensive experience designing and operating large-scale enterprise data platforms and analytics infrastructure in the financial services industry.

My work focuses on building highly reliable, scalable, and cloud-native data systems that support mission-critical analytics, regulatory reporting, and data-driven decision making.

I specialize in:

• Enterprise data platform architecture

• Modernizing legacy ETL ecosystems into scalable cloud data pipelines

• Distributed data processing and analytics infrastructure

• Data reliability engineering and operational excellence

• Large-scale cloud data platforms using Databricks and Google Cloud

In my current role I contribute to the architecture, modernization, and operational reliability of enterprise data platforms supporting critical banking analytics workloads.

I frequently collaborate with cross-functional engineering teams, architects, and business stakeholders to deliver secure, compliant, and scalable data solutions that align with long-term platform strategy.

My professional interests include:

• Data platform reliability engineering

• Cloud-native analytics architectures

• Scalable data pipeline orchestration

• Data engineering automation and observability

Lead Data Engineer with extensive experience designing and operating large-scale enterprise data platforms and analytics infrastructure in the financial services industry. My work focuses on building highly reliable, scalable, and cloud-native dat... Show more

Bruno H. Brito

Bruno H. Brito

Bruno is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in leading companies across the banking, telecommunications, insurance and financial markets sectors. Starting his career in software engineering, his focus quickly evolved towards a profound understanding of business process visions, solution architecture design, and the strategic delivery of quality information to decision-makers.

He holds an MBA specialization in Artificial Intelligence and Big Data from the University of São Paulo (ICMC/USP), where his thesis laid the theoretical groundwork for the presented Meta-Architecture. This research culminated in an article submitted (PROPOR 2026), demonstrating his commitment to bridging academic rigor with practical enterprise solutions. He is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Information Science at UFSCar, deepening his expertise in knowledge management and semantic design.

His core expertise lies in Data and Process Strategy, Corporate Architecture, and holistic Solution Design, always focusing on translating complex data and architectural insights into actionable business decisions. This blend of technical foundation (AI, Graph) and methodological rigor (Information Science) positions him as a strong advocate for building resilient, trustworthy, and governed AI systems, such as the Neo4j Intelligent Proxy presented in this session.

Bruno is a seasoned professional with over 20 years of experience in leading companies across the banking, telecommunications, insurance and financial markets sectors. Starting his career in software engineering, his focus quickly evolved towards a p... Show more

Juan Ribes

Juan Ribes

Trabajando para un banco inglés durante los últimos 10 años, y en ENCAMINA los 13 anteriores, llevo media vida implantando CRMs en lugares que varían desde una empresa funeraria con una sola usuaria (la hija de la dueña) hasta una red de banca minorista con treinta mil usuarios.

Y me lo sigo pasando en grande!

Trabajando para un banco inglés durante los últimos 10 años, y en ENCAMINA los 13 anteriores, llevo media vida implantando CRMs en lugares que varían desde una empresa funeraria con una sola usuaria (la hija de la dueña) hasta una red de banca minori... Show more

Michael Chen

Michael Chen

Staff Engineer at E.SUN Bank and a Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA). Dedicated to managing hybrid Kubernetes platforms and advancing the frontier of Sustainable Cloud-Native Infrastructure. Focusing on the integration of GreenOps and FinOps into modern engineering practices, ensuring that platform optimization drives both business value and environmental sustainability.

Staff Engineer at E.SUN Bank and a Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA). Dedicated to managing hybrid Kubernetes platforms and advancing the frontier of Sustainable Cloud-Native Infrastructure. Focusing on the integration of GreenOps and FinOps i... Show more

Promise Mmanta

Promise Mmanta

Promise Mmanta is a Product Manager with over 4 years of experience building payment, logistics, and fulfillment systems that power real-world operations. She has led the design of platforms spanning driver apps, partner onboarding and KYC workflows, warehousing and fulfillment systems, and transaction and settlement flows.

Her work centers on translating complex operational and financial processes into structured, scalable systems. She has driven improvements in partner activation, automated key workflows, and contributed to revenue growth through the relaunch of a warehousing and fulfillment business line.

More recently, her focus has expanded into API design, payments infrastructure, and AI-driven systems, with a particular interest in how autonomous agents interact with APIs, exposing hidden assumptions in authorization, data governance, and system control.

Promise Mmanta is a Product Manager with over 4 years of experience building payment, logistics, and fulfillment systems that power real-world operations. She has led the design of platforms spanning driver apps, partner onboarding and KYC workflows,... Show more

Emmanuella Ubokabasi Etop Essien

Emmanuella Ubokabasi Etop Essien

I am on a mission to help developers build the future of finance.

I’m a Developer Relations Engineer at Blnk Finance, where I create technical content, sample projects, workshops, and talks that support the developer ecosystem in leveraging open-source ledger tools to ensure financial data integrity.

I have cultivated expertise in full-stack development, cross-platform mobile development, and modern web technologies. Through my YouTube platform, I have created a thriving technical education community, producing high-retention videos. I have spoken at conferences like Google I/O and GDG events amongst other events. I am dedicated to simplifying technical concepts for developers worldwide.

I'm passionate about inclusive developer education and building tools that help people ship. Open to speaking, workshops, and collaborations focused on developer experience (DX) and community growth.

I am on a mission to help developers build the future of finance. I’m a Developer Relations Engineer at Blnk Finance, where I create technical content, sample projects, workshops, and talks that support the developer ecosystem in leveraging open-... Show more

Alex Reich

Alex Reich

Alex Reich is a hands-on .NET engineering leader with 20+ years building secure, scalable systems across banking/fintech, media, e-commerce, and SaaS. He’s currently a freelance consultant specializing in the dotnet stack w/specializations with finance and security systems. Alex has been working full stack development in .NET/SQL/Angular/React while mentoring engineers and driving modern architecture patterns. Previously, he served as VP/Director of Software Development at Mechanics Bank, leading cross-functional teams and helping deliver a PPP platform that processed more than $1.2B in loans.

Alex is also Co-founder/CTO of Acorn Jr, a modern SaaS platform built on React, .NET, SignalR, Docker, Postgres, Redis, and AI-assisted tooling—focused on real-time workflows and reliability at scale. He contributes to open source and enjoys turning hard-earned “production lessons” into practical patterns teams can use immediately. He is also a contributor to Microsoft RulesEngine and authored RulesEngineEditor, a Blazor-based rules editor.

Outside of tech, he teaches meditation and is an endurance runner, including the Avalon 50 Miler.

Selected prior speaking / community leadership
• Presented at Microsoft Developer Days (III–V) and developer groups including OCSQLUG, TRINUG, FANUG, LA Django, and IBM OCEAN.
• Delivered an MSDN Webcast on ASP.NET security (October 2004), scoring 7.9—above the event average.
• Served two terms as President of the Orange County Visual Basic Users Group: brought the group out of debt, established its first web presence, and produced DevCon ’98 with industry speakers (including Paul Sheriff, Allison Balter, and Ken Getz), ultimately creating a cash surplus.
• Founded and led additional .NET user groups (Triangle .NET Users Group and Findlay Area .NET Users Group), including bylaws, domains, and officer mentoring.
• Co-authored VB 5.0 Unleashed (Sams Publishing, Volumes 1 & 2).
• Built consumer apps including Oops I’m Late! for Smartphones and Calendar To Map; previously a member of the Microsoft-curated Southern California .NET Influencers Group.

Alex Reich is a hands-on .NET engineering leader with 20+ years building secure, scalable systems across banking/fintech, media, e-commerce, and SaaS. He’s currently a freelance consultant specializing in the dotnet stack w/specializations with finan... Show more

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