Dara Melnyk specializes in innovative university models and change management. She writes the "Global Innovators", a regular column for University World News, co-hosts the "Innovative Universities" webinar, and is working on a book about innovative higher education.

Previously, Dara served as Head of the Research Group at the Skolkovo Education Development Centre (SEDeC), Moscow School of Management Skolovo. After leaving Russia in 2022, Dara worked as an independent advisor in Central Asia. There, she ran executive programs for university leaders and strategy sessions for universities and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of Kazakhstan.

Dara holds a PhD from Maastricht University, with her doctoral thesis titled "Success Factors of Innovative Universities".

Dara Melnyk specializes in innovative university models and change management. She writes the "Global Innovators", a regular column for University World News, co-hosts the "Innovative Universities" webinar, and is working on a book about innovative h... Show more

Dr Neeti Tripathi is Principal of CIDER International School in Bangladesh, where she leads a large Cambridge and national-curriculum school with a strong focus on innovation, wellbeing, and professional learning.

With nearly two decades of experience across Indian, Cambridge, IB and international contexts, she works at the intersection of AI, pedagogy, and school leadership.

Neeti is a Cambridge Programme Leader and a British Council Action Research Mentor and awardee, guiding educators across South Asia to design evidence-informed, technology-enabled classroom practices. She has designed a gamified open educational resource on teacher professional development, used by educators to build AI-ready, student-centred pedagogy through practical “missions” rather than one-off workshops.

Her current work focuses on moving schools from scattered AI experiments to coherent, mission-aligned strategies that span teaching and learning, assessment, operations, and governance.

As an international speaker, she brings a Global South perspective—showing how schools can use AI responsibly and creatively even in resource-constrained contexts, without losing the human heart of education.

Dr Neeti Tripathi is Principal of CIDER International School in Bangladesh, where she leads a large Cambridge and national-curriculum school with a strong focus on innovation, wellbeing, and professional learning. With nearly two decades of exper... Show more

Cameron McKay is a Microsoft Azure Integration MVP with a strong background in web, integration, and business analysis. Cameron is a thought leader in Azure integration services and has spoken at numerous conferences on topics related to Microsoft Azure. Cameron has blended his expertise in software development and business analysis to deliver a variety of enterprise web, integrations and cloud applications using the Microsoft technology stack.

Cameron spends his off-hours as a tabletop board game enthusiast, cooking up delicious meals, watching anime and training his husky dogs. Cameron is always up for any tabletop game, but he especially enjoys strategy games such as Settlers of Catan and Go (Baduk).

Cameron McKay is a Microsoft Azure Integration MVP with a strong background in web, integration, and business analysis. Cameron is a thought leader in Azure integration services and has spoken at numerous conferences on topics related to Microsoft Az... Show more

I’m currently working as a Data Engineer at Trendyol Feature Store Platform team where our primary responsibilities involve designing, developing, and maintaining scalable and efficient data infrastructure for real-time and batch feature processing. My main areas of focus revolve around Kafka/Kafka Connect, Flink, Kubernetes, and scalable data processing pipelines. Prior to joining Trendyol, I was working as a Research Assistant at Sabanci University, where I earned my MSc in Computer Science. I am deeply enthusiastic about keeping up with the latest technology trends and continually exploring strategies to build more resilient and robust infrastructures.

I’m currently working as a Data Engineer at Trendyol Feature Store Platform team where our primary responsibilities involve designing, developing, and maintaining scalable and efficient data infrastructure for real-time and batch feature processing. ... Show more

Dave is interested in search (information retrieval), discovery, and knowledge management. He has worked in IT for 25+ years both on the coding and system sides. He currently works primarily in Python and TypeScript with prior experience in (vanilla) JavaScript, PHP, and C#/VB.NET. He loves HTML and tolerates CSS.

Dave is interested in search (information retrieval), discovery, and knowledge management. He has worked in IT for 25+ years both on the coding and system sides. He currently works primarily in Python and TypeScript with prior experience in (vanilla)... Show more

I am a software developer based in Singapore specialising in building cloud-first applications and APIs.

Since 2019, I have been a proud member of the .NET Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting the .NET ecosystem. My contributions include working on the documentation of Orchard Core, speaking at .NET Conf 2024, and sharing .NET in Singapore AWS User Group.

I am a software developer based in Singapore specialising in building cloud-first applications and APIs. Since 2019, I have been a proud member of the .NET Foundation, an organisation dedicated to supporting and promoting the .NET ecosystem. My co... Show more

Oluwaseyi Oluwawumiju
Oluwaseyi Oluwawumiju is a dynamic Technical Consultant, Public Speaker, and Author, affiliated with Covenant Technologies, a Microsoft Certified Partner based in Lagos, Nigeria. With over 25 years of professional experience, he is recognized as a leader in the IT industry, specializing in Microsoft infrastructure, data, and artificial intelligence solutions.

Oluwaseyi is a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), a Most Valuable Professional (MVP) in Office Services & Apps, and the MCT Regional Lead for Nigeria. He also serves as the Manager of Data & AI at Wragby Solutions & Technologies Limited, where he drives cutting-edge innovations in AI, data analytics, and cloud technologies. As a Fellow of the Institute of Information Management Africa (FIIM Africa), he holds one of the highest honors for excellence in data and information management.

At Covenant Technologies, Oluwaseyi plays a pivotal role as a senior consulting partner, helping organizations maximize the value of their Microsoft technologies, including Azure, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and AI-powered solutions. His expertise extends beyond technical implementations, focusing on empowering businesses to leverage IT for strategic growth.

Prior to joining Covenant Technologies, Oluwaseyi was a Senior Technical Consultant and Support Manager at 1st Intellit Solution, where he led outsourcing teams and spearheaded the development of innovative client systems.

Driven by his passion for IT evolution in Africa, Oluwaseyi is a prominent advocate for cloud technologies and modern workplace solutions across West, East, and Central Africa (WECA). His campaigns for adopting tools like SharePoint, Yammer, Office 365, Azure, and Microsoft Teams have significantly influenced medium and large organizations. The growing response from the Nigerian market and beyond highlights the transformative impact of his efforts in fostering a modern IT ecosystem across Africa.

Oluwaseyi Oluwawumiju Oluwaseyi Oluwawumiju is a dynamic Technical Consultant, Public Speaker, and Author, affiliated with Covenant Technologies, a Microsoft Certified Partner based in Lagos, Nigeria. With over 25 years of professional experience, h... Show more

Today I lead the agentic transformation motion in EMEA at AWS, focused on EKS and Serverless — sitting at the frontline of how the agentic wave is reshaping the world. I'm a people person and a technology geek, and I'm passionate about making complex innovation feel accessible and real. I've spent years taking the stage across the globe — and I'm here to make this one count.

Today I lead the agentic transformation motion in EMEA at AWS, focused on EKS and Serverless — sitting at the frontline of how the agentic wave is reshaping the world. I'm a people person and a technology geek, and I'm passionate about making complex... Show more

Naresh Sigamani is a Director of Data Architecture at Lovelytics and a member of the Forbes Technology Council. With over 15 years of experience in data and analytics, Naresh specializes in guiding global organizations through complex data maturity journeys and building resilient, scalable, cloud-native platforms.

Currently leading the SAP Databricks service line, Naresh is a recognized industry expert in migrating SAP data to premier cloud environments, including Databricks, Snowflake, and BigQuery. His strategic expertise spans diverse sectors, including CPG, healthcare, manufacturing, and energy services.

Previously, as CTO of Data Analytics at Eviden / Atos, Naresh pioneered the development of reusable data solutions and led pre-sales for North America, driving more than $60M in business growth. He notably architected the data modernization strategy for a $21B CPG enterprise, enabling the organization to achieve market leadership through advanced, data-driven infrastructure.

A prolific technical author and frequent speaker, Naresh has contributed to key industry works such as "AWS Data Lake Accelerator for SAP" and "Reimagine Your SAP Data Strategy." His technical authority is supported by elite certifications, including Databricks Certified Data Engineer Professional (2025), Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert, and SnowPro Advanced Architect.

Naresh Sigamani is a Director of Data Architecture at Lovelytics and a member of the Forbes Technology Council. With over 15 years of experience in data and analytics, Naresh specializes in guiding global organizations through complex data maturity j... Show more

Bill is vice president of product management at Cloudera, responsible for Open Data Lakehouse product strategy and Apache Iceberg integration with all Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) form factors. Bill also leads Apache Hive product roadmap and adoption. Most recently, Bill was responsible for solution management for SAP HANA Data Platform and SAP HANA Cloud. Prior to that he led product management for Sybase Replication Server.

Bill is vice president of product management at Cloudera, responsible for Open Data Lakehouse product strategy and Apache Iceberg integration with all Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) form factors. Bill also leads Apache Hive product roadmap and adoption... Show more

Sandeep Penchala is a seasoned software engineer specializing in iOS development with extensive experience in building secure, scalable, and high-performance mobile applications. Throughout his career, he has consistently delivered innovative solutions across industries, including identity management, digital transactions, and smart home technologies.
At Okta, Sandeep plays a pivotal role as a Staff Software Engineer, driving strategic initiatives in identity and access management. His leadership has strengthened engineering excellence, fostered team collaboration, and enhanced system reliability for large-scale enterprise clients. Sandeep’s work has contributed to Okta’s reputation as a global leader in zero-trust security and enterprise-grade identity solutions.
Previously at DocuSign, he led iOS engineering efforts focused on mobile architecture, performance optimization, and secure digital transactions. His contributions improved application quality and user engagement while aligning mobile initiatives with enterprise digital transformation goals. He also mentored junior engineers and established code quality frameworks that became standard practice across development teams.
During his tenure at SmartThings, Sandeep spearheaded the architectural redesign of the SmartThings mobile platform, enabling advanced IoT integrations and superior user experiences. His expertise in Swift, SwiftUI, and reactive programming positioned SmartThings as a benchmark in the connected home ecosystem.
Before that, at Orion Labs, Sandeep integrated Alexa Voice Service into iOS platforms, pioneering voice-first mobile communication technology for enterprise users. His ability to merge cutting-edge APIs with performance efficiency set new standards for real-time voice applications.
At Visa, he contributed to mission-critical mobile payment systems, ensuring secure, seamless transactions for global customers. His implementation of reusable validation modules and adherence to industry compliance protocols elevated product reliability and performance.
Sandeep began his career at Hurix and Yash Technologies, where he built foundational expertise in mobile architecture, hybrid frameworks, and digital publishing systems.
With a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering from JNTU, Sandeep combines deep technical proficiency with strategic leadership. His work reflects a commitment to engineering excellence, innovation, and empowering teams to deliver impactful, secure, and user-focused mobile solutions.

Sandeep Penchala is a seasoned software engineer specializing in iOS development with extensive experience in building secure, scalable, and high-performance mobile applications. Throughout his career, he has consistently delivered innovative solutio... Show more

Manikandan Kaliyaperumal is a seasoned software engineering leader with over 23 years of experience in architecting, designing, and deploying scalable, highly available, distributed systems. He specializes in cloud-native architectures across single, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments, with extensive expertise in Kubernetes, containers, API-first microservices, and enterprise platform engineering.
Currently serving as a Staff Cloud Platform Engineer at Fiserv Inc (Clover Network), Manikandan leads platform engineering and control-plane services powering a Kubernetes-based unified cloud platform. He enables more than 100 microservices to deploy and scale reliably through standardized platform APIs and a self-service internal developer platform, while driving cloud optimization initiatives that achieved approximately 20% cost reduction.
Previously, he served as a Technical Architect at Hexaware Technologies (supporting Fidelity Investments), where he worked on unified authorization architecture, OPA policy engine design on AWS EKS, and secure cloud infrastructure for institutional platforms. At Roche, he held the role of Enterprise Architect, defining enterprise standards and reference architectures for cloud and edge computing, designing managed Kubernetes platforms, and contributing to the AI/ML infrastructure strategy, including the development of a GenAI code-assist copilot on Azure.
Earlier in his career, Manikandan led large-scale API platform and microservices modernization initiatives at organizations including Broadcom/CA Technologies, Equinix (US and APAC), IBM, PayPal, Yahoo, MasterCard, Citibank, and others. His experience spans API gateways (Apigee, Kong, WSO2), IAM and security protocols (OAuth2, OIDC, SAML, PingFederate), DevOps and SRE practices, real-time data platforms (Kafka, Spark), and multi-cloud platforms including AWS, Azure, and GCP.
He holds a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical & Production Engineering from Annamalai University, Tamil Nadu, India.
Manikandan brings deep expertise in cloud-first, API-first, and AI-first architecture, with hands-on proficiency in Java, Python, Go, and modern distributed systems technologies.

Manikandan Kaliyaperumal is a seasoned software engineering leader with over 23 years of experience in architecting, designing, and deploying scalable, highly available, distributed systems. He specializes in cloud-native architectures across single,... Show more

Alex is a Distributed Spatial Systems DevOps Tinkerer with many years of experience in geospatial data management and web- and cloud-based geoprocessing with a particular focus on land use, soils, hydrology, and water quality. His interests include open geospatial standards and web-services for location-based data sharing, modelling workflows, machine learning, and interactive geo-visualisation. Alex has been involved with web-based spatial data infrastructures for a long time as a developer, researcher and project leader. He is based at the Chair of Geoinformatics and Cartography at the Department of Geography of the University of Tartu.

Alex is a Distributed Spatial Systems DevOps Tinkerer with many years of experience in geospatial data management and web- and cloud-based geoprocessing with a particular focus on land use, soils, hydrology, and water quality. His interests include o... Show more

Richard Hooper is an experienced Country Manager for Continia APAC with over 20 years of experience around ERP solutions. Having worked for two of the four global accounting firms, leading Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Partners and ERP vendor nationally. This has given Richard a wealth of experience in understanding the importance of automation and efficiency in business process which aligns with Continia’s solutions in optimising Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Richard Hooper is an experienced Country Manager for Continia APAC with over 20 years of experience around ERP solutions. Having worked for two of the four global accounting firms, leading Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Partners and ERP vendor natio... Show more

Mike Gifford is an open standards and practices lead at CivicActions and a thought leader on digital accessibility in the public sector. He is also a W3C Invited Expert and recognized authoring tool accessibility expert.

Previously, he was the Founder and President of OpenConcept Consulting Inc., a web development agency specializing in building open source solutions for the open web. Mike has served as a Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer in 2012.

Mike Gifford is an open standards and practices lead at CivicActions and a thought leader on digital accessibility in the public sector. He is also a W3C Invited Expert and recognized authoring tool accessibility expert. Previously, he was the Fou... Show more

Danko Kočiš rođen je 1982. godine u Đakovu, gdje je započeo svoj put u astronomiju, astronautiku i tehničku kulturu. Diplomirao je računalne znanosti i poslovnu informatiku, te je zaposlen u Multinorm d.o.o. kao IT/ERP manager.
Odrastao je u obitelji strastvenih radioamatera i elektrotehničara, što je u njemu zapalilo ljubav prema tehnologiji za cijeli život. Njegovo zanimanje za svemir dovelo ga je do toga da preuzme vodstvo Astronomskog društva "Orion" u rodnom Đakovu. Kao izvrstan promotor ne samo svemirskih tema nego i tehničke kulture općenito, proglašen je nacionalnim koordinatorom Hrvatske za Svjetski tjedan svemira Ujedinjenih naroda. Tijekom proteklih pet godina organizirao je više od 500 predavanja i radionica u kojima je sudjelovalo tisuće mladih ljudi godišnje i pozicionirao Hrvatsku među prvih 5 zemalja u svijetu po sudjelovanju mladih u aktivnostima vezanim uz svemir. Za svoj rad dobio je Državnu nagradu za tehničku kulturu 2022. godine, a služi i kao član Upravnog odbora Hrvatskog astronomskog saveza.
Međunarodno priznat zbog svoje predanosti obrazovanju mladih o temama vezanim uz svemir, imenovan je glavnim tajnikom Adriatic Aerospace Association 2021., gdje predvodi nacionalne svemirske obrazovne projekte poput trenutnog projekta Cansat Rocketry.

Danko Kočiš rođen je 1982. godine u Đakovu, gdje je započeo svoj put u astronomiju, astronautiku i tehničku kulturu. Diplomirao je računalne znanosti i poslovnu informatiku, te je zaposlen u Multinorm d.o.o. kao IT/ERP manager. Odrastao je u obitelj... Show more

Advisor and thought partner to Heads of Software Engineering and their teams. Passionate about platform engineering, DevOps and software development. Active outdoors enthusiast, skier, and hiker. Avid reader of all genres. Located in Raleigh, North Carolina, USA.

Advisor and thought partner to Heads of Software Engineering and their teams. Passionate about platform engineering, DevOps and software development. Active outdoors enthusiast, skier, and hiker. Avid reader of all genres. Located in Raleigh, North C... Show more

Ashwin Tahiliani is an Architect-Urban Designer by qualification, storyteller by passion and a founder by the pandemic!
In his previous life, he helped plan walkable neighbourhoods, a Ladakhi university and revival of urban lakes. But then the pandemic hit… and his projects went kaput :( With work at a standstill, he started on a journey called 'ATLASkeeda' - with a mission to tell stories from India and the world everyday.
Today, ATLASkeeda has evolved into a design studio, and with his team, he helps brands and people tell stories visually.
Funny, he was once introduced as a "drawer!"

Ashwin Tahiliani is an Architect-Urban Designer by qualification, storyteller by passion and a founder by the pandemic! In his previous life, he helped plan walkable neighbourhoods, a Ladakhi university and revival of urban lakes. But then the pande... Show more

Daria Fedorova is a strategic operator and trusted partner to founders building high-growth, high-stakes businesses. With over a decade of experience spanning the UAE, Europe, the US, and Asia, she has served as Chief of Staff, VP of Investor Relations, and Interim COO — scaling teams, systems, and capital across 7 markets.
As the first hire and CoS at Destinus, a pre-IPO deep-tech aerospace and defense startup, Daria led three global funding rounds totaling 120M CHF, acted as founder proxy in board and investor forums, and built the operational infrastructure that took the company from zero to 80+ people across 7 countries.
Her career spans YC-backed construction tech (Mighty Buildings), fintech (Bank 131), IoT supply chains (Cogobuy/Forbes Asia Fab 50), and M&A at Siemens Financial Services — giving her a rare cross-industry, cross-cultural lens on what it takes to build and scale ambitious companies.
Today, Daria advises founders and family offices on capital formation, operational scale-up, and international expansion, based between Madrid and Dubai.
She speaks on Chief of Staff, founder leverage, international growth, and building the operating systems that turn strategy into execution.

Daria Fedorova is a strategic operator and trusted partner to founders building high-growth, high-stakes businesses. With over a decade of experience spanning the UAE, Europe, the US, and Asia, she has served as Chief of Staff, VP of Investor Relatio... Show more

I am a computer science engineer and started my career as an IBM mainframe developer. Academic knowledge of Java and a desire to move away from legacy systems led me to Java. I spent most of my career at IN2 and Liferay Inc. companies as a software engineer and software architect. Today, I lead company Bitna prednost, where I lead and mentor a new generation of engineers who deal with challenges of AI tools, business automation and rapid integration.

I am a computer science engineer and started my career as an IBM mainframe developer. Academic knowledge of Java and a desire to move away from legacy systems led me to Java. I spent most of my career at IN2 and Liferay Inc. companies as a software e... Show more

As a Solution Architect, I bring extensive experience in Microsoft Dynamics NAV/365 Business Central/Power Platform. My journey has evolved from technical consultancy to leadership, guiding businesses through digital transformation and integration with a focus on excellence and innovation.

As a Solution Architect, I bring extensive experience in Microsoft Dynamics NAV/365 Business Central/Power Platform. My journey has evolved from technical consultancy to leadership, guiding businesses through digital transformation and integration wi... Show more

Matt wrote his first program in Fortran on a card punch machine in the early 80s. He survived the experience and moved on to use Toolbook, Delphi, VB, and finally the .Net framework for the last 15 years. He still gets twitchy when someone mentions DCOM or CORBA and doesn't want to get into a discussion about where curly braces should go.

He is currently a Software Development Manager at Bally Sports focusing on Azure; previously he was a Senior Developer at Pandora Jewelry and a Lead Developer at Constellation/Exelon.

Matt wrote his first program in Fortran on a card punch machine in the early 80s. He survived the experience and moved on to use Toolbook, Delphi, VB, and finally the .Net framework for the last 15 years. He still gets twitchy when someone mentions D... Show more

Joe Kramer is the CEO of Parjana Engineering, Inc., where he leads the development and deployment of advanced water infrastructure solutions focused on restoring natural infiltration and improving stormwater performance.

Through the IRIS™ Infiltration System, his work has helped municipalities, developers, and infrastructure owners move beyond traditional design assumptions toward measured, real-world performance outcomes.

Joe is also leading HydroCoin, a framework designed to create auditable, verifiable records of water infiltration and recharge, enabling environmental performance to be measured, tracked, and trusted at scale.

His work sits at the intersection of infrastructure, environmental markets, and digital systems, focused on one core shift:
transforming water from an unmeasured liability into a quantifiable, defensible asset.

Joe Kramer is the CEO of Parjana Engineering, Inc., where he leads the development and deployment of advanced water infrastructure solutions focused on restoring natural infiltration and improving stormwater performance. Through the IRIS™ Infiltra... Show more

Tim Schmidt is an independent cloud consultant and founder of IT2Cloud GmbH. He helps organizations design and optimize cloud native platforms with a focus on Kubernetes, OpenShift, container platforms, and DevOps. With experience ranging from enterprise OpenShift consulting to HyperShift based platform architectures and air gapped environments, he brings a practical perspective on building scalable, secure, and developer friendly infrastructure in complex real world settings.

Tim Schmidt is an independent cloud consultant and founder of IT2Cloud GmbH. He helps organizations design and optimize cloud native platforms with a focus on Kubernetes, OpenShift, container platforms, and DevOps. With experience ranging from enterp... Show more

Working on the Basel and Regulatory reporting space within the Financial services domain for more than a decade. In the past have enabled banks to fulfill their regulatory reporting requirements helping them automate their filing and data transformation process to enable an automated process for filing regulatory reports in the credit risk space. Also enabled banks to file new reports corresponding to new regulations in the US Regulatory reporting space like Single Counterparty Credit Risk(SCCL). Working on the impact of new regulations in the space like Basel III Endgame and also the impact of changes in internal subledgers on the entire regulatory reporting process.

A Subject Matter Expert in the regulatory reporting platform of Axiom SL which is used predominantly in North American Regulatory reporting jurisdictions , have worked on the customizations required for various bank environments especially if the bank is an Intermediate Holding Company(IHC) as defined by the Federal Reserve. Also worked on reporting outside of the Federal Reserve framework like with SEC and the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority(CIMA) reporting.

Working on the Basel and Regulatory reporting space within the Financial services domain for more than a decade. In the past have enabled banks to fulfill their regulatory reporting requirements helping them automate their filing and data transformat... Show more

Sagal serves as an Analytics Engineer at Fyxer AI, a renowned and rapidly scaling AI startup in the UK . There, she leverages her experience to optimise PLG strategy and enhance user experiences.

Sagal serves as an Analytics Engineer at Fyxer AI, a renowned and rapidly scaling AI startup in the UK . There, she leverages her experience to optimise PLG strategy and enhance user experiences. Show more

With 10+ years of experience working in New York City, San Francisco, China, Singapore, and now Australia, Jay Demetillo has built an impressive resume of experience and creating impact. ‍

Jay has designed for Twitter, Pinterest, Yahoo, and Grab. Jay was an adjunct professor at California College of the Arts in San Francisco and has spoken/lectured in China for ACG. He’s worked on notable projects like the Bay Lights, Gaspar Brasserie, San Francisco’s Park System SFPark, GrabFood, Grab's Facial Recognition for Drivers, and Grab AudioProtect.

Jay is passionate about building products and designs that are inclusive, having empathy for your users, and dismantling your biases. Currently, he's at Canva and has launched Canva Sheets.

With 10+ years of experience working in New York City, San Francisco, China, Singapore, and now Australia, Jay Demetillo has built an impressive resume of experience and creating impact. ‍ Jay has designed for Twitter, Pinterest, Yahoo, and Grab. ... Show more

I am Sophia Pfab, a passionate Scrum Master, Agile Leader, and Organizational Developer with a foundation in Industrial Engineering.

My core focus is creating real value, driving efficiency, and sustainably fostering self-organization and intrinsic motivation within teams—always with a clear outcome-orientation. I thrive on helping organizations and teams establish more effective and long-lasting ways of working.

With several years of experience as a consultant and Scrum Master, I have successfully implemented scaled agile frameworks (e.g., Nexus) and guided organizations through their agile transformations. I use my analytical skills to quickly detect tensions within teams, resolving them through targeted coaching and empathy, supported by my training in Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

My role extends beyond classical Scrum: I coach Product Owners and development teams, facilitate and design customized workshops, and strategically apply methods like Team Topologies and OKRs. My background as a former developer provides me with a deep technical understanding, and I am proficient in tool administration (e.g., Jira, Confluence, and Miro).

I am highly networked within the agile community, regularly discussing current challenges, and I communicate fluently in German and English.

I am Sophia Pfab, a passionate Scrum Master, Agile Leader, and Organizational Developer with a foundation in Industrial Engineering. My core focus is creating real value, driving efficiency, and sustainably fostering self-organization and intrinsi... Show more

Philippa Burgess is a geospatial intelligence and data analytics professional who helps organizations bring location into their Microsoft Fabric and Power BI workflows. She holds a Master of Science in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence from the University of Southern California (USC), a Master of Planning in Urban Planning, a Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) from USC, and is currently completing a Master of Studies in Law (MSL) with a Privacy Law and Cybersecurity Certificate.

She specializes in integrating ArcGIS GeoAnalytics for Microsoft Fabric with modern lakehouse architectures, enabling data and BI teams to enrich existing datasets with spatial context, scalable geoprocessing, and advanced geospatial models. In her sessions, Philippa shows data engineers, analysts, and BI developers how to design end-to-end geospatial pipelines in Fabric—using Spark-enabled GeoAnalytics functions, OneLake-backed data engineering, and semantic models that light up interactive mapping in Power BI.

Drawing on applied work in disaster risk, critical infrastructure, and cyber-physical security, she demonstrates concrete patterns for joining tabular business data with real-world geography, performing large-scale spatial analysis in Fabric notebooks, and delivering location-aware insights through ArcGIS for Power BI visuals. Philippa is the founder of GeoCyber Systems LLC and an active community speaker, helping the Microsoft data ecosystem unlock “the where” in their data with Fabric, Power BI, and ArcGIS GeoAnalytics.

She is a Women Techmakers Ambassador, Esri YPN Ambassador, Gold Microsoft Student Ambassador, NICE Cybersecurity Career Ambassador, and Favikon Partner.

Philippa Burgess is a geospatial intelligence and data analytics professional who helps organizations bring location into their Microsoft Fabric and Power BI workflows. She holds a Master of Science in Human Security and Geospatial Intelligence from ... Show more

I am a Data & AI Lead with over 15 years of experience architecting large-scale analytics initiatives that bridge the gap between technical infrastructure and business impact. Currently leading the BI and Data & AI practice at Columbus (UK), I specialise in moving organisations away from "autopsy reporting" and toward proactive, process-driven data strategies. I focus on the transition from fragmented tools to cohesive, product-minded data platforms - leveraging technologies like Microsoft Fabric to unify operational workflows and codify institutional knowledge into scalable, diagnostic systems.

I am a Data & AI Lead with over 15 years of experience architecting large-scale analytics initiatives that bridge the gap between technical infrastructure and business impact. Currently leading the BI and Data & AI practice at Columbus (UK), I specia... Show more