Archives: Speakers

Ivan Maryasin is General Manager of Growth for Business Banking at OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, where he leads initiatives to scale the bank’s offering for lower mid-market businesses, driving customer acquisition, product innovation, and revenue growth. He joined OakNorth following its strategic transaction with Monite in March 2026, which brought Monite’s financial automation technology and team into the bank to enhance its business banking capabilities. Ivan founded Monite in 2020, building a fintech platform focused on embedding financial operations tools into digital products. With deep experience across fintech and banking, he has a strong track record of building and scaling technology-driven financial solutions, and now plays a key role in integrating Monite’s capabilities into OakNorth’s broader finance automation strategy.

Chris is Co-Founder and CTO of Bluefin. Prior to founding Bluefin, he worked as a software engineer at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, specializing in counter-weapons of mass destruction simulations. Chris holds a B.S. and M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).

Michael Serour is General Manager at Verdant Energy Management Solutions, the North American leader in commercial smart thermostat technology.  Michael has extensive knowledge and experience in energy management for the hospitality and multi-family markets. Throughout his career, he has worked with some of the largest and most well-known brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Blackstone, Greystar and Accor.

Most recently, Michael has spearheaded significant accomplishments, including securing Energy Star certification, facilitating Verdant’s international expansion into Europe and establishing Verdant as the brand standard for IHG.

Michael joined Verdant in 2011 as Sales Director.  Prior to joining the company, he co-founded and lead sales for GreenFlow Energy based in Ottawa, Canada.  Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from McGill University specializing in Power & Energy Systems.

Sydney Hiller, Ph.D., MBA, serves as Director of US Regulatory Operations at Inter Scientific, where she supports clients across the development of regulated nicotine products with a particular focus on testing strategy, scientific planning, and evidence generation.

She brings deep expertise across multiple nicotine product categories, helping clients design practical, scientifically robust programmes that align with evolving US regulatory expectations. Her work combines technical depth with strategic insight, enabling clients to make well-informed decisions on study design, product characterization, manufacturing considerations, extractables and leachables, and nonclinical and clinical testing approaches.

Sydney leads cross-functional scientific programmes that help clients build strong testing frameworks, interpret complex requirements, and generate the data needed to support product development and commercial objectives in a changing FDA environment.

She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Southern California, an MBA, and a B.A. from New York University.

Chris Robinson, M.S., is a Principal Scientist and Regulatory Consultant at Accorto Regulatory Solutions with more than 25 years of experience supporting pharmaceutical and medical device development and regulatory submissions. He provides technical and regulatory leadership across CMC, analytical development, clinical and non‑clinical programs, and FDA‑facing documentation.

Chris’s expertise includes analytical method development and validation, impurity profiling, extractables and leachables assessments, stability program design, and toxicological risk assessment.

He has prepared and reviewed PMTAs as well as NDA, ANDA, and IND CMC sections and has extensive experience responding to FDA information requests and Complete Response Letters. His regulatory experience spans multiple FDA centers, including CDER, CBER, CDRH, and CTP.

Chris holds a Master of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.