Archives: Speakers

Rikin “Rik” Mehta—CEO & Co-Founder of Lactiga, a biotechnology company developing therapies from human milk antibodies for rare immunodeficiencies. Rik also teaches international drug law and regulation at Georgetown University Law Center and Mount St. Mary’s University, is a former FDA official, and made history as the first Indian-American nominee for U.S. Senate in New Jersey, where he also set a record for the highest number of votes ever received by his party’s candidate.

Akira Shibata leads the APAC region at Weights & Biases, the industry-standard platform for MLOps and LLMOps. He specializes in driving AI value creation across diverse industries, from generative AI to financial services. An accomplished entrepreneur and data scientist, Akira holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of London and has served as CEO of DataRobot Japan and COO of Qosmo, Inc. LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akirashibata/

Reto Cueni joined Syz Group in June 2025 as Chief Economist. He previously served as Chief Economist at Vontobel Group from 2020, having been part of Vontobel Asset Management’s Investment Strategy team since 2014 as a Senior Economist.

From 2009 to 2014, Reto worked as a researcher and lecturer in the Department of Economics at the University of Zurich. His academic work earned him a research fellowship from the Swiss National Science Foundation at Columbia University in New York. He began his career in finance as an equity analyst at Vontobel Equity Research in 2005. He continues to serve as a guest lecturer at the University of Zurich.

Ian is a part time board/executive advisor to wealth managers, technology providers and Strategy Advisor to Multrees Investor Services.

He assists founders, boards and executives to better respond to industry complexity, uncertainty, speed of change in client expectations, technology advancements etc. which could impact their current strategy, execution and performance.

Previously with EY, PwC, IBM, Orbium, a privately held Swiss core banking implementor, sold to Accenture, experience includes working across wealth industry sub sectors, business models, geographies, firms of various sizes, at different points in their lifecycles. Can adjust to firm specific circumstances in a collaborative, cross functional and joined up way to help resolve their key strategic, client, advisor, operating model, technology issues. Provides outside in, aligned view of current, future key opportunities and challenges to help strengthen decision making, governance, communication priorities and in orchestrating an adaptive, resilient, innovative evolution path to deliver higher performance.

Anne Liebgott is founder of the online platform AW✚SWITZERLAND at americanswelcome.swiss, introducing wealth managers registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the United States dedicated to providing compliant wealth management services to US, Canadian, and Latin American citizens, residents, and expats. The platform also includes other wealth management-related services. In addition, Anne is the founder of AW❖UNITED KINGDOM and AW●ASIA PACIFIC | MIDDLE EAST. She also provides US-oriented, digital, and traditional marketing, communication, and business development strategies through her agency, Americom.

Experienced expert with a demonstrated history of working in IP Licensing, bussiness development and corporate operation in biotechology industry. Skilled in IP management, IP due diligence, Technology assessment，Patent licensing, Deal making, start-up making and Life Sciences. Strong IP legal & business professional with a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) focused in Pharmacology from Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Especializada en el mundo de la Publicidad y Marketing, donde después de casi 8 años trabajando en Telefonica, los últimos 5 los he dedicado al desarrollo de negocio y gestión de proyectos de Big Data enfocados a dar salida a nuestra solución de Smart Steps en sectores como la publicidad, el retail, el marketing y la movilidad. Trabajamos transformando la recopilación masiva de los datos de tráfico de nuestra red -debidamente agregados y anonimizados- en análisis avanzados de movilidad y patrones de comportamiento que puedan ayudar tanto a empresas del sector publico como privado.

Cuento con casi tres años de experiencia en el área de negocio de Telefónica y en los últimos meses, me he especializado en proyectos de Big Data, incluyendo Smart Steps. Trabajo directamente con clientes de primer nivel en sectores como turismo, movilidad, retail, publicidad y administración pública, ayudándoles a aprovechar al máximo la herramienta. Combino visión estratégica y análisis de datos con una relación cercana con el cliente, impulsando la toma de decisiones y generando valor en distintos ámbitos.