Michael McTear
Michael McTear is an Emeritus Professor at Ulster University with a special interest in spoken language technologies. He has been researching in the field of spoken dialogue systems for more than 20 years and is the author of several books, including Spoken Dialogue Technology: Toward The Conversational User Interface (Springer, 2004), Spoken Dialogue Systems (Morgan and Claypool, 2010), with Kristiina Jokinen, The Conversational Interface: Talking to Smart Devices (Springer, 2016), with Zoraida Callejas and David Griol, and Conversational AI ( Morgan & Claypool 2020). Michael has delivered keynote addresses and tutorials at many academic conferences and workshops, including SpeechTEK, Conversational Interaction, ProjectVoice, REWORK AI Assistant Summit, and the European Chatbot Conferences. Currently Michael is involved in several research and development projects investigating the use of conversational agents in socially relevant projects such as mental health monitoring, and home monitoring of older persons.
Carlos Guilherme Frias
Guilherme Frias is a seasoned digital transformation strategist and lean consultant with over 6 years of experience in the technology and consulting industry. He is currently the Head of Conversational AI at Digital Banking Millennium bcp, where he has played a key role in driving the bank's digital transformation journey through the adoption of Conversational AI solutions.
With a proven track record of delivering successful projects across a range of industries, Guilherme has helped numerous organizations streamline their processes, reduce waste, and increase efficiency through similar enablers. He has a passion for enhancing business performance through technology and is known for his innovative strategies that leverage Conversational AI to enhance customer experiences and drive business growth.
At the Conversational AI & Customer Experience Summit, Guilherme Frias will share his insights and experiences as a digital transformation strategist and Conversational AI expert. Attendees can expect to learn about the latest trends and best practices in Conversational AI, as well as practical tips for enhancing customer experiences and driving business growth through technology.
Amin Jamalzadeh
Amin Jamalzadeh, a dedicated and motivated data scientist, blends strong business acumen with technical expertise. He's recognized for crafting an award-winning business intelligence tool powered by predictive models and algorithmic bid optimization. Amin excels in deriving actionable insights through quantitative techniques, encompassing statistical modeling, machine learning, and data visualization. Proficient in languages like R, SAS, and Python, he's also skilled in database management, including MySQL and Spark. His prowess lies in transforming complex data into strategic solutions, with a focus on marketing attribution and high-performance computing.
Pankhuri Bansal
Pankhuri Bansal is the Director of Blockom Consulting with over 7+ years of experience in developing and scaling Blockchain solution. She is an appointed blockchain expert with the United Nations (UN/CEFACT), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), as an ambassador for the UK government as a blockchain expert at the BSI.
She has worked with JP Morgan, Onyx, in the blockchain launch division and has supported multiple organizations including crypto start-ups in converting ideas into products. She is a recognised digital tech expert in identifying trending digital tools, providing niche use cases of blockchain and designing solution architecture, converting ideas into commercially successful products. She has published several research papers under the United Nations and the ISO on use-cases and challenges within the blockchain and IoT technology.
She holds a MSc in Internet of Things & Entrepreneurship from City University, UK; Post Graduate in Artificial Intelligence & Machine learning, McCombs Business School, Uni of Texas, Austin; MSc in Economics & International Financial Economics, University of Warwick, UK; and BSc in Economics & Finance, London School of Economics, UK.
Higor Boconcelo
Higor Boconcelo brings a unique blend of skills to projects, combining empathy, scientific insights, and creativity to craft engaging, intuitive, and innovative user experiences. With a commitment to quality and usability, he designs experiences users return to. His versatile abilities include planning, prioritization, communication, and mentoring.
In collaborative settings, Higor's empathetic and analytical approach inspires stakeholders, shaping outstanding user-centric experiences across platforms. Passionate about leadership, technology, culture, and more, his curiosity drives continuous learning and effective problem-solving.
Higor holds degrees from UNESP and MMU, with a prestigious Erasmus Mundus scholarship. With a decade of experience in communication, UX, research, and creative writing, he's impacted millions of users worldwide.
Zahra Kolagar
Zahra Kolagar is an accomplished data scientist with a specialization in NLP. She focuses on developing methods and algorithms for data management, natural language generation, textual data analysis, and quality assurance. Additionally, Zahra works as a privacy expert in the Human Machine Interaction Group, ensuring that textual privacy considerations are seamlessly integrated into human-machine interaction systems, such as conversational assistants.
Dr.-Ing. Stefan Schaffer
Stefan Schaffer is a Senior Researcher and Project Manager at the Cognitive Assistants department of the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI). His works have resulted in several conversational interfaces for different domains, as mobility, automotive, tax information, customer service, and others. Currently, he is working on AI chatbots for museums and for hybrid events. Before joining DFKI, Stefan worked as a product manager at Linon Medien. He studied communication science and computer science and did his doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin in the field of multimodal human-computer interaction.
Aleksandra Brdar Turk
Aleksandra Brdar Turk is a financial executive with broad experience in banking and asset management, especially in operations, risk and IT management, specializing in process re-engineering, agile development and lean organization. She started her career in financial markets and asset management, transitioned to operations and risk management, which led her to her PhD studies in Operational Risk and the FRM certification. She later added IT management to her list of responsibilities as an executive and worked in these areas for the last 15 years. Aleksandra joined Nova KBM in 2019 to manage Banking Operations and Contact Center and during this time she worked on several projects, including the reorganization and optimization of the Banking operations department and the introduction of a new core banking system, a banking merger and full migration and integration into one single IT system and organization, the introduction of Robotic process automation in our bank and the complete restructuring of the Contact center - including the change of the supporting IT platform and the introduction of smart AI-powered conversational tools in the interactions with clients. She is an enthusiastic problem solver, technology lover and disruptor who loves to think outside the box and she happily shares her ideas with her team of fabulous co-workers.
Joao Simoes
Joao is an executive with 20 years of experience in the field of business transformation.
Since 2019 he is the Head of Digital Care at Vodafone Portugal, leading the transition of customer support to
digital, in a journey where TOBi (Vodafone’s virtual assistant) plays a central role.
Before joining Vodafone Joao worked for 5 years at Deloitte as a management consultant, and 11 years in
continuous improvement and digital transformation positions in the telco industry, at Portugal Telecom/Altice
(Portugal) and Oi (Brazil).
He has a Master of Science in Business Administration focussing on change management from Linnaeus
University (Sweden), and a Business Studies Degree from ISCTE (Portugal).
Jesse Lucas
Jesse Lucas is an expert in the field of conversational AI and commerce, known for leading conversational commerce initiatives at the renowned British retailer, John Lewis. With a relentless drive for innovation, Jesse has played a key role in revolutionizing customer experiences, implementing cutting-edge strategies, and leveraging chatbots powered by artificial intelligence.
Demonstrating a strong commitment to knowledge sharing, Jesse recently launched THE CHITCHAT, a highly influential blog that provides invaluable insights, trends, and best practices in the realm of conversational commerce. This blog has rapidly become a go-to resource for businesses and professionals aiming to unlock the immense potential of conversational AI in transforming customer experiences.
Jesse is widely recognized for his dynamic speaking style, captivating audiences through a seamless integration of practical expertise and visionary thinking.
Sebastian Caballero
Sebastian Caballero is a Research Lead with a focus on emerging markets. With seasoned expertise, he guides Fortune 500 companies and startups in creating disruptive solutions that bring value to users, businesses, and products. Sebastian employs research, systems thinking, scenario planning, future foresight, and human-centered innovation to drive success.
Specializing in UX Research, consumer insights, HCI, business model design, scenario planning, future foresight, new technologies, and emergent markets, Sebastian brings a wealth of skills to the table
Fernando Asenjo
Fernando Asenjo is an experienced Project Manager adept at overseeing innovation processes and aligning business and user needs across diverse organizations. With a keen eye for identifying disruptive technologies, he excels in scaling innovation while effectively managing teams and senior stakeholders. Leveraging his expertise in innovation methodologies and internet business, along with his teaching experience at ISDI Digital Business School, Fernando applies his skills to a wide range of digital products and industries.
Xuanjie LI
Xuanjie LI possesses a range of functional and management skills, including Scrum Master expertise, IT Project Management, and a grasp of both Waterfall and Agile methodologies for software development. He is skilled in functional specification, project pre-sizing, resource planning, as well as functional, user acceptance, and regression testing. Xuanjie also excels in client handling and support.
On the technical front, Xuanjie is proficient in UML modeling, use case visual modeling, test case scripting, workflow diagramming, Web Service/XML, API integration, and various programming languages such as Python, VBA, JavaScript, and HTML/CSS. His knowledge extends to SQL for database management and tools like Office and LaTeX.
Michelle Bridenbaker
Michelle Bridenbaker is a senior leader with extensive international experience in medical/scientific affairs and customer engagement for pharmaceutical & biotech companies. Her expertise spans multiple therapeutic areas, and she excels in strategic planning, cross-functional transformation, digitalization, customer engagement, business intelligence, and regulatory compliance.
Erwin Pellemans
Erwin Pellemans (1979) is working as a product manager within Rabobank.
He is responsible for all developments related to RPA, Conversational AI, Low code, and Machine Learning in the CFO domain of the bank.
Working in Finance & IT for 22 years, he is passionate about the continuous improvement of financial processes using innovative solutions next to traditional automation.
Henny Steiniger
Customer Experience, Customer Care, Customer Intelligence, Loyalty & Retention, Global Research & Customer tangible Insights, Customer Centric Strategies, Omnichannel Retail, global matrix organization, Business Transformation, genAI for enterprises, diversity, female Leadership, new work, passion & empowerment
Maria Lysén Kotti
Maria is motivated by challenges and a strong believer that every single thing can be improved. For the last decade, she has turned numbers into stories and whether it's functionality, design or processes, internal or external, there's always room for optimization.
Marina Ashurkina
Some of exciting projects she's worked on include:
· api.ai - a conversational platform, acquired by Google in 2016 (now Dialogflow).
· Speaktoit Voice Assistant - speaking 11 languages, with over 500,000 users.
· Huawei Voice Assistant and Voice Assistant Platform - in the initiation stage.
· Electronic Arts (EA) Sports Simulator - full game production cycle.
· Jagex - Game Publishing Platform (SaaS)
Pablo Campos
Pablo Campos boasts 20+ years of experience in Technology, Business, and Talent Development. With a robust background in Sales, Marketing, and project leadership, he offers profound expertise in people management, C-level roles, and CEO positions. His technical prowess, combined with strong interpersonal and communication skills, enables effective cross-functional collaboration and project leadership.
Jesper Christrup Jensen
Jesper Christrup Jensen is an innovative management consultant with a focus on insurance industry innovation, data analytics, and customer experience. His expertise spans emerging trends and technologies in financial services. Jesper excels in leading teams, guiding startups, and helping clients navigate changing landscapes. His key differentiators include data analytics, innovation, and a commitment to personal development.
Tristan Post
Alexandra Redmann
Alexandra Redmann is an accomplished AI engineer at Y.digital, an organization dedicated to Conversational AI and advanced Natural Language Processing, where she focuses on designing and spearheading the implementation of data-driven AI solutions across diverse sectors, including insurance, healthcare, semi-public organizations. Her contributions empower clients to harness the full potential of their data assets, optimizing internal processes and enhancing communication with both internal teams and customers. She holds a PhD in Neurolinguistics with a focus on language production and knowledge representation.
Olaf Steffen
Projectmanager / Discovery Lead
Telefónica
Olaf Steffen
Olaf Steffen has been a project manager since 2012 and was previously responsible as Product Owner and Squad Lead and now as Discovery Lead for Conversational AI in the area of Customer Service & Sales.
Gerrit Seebeck
Soon