Programme

John was appointed the Innovation Editor on February 2016. Prior to that John has been the deputy editor at the Financial Times since September 2012. He was appointed Financial Times’ news editor, based in London on the main news desk, in January 2009. Prior to this he spent four years in Paris as the editor of the European edition of the Financial Times. Joining the FT in 1988 as a graduate trainee, Thornhill has been the Paris bureau chief, world news editor, Asia editor, Moscow bureau chief and a Lex columnist. John founded and runs the FT's 125 executive forum, which holds monthly meetings for senior executives from a range of industries. Previous speakers have included Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey, Ana Botin, and Mark Carney.In his spare time, John is a keen cyclist and plays chess. He also takes his long-suffering son to support Sunderland football club.

Mohammad Gawdat’s background is as an engineer, and he paired that with an MBA degree from Maastricht School of Management in the Netherlands. He has an impressive combined career of 21 years, starting at IBM Egypt as a systems engineer before moving to a sales role in the government sector. Venturing to the UAE, Mohammad joined NCR Abu Dhabi to cover the non-finance sector. He also became acquainted with the consumer gods industry as Regional Manager of BAT. In the last seven and a half years, Mohammad assumed many roles at Microsoft and most recently was Head of the Communications Sector across Emerging Markets worldwide. Mohammad’s biggest passion is emerging markets, because of their vast degree of cultural diversity and the challenges they face. As Managing Director of Emerging Markets, Mohammad manages Google’s sales and business operations in over 110 countries.

Andrei Dubovskov has vast experience in telecommunications: having begun his career in 1993, he filled executive positions in Millicom International Cellular, LLC Regional Cellular Communication, CJSC 800 and a number of other companies in Moscow, Almaty, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities. From 2002 to 2004, he was CEO of the Tele2 Group in Nizhny Novgorod. In 2004, he came to MTS, taking up the post of Nizhny Novgorod Branch Director. In 2006-2007, he was Director of the macroregion MTS Ural and, in 2007, started working for CJSC UMS (MTS Ukraine) as Senior Deputy CEO. Since 2008, he has been at the helm of MTS Ukraine. Mr. Dubovskov is a Board Member of MTS, AFK Sistema and member of the Supervisory Board of MTS Ukraine. He is Chairman of the Management Board of MGTS and JSC Russian Telephone Company, Vice-Chairman of the Management Board of Mobile TeleSystems (MTS-Belarus). He is also a member of the Committee on Corporate Management under the Board of Directors of AFK Sistema and the Committee on Strategy under the Board of Directors of MTS. Andrei was born in 1966 and graduated in 1993 from the All-Russia S.A. Gerasimov State Institute of Cinematography as a Film Director.

Artem Kudryavtsev was born in 1971. Graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Mechanics and Mathematics. From 1993 to 2000 occupied various senior positions in CJS Promradtechbank. From 2000 to 2008 worked as a Financial Director and later as First Deputy Finance and Development Director at JSC Sistema Mass Media (AFK Sistema). From 2008 to 2009 led Tsifrovoye Teleradioveschaniye (AFK Sistema) as a CEO. In 2009-2010 Artem Kudryavtsev worked as a First Deputy Director of Corporate Governance at Federal State Unitary Enterprise Russian Television and Radio Broadcasting Network (RTRS). In August 2010 appointed President of Company ТТК. At the same time Artem Kudryavtsev acts as Vice-president of Russian Cable Television Association (RCTA) and member of the board of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP). In 2011 and 2012 Artem Kudryavtsev was ranked among the top 10 best telecommunications industry executives according to the Executives Rating by the Russian Managers Association and Kommersant publishing house.

Vlad is now leading the company’s initiatives in the development of the first LTE phone with two screens: a high-resolution liquid crystal display (LCD) on one side and an electronic paper display (EPD) on the other. Vlad’s 20 year experience in the IT sector includes establishing successful start-up companies, leading corporate turnarounds and serving in management and strategic positions at major international IT companies. Vlad began his career in 1997 as a co-founder of an ERP Software Distribution Company. In four years, the company was grown into a $20+ million company with 150 employees. In 2001 it was bought by Navision that later was acquired by Microsoft. In 2003, Microsoft tapped Vlad to be the Senior Director of the Worldwide Partner Group. In 2005, Vlad was recruited to turn around Columbus IT Partner, a global IT services provider. In less than two years, Vlad returned the company to profitability after several years of substantial losses. Prior to joining Yota Devices, Vlad was Managing Director of SAP CIS in 2009-2011.

Duncan Mitchell is responsible for Cisco’s business operations throughout the 84 countries in its Emerging Theatre, a multi-billion dollar operation that encompasses the Middle East, Africa, Russia, and Turkey. He is also a member of Cisco’s Emerging Countries Council. Cisco’s vision for the Emerging Theatre is to lead emerging country innovation, prosperity, sustainability, and social inclusion through life-changing, intelligent networks. Previously at Cisco, Mitchell ran the Emerging Markets East Super Region for four years. Before that he served as UK Managing Director for seven years. He joined Cisco in 1996. Mitchell has a strong interest in Cisco’s Corporate Social Responsibility programs and is currently a member of the company’s Inclusion and Diversity Council, as well as Executive Sponsor of the Energy Advisory Board. In 2008, Mitchell was awarded a CBE by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, for services to business in the United Kingdom.

William (Bill) Savage is the vice president and general manager of the Developer Product Division within Intel's Software and Services Group. He joined Intel in 1990 as a software developer working on compilers. He is now responsible for Intel's developer products including Compilers, Performance Analyzers, Performance Libraries, Visual Computing software tools as well as the Intel Parallel Studio and Parallel Studio XE product lines. These products allow software developers to take full advantage of Intel processors through improved performance and time to market. In addition, Savage is responsible for hardware software co-design projects working closely with Intel design teams on future software technologies for Intel microprocessors. He is a board member of Havok, an Intel subsidiary. Savage holds a degree in Computer Science from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Luis Martinez Amago is President of EMEA (Europe, Middle-East and Africa) at Alcatel-Lucent since January 1st, 2012. Before taking this role, Luis was President Sales for the EMEA region since September 2011. Luis joined Alcatel back in 1988 in Barcelona as R&D Director Intelligent Networks. From 1993 till 2004, he held various positions, including Director Product Line Management Network Management, Vice-President and General manager of the Wireline Access Business Unit, Senior Vice-President and Country Senior Officer Alcatel Spain, Senior Vice-President and COO Integration and Service Business Division. The following 4 years, Luis was President of several Alcatel’s and Alcatel-Lucent’s global business divisions: Wireless Transmission, Applications – which covered IPTV, Mobile TV, Music, Content, Messaging and Payment solutions, and Fixed Access. In 2009, he became President of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States), North and Eastern Europe region, until September 2011. Luis holds a degree in Telecommunications Engineering and Business and a postgraduate degree in business management from IESE Business School.

<p> Born in Moscow, Russia on 27 August 1979.Graduated from the State University “Higher School of Economics”, Diploma in Economy and Business Administration.Since 1995 in Healthcare and Pharmaceutics.R-Pharm Founder. President of All-Russia Business Association “Delovaya Rossiya” (“Business Russia”), actively participating in the improvement of investment climate in the Russian Federation and the establishment of the regional investment standard.Member of the Economic Council under the President of the Russian Federation.Member of the Presidential Council for Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy.Member of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation. Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Head of Commission on Investment Climate.Representative (public ombudsman) of the Commissioner of the Presidential Council on the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs on issues related to the protection of the rights of foreign investors.Board-member and Co-chairman of Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on pharmaceutical and medical industry.Co-Chairman of the National Rating CommitteeMember of the Public Council under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (pharmaceutical, medical equipment and technologies).Member of the Supervisory Board of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "Agency for Strategic Initiatives". </p>

<p> Born in Moscow, Russia on 27 August 1979.Graduated from the State University “Higher School of Economics”, Diploma in Economy and Business Administration.Since 1995 in Healthcare and Pharmaceutics.R-Pharm Founder. President of All-Russia Business Association “Delovaya Rossiya” (“Business Russia”), actively participating in the improvement of investment climate in the Russian Federation and the establishment of the regional investment standard.Member of the Economic Council under the President of the Russian Federation.Member of the Presidential Council for Priority National Projects and Demographic Policy.Member of the Expert Council under the Government of the Russian Federation. Member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Head of Commission on Investment Climate.Representative (public ombudsman) of the Commissioner of the Presidential Council on the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs on issues related to the protection of the rights of foreign investors.Board-member and Co-chairman of Committee of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs on pharmaceutical and medical industry.Co-Chairman of the National Rating CommitteeMember of the Public Council under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation (pharmaceutical, medical equipment and technologies).Member of the Supervisory Board of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization "Agency for Strategic Initiatives". </p>