Ahmed has a background in machine learning and after his experience in AI, he co-founded Q Ai to help make security operations teams more efficient and improve organizations' defensive capabilities.

Fola Adeleke, PhD is the Executive Director of GCG. He is a privacy and technology lawyer and an Atlantic Senior Fellow on Socio-Economic Equity at the London School of Economics. He is also a visiting Associate Professor at Wits Law School South Africa. He holds a PhD in International Economic Law and Human Rights and conducted his post-doctoral work as a Fellow in the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School and as a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Fola serves as a Commissioner for the Human Rights Commission, Canada and produces research on human rights and corporate accountability.

Gruia Badescu is a researcher and practitioner specialized on urban recovery in post-war and post-dictatorship contexts, integrated urban development, and urban memory. He holds an MSc in City Design and Social Science from the LSE's Cities Programme and a PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge. As a practitioner, Gruia worked in integrated urban development planning in Romania, Armenia, Georgia and Moldova, as well as policy research, urban design, and strategic planning for the Center for Sustainable Destinations at the National Geographic Society, UNDP, the World Bank, Space Syntax Romania, and the Association for an Urban Transition. He is the vice-president of the Romanian Center for Innovation in Local Development. He has taught as a departmental lecturer at the University of Oxford, and since 2019 he has been a Research Fellow at the University of Konstanz in Germany and a visiting lecturer in urban studies at SNSPA Bucharest. He published extensively on post-war reconstruction in the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East, as well as post-dictatorship urbanism and memorialization in Romania, Chile and Argentina.

Judy Boniface-Chang is a seasoned executive who’s passionate about scaling businesses and social impact. Her experiences span across the for-profit and nonprofit sectors the healthcare, manufacturing and technology industries throughout US, Asia, Europe and Africa. As the Chief Customer Officer at Birdie, she currently leads the marketing and customer success teams in transforming the way older adults receive care at home. She holds a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Francesca has an International Law and Human Rights background and 15+ years’ experience in working for international organizations (United Nations and World Economic Forum) on action-oriented research, capacity building and technical assistance in international justice, crime, peace and security. She has developed her expertise on countering and preventing cybercrime (from hackers profiling to protection of critical infrastructure), crime-tech convergence and misuse of technology, focusing on opportunities, systemic risks and threats created by new technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence, robotics, immersive technologies). She has a long standing expertise on leading programs to foster cybersecurity and increase cyber resilience, including cyber capacity building, and diversity and inclusion initiatives. More recently she has been working on securing digital transformation of contextually vulnerable organizations, in developing countries and in fragile contexts, to foster the achievement of the SDGs. At the Institute, she is leading the strategic engagement in programs and initiatives leveraging multistakeholder cooperation with civil society, academia, corporates, philanthropy and public institutions, to reduce the harms from cyberattack and to promote sustainable cyberpeace.

Dr. Heba Chehade is a Foresight Lead at the Dubai Future Foundation, where she leverages research and innovation to develop globally impactful visions of future growth, prosperity, and well-being. She identifies and analyses signals that shape transdisciplinary opportunities across sectors such as the economy, engineering, environment, government, social sciences, and technology, leading comprehensive research, policy recommendations, and multidisciplinary narratives. Her academic background in engineering and social sciences enables her to bridge practical engineering solutions with insightful social science perspectives, fostering innovation and driving impactful change. Her research interests include the social impact of science, technology, and innovation.

Samuel Darko has 15+ years’ experience as an entrepreneur and business leader. He leads SAND’s GBS / Outsourcing business, promoting SAND’s unique capacity to provide—at scale—high-calibre talent to deliver business process and technology services outsourcing out of Africa. Before SAND, he served as a Vice-President at Genpact in a number of sales roles across the Strategic Deals and Data-Tech-AI teams. Previously, Samuel led student recruitment at the African Leadership University (ALU), serving as chief evangelist of ALU’s mission to develop leaders for Africa and the world. He teaches entrepreneurship as an adjunct lecturer at Ashesi University and is a startup coach and angel investor. Samuel has an MBA from Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and was a member of the inaugural cohort at MEST Africa. Samuel loves audiobooks and is taking lessons for a private pilot’s license.

With 20 years’ experience at the intersection of foresight, innovation, and strategy in public, private and institutional environments, Olivier Desbiey has a strong background in economics and a passion for future trends. Currently as the Group Head of Foresight at AXA, he conducts in-depth studies on emerging societal trends (e.g: mental health, social cohesion, progress, risk perception), providing valuable insights to shape the company’s strategy, inform leaders, and educate colleagues on future thinking. Additionally, he drives AXA’s thought leadership future initiatives on societal issues by producing external publications and organizing inspiring events (i.e: 100+ reasons to love the future program). Prior to that, he spearheaded the foresight and innovation activities of the CNIL, the French data protection authority, co-founding the digital lab dedicated to anticipate privacy concerns associated with rapid technological advancements. He started his career at La Poste Group where he held various roles within the innovation department managing digital innovation and research projects. He is also an independent expert for the France 2030 Digital College, and member of the World Economic Forum Global Foresight Network.

Sergio has a Ph.D in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently a Professor at TEC de Monterrey-México. He has formerly served as the Mayor of Medellín, the governor of Antioquia, and is a presidential candidate for Colombia.

Dr Cindy Frewen, FAIA, urban futurist and architect, teaches the Design Futures Workshop and Social Change at the University of Houston graduate program in Strategic Foresight. She consults, speaks, and writes on urbanization, future cities, and design futures, specializing in the intersection of people, technology, and environment. Clients include the United Nations Development Program, UNESCO, US AID, US Treasury, US Federal Reserve, US General Services Administration, IBM, Hallmark Cards, VF Corporation, Transforming Local Government, and Water.org. She has presented to groups in Dubai, Vancouver, Singapore, Taiwan, Paris, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Washington DC, New York City, Chicago, and many others. She serves on the board of the Kansas City Design Center, chaired the board of the Association of Professional Futurists (APF) for seven years (a global organization of over 500 members in 40+ countries) and wrote a column for The Kansas City Star newspaper.

Dr. Christopher Luwanga is a space engineer and physicist based in Singapore, and originally from Malawi, Africa. As founder of Galamad Aerospace, he is leading a team of designers, engineers, and builders of spacecraft for the new age of consumer applications that are built around space technologies. One of the most exciting applications is that of broadband connectivity from and via outer space. This extension into space not only creates a powerful, resilient complement to our existing terrestrial network infrastructure but in some places creates a wider-reaching network at lower operational costs than traditionally seen. GALAMAD is also specifically developing the PROSat, a programmable, reuseable, and highly maneuverable spacecraft bus that will ultimately enable smart constellations that do not unnecessarily crowd or pollute the space environment.

Jo operates at the intersection of people, place, technology and data. Focusing on digital innovation and multidisciplinary collaboration, she aims to create more pleasurable, sustainable and citizen-centred environments through digital placemaking practices. Co-design, stakeholder community engagement and inclusive participatory practices are at the heart of much of her work. Jo’s sector experience includes health, education, culture, and the built environment.   Jo is a founder and Co-CEO of the Association of Collaborative Design, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and the Institute of Place Management, as well as an Industry Champion for the Creative Industries Policy and Evidence Centre.

Georgia Nicolau is a Brazilian creative professional, researcher, trained facilitator and consultant in the areas of social organizations, collective action, innovation and culture and arts. She is interested in everything that has to do with a transition to a fairer, egalitarian and cooperative world. Since 2020 she is a Fellow at the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). In 2016, she co-founded the Procomum Institute, a commons-oriented NGO where she is currently director of programs and partnerships and institutional development. Between 2013 and 2016, Georgia was deputy secretary of Creative Economy and Cultural Policy and director of management, entrepreneurship and innovation at the Ministry of Culture of Brazil.

Patrick Pichette is a seasoned financial and operational expert with over 30 years of experience. He has led world-class companies such as Google, Twitter, McKinsey, Sprint Canada and Bell Canada to break through the complexities of hyper-growth and digital transformations. As CFO of Google from 2008 to 2015, Patrick played a key role in driving the company's growth strategy and supported the creation of the Alphabet structure. He was part of Google's executive committee, overseeing the company's extensive corporate M&A agenda, which included nearly 150 acquisitions, such as Nest and Motorola. Patrick sat on the board of Twitter between 2017 and 2022, served as Chair of the Board in 2020-2021 and co-led the company's sale to Elon Musk for $44B in October 2022. Currently, Patrick sits on the board of Lightspeed POS Inc as Interim Chair of the Board and serves as an independent investor, advisor, and board member to many startups and innovation networks around the world, including Neo4j (Sweden), Zwift (US/UK), Hopper and Wealthsimple (Canada), and Creative Destruction Labs. A dedicated environmentalist, Patrick actively supports the Kenauk Project (Kenauk.com and institutkenauk.org). He holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BBA from UQAM.

Kate Robinson is a passionate advocate for unleashing human potential through creativity and education. She is the co-author of "Imagine if... Creating a Future for Us All," which serves as the manifesto for her father Sir Ken Robinson. Kate is dedicated to continuing Sir Ken's legacy and champions creativity as an essential skill for navigating an uncertain future. She inspires audiences to radically rethink existing systems, envisioning a world rebuilt on creativity, collaboration, and compassion. Kate firmly believes in our collective power to recreate the worlds we inhabit.

Sharmi Surianarain is Chief Impact Officer at Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator. She is a fierce advocate for opportunity and social justice for young people and women across the African continent. She leads research, knowledge, and insights, focusing on the impact of Harambee’s capabilities to change the system and contribute to solutions for Africa.

Maya Van Leemput is UNESCO Chairholder on Images of the Futures and Co-creation as senior researcher at Erasmus Brussels University ASA. Based in critical theory on alternative futures and postnormal times thinking, she uses transdisciplinary, experimental, creative, and participatory approaches, favouring the themes of media, culture, arts, communication, development, cities, and science and technology in society. With a focus on how images of the future can be co-created, Maya mixes futures research with media, art,and design approaches, a.o. in her long term independent project Agence Future with visual artist Bram Goots and many others. Van Leemput is MC for Agence Future, a World Futures Studies Federation fellow and senior fellow of the Centre of Postnormal Policy and Futures Studies. She is a director of the Association of Professional Futurists and a founding member of the visual arts collective OST and the Plurality University.

Dr. Erika Wagner serves as Sr. Director of Emerging Markets for Blue Origin, where she works to improve access to space for science, technology, arts, education, and entrepreneurship. Previously, Dr. Wagner worked with the XPRIZE Foundation as Senior Director of Exploration Prize Development and founding Executive Director of the XPRIZE Lab@MIT. Dr. Wagner’s interdisciplinary background includes degrees in Biomedical and Aerospace Engineering, with research spanning both human and mammalian adaptation to varying gravity levels; as well as organizational innovation and prize theory. She is a trustee of the Museum of Flight, an honoree of the Space Camp Hall of Fame, and a member of the National Academies Space Studies Board.

Stephanie is a Co-Founder of Heritage Space Food, a nonprofit focused on global conversations in space exploration, food sustainability, and nutritional security. She has over 15 years experience in international relations and space policy, including working at NASA and US State Dept in supporting public diplomacy efforts in bilateral and multilateral dialogues. She also served as an advisor to the Methuselah Foundation, the group supporting NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge - a Centennial Challenge focused on developing closed loop food tech systems that can reimagine the way astronauts eat in space, and translate those systems back down to Earth.

Dr. Marshall Bautz is the Associate Director of the MIT Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research and a Senior Research Scientist there. He has served in leadership and advisory roles for the development of science instruments for a number of space missions flown by the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. His laboratory at MIT develops advanced technology for future X-ray astrophysics missions, and his scientific interests include observational studies of clusters of galaxies.

Jeffrey Fasegha is deeply passionate about entrepreneurship and using innovation as a tool for economic and social development. He is Co-Founder at Deducta, an AI-enabled data orchestration platform for large enterprises, starting with procurement spend analytics. Prior to this, Jeffrey was Co-Founder and CEO of Fyyne, a startup building business operation software for independent beauty artists. While at Oxford, Jeffrey completed his MSc in African Studies and MBA, both with a focus on the Nigerian digital economy.

Atharv Gupta is a current Rhodes Scholar from Virginia, USA. He is passionate about the role of digital technologies in economic development, studying how the development sector can apply technology to achieve better and more secure outcomes. In the past, he has worked on these issues across the public sector, including at the U.S. Department of State and the World Bank. He has also spent time in the private sector at a number of international trade and research consultancies. Last year, he completed the MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the Oxford Internet Institute, where he researched the impacts of digital payments infrastructure on small-scale merchants in India. This year, he is pursuing the MA in Creative Writing at Oxford-Brookes University. Prior to Oxford, he studied International Relations, Computer Science, and Mandarin Chinese at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Nicole is a doctoral candidate through the DPhil in Translational Health Sciences. Her DPhil is funded through the joint support of the Rhodes Scholarship and Clarendon Scholarship. Prior to Oxford, Nicole was a medical student at the University of Toronto. Nicole’s research interests lie at the intersection of health equity, technology and healthcare. Specifically, she is interested in the use of virtual and remote technology in primary care settings and the role of policy in shaping patient and staff experiences.

Dr. Vuyane Mhlomi is a pioneering leader in healthcare. He earned his medical degree with multiple distinctions and first-class honours from the University of Cape Town. He completed a DPhil and MBA at Oxford as a Rhodes and Pershing Square Scholar. He co-founded Quro Medical, a digital healthcare company that offers Africa's first 'Hospital-at-home' platform. His leadership roles extend to teaching at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, being the non-executive director at Percept Advisory, and chairman of the Emergent Healthcare Group. He is a fellow of the International Strategy Forum and is a Trustee of the Bongani Mayosi Foundation. He established the MH Foundation to support underprivileged students and has been honoured with multiple awards for his contributions to healthcare and leadership. Dr. Mhlomi's dedication to transforming healthcare and uplifting communities makes him an exemplary figure in his field.

Abhilash Mishra is a scientist, entrepreneur, and educator working on problems at the intersection of technology and global challenges. Abhilash is the Founder and Chief Science Officer of Equitech Futures, a talent network and applied research lab dedicated to technology for social impact. Abhilash also holds an appointment at the University of Chicago, where he is the founding director of the Xu Initiative on Technology and Public Policy. His current research is focused on understanding the potential of emerging technologies in solving global challenges and associated risks. Abhilash is trained as a physicist and holds a PhD from Caltech and an MPhys from the University of Oxford. He received the Rhodes Scholarship in 2008, the Clinton Global Initiative University Distinguished Alumni Award, the KVPY Fellowship from the Government of India, and the Goldman Sachs Global Leader Award.

Eddie Mandhry is the founder of Prometheus X, a spinout from Schmidt Futures, the philanthropic initiative of Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, and his wife, Wendy Schmidt. Prometheus X is a talent engine that utilizes fast grants and fellowships to unlock untapped potential for the age of AI. Its fellows are developing innovative, scalable solutions to global challenges, enriching the diversity of ideas at the forefront of science and innovation. While serving as a Senior Fellow at Schmidt Futures, Eddie launched and led the Virtual Center for Advanced Potential, a bold $20 million research grant-making initiative aimed at driving innovation in the science of talent. Before his role at Schmidt Futures, Eddie was the Director for Africa & the Middle East at Yale University, where he led the university president’s Africa Initiative. At NYU, he served as the Associate Director of NYU Africa House and the NYU Abu Dhabi Center for Technology & Economic Development. Eddie has also held various leadership roles at Global Kids, furthering his commitment to empowering youth and fostering global citizenship. Eddie has completed Executive Education training in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at MIT, equipping him with specialized knowledge that informs his work at the intersection of technology, education, and social impact. He serves as a trustee of the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs and Hampshire College. Eddie holds a master's degree in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA in Political Science from Hampshire College. Recognized for his impact, he was named one of the top 100 Most Influential People of African Descent during the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. He is also a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Patrick Pichette is a seasoned financial and operational expert with over 30 years of experience. He has led world-class companies such as Google, Twitter, McKinsey, Sprint Canada and Bell Canada to break through the complexities of hyper-growth and digital transformations. As CFO of Google from 2008 to 2015, Patrick played a key role in driving the company's growth strategy and supported the creation of the Alphabet structure. He was part of Google's executive committee, overseeing the company's extensive corporate M&A agenda, which included nearly 150 acquisitions, such as Nest and Motorola. Patrick sat on the board of Twitter between 2017 and 2022, served as Chair of the Board in 2020-2021 and co-led the company's sale to Elon Musk for $44B in October 2022. Currently, Patrick sits on the board of Lightspeed POS Inc as Interim Chair of the Board and serves as an independent investor, advisor, and board member to many startups and innovation networks around the world, including Neo4j (Sweden), Zwift (US/UK), Hopper and Wealthsimple (Canada), and Creative Destruction Labs. A dedicated environmentalist, Patrick actively supports the Kenauk Project (Kenauk.com and institutkenauk.org). He holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics from Oxford, where he attended as a Rhodes Scholar, and a BBA from UQAM.