David Bryant is Chief Creative Officer at IBM Research, where he leads creative strategy,  narrative and design across IBM's quantum computing, AI, and semiconductor research portfolios. He has worked inside the quantum industry since 2018, first as Marketing Director at Rigetti Computing and then as Chief Experience Officer of IBM Quantum, with global responsibility for the design and marketing of IBM's quantum program, including the Red Dot "Best of the Best" award-winning industrial design of IBM Quantum System Two.

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He holds three quantum computing patents, spanning technical invention and industrial design, including a 3D method for visualizing the resources of large-scale quantum processors.

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His thirty-year career spans technology and advertising, with creative leadership roles at Google and agencies including Wieden+Kennedy, BBH, and FCB. A Computer Science graduate of King's College London, he specializes in translating frontier science into stories, systems, and designs for the wider world.

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He will speak at the Frontier Summit on quantum computing, and the intersection of creativity and frontier science.

Tobias Peyerl leads the Strategic Intelligence team at OpenAI, where his work focuses on understanding and reducing emerging risks from advanced AI systems and ensuring that AI products and systems are developed in ways that are beneficial to humanity. His team works at the intersection of AI safety, intelligence analysis, geopolitics, online ecosystem integrity, and national security, helping anticipate how powerful AI systems may be misused and building practical approaches to make them safer.

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Before joining OpenAI, Tobias spent nearly six years at Google, where he led work across intelligence analysis, trust and safety, and risk governance. He has also served as a political affairs officer at the United Nations, working on issues related to international security, conflict prevention, and emerging threats. Tobias holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and has studied at Harvard Law School, Sciences Po Paris, NYU, and Humboldt University in Berlin. He has guest lectured at UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC, University of Tokyo, and Columbia.

Taylor Black directs AI & Venture Ecosystems at Microsoft's Office of the CTO and serves as Inaugural Director of the Leonum Institute for AI & Emerging Technologies at the Catholic University of America. He teaches entrepreneurship both there and at UW's Foster School. His two decades of venture building—including corporate venture studios and deep tech incubation—inform his intellectual project: understanding how innovation actually happens and what AI means for human cognition and flourishing.

Dr. Nicci Gilbert-Daniels is a Grammy-nominated artist, media executive, and cultural architect committed to advancing creative ownership and authentic representation. A founding member of the iconic R&B group Brownstone, she is also one of television’s most impactful executive producers, having created TV One’s groundbreaking franchise R&B Divas and BET’s acclaimed docuseries From the Bottom Up. Her upcoming documentary film Broken Things and short film Social Conflict continue her mission of truth-centered storytelling by addressing critical issues impacting the safety and well-being of women and children.

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As Founder and CEO of WIRF Media and visionary behind the emerging streaming platform Divine 9 TV, Dr. Nicci is building a national infrastructure that empowers communities especially women of color to create, own, and distribute content that uplifts, educates, and inspires. Her career includes partnerships with industry legends such as Michael Jackson’s MJJ Records, Tyler Perry, and Queen Latifah, and she is also the founder of Curvato, a lifestyle brand created for the underserved plus-size market. She is a fierce advocate for generational wellness, wealth-building, and the protection of intellectual property ownership as a foundation for lasting community empowerment.

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Her work has been recognized with numerous honors, including two Grammy nominations, BET Her Woman of Impact, Lincoln Shining Star, InfluenceHER Awards, Billboard Music Awards recognition, and the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award presented under President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. A proud member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., she is also the founder of the From the Bottom Up Foundation and serves on the boards of Hip Hop Sisters, Saving Our Selves, Beyond the Game Foundation, and The Center for Black Women’s Wellness.

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A true multi-hyphenate—singer, writer, producer, actress, speaker, designer, and advocate. Dr. Nicci Gilbert-Daniels is a fearless advocate for creative equity and generational legacy. Guided by faith, resilience, and purpose, she continues to build platforms that shift culture,
not just follow it owned by the culture, led by the divine.

I work at the intersection of three domains that don't often overlap: venture capital, data science, and AI.

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At Operator Collective, I run the firm's operations and data function and serve as its first Chief AI Enablement Officer - developing the systems, workflows, and research programs that let a lean VC team punch above its weight. That includes leading OpCo Intelligence, our research and knowledge-sharing initiative, and driving AI adoption across investment processes, LP relations, and internal ops.

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Before VC, I spent two decades as a structural engineer and project manager, working on complex built environment projects for the Getty, Apple, LACMA, the Academy Museum, the LA Coliseum, and more. I came to data science through that work, earned my Master’s in Information and Data Science from UC Berkeley, and moved into venture to apply it in a new domain.

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I write and speak on AI, data strategy, and the operational side of VC. Winner of the Visualize 2030 Data Visualization Challenge and ENR California Top 20 Under 40.

Born Ronald William Artest Jr. , in Queensbridge, New York, Artest changed his name to Metta World Peace in September 2011 in an effort to encourage happiness and wellness. He is the father of four children.

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Founder of Artest Management Group and Co CEO of XvsXSports , Metta looks to build his management company piece by piece.

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World Peace played professional basketball for 19 years. In his career he played for 6 NBA teams. He won the NBA World Championship with the LA Lakers in June 2010 and received the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award – the NBA’s highest citizenship and community service honor – in April 2011. He was selected to the 2005-06 NBA’s All-Defensive Team, was voted by the media as 2003-04 NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year and was the only man with 271 steals in his first two seasons in the NBA, breaking Michael Jordan’s record. His autobiography, “No Malice: My Life in Basketball” was released in May 2018 with Triumph Publishing and a documentary on his life in basketball, “Ron Artest: The Quiet Storm” was released on Showtime in May 2019. World Peace is currently pursuing many entrepreneurial projects including the XvsXsports project which will launch to the general public in October 2020.

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World Peace is also known as a prominent mental health advocate, pop culture personality and media favorite. He raffled off his 2010 NBA World Championship Ring with the proceeds going to his nonprofit, Xcel University (now known as Artest University). The online ring raffle raised more than $650,000. Funds were donated to nonprofits that provide mental health therapists and mental health services to their communities and to provide scholarships to underprivileged youth in the New York City area.

Dr. Steffi Diem is an experimental plasma physicist and fusion engineer working to turn the power of the stars into a practical, abundant energy source on Earth. A professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, she leads the Pegasus-III Experiment, where her team develops innovative, compact technologies aimed at making fusion energy more affordable and scalable.

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She also founded the Fusion Impacts Collaborative, an interdisciplinary team examining what fusion means for economic opportunity, environmental sustainability, and energy equity — and how it can be deployed responsibly at global scale. Diem was appointed as the first U.S. Science Envoy for fusion energy, spoke at the White House summit on commercial fusion energy, and testified before Congress on the field's technology challenges.

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She was selected as a member of the National Academies' New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and was previously a research scientist at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Rob Franklin is Senior Vice President of Brain-Computer Interfaces at Blackrock Neurotech, where he leads strategy and development across implantable BCI technologies spanning research, clinical translation, and commercialization. With over 16 years of hands-on experience in intracortical neural recording and stimulation systems, he has worked closely with academic researchers, clinicians, regulators, and industry partners to translate cutting-edge neural interface technologies into robust, scalable clinical systems. His work includes direct involvement in first-in-human studies and long-term implanted BCI deployments.

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Rob brings particular expertise at the intersection of neurotechnology engineering, regulatory strategy, and translational execution (with a focus on ensuring BCI technologies are reliable, manufacturable, and positioned for broad clinical adoption). He also serves as co-chair of the iBCI-CC workgroup on modular components, interoperability, and standards, helping to shape the technical foundation for next-generation neural interface platforms.

Alexis Crowell is a seasoned technology executive with over 20 years in the industry. She currently serves as Chief Marketing Officer of Axelera AI as well as the General Manager of the Americas.

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Crowell is an agile and proven global leader who has lived and worked on four continents. Her career path has been unconventional and has spanned software engineering in cloud and client technologies, artificial intelligence and deep learning frameworks, edge compute & digital transformation, product marketing, and partnering with some of the industry’s largest entities as we collectively build solutions for end users.

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She has a strong conviction that Artificial intelligence can be a powerful ally for unlocking our potential and advancing towards a more sustainable future. She has served as the regional leader for Sustainability and ESG efforts and served as the Intel representative to the APAC Sustainability Council.

Aishatu R. Yusuf, MPA, Ed.D. (c), has over a decade of experience in crafting innovative solutions to address some of society’s most complex problems. She approaches systemic change management head-on from an intersectional framework that confronts both the impact and extent of race and gender bias in the administration of justice for marginalized groups, including low-resource communities, system-impacted people, youth, girls, and women. At Impact Justice, Aishatu has created, evaluated, and sustained a portfolio of transformational projects that work to reform and transform social systems. Some of these projects include California Justice Leaders: a first-of-its-kind AmeriCorps reentry mentorship program for formerly incarcerated young adults, The Homecoming Project: a social justice extension of the sharing economy model that pairs returning citizens with welcoming community hosts, and Food in Prison Project: the first national effort to call attention to the crisis of food inside America’s prisons.

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Aishatu has presented at conferences, universities, and government agencies nationwide. She has provided legislative testimony, drafted education policy for Congressional leaders, and has been interviewed by numerous national and local publications, on-air television, and podcasts. Aishatu holds a doctorate, Ed. D., from the Johns Hopkins University School of Education, a Master of Public Administration from Northeastern University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Utah.

Jennifer Heil is an Olympic champion, entrepreneur, and co-founder of revvel, an AI company building the future of personalized human performance, starting with women. Revvel is encoding the knowledge and judgment of the world's leading human performance experts—the practitioners behind Olympic champions and professional athletes—into AI, making their expertise accessible beyond elite sport while keeping those experts actively involved in shaping and continuously improving the product.

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A Guinness World Record holder, Stanford Graduate School of Business Leadership Award recipient, and one of the most accomplished freestyle skiers in history, Jennifer has spent her career building systems that help people perform at their best. From winning Olympic gold to co-founding B2ten, helping shape Canada's Safe Sport movement, and serving as Team Canada's Chef de Mission for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, she has consistently focused on translating elite performance into lasting impact.

Executive technology leader at lululemon with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation, AI adoption, and engineering excellence at global enterprise scale. Passionate about applying artificial intelligence to improve business outcomes, software delivery, and technology investment decisions.

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Outside of work, currently writing a children’s football book series and building an AI-powered golf performance app that helps golfers improve through data-driven insights. A frequent mentor and advisor on engineering leadership, innovation, and the future of AI in the enterprise.

Max Lytvyn is a co-founder of Grammarly and currently focuses on advising Superhuman’s growth team.

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Before helping build Grammarly, Max co-created MyDropBox, a plagiarismdetection company, and served as the Director of Product Strategy at Blackboard Inc. after it acquired MyDropBox. Max’s favorite aspect of working at Grammarly is exploring new opportunities and puzzling out challenges. He’s also inspired by working with and learning from a talented, values-driven team.

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Max holds a BBA in information systems from the International Christian University in Kyiv and holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Niamh Donnelly is Co-Founder and CTO of Akara Robotics, a company developing autonomous robots and AI that improve healthcare outcomes and transform hospital efficiency.

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Recognized as one of Europe’s top emerging tech leaders, Niamh has been awarded the European Rising Innovator Award by the European Commision and under her leadership, Akara’s robots have received international acclaim, including being named among TIME magazine’s Best Inventions of the Year (2025).

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With deep expertise in machine learning, robotics, and applied AI in healthcare, Niamh has built and scaled technical teams across Europe and the U.S., bridging the gap between research and real-world clinical impact.

I currently serve as COO of Secant Fuel, a climate technology startup creating high-value green fuels from waste carbon streams. I also work with Hard Climate as a Venture Partner, where we create and grow climate technology companies. I work across strategy, operations, fundraising, and helping teams navigate the messy reality of building hard tech.

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What fascinates me most is how complex systems actually change. Whether it's climate, technology, organizations, communities, or ecosystems, I'm drawn to questions that don't have obvious answers and that require people with very different perspectives to work together.

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Some of the most meaningful conversations I've had recently have been with founders, scientists, conservationists, investors, and community builders who are all trying to solve very different problems and often run into the same human challenges: uncertainty, incentives, trust, leadership, and change.

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I live on Vancouver Island, where I spend a lot of time outdoors, thinking about the relationship between people and the places they inhabit. I am particularly interested in supporting founders, supporting women in STEM and entrepreneurship, and exploring how people and organizations can create meaningful impact in the world.

Ambrosia Vertesi has spent her career helping build some of the tech industry's fastest-growing companies. Over the past 15 years, she has led organizations through hypergrowth at Ironclad, Duo Security, and Hootsuite, scaling global teams from startup to enterprise, helping companies achieve billion-dollar valuations, and earning repeated Fortune Best Workplace recognition.

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A co-founder of HROS, the world's largest HR open-source community, Ambrosia also served as an Operating Partner at Operator Collective, partnering with founders and operators to support and invest in the next generation of enterprise technology companies.
Drawing on her experience designing high-growth cultures, Ambrosia speaks on how AI is reshaping leadership, organizational scale, and the operating systems behind great companies.

Colin built a team of 16 employees across 3 countries to commercialize multiple low carbon materials and deliver over 185,000 lbs of product last year. Prior to founding Applied Bioplastics, Colin delivered complex software installation and support projects across the healthcare and banking sectors.

I’m a Lawyer-Poet. Former international prosecutor & present-day builder of human connection through story. I am deeply committed to the human collective. I build Responsible AI Literacy ecosystems that hold space for truth telling, adapting and accountability.

Christian F. Nunes, MBA, MS, LCSW-C, LCSW, an internationally recognized speaker and expert in mental health, gender equity, and digital safety, created Saving Ourselves Foundation with a vision rooted in a fundamental truth: communities already possess the skills, knowledge, and power needed to create lasting change. What they need is to center survivors, and they deserve equity, access, and safety.

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Christian’s expertise spans evidence-based clinical practice, policy advocacy, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ), and organizational transformation. She consistently weaves social work, research, and social justice frameworks throughout her work. Her insights have shaped national conversations on CNN, The Dr. Phil Show, Forbes, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Washington Post, among other media outlets.

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Christian is a licensed clinical social worker with over 20 years of experience, a Certified Clinical Trauma Specialist, and the founder and CEO of Equity Bound Solutions LLC, where she guides organizations through equity-centered transformations, with a focus on psychological safety. She is currently pursuing her Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) at Simmons University, and continues to advance scholarship on trauma-informed practice and systemic change.

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Previously, she served as National President of the National Organization for Women (NOW) from 2020-2025. Christian made history as only the second African American woman to hold this role in the organization's 60-year legacy.

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Under her leadership, she transformed NOW. She modernized the organization and anchored it in intersectional feminism and anti-racist practice. She restructured its systems, governance, and strategic priorities to center racial justice and intersectionality, mobilized a new, diverse generation of feminist leaders, and amplified marginalized voices within the movement.

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She is also the author of the children's book No Hug Today, about consent and bodily autonomy.

Arun is the CEO of Aloe, the AI lab building superhuman critical thinking. Aloe is focused on developing AI that people and industry can genuinely trust – and on shaping the tools needed to help humans and our society thrive in the decades ahead.

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Arun is an AI researcher whose path began with cognitive science and philosophy, where he studied how human thinking works, and how it breaks. His career has spanned research, design, and founding multiple startups; his contributions to AI were recognized by the US with an Einstein visa before he chose to return to Canada from Silicon Valley to found Aloe. He combines technical depth with insatiable curiosity and values-driven leadership. He is a decade-long Vipassana meditator.

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Amy Peck is the Founder & CEO of EndeavorXR, a leading global XR strategy & consulting firm. She is one of the world’s foremost strategists on immersive and intelligent technology including Digital Twins and applied AI. She advises Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and advanced technology startups on how to leverage emerging technology to optimize all aspects of business. She is a globally recognized futurist, and gives lectures, workshops and keynotes on emerging technology, business and innovation. 

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Amy was named one of the Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Tech and Top 100 Women of The Future. She serves as Executive Advisor to Booz Allen Hamilton within their CTO Applied R&D group working across Digital Twins, AI & Spatial Computing. She also serves as Lead Advisor, AI & New Media, for the Royal Commission of Riyadh City and The Royal Court. 

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Amy serves on the Venture Board Harvard University’s HealthLab Accelerator (H2A). She is an angel investor and Venture Partner at the Capital Region XR Accelerator. Amy sits on the Board of Advisors for multiple companies and is Executive Board Chair of Prospera Women, a global organization supporting female-led startups. She works with universities and government agencies advising on the development of innovation hubs, accelerators and emerging technology programs. 

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Her own personal mission is to see technology accessible to all - fundamentally improving every aspect of our lives and elevating the way we work, learn, communicate and play.

Managing Partner at Emerging Ventures Capital - investing in Seed-Stage US and Canada based B2B tech startups.Emerging Tech "Super Angel". Invested in over 500 startups.

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Prior to entiering current carrerr as inversor, Built, operated, and exited 4 successful different businesses in the Insurance and Finance industries over a 28-year period. Now focusing on investing in early-stage emerging tech startups both as a very active angel investor, and through Emerging Ventures, in my role as Managing Partner. Happy to use my accumulated experience, connections, and financial resources to help the next generation of bright, energetic founders build their businesses.

Toni Thai Sterrett is a filmmaker, creative, and founder of CinePartna, an AI-powered screenwriting app built to supercharge instead of replacing writers which just soft launched at Microsoft in December 2025.

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A creator turned founder, Toni was the first tech founder selected by The Greene Space (WNYC/NPR) to be named an Artist in Residence. She’s spoken at CES, Harvard, Princeton, Cannes Film Festival, Google, SXSW, JP Morgan Chase, Consensus, Korea Tech Week, and more.

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She co-produced and co-starred in the Gotham Award-nominated film, August the First, and has directed commercials and branded content for Pantene, Clinique, Nissan, KMart, BET, etc. Toni was chosen by Ava DuVernay as Vibe’s Next Female Filmmaker.

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She’s been featured in Revolt, Yahoo Finance, The NY Times, Time Magazine and on the Apple App Store (for the entire month of February 2022) . Toni has hosted/moderated conversations for Amazon, Bumble, Coindesk, Will Packer Productions, SXSW, HBO, Walmart, and Showtime. She guest lectures at Columbia University’s MFA film program, NYU, Parsons School of Design and The School of Visual Arts about emerging technology, filmmaking, creativity, and agency in an evolving world. She’s als the founder of Bad Grrls Creative Club, a community of top creators at the intersection of film,fashion, art and tech.

Senior Marketing and Innovation leader, with a passion for emerging tech, big creative ideas and interesting collaborations.

Janice is an entrepreneur and investor in the tech industry. She founded and served as CEO of Neurio Technology, a company that specializes in residential energy monitoring and management systems. Following Neurio's acquisition, Janice became an angel investor and Managing Partner of the Women's Equity Lab investment fund.

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She also serves as an advisor and board director to various companies and not for profit organizations. She has received numerous accolades for her achievements, including nominations for Ernst & Young's "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" and recognition as a "Top Forty Under 40" by Business in Vancouver.

Peter leads strategy and growth at Bimotal, a DeepTech startup focused on actuator technology for Physical AI and more. Prior to Bimotal, Peter has experience leading consulting engagements at KPMG and driving product and customer growth at Series B startup Doss. He holds a BMath from the University of Waterloo and a MBA from Berkeley Haas.

I’m an entrepreneur and product leader, currently focused on making home design easy. Previously I was co-founder and CEO at Flight (acquired by Figma), Spaces (acquired by Slack), and OpenCal (acquired by Groupon).

Dr. Meaghan Thumath is the founder of the HERO Lab (Health Equity and Resilience in Outbreaks) at UBC and a global leader at the intersection of artificial intelligence, health security, and crisis response. With a career spanning frontline epidemic response, academia, and high-stakes advisory roles to the UN and WHO, she translates deep scientific expertise into scalable platforms. Her current venture develops AI systems to counter disinformation and strengthen resilience in defense, pharmaceutical, and emergency sectors—domains where accuracy, speed, and trust are decisive.

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Backed by competitive research grants, international partnerships, and venture interest, her work has already shaped public health strategy in Canada and abroad. She brings a rare mix of credibility—Assistant Professor at UBC, DPhil (Oxford)—and entrepreneurial drive, proven by spinning cutting-edge research into actionable tools.

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Looking forward, Meaghan is scaling frontier AI systems that safeguard societies against the twin threats of misinformation and instability, positioning her company to lead in a $100B+ trust-tech market.

Gerhard Abel is co-founder and managing director of PLANET architects, an internationally active interdisciplinary architecture and design office.
With his international team of 30 architects, interior designers, product designers, graphic designers and organisational developers, he is passionate about designing future-oriented working, learning and living spaces. Using participative, people-centred design processes, he develops solutions that strengthen social interaction and provide positive impulses for the community.

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As a keynote speaker, guest lecturer and co-initiator of the FUTURE EXPERIENCE FORUM, Gerhard Abel is a recognised voice on the future of work and transformative workplace design.

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He is also a member of the Creative Industries Council of the Federal Ministry Ministry Economy, Energy and Tourism, Republic of Austria.

FRANK PALMER
Founder, Brand Frank | Strategic Advisor | Agency Builder

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EXECUTIVE PROFILE
Visionary business and creative leader with 50+ years building, scaling, and transforming agencies into
market leaders. Known for decisive leadership, sharp strategic thinking, and developing top-tier talent.
Proven ability to diagnose complex business challenges and turn them into clear, actionable growth
strategies.

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LEADERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS
• Built and led multiple high-performance agencies including Palmer Jarvis, DDB Canada, and PS&CO.
• Orchestrated merger with DDB Worldwide, establishing a leading Canadian creative network
• Led organizations through ownership transitions, restructures, and competitive market shifts
• Developed industry-leading talent; protégés founded Rethink and Broken Heart Love Affair
• Built long-term partnerships with global brands including Volkswagen, McDonald’s, Unilever,
Budweiser, TELUS
• Resolved major financial challenges, including eliminating $750K debt through strategic negotiation

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CURRENT
Founder — Brand Frank
Advises CEOs, founders, and leadership teams on business strategy, brand positioning, and growth.

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PREVIOUS ROLES
Founder / Chairman — PS&CO;
Chairman / CEO — DDB Canada
Founder — Palmer Jarvis

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COMMUNITY & INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP
• Founder — National Advertising Benevolent Society (NABS Canada)
• Former Chairman — Special Olympics BC
• Led major public service initiatives supporting youth, health, and community organizations.
. Vancouver Police Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, Canadian Mental Health,
. President Kinsmen Club of Vancouver, Rick Hanson Foundation, B.C. Sports Hall of Fame.

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RECOGNITION
• Canadian Marketing Hall of Legends.
• Gold Medal — Association of Canadian Advertisers
• Marketing, Advertising, PR & Communication Hall of Fame (2020)• Canadian Marketing Hall of Gold (2023)

Better thinking. Better strategy. Better results.

Co-Founder and Design Innovation for PicCollage Company. My work focuses on concept design, branding, and visual storytelling. I love to explore design principles and how technology can assist creativity. Inspiration often comes from finding patterns in everyday life—from crafting and sports to exploring the city, nature and patterns around us.

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Fascinated by the science of aesthetics and human behavior —of how we perceive beauty, make choices, and express ourselves—I draw from these themes to inform both my creative process and personal exploration.

Natalie is a president and founder of Collective IQ, a company that provides marketing operations solutions for clients across various industries. With over 20 years of experience in marketing communications, creative direction, and branding, she leads a team of experts who collaborate on projects from strategy to execution, leveraging their diverse skills and perspectives.

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Natalie is passionate about creating impactful and engaging marketing campaigns that deliver results and value for her clients. She has a proven track record of overseeing creative operations and account management, implementing processes and systems, managing budgets and media, and ensuring brand consistency and quality.

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Natalie’s a disruptor in her industry having created an innovative marketing agency model over 10 years ago that broke all the rule rules of traditional agencies with top-tier brands who trust her to help their teams make sure hit their KPI’s.

I’ve spent my career building at the intersection of technology, robotics, real estate and community building. Innovation has always been at the core of my work, driving ideas that scale businesses and create lasting impact.

Dr. Mallory Flynn, co-founder and CEO of Insporos, has a PhD background is in mathematics and statistics/AI, with over a decade of experience developing new modeling methods for complex, structured biological data.

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She is deeply motivated by the challenge of translating advanced analytics into tangible impact, particularly where in physical AI, where complex biology and computational decision making directly intersect.

Armando Matijević is a serial entrepreneur with 15+ years building companies across Silicon Valley and Croatia. He is the founder of SplitX, a frontier tech platform converging the world's most influential leaders around innovation, inspiration, and wellbeing. He is also a founder of Club Board, fan-engagement software for sports clubs.

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Armando is building at the intersection of technology and wellbeing, turning fyaka, the Croatian philosophy of presence and ease, into products and communities designed for high performers.

Sarah Rea is an entrepreneurial operator and advisor to founders and executives. For global tech companies (Intuit), established category leaders (Meridian, Sears), and startups, Sarah has developed and delivered new strategic plans, partnerships, go-to-market programs, services, and lines of business to add value to customers and drive growth.

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She specializes in the end-to-end design, development and execution of ambitious new business ventures, initiatives, and go-to-market plans with cross-functional teams and partners. An avid champion of the global startup ecosystem, and corporate-startup collaboration, Sarah has managed startup growth programs at Intuit and the Cleantech Open in Silicon Valley. She is an angel investor and member of Maple Leaf Angels in Canada.

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Sarah received her BA from Harvard and studied business at UC Berkeley.

Dan Burgar is a global ecosystem builder and innovation leader shaping a more human, connected, and resilient future through technology, capital, and community. Based in Vancouver, he has played a defining role in elevating the region’s frontier technology ecosystem onto the world stage while building durable, cross-border networks spanning North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific.

As Founder and CEO of Frontier Collective, Dan leads a global innovation platform that has catalyzed over $900M in economic impact, supported 350+ startups, and convened founders, investors, policymakers, and industry leaders across AI, climate, biotech, mobility, robotics, and frontier technologies. His work focuses on building the physical, social, and institutional infrastructure required for ecosystems to scale responsibly and collaborate across borders, including the vision for a 150,000+ sq ft Innovation Hub designed as a permanent international platform for innovation, creativity, and impact.

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Dan is also recognized as an early leader in the global VR, AR, and spatial computing industry. As co-founder of the exited venture Shape Immersive, he helped pioneer early commercial applications of immersive and real-time 3D technologies as the sector evolved from experimentation to scale. Through Shape, he collaborated with global brands including Red Bull, Disney, Sephora, the Olympics, and NIKE, contributing to Emmy Award–nominated work and helping establish Vancouver as a leading global hub for immersive and 3D talent.

Dan is a LinkedIn Top Voice in Technology & Innovation, a BIV Top Forty Under 40 honoree, a Van Mag Power 50 recipient, and a BC500 leader. He has spoken at major global forums including SXSW (Austin, Sydney, and London), Web Summit, Collision, London Tech Week, and TED.
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A trusted advisor to founders and institutions globally, Dan believes the next era of innovation must be built not only on technology, but on trust, human connection, and shared prosperity.