For the very first time, Diego and Sebastian will share their learnings and experiences from their (joint) time at Amazon in an intimate conversation. In a chat between the two former co-workers and lifelong friends, they will provide insights on their leadership principles, how to successfully grow the culture and the business at the same time and share moments where they succeeded but also where they came across pitfalls. Last, but not least, we will hopefully get to hear one or two funny anecdotes and learn about their current projects, including a glimpse into their future.

Joining back in 2000, Diego Piacentini was part of the Amazon executive team for more than 16 years, overseeing the international consumer business. Seven years later, in 2007, Sebastian Gunningham joined the Amazon executive team as SVP Marketplace and led one of the fastest-growing segments of the business for 11 years. They also both worked at Apple prior to Amazon, although at different times.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

About Diego

After almost 30 years with Apple (1987-1999) and Amazon (2000-2016) and an experience of 2 years serving as a civil servant with the Italian Government (2016-2018), Diego Piacentini finally started his own endeavor: View Different. The primary mission: invest in and provide mentorship to entrepreneurs who use tech as an enabler to reshape traditional sectors, with an emphasis on education, government, mobility and environmental sustainability.

History:
Diego worked at Amazon.com as Senior Vice President of the International Consumer Business from February 2000 to August 2016. He was a member of the senior executive team (S-team), and responsible for the International Consumer Business. During that period, Amazon launched and grew e-commerce operations in Europe, Canada, Japan, China, India, and Brazil and started exploring entering new geographies.

Early in his career (1987), Diego joined Apple Computer in Italy in his home city, Milan. Ten years later, he was appointed General Manager and Vice President of Apple EMEA based in Paris. In late 1999, he joined Amazon in Seattle.
Diego also served a two-year civil servant term – from August 2016 to November 2018 – as Italian Government Commissioner for Digital Transformation, reporting directly to the Prime Minister. In this role, he founded and scaled the Government’s Digital Transformation Team.

Present:

• Non-executive Chair of the Board of Directors of Apolitical, a global peer-to-peer learning platform for governments.
• Non-executive director of the Board of The Economist Group; its flagship businesses include The Economist newspaper, and research and analysis division, The Economist Intelligence Unit.
• Senior Advisor for KKR, a leading global investment firm. In this role, Diego supports the assessment of some investment activities of the company globally and he mentors some of the portfolio companies, with a particular focus on technology and sustainable development challenges.
• Advisor and investor in several US and European start-ups.
• Non-executive director of the Board and member of the Executive Committee of Bocconi University.
• Board member of Endeavor Italy, which Diego co-founded in 2016, and mentor of Endeavor Global, an NGO leading the high impact entrepreneurship movement around the world.
• Board member of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), an independent global health research center at the University of Washington.
• Board member of the Maasai Association, supporting education and health initiatives in Kenya.

Diego holds a degree in Economics from Bocconi University in Milan and is a dual citizen of the United States and Italy.

Sebastian J. Gunningham is an Argentine-American business executive. He is currently the Chairman of Santander Consumer Finance and Vice Chairman of OpenBank. He was the Co-CEO of WeWork until April 2020, a role he has served since September 2019. Sebastian was an SVP at Amazon from 2007 through 2018, and a member of the Amazon executive S-Team. Prior to Amazon, Sebastian held executive positions as a VP at Apple and a SVP at Oracle, as well as the CEO of Peace Software. Gunningham graduate from Stanford University with a Mathematical Sciences degree.

Inventing (in) A Golden Age

Ten years ago we started the Earth Engine project with a singular vision; a dream that everyone, everywhere could unlock the awesome power of big data and satellite images. Just kidding; we weren’t really that smart. But we did think we could help a few thousand of the world’s scientists address some of society’s biggest problems by managing their IT for them. And that’s when things got a little crazy.
In this talk, I’ll explain how a little startup (inside a giant corporation) with a blind devotion to the idea that “it just shouldn’t be so hard” is helping to drive a data-driven revolution and usher in a golden age of big data in Earth Observation.

About Noel

Noel Gorelick is a scientist and software engineer with several decades of experience in the field of satellite image processing and large-scale data analysis. He worked on 7 NASA spacecraft missions to the Moon, Mars, and Saturn. Noel is a founder of Google Earth Engine, a planetary-scale data analysis platform. In his role as Chief Extraterrestrial Observer, he currently helps scientists, governments, and NGOs use Google Earth Engine to address some of society's biggest challenges like drought, disaster, disease, and deforestation. Noel completed a Master in Computer Science at Arizona State University and is currently obtaining his Ph.D. at the University of Zurich.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

Building a Robot Judge

When should machines contribute to high-stakes decisions, like those taken by judges? Elliott Ash’s presentation explores the state-of-the-art in how AI systems can support expert human decision-making, for example in auditing or bail. While there is a risk for decision support systems to replicate human biases, they can also be used to detect bias and to help mitigate them. In the talk, Elliott Ash not only shows practical examples but also how these technologies will transform both public and private practice in law and related fields.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

About Elliott

Elliott Ash centers his research around the possibility and problem of “building a robot judge.” As a professor at ETH Zurich’s Center for Law & Economics, Elliott investigates the workings of law and policy through the lens of data science. Using natural language processing to sift through legal texts, and with natural experiments to get at causation, this research produces evidence to better understand how legal decisions are made. In the future, this work will provide a framework to support fairer decisions. Prior to joining ETH, Elliott held academic positions at University of Warwick and Princeton University, and before that earned a Ph.D. in economics and a J.D. from Columbia University.

The Exit Lie

In the US and in Asia we see dozens of 100 billion dollar tech companies. Why don’t we have a single one in Europe? One driver is mistaken belief in the exit. Many founders work almost manically towards this goal and are supported and encouraged by the ecosystem to do so. Some of them even start up just because they want the exit.
My appeal: Believe in your ideas! Believe in you being the best owner and stewart of your creation! Create large independent companies!

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

About Lukasz

Lukasz is founder and CEO of “Team Global” (formerly Team Europe) - a global technology holding company with the mission to deliver a better future via technology. Its main areas of interest are "Digital & Platforms", "Mobility & MAaaS" (Micro Aviation as a Service) and "clean abundant energy". Team Europe has been building or actively supporting startups for more than 15 years – including the e-commerce company Spreadshirt, the delivery service company Delivery Hero, the solar company Enpal, the mobility provider Miles, the micro mobility company Bird, as well as Volocopter and Archer, two global leaders in the field of Urban Air Mobility (UAM).
Lukasz Gadowski is an European founder, entrepreneur and investor. He studied business informatics and economics at the University of Paderborn, the University of Mannheim, Georgia Tech in Atlanta and the HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management.

Behind the Scenes of Computing in the Cloud

Cloud computing promises high performance, cost-efficiency, and elastic scaling: three essential goals when processing exponentially growing datasets and compute-intensive applications such as machine learning. To meet performance, cost and elasticity goals, cloud platforms must provide each cloud application with the right balance of compute, memory, and storage resources. This keynote will discuss the key challenges involved in managing computing resources at large scale and how to improve the performance, ease-of-use, and resource efficiency of computing in the cloud. In particular, Ana will discuss how to build balanced computer systems and how recent trends like resource disaggregation and serverless computing are impacting the cloud computing landscape.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

About Ana

Ana Klimovic is an Assistant Professor in the Systems Group of the Computer Science Department at ETH Zurich. Her research interests span operating systems, computer architecture, and their intersection with machine learning. Ana's work focuses on computer system design for large-scale applications such as cloud computing services, data analytics, and machine learning. Before joining ETH in August 2020, Ana was a Research Scientist at Google Brain and completed her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Stanford University in 2019.

Building platforms that win in the future

Access to knowledge and data is paramount for success for any company of our time. The future is in the hands of those who are building platforms that can learn faster than the competition. In this world, once a product fits a market and the value proposition is understood it starts the flywheels accelerating into hyper-growth with revenues skyrocketing. In the core of this is curiosity and an experimentation mindset.

About Narek

Narek has over 15+ years of experience in technology, recruiting and growing international tech teams that have delivered high-quality, unique, effortless experiences to users.
He is currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer at Glovo; focusing on building a world-class engineering organisation where curious and passionate humans collaborate to create a meaningful impact for local communities globally.

Narek is a talented leader with a keen eye for innovation and growth. He has previously held leadership positions at American Express, Hotels com, Expedia and ran significant initiatives in successfully applying lean thinking and agile practices in diverse, distributed and multi-cultural environments.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

Digitalization and Innovation

Elena is one of the four speakers to take part at this years KMU Panel.
More information: KMU Panel

About Elena

Elena Cortona starts as the new CTO at Belimo Automation AG in June. From 2001 to 2021, she held various positions at the Schindler Group. Most recently, she was responsible for the digital transformation of the entire value chain, defining strategic goals, methodologies and the IT/IoT tool landscape for elevator design, production, installation and maintenance.
From 2007 to 2017, she was the technical lead for Schindler 7000, leading the development of elevators up to 500m for the global market and bringing Schindler to the forefront in this product segment. From 2005 to 2007, she led Atlas Schindler's R&D team in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and was involved in the strategic definition of R&D globalization for the Schindler Group. She holds a PhD from ETH Zurich and a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Turin.

Building a World-Class Customer-Focused Tech Company

Over the last 6 years Mytheresa has become the leading luxury e-commerce platform in the world being recognized as such by both brands and customers. In January 2021 the company successfully listed on the NYSE. Mytheresa serves a global elite of luxury shoppers that require inspiration, convenience, efficiency and superb service. Learn how Mytheresa leverages deep customer insights and technology to target the right audience, deliver the relevant content, provide the best shopping experience and create superior customer loyalty.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

About Michael Kliger

Michael Kliger was appointed as Mytheresa’s Chief Executive Officer in 2015 driving the continued global growth of the company. Under his leadership, Mytheresa developed into one of the leading global e-commerce platforms for luxury fashion and listed on the NYSE in January 2021.

Michael Kliger has been working in the retail sector for almost 30 years. During this time, he has accumulated a unique blend of operational and strategic expertise both in the retail and digital space. Michael Kliger joined Mytheresa from eBay Enterprises, where he most recently held the position of Vice President, Europe and Asia Pacific. Prior to eBay, he held Managing Director and Executive positions for several companies, including eBay Enterprises/GSI Commerce, Accenture and Real Holding. Michael is a former Principal of McKinsey & Company where he headed their German Retail Practice. He holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University and a Diplom-Kaufmann in Marketing and Finance from the Berlin University of Technology, TU.

Mytheresa is one of the leading global luxury fashion e-commerce retailers and was launched in 2006, offering ready-to-wear, shoes, bags and accessories for women, men and kids. The highly curated offer focuses on true luxury with designer brands. Mytheresa’s unique digital experience is based on a sharp focus on high-end luxury shoppers, exclusive product and content offerings, leading technology and analytical platforms as well as high-quality service operations. In FY 2020 Mytheresa reported net sales of 449 million euros and shipped to 133 countries.

Digitalization and Innovation

Doris is one of the four speakers to take part at this years KMU Panel.
More information: KMU Panel

About Doris

Doris is an entrepreneur with many years of international leadership experience at CEO and board level in Europe, North America and Asia. Her key areas of expertise are innovation, technology and people & culture.
As owner and Executive Chairman of Evaluglobe AG, she focuses on board mandates and as an investor on innovative, growth-oriented companies. She also supports companies in their growth and internationalisation phases. She has many years of experience in cross-border M&A and the merging of corporate cultures in Europe, Asia and North America. Previously, she led CLS Communication AG for more than 16 years as Group CEO, co-owner, Delegate of the Board of Directors and most recently as Vice President. She shaped the company's history from its founding (spin-off of Swiss Bank Corporation (UBS) and Zurich Insurance), internationalisation, organic and acquisitive growth to the sale of the group in 2015. During this time, CLS Communication evolved from a classic translation service into a technology-based international solutions provider and ranked among the top 10 worldwide. Doris Albisser is President of the Foundation Board of SOS Children's Villages Switzerland and a member of the International Senate of SOS Children's Villages International. She is a founding member and Vice-President of MIDATA (e-health) and a member of the Hospital Board of the Psychiatric University Hospital Zurich. Doris Albisser holds a translator's diploma from the ZHAW, an Executive MBA from the University of St. Gallen, a Senior Executive Program from Columbia University, USA, a Board of Directors degree from the University of St. Gallen, INSEAD in France, and CEIBS/Wharton in China.

Digitalization and Innovation

Christiane is one of the four speakers to take part at this years KMU Panel.
More information: KMU Panel

About Christiane

Christiane Leister studied economics and built her career at well-known German family-owned companies gaining well-grounded specialist and management competencies in Finance and Controlling. She was responsible for operative and strategic tasks at Karl Leister Elektro-Gerätebau, a family-owned company before she obtained control of the company and used new technologies and business activities to develop the company into the Leister Group with eleven Group companies on three continents.
Christiane Leister is a member of the Supervisory Board at Amphasys AG, a spin-off of the Leister company Axetris AG and a Member of the Foundation Board at the Leister Foundation. In addition to that Christine is a member of the ETH Board, the ETH Domain’s strategic management and supervisory board, member of the advisory board of the Venture Foundation that promotes entrepreneurship in Switzerland, member of the strategic advisory board of Artmyn SA, a start-up offering solutions for digitalizing visual artworks and jury member of the swiss economic award for extraordinary young companies.

Missed the future?

Have we missed the future in terms of digitalization in Europe? Can the current Coronavirus crisis help us catch back up with the international competition in China and the U.S.A.? It is these questions as well as many more, that Conny Boersch, serial entrepreneur and investor, answers in this speech. He reveals what went wrong in the past two decades in Europe and how we need to act now to set the right course for the future. Conny argues that European leaders need a change in mindset, towards a greater acceptance of risk and stronger involvement of the younger generations in discussions about our collective future.

About Cornelius

Dr. Cornelius (“Conny”) Boersch is an entrepreneur, business angel, and founder of numerous tech companies. He founded the global company builder Mountain Partners and the global co-investment company Conny & Co. Conny initiated the Entrepreneurs Day at the Tegernsee, one of the most exclusive conferences in Europe. As a business angel, he has invested in more than 300 companies since 1995 and was voted “European Business Angel of the Year” in 2009. As an entrepreneur, Conny previously founded the stock-listed RFID-based companies ACG, Smartrac, and Identiv as well as the cashless payment systems provider Sandpiper. For his activities, he was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” in 2000. Politically, Conny acted as advisor to Dr. Guido Westerwelle, former president of the German Liberal Party, FDP, Vice-Chancellor, and Foreign Minister of Germany from 2009 to 2012. He studied at the European Business School in Oestrich-Winkel and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Essen with a thesis on venture capital and investing. He later also acted as an honorary professor and held lectures at the University of Essen.

Language: Eng
Location: Schiffbau

The rollercoaster life of a serial entrepreneur

Mathis has built two tech companies within 7 years, Smallpdf and Taxfix, both worth hundreds of millions of CHF. But the success stories in the press are only a small part of a founder's reality. The wild rollercoaster ride of a serial entrepreneur's life comes with many high highs and low lows. In his keynote, Mathis talks about his own personal story, his most important learning, and why being a founder is the best but also the most difficult job in the world.

Language: Ger
Location: Schiffbau

About Mathis

Mathis studied International Management at the Hong Kong University, China. Right after that, he founded his first company which organized study and cultural trips to North Korea. In 2013, together with Lino Teuteberg, he founded Smallpdf, which successfully exists in the market with 500 million users and is one of the 300 most visited websites worldwide. In 2013, he co-founded, with Lino Teuteberg, Smallpdf, which successfully exists in the market with 500 million users and is one of the world's 300 most visited websites. In September 2016, Mathis co-founded Taxfix with Lino Teuteberg. With Taxfix, they simplify complex tax systems and make them accessible to everyone. In doing so, they recover millions in tax refunds for users weekly. Taxfix is one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe, employs 300 people, and received 110 million USD in funding from renowned investors like Valar Ventures, Redalpine, or Index Ventures so far.

Annalise Eggimann, CEO of Innosuisse — the Swiss Agency for Innovation Promotion — was born in 1960 in Eriswil near Bern. She was admitted to the bar at the University of Bern in 1987 and completed an Executive MBA at the University of Zurich in 2003. After a few years working for companies as a legal assistant, she took on senior positions at the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM) before becoming CEO of the Commission for Technology and Innovation (CTI), the predecessor organisation of Innosuisse, in 2015. Annalise Eggimann is married and likes to spend her free time reading, hiking and travelling.

Language: Ger
Location: Schiffbau

Digitalization and Innovation

Alice is one of the four speakers to take part at this years KMU Panel.
More information: KMU Panel

About Alice

Alice is a versatile entrepreneur and board member with a strong focus on the customer and consumer perspective. She is co-founder of Collective63 AG and supports companies in shaping and anchoring their desired change by means of people-centricity.

In her 30 years of professional experience, she was in CEO positions for over 15 years and has also been a board member since 2004. Her operational positions range from Procter & Gamble to the Boston Consulting Group to the management of Tela-Kimberly and the de Sede Group. In addition to her consulting work, she currently holds several board mandates, such as SRG SSR, Griesser and Pax. In addition, she is a long-standing member of the board of GfM (Swiss Society for Marketing).
Alice is also committed to promoting education and is an active member of Aiducation.

Lukas Schleuniger is a Swiss born Californian raised entrepreneur. Having grown up in the heart of Silicon Valley, technology has always been deeply rooted in everything he does. After graduating with a bachelors in finance from the University of Zurich, Lukas joined deep-tech computer vision startup Dacuda, where he was responsible for building out the 3D scanning business. After the acquisition by Magicleap in 2017, Lukas left to found Red or Blue Labs AG, a company focused on Virtual Reality solutions, where a handful of projects and a spin out have emerged since its inception.

His current focus is on the venture capital side, with an analyst associate role in a rotational program at Dynamo Venture Capital in the US. Lukas is also a veteran public speaker and moderator, having been the host of the Digital Festival since inception, and having co-produced and hosted “Show Me Tech” on CNN Money Switzerland in 2019.