Event Speakers
Charlotte Wolff-Bye
Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer at Petronas
Charlotte Wolff-Bye
Vice President & Chief Sustainability Officer at Petronas
Charlotte serves as the Chief Sustainability Officer of PETRONAS, Malaysia's leading Fortune 500 company. Since joining in 2021, she has turned the company's Net Zero Carbon Emission aspiration into strategy and plans to drive decarbonization and social progress. She engages directly in venture capital investment, digitalization and capability development to accelerate a sustainable energy transition. Previously Charlotte worked for the Norwegian energy company Equinor in the role of Vice President Sustainability, delivering the company's first sustainability strategy that laid the foundation for the company's low carbon focus. She was also the company's representative on the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI), the World Bank's Global Gas Flaring Reduction Initiative (GGFR) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). From 2007-14, Charlotte held the position of General Manager Corporate Responsibility for the global steel and mining company ArcelorMittal. Charlotte's earlier experiences include a decade in the telecommunications sector, most notably working for Telefonica and O2, multilateral lending at the Nordic Development Fund, music marketing and diplomatic affairs. Charlotte is a longstanding and active champion of corporate sustainability practices, a frequent top-level speaker, commentator and writer on sustainability, ESG and energy-related matters. She is the recipient of Devex's leadership award for her contribution to international development and was recently listed among the world's leading chief sustainability officers. She serves on the board of trustees of the United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre.
Stephen Brobst
CTO for Teradata
Stephen Brobst
CTO for Teradata
Stephen is the CTO for Teradata. He performed his graduate work in computer science at MIT where his Masters and PhD research focused on high-performance parallel processing. He also completed an MBA with joint course and thesis work at the Harvard Business School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. Stephen is a TDWI Fellow and has been on the faculty of The Data Warehousing Institute since 1996. During Barack Obama's first term he was appointed to the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) where he worked on development of the Big Data strategy for the US government. In 2014, at the height of the Big Data phenomenon, he was ranked by ExecRank as the #4 CTO in the USA (behind the CTOs from Amazon.com, Tesla Motors, and Intel) out of a pool of 10,000+ CTOs.
Kate Darling
TED speaker, a leading expert in Robot Ethics, and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab
Kate Darling
TED speaker, a leading expert in Robot Ethics, and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Media Lab
Kate Darling is a research scientist at the MIT Media Lab, where she investigates social robotics and conducts experimental studies on human-robot interaction. She's a leading expert in robot ethics, the author of The New Breed, and an award-winning TED speaker addressing the impact of technology on humanity.
Dr Kate has a background in law and economics and intellectual property. She formerly served as intellectual property policy advisor to the director of the MIT Media Lab. Her passion for technology and robots has led her to interdisciplinary fields. After co-teaching a robot ethics course at Harvard Law School, she began to work at the intersection of law and robotics, focusing on legal and social issues.
Dr Kate regularly publishes articles about robot ethics and how to prepare for the coming age of automation. Her work has been featured in many publications, including The New Yorker, WIRED, The Atlantic, The Guardian and Forbes.
She also speaks and holds workshops covering some of the more exciting developments in the world of robotics and where we might find ourselves in the future.
Dr Kate graduated from law school with honours and holds a doctorate of sciences from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) and an honorary doctorate of sciences from Middlebury College.
Hannah Jones
CEO, The Earthshot Prize | Former Chief Sustainable Officer of Nike Inc. | The Power of Human Ingenuity to Innovate, Problem-Solve and Lead
Hannah Jones
CEO, The Earthshot Prize | Former Chief Sustainable Officer of Nike Inc. | The Power of Human Ingenuity to Innovate, Problem-Solve and Lead
Hannah Jones is the CEO of The Earthshot Prize. This non-profit organisation runs an annual global competition that challenges young innovators to use technology to solve some of humanity’s most pressing environmental problems. Her work with The Earthshot Prize is part of her continued efforts to help lead the way towards a more sustainable future.
Hannah advocates for social and environmental causes and believes that entrepreneurship, innovation and collaboration can inspire people to make meaningful changes in their communities.
She was previously the Chief Sustainability Officer of Nike for 16 years, overseeing global sustainability for the company and working with teams across all functions to create new business models, programmes and technologies that drive innovation in sustainability.
Hannah has been recognised by Forbes, the Financial Times, Newsweek, Fortune and numerous other publications as an industry leader in sustainability innovation and corporate responsibility. In addition, CNN Money, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times have profiled her for helping Nike grow its business while reducing its environmental impact.
Hannah was also named twice to Fast Company’s top 100 Creative People list, a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader, and the winner of the C.K Prahalad 2013 award for leadership in Sustainability.
Reena Talla
Head of Human Resources in Vale
Reena Talla
Head of Human Resources in Vale
Reena Talla is a multi-regional Head of Human Resources in Vale, covering the company’s presence in diverse markets in Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East (APAC EME). As Vale embarks on its journey of transformation towards becoming a safer and more reliable mining company, Reena’s role is instrumental in promoting a meaningful cultural transformation in the company. Reena advocates for an intersectional approach towards diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the mining sector and has represented Vale on various external media and corporate engagements to talk about the company’s commitment in the area. With presence close to 30 countries, Vale is one of the world’s leading mining companies, with an ambition to become net zero by 2050.
Prof. Mak Yuen Teen
Professor at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Prof. Mak Yuen Teen
Professor at NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Professor Mak Yuen Teen teaches at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. Professor Mak has served on three of the four corporate governance committees set up by the Singapore authorities to develop and revise the code of corporate governance, including the first committee in 2000 and the most recent committee under the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) which released the 2018 Singapore Code. He currently serves on the Corporate Governance Advisory Committee under MAS aimed at continually raising corporate governance standards for listed companies in Singapore, and is a member of the Remuneration Sub-Committee.
He has produced a guide for Nominating Committees with KPMG, and served on the advisory panel of the Singapore Institute of Directors which produced the Nominating Committee Guidebook. Between 2000 to 2005, he served on the Governing Council of the Singapore Institute of Directors.
Each year, Professor Mak edits a collection of Asia-Pacific and global case studies which are published by CPA Australia and so far, ten volumes, a special financial services edition, and several volumes translated into Chinese and Vietnamese have been produced. In all, he has written or edited well over 200 case studies related to corporate governance.
Professor Mak has also produced numerous reports on corporate governance, often commissioned by the authorities or consulting firms. He developed the first corporate governance rating for Singapore companies called the Governance and Transparency Index and the first Singapore governance rating for REITs and business trusts. He was also the Singapore expert involved in the development of the ASEAN CG Scorecard.
In 2018, he produced the first-ever comprehensive report on remuneration practices of Singapore companies which covered more than 600 companies listed on the Singapore Exchange. He has extensive experience conducting training for directors, regulators and other professionals, including in the Mandatory Accreditation Program (MAP) and Financial Institutions Directors’ Education (FIDE) program, and programs relating to nomination and remuneration matters.
Professor Mak is also a regular commentator on corporate governance issues in the Singapore and international media, and regularly posts articles and commentaries on his website Governance for Stakeholders.
W. Chan Kim
Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, Co-Author of the forthcoming book, Beyond Disruption
W. Chan Kim
Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute, Co-Author of the forthcoming book, Beyond Disruption
W. Chan Kim is a Distinguished Professor and Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Before joining INSEAD, he was a professor at the University of Michigan Business School, USA. He has also served as an advisor to several countries and multinational corporations in Europe, the U.S. and the Asia Pacific.
Prof Kim is the co-author of the Blue Ocean Strategy, which has sold over 4 million copies. It remains one of the best-selling business books in history. He has also co-authored Strategic Intuition, Blue Ocean Shift and the forthcoming book Beyond Disruption. To date, Blue Ocean Strategy and Blue Ocean Shift teaching materials have been adopted by over 2,800 universities across the globe.
Prof Kim has published numerous articles in leading academic and managerial journals, including the Journal of International Business Studies, Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Financial Times. The Journal of International Management recognises him as one of the world’s most influential academic journal authors in global strategy.
Prof Kim is the recipient of numerous academic and management awards, including the Nobels Colloquia Prize for Leadership on Business and Economic Thinking. In addition, he and his colleague Renee Mauborgne were named the world’s most influential management thinker by Thinkers50.
Parag Khanna
Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap, Advisor to governments and global companies, bestselling author, TED speaker
Parag Khanna
Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap, Advisor to governments and global companies, bestselling author, TED speaker
Parag Khanna is a leading global strategy advisor, world traveller, and bestselling author. He is the Founder and CEO of Climate Alpha, an AI-powered analytics platform that forecasts asset values and future-proof global real estate. He is also the Founder and Managing Partner of FutureMap, a data and scenario-based strategic advisory firm.
Dr Parag is a best-selling author of seven books, including The Second World (2008), How to Run the World (2011), Connectography (2016), Technocracy in America (2017), The Future is Asian (2019), Move (2021), and Hybrid Reality (2012), where he co-authored.
His essays, reportage and columns have appeared in major international publications such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, TIME and Forbes. He also appears frequently in media around the world such as CNN, BBC and Bloomberg and has spoken at various TED conferences worldwide.
Dr Parag was named one of Esquire’s “75 Most Influential People of the 21st Century” and featured in WIRED magazine’s “Smart List”. He has travelled to more than 150 countries and is a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum.
He holds a PhD in international relations from the London School of Economics and bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.
Yi-Ren Wang
Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior
Yi-Ren Wang
Assistant Professor in Organizational Behavior
Yi-Ren Wang is an Assistant Professor of Organisational Behaviour at the Asia School of Business. Her research interests include precarious work, workplace inequality, behavioural poverty trap, socioeconomic mobility, work motivation, fairness, work-family dynamics, employee well-being, and workplace trauma. Her research aims to identify ways to reduce social disparities and promote upward mobility, particularly for workers in underprivileged conditions.
Prof Yi-Ren’s ongoing projects aim to explain the motivational and behavioural challenges faced by underprivileged workers at work, highlight the importance of organisational justice for promoting a long-term perspective and career investment for workers in precarity, and theorise the transmission of occupational strain across life boundaries and between individuals.
Her work has been published in the Journal of Organizational Behavior, the Journal of Vocational Behavior, and the Academy of Management Proceedings, among others.
In 2022, she was selected by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology to receive the 2022 S. Rains Wallace Dissertation Award for the best doctoral dissertation research in industrial-organisation psychology.
Prof Yi-Ren received her PhD in Management from the University of Alabama. She obtained her master’s degree in Industrial and Organisational Psychology from the University at Albany – State University of New York and her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from National Taiwan University.
Renato Lima de Oliveira
Assistant Professor of Business and Society Research Affiliate at MIT
Renato Lima de Oliveira
Assistant Professor of Business and Society Research Affiliate at MIT
Renato Lima de Oliveira is an Assistant Professor of Business and Society at the Asia School of Business. His main research interest lies in the political economy of development and state-business relations, particularly in energy, industrial and innovation policies, government accountability, and non-market strategies.
His PhD dissertation analysed the development of the oil industry and the local supply chain in Brazil, Malaysia and Mexico, such as the policies used for industrial upgrading and the promotion of innovation. His research has appeared in journals like Comparative Political Studies and edited collections published by Oxford University Press and Routledge, among others.
Outside of academia, Prof Renato has worked as an energy, environment and political consultant, including assignments for the Ministry of Energy of Mexico and the World Bank. He has also worked before as a business reporter in Brazil with experience in newspaper, TV and radio.
Prof Renato received his PhD in Political Science from MIT. He obtained an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and a bachelor’s degree in communication from the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE). He is also a research affiliate at the MIT Industrial Performance Center (IPC) and a fellow at the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS-Malaysia).
Suzanne Mooney
Founder of The Lost Food Project
Suzanne Mooney
Founder of The Lost Food Project
Suzanne Mooney hails from the United Kingdom and was originally a broadcast journalist with the BBC, reporting for the Today Show. A chance meeting with Robert Egger (who founded community kitchens in the US) was a turning point in her life as she realised the power of an individual to make a difference. This was further compounded after working with the United Nations in Switzerland where she learned first hand how hard it can be for large organisations to affect change.
Years later, when Suzanne moved to Malaysia with her husband and children, it was in April 2016, that she founded The Lost Food Project, with the help of some dedicated friends and volunteers. They started by distributing food from supermarkets to charities using their own cars: within two years it evolved to be the leading food rescue organisation in Malaysia. Since that day, The Lost Food Project has had a huge impact on reducing food waste in the Klang Valley and is now a team consisting of the TLFP Committee, a General Manager, Warehouse Manager, two full-time drivers and over 70 amazing volunteers.
Tatiana Bokareva
Principal Lead Data Scientist | Teradata
Tatiana Bokareva
Principal Lead Data Scientist | Teradata
Dr. Tatiana Bokareva is an accomplished Principal Lead Data Scientist who oversees Teradata's international operations. Her extensive experience in developing predictive statistical models and utilizing cutting-edge machine-learning techniques has established her as a prominent figure in the industry. In her current role, she expertly manages a team of technology professionals and thought leaders in data science.
With the rapid evolution of the analytics landscape, Dr. Bokareva is dedicated to helping businesses unlock the true potential of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Her areas of interest include advanced analytics and data science techniques, such as predictive modeling, Neural Networks (also known as Deep Learning), machine learning classifiers, natural language processing (NLP), text mining, clustering, graph theory, and other innovative solutions which she believes will be vital to solving complex problems of the future.
Dr. Bokareva's vast experience in Data Science and Big Data consulting has allowed her to assist clients in developing a vision, roadmap, and architecture for analytical projects. She has worked with clients from diverse industries, including federal and state government agencies, financial institutions, telcos, and retail enterprises.
Her in-depth industry experience results from over 20 years of in-depth industry experience, working for Fortune 500 companies and hands-on data science expertise.
Dr. Bokareva earned her Ph.D. in Computer Science from the prestigious University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia. She is a highly sought-after speaker and thought leader, and her insights and expertise have been featured in various conferences and publications.
Wong Poh Kam
Distinguished Visiting Professor at Asia School of Business, Emeritus Professor at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Wong Poh Kam
Distinguished Visiting Professor at Asia School of Business, Emeritus Professor at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore
Wong Poh Kam is a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Asia School of Business and Emeritus Professor at the NUS Business School, National University of Singapore. He has published extensively in numerous international refereed journals on innovation policy, industrial and competitiveness policy, and technology entrepreneurship.
He has also consulted widely on innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem development policies for various international agencies, including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, and government agencies in Singapore, including the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Economic Development Board and the Ministry of Law, as well as private corporations in Asia. In addition, he was also the Director of the NUS Entrepreneurship Centre from August 2001 to July 2019.
Prof Wong was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at the University of California, Berkeley, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, a senior visiting scholar at Oxford University, and a Pacific Leadership Fellow at the University of California San Diego. Before joining academia, he was an entrepreneur and has been an active angel investor in more than a dozen tech startups in Singapore, Silicon Valley and China.
He received a Public Administration Medal (Silver) from the Singapore Government in 2013 and the “Entrepreneur for the World” Award (Educator Category) from the World Entrepreneurship Forum in 2015.
He obtained his PhD (Regional Planning), BSc and MSc from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
Shardul Phadnis
Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management
Shardul Phadnis
Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management
Dr Shardul Phadnis is an Associate Professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management at the Asia School of Business. He previously served as the Associate Professor and Director of Research at MIT SCALE Network’s Malaysia Institute for Supply Chain Innovation.
His research explores the intersection of supply chains and strategic management: how organisations create value by orchestrating supply chain operations and how strategy processes influence the adaptability of supply chain structures and processes.
Dr Shardul’s book Strategic Planning for Dynamic Supply Chains (2022) describes first-hand accounts of applications of scenario planning in three in-depth cases involving strategic supply chain planning in businesses and long-range planning in governmental transportation planning agencies. His work has also been published in various journals, including Strategic Management Journal, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
His current research examines three lines of inquiry: supply chain resilience through vigilance enabled by scenario planning, value creation by managing operational uncertainty in supply chains, and analysis of end-to-end supply chain configurations.
Dr Shardul received the Giarratani Rising Star Award for 2015 from the Industry Studies Association for his research in apparel supply chains. He holds a PhD in Engineering Systems from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA.
Mauricio Lizcano Arango
Chief of Staff to the President of Colombia
Mauricio Lizcano Arango
Chief of Staff to the President of Colombia
Mauricio Lizcano Arango is a Colombian lawyer and politician. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2006, to the Senate in 2010, and re-elected again in 2014. He was elected President of the Congress for the period 2016-2017.
He has a specialization in Management, Government, and Public Affairs from Universidad Externado de Colombia in association with Columbia University. He
participated in the High Government Program at Universidad de los Andes, and completed a course in Business Administration and Technology at Cambridge Business College.
He also holds a Master's degree in Public Policy from Harvard University, a Master's degree in Business Administration -MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and graduated as an academic researcher from MIT.
Currently, he is the Director of the Administrative Department of the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia.
Johanna Nyman
Head, Inclusive Green Finance, Alliance for Financial Inclusion
Aziz Durrani
Capacity Development Expert, AMRO, Singapore
Charlotte Gardes-Landolfini
Climate Change, Energy and Financial Stability Expert, International Monetary Fund
Charlotte Gardes-Landolfini
Climate Change, Energy and Financial Stability Expert, International Monetary Fund
Rozima Bt Yahya
Human Capital Director for Group Insurance and Takaful , Maybank
Lawrence Abeln
Associate Dean, Executive Education and Professor of Practice
Lawrence Abeln
Associate Dean, Executive Education and Professor of Practice
Dr. Abeln received his B.A. in History from The University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude. He received both a Ph.D. in Management and M.Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Rotary Foundation Scholar. His doctorate work on international labour economics was under the supervision of Professor W.A. Brown, Chairman of the Cambridge University Economics Department.
He has an extensive international academic background having served as President, Dean and Associate Dean including leading institutions in USA, UK, Australia and Asia, as well as serving as a member of faculty. He has developed new academic programs and curriculum for undergraduate, postgraduate masters and doctoral programs, while also promoting liberal arts, STEM and business education and interdisciplinary learning. Dr. Abeln was instrumental in negotiating 300+ partnership agreements between university and industry, government and other academic institutions to promote collaboration.
Masayu Bt M Husain
Head (Governance, Planning & Performance) Corporate Sustainability , PETRONAS
Masayu Bt M Husain
Head (Governance, Planning & Performance) Corporate Sustainability , PETRONAS
Masayu began her career with PETRONAS when she joined Finance and Accounts department in PETRONAS Holding Company in 1998, over 20 years of experience in various finance functions, including Financial Accounting, Management Accounting, Corporate Finance and Treasury. She has led various projects and initiatives in accounts, finance and operational excellence for Corporate, Upstream and Gas Businesses. She is a strong advocate for innovation and sustainable development.
She hold a bachelor’s degree in Accounting & Finance from University of Leeds, United Kingdom.