Chief Operating Officer at Atea ASA

Shehzad Ahmad is Head of IT Security at If, the largest insurance company in the Nordics and Baltics. With more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity and information security, he has held senior leadership roles across both public and private sector organizations. He joined Topdanmark as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) in 2023 and subsequently took on his current role following the merger of If and Topdanmark.

Alongside his corporate leadership responsibilities, Shehzad has nearly two decades of board-level experience and currently serves on the board of Oona, part of the Sampo Group. He is an experienced educator and lecturer for CISO development programs and a regular contributor to Computerworld, Denmark’s leading IT newspaper, where he writes about cybersecurity, risk, and digital resilience.

Sandra Babylon

Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cembra

Sandra Babylon is Chief Technology Officer at Cembra, Switzerland's leading consumer finance providers. She brings more than 25 years of international leadership experience across technology, shared services, and large-scale business transformation. In leading  Cembra's technology function, she is driving automation, process excellence, and AI-enabled transformation to deliver measurable business outcomes. In addition,  she has been responsible for the company's Shared Services Hub in Riga.

Director of Johnson Matthey Global Business Services

With extensive leadership experience spanning Global Business Services, HR, Finance, Procurement, and enterprise transformation, Mariano Andrade Gonzalez brings a practical perspective on what it takes to build future-ready organizations. Having led large-scale transformation initiatives, he believes the greatest challenge is not implementing technology, but enabling people to embrace and lead change.

Johnson Matthey is a global leader in sustainable technologies combining advanced science and engineering to support the transition to cleaner energy and more sustainable manufacturing.

Director at PwC's Lviv Service Delivery Center 

Alongside his corporate role, Oleh serves as a lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University (UCU) Business School, where he actively contributes to the development of future business leaders. Drawing on his experience leading teams through periods of significant disruption, he brings a practical perspective on resilience, adaptability, and sustainable growth.

With over 20 years of experience, Ivo has a proven track record of building and leading global finance teams across EMEA, APAC, and Latin America while optimizing Business Service centers. He has successfully guided organizations through significant transformations, including large-scale workload transitions, strategic process improvements, and the integration of business units following M&A activities. This has given him deep expertise in driving efficiency and ensuring strategic alignment through periods of change.

Zebra provides the foundation for intelligent operations with an award-winning portfolio of connected frontline, asset visibility and automation solutions powered by AI. Together with our partners, we create new ways of working that improve productivity and empower organizations to be better every day.

Senior Vice President at Strategic Staffing Solutions

With over 20 years in staffing and workforce solutions, Chad leads S3's Global Sales Team, driving talent strategy and long-standing customer partnerships across industries and geographies. Since joining S3 in 2007, he has helped organizations build, scale, and transform their workforce strategies to support critical business functions, from technology and operations to finance and customer service.

Chad's global responsibilities include supporting S3's business across the Baltic region, including Latvia, giving him deep expertise in navigating international workforce strategy, from country-specific labor requirements and hiring practices to compliance and contractual considerations.

Ákos Lengyel oversees site operations and leads global accounting activities across multiple regions, focusing on operational excellence, governance, and transformation initiatives. He brings extensive experience in shared services, finance operations, and organizational leadership, with a strong track record in building high-performing global teams and driving process optimization. As Site Lead, Ákos focuses on strengthening global alignment, advancing responsible AI adoption, and maintaining engagement while ensuring financial discipline. He is passionate about modern workplace environments, inclusive leadership, continuous improvement and employer branding. Before his current role, Ákos held various leadership positions in finance and shared services within Albemarle, IBM, Ericsson supporting global organizations through transformation and growth.

Head of Human Capital at PwC’s Lviv Service Delivery Center 

Antonina leads Human Capital transformation initiatives across PwC Central and Eastern Europe. She specializes in organizational transformation, workforce strategy, talent management, rewards, and operating model design, partnering with business leaders to build scalable and future-ready organizations.

Antonina is also a guest lecturer and conference speaker, with a strong interest in the intersection of business strategy, people transformation, and the evolving world of work. Her experience spans complex cross-border transformation programs, helping organizations navigate growth, change, and workforce-related challenges in dynamic environments.

Zuzana Kostiviarova is a Director leading rewards and workforce transformation topics in Deloitte Central Europe. She advises organizations on pay transparency, pay equity, job architecture, and reward strategy. She has supported numerous companies in preparing for the EU Pay Transparency Directive and implementing transparent and equitable reward practices that build trust and strengthen organizational performance.

Lawyer, AI Literacy Specialist, Business Consultant

Her background includes building legal operations frameworks and legal tech solutions across multiple jurisdictions, and advising executive leadership on regulatory and structural risk during periods of rapid organizational growth. She is also an experienced trainer and facilitator, and most recently works as a business consultant on change management, helping organizations navigate structural and cultural shifts and build adaptive teams in times of uncertainty. She brings a practical, ethics-driven perspective on how legal and governance functions can move AI adoption beyond experimentation helping organizations implement AI responsibly, manage regulatory risk, and translate technology investment into measurable, accountable business outcomes.

Fredis is responsible for attracting investment to Riga, welcoming investors and guiding them through what it takes to set up operations here. He holds a Master's degree in International Finance and an MBA, and brings a wealth of leadership experience spanning business development, operations, and strategy.

Before his current role, Fredis held senior positions at Wolt (Operations Manager, Latvia), EVRY (General Manager), Nordea Bank, and Transcom. He has also served as Board Chairman of ABSL Latvia, giving him a deep, first-hand understanding of the Global Business Services sector and its role in the region's economy.

A frequent speaker at international investment forums, including MIPIM in Cannes, Fredis is a vocal advocate for Riga as a top destination for global business services and international talent.

Svetlana Kocerova is Head of the Latvian Branch of DNB Bank ASA, Chair of the Board of the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia (NCCL), and a Lecturer at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences.

With more than a decade of experience at DNB, Svetlana has built her career across business operations, service transitions, Lean implementation and training, branch administration, and large-scale efficiency and continuous improvement initiatives. She is a Lean expert and certified Lean Black Belt, with a strong focus on building efficient, resilient organisations and embedding continuous improvement into everyday work.

Alongside her leadership role in DNB, Svetlana combines business practice with academic research and teaching. Her research focuses on Lean and efficiency improvement in the service industry, artificial intelligence in process improvement, human factors, workplace ergonomics, hybrid work environments, psychosocial risks, and employee performance.