Ron Thomas

Human Capital Institute

International Country Manager: Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific Region

Ron Thomas is the Managing Director of Strategy Focused Group an international consulting firm based in Dubai. He is a visiting executive faculty member at the Global Human Resources Leadership Institute at Howard University School of Business in Washington, DC. He is also a senior faculty member of the Human Capital Institute, covering the MENA/Asia Pacific & Africa Region.
Ron is the former CEO of Great Place to Work-Gulf and CHRO of Al Raha Group, based in Riyadh. He holds certifications from HCI as Global Human Capital Strategist (GHCS), Master Human Capital Strategist (MHCS), and Strategic Workforce Planner (SWP) as well as New York University. Prior to consulting, he worked in senior level roles for IBM, Martha Stewart Living, Xerox HR Services [HR Consulting] in the US.
He has been identified as one of the top 5 HR/Leadership thinkers in the Middle East by CIPD.  He received the Outstanding Leadership Award for Global HR Excellence at the World Human Resources Development Congress in Mumbai, and was named as one of the 50 Most Talented Global HR Leaders in Asia. As a consultant and management educator, he has worked with companies such as Central Bank of Nigeria, Iran MTNCell, King Faisal Hospital-Jeddah Saudi Electric Company, BASHRM, JLT [Saudi Arabia], Dubai Tourism, American Hospital of Dubai, Dar Al Riyadh, Gulf Bank-Kuwait, Boybyan, Kuwait, CIMB Bank and Singapore Government Civil Service.

Sean Royal

Hyatt Hotels

Director of HR Cluster Operations and Area Director of Human Resources

An Australian who has been living in the UAE for over 4 years, Sean Royal is the Director of HR Cluster Operations and Area Director of Human Resources for Hyatt Hotels in Dubai. With almost 30 years of direct experience within the Hospitality Industry, Sean has worked within a number of iconic cafés, bars, restaurants and hotels within the Melbourne market. In addition to direct Industry experience, Sean has worked within the Hotel Management Education sector before migrating into the realm of event catering for Delaware North (Australia) with oversight for the Human Resources of major hallmark events, including the Australian Open and Australian Football League (AFL) seasons. Sean joined Hyatt International - Asia Pacific in 2002, heading up the HR and Learning function for both Grand and Park Hyatt Melbourne, in addition to assuming oversight for Industrial Relations and union negotiations for Hyatt Hotels in Australia. Sean holds a Master of Business in Industrial Relations and Human Resources Management from Victoria University in Melbourne. He lives in Dubai with his wife & two daughters.

Xavier Molinie

CMA CGM

VP Group HR

Torben Pedersen

Novo Nordisk

Senior Project Manager, Digital Transformation, Global HR

Torben Pedersen, is currently in charge of the Digital Transformation of Global HR for Novo Nordisk. Previous to this role he was in charge of the Oral Launch Plant in Novo Nordisk and an SVP HR Partner where his main field of work was the optimization of the core HR processes leading up to talent recruitment and developing and implementing a new talent management process.

Ravi Singh

Bluefin Consultancy

Founder And General Manager

Ravi Singh was the head of talent relations at The One, a retail company that has five years in a row won the top 10 Great Place to Work award, top employer for women and in 2013 top employer for Millennial. This year the One won the top 5 companies to work for in Asia. Ravi’s main focus in the company was Strategic Planning and Implementation of Business Plans from HR perspective, developing operational and Training structures and talent growth for the business. Other functions included, Policy writing, Payroll, Government Affairs, Talent Development, Creating Workplace initiatives and working closely with Operations in providing systems support. He is an expert in Change Management, Creator of Great Workplaces, Business Paradigms and Builder of Competitive Edge through the utilization of human capital to drive organizational performance at micro and macro levels.

Rob Veersma

Gazprom International Training

Director Training & Development

Rob Veersma is the Director Training & Development at Gazprom International in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He is responsible for implementing training programs for Gazprom EP International, aligned with the competence management system and tailored to local needs.Previously he has been working for Shell International as the Commercial Academy Learning Manager, responsible for all aspects of global capability building that enables world-class deal making. During his long career he has been focusing on global onboarding, virtual working, leadership development and portfolio management. He is a published HR expert and has given many public speeches on among others, Performance Improvement, Just-in-time-learning, Learning and Ethics, Virtual Working, and ROI of Learning.

Ramakrishna Movva, Phd.

Chrysalis Consulting Solutions

Founder & CEO

Ramki performed various HR leadership roles in a career spanning over three decades. He last held the Executive VP & Head of Strategic HR and Organizational Capabilities position at Emirates NBD. INSEAD Business School published a case study on the HR transformation he facilitated at Emirates NBD. Previously, he worked with PwC and Unilever. He recently founded Chrysalis Consulting Solutions that provides consulting, coaching, learning, and advisory services in organizational and leadership development.

Ramki had the opportunity to conceive and execute organizational culture change initiatives and design new-age practices relating to leadership development, performance management, high potential talent, and succession programs. Besides, he trained and coached senior leaders and high-performing teams from diverse cultures to help them be at their best. 

He has a doctoral degree from California Institute of Integral Studies, USA, a postgraduate diploma in Occupational Psychology from the University of Surrey, UK, and a Master’s degree in HR from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. In addition, he is an International Coach Federation certified leadership and team coach. 
Ramki lives with his family in Dubai. He replenishes his inner self through long walks, mindfulness practices, music, and gardening.

Arash Vafadari

Mana Payam Public Relations

CEO

Arash Vafadari is the founder and Managing Director of Mana Payam Public Relations firm based in Tehran, Iran. Mana Payam is Iran’s only dedicated, full service public relations consultancy firm with comprehensive experience in meeting the growing demands of medium and large businesses either already established or looking to enter the local market. The company currently works with many foreign and domestic companies conducting business, or wishing to expand their operations in Iran. In addition to his role at Mana Payam, Arash also lectures at the Vije School of Communications in Tehran teaching modern public relations. He is an advisor to the Iranian Business School (IBS), a not-for-profit academic institution founded by prominent Iranian business people. He is also the chairman of the board at Akhbar Rasmi which is Iran’s first online press release distribution (newswire) company.

Gabriele Metz

Ericsson

Global Head of Leadership Transformation

Gabriele Metz joined Ericsson in 2013 to lead the Talent Management organization in the Middle East region. Prior to joining Ericsson, Gabriele spent 18 years at Motorola in various HR capacities. She brings the insight and experience of a variety of HR functions applied across several geographies including Europe, Middle East and Africa. Her passion for strengthening young diverse talent developed during her very first HR role and continues to this day. She is currently driving a program within Ericsson which is focused on empowering and coaching young female talent. She has received regional recognition specifically for her work in diversity and for creating a mentoring circle to address the development of female talent. Gabriele is a strong advocate of building a diverse workforce because the results of doing so can be directly linked to the bottom line results of a business.

Mahdieh Mohammadali

Aujan Iran

Group Human Resources Manager

Mahdieh Mohammadali, Group Human Resources Manager of Aujan Iran Group, is an accomplished HR professional with over 14 years of experience in recruitment, compensation and benefits, training and career development. As a member of Aujan Iran Leadership Team, she has contributed substantially to the current status of Aujan as an “Employer of Choice” in FMCG sector in Iran. Prior to joining Aujan, Mahdieh held human resources management position in British American Tobacco Company and worked on various projects in Iran, Lebanon and Germany-Hamburg. Mahdieh has been highly effective at maximizing the full potential of the workforce through practices that demonstrate effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention.

Aseyeh Hatami

IranTalent

Founder & Managing Director

Aseyeh Hatami is the founder and Managing Director of IranTalent.com. Established in 2003, IranTalent is the leading online recruitment portal in Iran, with a registered membership consisting of over half a million Iranian professionals, covering all sectors and job categories. By providing employers the opportunity to advertise vacancies on its website and search its database of members, IranTalent is today the primary source of professional and managerial talent for over 3000 major Iranian companies as well international firms operating in Iran. Yearly IranTalent has published insightful research and updates on Iran’s employment market and trends. Prior to founding IranTalent, Aseyeh was involved in another startup and worked as a recruitment consultant. She holds an engineering degree from Tehran Polytechnic University and some business related certificates from London.

Guido Helmerhorst

Air France - KLM

Innovation Technology and Learning Lead

Guido Helmerhorst connects the dots, he helps to reach business objectives while maximizing employee experience and engagement. In this time of change, with rising technology and a demanding workforce this challenge is pertinent. Guido connects technical innovations and concepts like design thinking, Virtual Reality, serious gaming and gamification, he helps craft and design solutions that balance the objectives and drivers of both business and those of the individual. In doing so he makes Business Transformation and creating an innovation culture practical. Within Air France – KLM Guido was and is the initiator, co-creator and creative director of various meaningful experiences in areas ranging from Human Resources, safety, employee mobility, collaboration, training and operational management. His latest quest is about releasing the power of Real Virtual Reality on scale-able, flexible training and development for a more human, mobile and engaging way of learning.

Anna Zakharova

Unilever

Senior HRBP RUB

Anna Zakharova is a Global Talent Manager at Unilever based in London. Prior to joining the Global team, she has held several Leadership Development roles in Russia, driving employer brand agenda and effectiveness of graduate programs. Her main priority in current role is designing the changes in Talent & Performance cycle to strengthen development culture and create more impact for the business. As a strong advocate of developing young and emerging talent, she is actively engages in work with Universities and international student associations.