Dr. Frode Hvaring

Novelia SA

Managing Director

Frode Hvaring is an international Leadership, Culture and Talent Expert. He held various regional and global roles as COO and CHRO in employer lobbying, Swiss banking, power industry, media organisations, technology scale-ups, e-mobility and higher education.
As Managing Director at Novelia SA, a bespoke provider of Assessment Centres and Talent Development in Switzerland, Frode helps companies to optimize their Human Capital solutions. He enjoys building future-proof Governance & Leadership solutions, and establishing effective, durable linkages between Strategy, Culture and Talent.
Frode teaches Corporate Strategy, Global Leadership and Talent for EMBA and MBA students in renowned business schools. He is also active in some scale-up Boards.
He has a master’s in economics from Fribourg University, Switzerland and post-grads from IMD, Lausanne and Thunderbird, Phoenix. His doctoral degree - focused on Cultural Ignorance - was granted by Grenoble Management School and Sant’Anna Institute Pisa.

Stephanie Fastre

Superbet

Director, Talent & Culture

With 25 years of experience in psychology, people, and organizational development, Stephanie Fastré has built a career transforming talent strategies and fostering innovative workplace cultures. At Google, Stephanie built, scaled and sustained effective cultures of learning, innovation, creativity, and community to all levels of employees. She is well-known for creating unique innovative business solutions - she is the kickstarter of Google’s acclaimed globally scaled communities of learning: "g2g" Googler-to-Googler peer-to-peer learning platform, and Google's global "Manager Communities" platform for manager development. She drove Google’s well-known team development approaches, and globally led the CSI:Lab, Google’s flagship creativity and innovation learning program. 
At Netflix, she stood up and led the Talent Management team for EMEA, and supported the business and wider Talent and HR teams, focusing on agile talent development and learning strategies across onboarding, employee engagement and listening, personal growth, team cohesion, culture and feedback, people management and leader development, executive coaching.
Earlier in her career, Stephanie also worked in a variety of roles at McKinsey, Columbia University, Alcorn McBride, Action, and QVC - you might have seen her on the occasional TV show ;). She is a trained actor, business mentor, and executive coach.
Originally from Belgium, Stephanie grew up in the USA, Germany, France, and the UK. She has three sons and one daughter, who inspire her lifelong learning journey.

Diana Fayad

GE

Total Rewards Global Executive

As a Global Total Rewards leader for one of General Electric’s Power Portfolio businesses, Diana Fayad oversees all areas of compensation & benefits, among which executive compensation, annual pay reviews, incentive plans, performance recognition & talent retention.

Passionate about driving a strong EVP with a goal to stand out as a top employer company in today’s volatile environment, Diana acts as a strong partner to business leaders and SHRMs to concretize a “People First” culture.

She has started her career in GE 15 years ago in one of GE’s leadership programs, and has tapped into a variety of operational functions working in a fast-paced global multicultural environment, prior to making her way into the HR function based in Paris for the past 8 years. Her engineering backbone and fierce HR acumen, help her drive complex initiatives in a cross-functional organization and build a credible solid roadmap for teams and stakeholders.

Martin Barner

Sandoz AG

Head Sandoz EX & HR Transformation

Martin Barner is the Head Sandoz EX & HR Transformation at Sandoz. He joined Novartis in 2014 (former parent company of Sandoz) as part of the Corporate Strategy team in Basel, and moved into HR for the first time in 2016 as Sandoz Head HR Strategy & Program Management Office. Prior to Novartis, Martin started his career in McKinsey & Company and have since worked for several companies in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries in both global, regional and local roles across a variety of functions, including strategy, marketing, sales and finance. Martin holds a Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Copenhagen, doing part of his studies at the California Institute of Technology.

Himanshu Saxena

Unilabs

VP HR

International HR executive leading Total Rewards and Organization Effectiveness function for Unilabs (An AP Moeller Maersk holding company), which is a leading European medical diagnostics provider. Himanshu has experience across HR leadership roles in India, Nordics, UK and Switzerland across FMCG and healthcare, having spent considerable time with Procter and Gamble and portfolio companies. Himanshu has interest in total rewards, HR transformation, technology and analytics.

Maria do Rosario Vilhena

Nestle

ZEUR HR Project Manager

Maria do Rosário Vilhena is a seasoned HR executive with over two decades of international experience across Europe and Africa. Holding degrees in Law and European Law from Coimbra and a Master’s in Human Resources Management from Católica do Porto, Maria began her career in the legal field before transitioning into HR at the Institute of Port Wine. Since joining Nestlé in 2003, she has held numerous leadership roles—overseeing HR operations in Portugal, Angola, Mozambique, Germany, Switzerland, and now France, where she currently supports the transformation of Nestlé’s global HR function. Her expertise spans factory operations, international expansion, leadership development, and operating model transformation.

Beyond her professional life, Maria is passionate about reading, traveling, and enjoying the small pleasures of home life—whether that’s savoring a good glass of wine, getting lost in a gripping crime series, or exploring the hidden corners of a new city. A lover of stand-up comedy and a curious soul, she began ultralight pilot lessons in 2023 and is rediscovering her love for running. She lives by the mottos: “It doesn’t have to be perfect to be amazing” and “Nothing teaches us as much as our last mistake.

Viviane Minden

BECHEM

CHRO

Viviane Minden is an HR executive with over 20 years of international experience driving strategic transformations within the life sciences and chemical manufacturing industries. She has successfully led large scale transformations incl. digitization, developed and implemented talent strategies, and M&A integrations across more than 40 countries. With a proven track record in VC-backed start-ups, mid-sized firms, and global publicly listed companies, she brings deep expertise in M&A integration, organizational design, and executive development. Viviane Minden combines scientific thinking, data-driven HR, and strong business acumen to enable sustainable growth and innovation. A global citizen with an MBA from the U.S., she has lived and worked across Europe, Asia, and North America.

Anne Vermersch

Louis Vuitton

HRBP

Anne Vermersch, originally from France, is a Senior HR Leader with over 13 years of international experience across Europe, Asia, and Switzerland. She has held senior leadership roles, in renowned global companies within the luxury, automotive, pharmaceutical, and retail sectors.
With a strong foundation in strategic HR management and organizational development, she has successfully guided HR initiatives that align with business goals, foster high-performance cultures, and drive organizational change. Her work has been instrumental in shaping HR strategies that enhance talent management, leadership development, employee engagement, and performance optimization.
In addition to her expertise in traditional HR disciplines, Anne has developed a keen interest in Generative AI and HR Tech, and how these innovations can be leveraged to streamline HR processes and improve the overall employee experience. She is particularly focused on the intersection of technology and human capital, advocating for the ethical integration of AI in HR practices to create more agile, efficient, and inclusive workplaces.
Based in Geneva, she is a trusted HR leader with a proven track record of driving change and delivering results within high-growth and multinational organizations.

Lia Steindler

Estee Lauder Companies

HR Global Strategic Initiatives

Lia Steindler is a senior international HR leader with 20+ years of experience in talent strategy, executive development, and organizational transformation across the luxury, FMCG, and finance sectors. She currently serves as Executive Director Talent EMEA & Global Project Lead – AI-Powered HR Solutions at Estée Lauder Companies, where she leads the regional talent agenda for 20,000 employees across 60 markets, while driving global HR innovation.
In her latest role, Lia has spearheaded the integration of AI-driven solutions into the employee lifecycle. She also led the development and deployment of a virtual AI agent to resolve Tier 0 and Tier 1 HR queries at scale — significantly transforming service delivery and improving user experience . Multilingual and multicultural, Lia is fluent in seven languages and combines a strong academic background. She holds degrees from ESSEC, EHESS, and Tel Aviv University, and is a certified executive coach with Master's degrees in both Psychology and Human Resources Management. She is also certified in leadership development by Gallup and Korn Ferry. Her career spans hands-on leadership roles across Europe and the Americas.

Sujit Radhakrishnan

Yum! Brands

Head - People & Franchisee for Europe

Sujit Radhakrishnan is a future-focused People & Commercial leader with deep expertise in building people strategies that scale across the globe. As Head - People & Franchisee for Europe at Yum! Brands, he plays a critical role in shaping workforce transformation in the age of AI, automation, and acceleration and leadership development across complex, multi-stakeholder environments. He is known for turning complex workforce challenges into actionable strategies that fuse technology, human behavior, and business outcomes.
With over 20 years of experience across iconic brands and the global markets—including Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East North Africa, and Indian Subcontinent.—Sujit has led large-scale initiatives in culture transformation, future skills planning, and strategic workforce design. He is known for combining business acumen with human-centered thinking, enabling organizations to thrive amid disruption. Sujit’s perspective is rooted in both on-the-ground operational experience and high-level strategic insight.
At the Forum, Sujit will deliver a keynote exploring the forces reshaping the future of work—highlighting how CHROs can rewire The New Era of Employee Experience,  workforce strategy around evolving skills, agile structures, and the power of purpose-driven talent ecosystems.

Pierre Dejonghe

INFICOM

CPO

Pierre Dejonghe is an accomplished Human Resources leader with over 25 years of global experience across the tech, FMCG, consulting, and private equity sectors. Currently serving as Chief People Officer at INFICON, a Swiss-based public tech company specializing in smart manufacturing and sensor solutions, Pierre is leading the organization’s people and culture transformation across 14 key global markets. His scope includes driving strategic growth across a $671M business and a workforce of over 1,600 employees. With a strong foundation in executive HR leadership—including completion of the CHRO Executive Program at Wharton—Pierre brings a proven track record in scaling organizations and building global capabilities in complex, fast-evolving environments.

Pierre is widely recognized for his people-first leadership philosophy, blending strategic clarity (the head), emotional intelligence (the heart), and purpose-driven values (the soul). He has successfully led large-scale transformations in M&A, culture, and rewards, always championing innovation, co-creation, and digital enablement. An early advocate for people analytics and digital HR, Pierre is also a venture capital investor in allygatr, a German HR tech VC firm, and advisor to two of its startups focused on skills assessment and VR leadership development. Passionate about building inclusive and agile workplaces, he believes HR should be a force for transformation—not just inside organizations, but across society.