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.

Maud Durand

META

Global Change & Learning Manager

About 15 years ago, Maud started the most fascinating journey, working in the Human Resources world! She is a passionate person for whom the greatest career achievement is to bring out the best in talents and being surrounded by the people that encourage her to be a better human being and professional.
As a Global Change & Learning Manager based in London, Maud is operating across the globe with a focus on enabling the potential of teams and talents that surround her. 
Her will is to be a partner, teacher and advocate to the teams she supports; ensure they have the guidance and resources to turn their high-impact work into the talents’ Meta needs now and in the future.
Preceding her time at Meta (Facebook) she worked for LinkedIn and Dell as a Talent Acquisition Partner & before that as a HR Partner in France. 

Luigi Maria Fierro

ING Group

Global Head of HR Strategy and Transformation

Luigi Maria Fierro joined ING Group in 2015 and he is currently Head of ING HR strategy and transformation, leading HR’s future strategic agenda and the implementation of the new HR operating model globally. During his journey in ING, as Head of Performance Management space, he has redesigned the Group’s new performance management framework and had ensured its full implementation with a transformation program covering 55.000 employees. Prior to join ING Luigi Maria has been working for 10 years in McKinsey and Co. serving several of the leading financial institutions in Europe, Middle East and North Africa. Thanks to this experience Luigi Maria has developed an extensive experience on the financial institutions sector that is combining HR business and strategic perspectives

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.

Kim Wylie

former Builder.ai, Farfetch, Google

Kim is an experienced People Leader, Strategic and Board Advisor with over 20 years in the Technology and Media sectors. Specializing in people development, organizational transformation, and high-performance teams, Kim combines corporate strategy, people strategy, and technology to create inclusive, high-performing cultures. She has led global teams at Builder.ai, Farfetch, and Google.As a certified coach and keynote speaker, Kim has shared her expertise on leadership, team dynamics, and diversity and inclusion at institutions including London Business School and Cambridge University.

Erica Briody

Culture Index

Executive Advisor

Erica Perry Briody is the epitome of strategic excellence in executive advisory, renowned for her unparalleled expertise in shaping high-performance cultures through precision talent acquisition strategies, incisive leadership assessments, and visionary succession planning, all meticulously aligned with organizational values and objectives. With a distinguished track record as Global SVP of Talent at industry-leading firms, including Reef, OYO, Quintiles, General Electric, and Novartis, Erica has consistently elevated organizational performance through transformative leadership interventions. As a seasoned entrepreneur, she has not only founded but also successfully guided multiple Global Executive Search enterprises, testament to her innate ability to navigate complex business landscapes with finesse and foresight. Erica's intuitive grasp of communication dynamics across diverse generational cohorts, including the dynamic Generation AI, ensures seamless alignment between leadership vision and organizational strategy. Collaborating closely with C-suite executives, she facilitates cultivating leadership teams imbued with the requisite traits, behaviors, and values to drive sustained growth and competitive advantage. At the forefront of innovation, Erica spearheaded the pioneering C-Hire initiative in partnership with Culture Index, offering C-suite leaders’ exclusive access to transformative workshops designed to attract and onboard culturally aligned top talent. Leveraging data-driven insights and analytics, she consistently delivers impressive 20% increases in top-line revenue metrics, positioning organizations for unparalleled success in today's dynamic marketplace. A distinguished MBA alumna of London’s prestigious Henley Business School, Erica's academic credentials are augmented by Six Sigma certification and fluency in multiple languages, reflecting her global perspective and cross-cultural acumen honed across five continents. Erica's trailblazing contributions to the HR landscape have earned her widespread acclaim and a host of prestigious accolades, cementing her reputation as an indispensable partner in driving organizational excellence and C-suite success.

Federico Balzola

Former CHRO and Sustainability Officer at Procter and Gamble, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser, Aer Lingus and DIM

Chief HR Officer

Federico Balzola is an international CHRO and Sustainability Officer and a certified coach. He has worked for some of the best known brands in Europe like Procter and Gamble, Danone, Reckitt Benckiser, Aer Lingus and DIM inspired by three principles: 
a best in class HR appoach is a key pillar of a successful business strategy and a key enabler of business transformation.
focusing on employees wellbeing and developement is the best way to boost productivity and ultimately profitability.
The move towards a more sustainable business model will shape the winners of tomorrow

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.

Oana Iordachescu

WAYFAIR

Head of Tech TA EU

Oana Iordachescu  is a Senior Talent Acquisition Leader with over 10 years experience Talent Acquisition, Diversity & Inclusion and Talent Management. She has built her portfolio partnering with leaders across companies such as Booking.com (Amsterdam), Criteo (Paris)  and currently Wayfair (Berlin) with the explicit goal to build and nurture inclusive workforces. 
She has developed programs and processes that aim at creating access to equal opportunity and advocates for diversity and inclusion policies as a business and societal benefit. 
Her mission is to show that changing the ratio is not the problem, changing the ratio is the solution.

Florine van der Ven

ING Tech NL

Global Senior HR Business Partner

With Masters in Civil and Corporate Law, and experience in Talent Acquisition, Performance Management, Brand Activation, Agile Way of Working, Florine changed after working in Italy for a few months and the role of a Global Transformation & Change Consultant at ING, to the role of Global HR Business Partner Tech. ING has recently embarked on a massive transformation journey becoming an IT company with a banking license, IT and analytics being at the core of this change. Florine supports more specifically the Tech Infra business, which especially in these times play a crucial role for the bank. Aim is to have a better client and customer experience.

Azad Navaz

BMW AG

Head of Qualification, Training & Retail HR

Azad Navaz is the Head of Qualification, Training & Retail HR at BMW AGMW for Africa and the Eastern European Region. His overall responsibilities include employee Attraction, Selection, Development, Retention in the BMW Group Retail Network in 36 countries across the region with a strong focus on Recruitment and People Management Culture. 
In his previous role in BMW Azad was the Training Manager for the Asia Pacific Region responsible for identifying training needs, developing training content and training delivery for the whole region. Azad is also the recipient of The Prince Philip Medal awarded to an engineer of any nationality who has made an exceptional contribution to engineering as a whole through practice, management or education. 
 

Gaia Artico

DBI - Dim Brands International

HR Senior Manager Direct to Consumer and Talent Development

Gaia Artico has 15 years of experience developed in Italy, UK, Benelux and France. After 10 years as Training, Recruiting and Development Manager in Italy, she moved to the UK as HR Manager UK and Benelux. Since July 2019 she is based in the European headquarters in Paris. She is a certified facilitator and her main responsibilities are Talent and Performance Management, Training and Development, Employee Engagement and Internal Communication. In addition she is HR Business partner for the direct to consumer department: Ecommerce, Retail, IT. .