Joëlle Barral is a Senior Director of Research & Engineering at Google DeepMind (GDM). Based in Paris, she has a diverse portfolio of foundational research efforts, which includes theoretical and empirical aspects of frontier models as well as early-stage research in artificial intelligence and the life sciences. She is also in charge of GDM's efforts in healthcare. She leads a team of researchers and engineers spread across Europe and North America.

Joëlle Barral was previously software lead at Verily, Google's sister life sciences company, and the head of Verily Surgical. She joined Verily in 2014 and was part of the team who started Verb Surgical, Verily’s joint venture with Johnson & Johnson’s Ethicon, pioneering a vision for the future of robotic surgery that leverages machine learning and digital tools to enhance the surgeon’s judgment, improve decision making, and positively impact clinical outcomes.

Before joining Verily, she was with HeartVista, a spin-off from Stanford University, where she developed an MR software package for the comprehensive evaluation of ischemic and valvular heart diseases. Joëlle Barral has authored numerous patents on topics ranging from maternal health, digital pathology, surgical robotics, and medical imaging.

She holds a B.S. degree in Math and Physics from Ecole Polytechnique, France, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering, in the field of high-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging, from Stanford University, where she was also a Simon Stertzer Biodesign Innovation Fellow. She is the 2019 recipient of the Pierre Faurre Prize.

Dr. Jos Benschop received his M.Sc. (cum laude) and PhD in physics from University of Twente.

From 1984 until 1997 he worked at Philips Research Labs in Eindhoven as well as Sunnyvale (CA-USA).

He joined ASML in 1997 where he initiated and lead the program to assess and select the “Next Generation Lithography” which resulted in the choice for Extreme UltraViolet Lithography (EUVL) by ASML.

Today EUVL is being used in High Volume IC Manufacturing by all leading memory and logic makers.

Dr. Benschop is a member of ASML executive team. As Executive Vice President Technology he is currently responsible for Research, System Engineering, Corporate Intellectual Property and the Technology Development Center.

Dr. Benschop published over 42 papers and is (co-)inventor of more than 24 patents.

He is a member of the Netherlands Academy of Engineering (NAE), a fellow of the SPIE and has been appointed by the King of The Netherlands as advisor to Dutch government and parliament for Science, Technology and Innovation (AWTI).

She is a mathematician working as Associate Professor at the University of Insubria in Como. She is also affiliated to the Université Paris-Saclay. Since March 2022, she has been the President of the Grothendieck Institute, an Italian foundation devoted to interdisciplinary research in the mathematical sciences.

Since the beginning of her Ph.D. studies, her research has focused on investigating the role of Grothendieck toposes as unifying spaces in Mathematics and Logic.

Her main contribution has been the development of the unifying theory of topos-theoretic 'bridges', consisting in methods and techniques for transferring information between distinct mathematical theories by using toposes.

These methodologies are interdisciplinary in character and, even though they find their theoretical and most natural expression in Mathematics, they can also be applied outside it, in subjects such as Physics, Computer Science, Linguistics and Philosophy.

The Centre for Topos Theory and its Applications of the Grothendieck Institute is notably devoted to developing the theory of toposes as 'bridges' and its applications.

Alex Creely is a scientist and engineer on a quest for clean energy.He is currently the Director of Tokamak Operations and Chief Engineer of ARC Design at Commonwealth Fusion Systems, a Massachusetts-based company working toward clean fusion energy. Alex has been at CFS since 2019 after starting as lucky number 13 at the company.Alex has worked on fusion projects around the world and is optimistic about a future in which the world runs on clean energy. Alex completed a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering at Princeton University in 2014 and a PhD in 2019 at MIT, building fancy thermometers to measure plasma turbulence.

Dr. Goetz is a quantum physicist, Co-CEO, and Co-founder of IQM Quantum Computers. Dr. Goetz did his doctorate on superconducting quantum circuits at TU Munich and worked as a Marie-Curie Fellow in Helsinki at Aalto University, where he holds the title of docent. In 2024, WirtschaftsWoche Magazin selected him as one of 30 executives to shape Germany, in 2023, he was selected as Founder of the Year by Handelsblatt. In 2020, Capital magazine selected him as one of 40 under 40 in Germany, and he received an entrepreneurship award from the KAUTE Foundation.

Jan was on the Board of the European Innovation Council EIC, and holds a Board seat in the European Quantum Industry Consortium QuIC. He is also and member of the German Federal Economic Senate, an EIC Scaling Club Council member, member of the Hall of Future, as well as a Digital Leader and Global Innovator at the WEF.

Patrick Nebout is the Chief Technology Officer at Yanfeng Technology, a position he has held since July 2023. In this role, he leads the company’s global Smart Cabin initiatives, overseeing product strategy, consumer research, industrial design, and the full lifecycle of innovation development—from initial concept to market launch. Patrick is focused on driving Yanfeng’s global Smart Cabin strategy, with a strong emphasis on sustainable innovation and long-term business growth.

With over 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, Patrick brings deep expertise in advanced technologies and cockpit systems. Prior to joining Yanfeng, he served as Chief Technology Director at Forvia from 2017, where he led the Cockpit of the Future program. There, he was instrumental in launching cutting-edge systems and technologies, managing cockpit systems development, and advancing the use of product digital twins and data-driven engineering models.

Earlier in his career, Patrick held leadership roles in advanced technologies and innovation at Visteon, following its acquisition of Johnson Controls Electronics. At Johnson Controls, he served as Director of the Driver Information Product Business Unit, where he was responsible for global product management, platform development, and commercialization of new solutions.

Patrick began his career in the aerospace industry with Aerospatiale, working in both Canada and France, and later held management roles in Sales and Marketing at Robert Bosch, focusing on automotive safety products.

He holds a Master of Sciences in Physics from Ecole Centrale Méditerranée and a Master’s in Business from HEC Paris.

Quentin Sannié is an entrepreneur and innovator dedicated to tackling today’s most pressing environmental challenges. He is the Co-Founder and President of Genesis, the world’s first soil health rating agency, which combines soil science, AI, and digital platforms to create a universal benchmark for soil, carbon, water, and biodiversity. Under his leadership, Genesis has built the largest global database of soil analyses and a methodology enabling the “digital twin of soil” — a breakthrough tool for companies and financial institutions to measure, model, and improve the resilience of their supply chains.

Previously, Quentin co-founded Devialet, the award-winning French audio technology company, recognized worldwide for its design and acoustic innovations. With nearly 40 years of entrepreneurial experience, he now focuses his energy on bridging science, technology, and business to accelerate the regeneration of ecosystems and to equip industries with the tools they need for a sustainable future.

Jean-Charles Soria, M.D., Ph.D., is senior vice president, R&D Oncology, responsible for leading Amgen’s Oncology Therapeutic Area, JAPAC Development and Precision Medicine.

Prior to Amgen, Jean-Charles was the Director General of Gustave Roussy, he largest European Cancer Center. He oversaw at Gustave Roussy all clinical, research and teaching activities.

Jean-Charles is a Medical Oncologist and was appointed a Professor of Medicine at Paris-Saclay University in 2006. He holds a doctorate in molecular biology. He completed his post-doctoral training during a two-year appointment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, where in addition he was an associate professor from 2013 to 2017.

From 2017 to 2019 he was Senior Vice-President, Research & Development in Oncology, with AstraZeneca in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, where he led clinical and research teams responsible for strategy and for development of new agents in immuno-oncology, cell therapy and conjugated antibodies.

Additionally, he has authored or co-authored more than 670 articles in leading international journals and has appeared in the list of the most influential research scientists in the world. Jean-Charles received multiple awards, including the ESMO award in 2018.

Dr. Ariel Dora Stern is the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Digital Health, Economics and Policy at the Hasso Plattner Institute and a Full Professor at the University of Potsdam. Previously she spent ten years on the faculty of Harvard Business School and continues to teach in executive education programs for Harvard Medical School. Her research focuses on technology management and innovation in health care, using methods from econometrics and data science to curate and analyze novel datasets.

Her projects consider the regulation, strategy, and economics of health care, with a focus on emerging health care technologies and delivery modalities. She has published widely in top journals in medicine, economics, and health care policy and her research has been cited by Bloomberg, The New York Times, National Public Radio, STAT News, the Handlesblatt, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, and the Tagesspiegel. Ariel received her Ph.D. from Harvard University, where she was a National Bureau of Economic Research Predoctoral Fellow in the Economics of Health and Aging.

She holds an undergraduate degree in economics from Dartmouth College, where she was a Presidential Scholar and national collegiate figure skating champion. From 2020-2021 Ariel served as the Director for International Health Care Economics at the Health Innovation Hub, an independent think tank of the German Federal Ministry of Health focused. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Peterson Health Technology Institute, the German Society for Digital Medicine, and the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, and advises numerous health care startups.