Innovation Day

Deputy CEO and Head Private Banking & Asset Management, Swiss Bankers Association (SBA)

Since July 2017, August Benz has been Head Private Banking & Asset Management of the SBA and, since December 2017, Deputy CEO. He is also responsible for all matters relating to Europe, digitalisation, sustainable Finance and economic policy. He has a proven track record over more than 20 years in the financial services industry and is well acquainted with financial market regulation.

Head of F10

Thomas is Head of F10. F10 is a Zurich-based FinTech Incubator and Accelerator which supports and guides start-ups in transforming their ideas into successful companies while stimulating worldwide collaboration with international finance organizations. 

Thomas has been working in the financial industry for more than 19 years, with previous experiences including American Express, SIX Payment Services where he led the Innovation Team behind the national mobile payment solution Paymit until it was merged with TWINT. Before that, he was running his own think tank agency ‘Konzeptwerkstatt’.

Landis holds a degree in Business Administration and a Master's in Corporate Innovation Management. He has had a passion for new trends and technologies ever since he was a schoolboy and combines his enthusiasm with a thorough business education and a dedication to the payments industry.

Director of Strategy and Innovation of Generali Switzerland

Pietro Carnevale is passionate about strategy, transformation, and innovation within Financial Services. He is Director of Strategy and Innovation of Generali Switzerland, “godfather” of Generali Innovation Garage in Adliswil, and Board Member of F10 Incubator & Accelerator. He has broad international experience managing transformation for Accenture, Credit Suisse, and Aviva. Engineer, Italian, and happy dad.

Chief Business Officer of PXL Vision AG

Karim Nemr is the Founder and Chief Business Officer of PXL Vision AG, an ETH- spin-off providing solutions for automated identity verification based on machine learning and computer vision. With PXL Vision, he won the Swiss Economic Award, the W.A. De Vigier Award, and the Swisscom Startup Challenge. He is an entrepreneurial technologist with a management background and before PXL he was leading business development, marketing, and sales for Dacuda AG for 7 years until it was sold to Magic Leap in 2017.

Managing Director of digitalswitzerland

Nicolas Bürer studied Physics at the École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland. After several years in management consulting and young start-ups, he then went on to co-found MOVU, of which he still is Chairman. Movu has been acquired through a Swiss insurance group in 2017. Since October 2016, Nicolas Bürer is Managing Director at digitalswitzerland. Nicolas is one of the 100 "2019 Who is Who" and "2018 Who is Who" of the Swiss Economy and has been awarded as the 2018 "Swiss Business Angel of the Year". He is a passionate entrepreneur and start-up investor.

Managing Partner of Inspire 925

Sunnie J. Groeneveld is an entrepreneur, board member, author, and speaker. She is the Founder and Managing Partner of Inspire 925, a consultancy focused on change management, employee engagement, and digital transformation. She also serves as a board member of three medium-sized companies in Switzerland in the IT, media, and engineering sector and as the Associate Dean of Studies of the Executive MBA Digital Leadership at the HWZ University of Applied Sciences in Zurich.

Previously, she worked as the first Managing Director of digitalswitzerland, Switzerland’s largest cross-industry initiative on digital transformation. Moreover, she is the author of the book “Inspired at Work”, was named as one of the “Top 100 Women in Business”, appeared in the list “Top 50 Who is Who in Digital Switzerland” by Handelszeitung as well as in the “30 under 30” list of Forbes magazine. Sunnie graduated in Economics from Yale University.

Conceptual Artist

Kevin Abosch is a world-renowned conceptual artist driven by his interest in the nature of identity & value.  Abosch’s works in photography, installation, film, and generative technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain have been exhibited in institutions and civic spaces across the globe including The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, The Museum of Modern Art, Bogota (MAMBO), The National Gallery of Ireland & Germany’s ZKM (Center for Art & Media). 

Director Digital & Innovation, Art Basel

Alban Fischer, Director Digital & Innovation, Art Basel, oversees all digital initiatives of Art Basel. Before being promoted to Director Digital & Innovation, Alban Fischer worked as Senior Digital Project Manager for MCH Group and later as Global Head of Digital Platforms for Art Basel. Alban Fischer joined MCH Group in 2014 from Fashion Days, an e-commerce, where he was Head of Corporate Development and Strategy, having started his career at PwC. Alban holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Innovation from the ETH Zurich and a Master of Arts in Management and Economics from the University of Zurich. 

Head of Strategy for Maecenas

Juan I. Dominguez is the Head of Strategy for Maecenas. Prior to joining Maecenas, Juan worked for major global banks such as JP Morgan, ING & ANZ. With a career spanning five different countries (UK, Australia, Netherlands, Spain & Singapore), he has experience on a wide range of transactions, including Institutional Banking, Real Estate, Corporate Advisory & Private Equity. He holds a Bachelor of International Business and a Master's in Applied Finance from Macquarie University, with an award for high achievement.

Conceptual Artist

Kevin Abosch is a world-renowned conceptual artist driven by his interest in the nature of identity & value.  Abosch’s works in photography, installation, film, and generative technologies including artificial intelligence and blockchain have been exhibited in institutions and civic spaces across the globe including The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, The Museum of Modern Art, Bogota (MAMBO), The National Gallery of Ireland & Germany’s ZKM (Center for Art & Media). 

Director Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst

Heike Munder, Director Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst, studied cultural studies at the University of Lueneburg. She has been Director of the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst Zürich since 2001. She co-founded the Halle für Kunst Lüneburg e.V., which she co-directed between 1995 and 2001. Previously curated exhibitions include Stephen Willats, Teresa Burga, Dorothy Iannone, Geoffrey Farmer, Ragnar Kjartansson, Tatiana Trouvé, Tadeusz Kantor, Rachel Harrison, It’s Time for Action – There’s No Option, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Yoko Ono, and Mark Leckey. She holds several regular teaching positions, including at the University of Lueneburg, Goldsmiths College (London), the University of Bern, the Zurich University of the Arts, and the Jan van Eyck Academy (Maastricht). In 2012, she served on the jury for the Turner Prize and the Skoda Awards, New Delhi.

CEO of SmartBizHub

Manuela Andaloro is a senior professional with over 19 years of executive experience in global and regional roles in financial services, business strategy and digital transformation. Since 2017, she is CEO and Founder of Swiss-based SmartBizHub, a management consultancy specialising in marketing, communications, sustainability, future tech and future work. Manuela is a published author, a senior board advisor on the topics of finance, social shifts, impact, culture and leadership. She is a IULM and university of Cambridge alumna, and an advocate for diversity and EQ- driven leadership.

Deputy Director and Head of the Staff Unit at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS)

Dr. Michele De Lorenzi is Deputy Director and Head of the Staff Unit at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano. Michele De Lorenzi studied computer science at ETH Zurich, where he received his Ph.D. At CSCS, he has been in charge of the unit operating HPC systems for external customers such as MeteoSwiss and of the scientific community engagement unit, as well as of the outreach and communication of activities related to the center.

Monique Morrow is President and Co-Founder of the Humanized Internet, a non-profit organization focused on addressing the need to control our identities as well as providing digital identity for those individuals most underserved. The belief in the social good of technology with embedded ethics has guided Monique’s extensive work with blockchain, especially its applicability to education and credentialing as well as other industries including healthcare, insurance, and Internet of things.

Furthermore, she is also an active member of the IEEE Ethics in Action Executive Committee as well as Co-Chair of the IEEE Ethics in Action Extended Reality Committee. Monique has been recognized in the industry for her tireless focus on social good.

Alexander Verbeck is Head Cash Ecosystem at SIX, the infrastructure provider of Switzerland's financial center. SIX operates over 6,000 modern and efficient ATMs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, which meet the strictest standards for security, stability and availability. Prior to that Alexander served for 10 years as Head Product Management for payments, cards and cash infrastructure at Credit Suisse. He also held leadership roles in Supply Chain Management at Siemens and Unaxis. Alexander holds a Ph.D. from ETH Zurich based on his work at the Institute for Industrial Engineering and Management. In addition, he worked as visiting scholar at Stanford University. Since then he has published several articles and books.