SPEAKERS

Andreas Ekström
Speaker, Educator, Journalist, Author

Andreas Ekström is a futurist and commentator on digital revolution. His passion is to educate for digital equality and he aims to understand the companies and behaviours that have become culturally, technologically and commercially drivers of change at all levels of society. Andreas wants to see a world in which we share the wealth – not only financially, but also in terms of knowledge and influence.

Andreas’ most recent talk, “Seven ways to own the world”, is a hands-on and very real future analysis, where he pinpoints the seven biggest issues of our digital future, helping you to understand them better and putting you in the driver’s seat not only so you can do good business, but also to make a difference in a world that currently calls for digital democracy in a whole new way.

Oliver Schabenberger
Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, SAS

As COO and CTO, Oliver Schabenberger sets the technology direction for SAS and executes the company’s strategic direction and business priorities. He oversees multiple divisions within SAS, including R&D, Sales, Marketing, Information Technology and Customer Support, as well as divisions focused on solutions for IoT, financial risk management and cloud.

Charles Senabulya
Vice President and Country Manager for SAS UKI.

In 2017 Charles became the Vice President and Country Manager for SAS UKI, where he is responsible for the region’s revenue delivery and operations. Charles’ focus is to continue to find new ways to engage and delight customers while growing SAS’ voice in, and share of, the UKI Analytics market.

Charles has been with SAS since 2010, joining as a Sales Manager for Banking and Insurance and was promoted to Sales Director, Financial Services in March 2012 and then to overall Sales Director for SAS UKI in 2016. Prior to SAS, Charles spent 10 years at IBM in various roles across Europe and Africa where his last role was as Director IBM Software Group, Sub-Saharan Africa, where he led the transformation of the business to become a growth market region.

Before joining IBM, Charles worked in various roles at Compuware and Parametric Technology. He has over 15 years of Executive Management within the Financial Services Industry, where he has worked with some of the leading Financial Institutes to deliver critical business transformation and innovation through technology.

Andy Parkinson
CEO of British Rowing

Prior to his appointment as CEO of British Rowing in January 2015, Andy was the first Chief Executive of UK Anti-Doping (UKAD). He was responsible for establishing UKAD as a leading organisation, managing and promoting clean sport in the UK and internationally. Between 2012 and 2015 Andy was the Chairman of the European Committee for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

Andy has worked in sport for over 15 years after completing a BSc in Sport (Science and Administration). During this time he has held a number of positions in national and international sporting organisations, including Manager of Sport Services for Paralympics New Zealand, President of New Zealand Wheelchair Rugby and Medical and Scientific Director at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in Germany.

He was a member of WADA’s International Standard for Testing Working Group and played an active role in WADA’s Independent Observer Programme. He attended the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, the 2009 Games of the Small States of Europe as Chair, the 2010 Tour de France as Co-Chair and the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games as Chair.

Andy grew up in North London and is now based in West London with his wife and son.