2026 Speakers

Denis Beau has been Deputy Governor of the Banque de France since August 2017 and First Deputy Governor since January 2024. In this capacity, he represents the Governor as Chair of the Autorité de contrôle prudentiel et de résolution (ACPR) and has chaired the Observatory for the Security of Payment Means since January 2024. He is also a member of the Board of the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and of the ECB Supervisory Board, and has chaired the ECB Budget Committee since 2023. At the international level, he co-chairs several groups dedicated to payments, market infrastructures and financial stability. In particular, he has co-chaired the Working Group on Modernisation (WGM) of the Financial Stability Board since March 2026.

His responsibilities cover in particular microprudential supervision, payments and market infrastructures, innovation, currency activities, the Banque de France branch network, and internal management.

As graduate of Sciences Po Paris and INSEAD, Denis Beau joined the Banque de France in 1986. He has since held numerous senior positions in financial markets, payments and financial stability, including Director General of Financial Stability and Operations from 2012 to 2017.

Mary was appointed to her current role in August 2024. She is a member of the Group Management Team and an Executive Director of Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) Limited.

With more than 30 years of experience in banking and business management, Mary has held a range of senior leadership positions spanning balance sheet product management, wealth management, and distribution. Prior to assuming her current role, she served as Cluster CEO for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Before that, she was CEO of Hong Kong and Regional Head of Retail Banking for Greater China & North Asia.

Beyond her executive responsibilities, Mary actively contributes to the development of Hong Kong’s financial industry and broader business community through a number of external appointments. These include serving as the rotating Chair or Vice Chair of the Hong Kong Association of Banks;a member of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s Banking Advisory Committee;Hong Kong, China’s representative to the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC);a member of the Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Advisory Committee on Corruption;a member of the Advisory Committee on the Development of the International Aviation Superhub;a Council Member of The University of Hong Kong;and an Independent Non-Executive Director of MTR Corporation Limited.

Maggie Ng is the Chief Executive Officer for Hong Kong at HSBC, while also serving as the Head of Retail Banking and Wealth (RB&W) in Hong Kong. In her dual role, Maggie oversees HSBC’s Hong Kong franchise, and leads the strategic growth of the Bank’s flagship RB&W business.

Maggie has a proven track record of delivering growth, particularly in wealth management, improving customer advocacy; driving digital transformation and effectively managing risks – all underpinned by a people-focused culture.

She joined HSBC in 2020 from IG Group, a leading online trading provider, where she was the Greater China CEO. Prior to that, Maggie co-founded a fintech wealth management and asset management company – Assured Asset Management – which was recognised in 2019 as the “Best New Wealth Management Platform” by AsiaAsset Management magazine and “Editors’ Triple Star” by the Asset magazine.

With over 20 years of experience in the finance industry, Maggie is a seasoned banking professional, having held a number of senior local and regional positions at Citibank in both business and risk management. In her earlier career, Maggie worked for leading professional services firm Ernst & Young (Australia) and global resources company BHP Billiton.

She holds a Bachelor of Technology in Business Information Technology from the University of New South Wales, Australia, and an MBA in Accounting and Finance from California State University, Hayward.

Fred is Primavera Capital Group’s Founder, Chairman and CEO. He oversees the firm’s overall strategy, talent development and culture, and assumes the primary responsibilities in establishing and maintaining the firm’s long-term partnerships with global investors. Fred initiated and led investment transactions such as Alibaba Group, Ant Group, Yum China, ByteDance, Xpeng Inc., Kuaishou Technology, SenseTime, and Mead Johnson Greater China.

Prior to forming Primavera, Fred was Partner and Chairman of Greater China at Goldman Sachs and a member of Goldman’s Partnership Committee. He previously served as an economist at the International Monetary Fund. He also served on the Hong Kong Government’s Strategic Development Committee and the Advisory Committee for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, and was an independent director of the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited and ICBC.

Fred is currently the non-executive chairman of Yum China Holdings Inc. and serves on the boards of UBS Group AG and Chubb Limited. In addition, he is a member of the The Nature Conservancy’s global Board of Directors and the co-chair of its Asia Pacific Council, a trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) and the China Medical Board, a member of the HKEX Mainland China Advisory Group, the Global Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Jerome A. Chazen Institute of International Business at Columbia University, Harvard Kennedy School’s Dean’s Leadership Council and Harvard University’s Global Advisory Council.

Fred holds a Master in Engineering Science from Tsinghua University and a Master and PhD in Economics from Harvard University.

Aveline San was appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Citi Hong Kong in 2022. She became Hong Kong CEO and Head of Banking in 2023. Aveline also serves as Board Director and Chairman of Citibank (China) Co., Ltd.

Aveline began her career as a banking and capital markets lawyer after qualifying as a solicitor and barrister in Australia in 1997. She joined Citi in April 2019 as Regional Chief Compliance Officer for Asia Pacific (APAC). Prior to Citi, she spent 14 years with UBS in various senior management positions, including APAC Group Regional Head of Compliance & Operational Risk Control, General Counsel of Wealth Management for North Asia, and Supervisor of the Board of UBS’ China banking entity.

Aveline is passionate about promoting industry collaboration on innovation. She currently serves on the board of FinTech Association of Hong Kong. Aveline was conferred as an Honorary Certified Banker by the Hong Kong Institute of Bankers in 2024.

Mr. Lin oversees Tencent’s overall fintech business, including payment, wealth management, securities and other fintech services. Previously he was the Managing Partner at Tencent Investment, where he was responsible for Tencent’s equity investment in various areas, such as e-commerce, Internet Finance, Online to Offline and digital contents etc. Notable deals including JD.com, China Literature, Tencent Music, Meituan, PDD, Bilibili etc. Prior to joining Tencent, Mr. Lin held various senior positions in finance, strategy, and operating management at Microsoft and Nokia.

Forest Lin holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Bachelor of Engineering from Zhejiang University.

Mr. Gan Tian has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer of China Asset Management (Hong Kong) since September 2020, with 20 years of investment management experience. Joining ChinaAMC (HK) since its establishment in 2008, he had previously served as the Managing Director and the portfolio manager, overseeing the firm's longest-running equity absolute return strategy.

Established in 2008, China Asset Management (Hong Kong) Limited ("ChinaAMC (HK)") is a leading Chinese asset manager in Hong Kong, with expertise in a variety of asset classes, covering equities, fixed income, ETF, L&I products, digital assets, as well as mandates and investment advisory services. ChinaAMC (HK) adopts a global outlook to build a versatile platform catering to institutional and retail investors in the region and worldwide. Committed to innovation and growth in the financial sector, ChinaAMC (HK) is actively leading developments in the Web3 space, strategically positioning itself in decentralized finance to explore frontier investment opportunities.

Zhu graduated from Xi’an Jiaotong University and worked for Lenovo Group for 10 years before joining Baidu in December 2008.

At Baidu, Zhu successively served as Senior Director of Public Relations, Vice President and Senior Vice President, responsible for government affairs, Baidu News and other initiatives.

Zhu led Baidu’s Financial Service Group (FSG) established in December 2015. His team swiftly established a business structure covering multiple areas including consumer credit, wealth management, payments, and internet insurance. The FSG reduced financing costs for customers, particularly owners of small and micro enterprises. On April 28, 2018, Baidu announced an agreement on the divestiture of the FSG with investors led by TPG and The Carlyle Group, which involved $1.9 billion in financing and resulted in the new brand “Du Xiaoman Financial” with Zhu as CEO.

Under his leadership, the fintech company driven by AI innovation covers six segments: consumer credit, wealth management, payment, insurance, fintech for personal finance, and fintech for supply chain finance. His team has adhered to the principle of "partners win first, long-term win-win", empowering traditional financial institutions with intelligent solutions while building a strong fintech partner ecosystem.

Du Xiaoman Technology, committed to inclusive finance, has continuously improved its AI prowess, enabling financial institutions to expand access to reliable services for more people. The company has also open-sourced Xuanyuan, the first Large Chinese Financial Chat Model with hundreds of billions of parameters, to offer customers more personalized and higher-quality services.

Additionally, Zhu was elected as Deputy Director of the China Internet Finance Association at the third session of the association’s first council held on March 17, 2018.

Albert Liu, Kneron’s founder and CEO. After graduating from the Taiwan National Cheng Kung University, he got the scholarships from Raytheon and the University of California to join the UC Berkeley/UCLA/UCSD research programs, and then got his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Before establishing Kneron in San Diego in 2015, He has worked in R&D and management positions in Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics R&D centre, MStar and Wireless Information.

Albert has been invited to give lectures of computer vision technology and artificial intelligence at the University of California, as well as to be a technical reviewer for many internationally renowned academic journals. In addition, Albert owned more than 30 international patents in the areas of artificial intelligence, computer vision and image processing. He has published more than 70 papers in major international journals. In 2020, published Deep Learning – Hardware design. In 2021, published Introduction to Artificial Intelligence 4th Industrial Revolution.

Moreover, Albert has received numerous awards such as 2021 IEEE TCAS Darlington award, 2022 Pan Wen-Yuan Foundation IoT Innovation Award, 2022 IEEE CTSoc Awards Corporate Innovation Leadership Award.

David Wu is Managing Partner for Hong Kong Financial Services leading Deloitte's Consulting, Audit and Tax services for clients in the banking & capital markets, insurance and investment management sectors. In addition, David serves as Asia Pacific Financial Services Market Activation Leader. With more than 28 years of consulting and financial services industry experiences across the Asia Pacific region, David specializes in advising clients and leading large-scale, multi-disciplinary business, finance and regulatory transformation programs.

David also oversees regional Consulting Businesses operations to drive execution excellence, enhance operational effectiveness and supports the delivery of strategic priorities as Asia Pacific Consulting Businesses Chief Operating Officer.

Annabelle Yu Long is an experienced venture capitalist and board member with a strong background in digital innovation, and business operations in Asia/Pacific. She currently serves as Founding and Managing Partner of BAI Capital, a venture capital firm focused on businesses operating in Asia and beyond with investments across AI, fintech, consumer retail, media and content innovation. Additionally, Ms. Long is a member of the Group Management Committee of Bertelsmann, where she contributes to global corporate strategy and development, and where she has led Bertelsmann’s China growth strategy and its transformation into a well-regarded global investment powerhouse.

Ms. Long serves as an independent director on the boards of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. (NYSE: EL), Tapestry, Inc. (NYSE: TPR, whose portfolio includes Coach and Kate Spade), and NIO Inc. (NYSE: NIO; HKEX: 9866; SGX: NIO). In addition, she serves as an independent nonexecutive director on the board of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited.

Ms. Long holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and, as a distinguished alumna, served on the School’s Advisory Council as its first Chinese member. She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum (WEF) in 2011 and has been actively involved in WEF activities. She has been featured in the Forbes Midas List and Forbes Asia's Power Businesswomen list, among others.

Manoj Bohra is executive vice president and chief data and AI officer at State Street, leading the firm's global strategy for enterprise data, artificial intelligence (AI), and advanced analytics. In this role, he is responsible for building the data and AI platforms that power innovation, strengthen risk and operational intelligence, and enable scalable AI adoption across the organization and its client solutions.

Manoj is recognized for building enterprise-scale data and AI platforms that enable global financial institutions to operationalize AI in complex, highly regulated environments.

He brings more than two decades of experience leading enterprise technology, data, and AI transformation initiatives across global financial services organizations. His work has focused on modernizing large-scale data platforms, operationalizing machine learning through enterprise machine learning operations (MLOps) frameworks and enabling organizations to translate advanced analytics into measurable business outcomes.

Prior to joining State Street, Manoj served as managing director at Google Cloud, where he advised C-suite leaders across major financial institutions on large-scale data modernization and AI transformation initiatives. His work included helping organizations design cloud-native data platforms, operationalize machine learning and generative AI capabilities, and deploy large language models (LLMs) and emerging agentic AI architectures to support use cases across risk management, regulatory compliance, client intelligence, and operational automation. He also worked with institutions to establish governance frameworks for responsible AI adoption.

Earlier, Manoj spent over two decades at Bank of America in several senior leadership roles including senior vice president and managing director. In these roles he led global teams responsible for enterprise data platforms, AI/ML infrastructure, and cloud transformation initiatives supporting hundreds of thousands of users across the bank’s global operations. During his tenure he helped architect and scale one of the largest AI and data science platforms and built foundational enterprise data infrastructure enabling advanced analytics at scale.

Manoj holds several U.S. patents related to data security, distributed data architectures, and scalable data processing.

He frequently speaks on enterprise AI strategy, generative AI adoption, responsible AI governance, and modern data platforms within the financial services industry.

Manoj holds a Master of Science in technology management from Columbia University, a Master of Business Administration in finance from the University of Mumbai, and a Bachelor of Science from Jodhpur University.

Mr. Arnold Chow oversees wealth and retail products of personal banking in Hong Kong across UHNW, affluent, mass retail and business banking clients. His current capacity includes the regional oversight of product management across 9 Southeast Asia countries.

Arnold currently serves as Directors of Livi Bank Limited, BOCI Prudential Trustee Limited, JETCO Limited, EPS Company Limited and BOCHK Nominee Company Limited. In the past, he had served as committee members under Private Wealth Management Association as well as Investor and Financial Education Council of SFC.

Prior to joining Bank of China (Hong Kong), he had held senior executive positions in distribution, products and strategy in Hong Kong and Mainland China of HSBC Group. He started his career in Morgan Stanley (Asia) with focus in Hong Kong and Mainland capital markets.

Abby is the Chief Compliance Officer of Elebank, a forward-thinking digital bank driving customer-centric innovation through the extensive use of AI in risk models, systems, and user journeys.

With over 30 years of regulatory and banking experience, Abby spent more than a decade at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) before holding senior compliance leadership roles across major commercial and retail banking groups. Her expertise spans Financial Crime Compliance (FCC), wealth compliance, and general regulatory frameworks.

Actively engaged in industry development, Abby has contributed to various Hong Kong Association of Banks (HKAB) committees, including AML and the Code of Banking Practice, and was among the pioneering first batch of public-private partnerships uniting banks with the Hong Kong Police Force’s Anti-Deception Coordination Centre (ADCC) to combat fraud.

Dr. Abdel Mahmoud is the founder and CEO of Anterior, the clinical AI company serving leading US health plans, covering more than 50 million lives. Anterior has raised over $64 million from Sequoia Capital, NEA, founder of Google DeepMind, now with teams across New York and London.

His career spans product leadership at Google, where his work helped bring more than 1.6 million Indian merchants onto Google Business Profiles, incubating new technology at Meta, and healthcare M&A and strategy at BCG. Dr. Mahmoud is dual trained, holding both an MD and a computer science degree from UCL. Prior to that, he was commissioned from the RMA Sandhurst at 19, becoming the UK's youngest infantry officer at the time.

Named to Forbes 30 Under 30, his work has been covered by the Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Fast Company, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Axios. He has written for Fast Company and spoken at AHIP, the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, and Web Summit amongst others.

With over 15 years of experience in legal and investigative fields, Afia has honed her skills in criminal investigations, stakeholder engagement, and writing, positioning herself as a trusted authority in the industry.

She has worked on extremely high-profile and landmark cases in the criminal defense domain, showcasing her ability to navigate complex challenges. Afia proudly holds multiple certifications from esteemed institutions and is currently pursuing her PhD in Counter-terrorism and Deradicalization, reflecting complete commitment to ongoing education and professional growth.

Alan Chan is a veteran business executive and visionary strategist, currently serving as the Managing Partner of Full Vision Capital. Revered for his investment acumen and his commitment to impactful initiatives, Alan is Founding Investor in a diverse portfolio of green-economy ventures, including EcoCeres, EnerVenue, StarFive and Towngas Lifestyle. Additionally, Alan serves as the Co-Chairman of EcoCeres.

Upholding the ethos of “Doing well by doing good”, he actively seeks and incubates innovative solutions and technologies at the forefront of the green energy sector. His relentless passion for sustainability and innovation drives transformative changes and foster progress towards a greener future.

Alan is a consulting partner based in HK with a focus on advanced analytics, digital transformation and emerging technology (Blockchain/DLT, Data and AI) in financial services industry. Alan has over 16 years of experience supporting Banks and Insurance Companies on emerging technology assessment, digital transformation, system architecture design, and has led over 10 full SDLC of large scale Enterprise Application, Analytics and Blockchain Solution implementation.

Dr. Albert S. Hu is Chief Executive Officer of CiDi, a global leader in autonomous driving for commercial vehicles. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and is an expert in autonomous‑driving solutions and systems engineering. Since joining the company in 2018, he has helped build its full‑stack technology, which powers some of the world’s largest fleets of driverless mining trucks. In 2025, CiDi became the first company focused on self-driving trucks to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the first public listing globally for driverless mining‑haulage technology.

A champion of applying AI to transform heavy industry, Dr. Hu has guided CiDi’s global expansion while pursuing a focused, R&D‑driven business model. He is a frequent media contributor, sharing insights on the commercialization of autonomous driving across mining, logistics, and intelligent transportation, and hopes to push industrial transport toward a safer, more efficient, and more sustainable future.

Albert is a Managing Director at Eurazeo within the Venture team, based in Singapore. He is leading a growth stage fund looking at insurtech and fintech opportunities across Asia. He has experience both operating and investing into tech companies in Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, over 16 years, including the past 12 years as a VC. He also previously spent 5 years in management consulting.

He completed his MBA at the University of California, Berkeley and did his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

Aliya Grig is a founder and keynote speaker working across financial infrastructure, advanced technology, and industrial systems. Her work focuses on how modern economies operate across finance, manufacturing, and emerging technologies.

She leads RA88 Finance, a platform focused on modernizing trade finance and cross-border settlement for the real economy. The platform addresses a structural gap in global commerce: while trade has become increasingly digital and multipolar, the financial infrastructure supporting it remains fragmented, slow, and operationally inefficient.

RA88 Finance integrates trade finance, cross-border payments, stablecoin settlement, compliance infrastructure, and tokenized financial workflows into a programmable platform designed for exporters, manufacturers, and commodity traders operating across jurisdictions. The platform combines embedded finance infrastructure, AI-powered compliance systems, and blockchain-based settlement tools to support faster, more transparent, and scalable global trade operations.

Aliya is also the founder of Kosmos City, a global platform focused on human and industrial development, and the Kosmos Foundation, which focuses on empathetic AI, sustainable technologies, and human-centered innovation.

She has spoken at international conferences including FT Future of AI, Web Summit, GITEX Global, TNW Conference, CES Unveiled, AIM Congress, and Hong Kong FinTech Week. She has been recognized by ESA, Forbes 30 Under 30, and Leta Capital’s Top 100 Women in AI.

Alkie is Executive Director and Head of Cash Management Product, of DBS Bank (Hong Kong) Limited. She owns the strategy, P&L and full product lifecycle for the bank’s cash management and liquidity franchise. She drives product innovation and revenue growth across payments, collections and account services, including the bank’s digital currency strategy – to deliver client-centric transaction banking capabilities.

Alkie brings 19 years of experience to this position. Prior to joining DBS, she was Regional Treasury Product Lead within HSBC Markets & Securities Services, where she managed the cash and FX needs of custodian clients. Prior to that, she spent majority of her career at HSBC’s cash management franchise, where she built a strong track record in liquidity and liability management and product commercialization – having started her career there as a Management Trainee.  

Alkie holds a Bachelor of Science in Actuarial Science from the University of Hong Kong.

Professor Allen Huang is Head of the Department of Accounting at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He is also a Faculty Associate of the Center for Quantum Technologies at the HKUST Institute for Advanced Study.

Professor Huang leads HKUST Business School’s collaboration with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) to develop a Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) Toolkit for the banking sector. The toolkit offers banks a practical reference framework for migrating to quantum-safe cryptography. He is a member of the HKMA CBDC Expert Group and the wCBDC Architecture Community, and serves on Hong Kong’s Stablecoin Review Tribunal. He also developed the Distributed Ledger Technology module for the HKMA’s Enhanced Competence Framework for Fintech Professionals.

His research focuses on AI and large language models in capital markets, textual analysis of corporate disclosures, and blockchain. His work appears in leading academic journals and has been featured by CNBC, The Economist, the Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, and The Washington Post. He is an Editor of the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting and an Associate Editor of the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis. He teaches Big Data and AI in Business and Cryptocurrency and Blockchain across HKUST’s executive, MBA, and undergraduate programs.

Before academia, Professor Huang worked in quantitative equity strategy at Lehman Brothers and Barclays Capital. He trained in electronics and information science at Peking University and studied communications and networking at George Mason University. He holds a PhD from Duke University.

Serial entrepreneur, product manager, and inventor

Personally recruited by Elon Musk to lead Tesla’s China Design & Research Center

Led the China design and engineering teams in contributing to and partially leading the development and mass production of Tesla Optimus, Robovan, Tesla Diner, and MY/M3/NVXX programs

Led the establishment of Tesla China Design & Research Center, including government negotiations, site selection, construction, and operational launch

Recipient of Red Dot (Germany), GOOD DESIGN (Japan), and CES Innovation Awards (USA)

Bachelor of Science, University of New South Wales

Alvin Kwock is the co-founder & CEO of AIFT. AIFT operates in 3 key verticals globally, with local operations in UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea:

- AI/ cybersecurity - Vulcan: GenAI protection with comprehensive risk assessment, red teaming and real time detection solution. Solution provider for Sovereign AI models and leading enterprises in Asia and Middle East;
- Blockchain - OneInfinity: The first insurer in Asia and Middle East, and second in the world, to insure digital assets and AI risks;
- Pet & B2C - OneDegree: Leading virtual insurer with dominant market share in pet insurance, with award winning AI system.

Amanda cassatt is the founder and ceo of serotonin. amanda previously served as chief marketing officer of consensys from 2016 through 2019. joining one year after the launch of ethereum, amanda played a crucial role in defining, creating, and growing the narrative for consensys, ethereum, and blockchain overall.

amanda stewarded the consensys brand through its global expansion across enterprises, governments, developers, and consumers. she created and scaled the marketing team to over 50 people, serving both the consensys brand and 50+ portfolio companies such as metamask, infura, truffle, and gitcoin; managing teams in product marketing, growth, design, content, community, events, email, analytics and seo. amanda’s contributions to some of the most successful product launches, token sales and fundraises landed her on forbes 30 under 30 in 2016. amanda is the author of the world's first web3 marketing book, web3 marketing: a handbook for the next internet revolution and the host of serotonin’s flagship podcast: endgame.

Mr. Andre Blumberg leads the digital function for CLP in Hong Kong, spanning data, AI, cybersecurity, and technology delivery and operations. Beyond the day-to-day, he drives CLP's digital transformation agenda, including the rollout of its ERP programme. At Group level, he sets the related policies, standards, and assurance framework, aligning technology with business strategy and supporting CLP's energy transition.

Mr. Blumberg joined CLP in 2001 and has since held a series of senior leadership roles across the Group's technology function. He holds bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and in Information Systems from the University of Cologne and completed Executive Development Programmes at IMD and Ivey Business School. Prior to joining CLP, he was based in Singapore as a Management Consultant with PwC, serving Fortune 100 clients across the Asia-Pacific region.

Mr. Blumberg chairs the CIO Board of the Hong Kong Computer Society and serves on several industry advisory committees.

Outside work, he is the founder and organiser of the Hong Kong Four Trails Ultra Challenge, a 298km annual ultra-endurance trail running event.

Angelina Kwan is a Hong Kong–based financial services executive, former regulator, and Chief Executive Officer of Stratford Finance, a boutique consultancy advising financial institutions and digital asset businesses on regulation, operations, licensing, technology, governance, and resilient operating models. She brings extensive experience across traditional finance, capital markets, market infrastructure, and the evolving Web3 ecosystem.

Her senior leadership experience includes roles at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong, Cantor Fitzgerald, and IMC Asia Pacific. Across these organisations, she has worked at the intersection of regulation, risk, operations, technology, and business development. She has also held executive and advisory positions with digital asset organisations including HashKey Group and BitMEX, contributing to the development of responsible and sustainable practices in a rapidly changing sector.

Alongside her executive career, Angelina is a committed advocate for diversity, inclusion, and women’s advancement. She chairs The Women’s Foundation and serves on Hong Kong government, education, non-profit, Web3, corporate, and insurance boards and committees, including the Financial Services Development Council’s New Business Committee. Her board portfolio reflects a longstanding interest in strong governance, innovation, talent development, and the future competitiveness of Hong Kong’s financial services industry.

A Certified Public Accountant in the United States, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand, she holds qualifications in finance, accounting, business, and law. In July 2026, Manchester Metropolitan University awarded her an honorary Doctor of Business Administration in recognition of her distinguished global financial services career and commitment to advancing women in fintech and finance.

Angie Lau is a global financial journalist, founder, and strategist at the intersection of capital markets, digital assets, and emerging financial infrastructure.

As co-founder of OnChain Benchmark, she is building the independent measurement standard for tokenized real-world assets — the first rigorous, institution-grade scoring system tracking tokenized capital across blockchain networks, bringing transparency and comparability to an asset class that has long lacked both.

Her career in media spans 25 years. As a Bloomberg Television anchor and correspondent, she covered every major market event across Asia-Pacific — from monetary policy shifts to the emergence of digital assets — interviewing central bank governors, finance ministers, and heads of state. In 2018, she founded Forkast.News, one of the region's leading digital asset media platforms, which she built and led until its acquisition by a leading digital asset data firm.

Angie is a professional moderator and keynote speaker who brings rare fluency across journalism, financial markets, and blockchain infrastructure. She splits her time between the United States and Hong Kong, and works across Asia-Pacific and North America.

Anita has over 20 years’ experience in the Asian Insurance market, managing risk, ensuring compliance, enabling business growth and transformation. Anita has performed leadership roles in both First and Second line and successfully led complex strategic projects from ideation to execution.

Anita has a long history with HSBC Life, performing a diverse range of roles – Programme Lead, Compliance Head, Chief Control Officer and Head of Operations. In each of these roles she has transformed the teams she led, to drive positive change and safe growth for the organization. Prior to HSBC, Anita was a Lead Consultant at Cap Gemini where she supported major Life Insurance clients in Asia.

Ankur Prakash is Head of Digital and Strategic Initiatives for Global Banking at Standard Chartered, where he leads the bank's strategy at the convergence of capital markets, digital assets, and emerging financial infrastructure. He is responsible for shaping the bank's approach to digitally native fixed-income products, blockchain-enabled market infrastructure, and next-generation settlement models, including the application of regulated stablecoins in institutional capital markets.

With over two decades of experience across global investment banking, Ankur has held a range of leadership roles spanning capital markets, strategic transformation, and innovation.

Based in Singapore, Ankur is a frequent speaker at global industry forums and contributes actively to discussions on the future of fixed-income markets, digital assets, and the transformation of financial market infrastructure.

Anna Liu is the Chief Executive Officer of HashKey RWA. She is a pioneer and strategic leader in Asia’s institutional asset tokenisation sector. Since 2023, Anna has led HashKey RWA and the Group’s tokenisation business, guiding it from its early stages into one of Asia’s leading institutional RWA platforms. Under her leadership, HashKey RWA has evolved into an end-to-end tokenisation platform spanning product design, technology architecture and institutional distribution, serving as a key bridge between global traditional capital and on-chain asset markets.

Anna works closely with global institutions to explore and develop tokenised asset offerings and use cases, drawing on HashKey’s integrated capabilities across product design, technology and distribution. Combining deep capital-markets expertise, legal rigour and a forward-looking perspective on digital assets, she has played a central role in advancing the integration of traditional finance and blockchain ecosystems across Asia.

Anna joined HashKey Group in 2018 and previously led the Group’s legal function as Head of Legal. She oversaw the Group’s regulatory strategy and licensing initiatives across Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and multiple other jurisdictions, spanning exchanges, custody, brokerage, asset management, venture capital and Web3 infrastructure. This experience enabled her to participate actively in, and help advance, the evolution of Asia’s digital-asset regulatory landscape.

Before joining HashKey, Anna served as Senior Legal Counsel at Tencent and worked at Skadden, a leading international law firm. She brings more than a decade of experience across private equity and investment funds, cross-border M&A, and Hong Kong and international capital markets.

Anna holds an LL.M. from the University of San Francisco.

Ariel Lin is VP, Head of the AI Innovation Lab at Beyondsoft, driving enterprise AI implementation, technology transfer, and commercial robotics initiatives. After co-founding a tech startup acquired by Beyondsoft, she now focuses on bridging cutting-edge technology with commercial execution. Ariel is an NUS alumna, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP®), and a Practicing Management Consultant (PMC).

Join Ariel as she shares how Beyondsoft—a leading AI partner for tier-one financial institutions in China—is driving the next era of enterprise technology. Grounded in high-stakes financial deployment case studies, she will share practical frameworks for building Scalable AI Infrastructure, establishing Robust Algorithmic Governance, and fostering Cross-Border Innovation Ecosystems. Discover how leading organizations leverage proven enterprise AI models to transform complex operations into agile, resilient business drivers.

As the founder of GLOWE and Gui Ling Yuan Fang, Bebemona Yim carries forward a century-old lineage of wellness heritage. Her grandfather founded Kung Wo Tong, one of Hong Kong's most iconic traditional herbal tea shops. Deeply rooted in this legacy, Bebemona blends centuries of TCM/herbal wisdom with a modern technological vision to reimagine the global wellness market. She has transformed labor-intensive herbal brews into convenient, stylish tea bags and ready-to-eat supplement sachets. Leveraging her expertise in brand strategy, she has reinvented traditional leung cha into a contemporary self-care ritual tailored for health-conscious individuals and modern professionals. She is currently also a board director of SEA (Space Economy Association) and 2GHK (2econd Generation Entrepreneur Association)

Ben Berenson is a Hong Kong–based partner at AsiaSGE and a senior business architect for tokenization, stablecoins, and digital-asset infrastructure. He works at the intersection of traditional finance and Web3, helping institutions and founders design commercially viable, regulatorily sound on‑chain products.

His focus spans real‑world asset (RWA) tokenization, crypto lending and custody, payments and settlement, and the market infrastructure that connects them. Ben translates complex regulatory, operational, and technological constraints into clear operating models, partnership structures, and go‑to‑market strategies that banks, asset managers, fintechs, and crypto-native firms can execute.

He is a frequent speaker and panelist on digital assets, tokenization, and institutional adoption, and is known for turning abstract “blockchain use cases” into concrete revenue lines and risk frameworks. His commentary blends macro perspective with hands‑on deal experience across lending, custody, payments, and structured products.

Beyond advisory work, Ben builds early‑stage tools for CRM, automation, and AI‑agent workflows to make institutional sales and partnership development more scalable. He is deeply engaged in the Asian and global digital‑asset ecosystem, cultivating relationships across regulators, incumbents, and innovators.

Outside work, he is an avid long‑distance and trail runner, a dedicated family man, and a creator of stories and visual content inspired by manga, anime, and superhero narratives.

Ben Wong is the founder and CEO of Riverchain, a fintech company transforming the construction sector with innovative working capital solutions. By leveraging advanced technology, Ben has adeptly simplified the complexities of the construction supply chain, substantially enhancing transparency, efficiency, and liquidity for businesses within this critical industry.

With nearly two decades of experience, Ben brings a deep expertise in supply chain management, finance, real estate, and cross-border trade. His passion for technology and his proven track record in creating scalable enterprises address real-world challenges, particularly the pervasive issue of limited access to working capital that stunts growth among construction businesses.

Before founding Riverchain, Ben was the General Manager of Technology Innovation at New World Development, where he led strategic initiatives in property, retail, health & wellness, and sustainability. His leadership was instrumental in managing early-stage investments and leading venture-build projects, propelling the company to the forefront of industry innovation.

Earlier in his career, Ben served as the Head of Online Strategy and Product Development at Global Sources.  His contributions were pivotal in the company's acquisition by Blackstone in 2017, particularly through the relaunch of Global Sources Direct, a B2B e-commerce platform. He also founded Startup Launchpad, one of Asia’s largest IoT startup trade events.

Ben holds a Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and a Master of Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Brian Hui is Chief Customer Officer, Hong Kong, at HSBC, where he leads customer growth and experience across all segments, as well as international expansion by connecting cross-border customers, including Global Chinese, to banking and wealth opportunities. He also oversees Data Analytics and Customer Relationship Management (CRM), harnessing data, digital, and AI innovation to drive growth, transform digital experiences, and sustain market-leading customer satisfaction in Hong Kong.

Mr. Hui is an industry advocate for digital transformation, fintech, and AI. He serves as Chairman of the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Hong Kong and is a former Co-Chair of the Digital Banking and Payments Committee at the Fintech Association of Hong Kong.

Prior to joining HSBC, Mr. Hui held global senior executive roles at Faraday Future, LeEco, and Amazon in the US and mainland China. Earlier in his career, he worked for Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank.

Brian Saluzzo joined Citi in April 2026 as Chief Information Officer. In this role, he is responsible for technology across Citi's five core businesses (Banking and International, Markets, Wealth, Services and U.S. Consumer Cards), ensuring the firm delivers safe, secure and optimized solutions to serve its clients. In this role, Brian focuses on accelerating the modernization and simplification of technology and building platforms that enable a united approach across the firm.

Brian brings over 30 years of technology and financial-services leadership, with deep experience guiding global engineering, infrastructure and operation transformations. He has built and led high-performing teams across complex enterprise environments, driving modernization and scaling software development through the use of agentic AI across the front, middle and back office.

Before joining the firm, Brian served as Vice President of Core Developer Engineering & Product Management at Google, building and operating developer ecosystems, frameworks, tools and AI components leveraged by all Google developers for all of Google's products. Previously, Brian built deep expertise in financial services technology, holding senior roles at American Express and Goldman Sachs. At American Express, he held leadership positions across enterprise and infrastructure technology as well as CIO positions in Payments and Corporate Functions and Technology COO, focusing on strategy and vendor management.  At Goldman Sachs, Brian was mainly infrastructure-focused with strong knowledge of markets and FX including building out of new trading floors and site reliability practices for Markets.

Brian holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the State University of New York College at Geneseo.

Brian Zhou Boyang, the founder of an Orbital AI company, Space Zenith, from China. Providing AI solutions from space.

Brian was graduated from Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Before founding Space Zenith, Brian worked as VP in AIRSAT Technology Group, mainly for international business. Brian has rich experience in international cooperation on space projects especially on EO satellite construction and Value-added Service with EO data. Brian has very good relationship with partners from China and outside China, and will link them together by providing Orbital AI solutions, to boost the AI progressing for the next decades.

Bridget Li is Co-founder of Asseto, an RWA launchpad building institutional pathways for real-world asset tokenization. She brings decades of experience across traditional finance, digital asset investment, and institutional business development.

Before co-founding Asseto, Bridget served on the investment committee of Pacific Waterdrip Digital Asset Funds, covering crypto venture and liquidity strategies. She was previously Executive Director and Head of Business Development at CPIC Investment Management (HK) Company Limited, Vice Chairman of World of Allocator Beijing, and Head of Client Businesses at Morgan Stanley China. Earlier in her career, she worked across FX, rates, and credit at Standard Chartered Bank and UBS Investment Bank.

Bridget holds both a B.A. and M.A. in Finance from Peking University.

Brit Blakeney is currently a Principal Consultant, advising on digital product strategy and digital transformation. Brit held the role of Senior Vice President, Digital Advisory & Wealth Management – APAC for Franklin Templeton. She led the transformation of FT’s business in the region to a digital first, client-centric model, translating the needs of clients and key internal and external partners in the digital space.

Prior to this role, Brit was Head of Innovation and Ecosystems for DBS Bank Hong Kong where she was responsible for the bank’s digital strategy and partnerships. Brit has also held senior positions at major data & analytics, media and internet companies, such as Dun & Bradstreet, AOL and Univision, and helped launch and run several successful internet and financial startups.

Brit is a founding Advisory Committee member of CEFAR (CUHK Engineering, Fintech and Applied Research Academy) and is also an Advisory Committee member for ISDAC, City University of Hong Kong, Information Systems Department (ISDAC). Over the years, Brit has been actively involved in the FinTech Association of Hong Kong and Women in Tech Hong Kong. Brit holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Georgetown University and also studied at the Université Stendhal in Grenoble, France.

Carrying with her over 25 years of experience in life and medical insurance operations, Candy leads the company’s customer operations and health journey endeavour in Hong Kong. On the operations side, she is responsible for delivering customer excellence and transformation across various operational functions, including underwriting, health assessment, claims and policy service, customer contact centre and service centre.

On the health side, Candy plays a leading role in developing Prudential’s Health strategy and enhancing operations, including value creation for the end-to-end customer health journey, health ecosystem development and partnership, diversified health products and value-added service development, as well as medical network expansion.

Candy first joined Prudential in 2013 and worked with the company for eight years in various senior operations roles. She re-joined Prudential in 2023 after serving as the Chief Operations Officer at Manulife Hong Kong. Candy has also worked in different insurers in Hong Kong, including AIA HK, Bupa HK, MetLife HK and Zurich Insurance in a variety of roles, giving her considerable experience in the insurance sector.

Carmen Cheung joined Hang Seng Investment Management Limited (HSVM) as Head of Product since Dec 2023. Carmen leads and drives the Investment Product and Solution Strategy for the Asset Management business.

She has been working in financial industry for over 20+ years . Prior to joining HSVM, Carmen worked at Samsung Asset Management and Mirae Asset Global Investments with the capacity of Head of ETF and Index Investment, leading their ETF business in Hong Kong, overseeing Portfolio Management, Capital Market, Product Development and Sales strategy that covers Asian region. Carmen worked at ABN AMRO Bank NV on Cash Equities, then became The Royal Bank of Scotland PLC since 2007 on Equities Business Development for both Cash and Derivative platform and then as Regional Equity Delta One Sales & Trading mainly focusing on Index/ETF, algorithmic electronic executions, and Equity Synthetic business.

Cathy Chen leads China investments at TPC Group, where she focuses on backing high-growth technology companies and driving cross-border innovation. She specializes in helping Chinese enterprises leverage technological and supply chain advantages to expand into global markets, while supporting international companies seeking growth opportunities in Asia.

With over 15 years of experience in investment banking and private equity, Cathy has held investment roles at CICC Investment Banking, New Horizon Capital, Meridian Capital, and other leading financial institutions. Her investment portfolio includes companies such as Nanopore New Materials, Sylvan Bio, SenzAI Medical, FansAI, and Dexmate.

Cathy holds a B.A. in Mathematics-Economics from Columbia University.

Dr. Chao He is an AI pioneer, entrepreneur, and educator with over 20 years of experience bridging academia and industry. He is the Founder and CEO of AIVI Technologies, an Adjunct Associate Professor at HKUST Business School, and a Senior Member of IEEE. He holds a Ph.D. in AI and an Executive MBA from Kellogg-HKUST.

With an international career spanning Canada, the UK, and Greater China, Dr. He previously served as Lead Researcher at NCR Corporation and Vice President & Head of AI at Wisers. Notably, he invented the world's first successfully commercialized AI-powered banknote validation technology and holds over 40 international patents.

Passionate about talent development, he has taught hundreds of MBA students and contributed to the 10x1000 Tech for Inclusion initiative, helping train over 800 fintech leaders from more than 70 countries. Today, Dr. He’s work focuses on advancing AI-driven decision intelligence for financial institutions, empowering them to navigate risk, generate alpha, and unlock competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving market.

Founder of Kalowave Technology, the leading TikTok Insights & Efficiency Platform with 4M+ user globally. 7 years of experience in big data and e-commerce; Senior Product Expert at ByteDance, Alibaba and Ant Financial Group.

Yolanda Yu, Co-founder & CMO of Rabyte Technology, is mainly responsible for the Global market sales and customer operations.

Yolanda has over 10 years of experience in market operation and sales team management in global financial information companies. She once served as the Sales Director of S&P Global China, where she formulated and followed up the strategy of S&P Global's data business line in China. She also worked as the Key Account Manager for the financial sector business of Thomson Reuters (now London Stock Exchange Group), in charge of business development for non-bank financial clients. Additionally, from 2019 to 2021, she held the position of Deputy Director of the Digitalization Team at a leading domestic public fund company, overseeing the digital operation of investment research.

Cicy Zhang is a founding member and Vice President of BrainCo, a Harvard iLab-incubated company pioneering brain-machine interface technology. A Harvard Ed.M. graduate, she has led teams of scientists and engineers to develop neuroscience-driven EdTech solutions that unlock student learning potential. She is also a certified team coach, supporting organizational and talent development. A serial entrepreneur and founder of multiple startups and educational NGOs, Cicy has worked across 28 countries with organizations like AIESEC and Atlas Corps—bringing a truly global, hands-on perspective to innovation and leadership.

Dave Fan leads the commercialization of WeBank’s fintech products and SaaS solutions, with a focus on eKYC, Cross-Border Data Validation, and supply chain SaaS. He also drives business initiatives across Hong Kong and international markets at WeBank Technology Services. Prior to joining WeBank, he worked on mobile internet and mobile payments at Tencent WeChat and Huawei.

Dick Ho is the leader of BOC Credit Card (International) Limited, where he spearheads initiatives to enhance mobile payment experiences, drive cross-border payment innovations, and advance the integration of e-CNY. He oversees the company's array of services, including credit card operations, the BoC Pay+ mobile payment application, the BoC Bill integrated service, and digital currency strategies. Under his leadership, the company has significantly expanded its influence across the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and Southeast Asia (SEA), established a new payment ecosystem, and introduced a cross-border marketing brand. Ho has successfully broadened the company's market reach to both young consumers and premium segments while establishing significant payment partnerships with various government entities. He also actively enhances payment connectivity in SEA by facilitating key cross-border QR payment partnerships.

With over 25 years in the banking sector, Ho has extensive experience across multiple domains, such as product and segment management, customer experience, data science, marketing, sales management, digital transformation, and mobile banking. His leadership on key projects, such as the mobile-first digital transformation strategy, RM Chat, Digital Hub, and the development of a payment ecosystem, has established him as a key driver of banking innovation.

Additionally, he serves as the Chairman of UnionPay International Northeast Asia Regional Member Council and as a Councillor of UnionPay International Member Council.

Dominic Maffei is Co-founder, Board Member and Chief Executive Officer of Anchorpoint, the first Hong Kong licensed stablecoin issuer, and a joint venture between Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong), HKT and Animoca Brands.

Dominic brings more than 15 years of experience across banking, financial markets, fintech and digital assets. Before assuming his current role, he led the development and execution of Standard Chartered Hong Kong's digital asset strategy and contributed to the delivery of the Group's Fintech 2025 agenda. During this time, he spearheaded initiatives focused on tokenised money, digital asset infrastructure, and emerging financial technologies.

Prior to this, Dominic led Standard Chartered's SC Ventures teams in both Hong Kong and the UK, supporting venture-building, fintech partnerships and the development of new business models. Earlier in his career, he held markets, treasury and business management positions at Standard Chartered and JPMorgan. He began his professional career as a lawyer in Silicon Valley, advising start-ups, investors and technology companies, and has also worked with early-stage ventures on business model development and fundraising.

Dominic holds an MBA and a Juris Doctor degree, is a licensed (inactive) attorney in California.

Doug has worked across most aspects of investment and the AI that increasingly supports it. He spent 15 years in institutional markets at Citi, JPMorgan and Nomura across London, Tokyo and Singapore, then four years at an applied-AI firm building and deploying predictive equity and credit risk frameworks for large asset managers and sovereign wealth funds. As CIO of a UK family office, he used AI to manage global multi-asset allocation across public and private markets - sitting on the buy-side as the end user of these tools, not just their builder.

This path has given him an unusually complete view of the field: as a practitioner on both the buy- and sell-side, as a vendor deploying enterprise-scale AI projects, and as a designer, builder, investor and first-hand user of the technology itself.

His core focus is the application of AI to decision intelligence in investment, risk and asset allocation. He now co-manages the DART Fund, an AI-native global thematics fund, and is CIO & Chief Product Officer at Ice Brook AI, which builds neuro-symbolic systems for investment decision-making.

Drew Propson is the Head of Technology and Innovation in Financial Services at the World Economic Forum. She leads a portfolio of initiatives focused on advancing innovation while maintaining financial system stability. Current research areas include the deployment of AI and emerging technologies in financial services, technology-driven systemic risks, and fintech developments. Drew has additionally presented and authored work on financial inclusion, regulatory dynamics, and entrepreneurship.

Drew holds MBAs from Columbia Business School and London Business School, a PhD in Spanish literature from UC Berkeley, and a BFA in Painting from the University of Washington. Her experience prior to joining the Forum includes private equity research, development finance, and international strategy and operations. Drew is also a Research Affiliate at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge.

Eason Wang leads WeBank’s bank-wide AI development and adoption. His work spans AI infrastructure and engineering capabilities, key AI applications, and the exploration of emerging technologies and innovative use cases. He focuses on translating AI technologies into scalable solutions across banking businesses and internal operations.

CFO of Sanyue Technology, CPA and ESG specialist, former Partner at a Big Four accounting firm. She boasts deep expertise in finance and fintech, with hands-on experience in listing planning, financing and M&A. She specialises in corporate strategy, investment and financing, capitalisation roadmap design and financial compliance framework building.

She has led IPOs, annual audits, bond issuances and various capital operations for multiple fintech enterprises. As a senior expert in cross-border capital transactions and offshore finance, she is proficient in Hong Kong and US listing planning and capital operations, with solid practical experience in digital credit and the rollout of trusted trading platforms for physical assets.

She is currently dedicated to building infrastructure based on vertical AI technology, restructuring the trusted circulation system of real-world assets, and developing a world-leading unicorn providing AI-powered industrial-financial digital infrastructure.

Mr. Emmanuel Andrew Hui is a biomedical entrepreneur and investor with a decade-long track record spanning clinical care, scientific innovation, and venture capital. Starting as an EMT while completing his Senior Fellowship in Chemistry at Dartmouth College, he went on to co-found Moogene Medi, a gene therapy company now listed on the Korean stock exchange (322970.KS). After listing, he returned to Hong Kong to join Sagamore Investments, managing a portfolio of over 2,000 companies in China private equity.

In 2021, he founded the Tiger Jade Pebble Accelerator (“Pebble”), a company dedicated to i.) incubating and investing in Hong Kong biotech startups, ii.) bringing global innovations into China, and iii.) bringing Chinese innovations to the world through Hong Kong. Pebble is backed by Tigermed, China’s largest clinical CRO and other major institutions such as Morningside and Nan Fung. Through Pebble, he has done multiple deals and projects with Saltagen, and he officially joined Saltagen as a Partner in 2025; representing Saltagen on various Board Seats and contributing significant venture building capabilities to the fund’s overall portfolio.

Adjacent to venture capital work, Mr. Hui has served as a Senior Advisor to the Chairman of HN Group, Macau’s oldest (since 1896) and only integrated provider of medical and healthcare products and services – spanning pharmacies, clinics, beauty salons, insurance, and medical distribution. His significant access to the healthcare ecosystem in the Greater Bay Area supports our portfolio companies to unlock meaningful cross-border opportunities.

Mr. Hui also has strong ties to academia in Hong Kong, sitting on the investment committee of the Chinese University's (CU) innovation fund and teaching weekly as a Lecturer for CU’s School of Life Sciences. Mr. Hui additionally serves on several governance boards including the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Central Institutional Review Board (Paediatrics) and the Hong Kong Life Sciences Society.

Eric Chen is the ceo of injective foundation. eric has worked within the crypto industry for over six years with his latest project, injective, garnering interest from leading professionals across hedge funds, venture capitals and blockchain projects, including but not limited to pantera capital, mark cuban, hashed and binance. 

Eric was featured in forbes 30 under 30 in 2024 for his work on injective.

Mr Eric Kwok joined the eMPF Platform Company in 2022 and his current position is Director (Digital and Information Technology).

Eric is a technology and digital transformation leader with more than 25 years of experience in the financial services sector. He holds both a BSc in Information Engineering and an MSc in Information Technology Management from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Throughout his career, he has led major transformation programmes, modernized critical technology platforms, and strengthened governance frameworks to support innovation, resilience, and sustainable growth.

Eric setup Happiness Capital, the global venture capital arm of the Lee Kum Kee Group with the mission to create global impact and make the world a happier place. The investment portfolio covers US, UK, Europe, Israel, Japan, Korea, mainland China and Hong Kong, from seed to growth stage. Environment (both Earth and Space), Sustainable Food Systems, Health and Trust are the main investment areas. Happiness Capital is a Certified B Corp, which is not common among global Venture Capital firms. He is a member of the Policy Research Committee of the Financial Services Development Council HK, and a board member of Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (HKVCA).

Prior to joining the Lee Kum Kee Group, Eric co-founded AGENDA in 2000 and grew it to the largest independent digital marketing agency in Asia, which was acquired by WPP. Stayed with WPP after the acquisition as the Chief Client Officer (Asia Pacific) of the WPP Wunderman network. Eric’s first venture was an AI cancer diagnostic and treatment planning startup in the US, which was acquired. He was with Cap Gemini US, a global consulting group, as Director of e-Business in late 90s to help Fortune 500 companies on digital innovations. Eric was an AI research scientist and university lecturer in the UK in early 90s.

Dr. Wang Fengyu has almost 20 years of investment management experience, specializing in bonds, stocks, and private equity, with deep expertise in asset allocation, multi-strategy investing, and quantitative investing. Dr. Wang possesses extensive practical experience in capital markets, having managed investment portfolios through multiple economic cycles while consistently delivering steady and outstanding performance.

Dr. Wang has received numerous international investment awards. In 2014, a fund he managed was named "Best Greater China fund" by Hedge Fund Manager  Week (HFM). In 2016, another fund he managed was nominated for "Best New Comer fund of the Year" and "Best New Fund of the Year" by both Hedge Fund Manager Week (HFM) and AsiaHedge.

Dr. Wang founded Oakwise Capital in 2018. Dr. Wang also serves as the 7th President of the Tsinghua PBC School of Finance Hong Kong and Macao Alumni Association.

Fiona Murray

Vice President and Managing Director of APAC, Ripple

Based in Singapore, Fiona Murray is Vice President and Managing Director of APAC for Ripple,  leading the company’s strategy and business operations in the Asia Pacific region.

During her tenure she has played an instrumental role in onboarding key partners and products  critical to digital asset trade across the region, including building out payment rails for on/off  ramping and overseeing the growth of OTC in APAC.

She drives Ripple's efforts to scale enterprise blockchain and crypto adoption in this region's  fast-growing digital asset hubs, including working to secure the company's landmark Major  Payments Institution (MPI) license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Fiona joined Ripple in 2018 and has led the APAC sales team since 2020. Prior to Ripple, Fiona  held business development positions within large enterprises, including Oracle, Fiserv and  Misys (now Finastra), helping financial institutions innovate in payments across Europe and  Asia. Fiona holds a Master of Arts in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from the University of  Oxford.

Forrest Chai joined the HSBC Group in 2000 and has over 26 years of experience in banking technology and digital transformation. Over the years, he has held a number of leadership roles across the Group, with responsibilities spanning multiple core business lines—from developing the very first internet banking services in the industry, to building the global Wealth Management technology platforms serving international Wealth markets—he has led global teams across Hong Kong, UK, Mainland China, Canada, US, India, Poland and Mexico. In the past three years, he has led Hang Seng Bank’s technology function of over 1,800 professionals and drove strategy and innovative application of emerging technologies.

In July 2026, Forrest took on a new role as Chief Information Officer for Hang Seng Bank and HSBC Hong Kong. In this role, Forrest brings the technology teams supporting Hong Kong Business together to deliver best-in-class products and services to customers.

Forrest is also active in Hong Kong and the Asia-Pacific technology leadership community, passionate about driving innovation, and works closely with organisations including the Hong Kong Science Park, Cyberport, and many of the tertiary education institutions.

Dr. Frank Pun serves as the head of insilico hong kong at insilico medicine, a pioneering global biotechnology company dedicated to integrating ai and automation technologies to accelerate drug discovery. he leads a team of r&d and application scientists focusing on ai-powered biological target discovery, indication expansion, drug repurposing, and ai biomedical platform development. his team has recently introduced targetpro, a disease-specific machine learning model for therapeutic target discovery, as well as pandaomics agent (for biological science) and inclinico agent (for clinical science) to biomedical professionals worldwide, empowering them to accelerate drug discovery and development.

Dr. Frank Pun received his ph.d. in biochemistry from the hong kong university of science and technology in 2010. following his graduation, he served as a visiting scholar and led a team dedicated to studying human central nervous system diseases and cancer for several years. in 2019, he obtained an mba from rutgers business school in the united states. throughout his career, Dr. Pun has made significant contributions to the fields of target discovery, drug repurposing, and ai-powered biomedical platform development. his work has appeared in numerous industry collaborations and peer-reviewed publications.

Prof. Frederik Anseel is Dean of Business and Management and Chair Professor in the Department of Management at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).

He is a senior academic leader with over 15 years of management experience in globally leading business schools and social science faculties of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Asia. His key expertise lies in designing cross-disciplinary collaborations and partnerships with the industry to solve societal challenges.

Before joining HKUST, Prof. Anseel served as Dean of the University of New South Wales Business School. Under his leadership, the school was ranked the number one business school in Australia for three consecutive years and achieved continuous top-ten rankings in the Financial Times for its Online MBA.

His prior global leadership roles include Vice Dean at King’s College London in the UK, Head of Department and Talent Management Advisor to the Rector at Ghent University in Belgium, and Visiting Professor positions at École Supérieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales (ESSEC) Business School in France and Bocconi University in Italy.

An acclaimed scholar in leadership, learning, and feedback in organizations, Prof. Anseel is ranked among the world’s top 2% of scientists by Stanford University and serves on the editorial boards of seven journals. His work has won several academic awards, including multiple Best Paper awards at the Academy of Management.

He is also a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology in the US, and the International Association of Applied Psychology, and served a five-year term as President of the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology.

Prof. Anseel holds a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Ghent University, Belgium.

Fred is the Co-Founder & Director of Bowtie Life Insurance Company, a mission-driven life and health insurer in Hong Kong.

Fred believes insurance is fundamentally a force for good and that healthcare protection should be accessible to everyone. With a mission to close the health protection gap in Hong Kong, he co-founded Bowtie, Hong Kong’s first virtual life insurer, to challenge the traditional insurance model and provide simple and affordable insurance to everyone through modern technology.

Bowtie has delivered HK$150 billion in protection coverage and secured HK$1.0 billion in funding from esteemed investors, including Sun Life and Mitsui & Co. It proudly leads Hong Kong’s direct insurance channel with a customer base of approximately 150,000.

Fred is a serial entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and disruption. Before launching Bowtie, he also co-founded Coherent Capital Advisors and Seasonalife. He previously practiced in Chicago, London, Toronto, and Hong Kong as a consulting actuary for over 10 years at reputable global advisory firms.

Fred is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (FSA), Honorary Fellow of the Financial Technologists (FFT), a Member of the Insurance Authority’s Future Task Force and a Member of the Market Development Committee of the Financial Services Development Council (FSDC).

Ganesh Rengaswamy is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Quona Capital, one of the leading fintech-focused venture funds investing in the intersection of developed and developing markets. Based in Singapore, he leads Quona's India and Southeast Asia investment strategy and has spent over two decades backing financial inclusion and fintech innovation across the region.

Before co-founding Quona, Ganesh led Accion Frontier Investments' Asia work and served as General Partner at Lok Capital, a venture growth fund focused on financial inclusion and social enterprises. Earlier in his career, he led Greylock Partners' entry into the Indian market, directed Unitus Inc.'s Asia operations, and co-founded Travelguru.com, which was acquired by Travelocity. He began his career at Infosys, driving growth engagements for Fortune 1000 clients.

His investment track record spans category-defining companies including IndiaMart (IPO), Coins.ph (acquired by Go-Jek), and Shubham (acquired by Premji Invest), as well as institutions such as Ujjivan, Equitas, Bandhan, and IFMR/NorthernArc. Ganesh is a frequent speaker at Singapore Fintech Festival, SuperReturn, the Asia Investment Conference, GIIN, and LendIt, and has been featured in Bloomberg, CNBC, The Economic Times, and Mint.

Gavin is the Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of SNZ Holding and SNZ Capital, based in Hong Kong. He also serves as a subcommittee member of the Hong Kong Government’s Web3.0 Task Force, OAT Board Member of Arbitrum DAO, Senior Advisor to FUTU (Nasdaq) and leads Chainlink ecosystem investment.

With over a decade of experience across blockchain and fintech, Gavin has built an extensive network in both Web2 and Web3 industries. Gavin has completed more than 200 deals (from angel investment to IPO and M&A) and the total transaction value is more than 20bn USD.

Prior to SNZ, Gavin was Director of Business Development and Strategic Investment at FUTU, Great China Business Lead of UBS Private Capital Markets, and Vice President of EOSVC at Block.one.

Gavin holds bachelor’s degrees in Economics and Law from Tsinghua University.

Geoff Kot is responsible for developing digital platforms for the Corporate and Investment Bank, as well as leading innovation initiatives in AI across the Group.

In September 2022 Georgina joined the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) as Managing Director, Head of FinTech and Digitalisation. In line with ICMA’s mission to promote well-functioning cross-border capital markets, essential to funding sustainable economic growth, promoting resilient and well-functioning international debt capital markets, Georgina’s role is to oversee and provide guidance on all of ICMA’s work and engagement on FinTech and Digitalisation topics Globally.  The team supports market stability and consistency whilst driving the safe and secure adoption of innovative and transformational technologies such as AI and DLT. Georgina works in close conjunction with the regulatory and legal communities and strives to design and deliver common and open standards supporting data and lifecycle events in order to encourage interoperability and efficiency across the primary, secondary, repo and collateral markets. ICMA also provides education on all of these topics which is offered to ICMA’s membership and the wider Global community.

Prior to ICMA Georgina worked for HSBC for 17.5 years (16 years as an internal member of staff and 1.5 years as a consultant) running large scale transformation programmes in Global Markets (building a new Equity Prime Services business) and then delivering all change for the Global Banking and Markets business (a budget of $1.2Bn a year). She spent 4 years transforming the Global HR function, building the HSBC University and driving the wholesale transformation of the function putting the technology platforms into the cloud across 64 countries and 285,000 staff Globally. This was one of the biggest ever undertakings of its type, and certainly the only one ever delivered in the Financial Services industry at this scale. Her final role before leaving HSBC was to lead the Transformation, Digital and Innovation team for the Group’s Private Banking business covering regulatory change, Business growth and cost reduction initiatives as well as the pivot to digitalisation.

Prior to HSBC Georgina spent 13 years with Accenture as a Management Consultant joining the technology division as a graduate and working across a range of different industries before moving into Financial Services in 1997.

Georgina holds a BSc Honours in Ergonomics and an MSc in Information Technology. She is a fully qualified NED and has held several school Governor and trustee positions and is currently a NED on the Board of the Blind Veterans UK Charity.

Yung is the Head of Global Payments Solutions at Hang Seng Bank, bringing over 20 years of extensive experience in corporate and transaction banking. Her expertise spans a diverse range of clientele, including Large Corporates, Middle Market, SMEs, and Financial Institutions, focusing on their digital transaction banking needs.

Yung holds a Master of Science in Accounting from Monash University and a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Hong Kong Baptist University. She is a fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) and a member of CPA Australia. Additionally, Yung has earned the International Cash Management Certificate from The Association of Corporate Treasurers.

Grace Cheung is General Manager Sustainability at Cathay. Leading the Group Sustainability Department, Grace oversees sustainability strategy and ESG performance of the whole Cathay Group. Under Grace’s leadership, sustainability has changed from a standalone specialist function to an integrated strategic and operational imperative in the airline group.

During Grace’s tenure, Cathay Pacific has committed for its net zero carbon emissions goal by 2050, supported by its mid-term target for using 10% sustainable aviation fuel and 12% carbon intensity improvement by 2030. The airline has also launched the first major Corporate Sustainable Aviation Fuel Programme in Asia in 2022.

Grace has also led Cathay’s effort in circular economy, reducing its environmental footprint on materials and waste. The airline has reduced its customer-facing single-use plastic items from an average of 7.7 pieces per passenger in 2019 down to 3.1 in 2023. A new target is set to bring it down further to 1.5 pieces per passenger by 2025, supported by additional targets on recycled plastics usage and recycling rate.

Grace represents Cathay in a number of industry working groups advocating for supportive policies and best practices sharing for further development of sustainability in the airline industry. Grace was the Chair of the Environment & Sustainability Board at the oneworld alliance and the Vice Chair of the Sustainability & Environment Advisory Council at the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and currently the members.

Grace Shao is an analyst and writer covering AI and technology, with a focus on Asia-Pacific and China. She publishes AI Proem, an independent subscription research publication read by thousands (13k+) of investors, executives, and industry professionals worldwide. Drawing on a decade of experience across tech journalism and strategy, including roles at CNBC and Alibaba, and advisory work with PayPal and Kuaishou. She provides in-depth analysis on how AI is reshaping companies, industries, competition, and society.

Guillermo Ginesta is Managing Partner, Asia Pacific at Brinc, a Hong Kong-headquartered global venture accelerator and investor backing founders solving major challenges through technology. Based in Hong Kong, Guillermo leads Brinc's APAC operations across venture acceleration, corporate innovation, portfolio development, partnerships and investment activity. He works with startups, corporates, government partners and investors to move emerging technologies from pilot to adoption, with a focus spanning AI, climate and sustainability, clean energy and mobility, hardware and robotics, and impact-led venture building.

Guillermo has over a decade of experience in startup investing, accelerator operations and corporate innovation, including work with multinational companies across automotive, luxury, consumer electronics, food technology and financial services. At Brinc, he has helped build and run programs supporting startups from markets across Asia and globally. He is also an active angel investor with two exits and a regular speaker, host and moderator across Hong Kong's innovation ecosystem, including Asia Health Innovation Summit, StartmeupHK Festival, LEAP East Hong Kong and Hong Kong FinTech Week.

His perspective for HKFTW x StartmeupHK sits at the intersection of fintech, venture capital, AI and real-world technology adoption: how founders can access capital, corporate partners and cross-border pathways to scale from Asia to global markets.

Henning Rath is the Chief Executive Officer at EnerVenue, where he is focused on delivering energy storage offerings designed as infrastructure, prioritizing endurance, safety, and lifecycle economics over short-term optimization.  

Rath is a German-born entrepreneur and technology executive with extensive experience in global markets, who has started and scaled companies at the intersection of climate, mobility, and technology. Across multiple ventures, he has demonstrated a rare ability to combine ambitious climate goals with rigorous execution, capital efficiency, and customer-centric design.

Prior to EnerVenue, Rath was Managing Director and Chief Supply Chain Officer at greentech unicorn Enpal, where he was instrumental in building the company into Germany’s leading residential renewable energy provider and one of Europe’s top green energy platforms. Rath’s leadership at Enpal was fundamental to the company’s ascension as one of Europe’s fastest growing companies. Based in China, Rath defined strategy to execute and scale customer-facing product technology, supply chains and operations, resulting in optimized cost, performance, sustainability and risk management.  

Before Enpal, Rath built Circ, an electric scooter subscription company launched in Berlin. Circ differentiated itself from the prevailing dockless scooter model by focusing on safety, durability, and long-term customer relationships rather than short-term ride volume. During Rath’s tenure as Chief Supply Chain Officer, Circ expanded across major European cities and gained recognition for its emphasis on product quality, regulatory cooperation, and operational discipline. In 2020, Circ was acquired by Bird, one of the world’s largest micromobility companies, marking a successful exit and validating the subscription-first approach to urban electric mobility.

Henri Arslanian is the co-founder and managing partner of Nine Blocks Capital Management, one of the largest institutional-grade crypto hedge funds globally and the first crypto hedge fund to be licensed by Dubai's VARA.

Previously, Henri was a partner and global crypto leader at PwC. In this role, he advised many of the world's leading crypto exchanges, investors, financial institutions, and tech firms on their crypto initiatives. He also consulted numerous governments, regulators, and central banks on crypto regulatory and policy matters.  

Henri is also the co-founder and Chairman of the Board of ACX International, the world's largest crypto compliance specialized services firm with over 250 staff dedicated exclusively to digital assets.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Hong Kong, where he has taught the first FinTech/crypto university course globally since 2015.  

Henri co-hosts the Crypto Weekly show on CNBC Arabia, which reaches over 60 million households each week across the Middle East.

Henri is the author of three globally acclaimed crypto and fintech-related books:

"The Book of Crypto" (Palgrave, 2022), a global top 10 best seller in financial services.

"The Future of Finance" (Palgrave, 2019), a global top 10 best seller in financial services.

"Decoding Crypto with Henri & Hodler" (Brown Books Kids, 2024), his recent children's book, which became the #1 new release and #1 best seller in children's books on money.

Henry Chen is Chief Business Officer (CBO) of SNZ Holding and Partner at BlockUnion, with over 16 years of experience across financial services and fintech. Over the past eight years, he has focused on the institutionalization of digital assets, large-scale Web3 adoption, and the convergence of traditional and onchain finance. He has extensive experience connecting traditional capital markets, fintech, and the digital asset ecosystem, with expertise spanning real-world assets (RWA), stablecoins, institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure, and onchain financial innovation.

At SNZ, Henry leads ecosystem partnerships and innovation initiatives with financial institutions. He is also a Partner at BlockUnion, a Web3 business and ecosystem platform. In April 2026, he led BlockUnion’s collaboration with the Ethereum Foundation to establish Ethereum HK Hub in Hong Kong, Asia’s first physical Ethereum community hub and incubation center. The initiative aims to deepen connections among developers, entrepreneurs, institutions, and the global Ethereum ecosystem across Hong Kong and Asia, while supporting innovative Chinese companies in expanding into international markets.

Prior to joining SNZ, Henry worked in the Capital Markets divisions of UBS and Goldman Sachs. He subsequently served as Managing Partner at a fintech private equity fund and as Head of Capital Markets at a leading global crypto asset exchange. Drawing on his cross-sector experience across traditional finance, fintech, digital assets, and Web3, Henry continues to facilitate collaboration between financial institutions and onchain ecosystems across strategic investment, infrastructure, product innovation, and market development.

Henry Huang (Yigeng Huang), currently serves as Vice President and General Manager of Public Affairs Center in PCI Technology Group Co., Ltd. He holds a dual bachelor's degree in English Language & Literature and International Politics & Diplomacy from Peking University, a Master’s degree in International Politics from the University of Sheffield (UK), and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Henry Huang possesses the profound cross-sectoral working background, having previously worked at the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, Carrefour Group, Alibaba Group, and Yatsen Holding Limited. He has developed an outstanding strategic vision and hands-on experience in government affairs, public-private collaboration, and market brand building. Since joining PCI Technology Group, he is responsible for the company’s government relations, policy engagement, public affairs systems, and market brand development. By establishing efficient government-enterprise communication mechanisms and an integrated brand communication system, he has secured key policy and industrial resources for the company in core sectors such as artificial intelligence and intelligent transportation, while continuously enhancing the company’s industry influence and brand awareness.

Meanwhile, Henry Huang serves as a council member of the Guangdong  Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Deputy Director of its Youth Entrepreneurs Committee, as well as a member of the Guangzhou Haizhu District Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). He is actively involved in organizing exchange activities for young entrepreneurs from Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao, promoting the integrated development of domestic and foreign-invested enterprises, and contributing continuously to the optimization of the regional business environment. He also acts as an external mentor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), where he is dedicated to education, offering students career planning and industry practice guidance, and actively advancing university-enterprise collaboration in talent development.

Dr. Hongjuan Liu is the Chief AI & Data Officer for Hong Kong and Macau at Manulife (International) Limited. As a member of Manulife Hong Kong’s senior management team, Dr. Liu plays a key role in advancing the company’s AI and data agenda. He leads Manulife Hong Kong and Macau’s cross‑functional AI & Data team, driving the development and execution of advanced analytics, AI deployment, and data platform strategies, while ensuring strong governance and operational excellence. He also represents Manulife Hong Kong and Macau in external AI and data‑related forums and industry dialogues.

Dr. Liu brings over 20 years of experience in AI, data strategy, analytics, and digital transformation across multiple industries and geographies. Before joining Manulife, he served as Vice President, Data at McDonald’s China, and previously held senior data and analytics leadership roles at a few global technology and automotive organizations. He also has extensive experience in the insurance industry, having served in data, CRM, and analytics leadership roles at major insurers such as Ping An Insurance, Ageas, Cigna, and Prudential.

Dr. Liu holds a PhD in Management Science and a Master of Science in Operational Research from Lancaster University, as well as a Bachelor of Science degree from South China Normal University.

Hong Zhang is Chief Executive Officer of PayPal Greater China, Chairmann and General Manager of PayPal’s licensed entity in China, PayPal Payments Co., Ltd. She oversees PayPal’s strategic planning, business innovation and operational management in Greater China, leading the team to drive the company’s long-term growth in the Greater China market.

Hong Zhang joined PayPal in 2023 as Vice President, leading the execution of several key global initiatives in China. With nearly three decades of experience in international financial markets and executive leadership, she brings deep insights into China’s policy landscape and industry trends.

Prior to joining PayPal, Hong Zhang served as Senior Managing Director and Chief Representative of the New York Office at China Investment Corporation (CIC). Her extensive background spans corporate strategy, cross-border investment, corporate governance and international business development, with proven expertise in managing cross-regional operations across China and North America.

Hong Zhang holds an LL.M. from Columbia University, and both master’s and bachelor’s degrees in law from the University of International Business and Economics.

Honnus Cheung is Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of On-us, an agentic incentive intelligence platform driving scalable customer engagement through FinTech and AI-powered hyper-personalized rewards.

With more than 20 years of experience building and scaling technology ventures across Asia, Honnus was a founding executive behind Yahoo’s and Travelzoo’s expansion across the region, contributing to the growth of both businesses into multi-billion-dollar enterprises.

Honnus holds an MBA from Kellogg-HKUST and is a Fellow of CPA Australia (FCPA) and a member of HKICPA. She also serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director of Hong Kong-listed companies and as a Visiting Lecturer at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

Mr. Xu is the Executive Director & CEO of AInnovation Technology Group（02121.HK）. He has nearly 30 years of experience in sales, customer service, technology and corporate management, and has held executive positions at Fortune 500 companies – Microsoft, SAP, IBM, Wanda. He was former vice president at Microsoft Greater China, former vice president of SAP Greater China, former general manager of IBM Greater China Finance Unit and Global Information Service Unit, former vice president of Wanda Internet Technology Group. Mr. Xu has served multiple industries, including manufacturing, financial service, retail, telecom, health care, education and public service, and has in-depth knowledge and understanding to a variety of industries in China.

Mr. Xu founded AInnovation in February 2018, and led the company to successfully listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on January 27, 2022, becoming the first "AI+ manufacturing" stock in China.

Mr. Xu graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and holds an EMBA degree from Peking University. Mr. Xu has extensive industry connections. He actively participates in public benefit activities such as education and charity. He is a corporate mentor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University, and the School of Management of Fudan University. Mr. Xu has served as an independent director of Honma Golf, a leading global golf brand and a Hong Kong listed company, since June 2016. At present, Mr. Xu serves as the chairman of the Frost & Sullivan LeadLeo Expert Committee on Innovation.

Irene is a cross‑disciplinary financial executive with over 20 years of experience covering fintech, web3, regulatory governance and family‑office practice. Currently Head of Securities and Structured Investment Division at Bank of China (Hong Kong), she spearheaded the end‑to‑end build‑out and scaling of BOCHK’s retail digital equity business. By adopting innovative approaches for the retail equity business and partnering with fintech and market ecosystem players, she expanded retail stock trading, broad‑based ETF distribution and investor‑centric structured product suites for mass‑affluent clients.

Drawing on her hands‑on family‑office experience, Irene uniquely bridges commercial business ambitions with regulatory opportunities. She focuses on unlocking fintech and digital‑asset potential, translating regulatory requirements into practical market‑ready solutions for retail, institutional and ultra‑high‑net‑worth clients.

She previously held senior compliance leadership roles at UBS and Huatai Financial Holdings, specialising in private wealth, regtech roll‑out and cross‑border Greater Bay Area supervision. This gives her dual, ground‑level perspectives on business delivery and multi‑jurisdictional risk oversight.

Appointed to the HKSAR Hong Kong‑Shenzhen Financial Cooperation Committee, she contributes to GBA fintech policy‑making and industry standards. Irene frequently speaks at global summits, sharing actionable insights on growing compliant retail digital finance and reconciling market innovation with robust investor protection.

Jack Collier is chief growth officer at io.net, one of the largest decentralised compute (depin) networks, which pools global gpu supply into a marketplace built as an alternative to the centralised cloud giants.

He has spent close to a decade bringing decentralised technology to the forefront, as marketing chief across some of the most influential names in digital finance. at circle (2016-2018) he was there in the early days, helping build the real infrastructure behind digital dollars. at natwest (2018-2021) he launched a disruptive digital-banking brand from inside one of the uk's largest incumbents. at near (2021-2024) he led marketing for a leading layer-1 blockchain ecosystem. jack now drives growth at io.net, where web3 and ai infrastructure collide. he also advises ai companies on growth and strategy.

What runs through all of it is a simple conviction: this technology should put power, and privacy, back in people's hands, rather than concentrate it in a few big platforms. based in auckland, jack brings a candid, builder's eye to digital assets and ai, less interested in what a technology promises than in where the real value, and the real bottlenecks, actually sit.

Ms. Zhang is a Partner and Investment Committee member at HOPU Investments.

At HOPU, Ms. Zhang is deeply involved in the sourcing and execution of HOPU's investments, specializing in complex structures and negotiations, playing an important role in a broad range of investments such as Ceva Santé Animale, FWD Insurance, Xiaomi, Full Truck Alliance, Sensetime, among others.

Ms. Zhang started her career at the investment banking division at Morgan Stanley in New York, following which she served as Vice President at TPG, where she led multiple investment projects in the technology and consumer sectors. Ms. Zhang currently serves on the boards of directors for the HOPU ARM Innovation Fund and a number of HOPU portfolio companies.

Ms. Zhang holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Mathematics from Yale College (cum laude).

Jaylen is a repeat entrepreneur whose path has spanned continents. Raised in Zimbabwe, he moved to the United States to study Computer Science at the University of California, San Diego. He went on to found a California prop-tech startup providing SaaS for real estate property management, which grew to more than $150 million in assets under management, and joined Y Combinator in 2019. He has also built businesses in consumer products and real estate. In 2023–2024, he and his team deployed and fine-tuned open-source large language models for the European headquarters of a Fortune 500 company, hands-on work that shaped his view of where AI was heading.

That work led to a more fundamental question: if AI can increasingly understand and perform knowledge work, why should people still spend so much of their time operating computers themselves?