2026 Speakers

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.

Ir Eric Chan is the Chief Public Mission Officer of the Hong Kong Cyberport. Chan oversees the public mission operation at Cyberport, building the ecosystem of nurturing start-ups from inspiring the next generation, through nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit, to empowering global ambition, through comprehensive entrepreneurship programmes with funding and other value-added services.

Chan has over 30 years of experience in the ICT industry, a chartered engineer, a chartered marketer, and a Fellow of Institution of Engineering & Technology (UK). Prior to joining Cyberport, Chan held various senior positions in global ICT companies. Chan has been active in public services, especially in education and industrial training, professional bodies, and charitable organisations. Chan is the Chairman of Knowledge Management Development Center, Chairman of Industrial Training Advisory Committee (ICT Sector) and serves on a number of advisory committees under Education Bureau and Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau. He also serves on advisory boards and mentorship programs at the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the City University of Hong Kong.

Chan holds a BSc. (Hon) degree in Engineering from University of London, an MBA in Finance from Manchester Business School and received Senior Executive Education from INSEAD (France) and IESE (Spain) business schools.

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.

Frank Tsui was appointed as the Head of Responsible Investment Development for Asia ex-Japan at Amundi in January 2025. Based in Hong Kong, Frank leads the implementation of responsible investment strategies, as well as advocacy initiatives across the regional, encompassing all business segments and client units.

Prior to joining Amundi, Frank spent over 9 years at Value Partners Group, where he was the Head of ESG Investment and Client Portfolio Management.  Frank led the group’s ESG investment functions, including ESG portfolio management, established and integrated ESG investment process, research, stewardship and strategic developments etc.  He was the Chairperson of the group’s ESG Committee to oversee the group’s ESG governance and practices.

With over 24 years of experience in asset and wealth management, Frank has held positions at UBS, Julius Baer, Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan Asset Management.  

Frank has a Bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics from The Max M. Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University and he is a Certified ESG Analyst (CESGA).

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.

Gracy Chen is the Chief Executive Officer of Bitget, the world’s largest universal exchange, a category she helped define. Bitget serves more than 125 million users globally. Appointed CEO in 2024 following two years as the company's first Managing Director,  she has overseen Bitget’s expansion into a broader financial ecosystem integrating crypto assets, tokenized equities, commodities, and AI-native trading infrastructure.

Under Gracy’s leadership, Bitget has become one of the industry’s fastest-growing platforms, with strong institutional growth across futures liquidity, tokenized assets, and automated trading technologies. She is particularly focused on the convergence of AI, decentralized finance, and traditional capital markets and coined the term “Universal Exchange” to describe Bitget’s ambition to offer tokenized access to any asset class in the world. In parallel, Gracy serves as a lecturer at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where she teaches Crypto Finance to graduate students and researchers. Her course explores Bitcoin, Ethereum, DeFi, stablecoins, RWAs, institutional adoption, and AI-driven crypto protocols through practical market case studies and strategic analysis. She is also a columnist for Forbes where she publishes articles on blockchain and digital finance. She was also named a WEF Global Shaper in 2015. Gracy founded the #Blockchain4Her and #Blockchain4Youth initiatives, programmes aimed at advancing gender equality and access to blockchain education.

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.

Hanna Raftell is a fintech and digital finance investor, advisor and entrepreneur with more than 30 years of international experience across banking, capital markets, fintech and emerging financial infrastructure.

Based in Stockholm, Hanna is Founding Partner of Stratum 3 Ventures, where she works with early-stage companies building the infrastructure connecting traditional finance with the next generation of digital financial markets. Her focus spans tokenisation, digital assets, digital identity, payments, compliance and the evolving infrastructure underpinning institutional adoption of digital finance.

Hanna spent a decade in London and a decade in Hong Kong, holding senior roles across investment banking, capital markets and financial information businesses, including Citigroup and Copal Partners. She subsequently moved into fintech entrepreneurship, including as Co-founder and CEO of Fimento, where she built a B2B embedded-finance platform connecting financial services and technology.

She is a Board Member of Blockchain Sweden Association, contributing to discussions around digital assets, regulation and the development of Sweden and Europe's digital financial ecosystem, and Senior Advisor to Trust Anchor Group, which develops infrastructure for tokenisation, digital identity and payments.
Hanna combines deep institutional finance experience with hands-on experience in fintech and digital assets, giving her a practical perspective on how traditional financial institutions can navigate—and participate in—the transition toward more programmable, interoperable and digitally native financial 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.

Henry Zhang is the Founder and Group CEO of DigiFT, a licensed digital asset platform focused on institutional-grade tokenized real-world assets. He brings more than two decades of senior leadership experience across global banking, financial technology, and regulated market infrastructure.

Before founding DigiFT, Henry held senior executive roles at major international financial institutions, including Deputy CEO of China at Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank, and CEO of Greater China at East West Bank. His career spans banking leadership, risk management, franchise development, cross-border finance, and financial technology innovation.

In 2020, Henry founded DigiFT in Singapore to build regulated infrastructure for the tokenization, issuance, distribution, and trading of real-world assets. Under his leadership, DigiFT became the first on-chain RWA exchange to be licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, with its Hong Kong entity licensed by the SFC for Type 1 and Type 4 regulated activities. The platform supports institutional-grade tokenized assets across money market funds, fixed income, private credit, real estate, gold, and other real-world asset strategies.

Today, Henry works closely with regulators, asset managers, banks, and Web3 ecosystem partners to advance the adoption of compliant tokenized finance. He is a frequent speaker and commentator on the convergence of traditional finance and digital asset infrastructure, with a focus on how blockchain can improve distribution, settlement, transparency, and access within regulated financial markets.

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.

Jacqueline Teoh is a Technology & Transformation Partner at Deloitte Southeast Asia and leads the firm's Wealth Management services across the region. With more than 30 years of experience across Europe (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (AP), including 18 years in Switzerland, she advises boards and senior executives on business transformation, core banking modernization, digital wealth platforms, and AI-driven innovation. A recognized leader in wealth management, Jacqueline has helped leading financial institutions across EMEA and AP navigate growth, transformation, and operating model change in an increasingly digital and competitive landscape.

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?

Jeff is the China Partner at Pegasus Tech Ventures, a global venture capital firm managing over $2 billion in assets. In this role, he oversees startup investments, fundraising, growth strategies, and corporate partnerships in China, Hong Kong, Asia, and Australia/New Zealand. He also leads Pegasus’ China network, bridging the gap between global companies seeking opportunities in these regions and local companies aiming for worldwide expansion.

Prior to joining Pegasus, Jeff co-founded High-Cloud, a pioneering cloud computing company that he guided from inception to its acquisition by DCSS Technology (837072) in 2016. Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Director at Boku (LON: BOKU) and worked with tech giants such as Sun Microsystems, Oracle, and IBM.

Jeff is an alumnus of the Stanford Graduate School of Business and also holds Master of Science degrees from the University of Oxford and HEC Paris.

Jennifer Cheng Lo is the Founder & Chair of NewChic Capital Family Office and the Founding Partner, CMO & Head of Investor Relations at Ace Investment Management, a private fund providing bespoke asset management solutions to a highly curated group of family offices and ultra-high-net-worth individuals. Across her portfolio, Jennifer leads strategic capital formation, institutional partnerships, investor relations, and global alliances within the private equity and alternative investment sectors, with a focus on supporting visionary founders, fund managers, and emerging technologies.

An award-winning investor and entrepreneur, Jennifer has contributed to more than $500 million in capital raises, over $3.9 billion in aggregate revenue generation, and more than 20 IPO and M&A transactions, including multiple unicorn exits. She previously served as Honorary Co-Chair of the U.S. Consulate Trade Mission for Hong Kong, Macau, and Greater China, an initiative that engaged more than 100 LPs, where she also performed as a concert pianist.

Beyond her investment activities, Jennifer holds strategic C-suite and board leadership roles across her portfolio companies, including as Founding Partner & Chief Strategy Officer of BeyondMood AI Mental Fitness and Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Fortix Cybersecurity Vault & Messaging.

An internationally recognized speaker, concert pianist, cultural ambassador, and entrepreneur, Jennifer has delivered several hundred keynote talks across more than 50 cities worldwide on AI, Blockchain, Deep Tech, Family Offices, Women's Leadership, next-generation entrepreneurship, legacy, and impact.

Jenny Au is the Founder & CEO of FundFluent and a serial entrepreneur working at the intersection of AI and financial inclusion. Previously at BCG Digital Ventures, she launched 10+ corporate-backed startups across the US, Australia, China, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia before focusing her expertise on the businesses most underserved by the funding system: small businesses and startups.

FundFluent is building an AI-first Funding Operating System that turns the slow, fragmented work of accessing funding into a repeatable, largely automated workflow. It is built on over a decade of deep expertise helping small businesses and startups genuinely secure capital and scale, expertise productised into structured knowledge that compounds. By turning hard-won judgment into a system that scales, FundFluent can serve more businesses, faster, and make funding fundamentally more inclusive.

Chat to her about: AI-first operating systems, B2B fintech, small businesses & startups, generative AI, AI workforces, financial inclusion, and alternative data.

Jens-Peter is an expert in the transportation sector for 30 years and a Fellow of IET.

He has degrees in electrical engineering and economic psychology, because for him, technology and people belong together, especially when it comes to digital transformation and the application of artificial intelligence.

By living and working throughout Europe, America and Asia, he became passionate about diversity and leveraging cultural synergies for the development of disruptive innovations.

As the CEO of Siemens Mobility in Hong Kong, he is working with his team and local partners to turn Hong Kong into a sustainable and smart city.

Holding patents by himself, he is always looking for bright ideas and supports talents and their visions. And still today he is dealing with latest technologies and is using AI for developing apps by himself, just for fun.

Jess Cheng is the Co-Founder and Head of Hong Kong at CHARGESPOT. As part of the team that founded CHARGESPOT in 2017, she led it to become the world's first transnational power bank sharing service provider with over 6,000 spots in Hong Kong and over 96,000 spots worldwide. She has played a pivotal role in establishing CHARGESPOT as the market leader in Hong Kong and spearheaded its expansion across APAC, including Japan, Mainland China, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, United Kingdom and Italy, as well as its acquisition by INFORICH.

Jess holds a degree in Marketing and Management from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), graduating in 2005. Her career began with the Management Trainee Program at L'Oréal Hong Kong, where she excelled in sales and marketing for the Japanese beauty brand Shu Uemura. Driven by a passion for new challenges and innovation, she seamlessly transitioned between roles and industries, from managing advertising and promotions for Columbia Sportswear at Swire Resources, to leading the launch of the luxury French beauty brand La Biosthetique in Hong Kong and Mainland China.

Currently, Jess is dedicated to powering new possibilities for the business, innovating CHARGESPOT's products, services and delivery to meet the ever-changing needs of society and businesses, and expanding its partner network to create new and exciting touchpoints to support more customers around the world.

Jessica is the Co-Founder and CEO at Planto, as well as the Hong Kong Lead and Executive Committee Member of Global Women in AI and ex board member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong. Planto operates at the intersection of open finance and artificial intelligence. Planto's technologies have been adopted by multiple financial institutions, including global banks, lenders, fintech startups, and wealth management firms.

Jessica regularly speaks at major finance and technology events, such as Hong Kong FinTech Week, Abu Dhabi Finance Week, Leap East, Dubai Fintech Summit and Money20/20. In her role as a board member of the Fintech Association of Hong Kong, she co-leads the GBA Work Group and serves as a board sponsor for quantum computing and cybersecurity. Additionally, she serves as the ambassador for the MENA Fintech Association. Jessica has lived and worked in Singapore, the UK, and Hong Kong. She was also the lead singer in a post-rock band.

Jess Ng is a banking executive and strategic leader in consumer finance and SME lending. She has strong track record of driving product innovation, digital transformation as well as green finance development in banking.

Jess currently serves as Assistant General Manager, Head of Unsecured Lending Division at Bank of China (Hong Kong). Her work sits at the intersection of product, credit, digital journey and green finance. She has led to launch key fintech projects including Interbank Account Data Sharing (IADS) and Cross-boundary Credit Referencing (CBCR) which is the first-in-market on personal lending use cases.

Jess also possesses solid experience in green finance areas including launch of new green finance products, education campaign to raise ESG and green finance awareness, and partnered with a university on a joint research which shed lights on future green finance development.

Prior to joining Bank of China (Hong Kong), Jess was the product head of Hang Seng Bank for Secured and Unsecured Loan Products as well as the Director of Hang Seng Finance Limited. She is committed to using digital infrastructure to scale access to credit and green products to support Hong Kong’s low-carbon transition.

Jia Hang is a seasoned global payments leader with more than 20 years of experience driving innovation across financial services, digital commerce, and payment infrastructure. As Executive Chairman of DCS Group, he leads the Group's strategic vision to build trusted payments infrastructure that bridges traditional finance with next-generation digital payment ecosystems. With deep expertise in global payments, corporate strategy, business development, and international market expansion, he has led multicultural teams and scaled payment businesses across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Prior to joining DCS Group, Jia Hang served as Global Head of Payment and Financial Services at Alibaba International Digital Commerce Group, where he led payment and financial services strategies across Alibaba's international businesses, including AliExpress, Alibaba.com, Lazada, Daraz, Trendyol and Miravia. Earlier at Ant Group, he held several senior leadership positions, including Regional General Manager for Southeast Asia and Europe, and General Manager for Alipay+ Global Partnerships, where he played a key role in expanding the company's international payments ecosystem. He began his career at China UnionPay and UnionPay International, where he led the expansion of UnionPay across the Americas and established UnionPay USA in 2009. He holds a Master's degree in Computer Science from Tsinghua University.

Jie LAI，Founder and CEO of Astribot Co., Ltd., has over 17 years of experience in robotics R&D. He was the first member of Tencent's robotics lab and led Baidu's "Xiaodu Robot" project. Having designed several innovative robots, he led the development of the wheeled-legged robot Ollie at Tencent, and continues to advance the integration of robotics and AI, turning AI-powered robots from a dream into reality.

Mr. LAI graduated from Xidian University (XDU), where he specialized in robotics and reinforcement learning. He has published over 10 papers at top international academic conferences such as IROS and ICRA.

Astribot was founded in Shenzhen in December 2022. As a leading AI robotics company, our vision is to empower billions of people with AI robotic partners, and our mission is to promote co-existence, co-creation and co-prosperity between humans and robots. The company has pioneered a software-hardware integrated system architecture for AI (Design for AI, DFAI), deeply coupling 'AI capabilities' with 'optimal manipulation'.

Li jing is chief strategy officer of stepfun, leading corporate strategy and ecosystem development. he drives ai applications across intelligent agents, finance and content creation, with deep experience scaling innovative products from concept to commercialization.

Joanne Hon joined Equinix in 2024 as Managing Director of Equinix Hong Kong, leading the company’s business strategy in the market. She focuses on expanding the company’s capacity and digital services to accelerate customers’ digital transformation.

Ms. Hon brings to Equinix more than 25 years of extensive financial technology, investment, insurance, legal and professional services experience in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to her role at Equinix, she has held leadership positions at several publicly listed multinational companies and private equity-backed technology firms, including Thomson Reuters, Mercer, Dealogic, CPA Global and Broadridge.

Ms. Hon holds a master’s degree in Financial Management from the University of London, and a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Asian Studies from the University of British Columbia. She also serves on the boards of several NGOs, including The American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association and Child Development Centre.

Joe Bonanno is the Head of Wealth Intelligence at Citi Wealth where he leads Wealth’s strategy across data, artificial intelligence, and client and advisor experience. In this role, he is responsible for transforming Citi Wealth into an AI-powered, intelligence-driven platform -integrating data foundations, advanced analytics, and next-generation digital experiences to redefine how wealth management engages and operates. He is the leader of OneWealth, Citi’s unified data and intelligence ecosystem, which connects client, account, and investment data to power real-time decisioning and personalized engagement at scale. This foundation enables capabilities such as Advisor Insights, Ask Wealth, Citi Scribe, and Citi Sky -Citi’s next-generation AI interface designed to deliver conversational, intelligent experiences for both advisors and clients.

Joe is also driving strategic partnerships with leading technology firms, including Google and Palantir, to accelerate the adoption of generative AI, agentic workflows, and large-scale data intelligence across the platform. Prior to this role, he led Data, Digital & Innovation for Citi’s Securities Services business, where he drove cloud transformation, AI/ML adoption, and digital asset innovation. Earlier in his career, he held senior leadership roles at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, where he built enterprise data platforms, advanced analytics capabilities, and next-best-action engines supporting millions of clients.

Joe Chen is the Executive Vice President (EVP) of WeBank, China’s first digital-only bank. As a founding member since its inception in 2014, Joe has played a significant role in shaping the bank’s strategy and developing new business areas such as wealth management, auto finance, personal business loan, financial markets and most recently international businesses. Before joining WeBank, Joe Chen worked at McKinsey & Company, where he served as a partner in their financial institutions group.

John is HSBC’s Managing Director of Digital Assets & Currencies, CIB, responsible for the bank’s activity in digital assets, asset tokenisation, CBDCs, and other forms of digital money. John has led the creation of HSBC Orion, the digital assets platform that is now live in Hong Kong and Luxembourg. John has more than 20 years of experience in financial markets. Prior to joining HSBC, he held various leadership roles at ICE Futures Europe (previously the London International Financial Futures Exchange – LIFFE), finally becoming head of the FICC business.

Mr Johnson Chui joined HKEX as Managing Director and Head of Global Issuer Services in September 2024.

In his role, Mr Chui leads HKEX’s Global Issuer Services teams based in Hong Kong, Mainland China, London and Singapore, driving the Group’s efforts to further diversify and expand its listed issuer base.

Mr Chui has more than 25 years of experience working in international capital markets. Prior to joining HKEX, he held senior positions at Nomura, where he was Managing Director, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Head of Equity Capital Markets, Asia ex-Japan.

Prior to Nomura, Mr Chui spent nearly 18 years at Credit Suisse, where he was Head of Equity Capital Markets for Asia-Pacific and a member of the Operating Committees for Global Equity Capital Markets and Asia Pacific Investment Banking & Capital Markets. He has also held senior investment banking roles at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong.

Mr Chui holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degrees from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

Mr. Johnson Zhang Wei is currently the General Manager of the MyLink Centre at China Mobile Hong Kong Company Limited (CMHK).

Since joining CMHK in 2016, Mr. Zhang has held various senior management positions, including Head of Engineering Department, General Manager of Planning and Construction Department, General Manager of Network Development Department and Head of Northern Metropolis Development Planning, General Manager of Corporate Business Department, and General Manager of MyLink Centre.

Since 2022, Mr. Zhang has served as a Director and Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Greater Bay Area 5G Industry Alliance. In 2023, he was appointed by the Hong Kong SAR Government as a member of the Sub-committee on Transport and Other Infrastructure under the Advisory Committee on the Northern Metropolis. In 2024, he became a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers (HKIE).

Jonathan is the APAC Credit Desk Lead at Morpho, bringing over 14 years of experience across institutional digital assets, capital markets, trading and treasury management. At Morpho, he focuses on expanding institutional participation in onchain lending and borrowing across APAC, working with lenders and borrowers on credit opportunities, liquidity and risk.

Previously, he was Head of Treasury at Matrixport, where he managed digital asset treasury and yield strategies spanning DeFi yield, structured staking and institutional lending. Before that, he served as Head of Trading at Copper, building and scaling its OTC desk and establishing its institutional client base. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was an equity derivatives trader at J.P. Morgan.

Jonathan Yip leads HSBC’s Innovation Banking franchise across Asia Pacific, overseeing the regional sales force, underwriting, investor coverage, and relationship advisory teams. Innovation Banking is HSBC’s dedicated platform powering the innovation economy – supporting highgrowth startups, scale-ups, and investors with a full suite of globally-connected expertise, digitalfirst solutions, and deep ecosystem partnerships. Under Jonathan’s leadership, HSBC Innovation Banking delivers tailored banking and credit solutions designed to meet unique client needs at various stages of growth.

Previously, Jonathan served as Head of Client Coverage for HSBC Commercial Banking Hong Kong and Head of Corporate Institutional Banking for HSBC Korea where he expanded the Bank’s reach across the new economy and strategic growth sectors. Since joining HSBC in 2008, he has built a global career across Corporate and Investment Banking where he managed teams in New York, San Francisco, and Hong Kong with a focus on global telecom, technology, and media clients.

Jonathan holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, Canada.

Jovan Trajceski is a Partner at BrightPath Holdings and an AI, analytics, and digital transformation leader with more than 15 years of international experience across Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. He advises senior executives on AI strategy, enterprise transformation, strategic partnerships, and cross-border innovation, helping organizations translate emerging technologies into measurable business impact.

His career spans multinational enterprises, AI and analytics consulting, and entrepreneurship, with leadership experience across financial services, retail, telecommunications, energy, and the public sector. He previously served as a Global Analytics Partner for a leading global retailer, led APAC growth and partnerships for an AI consultancy serving Fortune 500 clients, and founded an HKSTP-backed AI startup.

Jovan is also active across Hong Kong’s technology, business, and academic communities through industry leadership, university advisory, and startup mentoring. He serves on the Board of the FinTech Association of Hong Kong, chairs the Innovation Committee at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and is a Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA).

Julian Gordon is VP, Asia Pacific and Middle East, for LF Decentralized Trust, the premier open source foundation fostering collaborative development of technologies and standards that deliver the transparency, reliability, security and efficiency required for a digital-first economy.

LF Decentralized Trust is home to an ecosystem of open source blockchain, ledger, identity, interoperability, cryptographic, agentic and related technologies. It has 130+ members - including in AP the Bank of Korea, HKMA, MAS, NPCI, Partior, Silence Laboratories, Sooho, TCS and many more.

We host 19 projects, 50+ labs and 200 local, regional and industry groups, convening tens of thousands of contributors worldwide.

Billions of dollars of assets are already moving across production systems powered by LF Decentralized Trust technologies, with more large-scale deployments going live in the coming weeks. Our community and our technologies are at the core of the next generation of money, including tokenized assets, stablecoins, and CBDCs.

Julian is engaged with technology, business and finance leaders, government agencies and academia in Asia Pacific and Middle East. He builds and supports LF Decentralized Trust membership and communities and links them with global initiatives.

Julian’s career began in London at HSBC and Lloyds Bank, where he developed risk management, payment, equity trading and treasury systems. In Hong Kong he went on to hold Asia Pacific leadership roles with technology companies including HP, Cisco and Sun Microsystems.

Julien Martin is the CEO and Founder of Digital Capital Group (DCG), a neo-investment bank focused on powering the infrastructure of tomorrow - across energy, future-proof infrastructure, and food security that underpin economic and social resilience. Under his leadership, DCG operates at the intersection of finance and technology, with a strong focus on Asia and the Middle East.

DCG is redefining investment banking for the industries of tomorrow, creating innovative financial solutions that unlock capital for next-generation energy, future-proof infrastructure, and food security projects. Julien’s leadership ensures that DCG’s offerings uphold the highest standards of compliance, integrity, and technology integration, while enabling cross-border capital flows and seamless connections between investors and transformative projects shaping the economy of the future.

Julien has more than 25 years of experience across sell-side, buy-side, and financial infrastructure, with 18 years based in Asia (8 years working at HKEX, 6 years at Bond Connect, and 18 years at BNP Paribas). As a dynamic leader, Julien is recognized for his expertise in building and managing teams, his entrepreneurial mindset, and his ability to innovate within and beyond large organizations.

Moreover, Julien’s deep expertise spans digital assets, tokenization, DeFi, stablecoins, and blockchain, with a special focus on Real-World Asset tokenization, including bonds, asset-backed securities, and data marketplaces. His core strengths lie in structuring complex investment solutions, building regulatory-grade financial platforms, and bridging traditional finance with digital innovation.

Julien’s career includes pioneering contributions to China’s financial market opening, notably as the architect of Bond Connect, which enabled global investors to access China’s fixed income markets. His broad expertise also encompasses derivatives, ETFs, crypto, private equity, and fixed income, with a robust network across buy-side, sell-side, regulatory, and government entities.

As a leader, Julien is known for his strategic clarity, execution discipline, and ability to build high-performing international teams. Under his direction, DCG is scaling globally to deliver next-generation investment solutions that support the industries and infrastructure shaping the future economy.

Kavi Harilela is the Director of Hong Kong-based FGA Trust and a Director of its parent company, Payment Asia Group. He is also an investor whose career spans principal investing, venture advisory, corporate finance and fiduciary governance. Founded in 1999, Payment Asia Group operates an end-to-end fintech ecosystem across digital payments, asset management, trust and custodian services, licensed lending and digital marketing, with more than 25 years in operation, a presence in multiple jurisdictions and seven operating subsidiaries. At FGA Trust, the Group's trust and custodian services arm, he oversees the corporate and personal trust teams, manages trust assets prudently and ensures compliance with legal and regulatory requirements while acting in the best interests of beneficiaries.

He brings a rare combination of deal origination, financial modelling, structuring, execution and portfolio management, together with trust and fiduciary oversight, to venture investors and founder-led businesses across Asia-Pacific.

Kazimierz holds PhD in Innovation Finance from the University of Bath, UK. Kazimierz leads the Digital Channels & AI business for HSBC Hong Kong Retail Banking and Wealth division. In his role he is accountable for all Digital Channels performance across all digital estate, mobile app development, open banking, incubation of new digital technologies and digital design. In his role he is also responsible for development and embedding of AI technologies for the business.

Keith Rumjahn is an entrepreneur, AI educator, and creator focused on helping professionals use AI practically in their work. With over 15 years of startup experience, Keith has built and led venture-backed technology companies, raised more than US$20 million in funding, managed teams of over 40 people, and developed products used by millions globally.

Today, Keith runs **Keith AI**, where he teaches AI agents, automation, AI coding, Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, local AI systems, and real-world workflows. His audience includes over **13,000 YouTube subscribers**, **11,000 Threads followers**, and **6,000 LinkedIn followers**.

Keith has taught AI to more than **2,000 students** through online courses on Udemy and other platforms. He has also trained over **300 professionals** through corporate workshops and in-person programs at **HKU SPACE** in Hong Kong. His teaching style is practical, hands-on, and focused on helping people move from simply understanding AI to actually building useful workflows, automations, and products.

Keith is also a practitioner. Using AI-assisted coding, he developed an app that now grosses over **US$1,000 per month**, and he maintains an open-source AI coding project with over **420 GitHub stars**. This gives him a grounded perspective on what AI can actually do beyond demos and hype.

His work focuses on the future of AI-powered productivity, including how individuals and teams can use AI agents, automation, and AI coding to work faster, build better systems, and stay relevant in an AI-first world.

Kenny Man is the Founder and Managing Partner of 01Fintech Limited. He has more than 20 years of extensive investment, management consulting, and operational experience specializing in Fintech and e-commerce.  While in the Alibaba family of companies, he successfully built the international investment teams for both Alibaba and Ant Group.

While Kenny was at Ant Group, he built a twenty-person team from the ground up.  Since 2015, He invested USD 5bn in over 30 Fintech companies, and was managing approximately USD 20bn in AUM when he left the company to form 01Fintech.  This propelled Ant's globalization strategy by investing or establishing partnership with Fintech companies around the world, including Paytm (India), Ascend Money (Thailand), Dana (Indonesia), GCash (Philippines), Alipay HK (Hong Kong), TNG (Malaysia), Gcash (Philippines), Bkash (Bangladesh), Kakao Pay (Korea) amongst others.  He has been appointed to more than 10 companies' board of directors and has participated the journey in turning many of those companies into Unicorns.

Prior to Ant Group, Kenny was Senior Investment Director at Vision Knight Capital, a USD 800mn private equity firm Founded by ex-Ant CEO. He led the 91.com project from deal execution and the sale of the company to Baidu for USD 1.9 billion, which was, at that time, the largest internet M&A in China. He also led the 500.com deal and supported that company’s listing on the NYSE.

Before Vision Knight Capital, Kenny was the Director of Alibaba.com Investment & Acquisition Team where he built the first Alibaba international M&A team from scratch. While completing multiple deals during his tenure, he executed the first overseas acquisition for Alibaba and the first acquisition for Alipay. His deals included Vendio, Auctiva, and Singlefeed in the US and Oncard Payments in China. He also worked in the Corporate Finance team in Alibaba Group prior to joining the investment team and was deeply involved in the Alibaba.com IPO.

Kenny has also held positions at Pepsi and McKinsey and Company. He received an Executive MBA, Joint Degree program at the Kellogg School of Management Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.  He has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in University of British Columbia. He has been listed in the Global Corporate Venture Top 100 Powerlist for several years.

His Excellency Khalid Humaidan was appointed as Governor of the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) in February 2024.

Prior to his appointment as Governor, HE Mr. Humaidan served as Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), and Head of Global Markets MEA at BNP Paribas.

He has over 25 years of experience working in financial and capital markets, and currently serves as member on the boards of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB), the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), Gulf Payments and the Gulf Monetary Council.

HE Mr. Humaidan holds a Bachelor of Science in Finance from Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, United States.

Kunal Choudhary is a strategy lead at Worldpay, focused on Trading and Payment Facilitators. He leads go-to-market strategy across these verticals, identifying growth opportunities, shaping differentiated propositions, and helping translate market trends into commercial action. Kunal works across product, commercial and regional teams to develop strategies that strengthen Worldpay’s position in complex and rapidly evolving payments markets.

Kun is the founder of GGWP, the AI platform modernizing moderation and tackling toxicity in gaming and communities, and founder and CEO of Forge, the first of its kind loyalty and rewards platform for games.

Previously, he founded Crunchyroll, the world's largest destination for anime and manga, and served as CEO for over a decade. He brings 20 years of experience in consumer media, including founding social mapping service Frappr, product and engineering at Slide and HOTorNOT.

Kun graduated from UC Berkeley with honors B.S. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and B.A. in Applied Mathematics in 2004, and was a PhD candidate in Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon.

Zhao Lan serves as Hong Kong Bureau Chief of Sina Finance. She is a seasoned financial journalist and media executive focusing on Hong‑Kong‑Mainland cross‑border capital markets, global investment trends, and digital asset regulation.

In her role, she leads the Hong Kong editorial team to deliver in‑depth reporting on Hong Kong’s capital market, A‑H share listings, institutional investment flows, and emerging fintech and Web3 developments. She regularly conducts exclusive interviews with senior executives from global financial institutions, asset management firms and listed companies, and hosts high‑profile industry forums and panel discussions on financial innovation and regulatory updates.

Zhao Lan devotes herself to bridging mainland and global investors. Her work highlights Hong Kong’s role as China’s super‑connector in international finance, interpreting market policies, investment opportunities and risk dynamics for both domestic and overseas audiences.

Lapman Lee is a Professor of Practice at the HK Polytechnic University. He focuses on the intersection of finance, governance & risk management, sustainability, and (financial) technology with a focus on AI.

Lapman is a trusted advisor to Boards and C suite of financial institutions and listed companies whom he advises how to navigate the increasingly complex and interrelated global risk landscape.

Prior to his current role, Lapman was a financial services & FinTech Partner at Deloitte where he advised digital banks and insurers, and was a Board member of the HK FinTech Association responsible for AI.

He advises policymakers and regulators on Green FinTech and AI governance & risk management.

Laura is a passionate advocate and practitioner of big data & AI with 20+ years of in leading financial services, energy, and technology companies. In her current capacity as Managing Director, Head of Data, Analytics and Customer Risk Management in Hang Seng Bank, Laura drives modernization of Hang Seng’s data & messaging platform to cloud-based solutions, embedding & commercializing data & AI into frontline, digital & customer experience for hyper-personalized Omni-channel interaction and revenue growth.  Laura has held several senior positions in global companies incl. Group Head of Insurance Data & Analytics, HSBC, Chief Analytics Officer, Manulife Asia, and Head of Analytics for Wealth Management in HSBC. She has extensive international exposure across Greater China, Asia Pacific, Europe and Americas  with focus on enterprise-level data & AI solutions and strategies.

Laurent Crouet is Chief Transformation & Operations Officer for Generali Asia, overseeing transformation, technology, operations and security across its Asian markets. He leads initiatives that connect digital capabilities with business strategy, operational excellence and sustainable growth.

With 20 years of experience across Asia and Europe, Laurent has built his career at the intersection of insurance, technology and transformation. Before joining Generali, he held several executive positions at AXA, including CEO of AXA Group Operations in the Philippines, as well as senior roles across digital, data and transformation.

At Generali, Laurent focuses on scaling technology and innovation into measurable business outcomes. He is particularly passionate about moving innovation beyond isolated pilots by building the governance, platforms and cross-market collaboration needed to deliver meaningful value for customers, agents, partners and employees.

Originally from France and now based in Kuala Lumpur, Laurent brings extensive cross-cultural leadership experience. His philosophy is simple: technology enables transformation, but alignment, talent and disciplined execution drive success.

Lavanya Chari is Head of Wealth and Premier Solutions at HSBC International Wealth and Premier Banking, responsible for the products, platforms and propositions that make up a digitally-empowered and internationally-connected client offering. Lavanya leads teams for Wealth Solutions across markets from Chief Investment Office, Managed Solutions, Capital Markets, Advisory, Discretionary and Sustainable Investments to Lending, Trust, and Insurance as well as Retail products such as unsecured lending, mortgages and transaction banking.

Based in Singapore and a member of the International Wealth and Premier Banking Executive Committee, Lavanya joined HSBC in July 2020 and created a unified global products function the following year, well positioned to serve the diverse needs of Personal Banking, Premier, High Net Worth and Ultra High Net Worth clients, in a scalable and efficient way.

Lavanya is passionate about sustainable investing, particularly in helping clients make investment decisions that bring about positive and impactful environmental and social change. She is the sponsor of Gender Equity under the Diversity and Inclusion Forum, an employee resource group where colleagues are empowered and inspired to develop and progress in their careers. Lavanya is also a non-executive director at HSBC Global Asset Management.

Lavanya started her career at Deutsche Bank in London, spending 14 years in Global Markets in various product leadership roles before joining the private bank in 2016 and relocating to Singapore, where she ran products and solutions for Asia Pacific before assuming global responsibility.

Lavanya holds a BA in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras, and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore.

Lawrence Lam is the Chief Executive Officer of Prudential Hong Kong Limited. He leads the Hong Kong executive management team to drive growth and development and oversee operations of Prudential’s life and general insurance business in Hong Kong and Macau, covering a full suite of protection, health, wealth and investment insurance solutions as well as a comprehensive collection of general-purpose insurance products.

Prior to joining Prudential, Lawrence was the Chief Executive of Citi’s consumer bank in Hong Kong. He brings with him a wealth of experience in managing multi-channel distribution and servicing network, developing customer-centric digital ecosystem, and creating client value through segmentation and product innovation. Lawrence has held senior leadership positions at Citi, including Head of Retail Banking, Head of Sales and Distribution, and Director of Consumer Lending, and has played a critical role in building the bank’s insurance business through bancassurance partnership.  

Lawrence currently supports several industry and professional organisations.  He serves as Deputy Chairman of the Life Insurance Council (LIC) of the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers, and a Member of its Governing Committee. He is also a member of the Hong Kong Academy of Finance, and a Council Member of The Hong Kong Management Association, where he chairs its Programme Advisory Committee for Marketing Management. He is an Advisor to Our Hong Kong Foundation, contributing to Hong Kong’s long-term economic and social development.

In recognition of his forward-looking leadership at Prudential Hong Kong, he was named Corporate Executive of the Year at SCMP Live’s Business Awards 2025.

Lawrence holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (Honours) degree from the Ivey Business School. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and a Financial Risk Manager (FRM).

Lawrence Li is the Head of Consumer Banking Products, Retail Banking and Wealth, Hong Kong of HSBC, covering Deposits, Mortgages, FX, and Payments. He is accountable for setting the business strategy and driving overall profitability across these products. This portfolio plays a critical role in generating both interest and fee income, while delivering market share growth in deposit and lending balances.

Leandro is a partner in the actuarial and risk practice of KPMG Hong Kong. He works with life insurance and financial services clients across Asia Pacific on risk, capital, transactions, product governance, reinsurance, financial reporting, and regulatory matters. He is serving on the Life, Pension, and Innovation committees of the Actuarial Society of Hong Kong.

He graduated from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, and holds actuarial qualifications in the US, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Mr. Wang Lei serves as the CFO and Head of the Capital Market at Horizon Robotics. Since joining Horizon Robotics, Mr. Wang Lei has successively led the investment project of Volkswagen Group in Horizon Robotics and the project of Horizon Robotics' listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Based on the capital market, he has contributed to the business growth of the company.

Mr. Wang Lei has rich experience in capital markets and engineering. Before joining Horizon Robotics, Mr. Wang Lei served as the Chief Analyst of the automotive sector at China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), where he was named Best Automotive Analyst by Asiamoney in 2020. Prior to joining CICC, Mr. Wang Lei worked as a Senior Manager at Sensata Technologies, a global leader in sensors, where he was responsible for product development and applications, analytical laboratories, and business development.

Mr. Wang holds a Master’s degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Rutgers University in the United States.

Lewis Sun was appointed Global Head of Digital Currencies, Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB), HSBC in May 2026. He provides strategic leadership for Digital Assets and Currencies initiatives within Global Payments Solutions (GPS), with end-to-end accountability for strategy, client proposition, technology and risk, partnering with teams across HSBC.

Mr Sun has held a range of payments and cash management roles in China and Hong Kong since joining HSBC in 2002, including Head of Sales for GPS in China and Head of GPS China.

In August 2017, Mr Sun was appointed Regional Head of Product for GPS, based in Hong Kong. Leveraging his technical expertise and deep understanding of market trends, he assumed the role of Global Head of Domestic and Emerging Payments for GPS in April 2022.

Mr Sun holds a Master’s degree in Electronics Engineering and an International MBA from Tsinghua University, as well as a Certificate in International Cash Management from the Association of Corporate Treasurers (UK).

Lily Guan has extensive experience in banking credit risk management. Currently, as the Director of Product Sales & Solution, she actively drives the pilot upgrade of the Commercial Credit Reference Agency (CCRA) to empower Hong Kong financial institutions in advancing digital credit decision-making. She has also pioneered cross-boundary business credit reports, successfully enabling Hong Kong banks to utilize cross-boundary enterprise information for clearer insights into the credit status and financial performance of related mainland enterprises. This facilitates SME credit assessments and completes the southbound pilot initiative for cross-boundary credit information exchange in the Greater Bay Area.

Ludovic Grandclement is Director of AI and Innovation at the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA), where he leads a dedicated practice of platform engineers, solutions architects, and AI specialists. In this role, he oversees the architectural design, engineering, and operation of the HKMA’s internal enterprise GenAI platforms, delivering sovereign, production-grade AI capabilities directly into the hands of central bank staff. Alongside building internal platforms, Ludovic provides architectural guidance and engineering expertise to other HKMA departments on their external-facing AI initiatives and specialized technology projects.

Ludovic brings a deep background in central bank technology innovation. Prior to spearheading the HKMA's AI engineering capability, he spent several years driving the authority’s Supervisory Technology (SupTech) agenda from its inception six years ago, leading the design and rollout of foundational SupTech initiatives to modernize regulatory data analytics, workflow automation, and supervisory intelligence.

Before joining the central bank, Ludovic spent over a decade leading digital transformation and mission-critical platform engineering across highly regulated industries, with extensive experience spanning both aviation systems and financial technology.

Mahesh is a dynamic entrepreneur with a proven track record of building and developing companies across diverse industries, including NewSpace Economy for Hong Kong, Education, renewable energy infrastructure & Investments, general trading, and brand development. As an advisor to his family investments, he specializes in guiding startups through to B-round funding, leveraging his expertise in strategic growth and investment.

Mahesh also plays a pivotal role as Family Council Convenor in developing family governance, where he focuses on succession planning and sustaining family legacies through structured governance frameworks, ensuring the seamless transition of wealth and values across generations.

Mankila Hung is Head of Innovation and Payment at Ele Bank Limited, where she leads the bank's digital payment strategy and product innovation. She has successfully launched consumer card products and cross-border remittance solutions, expanding the bank's payment capabilities across multiple channels.

With over 20 years of experience in the payments and financial services industry, Mankila has held key positions at Visa and American Express, where she led commercial and money movement solutions, managed strategic client relationships, and drove product development across the Asia Pacific region. Her expertise spans digital payments, cross-border money movement, product solutioning, and business development.

Manouk Termaaten has spent more than a decade in crypto, taught himself to code long before AI tools existed, and was fine-tuning language models before the general public heard of OpenAI. He studied industrial engineering (University of Amsterdam) and finance (Erasmus University Rotterdam), and founded two companies before starting Vertical, the AI studio behind products spanning AI inference, video generation, GPU orchestration and real-estate copilots.

He has operated AI infrastructure at scale for two years, with negotiated terms across AWS, OpenRouter and fal.ai, and ran the $VERTAI token live on Ethereum, Base and Avalanche through an entire market cycle, creating a community of 12,000 holders. He's now focused on making autonomous agents able to safely buy real work from real people through non-custodial escrow, onchain evaluation and reputation.

At Hong Kong FinTech Week, Manouk speaks on agentic commerce and machine payment rails (x402, MPP), token economics that reward usage over speculation, and the regulatory architecture (MiCA, VASP frameworks) that quietly determines which builders can compete in onchain finance. Outside of work he has crossed two Himalayan passes, including Everest Base Camp, and run the New York City Marathon.

Manson is a seasoned technology builder with experience across multiple waves of digital transformation—from early digitisation and mobile platforms to cloud computing, big data, and today’s AI-agent era. His career spans technology, academia, financial services, and the F&B technology sector, including OpenRice, a leading Hong Kong dining platform.

At the moment, he is particularly interested in agentic commerce: enabling AI systems to securely discover services, coordinate workflows, and support trusted interactions across business platforms. He brings a hands-on perspective shaped by building systems through successive technology eras, while remaining focused on real-world adoption rather than experimentation alone.

He earned his doctorate from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). His research interests focus on applying cutting-edge AI and digital technologies to scientific and commercial challenges.