CES Unveiled Amsterdam Speakers

FOR MEDIA 

Thursday 12 October 2023

Taets Art & Event Park
Middenweg 62 Hembrugterrein
1505RK Zaandam, Netherlands

2023 Featured Speakers

View CES Unveiled Amsterdam 2023 Featured Speakers below.
 

Briehan Burke
General Partner, Keen Venture Partners

Briehan Burke is a General Partner at Keen Venture Partners, a radically-human venture capital firm based in Amsterdam and London. Keen backs exceptional teams across Europe at the early stages and aims to begin relationships by investing time first, money later.Previously, Briehan was a growth investor at Catalyst Investors; an early employee at Lola, a venture-backed femtech company; and an investment banker at Bank of America, all in NYC.

Brian Comiskey is the Director of Thematic Programs at the Consumer Technology Association. Brian is responsible for the thematic indexes developed and maintained by CTA and Nasdaq as a part of a more than decade long partnership. Covering a variety of sectors including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, gaming, and robotics, Brian and his team manage a portfolio of 15 thematic indexes with 20 products and $10B in assets under management tracking these indexes across listings in more than a dozen countries. 

Prior to joining CTA, Brian consulted for the United States Coast Guard on digital transformation and cybersecurity policy. 

Brian holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from the College of William & Mary. 

Boudewijn Docter started working in the field of integrated photonics in 1998 at the pioneer start-up BBV Software. This was the first company in the world to make professional design software for photonic chips and was acquired by Alcatel in 2001. After finishing his Master Degree in Electrical Engineering at Twente University he did a PhD at Eindhoven University of Technology. After obtaining his PhD Boudewijn founded EFFECT Photonics, a company making components for fiber-optic networks, in 2010. Boudewijn served as CTO and President until February 2023. He is currently Chief Growth Officer at HighTechXL, a venture building organization in Eindhoven, where he coaches new startup entrepreneurs in their journey to solve grand societal challenges using deep tech.

Anke Huiskes is the co-founder and Managing Partner of NP-Hard Ventures, an early stage VC fund investing in tech startups creating the building blocks of tomorrow. Anke is also the founding Partner of Planet Positive, a syndicate investing in (pre)seed-stage climate tech companies, and ANGELS.vc, a women-led community of accredited angel investors. Before becoming a full time investor, she led go to market and sales at various venture backed hardware and software companies in Silicon Valley, and was a commercial business leader at Procter & Gamble. Anke holds a cum laude Master of Science, and Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Twente.

Being an Innovation Ambassador and Trend-Strategist she has been closely following technological, social and economic developments for over 20 years.

As an advisor of companies, governmental organizations, Start-Ups and NGO’s she is a leading Trend-analyst and a renowned, international Keynote-speaker on topics as leadership, digital transformation, AI, technology, diversity & inclusion and the educational system. Appearing regularly on Dutch TV as expert, presenter and interviewer. Guest teacher at Nyenrode University, in the Strategic Leadership Program, and owner of the Dutch broadcast channel Trendwatcher.TV.

Jean-David Malo became Head of Unit in charge of regional aspects in DG R&I (2006-2010) and of the unit (2011-2013) in charge of increasing private finance and closing market gaps by expanding existing EU innovative financial instruments (see RSFF) and by developing new ones in the fields of debt (including guarantees) and equity financing (InnovFin). Horizon 2020SMEs was also addressed by the unit (i.e. EUROSTARS II, SME Instrument and the Fast Track to Innovation). Director for Open Innovation and Open Science in 2017, he designed and expanded initiatives such as the VentureEU Initiative and the RDI dimension under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) among other things.

In 2019 following the European Council’s request to set up the European Innovation Council (EIC), he became Director of the EIC Task Force.

Since April 2021 he is the Director of the Executive Agency for EIC and SMEs (EISMEA).

Kate joined 4impact venture capital as Partner in 2021, bringing over 20 years of experience in corporate strategy, tech scale-up and private equity, as well endless enthusiasm for understanding new business models and meeting entrepreneurs.

Prior to 4impact, Kate held senior roles at fintech scale-up Jumo World, which provides microloans to the unbanked in emerging markets. Other roles include senior positions at Woolworths Holdings Ltd (South Africa), London-based private equity firm Duke Street, Goldman Sachs and UBS. 

Kate holds a Bachelor's of Business Science (Hons) from University of Cape Town.

Thomas Serval is the co-founder and CEO of Baracoda Group. A serial entrepreneur, visionary leader, and category creator, Thomas holds fifty patents in connected technologies and transforms large companies and the daily life of consumers through disruptive innovations. Having held executive managerial positions for Microsoft & Google, Thomas has steered Baracoda’s innovation toward daily healthtech, encouraging behaviors and habits for self-care and disease prevention.

For the last decade, Thomas has focused on developing innovative technology that helps address preventative health needs and promotes positive health behaviors. Baracoda’s user-centric product development philosophy centers on integrating new technologies into everyday objects. Thomas is building his vision of Daily Healthtech with data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and through gamification. He wants to empower people with data that they can rely on for quality, personalized information and use in their interactions with medical professionals. Ultimately, Thomas’ goal is to help people take a proactive approach to preventive care.

From mapping people’s bathroom routines with AI to helping children form healthy habits in the bathroom, Thomas offers a forward-thinking approach earned through years of studying how people integrate data and adopt connected, intelligent tools into their personal practices. His products incorporate user-friendly interfaces that by design gather feedback to continually tailor experience and even anticipate demand for new solutions.

Thomas is a graduate of the Ecole Normale Supérieure and the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique (Ensae) and remains heavily involved with the schools’ interactions with startups and incubators. He is a regular lecturer at top French institutions such as ESCP, ESSEC, ENA and Corps des Mines. In 2017, he was a guest lecturer at Stanford University, and detailed how he created the connected oral care consumer product category. For his efforts across multiple decades delivering innovation in 2018, Thomas was knighted by the French President, presented the “Chevalier de la Légion d’honneur,” citing his innovative and entrepreneurial spirit.

Gary Shapiro is an acclaimed author, lobbyist, and president and CEO of the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)®, the trade association representing the $505 billion U.S. consumer technology industry, which supports more than 18 million U.S. jobs.

Taking the role of President and CEO, Shapiro evolved the idea of the workplace over his 40-year tenure leading the organization. Directing a staff of 150 employees alongside thousands of industry volunteers, he built a forward-thinking successful business focused on the further development and integration of technology in all industries of the world. Under his leadership, CTA has won numerous awards for its healthy workplace, family friendly employment practices, and environmentally friendly exhibition practices.

Shapiro is a New York Times bestselling author, whose books include “Ninja Future: Secrets to Success in the New World of Innovation” (HarperCollins, 2019), “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses” (HarperCollins, 2013) and “The Comeback: How Innovation will Restore the American Dream” (Beaufort, 2011). Through these books, numerous television appearances, and as a columnist whose more than 1200 opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and The Washington Post, Shapiro has helped direct policymakers and business leaders on the importance of innovation and technology in the U.S. economy. 

Selma Turajlic recently exited Little Dot Studios, an award-winning digital content agency and global media network which she co-founded in April 2013. Little Dot Studios works on over 700 digital channels with a combined total of 800 million subscribers and followers partnering with clients like Formula E, Porsche, Google and Mattel. Prior to Little Dot, Selma was Head of Interactive Media at ALL3MEDIA International and Director, Interactive Media at Celador International (now part of Sony Pictures Television) where she managed international digital licensing for formats such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Dragons’ Den. Previous roles include Business Development Consultant at Shazam Entertainment working on technology licensing and devising distribution strategies both in the UK and USA and lastminute.com where she worked on establishing entertainment e-commerce offering.