Originally from Kent in England, Liv Boeree is one of the most successful female poker players of all time, with over $3 million in live tournament earnings. She previously studied at the University of Manchester, achieving a first-class degree in Astrophysics, as well as being in demand as a model and TV presenter on a range of different shows.

Maurice Ashley made history in 1999 when he became the first African-American chess grandmaster. He is a three-time national championship coach, author of Chess for Success: Using an Old Game to Build New Strengths in Children and Teens, ESPN commentator, iPhone app designer, puzzle inventor, and motivational speaker. Maurice is well known for providing dynamic live tournament coverage of world-class chess competitions and matches.

Dandapani is a Hindu priest, entrepreneur and a former monk of 10 years. After graduating university with a degree in Electrical Engineering he left it all behind to become a Hindu monk under the guidance of one of Hinduism’s foremost spiritual leaders of our time, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. For 10 years he lived a life of serious personal discipline and training at his guru’s cloistered monastery in Hawaii. When his vows expired, he chose to venture out into the world making New York City his home. He works with entrepreneurs and some of the top athletes in the world in helping them understand and leverage their mind so that they can be the best at what they do. He does this by empowering them with tools and teachings that have been used by Hindu monks of his tradition for thousands of years. Among his clients are companies such as Fortress Investment Group, ICONIQ, McKinsey, Nike, Comm Bank of Australia, Bloomberg LP, Ribbit Capital, Red Ventures, Sprinklr, AMEX and more.

Maurice Conti is among the architects of the cutting-edge emerging technologies that are evolving humanity and the world around us: Artificial Intelligence, immersive reality (AR/VR/XR), advanced robotics and manufacturing, and technology for sustainability. He is a rare blend of hands–on practitioner and big thinker. Conti is a sought-after and trusted advisor to the leadership teams of global companies, including Amazon Web Services, Lululemon, Mercedes AMG, NielsenIQ, Ralph Lauren, and Blackline Systems, on how to think about and deploy AI for the benefit of people and business. Working at the intersection of disruptive innovation, emerging technologies, and the future of work, cities, mobility, and climate, Conti is a vocal champion for the creation of technologies whose foundations are rooted in positive, human-centered purpose. More than 12 million people have watched his popular TED talks, and his engaging speaking style, deep subject-matter expertise, and relatable insights are based on decades of work “in the trenches” with leading brands, including Nike, Tesla, Disney, Amazon, Airbus, and Ford.

With a career devoted to understanding how humans make risk decisions, Andy Ellis is a seasoned technology executive with deep expertise in security. An advisor to several cyber security startups, including Orca, Vulcan, and Uptycs, he currently serves as an advisor at cyber security venture capital firm, YL Ventures. Ellis formerly served as the chief security officer of web and internet security company Akamai. In his 20 years with Akamai, he helped to design and bring to market several of the company’s core technologies behind its security solutions. Combining more than 20 years of security experience with insider anecdotes from his time serving as CSO, he explores how and why humans make risk choices and decisions – and their impact on security.

DR. JONATHAN D. T. WARD has been studying the rise of China for more than a decade. From travels with truck caravans in Tibet and across the South China Sea by cargo ship in his early twenties, to accessing Communist Party archives that have now been closed to the world while a PhD candidate at Oxford, to consulting for the U.S. Department of Defense and Fortune 500 organizations, Dr. Ward has brought the experience of a traveler, the discipline of a scholar, and the insight of a strategy consultant to one of the toughest, biggest challenges of our time: what does China want, how will it try to get it, and what should America do? Dr. Ward is the Founder of Atlas Organization, a Washington DC based consultancy focused on the rise of India and China, and US-China global competition. He speaks Russian, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic. A path-breaking work on Chinese global strategy, China’s Vision of Victory brings the reader to a new understanding of China’s grand-scale planning and ambitions. From seabed to space, from Africa to the Antarctic, from subsurface warfare to the rise of China’s global corporations, this book illuminates the greatest challenge of our lifetimes – the Chinese Communist Party’s ambition to end the American-led world and to bring about a century defined by Chinese power.

Glenn S. Gerstell served as the general counsel of the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Security Service (CSS) from 2015 to 2020. He has written and spoken widely about the intersections of technology and national security and privacy. Prior to joining the NSA, Mr. Gerstell practiced law for almost 40 years at the international law firm of Milbank, LLP, where he focused on the global telecommunications industry and served as the managing partner of the firm's Washington, D.C., Singapore, and Hong Kong offices.

Dr. Sahar Yousef is a cognitive neuroscientist and faculty at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. After spending over a decade doing Department of Defense research on neuroplasticity and how to improve memory, attention, and overall human performance in as little as 7 weeks, Sahar now researches and teaches busy leaders and their teams how to be more productive and effective at work. At Berkeley, Sahar runs the Becoming Superhuman Lab (featured in Forbes and Business Insider) and teaches one of the most popular MBA classes, called "Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity and Performance". Sahar has become one of the world’s leading experts on cognitive training and is featured as a top scientist in the Headspace wellbeing app (used by over 2 million people every day). In 2021, Sahar produced a multi-part video series with John Legend on the science of music and its impact on our focus and emotions. She was also recently selected by Thinkers50 as one of the top 30 thinkers to watch throughout 2024 and the year ahead.

Ash Alexander-Cooper OBE is a former Specialist Military Unit Colonel in the British Armed Forces and a former Partner at McChrystal Group - an elite advisory services firm that builds agile teams and enables clients to adapt to their complex operating environments. Ash was a Partner in McChrystal Group's London, England office, where he focused on expanding the firm’s offerings and developing relationships with European clients. With a focus on leader development, talent management, and team-building solutions, Ash draws upon lessons learned from over 22 years of experience leading and managing diverse multinational military, civilian government and other elite teams.

Lisa Bodell is one of the world’s leading experts on innovation. She has created a unique approach to a complicated topic and helps organizations become world-class innovators. She is the founder and CEO of futurethink and the author of the best-selling book, Kill the Company. Her presentations are fun and memorable. She is interactive and includes quick exercises that are simple but amazingly effective at demonstrating how people resist change even when they think they’re open to it. Bodell leaves her audiences with the tools, tricks, and resources to start innovating immediately.

Mona Patel is a dynamic, engaging entrepreneur with 17 years experience convincing leaders at some of the world’s biggest brands to understand, value, and optimize their customers’ experiences. She is the author of the bestseller, Reframe: Shift the Way You Work, Innovate, and Think, which inspires others and offers an actionable roadmap to innovation.

Michael Vickers is one of the most accomplished and legendary senior intelligence officials of the last four decades. The former under secretary of defense for intelligence – the “CEO” of our nation’s defense intelligence enterprise that includes agencies like the NSA, he understands the current geopolitical environment like no one else. This Green Beret-turned-CIA operative-turned top Pentagon intelligence official shares insights and eye-opening stories on challenges to the current world order (including what’s at stake for American business) and where we still have work to do.