Thorvaldur Gylfason is Professor of Economics at the University of Iceland. He is also Research Fellow at CESifo (Center for Economic Studies) at the University of Munich & Research Associate at the Center for U.S.-Japan Business and Economic Studies at New York University. He was elected to Iceland's Constitutional Assembly in 2010 and appointed by Parliament to a Constitutional Council that drafted a constitutional bill delivered to Parliament 29 July 2011.

Steven Van Belleghem is a thought leader on the transformation of customer relations and the future of marketing. In 2012, Steven founded the inspiration company B-Conversational. He gives strategic advice to companies around the globe, helping them better understand the world of conversations, social media and digital marketing. In addition, he also helps clients set up long-term inspirational programs to change the mindset and enrich the knowledge of their teams. Steven started his professional career in 2000 as a research assistant at the Vlerick Business School, where he remains a guest marketing professor to this day. He is an expert in guiding companies through the smart usage of technology in the customer relationship, without forgetting the human side of business. In 2001, Steven became one of the first employees to join InSites Consulting, an innovative start-up in the online research industry. Over the next eleven years, he worked his way up to become one of the company’s managing partners and shareholders. During this period, the company grew from just 8 staff to 130 with branches in 5 countries. Steven is a best-selling author of business books. His latest, titled “When Digital becomes Human” (2014), describes the need to digitise the customer relationship without forgetting the human aspect. He believes that today’s world not only needs a digital transformation; the human side of business is also in need of a makeover. His two previous books, “The Conversation Manager” (2010) and “The Conversation Company” (2012), are award-winning best-sellers with more than 50,000 copies sold.

Robert Colvile is the critically acclaimed author of ‘The Great Acceleration’ and one of Britain’s sharpest writers and commentators on technology and politics. His particular focus is on how the great trends that start in Silicon Valley are impacting on our lives and businesses - how technology is changing and challenging our way of life, and the dangers and opportunities that this creates.

Alan Wheatley is an economics writer and editor based in London. He was global economics correspondent for Reuters until November 2013. In the course of a 33-year career he reported from more than 40 countries and had postings in London, Frankfurt, Paris, New York, Washington, Tokyo, Singapore and Beijing. Alan is the editor and co-author of the book The Power of Currencies, which explores the consequences of looming challenges to the dollar as the world’s pre-eminent reserve currency.

Jonathon Porritt, Co-Founder of Forum for the Future, is an eminent writer, broadcaster and commentator on sustainable development. Established in 1996, Forum for the Future is now the UK’s leading sustainable development charity. The Forum has a growing presence in the United States, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. In addition he is a Non-Executive Director of Willmott Dixon Holdings, a Trustee of Ashden, and a Director of Collectively (an online platform celebrating sustainable innovation). He was formerly Director of Friends of the Earth, co-chair of the Green Party and as Chairman of the UK Sustainable Development Commission until 2009, he spent nine years providing high-level advice to Government Ministers. Jonathon was installed as the Chancellor of Keele University in February 2012. He is also Visiting Professor at Loughborough University and UCL. Recent books are ‘Capitalism As If The World Matters’ (2007) and ‘The World We Made’ (2013) - which seeks to inspire people about the prospects of a sustainable world in 2050.

Bill has served as CEO at Wickes, Focus and Iceland. He has now produced The Grimsey Review, looking at what can be done to reinvigorate the high street. He argues that town centres should be reinvented as community hubs, with housing and public services at the centre. Bill talks about changing customer habits and the growth of ‘mall culture.’ These out-of-town arenas will become the showrooms of the future, in which we choose what to order online.

Alex is a technology expert, specialising in the practical application of the latest innovations and tech trends to solve retail’s biggest challenges, from machine learning to post-channel retail. Prior to GDR, he spent seven years at technology firm Red Ant, designing and delivering award-winning applications, innovation and strategy from boardroom to stockroom for some of the UK's largest and most forward-thinking retailers. In his spare time, he enjoys running and an ongoing quest to connect everything in his house to the internet.

Aidan is the host and founder of the Innovation Show, broadcast globally and on national radio stations in Ireland and Finland. He is author of the bestselling book "Undisruptable: A Mindset of Permanent Reinvention for Individuals, Organisations and Life" which includes a Foreword by Visa founder Dee Hock. Aidan’s presentation is visual, story rich and full of interesting analogies to bring concepts to life. Aidan is a Change Consultant, Board Director and Executive Coach. He works with organisational teams to improve how they engage and innovate. He is a champion for change and has reinvented in his own career after rugby. Aidan worked in transformation for digital, innovation and now culture and leadership.

Rachel Botsman is an author and a visiting academic at the University of Oxford, Saïd Business School. She studies and teaches how technology is transforming trust between people and what that means for business and society. She defined the theory of “collaborative consumption” with her acclaimed book, What’s Mine is Yours (HarperCollins, 2010). The concept was subsequently named by TIME as one of the “Ten Ideas That Will Change the World” and by Thinkers50 as the 2015 Breakthrough Idea. Her TED talks on the subject have been viewed almost three million times. Rachel is a regular writer and commentator in leading international publications including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, Wired and more. She is recognized as one of the world’s top 20 speakers to keynote your conference by Monocle, one of the Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company and a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Recently, she joined the NRMA board as a specialist non-executive Director. She is currently writing a new book on a new era of trust to be published by Portfolio Penguin, October 2017.

Named one of Britain’s leading ‘Women of the Year’ and a ‘Champion of Change’ together with 24 other accolades, Shivvy is also one of Europe’s most booked female forecasters for three years running. Her research is trusted by over 200 organisations, including the likes of Microsoft, the United Nations, Salesforce, Lenovo and the UK Government’s digital division. Shivvy also has strong roots in investigative broadcasting. A former contributor to CNN Asia and Reuters for six years, she has produced over 400+ hours of programming. She has presented a two-part documentary for Discovery Channel, hosted interview series NextTech Insider and fronted live debate broadcasts Ringside Sessions for Ericsson. She also previously created two streaming video series’ on future innovations and the people behind them that drew a 14 million-strong audience during its five year run.

Daniel is the Founder & CEO of Brandwave Marketing - one of the world's leading sports marketing consultancies and the chosen agency of many of the industry’s leading brands including Adidas, BMW, Scott, Reebok, Les Mills, INEOS, Wiggle, and Salomon. With a lifetime spent coaching and competing in sport himself, Daniel is passionate believer in the power of sport as a catalyst for positive change on multiple levels. Daniel is also a respected speaker in the global sports and marketing industries with keynote talks at Web Summit, Blue Earth Summit, Amazon, EuroBike, ISPO, Sweat, The OutDoor Show, Elevate, OIA and EOG Summit.

Dhiraj is a Co-Founder of Shazam, the mobile music recognition company (acquired by Apple in 2018). He was named one of Europe’s Top 50 technology entrepreneurs by the Financial Times in 2015. In the course of his career, Dhiraj has served in senior roles in media & entertainment, digital business consulting and the charity sector with Save the Children. Dhiraj is now focused on innovating for impact, supporting “Tech for Good” start-ups, particularly in climate tech. He has invested in several women and minority-led start-ups, and believes in the power of young people as the change-makers of the future.