Richard Lochhead was appointed Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade in March 2023.He has represented the Moray Constituency in the Scottish Parliament since 2006. Prior to that, Mr Lochhead represented North East Scotland from 1999 to 2006. He attended Williamwood High School in Clarkston and Central College of Commerce in Glasgow, before graduating in Political Studies from the University of Stirling. Immediately prior to his election, he worked as an economic development officer for Dundee City Council. Mr Lochhead previously served as Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and the Environment between 2007 and 2016. Read more about Richard Lochhead on the Scottish Government website

We help companies create charismatic virtual assistants. I am a strong believer in the “Age of Assistants” — virtual assistants becoming an indispensable connector between brands and their customers. What could be an easier way to start interacting with a brand than to just speak your wishes and questions out loud? I have extensive experience in consultancy for companies on their way into the Age of Assistants. With my team, I help brands discover the strategic potential of starting a true conversation with their customers, work out the way to get there efficiently, and navigate the challenges along the way.

Caroline Laurenson is the Managing Director of TL Tech Smart Home Solutions based in Scotland in the UK. TL Tech specialises in supporting people to maintain their independence in their own homes and are passionate about breaking down barriers to help people access digital solutions. In 2020, TL Tech pivoted its business to focus on supporting customers remotely in new innovative ways. In November 2020, Caroline and her team launched Kindspace, a voice application for Amazon Alexa that supports wellbeing, empowers self-care and helps to alleviate loneliness. More recently, TL Tech has been working with the Health and Social Care Alliance to create a voice-accessible version of ALISS – A Local Information System for Scotland. Caroline found entrepreneurship a little by accident during her own life pivot away from a career in the energy sector and when she’s not working on growing the business, you’ll find Caroline singing, sewing and inspiring others into STEM careers.

I’m a dynamic leader in conversational banking, known for driving innovation where AI meets customer experience. Leading a multiskilled team focused on transforming how financial services engage through intelligent, human like dialogue. I’ve delivered impactful sessions at major industry events, including Microsoft’s AI Service Reimagined and the Call & Contact Centre Expo, alongside fireside chats and webinars that spotlight my thoughtful leadership. Recently nominated for Inspirational Woman of the Year at the SWiT Awards, I’m proud to be celebrated not only for my technical expertise but also for my commitment to inclusive leadership and empowering others in tech. While actively mentors and coach women in tech, championing diverse talent and helping others navigate and thrive in the industry. I continue to shape the future of AI driven customer engagement with bold thinking and a collaborative spirit. https://www.microsoft.com/en/customers/story/24471-virgin-money-microsoft-365-copilot Laura MacLeod | All Access: Future Contact Centers

Tom is the Chief Data Officer at the Scottish Government, with extensive hands-on experience working across Data Science, Data Analysis, Data Architecture, Software Development and Data Engineering. With his wealth of experience working in various UK government departments, he has spent several years developing and improving organisations’ use of data to inform policy and operational decisions.

Anni is an AI nerd, productivity hacker and Developer Evangelist at Twilio. Brewing rich developer experiences, blending AI with APIs, and serving the Python community across the UK and EMEA with a perfect mix of code and community. She's always hungry for the next great idea (and meal).

Andrew Harrison’s career has focused on the development and control of complex, innovative, technology-driven systems in Financial Services, Technology, and Public Sectors. He has worked with Deloitte, HSBC, Thomson Reuters F&R GRC (bought by LSEG), and startups, working professionally across the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands. He currently serves as Agentic & GenAI Governance Advisor at ABN AMRO Bank N.V. in the Netherlands, having previously been an AI Engineer and AI Analytics Lead in Strategy & Innovation. His focus has been on controlled acceleration of GenAI within the bank, through governance upgrades, designing technical working groups, serving on the GenAI use case board, providing subject matter expertise, and practically implementing the EU AI Act. Currently he is setting up the Agentic AI governance framework for the bank. He is also co-founder/CEO of medtech startup SanguisAI. Andrew has a multidisciplinary background with Bachelor degrees in Psychology, Business, and Computer Science, and Masters in Occupational Psychology, International Relations and Artificial Intelligence. He marries deep technical and analytical understanding, with expertise in operational process design, and complex systems thinking. He is deeply passionate about all aspects of AI; technical developments, governance, law, risk management, policy, existential safety, and security.

Currently finding opportunities to leverage the benefits of large language models within customer servicing and engagement at Lloyds Banking Group, and working through the challenge of balancing those opportunities with the risks inherent in generative Al.Experience with chatbots includes creating a BIMA-nominated virtual Robbie Williams chatbot - Rokhot, creating voice-powered fan experiences for Alexa with Sony Music and Warner Bros, designing conversational flows for financial services, entertainment, technology and sports brands as well as training many conversation designers.

Technological Innovation Expert from MIT. -Chief AI Officer, I4 International Institute for Intrapreneurship and Innovation -Delegate Member of the European Artificial Intelligence Office (Brussels) -Member of the European Union's Quantum Flightship Alliance (Germany)

Joanna Chochół is a Conversational AI Consultant at Heineken, where she leads initiatives that bridge digital transformation with human-centric design. Based in Kraków- Poland, Joanna plays a pivotal role in the Global Process Management team, driving innovation through AI-powered solutions like the Hoppy chatbot. Her work focuses on enhancing user engagement, streamlining support processes, and embedding AI into everyday business operations. She is Certified with Conversation Design Institute for AI Trainer & Conversation Design Modules.

Andreas Horn leads IBM's AIOps service portfolio across the Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region, overseeing a team of experts and providing both technical and business expertise in AIOps, asset-based consulting and the strategic deployment of AI solutions to help companies thrive in the age of AI. In addition to his role at IBM, Andreas lectures at several universities, focusing on the development and application of AI tools designed to enhance efficiency and productivity in everyday work.

Pim Zandee is the GPM BI Lead at Heineken, based in Amsterdam. With deep expertise in business intelligence and data governance, Pim leads the BI & Hoppy Chatbot strategy across global operations, ensuring data-driven decision-making and scalable analytics solutions. He is a key figure in the Hoppy program, serving as Product Owner and functional lead for its development and rollout Pim collaborates closely with cross-functional teams to align architecture, stakeholder engagement, and agile delivery. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping the roadmap for AI integration, including the stakeholder dashboard and role-based access models for global solution

Saad is a passionate data scientist with an insatiable curiosity for advancements in AI. With a knack for tackling complex challenges, they've consistently been at the forefront of technological developments, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in the field of artificial intelligence. Saad holds master degree in AI & data science and has several years of experience in the field. He's LinkedIn's top AI voice and brings together their love for data science and AI, offering unique insights that blend technical expertise with creative thinking

Gabriele Iuculano boasts extensive expertise in embedded systems and AI. Leading a team as the test platform architect, Gabriele has been instrumental in architecting a sophisticated simulation system that underpins a cutting-edge test automation platform. He is committed to integrating AI-driven solutions, focusing on predictive maintenance systems to anticipate needs and prevent downtimes. He obtained his MSc in AI from the University of Leeds, demonstrating expertise in leveraging AI for system efficiencies. Gabriele aims to revolutionize current business through the power of new disruptive technologies such as AI.

Diego Gosmar serves as Chief AI Officer, specializing in Artificial Intelligence with a particular focus on Multi-Agent Systems, Generative Conversational AI, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Conversation Analysis, AI Agent Interoperability and Automation, as well as Sustainable and Ethical Conversational AI. He leads AI Competence Centers in both the Customer Care and Supply Chain domains. Diego is member of the Voiceinteroperability.ai and Trustmarkinitiative.ai from the  Linux Foundation AI & Data, two groups dedicated to the definition of standards and guidelines for Agentic Conversational AI ethical, scalable and responsible use. He is the author of the following publications related to AI (original researches): https://scholar.google.com/citations?view_op=list_works&hl=en&user=3HtoxzsAAAAJ He is also the author of a Machine Learning Book available in multiple languages: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08GFL6NVM He has been a trainer and speaker over the past two decades at various international events focused on innovation, telecommunications technologies, and artificial intelligence. Here it is a list of Diego’s speeches: https://www.gosmar.eu/index.html#events

I am currently a Senior Data Scientist at Oncodesign in Dijon. My work consists in using artificial intelligence to find new potential medical drugs. I am particularly interested in understanding how, through supervised and reinforcement learning, potential drugs can impact patient prognosis. I have experience in tabular data, computer vision, graph neural networks, and natural language processing.

Adrian brings years of experience developing and managing AI products in highly regulated environments. After three years working with open source AIML tools, his expertise brought him to Jaja Finance (a UK-based credit FinTech), where he manages a comprehensive conversational ecosystem: 1 RAG chatbot, 5 agents in production, 1 generative spending assistant, and a successful telephone chatbot with generative capabilities. As an ambassador for the UK’s Centre for GenAI Ops, Adrian further leads research into GenAI risk frameworks. On the 1st of September 2025, the centre will publish and propose the EDICT framework for internal development of risk protocols under Adrian’s guidance, aiming to support companies in LLM risk management regardless of size or use case.

I am the Global Head of Privacy and AI Governance for the Fexco Group and a recognised, international speaker on AI governance. I am a qualified lawyer with over 12 years' experience in governance. I am also a member of the AI WG of the Future of Privacy Forum in Washington DC and I chair the CEDPO AI WG in Brussels. I also spoke at last year's Conversational AI Summit in Edinburgh.

I'm Ray, Head of Innovation at Ideabay.AI, formerly known as VUI.agency, specializing in vision and company design. My role involves guiding companies to define their visions and develop future-proof roadmaps, utilizing a comprehensive set of methodologies like design thinking, user research, UC and CC Design, facilitation, and agile practices. Holding certifications as a Design Sprint Master, Future Strategist, and Scrum Master, with a Master's in Applied Strategics, I am committed to addressing significant customer challenges and delivering innovative solutions. My key passion project, the "Future Wall," has been instrumental in assisting numerous companies and products in crafting a resilient vision and strategic roadmap for the future. Driven by an unyielding pursuit of new trends, inspirations, and challenges, I continuously seek to enhance my creativity and strategic thinking, pushing the boundaries of innovation in company design and strategic foresight.

I have over 2 decades of experience building robots, and my research has a global audience with recognition in many top journals, conferences, radio and news. Last year, I was one of several expert advisers on humanoid and AI-powered robots for UK Government office for Science, creating RTAs for policymakers in parliament. I am currently leading a petition to parliament for robot safety laws, and I was recently a keynote at the UN AI for Good global summit, and I am a member of the Global Climate Innovation Centre for the international robotics industry. My work on robotic lip-sync / NLP was in BBC Science's top 12 scientific moments for 2021. Upcoming: I will be exhibiting my robotics work at the Edinburgh Fringe in August and also New Scientist Live in Oct. (www.carlstrathearn.co.uk)

Dr Konstantina Martzoukou is an Associate Professor and Course Leader for the MSc Information and Library Studies at Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Her research focuses on information and digital literacy, as well as information-seeking behaviour within different contexts. Konstantina is the creator of the award-winning cartoon digital skills initiative (RGU ‘Engaging the Public with Research’ recognition), ‘Maddie is Online’, funded by the Scottish Government, the Scottish Library and Information Council, and Responsible AI UK. The project has engaged hundreds of individuals across the education and library sectors - librarians, students, academics, teachers, school nurses, schoolchildren, and parents - through an innovative co-creation model that uses storytelling to design educational resources. It has been implemented in secondary schools across Scotland and internationally. Dr Martzoukou has experience of working with diverse learner groups and vulnerable communities, including Syrian New Scots (refugees in Scotland). She has served on various research and professional committees, such as the European Conference on Information Literacy, and has been a co-judge for the Information Literacy Award at the Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference (LILAC). Her academic contributions include serving as a PhD external examiner both nationally and internationally, and she is a frequent invited speaker at conferences and events. In 2019, she received the Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Reviewer, and she currently serves as Editor of the Journal of Web Librarianship (Taylor & Francis).

Guillaume is a Google Developer Expert on Cloud Platform since 2019 and works at Carrefour as Group Data Architect. Java developer for more than 15 years, and despite positions of responsibilities, he has always kept his wish to create, develop, discover and test new solutions, especially in the Cloud, the machine learning or Python and Go language. Innovation addict and Google Cloud 3x certified, writer and speaker in his free time, he's fascinated by the serverless solution and all the "usual" problems that it solves.

Harshdip Singh is a Senior Technical Product Manager in Amazon’s Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) organization, leading the News & Information experience for all internal and external Amazon customers worldwide. With over 15 years of experience spanning engineering and product management, Harshdip brings a unique blend of deep technical expertise and strategic business insight to the evolving world of AI and conversational systems. Before transitioning to product management eight years ago, Harshdip spent years as a hands-on engineer - an experience that continues to shape their pragmatic and innovation-driven approach to building intelligent systems. Originally from India, Harshdip lives in Edinburgh with his wife and two beautiful daughters, and is passionate about technology that bridges human curiosity with machine intelligence. Outside of work, you’ll find them following a thrilling cricket match or diving into a classic Bollywood movie - both reminders of the stories and connections that make technology truly human.

Alex is a curious mind and a lifelong learner intrigued by everything, from innovations, new tech marketing, AI, leadership, music, art, and everything in between. With 15+ years of experience in digital marketing and project management, Alex has worked for diverse agencies, in-house teams, and publishers. At the moment, Alex is the CTO at Tag Digital—an agency specialising in event marketing

Masha Guermonprez is Chief of Product and Client Experience at a leading company developing industrial voice assistants for high-stakes environments such as factories, manufacturing lines, and nuclear power plants. With over five years of experience in conversational design and user experience, Masha has worked at the intersection of human-centered design and cutting-edge technology, crafting voice and chat interfaces that deliver real value under real-world constraints. Masha is passionate about demystifying voice technology, especially in complex operational contexts, and frequently speaks on topics such as voice UX, adoption strategy, and designing for environments where failure is not an option.

Ofer Mendelevitch leads developer relations at Vectara. He has extensive hands-on experience in machine learning, data science and big data systems across multiple industries, and has focused on developing products using large language models since 2019. Prior to Vectara he built and led data science teams at Syntegra, Helix, Lendup, Hortonworks and Yahoo! Ofer holds a B.Sc. in computer science from Technion and M.Sc. in EE from Tel Aviv university, and is the author of "Practical data science with Hadoop" (Addison Wesley), and of the upcoming "Hands-on RAG for production" (O'Reilly)

Sasha is a software developer with over 20 years in multiple technologies and domains. A tech lead, architect, and mobile solutions expert, he specializes in AI integrations for mobile apps, focusing on on-device AI. He excels in Flutter, Firebase, and generative AI for robust, scalable apps. Sasha is Chief Software Engineer and Head of Flutter Discipline at EPAM, Google Developer Expert in AI, Firebase, Flutter, and co-organizes Flutter Berlin Community

Bhanu Chaddha is a Lead Engineer and AI advocate with over 13 years of experience building production-grade, cloud-native systems. As a key thought leader at A.P. Moller - Maersk, he spearheads pioneering initiatives that use Generative AI and agentic systems to automate and transform core business operations. A passionate educator and respected voice in the tech community, Bhanu is a regular speaker and creator who shares his insights on AI implementation and modern software architecture across numerous platforms. He is dedicated to demystifying complex technologies, bridging the gap between advanced theory and real-world application to empower engineers and organizations to build the future of intelligent solutions.

Sydney Eneremadu is an experienced professional in Conversational AI, Generative AI, and Conversational Design. A visionary in advancing Conversational AI (CAI) and Generative AI (GenAI) technologies, Sydney is passionate about building thriving communities and preparing for the transformative future of these fields. Sydney is the Founder and CEO of The European Chatbot Summit and the Africa Chatbot Summit, two premier platforms dedicated to showcasing the potential of Conversational AI and Generative AI while accelerating their adoption. Through organizing industry-leading events, Sydney brings together innovators, thought leaders, government officials, and practitioners to explore cutting-edge advancements in CAI and GenAI technology. These efforts foster collaboration and drive progress across Europe and Africa.

Lena Shakurova is the co-founder of ParsLabs (https://parslabs.org), a Conversational AI Agency, and Chatbotly (https://chatbotly.co), a no-code platform for developing AI Assistants trained on custom data. At ParsLabs, Lena leads a team that combines user research, psychology, linguistics and AI to create meaningful conversational experiences. As a consultant with a tech and linguistics background, she offers a unique perspective. With over 7 years of expertise and 80+ successful client collaborations, she saw the industry's evolution from button-based to NLU to Generative AI Assistants, giving her a broad perspective on effective practices, challenges, and emerging approaches within the AI space. Her professional education in Linguistics & AI, combined with extensive consulting experience, she focuses on creating ethical, user-centered AI solutions. She consistently applies these principles in her work, promoting industry standards for responsible AI development. Lena regularly shares her expertise on human-centered design and AI innovation through her "Everything chatbots" blog (https://shakurova.io/blog</a>) and LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/lena-shakurova)

Tilman Mürle is the Co-Founder of Komplyzen, a consultancy specialized in AI governance, compliance, and automation. With more than a decade of experience building and scaling international organizations, he has led teams across Europe and advised enterprises in regulated industries on digital transformation. His current focus lies in helping companies translate the EU AI Act and ISO 42001 into practical governance structures that are both audit-ready and business-enabling. At Komplyzen, Tilman and his team partner with technology providers deliver end-to-end solutions that combine strategic advisory with technical enforcement. Thereby enabling organizations to deploy AI responsibly, efficiently and competitively. Tilman regularly speaks and writes about the intersection of trust, compliance, and innovation, emphasizing how governance can shift from a checkbox exercise to a source of differentiation and growth.

Shubhradeep Nandi is a GenAI researcher and EIR Antler with over 16 years of professional experience, including more than a decade devoted to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. He is widely recognized for his pioneering contributions to applied Large Language Models (LLMs) and Responsible AI. His research on Responsible AI and LLM applications earned the prestigious Highly Commendable Work recognition from IIM Bangalore, alongside further accolades from NTU Singapore and the Association of Data Scientists (ADaSci) in 2024–25. Named among India’s Top 7 GenAI Scientists, Shubhradeep has been celebrated for impactful GenAI innovations in Financial Fraud Management—most notably developing a government-backed AI system to detect Non-Genuine Taxpayers. He also architected the first Data Analytics Unit for Government, transforming it into a model of success. As a global speaker, he has addressed audiences at the World AI Cannes Festival, World AI Summit (Boston), and the Africa Tech Festival, sharing insights on Responsible AI, fairness, and large-scale AI adoption in regulated environments. Beyond research and public sector innovation, he is an Innovator in Residence at a global venture fund, the founder of a pioneering social payments startup and a deep-tech compliance platform, and a committed mentor/advisor to AI SaaS startups through leading VC networks. .