Chief of Strategy – Arrival

Rugoobur joined Arrival following a successful career for GM, GM Cruise and his own venture Curve
Tomorrow. He was responsible for the $1Bn acquisition of Autonomous Vehicle company Cruise and
its subsequent increase in value to $14 Bn. This work was pivotal in accelerating the delivery of AVs
as well as creating the OEM – Startup ecosystem. Rugoobur joins Arrival as Chief of Strategy in the
lead up to full scale production in 2021.

Supervisory Board Member Porsche AG

Born in Hof, Saale (Bavaria, Germany) on 23 January 1963.
1982 Abitur (university-entrance diploma) in Hof, then studies in chemistry (Bayreuth) and rubber technology (Hannover)
1984 – 1996 Helsa Werke (automotive supplier): various posts in development, production, sales and quality assurance
1997 – 1999 Valeo Thermal Systems: Quality Auditor
1999 – 2001 TRW Automotive: Manager of Supplier Development Europe
2001 – 2006 Porsche AG: Director of Quality Systems and Methods
2006 – 2013 Porsche AG: Director of Central Training
2013 – 2017 Vice President of Sales Network Management & Development
Since May 2017 Vice President Region Europe
June 2019 Supervisory Board Member Porsche AG

consultant, GOODWOOD

Ben is an award-winning journalist, consultant and speechwriter.  He writes about cars, mobility and technology for major newspapers and magazines around the world, and has worked with Goodwood on the content for Nucleus since its inception in 2015.

As a speechwriter and communications consultant, he has worked directly with C-level executives at many global OEMs and tech companies. He has a separate business providing publicity services to the entertainment industry, with clients including Netflix and Warner Bros.

A former magazine chief test driver, Ben’s favourite stories include driving a standard Mini to the highest place a car can go, the 18,000ft Khardung La pass in the Himalayas.

Ben’s writing has brought him awards including Journalist of the Year, Feature Writer of the Year, the AA Environment Award and the Bentley International Award.

Chief Strategy Officer, Roborace

Bryn originally joined Roborace as CTO in October 2016 before becoming CSO a year later. Roborace is the world’s first AI powered racing series, bringing race to road innovation to Autonomy. Alongside his role at Roborace, Bryn is also a Member of Global Future Council on Computing at World Economic Forum.

As well as a wealth of strategic technology roles, Bryn also brings to Roborace 16 years experience from Formula 1. Bryn is passionate about accelerating global expertise in autonomous driving by fostering a collaborative eco-system to showcase technology to a consumer audience.

CHAIRMAN, CHEMRING Plc., CHAIRMAN, Vesuvius Plc

• Degrees in Economics and Aeronautical Engineering
• 1982-1986: Management Consultant/Engagement Manager at McKinsey & Company
• 1986 – 1996: various positions in the engineering department of BMW AG in Munich, the last one as Vice President responsible for the development of the 5 series BMW model line
• 1996 – 1999: Managing Director of BMW South Africa
• 1999 – 2000: Member of the Board BMW AG, responsible for global manufacturing
• 2001 – 2009: first Managing Director of Adam Opel AG, then from 2006 President and CEO of General Motors Europe and a Member of GM’s Global Automotive Strategy Board
• 2010 – 2011: Group CEO of Tata Motors which included JaguarLandRover
• 2013 – 2022 Special advisor to the Chairman of the Geely Group, holding board positions at Geely Automobile Holdings Ltd., Hong Kong, as well as CEVT, the Geely engineering centre in Gothenburg and Chairman of The London Electric Vehicle Company (formerly The London Taxi Company)
• Currently Chairman of Chemring Plc, Vesuvius Plc as well as StoreDot; member of the boards of Babcock Plc., The Mobility House AG, Kinexon GmbH, Gordon Murray Design Ltd., Envisics Ltd.

Co-Founder & CEO of what3words

Chris is Co-Founder & CEO of what3words. Previously managing large scale music events around the world, he experienced how bands constantly got lost trying to find venues due to inadequate or poor addressing. He realised that addressing just wasn’t good enough, and the problem was universal.

Determined to find a global solution, Chris co-founded what3words, the simplest way to talk about location. It has divided the world into 3m x 3m squares, each with a unique 3 word address, and is transforming how mobility, voice, and AI businesses simplify human input of precise location into machines.

From Mercedes-Benz and Ford to Airbnb, Lonely Planet and the UN, today thousands of businesses use what3words to improve their efficiency, customer experience and even save lives. what3words has won the Grand Prix for Innovation at Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, a D&AD Black Pencil, and Chris has been awarded as the EY British Accelerating Entrepreneur.

Head of Automotive Strategy, Facebook.

Christoph is the Head of Automotive Strategy at Facebook. In that role he leads all major marketing and strategy initiatives to enable Facebook’s automotive partners leveraging Facebook’s family of apps to accelerate digital and mobile business transformation and to generate true business value. He also coordinates our partner efforts with leading business consultants and global agency networks for the automotive vertical.

Christoph is a seasoned international marketing executive and digital evangelist. Prior to Facebook he was EVP, Global Client Officer-Automotive at Wunderman/WPP, the World’s #1 digital agency, responsible for the global client relationship and digital marketing transformation for Ford and Jaguar Land Rover. He served as CEO at McCann//MRM, Germany where he personally oversaw the GM EMEA relationship, as COO of Kabel New Media (BBDO InterOne), where he launched MINI.com, and as CEO of Wunderman, Germany/CEE with Ford being his main client engagement. Throughout his career he focused on the Auto vertical, on integrated innovative marketing solutions and on digital transformation at scale.

He started in consulting, servicing Fortune 500 clients in automotive, retail, and telecom at The Boston Consulting Group.

Christoph holds a master’s degree in business from the European Business School (Frankfurt, Paris and London).

Marketing VP & Co-founder, Mor.AI

Claire GONG has been co-founder for Mor.AI, a Chinese Conversational Services Search Platform since 2016.

Grown up in China and graduating with a master degree from Purdue University, Claire GONG developed great interest in technology industry. She started her career as a North America’s hi-tech industry executive recruiter with brilliant performance in providing technical backbones for companies such as Microsoft, Bank of America, and Apple etc. Claire GONG was appointed Human Resources and Customer Relations Leader of DJI-Innovations North America in 2016. Experience in technology industry let her grow stronger in marketing strategies and leadership building.

Mor.AI is an artificial intelligence company focusing on Cognitive Computing and Natural Language Understanding technology. It serves as a conversational Services Search Platform, which is innovative in both concept and technology.

In Mor.AI, Claire GONG foresaw the promising future that on-board speech interaction could bring to automotive field. With her sharp insight, she led the team to build multiple product lines from scratch and succeeded in opening up the automotive within two years. In China’s rising and challenging environment, she reached business development with a number of international, local car manufacturers and globally renowned home appliance brands. Since then, Mor.AI’s intelligent IoV and IoT was fully architected. In 2019, she was recognized as one of the most successful female startup founders in China.

Associate Professor at the MIT Media Lab

Cynthia Breazeal is an Associate Professor at the MIT Media Lab, where she founded and directs the Personal Robots Group. She is Associate Director of the Bridge, leading Strategic Initiatives for the MIT Quest for Intelligence. In this role, she is spearheading MIT’s K-12 and vocational education initiative on AI, in collaboration with MIT’s Open Learning Initiative.

She is also a member of the AAAI-CTSA working group on developing K-12 standards for AI education.

She is recognized as a pioneer in the field of social robotics and human-robot interaction that seamlessly integrates AI, Robotics, Psychology and HumanCentered Design. Her research focuses on the design and real world impact of personalized and emotionally engaging personified AI technologies that promote personal growth and flourishing. She is author of the book ‘Designing Sociable Robots.’ She has spoken at prestigious venues such as TED, CES, SXSW, the World Economic Forum, and the United Nations on topics related to AI, innovation, and society.

She is a recipient of awards by the National Academy of Engineering as well as the National Design Awards. She has received Technology Review’s TR100/35 Award and the George R. Stibitz Computer & Communications Pioneer Award. Her robots have been recognized by TIME magazine’s Best Inventions in 2008 and in 2017 where her
award-wining Jibo robot was featured on the cover.

co-founder of Web Summit

Daire Hickey is the co-founder of Web Summit -Europe’s largest tech startup event and f.ounders – a unique gathering of 200 of the world’s fastest growing tech companies. The events have attracted the founders and CEO’s of Tesla, PayPal, Twitter, Skype, Youtube, Uber, Pixar, Dropbox and many more.

Daire was announced as one of Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016. He is also a World Economic Forum Global Young Shaper.

Previously Daire was a journalist and producer.

Managing Director, Honda (UK)

Born: July 1959

Professional experience:
1990 – 1992 Staff Engineer – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd
1992 – 1998 Production Control – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd
1998 – 2005 Division Manager of Product Planning & Logistics – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd
2005 – 2010 Director of Planning & Business Administration – Honda of the UK Manufacturing Ltd
2010 – 2013 Managing Director – Honda UK
2013 – 2017 Corporate Auditor – Europe & CIS – Honda Motor Europe
2017 – present Managing Director – Honda UK

Dave is married with two grown up daughters. His primary interests outside of Honda are golf and photography. He also enjoys doing DIY at home and driving his Civic Type R!

EXECUTIVE VICE CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SWITCH MOBILITY

Dr Andy Palmer CMG is a chartered engineer, automotive executive, and the former CEO of Aston Martin and COO of Nissan.  As the latter, he presided over the launch of the Nissan LEAF, the world’s first mass-market electric vehicle, leading the media to dub him the ‘godfather of EVs’.

Today, Andy works with a variety of innovative mobility companies in the net zero space.

Chairman, DYSON

Dr. Ian Robertson (HonDSc) is now retired from BMW, but was previously a member of the BMW AG Board, responsible for Global Sales and Marketing. He is also the Chairman at Dyson where he has been a member of the board since 2012.

Ian was born in Oswestry, Shropshire (UK) and earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Maritime Studies from the University of Wales, Cardiff. He started his career in the automotive industry as a Graduate Trainee with the Rover Group in Great Britain in 1979 and has been working in a variety of positions in the car industry ever since. From 1988 he held various senior management roles at the Rover Group, including Purchasing Director, before being promoted to Managing Director of Land Rover Vehicles in 1994. He served as Managing Director at BMW South Africa from 1999 to 2005 before becoming the Chairman and Chief Executive for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars Ltd in 2005 and he remained chairman until 2012.

CEO, Europe Region, President and CEO, Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA, EVP Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA, Production, CEO, Africa Region, President and CEO, Toyota South Africa Motors (Pty) Ltd. Director, Toyota South Africa Pty Ltd. Chairman, Toyota South Africa Pty Ltd

Date of birth: June 8, 1958
Home country: Republic of South Africa
Education: Doctor’s degree in business economics, University of Potchefstroom, 1986
Career
Jul. 1993 Joined Toyota South Africa Motors (Pty) Ltd. (TSAM) as sales director
Mar. 1995 Group marketing director
May 1996 Director, Toyota South Africa Pty Ltd. (TSA)
Jul. 1996 Executive managing director, TSAM
Jan. 2002 President and chief operating officer
Jan. 2003 President and CEO
Jun. 2009 Managing officer, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC)
Apr. 2010 Deputy Chief Officer, Middle East, Africa and Latin America Operations Group
Apr. 2013 CEO, Africa Region
Apr. 2015 CEO, Europe Region
Apr. 2015 President and CEO, Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA
Apr. 2016 EVP, Toyota Motor Europe NV/SA, Production
Apr. 2016 Chairman, Toyota South Africa (Pty) Ltd. (TSA)
Jan. 2017 Senior Managing Officer, Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC)

CEO, Vodafone Global Enterprise (VGE)

Erik leads Vodafone Global Enterprise, a business unit accountable for Vodafone’s largest global
corporate customers. He defines the strategy and operational execution for Vodafone’s relationship
with multinational corporate customers.

Prior to this Erik was Director of Vodafone IoT, where he was fully responsible for driving Vodafone’s
IoT growth, business strategy, products and profit and loss at a global level. This included the
recently acquired Vodafone Automotive business (formerly Cobra Automotive Technologies S.p.A).
Since starting at Vodafone in October 2009, Erik has helped to drive Vodafone’s position in the IoT
market. Having held a range of senior management positions with industrial market leaders, he has
a wealth of sales and management experience.

Before Vodafone, Erik held a range of senior management positions within Siemens and Cinterion
Wireless Modules. Working as Head of Sales for Siemens Wireless Modules, he developed his
awareness of IoT hardware and the industry sector. Prior to this, Erik worked at Landis+Gyr,
Switzerland as Vice President of Sales, where he grew his knowledge of the utilities industry and
enhanced his understanding of energy and power control systems.

Erik holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Karlsruhe in Germany
and a bachelor’s degree in business studies. In addition to his native German language, Erik is
fluent in English and French and busy learning Italian

British car designer, vice president of design and chief creative officer for the Chinese state-owned FAW Group’s Hongqi marque.

Mr Giles Taylor graduated with a Masters from the Royal College of Art Vehicle design course in 1992 and started his career with Automobiles Citroen in Paris, penning the C3 exterior design. From there he moved to Jaguar Cars Ltd in the UK and was appointed the Chief Designer for XK and XJ in 2001.

Giles joined Rolls-Royce Motorcars Ltd in 2011 as Chief of Exterior Design and took on the position of Rolls-Royce Director of Design in 2012. He delivered the Wraith into production and during his time at the creative helm he created the Dawn, Phantom VIII, Cullinan SUV and the yet to be released next gen Ghost.

His latest venture is with China’s oldest and most prestigious car company – First Automotive Works ( FAW ), set up by Chairman Mao in 1958 and to this day fully government controlled. The famous HongQi or Redflag brand is being rejuvenated as China’s leading Luxury brand under Giles’s directorship and he has recently set up an FAW Global Advanced Design studio in Munich to power forward the product and brand vision.

He is a Court Assistant to the Coachmakers of London and lives with his family in Munich, Germany

CEO, Vodafone Automotive

Gion Baker joined former Cobra Automotive in 2008 and took over the responsibility for the telematics
business three years later. In this role, he launched innovative projects with global vehicle manufacturers. He is now leading the Telematics team at Vodafone Automotive. Gion has been instrumental in defining a long-term transformation strategy for Vodafone Automotive, and has responsibility for executing this strategy and delivering innovative telematics services to new verticals in addition to the automotive and insurance industries.

Gion holds a degree in engineering from the technical University of Zurich and an EMBA from the Zurich
Business School. In addition to his native German, he is fluent in English, Italian and French.

MANAGING DIRECTOR,  RIVERSIMPLE MOVEMENT

Hugo Spowers is the founder and MD of Riversimple Movement.  His original business, Prowess Racing, designed, built and restored racing cars – including the 1957 Le Mans winning D-Type that first ran after restoration at the first Festival of Speed.

He set up Riversimple in 2001, on the basis that a step change in automotive technology is both essential and possible.  The first fuel cell car to emerge was the Morgan LIFECar, shown at the Geneva Motorshow in 2008.  Further vehicle programmes led to the Riversimple Rasa, demonstrated in the First Glance Class, in 2016.  Riversimple is also pioneering Vehicle as a Service (VaaS) – turning sustainability from a cost into a source of competitive advantage and eliminating the economic barriers to bringing low carbon cars to market.

The company is currently raising funds to establish its first plant for volume production.  The first production car will be affordable and fun to drive with a 300 mile range.  It is being developed from the Rasa, trialled last year in Pembrokeshire, the Milford Haven Energy Kingdom project, supported by UKRI, and currently being Beta tested with retail customers in Monmouthshire, supported by OZEV.

CEO & Co-founder, Pony.ai

Prior to co-founding Pony.ai in 2016, James led engineering and R&D efforts at Baidu, where he was responsible for a variety of technical fields including advertising, infrastructure, big data, and cloud computing. Later, as Chief Architect of the Autonomous Driving division, James led the overall strategy and development of Baidu’s autonomous vehicle. James began his career as a software engineer at Google, where he spent seven years specializing in advertising backend and distributed systems. During his time at Google, James was also a recipient of the Google Founders’ Award, the highest honor given to employees.

Prior to joining Google, James earned his PhD from Stanford University and spent several years at the university as a Research Associate. He also holds a Masters from the University at Buffalo and a Bachelors from Tsinghua University.

Global Automotive Sector Leader

Joe is the Global Automotive Sector Leader and also serves as the Global Lead Client Service Partner (LCSP) for Deloitte member firm services for several of the Deloitte’s largest automotive OEM clients.  In these roles, he is responsible for delivering the firm’s multidisciplinary solutions, including consulting, enterprise risk management, tax, and financial advisory services to these global clients worldwide. With more than 20 years’ experience, Joe’s career has been accentuated by projects to assist manufacturing companies with business performance improvement.

He specializes in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain optimization, and new product development. Also, Joe has a distinguished track record of service to many leading automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tier one suppliers. In addition, Joe is involved in leading Deloitte’s independent automotive research efforts that explore consumer preferences and behavior worldwide as well as research examining the collaborative relationships between OEMs and their suppliers with a focus on innovation efforts.

Previously, Joe served as the manufacturing industry leader and automotive sector leader for one of the large regional markets within Deloitte United States (Deloitte LLP). Prior to joining Deloitte, Joe worked as a manufacturing engineer at FMC Corporation and   Westinghouse Manufacturing Systems and Technology Center.

Downstream Director and member of the Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell plc

John Abbott was appointed Downstream Director and a member of the Executive Committee of Royal Dutch Shell plc on October 1, 2013. He joined Shell in 1981 after graduating from Birmingham University, UK, with a first-class honours degree in Chemical Engineering.

John has since worked in the UK, Singapore, Thailand, the Netherlands, Canada, and the USA, predominantly in the areas of Global Manufacturing and Supply, Trading and Distribution. In 1994, he was seconded to the British Government on a brief assignment to work in the Central Policy and Planning Unit of what was then the Department of the Environment.

John is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, as well as a chartered engineer and chartered scientist.

A British national, John is married with two adult children and enjoys cycling, astronomy and photography.

CEO of Waymo

John Krafcik is the CEO of Waymo, a self-driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to move around.

Under John’s leadership, Google’s self-driving car project became Waymo, an independent Alphabet Inc. company. Since then Waymo has test-driven the world’s first fleet of self-driving vehicles on public roads without a driver at the wheel, completed 10 million autonomous miles, and struck up partnerships with Jaguar Land Rover, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Groupe Renault, Nissan, Lyft, Avis, AutoNation and more. In 2018, Waymo launched its commercial self-driving service, Waymo One, in Phoenix, Arizona.

With experience in both auto and tech, John holds broad operating experience in engineering, product development, technology, and manufacturing, with stints at NUMMI, Ford, Hyundai and TrueCar. Previously, Mr. Krafcik spent 10 years in leadership positions at Hyundai Motor America, including 5 years as president and CEO, where he was responsible for the strategic direction and management of the company’s U.S. operations.

John earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, and an M.S. in management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he wrote two “lean production” manifestos — “Triumph of the Lean Production System” and the “Running the Factory” chapter of “The Machine That Changed the World.”

Chief Executive, Siemens plc

Juergen Maier was appointed Chief Executive on 1 July 2014. He has been a member of the Siemens UK Executive Board since 2008, and held senior roles within Siemens in the UK and Germany including Managing Director of Industrial activities for the UK and Manufacturing Director of the award-winning Drives factory in Congleton.

Juergen joined Siemens in 1986 with a BSc in production engineering from Nottingham Trent University, on a Siemens-sponsored graduate programme. He was made an honorary professor of Engineering at the University of Manchester in March 2014.

Juergen is a passionate advocate of the UK rebalancing its economy and has supported many UK-wide initiatives championing manufacturing, improved infrastructure and engineering skills. He has recently been asked by the Government department BEIS to lead a new review on Industrial Digitalisation for UK Manufacturing. Juergen also supports the modern re-industrialisation of the Northern Powerhouse and in that capacity is Chairman of the North West Business Leadership team and a board member of Greater Manchester LEP as well as the Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

Born 1964 in Germany with Austrian nationality, he came to the UK in 1974.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EDB (EnterpriseDB)

Kevin Dallas is responsible for all aspects of the EDB business globally. EDB is a Bain Capital and Great Hill Partners portfolio company. Kevin brings over three decades of experience driving digital innovation and growth at technology companies, most recently as CEO at Wind River, a TPG portfolio company. As CEO, Dallas accelerated the software company’s growth culminating in its $3.5 billion acquisition by Aptiv in 2022.

Previously, Kevin spent nearly 25 years with Microsoft, where he most recently served as the corporate vice president for cloud and AI business development. Prior roles demonstrated his customer-focused approach to delivering advanced intelligent cloud and edge product innovation, and enabling customer digital transformation.

Kevin is a recipient of the 2022 Gold Stevie Award, American Business Award, Entrepreneur of the Year, and the 2022 Globee Awards Gold Winner for Executive of the Year. Kevin currently serves as a director on the board of Align Technology, Inc. He holds a B.S.c. degree in electrical and electronic engineering from Staffordshire University, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England.

Member of The Managing Board of Siemens AG

Klaus Helmrich is a member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG, where he is responsible for the company’s Digital Factory and Process Industries and Drives Divisions and for the Africa and Europe Regions.

He began his career at Siemens in 1986 as a development engineer. This position was followed by activities and executive functions in various Divisions before he was named CEO of the Drive Technologies Division in 2008. Klaus Helmrich was appointed member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG in 2011. He was Chief Technology Officer until September 2014, during which time he also served as Human Resources Director from October 2013 to September 2014.

Klaus Helmrich also holds a number of internal and external mandates, including Vice President of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (ZVEI) in Frankfurt am Main; member of the Restricted Board of the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association (VDMA) in Frankfurt am Main; and member of the Board of Trustees of the Physical-Technical Federal Institute (PTB) in Braunschweig and Berlin. In addition, he serves on the supervisory boards of Deutsche Messe AG in Hanover, EOS Holding AG in Krailing, and inpro Innovationsgesellschaft für fortgeschrittene Produktionssysteme in der Fahrzeugindustrie mbH in Berlin.

Public Policy Team Member at Canoo

Lara is part of the Public Policy team at Canoo, a California based electric vehicle (EV) company, founded in 2017, now employing 400 people across LA, Silicon Valley and Shanghai. Canoo will utilize the same rolling chassis (“skateboard”) to launch a series of vehicles for urban use. These include a lifestyle, ride-hailing, delivery and commuter vehicle. The first one will come to market in 2021. All vehicles and services will be provided purely on a subscription basis.

Prior to Canoo Lara worked as a software developer for global consultancy firm ThoughtWorks, in their London and New York offices. Lara graduated from the University of Bristol and currently lives in Washington DC.

CEO of the CITROËN brand

Linda JACKSON, aged 56, holds an MBA from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. She started her career in the automotive industry in 1977 at MG Rover Europe, where she held various positions, in particular Managing Director for France from 2000 to 2003. She joined CITROËN in 2005, first as Finance Director of CITROËN UK, and then of CITROËN France, from 2009 to 2010. She was appointed CEO of CITROËN UK and Ireland in July 2010. From 1st June 2014, Linda JACKSON is CEO of the CITROËN brand.

Linda JACKSON, 56 ans, est diplômée de l’université de Warwick (MBA) en Grande Bretagne. Elle a commencé sa carrière dans l’automobile en 1977 au sein de MG Rover Europe et a occupé différents postes, notamment celui de directrice Générale France (2000 – 2003). En 2005, elle  rejoint la Marque CITROËN en tant que directrice financière de CITROËN UK (Royaume-Uni) puis de CITROËN France (2009 – 2010). Elle devient ensuite Directrice Générale de CITROËN UK et Irlande en juillet 2010. Depuis le 1er juin 2014, Linda JACKSON est Directrice Générale de la Marque CITROËN.

Managing Partner of Softbank Investment Advisers

Michael is Managing Partner of Softbank Investment Advisers where he focuses on investing in next-generation Automotive and Transportation companies, as well as Artificial Intelligence and Communications companies. Michael joined Softbank in 2017 after 19 years at Goldman Sachs where most recently he was a

Partner Managing Director and served as co-chief operating officer of the Global Technology, Media and Telecom Group and a member of the Investment Banking Operating Committee. Michael was a member of Goldman Sachs’ M&A Group and the founder of the Automotive Technology effort at Goldman Sachs.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Michael served as a non-commissioned officer in the Israeli Air Force Intelligence Corps and later worked as an attorney, specializing in bankruptcies and financial restructurings. Michael earned an LLB (JD) from Tel-Aviv University in 1994 and an MBA, with distinction, from the Stern School of Business at NYU in 1998.

MANAGING DIRECTOR SPECIAL OPERATIONS – JAGUAR LANDROVER

Michael van der Sande joined Jaguar Land Rover as Managing Director, Special Operations in June 2018. He is responsible for Jaguar Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), Jaguar Land Rover Classic and the Jaguar Land Rover Vehicle Personalisation and Accessories departments.

Originally from the Netherlands, Michael came to the United Kingdom in 1995 and has held a variety of senior automotive roles including European Marketing Manager at Bentley, Managing Director at Harley-Davidson Europe, SVP Global Sales, Marketing and Service at Tesla Motors and most recently SVP and Managing Director of Alpine Cars, Groupe Renault’s sports cars division.

Chief Executive Officer – McLaren

Mike Flewitt joined McLaren Automotive as Chief Operating Officer in June 2012 and became Chief Executive Officer in July 2013. Since becoming CEO, he has presided over the significant growth of the business, in terms of product development, turnover and profit. Under his tenure, the company has launched its three-tier product family – Sports Series, Super Series and Ultimate Series – and introduced a total of ten new cars or derivatives. 2015 marked the company’s third successive year of profitability with operating profits of £23.5M from revenues of £450.6M. In 2016 the brand celebrated the manufacture of 10,000th car and sold unprecedented 3,286 cars – a record 99.3 per cent improvement in sales performance, from 1,654 cars sold in 2015.

Looking forwards, Mike has recently led the Management team and Board of Directors to the approval of Track22, the business plan that looks to the next six years of growth. This will see the company double its turnover (based on 2014) whilst always remaining profitable, and more than doubling its sales volumes thanks, in part, to the introduction of 15 all-new cars or derivatives.

Prior to joining McLaren Automotive, Mike was Vice President, Manufacturing, Ford of Europe, and Corporate Officer, Ford Motor Company, Before joining Ford, he held senior manufacturing and operations roles at TWR Group Limited, AutoNova AB and Rolls-Royce and Bentley Motor Cars Limited. He qualified in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering in 1987 and completed a postgraduate qualification in Management and Project Management at Salford University in 1996.

Following the global launch of McLaren Automotive in 2010, the groundbreaking12C was revealed in 2011, the 12C Spider in 2012, and the limited-run McLaren Pl TM went into production in 2013. In keeping with its plan to introduce a new model each year, the company unveiled the 650S, in Coupe and Spider form in 2014, while 2015 proved to be a year of unprecedented growth of the product portfolio with five new models launched across the full range. The strictly limited edition 675LT Coupe premiered at the Geneva Motor Show alongside the track-only McLaren Pl TM GTR which, with L000PS, became the most powerful model ever produced by the brand. The much-anticipated Sports Series became the third – and final – model tier in the McLaren range with the 570S Coupe and 540C Coupe debuting in New York and Shanghai respectively, less than one month apart The end of 2015 saw the launch of the fifth model, the 675LT Spider, which was as a direct response to customer demand.

The year also saw the end of production for the first model in the Ultimate Series as the 375th McLaren Pl TM was completed, closing what had become a defining year for the British brand. 2016 continued where 2015 had left off with the introduction of the 570GT – a second bodystyle for the Sports Series and the most luxurious car McLaren has ever built as well as the 570S GT4 and 570S Sprint track variants. 2016 also marked the introduction of the company’s new business plan, Track22, which sees the company investing £1B in Research and Development to deliver 15 all new cars or derivatives by the end of 2022, of which at least 50% will feature hybrid technology. The uplift in sales in 2016 also saw the launch of the second shift at the McLaren Production Centre as well as the company’s third year of profitability in just six years of trading.

Chartered Engineer

Mike is a chartered engineer and has worked in the automotive industry for over 25 years. He started his career in Rover and then moved to two other OEMs. He then moved into consultancy where he was responsible for automotive consulting across Europe, before returning to industry to turn around a specialist vehicle manufacturers and return it to profitability.

Mike now leads the North West Europe automotive practice across Deloitte where he is currently working with a number of OEMs to help them to prepare for and manage the transformation across their business required as they navigate the unprecedented disruption facing the industry.

President & CEO – Samsung Electronics Europe

MS Kim was appointed to the role of President of Samsung Electronics Europe in July 2017. Since joining Samsung Electronics in 1988, MS has held a variety of roles across the organisation, including corporate, product and product marketing senior leadership positions in the UK, South-east Asia and Samsung’s global headquarters Korea.

Prior to his most recent appointment, MS served as the Global Head of Sales & Marketing for the Visual Display Business.

MS Kim holds a Bachelor’s degree in French language and literature from Korea University.

CEO of Oxbotica

Ozgur is the CEO of Oxbotica, where he drives the strategy to deliver Oxbotica’s universal autonomy vision globally.

He spearheads a very experienced leadership team with some of the leading figures worldwide in robotics, mobility and autonomy.

Ozgur has over 20 years’ experience in leading the sales, development and implementation of software solutions in the automotive, smart mobility, telecoms and IoT industries for Tier 1 clients across the USA and EMEA.

Prior to joining Oxbotica, Ozgur led the implementation of in-car payment platform Pay.Car nationwide across the US with Tier 1 telco and automotive customers – an industry first for the automotive sector. He has worked with some of the largest mobile operators in the world, delivering solutions in network transformation, customer experience management, and real-time rating and billing.

Ozgur holds a MSc from University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from State of University of New York at Albany, and a BSc in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University.

Vice President, Shell Global Lubricants

Patrick is responsible for Shell Lubricants’ business partnerships with our major global OEM customers. Shell Lubricants has been the global market leader for 12 consecutive years with customers across multiple sectors – automotive, power, agriculture, mining, marine and construction. One in 9 machines and engines worldwide are protected by Shell’s Lubricants.

Prior to his current role, Patrick was the GM for Shell’s Retail business in Germany, Austria and Switzerland responsible for growing the Retail business in one of Shell’s most important fuels retail markets. Patrick started out in Shell’s internal management consultancy and has previously worked in a number of P&L and strategy roles such as the GM for Lubricants Strategy & Portfolio, GM Lubricants Business Development and GM Fuel Cards in Central/Eastern Europe. He joined Shell in 2000 and has been based in Germany, Hungary/CEE and the UK whilst also spending significant time in Japan, Malaysia and Latin America.

Vice President and Head of EMEA & APAC at Bird

Patrick is Vice President and Head of EMEA & APAC at Bird, a last-mile electric vehicle sharing company dedicated to bringing affordable, environmentally-friendly transportation solutions to communities across the world.

Previously Patrick was the COO of the Nordic food delivery startup Wolt and before that he managed International Growth and the EMEA expansion for Uber as one of its first employees in the region. Over the past six years he has focused on taking marketplace technology startups to international markets.

Prior to his time in tech he spent six years in banking structuring equity derivatives. Patrick is from Vienna but was internationally raised. He holds degrees in Economics and Business from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

He currently lives in Amsterdam.

Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer, Lucid

Peter Rawlinson serves as the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of Lucid and has served on Lucid’s board of directors since April 2019. As CTO, he is responsible for the creation and delivery of all Lucid products. He brings over 30 years of automotive industry experience to bear in these roles.

Prior to Lucid, Mr. Rawlinson was Vice President of Vehicle Engineering at Tesla and Chief Engineer of the Model S, where he led the engineering of the Model S from a clean sheet to production readiness while building the engineering team.

A graduate of Imperial College, University of London, Mr. Rawlinson was formerly Head of Vehicle Engineering at Corus Automotive, Chief Engineer at Lotus Cars, and Principal Engineer at Jaguar Cars.

CEO, LOTUS CARS

Phil Popham was appointed CEO, Lotus Cars on 1 October 2018.

He joined from British superyacht maker, Sunseeker International, where he was CEO from 2014, overseeing a notable period of growth and a return to profitability for the UK’s largest boatbuilder.

Phil has led businesses all over the world in a career spanning more than 30 years. He spent many of those years as a senior executive at Jaguar Land Rover, based in South Africa, North America and other regions. He went on to be part of the company’s global executive team that presided over the business’s turnaround, rapid growth and most successful period.

Highly respected in the global automotive industry, as well as in the luxury sector and closely associated with premium British brands, Phil has made a career turning major businesses around. He has specialised in delivering on ambitious growth plans, while promoting and protecting some of the world’s best-known brands.

He is married with two grown up children and lives in Norfolk, UK.

JOURNALIST AND PRESENTER, BBC

Sarah is currently the lead anchor on BBC Radio 4’s the World At One, after presenting the flagship Today Programme for eighteen years. She also presents HARDtalk on BBC World Television. In nearly 25 years at the BBC, she has presented many of its television news programmes from Bulletins to Newsnight and BBC Breakfast. She was also one of the first presenters on the News Channel. On radio she was responsible for the recent series The Educators and My Teacher is an App.

Before becoming a journalist Sarah studied biology at Bristol University. After university she became a stockbroker for County NatWest, and moved on to be a Eurobond dealer with NatWest Capital Markets. At the age of 24 she made the leap into journalism, first working as a reporter and presenter at Channel Television in both Guernsey and Jersey.

In 1994 she moved to London as a freelance television news reporter. She soon joined the staff of Reuters and then moved to Sky News. It was in 1997 that she joined the BBC

Managing Director and Co-Head of Silver Lake Europe

Simon Patterson joined Silver Lake in 2005 and is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Europe. He is currently a board member of ZPG, Dell Technologies and FlixBus, and previously served on the boards of Cegid, Intelsat, Skype, MultiPlan, and Gerson Lehrman Group.

He is a Trustee of the Natural History Museum, a Trustee of the Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, a member of the Panel of Senior Advisors of Chatham House, and a Non-Executive Director of Tesco plc. Mr. Patterson holds an M.A. from King’s College, Cambridge University and an M.B.A. from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar and received the Alexander Robichek Award for Finance.

Co-Founder and CEO of FiveAI

Stan Boland has founded and led (as CEO) a series of three successful UK technology companies raising a combined $350M of venture capital, employing a combined 550 scientists and engineers and selling two of the resulting businesses (Element 14 and Icera) to US giants Broadcom and NVIDIA and one (Five, an automated driving tech business) to Germany’s Bosch for a combined total of around $1.3B.

Prior to this, Stan was CEO of UK computer company Acorn and a Board member of UK semiconductor company ARM.  His early career included 7 years at each of two UK national champions – Rolls-Royce (aerospace, which he joined as a graduate engineer) and ICL (computer systems).

Stan is a Cambridge graduate in physics.  Since leaving Bosch in September 2023, he has been angel investing and advising a range of startup technology and life sciences companies, and contributing to policy ideas for accelerating the UK’s innovation economy.

Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini

Stefano Domenicali (1965) is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Automobili Lamborghini. He covered several important roles in Ferrari from 1991 to 2014, when he left as Principal of Scuderia Ferrari F1. He was Vice President New Business Initiatives at AUDI AG since November 2014 before taking over his current role at Lamborghini in 2016. He is also President of the F.I.A. Single Seater Commission.

Group Vice President and President, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Ford Motor Company

Steven Armstrong is group vice president and president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, Ford Motor Company, since June 1, 2017. In this role, he is responsible for leading Ford’s European and Middle East and Africa business units, building a sustainably profitable business through an unprecedented focus on new products, a strong brand and increased cost efficiency. He reports to Jim Farley, Ford executive vice president and president, Global Markets.

Armstrong also serves on the Ford Sollers and Ford Otosan boards of directors, since Oct. 1, 2016.

Previously, Armstrong was vice president and chief operating officer, Ford of Europe. In this position, he was responsible for many of Ford of Europe’s operations, including manufacturing, quality, product development, purchasing, sustainability, environment and safety engineering. Prior, he was president Ford South America responsible for all Ford South American operations since January 2014.

A native of the United Kingdom, Armstrong has worked in the United States, Sweden and Germany. He served as president, Ford Brazil, starting June 1, 2012, leading all aspects of Ford’s largest business unit in South America.

Armstrong also served as chief operating officer, Volvo Cars, where he oversaw the divestiture of Volvo Cars to Geely Automotive Holdings Ltd. Armstrong was responsible for major quality and cost improvements while chief operating officer of Volvo, and led the company’s development of the S60 and V60 vehicle lines.

During his more-than-25-year career, Armstrong has served in a variety of senior management and purchasing positions for Jaguar, Volvo, Ford of Europe and served as chief operating officer of Getrag-Ford Transmissions.

He has been recognized with many awards, including being named a Eurostar by Automotive News in 2005 for improving supplier relations for Volvo.

Armstrong is based in Cologne, Germany. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of East London.

CHAIRMAN, GOODWOOD GROUP OF COMPANIES

Charles Richmond, The Duke of Richmond and Gordon, CBE DL, is Chairman of the Goodwood Group of Companies and the founder of the widely acclaimed Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Goodwood Revival.

He took over the management of the Goodwood Estate in West Sussex from his father, the 10^th Duke of Richmond and Gordon, in 1994 after a successful career as a photographer in London. Having had a passion for film and photography since the age of 10, he left school at the first possible opportunity and at 17 worked for the film director Stanley Kubrick on the film Barry Lyndon. He went on to forge a world-wide reputation as a still-life photographer, producing award-winning campaigns for some of the world’s most famous brands.

Motorsport at Goodwood was started by his grandfather, Freddie Richmond (the 9^th Duke of Richmond and Gordon), who opened the Goodwood Motor Circuit in 1948. Having established the Festival of Speed in front of Goodwood House in 1993, Charles Richmond brought motor racing back to the Goodwood circuit (which had been closed in 1966) with the creation of the Goodwood Revival in 1998. Both events have since become recognised as some of the most exciting and creative events in the world.

The Goodwood Estate Company is one of a diverse portfolio of businesses which includes Goodwood Racecourse which has been one of the highlights of the English summer season since 1802. Goodwood’s most famous meeting, the Qatar Goodwood Festival attracts many of the greatest thoroughbreds in racing and in terms of the experience is revered right across the racing world. The estate also enjoys a 4,000acre organic farm, two eighteen-hole golf courses, Goodwood Aerodrome and Flying School, a ninety-one-bedroom hotel and Hound Lodge, a luxury ten-bedroom sporting lodge. The Group employs over 650 people and attracts more than one million visitors each year. The Estate covers 12,000 acres and since 2003, has been the home and headquarters of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

In 2012, Nature Translated, a major exhibition of his photographic work (under the name Charles March) was staged at the Bermondsey Project Space in London. The exhibition was shown at the Marble Palace, part of the State Russian Museum in St Petersburg, in January 2014 and in Moscow as part of the Moscow Photography Biennale in April 2014. Two new exhibitions were held in early 2015: Wood Land at the Venus Over Manhattan Gallery in New York City and Abstract and Intentional which was held at Hamiltons Gallery in London.  In late 2016, Seascape was held at the Venus Over Los Angeles Gallery in the U.S.A. and was shown again at Hamiltons Gallery in London in September 2017.  An exhibition of highlights from his photography career, and a new body of work taken on the Scottish island of Jura, was held in the Palazzo Borghese in Rome in 2018.  At the same time, he launched a book of the Jura pictures called Gleann Badraig, published by Distanz and with poetry by Ken Cockburn.

Charles Richmond is President of the British Automobile Racing Club, Patron of the TT Riders Association, and an honorary member of the British Racing Drivers Club and the Guild of Motoring Writers. He received the CBE in 2024 for services to heritage, sport and charity.

He lives at Goodwood House with his wife, Janet (née Astor), and their five children.

Chief Executive Officer of Polestar

Since the completion of design studies at the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung in Pforzheim and the Royal College of Art in London, Thomas has over 20 years’ experience in the automotive industry. He has worked in top design positions at Audi, Volkswagen and Škoda.

In 2006 Thomas was appointed as the Director for Design at the Volkswagen Design Centre in Potsdam, designing for all brands of the Volkswagen Group. 

Thomas joined Volvo Car Corporation in July 2012 as Senior Vice President Design and led the turnaround of the brand and product portfolio.

Thomas was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Polestar in June 2017. 

Partner, Automotive Sector Lead Germany/EMEA, Strategy & Operations – Deloitte

Thomas Schiller is Deloitte Germany’s Automotive Industry Head

He has over 20 years of Strategy & Operations project experience in the automotive and manufacturing industries.

Thomas was managing director of Arthur D. Little China Ltd. for almost 7 years with major focus on Automotive

His in-depth understanding includes the global automotive industry structure and competitive landscape, particularly in emerging markets.

Before joining the consulting industry, Thomas worked  in the manufacturing industry and R&D for 8 years.

Expertise and Consulting Focus

• Corporate Strategy, Marketing and Sales, Product Strategy
• Automotive and Manufacturing Industry

Highlights of Client Experience

• BMW
• Volkswagen
• Daimler
• Honda
• Hyundai
• Nissan/Infiniti
• Renault
• FAW
• SAIC

Selected Project Experience

• Managed various projects in automotive retail, e.g. expansion, new format design, dealer performance improvement, CRM
• Managed various assignments in Marketing and Branding such as Marketing Spend Effectiveness, Brand Strategy, Modeling of Sales Incentives or Marketing Planning
• Led various engagements in automotive derivate businesses, e.g. fleet management, used car, auto finance, aftermarket, residual value management
• Helped to design/manage a JV set up for a sub-brand of a multinational OEM in China
• Developed product strategy and development program for a leading car manufacturer in China
• Developed program management in marketing and sales, facilitating transformation and reporting to global executives
• Managed more than 50 projects/programs to improve client’s sales performance in China

Academic Background

• PhD, Business Administration
• Graduate Degrees, Mechanical Engineering and Business Administration

Senior Advisor to the Director General, Abu Dhabi Investment Office

Tom is a lawyer by background who has lived in the UAE for the last 17 years and is author of the regional bestseller “Exponential Emirates”.

Tom was previously in-house lawyer at DP World and for the last decade has advised more than 50 companies on their regional expansion, many in the mobility space.

In his work with ADIO, he is advising on the Smart and Autonomous Vehicle Cluster, among other strategic initiatives.

Tom was educated at Eton, commissioned as an officer in the Royal Dragoon Guards, studied History at Bristol before converting to law at the Oxford Institute of Legal Practice.

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, ROLLS-ROYCE MOTOR CARS

Torsten Müller-Ötvös joined Rolls-Royce Motor Cars as Chief Executive in January 2010. During his tenure he has substantially expanded the global footprint of the brand and has overseen the transition of Rolls-Royce from a purely automotive brand to a fully-fledged House of Luxury.  He has been responsible for the broadening of the company’s product offering through the introduction of a number of successful new models, including Wraith, Dawn, Cullinan SUV and a new model of the brand’s pinnacle offering, Phantom.  He is currently piloting Rolls-Royce’s entry into a fully electrified future with the introduction of Spectre slated for the fourth quarter of 2023.

VP & Chief AI Scientist at Facebook and Silver Professor at NYU affiliated with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences & the Center for Data Science

Yann LeCun is VP & Chief AI Scientist at Facebook and Silver Professor at NYU affiliated with the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences & the Center for Data Science.

He was the founding Director of Facebook AI Research and of the NYU Center for Data Science. He received an Engineering Diploma from ESIEE (Paris) and a PhD from Sorbonne Université. After a postdoc in Toronto he joined AT&T Bell Labs in 1988, and AT&T Labs in 1996 as Head of Image Processing Research.

He joined NYU as a professor in 2003 and Facebook in 2013. His interests include AI machine learning, computer perception, robotics and computational neuroscience.

He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the recipient of the 2018 ACM Turing Award (with Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio) for “conceptual and engineering breakthroughs that have made deep neural networks a a critical component of computing”.

Head of Content and Services & Head of the Product Innovation Team, Samsung Electronics America

Yoon C. Lee is Senior Vice President and Head of Content and Services and Head of the Product Innovation Team (PIT) and at Samsung Electronics America. As head of PIT, Yoon is responsible for overseeing the creation of consumer insight-based innovative concepts for Samsung Electronics’ strategic mid-term products across all product categories. Yoon also oversees the content & services teams, that create SW products for our devices which includes contents and services in VR, Samsung Kids, Family Hub refrigerator and for other emerging platforms.

Yoon has 20+ years of product design and development experience in most all areas of new product development verticals from product strategy, design research, ideation, user experience and concept development to hands on engineering and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM). He has worked on design and innovation topics for various industries including, automotive, aerospace, consumer electronics, retail, industrial equipment and telecom services.

Previous to his current position, Yoon was Vice President of Insight Concept and Portfolio at Samsung Electronics in Korea, leading Samsung home appliances’ midterm products as well as portfolio development. Yoon started his career at Samsung within PIT, overseeing four other PIT offices around the world.
Before joining Samsung, he was a product development and innovation consultant for seven years at major management consulting companies, PRTM (PwC) and at Accenture. Yoon began his career designing robots for automotive applications at FANUC Robotics in Michigan, a leading industrial robot manufacturer.

Yoon has over 15 publications in professional journals and has spoken at several global design and innovation conferences as invited guest speaker. Yoon earned his PhD in mechanical engineering and product design from the University of California at Berkeley.