Past Speakers

Gil Beyda is a seasoned entrepreneur turned venture capitalist currently investing in blockchain, cybersecurity, IOT and enterprise IT. Drawing from decades of experience with cutting edge technologies, both as a founder and an operator, Beyda looks to invest in startups and later-stage companies solving real problems with cutting-edge technology.

Beyda launched his first company, Mind Games, in 1982 to develop games for the original Apple II. He then started a software consulting firm focused on Fortune 100 clients in the U.S., Asia and Europe. As a co-founder of Real Media, in the mid 1990’s, he helped shepherd the early adoption of internet advertising technology. Later, Beyda became CTO of TACODA, the first behavioral targeting ad network. Following AOL’s acquisition of TACODA in 2007, Beyda founded Genacast Ventures in partnership with Comcast Ventures, where he is now a Managing Director.

What He loves about his job:

Working with brilliant, passionate entrepreneurs to solve real problems

Strategizing with the CEO and architecting with the CTO

Getting out of my comfort zone and exploring new industries

Falling in love with a startup, diligencing it and still being in love

Alex is one of the inventors of VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) with
a foundational patent dating back to 1994 and is now working on MOIP
(Money Over Internet Protocol) technology. Over 35 patents have been
issued to Alex, relating to exchanges, VOIP protocols, messaging and
communication. Alex is a serial entrepreneur and founder of seven New York City-based startups, raising more than $1 billion and exiting over $3 billion. Alex founded two of New York City’s top 10 venture-backed exits since 2000:Arbinet, with a 2004 IPO that had a market capitalization of over $750 million; and Transit Wireless, valued at $1.2 billion.

Alex has received numerous awards for innovation, including being
nominated twice by E&Y as ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’, in 2002 & 2011;
Crain’s 2010 Top Entrepreneur; the prestigious 2000 Albert Einstein
Technology medal; and the Technology Foresight Award for Innovation
(presented in Geneva at Telecom 99).

As one of the pioneers of web-based exchanges, Alex authored patents
that cover aspects of the Smart Grid, ad exchanges, Twitter, Skype, App
Store, Netflix streaming concept and many other popular web companies.
Additionally, Arbinet’s fundraising story was featured as a case study in
2001 by Harvard Business School.

Conference Highlights

Milken Institute: Global Conference 2018
Panel: “Cryptocurrencies: Irrational Exuberance or Brave New World?”
Attendees: 2,000

Generation Now: Haste & Hustle
Keynote & Headliner for Gary Vanerchuck
Attendees: 5,000

BEF: Blockchain Economic Forum 2018 Singapore
Keynote
Attendees: 2,000

Consensus 2017 New York City
Keynote
Attendees: 1,500

Samuel is a keynote speaker, a technophile, a corporate strategist and an award-winning marketing executive.  He was recognized as one of the “Top 100 Leaders in Marketing & Advertising 2020-2021” His expertise in corporate America covers management, digital strategy, digital marketing and banking. Highlight; he generated $1.5 million within 1.5 weeks, which was 10X higher than the quarter’s benchmark. At the same financial institution; over a period of 5 years, he generated tens of millions in sales and new business. His first love was finance which he still likes, but his passion and proclivity are entrepreneurship, technology and corporate strategy. He started his first internet business in 2008, launched in 2010;  a sports Social Networking platform which all 30 Baseball teams and their fans could use.  He graduated with an MBA from the Zicklin School of Business; focusing on Strategic & Business Management with Finance.  It’s in the public domain; he predicted Bitcoin’s price four times accurately.

His passion for strategy came about when he was 12, while playing Tic-Tac-Toe, also known as X and O. He didn’t know what strategy was then, but he loved the game. Practicing for hours and months improved his proficiency, thus making it easier to memorize the different permutations a player could execute after their first letter was drawn.  He has always been fascinated with the future.

www.100yearcorporations.com

www.twitter.com/100YearCorp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/100yearcorporations

Having come from immigrant parents from Guyana, South America, who started in the U.S. with no more than $25 and a suitcase in 1967, I was taught the value of a dollar, but more importantly, the value of an education. It was ingrained from a very young age that education is the key to life and that you can have anything once you attain it. I began my career in finance on Wall Street doing Private Placements at Salomon Smith Barney after attending the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. From there, I moved into venture capital and invested a top performing $100M fund across a broad spectrum of technologies, with a specific focus on advanced materials and Cleantech. I even managed several startups after this and then turned to innovations in Fintech as part of The Blackstone Group and JPMorgan. Recently, I was Head of an Emerging Growth Advisory Group at DLA Piper focused on alternative fundraising and formed a large network of institutional and corporate investors.

But somehow, I was empty…I was a bit sickened by the billions of dollars invested in all the “innovation” that is starting to erode our capabilities to use our hands and minds in our everyday lives. After working with Kweku on forming REPRESENT, I saw the opportunity to create a team to develop solutions to REAL problems at a rapid pace. This is all that will truly matter in my life – and hence, a new element was born to educate, empower, and engage all life on earth, called CAЯBON.

Elise James DeCruise  is an Award-Winning Global Learning & Development Professional and Diversity & Inclusion Practitioner with over 15 years of global experience in the marketing, strategy, design and delivery of learning solutions and services for clients, partners and industry professionals within the workforce, workplace and marketplace. She was recognized by the Chief Learning Officer (CLO) Magazine for Strategy and Innovation for the launch    of NMI (New Marketing Institute), recipient of Industry awards recognizing excellence in education and featured in Forbes Magazine as one of the top female leaders to watch in the technology space who is committed to innovation, education and diversity and inclusion. In her new role as the     Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at Marcus Thomas, Elise will scale and build on efforts to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the workforce, workplace and marketplace and will provide critical guidance and leadership  to Marcus Thomas’s multicultural marketing efforts.  Prior to joining Marcus Thomas in July, she led Global Multicultural Marketing and Inclusion initiatives at MediaMath. She helped MediaMath think about and better position diversity and inclusion within the workforce, workplace and marketplace, and inspired others to do the same. Previously, Elise founded    the award-winning New Marketing Institute (NMI) at MediaMath. In this role, Elise oversaw internal and external training initiatives, certification,    enterprise education and global program development.

Elise is the L&D Strategic Advisor for GoCoach and maintains an active presence on Boards and Advisory Committees such as the Startup Institute, NYC Tech Talent Pipeline, IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) – Diversity & Inclusion Task force, ATD (American Society of Training & Development) 2019 Program Advisory Committee and the ATD Forum Advisory group. Elise holds a B.A., in Communications, PR & Advertising along with an M.S., in Instructional Leadership and Business Communications from Robert Morris University.  As a former Division- One Student Athlete (led the nation in rebounding), who made a successful transition after sports into the corporate world, she is committed to the development of student-athletes both on and  off the court. She resides in Bergen County New Jersey with her family.

Jeremy K. Balkin serves as Head of Innovation for HSBC Bank USA based in New York, where he serves on the wealth and personal banking management committee and is responsible for the fintech innovation, strategic digital partnerships and exponential growth strategy for North America. Jeremy Balkin is a visionary leader at the cutting edge of the banking industry where his team has led the world’s first deployment of a social humanoid robot in a bank branch, the world’s first deployment of wearable technology and the world’s first deployment of AI powered voice-enabled translation capabilities. Balkin also serves on the board of the Council for Emerging Technology and Digital Banking Advisory Council. He is also the multi-award winning author of two books, Investing with Impact: Why Finance is a Force for Good, and Millennialization of Everything: How to Win When Millennials Rule the World. Jeremy Balkin is designated a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and also hosts a popular weekly LinkedIn vlog series about innovation and the future of work called, Be The Change in 60 Seconds.

Trisch L. Smith ​

Global Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Edelman  

Richard is an Adjunct Professor of Machine Learning at Yeshiva University and  the Head of Machine Learning for Corporate Engineering at Google, where he leads a team of 15 engineers and data scientists across NYC and Austin. Prior to this role, Rich was a tech lead in Bigtable at Google following a 15 year career working in data and analytics across both tech and finance in the US (New York and Seattle), Europe and Asia. When not working, Rich practices Muay Thai and spends time with his family, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, including his Mini Australian Shepherd, Radia, and his self-driving car, Trinity.

Sarah is passionate about creating economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs through visual storytelling and experiential programming. As Co-founder & Creative Director at IFundWomen, a startup funding platform for women entrepreneurs, Sarah manages brokered grant programs for brands like adidas, Visa, and Alcon that have driven over one million dollars into the hands of women founders. Prior to launching IFundWomen, Sarah spent 10+ years helping brands like Forbes, Hint, and Honest Company design and share their stories through video and visual marketing. When she is not working on closing the funding gap for women entrepreneurs, Sarah enjoys writing and performing sketch comedy and mastering the art of negotiation with her two children.

Elisabete has said the hardest transition to the US was not language, but the cultural adaptation she had to make. She has made it her mission to help those who speak different languages, culturally connect with each other. Her tireless leadership as an innovator has earned her awards and accolades including the prestigious Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Winning Women, and the SBA New Jersey Minority Person of the Year.

My name is Marlin. I am the founder and CEO of Neture, a broadband delivery platform that connects underserved and overcharged households to the internet. Today, an estimated 30M households do not have broadband at home, with almost 1M of them being in NYC. Our service is designed to connect households to the internet, and just as importantly, to local resources, such as healthcare, education, government and workforce
development.

Our goal – to ensure every household is connected to the internet and is afforded the opportunity to leverage local resources to increase its outcomes. I’ve been in the Bronx since attending Fordham University in 1992. After college, I began my career in telecommunications, as a leader in sales, operations and management  for organizations like Verizon, AT&T and XO Communications. After surviving the World Trade Center tragedy, I moved on to consulting and opened my first business, QuadInfinity, an entertainment company. It was QuadInfinity that first connected me to committing to serving others, through the donation of my space and time to help low-income families cope by enjoying themselves.

After QuadInfinity, I joined Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council as Vice President/Special Assistant to the Executive Director, before founding Neture. I also serve on the founding board of Emblaze Academy, a new charter middle school starting in 2018 in the South Bronx; am a 2015 We Are the Bronx Fellow; and involved in many other causes.
My goal? To have a positive impact on as many as I can.
“2019 Innovators & Disruptors Award – Founders / Entrepreneurs Category”

Carol Mahoney is Chief People Officer of Gainsight, Inc, a role that she calls “the job of a lifetime”. Her career in the high technology sector has spanned 25+ years and has provided her the opportunity to apply and hone her HR and Talent Acquisition skills for tech. giants like Intuit and Yahoo! as well as upstarts like LivingSocial and Zoosk. Earning a BA in English stoked her love of words and great stories – a love story that continues through today. An empty-nester, Carol lives in Oakland, California with her husband, Frank and labradoodle, Luke.

Although Pepper did not speak at SVC2020, HSBC’s Head of Innovation Jeremy Balkin referenced Pepper in his keynote. If it were a live event, Pepper would have probably joined and said a few words.

Developed by SoftBank Robotics, Pepper has been deployed at HSBC banks across the U.S. Pepper was first launched at HSBC’s flagship Manhattan branch, and has been rolled out to locations from Miami, Florida to Seattle, Washington. The technology has been credited for gains in everything from ATM transaction volume to new credit card applications.

“As we’ve already seen in HSBC’s Fifth Avenue, Beverly Hills and Seattle branches, Pepper provides services that truly elevate the retail banking experience for both visitors and staff,” Head of Marketing and Business Strategy for SoftBank Robotics America Kass Dawson said.

And in a world in which robotic technologies are often referred to simply as “bots,” and appear to most consumers as mere animations on a digital screen, the arrival of Pepper is both a throwback and a vision into the ways new technologies will enable new forms of banking. Dawson referred to Pepper as a “unique banking experience that is enriched by human-robot interactions.”

HSBC Head of Innovation Jeremy Balkin, who will address FinovateFall this year, explained how Pepper fits in with what he referred to as the “Branch of the Future.” Comparing the rise of robotics in banking to the advent of the smartphone, Balkin said that giving customers products and services that leverage these technologies is key to delivering the digital experience consumers increasingly expect from all service providers.

“By creating these revolutionary new types of digitally enhanced retail banking experiences that use data intelligence and leading edge robotics,” he said, “HSBC is transforming the everyday task of a branch visit into a memorable and extraordinary experience.”

So what does Pepper do? With the ability to provide information on 300 different actions ranging from account opening to applying for a credit card, Pepper performs in three main areas:

• Attention Please! Pepper helps reduce customer waiting time by communicating directly with bank staff based on customer responses to qualifying questions.

• Education and Empowerment: Pepper informs customers on the latest available technologies, products, and services such as ATMs, the bank’s mobile app, and self-service options.

• Product and Service Awareness: Pepper boosts awareness of the bank’s products and services, especially special promotions, by facilitating more productive interactions with HSBC Relationship Managers.

Ashvin Vaidyanathan is the Chief Customer Officer at Gainsight – the Customer Success Company. In his role, Ashvin manages the Customer Success, Professional Services and Technical Support teams. Ashvin is also the author of the industry’s first handbook for CS Professionals: The Customer Success Professional’s Handbook: How to Thrive in One of the World’s Fastest Growing Careers―While Driving Growth For Your Company.

Prior to Gainsight, Ashvin was at McKinsey & Company consulting with companies on Marketing, Sales and Customer Experience transformations. When not at Gainsight, Ashvin is an advisor at Not In Our Town – a not for profit organization that uses documentary film, and new media to stop hate, and address bullying. He lives in San Francisco with his beautiful family.

Joshua Encarnacion served as CEO of Outco Inc until September 2020, where he led a team of software engineers, career coaches, technical mentors, and recruiters driven by the purpose of accelerating careers for tech industry professionals by equipping them with computer science fundamentals & emotional intelligence skills training. He’s worked in training & staffing roles for big tech companies, Uber & Google, and has helped manage hyper-growth stages for tech-industry startups Earnest (60-200) & Simply Business (30-120). The focus of his career is to activate people’s FULL potential through the application of positive psychology, systems thinking, and a principle-centered approach to human resources & people development.

Tara is the CEO and founder of a million-dollar tech startup called Apps Without Code. After running marketing initiatives at Google, Foursquare and Microsoft, Tara branched out to launch her own startups using unconventional techniques. Her online school has trained over 70,000 entrepreneurs across 14 countries, teaches people how to build their own apps, validate their business ideas, and build revenue-generating businesses. She is a TEDx speaker, Forbes & Entrepreneur magazine special feature, past participant of 500 Startups Accelerator, and alumnus of Columbia University.

Speaking Topics

• How to Create Your Own App & Make Money from It
• How to succeed in Silicon Valley when you don’t look like Mark Zuckerburg
• How to scale a 7-figure company without investors and without code
• How she made her first $35,000 from her app and got a $100,000 investment after getting LAID OFF
• How YOU can create your own app and start making money from it even during a recession
• How to come up with an app idea, build it without developers, and make money from it

Skip Descant is a staff writer for Government Technology magazine, writing about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation, transit and other areas. He spent more than 12 years reporting for daily newspapers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and California, covering areas as diverse as tourism, economic development and local government. He lives in downtown Sacramento.

Micah Kotch serves as Managing Director of URBAN-X by MINI and Urban Us. URBAN-X is the accelerator for startups reimagining city life. Before joining URBAN-X, Micah served as Director of NY Prize and Strategic Advisor for Innovation at NYSERDA. At the NYU Tandon School of Engineering Micah served as Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where he launched NYC’s first sponsored tech incubator and the Urban Future Lab – helping startups address mobility, climate, energy and resiliency opportunities. He is a core national faculty member for the National Science Foundation’s i-CORPS program which commercializes federally-funded research.

Justin is the co-founder and CEO of Avenify. Founded in October 2018, by Justin and his co-founder, Timo Sheridan, Avenify offers fairer, more accessible financing, as alternative to traditional student loans, paired with resources to promote upward mobility and career success. Prior to starting Avenify, Justin worked at Product Hunt, and led marketing at Republic, an equity crowdfunding platform whose mission is to democratize access to investing in alternative assets, like startups and real estate. He studied business at the University of Oklahoma and Hult International Business School.