Speakers
Renowned experts and thought leaders share their knowledge and perspectives on Europe's most pressing economic issues.
Karan Bhatia
Karan Bhatia heads the global public policy department at Google with 450 employees in over 50 countries. He advises the CEO and top management on political issues and is responsible for the global dialog with political decision-makers.
Previously, he was President of GE's Government and Policy Division, where he led multi-billion dollar global projects and policy initiatives on trade and climate policy. Earlier in his career, he held senior positions in the US government, most recently as Deputy US Trade Representative for Asia and Africa.
Karan Bhatia publishes regularly on international economic policy, has been a lecturer at Georgetown University and serves on the board of several non-profit organizations.
Dr. Moritz Brake
Dr. Moritz Brake is the founder and managing director of two consulting companies:
Nexmaris GmbH protects critical maritime infrastructures - with analyses, concepts and operational implementation.
Atalantica GmbH develops resilience strategies for geopolitical risks and supports companies that want to open up security-relevant markets in the current situation (dual use, defense, public security).
Brake was an active naval officer for over 20 years and is now a reserve corvette captain. He holds a PhD in War Studies from King's College London and is a Senior Fellow at CASSIS at the University of Bonn. His work combines operational experience and security policy analysis with entrepreneurial implementation - at the interface of industry, government, innovation and science.
Gerald Braunberger
Gerald Braunberger (*1960 in Bad Homburg) began his professional career after completing a banking apprenticeship and studying economics. In 1988, he joined the business desk of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. From 1995 to 2004, he worked as a correspondent in Paris. After his return, he worked for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung for three years before becoming Head of Finance at the F.A.Z. from 2007 to 2019. He has been editor of the F.A.Z. since 2019.
Andrea Casaluci
Andrea Casaluci has been Chief Executive Officer of Pirelli since August 2023. He was born in 1973 and graduated in engineering from the Politecnico in Milan in 2001. After initial positions in logistics and consulting, he took on various management positions at Pirelli from 2005, including Marketing Director for Spain and Portugal and Logistics Manager for the Moto business unit. In 2015, he moved to China as Chief Commercial Officer for Asia and the Pacific region before returning to Italy in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer Europe and Chief Executive Officer Italy. In 2018, he became General Manager Operations and later took over the management of the Prestige business unit and the Original Equipment division.
Dr. Marzena Czarnecka
Dr. Marzena Czarnecka holds a doctorate in law and economics and has over 20 years of experience in energy and regulatory law. As the founder of a law firm and in-house counsel, she worked for leading energy companies in Poland. She was also a long-standing judge at the disciplinary court of the Katowice Chamber of Legal Advisors.
Today, Dr. Marzena Czarnecka heads the Department of Energy Transition at the University of Katowice as a professor and also teaches in Germany and Spain. On December 13, 2023, she was appointed Minister of Industry of the Republic of Poland.
Christian Dürr
Christian Dürr, Federal Chairman, has been the Federal Chairman of the Free Democrats in the German Bundestag since May 2025. He has been Chairman and a member of his party's executive committee since December 2021. He grew up in Ganderkesee. He began studying economics at Leibniz University in Hanover in 1998 and graduated with a degree in economics in 2007. From 2003 to 2017, he was a member of the Lower Saxony state parliament, from 2009 as FDP parliamentary group leader. He has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2017 and was responsible for budget and finance issues as deputy leader of the parliamentary group.
Dr. Peter Figge
Dr. Peter Figge has been CEO and co-owner of Jung von Matt, one of the world's most award-winning independent agencies, since 2010. The globally active agency group with a focus on Europe, UK, USA, Korea and China comprises 30 agencies and employs over 1,400 people. JvM has been voted “Independent Agency of the Year” in Cannes several times. Peter Figge began his agency career parallel to his studies in Switzerland as a founding partner of an agency and has remained loyal to the industry ever since. Prior to Jung von Matt, Peter Figge spent 15 years in management positions at Swiss, German and international agencies in Zurich, Paris, New York and Hamburg. Peter was one of the first in the agency industry to advise on digitalization strategies in marketing and lead the corresponding transformation processes for major brands and companies.
Prof. Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer
Prof. Dr. h.c. Reinhold R. Geilsdörfer completed his studies in physics and mechanical engineering at the University of Stuttgart in 1976 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He has been a professor at the Mosbach University of Cooperative Education (BA) since 1981. From 2005 to 2011, he was Rector of the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) Mosbach and was Chairman of the DHBW Rectors' Conference from 2007 to 2011. He then took over as President of the DHBW from 2011 to 2016. Since February 2016, he has been Managing Director of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation in the field of science.
Britta Haßelmann
Britta Haßelmann, born in Straelen in 1961, studied social work in Bielefeld and worked in the fields of work, social affairs and psychiatry until 2000. She has been involved in voluntary work since the 1980s, including with UNICEF, Terre des Femmes and the Federal Network for Civic Engagement.
Britta Haßelmann has been active in local politics for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen since 1989 and has been a party member since 1994. From 2000 to 2006, she was state chairwoman of the Greens in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Britta Haßelmann has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2005 and was Parliamentary Secretary and spokesperson for local politics from 2009 to 2013. She has been First Parliamentary Secretary of the Green parliamentary group since 2013.
Dr. Laura Hirvi joined Meta in 2022 and is currently Public Policy Manager in the DACH team. Previously, she was Managing Director of the Virtual Reality Association Berlin Brandenburg (VRBB) and Director of the Finnish Institute in Germany. With a PhD in ethnology, she has worked as a researcher at the University of Helsinki and as a Fulbright Scholar at UC Santa Barbara, among others, and has published numerous scientific papers. Meta is a global tech company developing technologies to shape the future of human connections.
Roman Hölzl is co-founder and CEO of RobCo GmbH, a company that develops modular automation solutions for medium-sized industrial companies. He completed a Master's degree in Human Factors Engineering at the Technical University of Munich and a technology management program at the Center for Digital Technology and Management. He has also spent time studying at the University of Sydney and Harvard University. For his entrepreneurial achievements, Hölzl was named Entrepreneur of the Day by Handelsblatt in 2021 and was included in Forbes' 30 under 30 list in the Manufacturing & Industry sector. He has extensive experience in the technology sector, having worked at Tesla, Kuka and BMW, among others, and has published specialist articles on human-machine interaction. In addition to his professional career, he was a successful skier and won the German National Academic Championships in ski freestyle in 2014.
Christian Hüttenhein
Christian Hüttenhein is a General Partner at Pexus Ventures and an expert in venture clienting. He advises companies on the strategic use of start-ups for innovation and technology transfer.
After working at Bosch, where he co-founded Bosch Industry Consulting and the venture client unit Open Bosch, among others, he was a venture partner at Bosch Ventures. He also founded and sold several start-ups.
Christian Hüttenhein studied East Asian economics in Duisburg and Tokyo, speaks Japanese and is a certified coach for systemic organizational development. In 2022, he initiated the Corporate Venture Client Roundtable Community.
Christophe Jakubyszyn
Christophe Jakubyszyn has been Editor-in-Chief of Les Echos since April 2024. He is a graduate of Sciences Po Paris and the ESSEC Business School. Christophe Jakubyszyn began his career as an administrator at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs. He then worked for the newspaper Le Monde from 1995 to 2008, first as a business journalist and later as deputy editor-in-chief, before moving to the political desk.
From 2008 to 2012, he was Editorial Director of RMC and political commentator at RMC and BFMTV. He then headed the political desk at TF1 from 2012 to 2019. Since 2019, he has hosted the morning show Good Morning Business on BFM Business and also took on the role of Editorial Director at BFM Business in 2022.
Daniel Krauss
As Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief HR Officer (CHRO) at Flix, Daniel Krauss is responsible for technology and human resources. Together with his co-founders, he has built Flix into an international mobility provider. Daniel Krauss is also active as an investor and advisory board member in companies such as Baby1one and UNITY. He is convinced that education, entrepreneurship and innovation are key drivers of social progress.
Daniel Krauss regularly lectures at the Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg and advises the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI), Ansbach University of Applied Sciences and the University of Hamburg. He is also an active partner of STARTUP TEENS, the largest German NGO for entrepreneurial education, and a co-partner and trustee of CODE University.
Dr. Markus Krebber has been CEO of RWE AG since 2021. Before joining RWE, he held several senior management positions at Commerzbank between 2005 and 2012. From 2000 to 2005, he worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Co.
Dr. Krebber is Vice President of the German Association of Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) and a member of the Presidential Committee of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).
He completed a banking apprenticeship at Deutsche Bank and studied economics and business administration at the University of Duisburg and the University of Pennsylvania. He obtained his doctorate at the Humboldt University in Berlin.
Peter Lochbihler
Peter Lochbihler has been Global Head of Public Affairs at Booking.com, based in Amsterdam. Previously, he was head of Vice President - EU Affairs is Rolls-Royce's liaison office in Brussels. From 2001 to 2011, he held senior positions in political and communications consulting. Born in Regensburg, Peter Lochbihler studied in Osnabrück, London and Paris and obtained a Master's degree in European Studies at the College of Europe in Bruges.
Dr. Yun Luo
Dr. Yun Luo is the co-founder and CEO of ROSI, a French deep-tech startup leading the circular economy for the photovoltaic industry. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Fudan University in Shanghai, a Diploma in Engineering from École Polytechnique in Paris and a PhD in Microstructure Physics from Max Planck Institute in Germany.
With her deep expertise in science, technology and industry, Dr. Luo now leads the team at ROSI, which is working at the forefront of recycling and upgrading critical raw materials for the photovoltaic industry worldwide. Her commitment is instrumental to the successful relocalization and revitalization of European PV production.
Wolfgang Meier
Wolfgang Meier has been CEO of Pirelli Germany since September 2021. He was born in 1967 and holds a degree in industrial engineering. He began his career at Pirelli Germany in 1994 and later took on management positions in human resources, including Head of Human Resources at Pirelli UK Ltd. From 2006, he was Industrial Director for the UK production sites before moving to Pirelli headquarters in Milan in 2008 to implement the Lean Management System (PMS). In 2012, he became Head of HR Manufacturing and was responsible for international HR support in research, production and motorsport. In 2016, he took over as Managing Director for Human Resources and Organization at Pirelli Germany, before serving as CEO of Pirelli Tyres Romania from 2017 to 2021.
Benjamin Merle
As Chief Product Officer, Benjamin Merle has been responsible for product development and energy market topics at Enpal since 2020. Previously, he established the German office of Aurora Energy Research, a data-driven energy market consultancy, and was a consultant at McKinsey. He studied Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford.
Andreas Mundt, born on August 13, 1960 in Bonn, has been President of the Bundeskartellamt since 2009. He has also been Chairman of the Steering Committee of the International Competition Network (ICN) since 2013. After studying law in Bonn and Lausanne and completing his legal clerkship, he began his professional career in 1991 at the Federal Ministry of Economics as a consultant in the management staff of the new federal states. From 1993 to 2000, he worked as a consultant for labor and social law at the FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag. The Bundeskartellamt's task is to protect competition in Germany. The authority, which is based in Bonn, employs around 400 people.
Uta Niendorf
Uta Niendorf is a partner and member of the Executive Committee of Wavestone Germany. With over 20 years of management experience in the financial services industry, she advises companies with a focus on digital, customer-centric business models - especially in the insurance industry. She began her career in 1999 at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture) after studying business administration and languages at the University of Passau. She also holds an Executive MBA from ESCP Business School in Paris.
Uta Niendorf is committed to sustainability, diversity and inclusion. She is also an associate member of the Club of Rome Germany.
Jörg Rocholl is President of ESMT Berlin and Deutsche Bank Professor in Sustainable Finance. He is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board at the German Federal Ministry of Finance and Chairman of the Steering Committee of the Global Network for Advanced Management (GNAM). He is also a member of the Board of the Schmalenbach Society, a member of acatech, a Research Fellow at the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and a Research Member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). Jörg Rocholl received both his PhD in Finance and Economics and his MPhil from Columbia Business School.
Lars-Hendrik Röller
Lars-Hendrik Röller is the founder of the Berlin Global Dialogue and a professor at ESMT Berlin. He was Chancellor Merkel's chief economist (2011-2021) and prepared numerous G7 and G20 summits. He currently advises the Prime Minister of Albania and heads the Green Guarantee Group, a global initiative for climate finance.
Previously, Lars-Hendrik Röller was Chief Economist for Competition at the EU Commission and President of ESMT. He is a member of several scientific academies and has received international awards. Röller studied computer science and economics in the USA and received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania.
Sarna Röser
Sarna Röser is a family entrepreneur, supervisory board member, advisory board member, initiator of "Unternehmer in Bewegung" (UiB) and former federal chairwoman of the business association DIE JUNGEN UNTERNEHMER. She has received several awards as a thought leader and, according to Capital, is one of the top 40 under 40 in the German economy. As an advisory board member, she works for Fielmann AG and Deutsche Bank, among others, and is involved in start-ups, digitalization and economic policy initiatives. She also represented over 1,500 young family entrepreneurs as the national chairwoman. She became known to a wider audience through her participation as a guest investor on Die Höhle der Löwen and through appearances on TV talk shows.
Dr. Claudia Schmucker
Dr. Claudia Schmucker has headed the Centre for Geopolitics, Geo-Economics and Technology at DGAP since autumn 2020. From 2002 to 2020 she was head of the Globalization and World Economy programme.
She studied at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wihelms-Universität Bonn, at Elmira College, New York and at Yale University and holds a Master's degree (M.A.) in North American Studies and a Doctorate in Economics from the Freie Universität Berlin.
Dr. Claudia Schmucker researches and publishes on European and transatlantic trade policy, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Doha Round as well as on the role of informal forums such as the G7 and G20.
Jens Spahn
Jens Spahn is a banker and political scientist. From 2009 to 2015, he was the health policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag and from July 2015 to March 2018, he was Parliamentary State Secretary to the Federal Minister of Finance. He was sworn in as Federal Minister of Health on March 14, 2018. He held this office until December 2021. Jens Spahn has been Deputy Chairman of the parliamentary group since the end of 2021 and is responsible for the economy, energy, climate protection, SMEs and tourism. Jens Spahn has been parliamentary group leader since May 2025 and continues to be a member of the executive committee of the CDU Germany.
Armand Zorn
Armand Zorn has been a member of the German Bundestag since 2021 and represents the constituency of Frankfurt am Main I. He has been Deputy Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group in the Bundestag since May 2025. In his role as deputy leader of the parliamentary group, he is responsible for digital affairs and state modernisation, the economy and energy, transport and tourism. His political focus is on international economic policy, transformation financing and future topics such as AI and new technologies. Armand Zorn was born in Yaoundé, Cameroon and came to Germany at the age of 12. He studied politics and history at the Martin Luther University in Halle-Wittenberg, Sciences Po Paris, the University of Konstanz and John Hopkins University SAIS, specialising in international economics. His professional career has taken him to Hong Kong, Macau and France, as well as to the management consultancy PwC and as a project manager in development co-operation.