After a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Winnipeg and a Master’s degree from Queen’s University, Samantha Anderson completed her studies with a PhD from EPFL in 2019. A few months after her thesis, she co-founded DePoly, a startup she currently heads as CEO. DePoly is dedicated to revolutionizing plastic recycling through innovative chemical processes. The startup converts PET plastics and polyester textiles into raw chemical components, creating a sustainable circular economy for plastics. In 2023, the company raised CHF 12.3 million to develop its technology, which works without pre-washing or sorting.

Founder and director of Helvetiq, Hadi Barkat is a Swiss entrepreneur of Algerian origin. He began his career at Shockfish in 2000, before moving into venture capital in 2003 as an investment manager at Logispring. In 2008, he created Helvetiq, an educational board game, during his preparation for Swiss naturalization. The immediate success of the game prompted him to dedicate himself full-time to Helvetiq from 2010 onwards. The company stands out for its simple concepts and clean design, and it quickly internationalized. Today, Helvetiq offers a wide range of games and books and continues to grow.

After completing her Master’s in Computer Science at EPFL and earning her PhD from the University of York, Silvia Quarteroni joined the University of Trento in 2008, and then the Polytechnic University of Milan in 2010 as a postdoctoral research associate. In 2012, she returned to Switzerland to join ELCA as a Senior Consultant, later becoming a Senior Manager in 2017. Silvia Quarteroni joined the Swiss Data Science Center at EPFL in 2019 to work on AI-related transformations and their transfer to the real economy. She became the Director of Transformation and Innovation in 2022. In 2023, she is named at the Forum des 100 and joined the Innovation Council of Innosuisse in 2024.

Marc Stoecklin is a Principal Research Scientist at IBM Research Europe and holds the position of Head of Security Research since 2019. His career at IBM Research began with an internship he completed as part of his master’s thesis in 2006. He has contributed to several cybersecurity projects, including key IBM technologies based on artificial intelligence to detect and combat cyber threats. He currently leads the “Quantum Safe Cryptography” strategy at IBM Research, allowing him to work on numerous significant advancements to secure the digital world globally for the quantum era.