MEET OUR SPEAKERS

Mike Walsh is the leader’s futurist. A best-selling author of three books and a

regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review, he helps leaders and

organizations answer the question - ‘where do we go from here?’ - in this age

of accelerating technologies and disruptive change.

Mike is the CEO of Tomorrow, an innovation research lab focused on preparing

leaders for the 21st century. For the past twenty years, he has been a leading

authority on disruptive innovation, digital transformation and new ways of

thinking. A global nomad, futurist and author of three bestselling books, Mike

advises some of the world’s biggest organizations on reinvention and change in

this new era of machine intelligence.

Mike’s latest book, The Algorithmic Leader: How to Be Smart When Machines

Are Smarter Than You, offers a hopeful and practical guide for reinventing

leadership and organizations. Translated into Japanese, Chinese, Korean,

Arabic, German and Polish - The Algorithmic Leader has been an international

publishing success and was selected to be given to the world leaders and

executive attendees of the Ambrosetti Global Forum at Villa d'Este in

Cernobbio, Italy.

Futuretainment, Mike’s first book, was published by Phaidon and was the

winner of the design award by the Art Director’s Club in New York. Released in

2009, it predicted the impact of the smartphone on reshaping the media and

marketing industry, and the imminent rise of social media, digital influencers

and streaming entertainment. In The Dictionary of Dangerous Ideas, published

in 2014, Mike anticipated breakthroughs in micro satellite networks,

cryptocurrencies, self-driving cars, drones and digital biology.

A dynamic and engaging keynote speaker, Mike has given over a 1,000 talks

over the last decade, from strategic briefings for the boards of companies to an

employee summit for a healthcare corporation, that filled a sports stadium with

an audience of over 25,000 people. In addition to both in-person and virtual

presentations, Mike also works with enterprise learning and development leaders to create compelling programs to up-skill teams for a world of AI-

powered competition.

In 2023, Mike was the keynote speaker for the Global Police Summit in Dubai,

and also for the Reddington IT Summit which is the largest gathering of IT

companies in the Middle East region. Earlier in the year, he was invited to

conduct a fireside chat with the CTO of AT&T with their key enterprise

customers, and also hosted a private briefing for the CEO and his top 15 global

leaders of PepsiCO. Previously in 2019, he led a leadership transformation

program for the top 300 leaders at Verizon in conjunction with McKinsey &

Company, and was further invited to address the global board on the subject of

the future transformation of the business. He was also invited to run a session

on the future of organizations for the senior logistics team of Amazon.com at

their global HQ in Seattle.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala is a world-renowned transformation guru in driving performance for both Governments and the private sector through his Big-Fast-Results Methodology. He is currently the Chairman of PEMANDU Associates, a multi-disciplinary consultancy based in Kuala Lumpur that specializes in public sector transformation, business turnaround, and strategic communications. In 2014, Bloomberg placed him amongst the top-10 most influential policy makers in the world. Under his leadership, PEMANDU was also named as the top-20 most innovative Government agencies globally by Bloomberg Philanthropies and NESTA UK.

Dato’ Sri Idris Jala served as a Cabinet Minister under the Prime Minister’s Department between 2010 and 2017, taking helm of Malaysia’s National Transformation Programme (NTP), a roadmap designed to spearhead the nation’s transition towards high income status by 2020. Prior to PEMANDU, Dato’ Sri Idris was the CEO of Malaysia Airlines, and also held various senior positions in the Shell Group for 23 years.

On top of his role in Pemandu, he currently serves as the non-executive co-Chairman of Sunway Group, the Chairman of Heineken Malaysia, and the pro-Chancellor of Sunway University. Dato’ Sri Idris also lectures annually at Harvard University under the Harvard Ministerial Programme, continuously sharing his secrets for effective transformation to Ministers and CEOs worldwide today.

After more than a decade in broadcast television with TV3 Malaysia and CNBC, Keith dived into the intersections of technology, gaming and consumer tech services, in marketing and business development roles with multinationals, SMEs and start-ups. He is the Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Publishing for games company GCL Global and an international news presenter for CNA.

A visionary and accomplished Managing Director with an illustrious career spanning more than twenty years, excelling in international management within a European multinational company in the medical industry across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania. A trailblazing leader with a remarkable track record of spearheading innovative projects, extending well beyond healthcare, into the realms of sustainability and climate action, and smart city development. Renowned for an unwavering dedication to cultivating strategic alliances among industry titans from Spain, Malaysia, and various other nations. Distinguished by an exceptional aptitude for steering and actively contributing to the advancement of smart city initiatives, ushering in a new era of urban innovation and progress.

Fabian Bigar assumed the role of CEO at MyDIGITAL Corporation 19 April 2021 overseeing the implementation of the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint (MDEB) and the National Fourth Industrial Revolution Policy. MyDIGITAL Corporation is the secretariat for the National Digital Economy and 4IR Council (MED4IRN), chaired by the Prime Minister. Concurrently Fabian is the Head of the Malaysia Centre for 4IR, a collaboration between the Malaysian government and the World Economic Forum. His previous roles include Undersecretary for Policy, Ministry of Health, Director Civil Service Delivery Unit in the Prime Minister's Department, Director Performance Management and Delivery Unit (PEMANDU) and a brief assignment with the Presidential Delivery Bureau in Tanzania. Fabian holds a BSc. from Case Western Reserve University and a Masters in Public Policy from the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

Zakaria Polit is the Head of Technology Services for Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation since 2021 and has been in the IT industry for almost 20 years.