MODERATORS & SPEAKERS

• 
  Ms April Chin Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer,
  Resaro (Singapore)
  

  Ms April Chin

  Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer, Resaro (Singapore)

  Ms April Chin serves as the Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer (Singapore) at Resaro, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) assurance company specialising in independent, third-party testing of mission-critical AI systems.

  Ms Chin's commitment to Responsible AI began in 2019 at BasisAI, where she played a pivotal role in driving the adoption of governance-by-deployment approaches in AI solutions among enterprises. She has also led multidisciplinary initiatives on the operationalisation of AI governance frameworks into executable processes for business and technology teams.

  Drawing from over a decade of experience as a former Singapore Administrative Service officer, Ms Chin has collaborated closely with senior government officials and C-suite leaders to shape future-ready policies that are anchored on governance principles. As a thought leader in this field, she shares her expertise as a Futures Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and as an Advisor-Expert at the Chandler Institute of Governance.

• 
  Dr Todd Citron Chief Technology Officer,
  The Boeing Company (USA)
  

  Dr Todd Citron

  Chief Technology Officer, The Boeing Company (USA)

  Dr Todd Citron is Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of The Boeing Company as well as a member of the company’s Executive Council.

  Dr Citron is responsible for developing and executing Boeing’s global technology strategy. This includes running a 5000-person organisation comprising Boeing Research & Technology, AvionX and Aurora Flight Sciences that helps to create the future for Boeing by developing and transitioning critical technologies, delivering ground-breaking products, and providing daily programme execution support across Boeing. These global teams work in five US and seven international research centres.

  Dr Citron also has engineering oversight over Boeing subsidiary Wisk and joint venture SkyGrid that are shaping the next generation of advanced air mobility. In addition, he is responsible for co-leading Boeing’s venture capital partnership with AEI, HorizonX.

• 
  LG(Armament) Gaël Diaz De Tuesta National Armament Director,
  International Directorate for Cooperation and Export of the Directorate General of Armament (France)
  

  LG(Armament) Gaël Diaz De Tuesta

  National Armament Director, International Directorate for Cooperation and Export of the Directorate General of Armament (France)

  LG(Armament) Gaël Diaz De Tuesta joined the Directorate General of Armament (DGA) - an entity of the French Ministry for Armed Forces, in charge of defence procurement, preparation of the future of defence systems and promotion of exports and cooperations in the armament sector - in 1999.

  From 2003 to 2007, LG(Armament) Diaz De Tuesta was the technical manager of the Rafale programme and he was responsible for the qualification of Rafale Standard F2. In 2007, he was appointed advisor to the Minister of Health, Youth and Sports. From 2010 to 2015, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary under the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security, an entity under the aegis of the Prime Minister. He was in charge of the French interagency coordination regarding weapons of mass destruction proliferation and its associated international coordination. Between 2015 to 2019, he took on the roles of Head of the Western Europe Cooperation Division and Defence Equipment Attaché at the French Embassy in London. As the direct representative of the DGA in the UK, his main duty was to support the French Ambassador in the Franco-British armament cooperation.

  In 2019, LG(Armament) Diaz De Tuesta was appointed Director of Western Europe and Northern America within the International Directorate of the DGA where he defined and implemented the French international armament policy with Western European and Northern American partners. He acts as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization International Cooperation Director and he is the French representative to the Executive Committee of the Letter of Intent community.

  LG(Armament) Diaz De Tuesta became Director of the International Directorate for Cooperation and Export of the DGA in September 2022.

  LG(Armament) Diaz De Tuesta is a graduate of the Ecole polytechnique and the Ecole nationale supérieure de l’aéronautique et de l’espace (SUPAERO). He also graduated from the French War College in 2010. Married and father of two children, LG(Armament) Diaz De Tuesta was appointed Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honor in 2018 and Officer of the National Order of Merit in 2022.

• 
  Dr He Ruimin Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer,
  Ministry of Digital Development and Information (Singapore)
  

  Dr He Ruimin

  Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, Ministry of Digital Development and Information (Singapore)

  Dr He Ruimin is the Chief Artificial Intelligence (AI) Officer and Deputy Chief Digital Technology Officer at the Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information. Dr He is also a member of the United Nations High Level Advisory Body on AI.

  Dr He has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Science and Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Economics, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• 
  Mr Rodrigo Liang Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer,
  SambaNova Systems (USA)
  

  Mr Rodrigo Liang

  Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, SambaNova Systems (USA)

  Mr Rodrigo Liang is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of SambaNova, a company that has revolutionised the Artificial Intelligence (AI) landscape since its inception in 2017. With a bold mission to democratise access to AI in the enterprise, SambaNova has successfully bridged the gap between cutting-edge technology and accessibility, empowering companies of every size to harness the power of AI with its comprehensive full-stack offering. This groundbreaking approach, which includes the world's most efficient chips, systems, and software, is a direct result of the pioneering work done by Mr Liang and his co-founders and Stanford professors, Kunle Olukotun and Chris Ré, at the esteemed Stanford AI Lab.

  Born in Taipei, Taiwan, and raised in Brazil, Mr Liang's diverse cultural background has been a driving force behind SambaNova's innovative spirit. Its name, which in Portuguese translates to "New Dance", symbolises the company's commitment to innovation and disruption in the AI space.

• 
  Mr Andy Lowery Chief Executive Officer,
  Epirus, Inc. (USA)
  

  Mr Andy Lowery

  Chief Executive Officer, Epirus, Inc. (USA)

  Mr Andy Lowery is a proven entrepreneurial, corporate and military leader, having served more than 30 years in a wide spectrum of demanding US domestic and global roles. As Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Epirus, Inc., Mr Lowery leads a team pioneering cutting-edge directed energy systems.

  Mr Lowery is a recognised thought leader in the application of technology across industry. Prior to Epirus, he held various roles at high-tech start-ups such as Co-Founder and CEO of RealWear, Inc., the world leader of industrial head-up-display wearable systems and Co-Founder of Daqri, where he pioneered mixed reality wearables for enterprise applications.

  From 2008 to 2014, Mr Lowery worked in various roles at Raytheon including Business Area Chief Engineer for Electronic Warfare Systems. He also previously led M/A-COM’s high-power amplifier products from 2004 to 2008.

  Mr Lowery is a retired Lieutenant Commander from the US Navy and holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

• 
  Mr Alex Moore Partner,
  8VC (USA)
  

  Mr Alex Moore

  Partner, 8VC (USA)

  Mr Alex Moore focuses on incubating companies through 8VC’s Build Program, Defense, building talent networks and fundamental operational support for the portfolio. Mr Moore also focuses on enterprise and seed-stage investments.

  Prior to joining 8VC, Mr Moore was a start-up operator for 12 years. He was the first employee and Director of Operations at Palantir Technologies, building the team from one room to 350 people, with US$100 million in sales.

  Mr Moore co-founded Backplane, a social media analytics company, and NodePrime, a cloud automation company which was acquired by Ericsson in 2016. Following his operator career, he invested in over 50 seed-stage companies.

  Mr Moore sits on the boards of Palantir, Epirus, Premise Data, Nylas, Standard Metrics, Anduin Transactions, FieldGuide, Chaos Industries, and Saronic. Mr Moore graduated from Stanford University in 2005 with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

• 
  Mr Bertrand Rondepierre General Manager,
  Agency for Artificial Intelligence in Defence (France)
  

  Mr Bertrand Rondepierre

  General Manager, Agency for Artificial Intelligence in Defence (France)

  Mr Bertrand Rondepierre is General Manager for the Agency for Artificial Intelligence in Defence. He leads the execution of the Ministry's Artificial lntelligence (AI) strategy and is responsible for ensuring the acceleration of Al deployment at scale, from weapon systems and operational superiority up to everyday use cases.

  From 2018 to 2023, Mr Rondepierre was programme manager at Google, first within the Europe Research teams during Google Research's expansion in Europe. He then joined Google's Brain team at the forefront of Al Research and managed a portfolio involving process optimisation, research impact measurement as well as research projects in the early days of Generative Al. Before leaving Google, he worked on the Google DeepMind merger and ended up as programme lead of the Al for future product portfolio under Zoubin Ghahramani.

  Prior to joining Google, from 2017 to 2018, Mr Rondepierre worked with Cédric Villani, a member of French Parliament tasked by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to design and write down a strategy to get France to be a leader in Al. He is one of the authors of the report Al for Humanity that led to President Emmanuel Macron's national Al strategy from 2018 to 2024.

  Mr Rondepierre graduated from Ecole polytechnique and holds both an engineering degree from Télécom Paris and a master's degree from Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris-Saclay, in applied mathematics and machine learning.

• 
  LG(Ret) John Shanahan Adjunct Senior Fellow,
  Technology and National Security Program,
  Center for a New American Security (USA)
  

  LG(Ret) John Shanahan

  Adjunct Senior Fellow, Technology and National Security Program, Center for a New American Security (USA)

  LG(Ret) John Shanahan retired from the United States Air Force in 2020 after a 36-year military career. In his final assignment, he served as the inaugural Director of the US Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center.

  LG Shanahan served in operational and staff positions in various fields including flying, intelligence, policy, and command and control. He commanded at the squadron, group, wing, Agency, and Numbered Air Force levels. As the first Director of the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (Project Maven), LG Shanahan established and led DoD’s pathfinder Artificial Intelligence (AI) fielding programme charged with bringing AI capabilities to intelligence collection and analysis.

  LG Shanahan graduated from the North Carolina State University Master of International Studies programme in 2022. He is Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Center for a New American Security Technology and National Security Program. He serves on a variety of AI-related committees, boards, and advisory groups, and as a consultant on the use of AI-enabled technologies for national security.

• 
  Ms Clementine Starling Director,
  Forward Defense Program,
  Atlantic Council (USA)
  

  Ms Clementine Starling

  Director, Forward Defense Program, Atlantic Council (USA)

  Ms Clementine Starling is the director of the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense Program and a resident fellow at the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security. She leads a team of nine staff and 40 fellows, shaping research on US defence strategies, particularly regarding China, Russia, space security, and emerging technologies.

  Before launching Forward Defense, Ms Starling was deputy director of the Atlantic Council’s Transatlantic Security team, focusing on European security and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). She contributed to NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division during key summits and managed Atlantic Council Task Forces on US military posture in Europe and defence innovation.

  Ms Starling has authored numerous reports on US space strategy and coalition warfare, with her insights featured in outlets like Defense One, NATO’s Joint Air & Space Power Conference, and National Public Radio. She was named the 2022 Herbert Roback scholar by the US National Academy of Public Administration and served as a 2020 Security and Defense fellow at Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.

  Originally from the UK, Ms Starling worked in the UK Parliament on technology, defence, Middle East security, and Ukraine. She holds a Bachelor of Science in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University.

• 
  VADM Carsten Stawitzki Director-General for Armament,
  German Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)
  

  VADM Carsten Stawitzki

  Director-General for Armament, German Federal Ministry of Defence (Germany)

  VADM Carsten Stawitzki joined the German Navy in 1995. He served as a naval engineering officer on submarines and as a propulsion officer and naval engineering officer on the Bremen-class frigate. He studied electrical engineering at the University of the German Armed Forces in Hamburg.

  From 1998 to 2000, VADM Stawitzki completed the 40th Admiral Staff Course at the Command and Staff College in Hamburg. VADM Stawitzki also took on other important roles after sea, including the role of adjutant to various Federal Ministers of Defense, North Atlantic Treaty Organization assignments and posts in the German Federal Ministry of Defense. He was also a lecturer at the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College, commander of the Mürwik Naval School and the Bundeswehr Command and Staff College.

  VADM Stawitzki has been head of the Armaments Department at the German Federal Ministry of Defence since 2018.

HEAR FROM PAST PARTICIPANTS

The international participation gives you a chance to hear a lot of different perspectives on things, and we addressed some very topical and important issues here. I thoroughly enjoyed attending this conference – it’s why I’m back.

Honorable Frank Kendall III Secretary,
U.S. Air Force (USA)

I’d like to recommend others to join the tech summit because we are talking about bridging the gap and breaking down silos. And to do those things we need to get together, to understand each other, and exchange ideas.

Dr Ee-Eul Kim President and Chief Executive Officer,
Satrec Initiative (Republic of Korea)

I really valued having a diversity of opinions from people from different nations all being present together in one place. With that, you get that exchange of ideas that you wouldn’t otherwise obtain. This is fundamental to making the world a much safer and more secure place.

Dr Dale Lambert Former Chief of Information Sciences Division,
Defence Science and Technology Group, Department of Defence (Australia)

I’ve been involved in all the tech summits, and this is the biggest one that I have experienced so far. There is greater engagement from the defence industry, government, and academia, to understand each other and exchange viewpoints.

Dr Michael Raska Assistant Professor and Coordinator for Military Transformation Programme,
S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (Singapore)

The commentary here is just a very mature understanding of where I think we are in looking at technology for the defence sector, but also an understanding of practitioners, who both understand the technology and understand the national security sector and how we’re applying both of those. It’s been a wonderful experience to see both of those types of people come together.

Mr David Spirk Senior Counselor,
Palantir Technologies (USA)

The biggest key takeaway (from the summit) is that we need to come together as partners, both within our industries, across industries, across sectors, but even more importantly, across countries. It is only together that we can ensure that (the world) is safe and inclusive for everybody.

Ms Lila Tretikov Former Deputy Chief Technology Officer,
Microsoft Corporation (USA)

I have to say that DSTA is the world champion in connecting people. We had excellent discussions, and obviously we are in a time where discussion is needed around defence.

Mr Marcel ‘Otto’ Yon Partner and Founder,
innovation@scale and Freedom Fund (Germany)