Join the PR, comms, and marketing leaders turning data into direction at our flagship event in New York City.

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Real stories from the brands and leaders getting it right.

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Plain-English answers on AI visibility and generative search.

Make sense of AI

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One flagship in New York City. Two stops on tour in Asia and London. Pick your city. We’ll bring the insights.

Hurry and purchase your early-bird tickets before January 31st 2027 to save $400!

Key Takeaways from Meltwater Summit 2026: Day 1

Key Takeaways from Meltwater Summit on Tour: Asia

Key Takeaways from Meltwater Summit on Tour: London

Explore Meltwater Summit 2027 events, connect with communications and marketing leaders, and choose the Summit city for you.

Meltwater Summit 2027

Two days in NYC to hear from the brands getting it right.

Pre register your interest and recap the 2026 event.

From New York to London to Asia, hear from the brands and leaders shaping PR, comms and marketing. Real stories, plans you can borrow and ideas you can use at work.

Explore speakers across Meltwater Summits and discover communications, PR, and marketing leaders redefining what comes next.

Meltwater Summit Speakers

Explore our speakers across all of our Summits

Summit

United States

CEO & Founder

Chief Marketing & Communications Officer

Eric Ryan is Vice President of Corporate Communications at NASCAR where he oversees internal and external communications strategy and execution for America’s top motorsport.  Based in Daytona Beach, FL, he leads teams responsible for building strong employee and fan engagement through impactful storytelling and differentiated earned media opportunities that support and accelerate the growth of the company. NASCAR Communications is focused on delivering results that create excitement, welcome a globally diverse community of fans and drive NASCAR’s vision to produce the most compelling racing in the world.

Prior to that, Eric has served in leadership roles at Nike, AT&T and the New York Stock Exchange. He has managed teams responsible for the planning and execution of communications initiatives across a range of business segments and strategic imperatives, including financial and executive communications.

Eric earned a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Boston College in 2001.  He has also served on several boards related to serving youth in education, sports and careers in Communications.  Eric currently lives in Orlando, FL with his wife and two sons.

VP, Corporate Communications

Hilary Smith is the Executive Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility for NBCUniversal. She is responsible for leading NBCUniversal’s global social impact strategy, philanthropic investments, and employee volunteer programs. In this capacity, she also works closely with business leaders throughout the company on important CSR initiatives in each division. Additionally, Smith oversees NBCUniversal’s award-winning public service announcement campaign, "The More You Know" and the company's social impact storytelling initiative "The Creative Impact Lab." She is also on the board of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation as well as a member of the national boards of The Center for Communications and BuildOn. Smith serves on the advisory board for the USC Annenberg School Center for Public Relations and is a member of Fast Company’s Impact Council.

EVP, Corporate Social Responsibility

Barbara Peng is CEO of Business Insider, the popular and influential global news brand that focuses on business, technology, and innovation. Since becoming President of Business Insider in 2021, Peng has built a strong senior executive team and refined the brand’s strategy to refocus on the company’s ambitious, optimistic, and curious core audience. Peng was previously President of Insider Intelligence, the company’s paid research division, where she led the company’s merger with eMarketer, the renowned provider of digital intelligence and forecasts. Peng graduated from MIT and lives in New York City.

Senior Manager, Research & Insights

Zaria Parvez leads social strategy, community management, and creator partnerships across all major social platforms as the global social media manager at Duolingo. As a direct result of Zaria's work on Duolingo's TikTok strategy and execution, the channel grew from 50K followers in September 2021 to 6.3M followers today and was recently recognized as one of AdAge’s Top 5 Brand TikTok accounts. 

The Duolingo TikTok has 143 viral videos (view counts of 1M or higher) due to Zaria’s creativity. What started as a test-and-learn initiative has become Duolingo's most successful social buzz and word of mouth initiative to date – all because of Zaria's insights, instincts, and expertise. More broadly, Zaria is a role model for a new, diverse class of Gen Z social media talent and has proven what's possible when given creative freedom and trust in the work she does. Since her time at Duolingo, Zaria has been named AdAge Social Marketer of the Year 2021, Adweek Creative 100 and Forbes 30 under 30.

Global Social Media Manager

Reaching audiences where they are is what Brittany does.

As the lead of NASA’s Digital & Technology Division, it's her job to translate what's new in space exploration into engaging, easy-to-understand content for the general public.

Brittany executed communications plans for the launch of the first spacecraft on a mission to “touch” the Sun, the launch and landing of the Perseverance Mars rover, the first powered and controlled flight on another planet, the first U.S. mission to collect a sample from an asteroid, tours of NASA centers with digital content creators, sending a hip-hop song to deep space for the first time and countless other events that brought awe and wonder to audiences worldwide.

With nearly two decades of communication expertise, she has led marketing, social media, and public affairs strategies for both the U.S. Army and National Public Radio. Driven by her passion for educating others, Brittany developed a social media management certificate program at Georgetown University, where she serves as an adjunct instructor. When not leading out-of-this world activations, Brittany spends her time doing community service, traveling, attending concerts, collecting physical media, and exploring museums.

Director, Digital and Technology Division

Actor, Producer, and Entrepreneur

Palmer Houchins is VP of Marketing at G2, the world’s largest and most trusted data source for B2B software. Before G2, Palmer led marketing at CallRail, a category-leading martech startup. Prior to CallRail, he was an early employee at Mailchimp, where he worked in a variety of different marketing roles, most recently serving as director of integrated marketing — leading a channel strategy team that was responsible for all of Mailchimp’s advertising, social media, email, and events marketing.

Vice President of Marketing

Sarah is a communications leader with a unique blend of strategy, analytics, and operations expertise. She is known for closing critical gaps in the industry, where data and operational rigor are often underutilized to drive communications effectiveness. After nearly a decade at Edelman Data & Intelligence, Sarah built McDonald’s first global, in-house Communications Measurement & Insights team. She now leads Strategy, Insights & Operations, modernizing the function and connecting communications to business outcomes. Sarah holds an Executive MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and is recognized for advancing data-driven transformation that enables organizations to deliver measurable impact.

Head of Communications Strategy, Insights, and Operations

Gina Kleiner is a New York–based product marketing executive who specializes in bringing complex marketing technologies to market. She leads Product Marketing for LinkedIn Ads, where she partners across product, sales, and executive teams to shape go‑to‑market strategy and translate innovation into measurable business impact.

With more than a decade of experience at Nielsen prior to LinkedIn, Gina helped define industry‑standard measurement solutions and advised some of the world’s largest marketers on how to navigate shifts in data, targeting, and analytics. Her career has centered on helping businesses understand and adopt emerging technology, and she is passionate about elevating product marketing as a strategic growth driver.

Gina is equally committed to developing exceptional talent and building collaborative, high‑performing teams. Outside of work, she enjoys life in New York City with her husband and three children.

Senior Director, Product Marketing

Actress, Producer, and Founder of Hello Sunshine

Mary Ann Belliveau is Vice President of Large Customer Sales for North America at Reddit, overseeing the team that works closely with Fortune 500 Companies and their agency partners to develop creative, scalable and impactful marketing strategies. She is a digital media veteran, with 20+ years of business development and operational experience, specializing in developing sales, organizational and operational strategies for companies. Prior to Reddit, Mary Ann spent four years at Twitter, as a Managing Director for Large Customer Sales. She also spent 10+ years at Google where she was a founding member of Google's Industry Development and Marketing Team and hired many of Google's sales and business leaders. . Mary Ann holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Fordham University.  In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and diving into her favorite Reddit community, r/houseplants.

VP of Large Customer Sales of North America

Sawyer Hemsley is not your typical entrepreneur—he’s a branding junkie, a design aficionado, a dog dad, and the co-founder of Crumbl, one of the fastest-growing dessert brands in the country. With an innate knack for storytelling and a deep love for creating unforgettable brand experiences, Sawyer has turned a college side hustle into a nationwide dessert empire.

A proud graduate of Utah State University, Sawyer earned a degree in Communications with a dual minor in Multimedia and Marketing—an education that fueled his obsession with consumer psychology, digital engagement, and crafting brands that people can’t stop talking about. While most college students were worried about finals, Sawyer was busy perfecting the ultimate cookie recipe, refining a sleek pink-box aesthetic, and dreaming up a brand that would change the way people experience desserts.

With his signature mix of creativity and strategic thinking, Sawyer has helped Crumbl skyrocket to over 1100 locations, building an ever-loyal fanbase and setting social media on fire with viral-worthy flavors and content. But for him, it’s never just been about the cookies—it’s about the experience, the storytelling, and the emotion behind every bite. Whether it’s the scent of fresh-baked nostalgia, the iconic pink branding, or the shared joy of a Crumbl box landing in someone’s hands, Sawyer understands the magic of a great brand and how to make it stick.

Beyond the world of dessert, Sawyer is a firm believer in pushing creative boundaries and building a brand that feels authentic, engaging, and downright fun. He’s passionate about all things design—whether it’s the perfect packaging, an immersive in-store experience, or the art of a well-crafted Instagram feed. And when he’s not brainstorming the next big Crumbl moment, you’ll find him hanging out with his pups, traveling for design inspo, or sipping on an iced drink while sketching out his next brand idea.

Sawyer is here to talk about the power of branding, why experience is everything, and how to build something people truly love. Get ready for an inside look at the sweet journey of Crumbl—and some seriously good vibes along the way.

Co-Founder and CBO

Bjorn Trowery is an experienced communications professional, having guided storytelling for some of the most well-known companies globally. Bjorn is head of consumer communications at Yelp, where he and his team spotlight the ways Yelp helps people make meaningful connections with the local businesses in their communities.

Previously, Bjorn was Brand Communications lead at Meta, where he drove consumer comms for Meta’s brand and marketing campaigns, including the Super Bowl, Olympics, Black creator program, company rebrand and more. Prior to Meta, Bjorn led consumer comms and served as a spokesperson at Heineken USA and Toys“R”Us Inc., and began his career at Edelman NY.

 Bjorn holds a degree in public relations from Penn State University and calls Oakland, CA home.

Head of Consumer Communications

NASA Astronaut, Harvard-Trained Physician & Former U.S. Navy SEAL

As the Sr Director of Innovation for Sparkling Flavors at the Coca-Cola Company, Marusia Diaz is responsible for developing the end-to-end innovation pipelines for Global Brands like Sprite and Fanta. She consistently seeks ways to use innovation to create relevant experiences for consumers at a global level that spark sharable content.

Sr Director of Innovation

A seasoned communications leader with 20 years of experience working with and alongside some of the world's most iconic brands. Melissa has a passion for storytelling and creating meaningful consumer connections, blending strategic vision, creative direction, and analytical insight to drive impactful corporate and marketing communications. Currently, Melissa leads global communications for Crocs, Inc., including the Crocs and HEYDUDE brands, overseeing external and internal communications, crisis management, corporate reputation, and employee engagement. Prior to Crocs, Inc., Melissa pioneered influencer marketing initiatives for top consumer brands within the archs of Coty, Unilever, and Constellation Brands. An avid sports fan, during her time at McDonald's Corporation she led 360-degree globally integrated marketing communications programs on some of the world’s biggest stages, including the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. In her free time, you can find Melissa on any number of mountainous adventures with her husband and two dogs.

VP, Global Communications

Andrew Peterson is the Head of the Creator Economy Ecosystem at YouTube, where he oversees partnerships with organizations that are critical to enabling the creator economy to thrive.

In his role, Andrew and his team work with creator service providers, talent representatives and the influencer marketing agencies that support the next generation of independent content creators through to the largest media and entertainment partners globally to make YouTube a meaningful and sustainable part of their business.

Having worked at YouTube for almost a decade, Andrew first led YouTube’s sport business in the Asia Pacific, establishing YouTube as the home of highlights in the region as well as bringing live sports to the platform for the first time. For the past 6 and a half years, Andrew was the Head of YouTube in Canada where he grew the YouTube creator economy to contribute $1.8B annually to Canada’s GDP, support over 35K full time jobs, forged new content partnerships as well as viewer experiences and was recognized by The Hollywood Reporter as one of Canada’s Top 25 Entertainment Dealmakers and Decision-Makers.

Prior to YouTube, Andrew worked at Universal Music for 5 years building their content creation and monetization division in the Asia Pacific as the industry pivoted from an ownership to access commercial model as well as 8 years at an Australian broadcaster as a producer on some of the highest rated shows in the country.

Head of Creator Economy Ecosystem

Lloyd D’Souza is the SVP, Global Head of Central Video at Condé Nast. In this role he oversees Global Commercial Video (embedded in Condé Nast Commercial Creative), Consumer Revenue Video, Editorial Video Operations, Live Video and New Development for all markets across the Condé Nast portfolio. Prior to Condé Nast, D’Souza was the Executive Producer and Creative Director at Vox Creative/Vox Media where he launched The Explainer Studio for Brands. 

D’Souza has over 20 years of production and development experience that spans feature film development and screenwriting to commercial production and direction. As a business leader he has consulted with sports agencies and media companies on content strategy and operating models as well as founded an L.A. based production studio that managed a roster of talent, contributing to work that garnered three Cannes Lions. In his current role, Lloyd guides a team that actively works with editorial leaders to support content strategy across all video platforms through creative execution and operational efficiency for commercial, consumer and audience growth.

SVP Global Central Video

Head of Content + AI

Jerrod Lew is a dynamic content creator and communications professional specializing in social media intelligence and online reputation management. As Manager of Crisis and Issues, he has led the development of global crisis frameworks and online risk monitoring processes for over 7 years. Beyond his role, Jerrod hones his skills in social media safety, video, and art to empower others with insights to navigate challenging online spaces.

Manager of Crisis and Issues

Ana is Vice President for Global External Communications for Mars, Incorporated at their global headquarters in McLean, VA.

Mars, is a global, family-owned business, with a diverse and expanding portfolio of veterinary health services, pet care products and quality snacking and food, employing more than 170,000 Associates and with revenues over $65 billion.

VP Global External Communications

Dr. Carmen Simon is a cognitive neuroscientist and Chief Science Officer at Enhancive, an agency that helps customers create memorable communication based on how the brain works. Her most popular books on customers’ attention and memory are called Impossible to Ignore and Made You Look. Dr. Simon also teaches several courses at Stanford University on how to create messages on memory and decision science. After all, what’s the use of memory if people do nothing with it?

Cognitive Neuroscientist and Chief Science Officer

Ching Yee Wong is the Vice President, Communications, of Marriott International, Asia Pacific excluding China. She oversees the communications strategy and reputation for Marriott International’s portfolio of brands and Marriott Bonvoy across the region. Ching Yee and her team also drive internal communications to further strengthen Marriott’s People First culture through strategic associate engagement.

Ching Yee is a senior Brand and PR leader with more than two decades of communications experience, having worked with global technology and media companies such as Netflix and Instagram across the Asia-Pacific region.

VP, Communications, APEC

A lawyer by education from India, Pras pursued his Masters in International Relations in Japan and the United States. Thereafter, he spent his initial career as an in-house legal advisor and a management consultant in Japan and Australia, prior to joining Toyota.

For over two decades, he has been in Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, Europe, and now Thailand and Singapore, overseeing functions, including Human Resources, Accounting & Finance, Global External Affairs, Corporate Planning, Production Control and Logistics.

Currently, as Executive Vice President of the People & Business Transformation Group in Toyota’s Regional Headquarters, he has responsibility for the company’s roadmap towards Carbon Neutrality, Digital and People Transformation across the Asia region. To fulfil this role, he leads the external and environmental affairs, human resources, information systems and new mobility business for Toyota’s operations in Asia. He is also the Chief Information Security Officer for the region.

Additionally, Pras holds the responsibility of Executive Program Director for the Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) across the Asia-Pacific Region. In a world with mounting mobility challenges, TMF was set up to use Toyota’s know-how in partnership with like-minded innovative stakeholders to address the mobility issues of tomorrow, today.

Executive Vice President

Madhurjya Banerjee, known as Banjo in global marketing circles, is a Senior Global Brand Director at Unilever and a leading voice in AI‑led marketing transformation. With over 19 years across iconic FMCG brands including Knorr, Lifebuoy, and Pepsodent, he has consistently operated at the intersection of brand growth, societal impact, large-scale behaviour changes, and technology.

 Today, Banjo leads global marketing strategy for Pepsodent, where he is reimagining creativity and content at scale, modernizing market research and insight systems using AI, and building brands fit for algorithmic environments. An AI optimist and operator, he champions human–machine creativity to drive speed, relevance, and effectiveness across complex global systems.

A passionate coach to young leaders and startups, Banjo focuses on shaping the next generation of modern brand builders.

Senior Global Brand Director - Oral Care

Lavinia Rajaram is an experienced senior communications leader, having overseen the corporate communications, brand communications and reputation management function across broad geographies for large international companies. She is an experienced media spokesperson, with strong team leadership experience, and understands the need for communications teams to show their value by being actively and deeply involved in business decisions. She also has strong executive experience, regularly briefing and engaging senior executives on media, issues management and reputation.

Lavinia was awarded Public Relations Profession and Brand Champion of the Year in 2022 by Marketing Interactive Media, a leading trade publication covering regional marketing, advertising and communications industry. She was also presented with the Asia’s Greatest CMO award, as part of Asia One’s annual ‘Pride of Asia’ series in 2019. She currently serves as a Communications representative on the Asia Travel Technology Industry Association (ATTIA) and is an active representative for Expedia Group at the US-Asean Business Council mission meetings in the region.

Lavinia is Malaysian born, currently resides in Sydney, and is a permanent resident of Australia after spending more than 12 years in Singapore holding communications functions for Microsoft, Dentsu Aegis Network and currently with Expedia Group.

Asia Head of Public Relations

Zeeshan Khan is Head of Marketing at LEGOLAND Malaysia Resort, where he leads integrated marketing across brand, digital commerce, CRM, PR, partnerships, and loyalty for the resort, with a strong focus on translating strategy into measurable business outcomes such as attendance growth and visitor engagement. He brings over 20 years of experience across theme parks, tourism, telecom, and global media agencies, including roles at Carat, Mindshare, Publicis and Telenor Pakistan.

Head of Marketing

Ling currently leads Social and Media for CHAGEE across APAC, driving social regional strategy and growth. With over 17 years in the industry, she is passionate about shaping brands that connect meaningfully with communities. She began her career at Publicis as a strategic planner, and previously served as Head of Marketing and Digital at Subway APAC and Director of Brand Communications for Sportswear and Training at adidas China, leading integrated campaigns and cross-functional initiatives.

Head of Social and Media, APAC

Jam Muñasque Henares is a leader who has honed strategic execution through over a decade of both regional and local experience. Her roles in FMCG, beauty, and wellness across Asia Pacific have covered brand strategy, award-winning localized campaigns, and digital transformation. She has held marketing leadership roles at Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, and Healthy Options. Today, she is the Brand and Revenue Director at Belo Medical Group, a leading aesthetic clinic in the Philippines, where she drives initiatives across brand building and commercial growth.

Brand & Revenue Director

Lauren Myers Cavanagh is Head of Communications for Microsoft in Asia. In this role, Lauren focuses on understanding the implications of AI for the field of communications and helping explain AI to the world. Before joining Microsoft, Lauren led communications for Twitter in Asia, where the focus was on protecting the company’s corporate and social licence to operate while growing audience and revenue across more than a dozen markets. Prior to Twitter, Lauren spent six years at Edelman in a range of roles, including Director of Communications & Special Projects for Asia Pacific, and previously served as Chief of Staff to Edelman’s UK CEO. Lauren began her career in government, working with Michel Barnier during his time as Commissioner for the European Single Market.

Head of Communications, Asia

Alyce is an APAC B2B marketing leader who turns complex technology into clear narratives that drive adoption and growth. Over 12+ years spanning SaaS and ad-tech, Alyce has led teams and go-to-market programs across product marketing, customer marketing, and lifecycle adoption in diverse APAC markets, translating global strategy into regionally credible execution. She operate comfortably at two altitudes: shaping the strategy and operating model, then shipping with cross-functional teams to deliver business outcomes.

Senior Manager, Global B2B Marketing

Sammy Elazab is Senior Client Partner, Southeast Asia Lead at Reddit, where he partners with brands and agencies across the region to harness the power of communities, turning authentic human conversations into measurable business impact.

With more than 20 years of experience across APAC and the UK, Sammy has built and scaled high-performing teams, launched new markets and driven commercial growth for global organisations including Reddit, Teleperformance, Samsung Ads, and LinkedIn. His expertise spans go-to-market strategy, leadership and business transformation, with a track record of helping organisations grow with discipline and speed in fast-moving industries.

A firm believer that the best marketing starts with genuinely understanding people, Sammy is passionate about helping brands move beyond demographics to tap into real human insight, building strategies rooted in trust, relevance, and authentic connection. 

That same philosophy shapes his coaching-led, people-first approach to leadership.  As an ICF ACC-certified coach, Sammy creates teams where performance, inclusion, and trust reinforce each other, believing that sustainable results come from empowering individuals, fostering genuine collaboration, and keeping people at the centre of every decision.

Senior Client Partner

Manoj Damodaran is a global marketing leader with 18+ years of experience across media, advertising, digital transformation and business growth. At TikTok, he leads a Global Marketing team within Global Business Marketing, working with sales and cross-functional teams to accelerate agency adoption and unlock new advertiser growth.

Previously, Manoj spent more than 17 years in leading media and creative agencies, most recently as Vice President at EssenceMediacom/WPP Media. He has also held leadership roles at Wavemaker, Ogilvy, Havas across various Asia Pacific markets.

With experience spanning both the agency and platform sides of the advertising ecosystem, Manoj brings a cross-market perspective on how technology, creativity, media and changing consumer behaviours are reshaping marketing.

Global Head of Agency Acquisition Marketing

With over 20 years of experience spanning startups, Enterprise IT firms, and his current role as Head of Analytics, Data & Measurement at Google Singapore, Neel Murty acts as the vital connective tissue between marketing rigor and technical execution. He helps brands navigate the complex shift to privacy-safe measurement and AI-driven cloud agents. By correlating social listening with hard conversion metrics, Neel empowers marketing professionals to prove the concrete ROI of their campaigns. Beyond his work at Google, he is a frequent industry speaker, a Guest Speaker at NUS, and has served as a Council Co-Lead for the IAB Measurement Leadership Board, where he is dedicated to elevating conversations on AI, privacy, and consumer trust.

Head of Data, Measurement & Analytics

Brian is the lead client counsellor on AI and data analytics for We. Communications, a global independent integrated communications agency operating across 11 owned markets. 

His day-to-day includes three main areas: AI workflow transformation (Ex. Amazon, Adobe, Microsoft), AI training & enablement (HEINEKEN, Johnson & Johnson, Salesforce), and innovation pilots (Abbott, Tencent). 

His team runs We.’s global research studies Brands in Motion and Future of Communications. Brian is regular speaker at communications industry conferences (WARC, PRCA, ICCO, MarTech Summit, Mumbrella). 

Previously, Brian held regional strategy and creative roles with Weber Shandwick (Interpublic) and Ketchum (Omnicom) while working across New York, London, and Sydney. 

Brian holds both a Masters in Public Relations and undergraduate degrees in English and Philosophy from the University of Maryland (USA).  

Managing Director, AI & Data Advisors

Manisha Seewal is the Group President of Redhill Communications Pte Ltd - world’s second fastest growing PR agency (PRovoke 2023 rankings) with offices in over 20 countries. She oversees the agency’s global business functions, operations, revenue and profitability. She has 20 years of Marketing experience ranging from Advertising, Banking, Insurtech, start-ups and marketplaces.  In her last role she was the Chief Marketing Officer of eBay’s 3 portfolio companies in Australia - Gumtree, Carsguide and Autotrader where she led the digital transformation of the entire Marketing and Editorial function for the three brands. 

Prior to that she was the Group Chief Marketing Officer of Southeast Asia’s largest Unicorn car marketplace CARRO. 

Manisha is a leader in the Digital Transformation space. She has led several “Singapore’s first” digital transformation initiatives, which includes Singapore’s first “Netflix for Cars”- a car subscription-based service and Singapore’s first ChatBot from a life insurer. She has been featured in top media like Channel News Asia, Business Times, Techerati, Spotify Podcasts, Marketing Magazine and several others. Manisha is listed amongst the world’s Top 100 Most Influential Communicators, Top 100 Chief Marketing Officers and Top 50 Women leaders in Asia. 

Group President

Mathematician, Author, Broadcaster

As the Global Commercial Analytics Manager at The HEINEKEN Company, I’m leading in-house MMM deployment in various countries, as well as focusing on democratisation of insights across the business. Furthermore, I led previously Social Listening capability in Corporate Affairs where I built automated media reputation assessment through GenAI.

A bit more about my background; I have 12+ years of expertise in social intelligence and market research by mixing various data sources of social, digital, quant/qual surveys for consumer insights & crisis measurement.

Global Commercial Analytics Manager

Anthony Guerrieri is Global Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability for Mars Pet Nutrition, which serves half the world's pets each year through iconic global brands including PEDIGREE®, SHEBA®, WHISKAS®, and IAMS™. With more than 20 years of experience across communications, public affairs, reputation management, and sustainability, Anthony has held leadership roles spanning the technology, healthcare, financial services, and CPG sectors. Having lived and worked on four continents, he is recognized for building high-performing global teams and driving transformational change across complex international organizations. He holds an MBA from the University of Southern California and a BS from New York University.

Global VP Corporate Affairs

Jess Dyas leads Weber Shandwick’s Brand practice in London and is Global Lead for Mars Pet Nutrition. She specialises in developing integrated, data-driven campaigns that harness culture to build brands, create relevance and deliver meaningful results.

With expertise spanning FMCG and consumer technology, Jess has led work for global brands including Mars, eBay, Tinder and Pinterest. She has been with Weber Shandwick for eight years and has led the UK Brand practice since 2022, overseeing a team of specialists across PR, influencer and social. Jess was appointed Global Lead for Mars Pet Nutrition following Weber Shandwick’s successful global Brand PR pitch in 2025.

Managing Director of Brand

Nick Purdon is a Partner at Deloitte Digital, responsible for the Retail & Consumer Products sector. He helps global consumer brands transform how they understand, engage with, and grow their audiences across digital channels, especially social. Working with senior leaders, Nick brings together customer strategy, creativity, data, AI and technology to strengthen brand equity, create connected consumer experiences, and build modern marketing capabilities that deliver measurable business value.

Partner

Sam Jones is the Founder and CEO of Gener8.

Gener8 owns and operates the world’s highest quality, fully consented consumer data panel. Through its apps, web browser and browser extensions, Gener8 rewards people for sharing their data, turning everyday behaviour into real world value.

Gener8 works with some of the world’s leading companies across AI, Big Tech, Ad Tech, Finance and Consumer Goods to provide real world datasets that reveal how consumers behave online.

Sam appeared on BBC’s Dragons’ Den, where his pitch was described as “the best ever” and attracted investment from multiple Dragons. Since then, Gener8 has gone from strength to strength, and Sam has been named Disruptor of the Year at the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.

Founder

Alicia Edmonds-Smith is Senior Director of Communications at Snap Inc., based in London, where she leads the company’s communications across the EMEA and APAC regions. She oversees an international team spanning key markets, shaping clear and compelling storytelling across corporate, product, consumer, policy and regional communications.

Alicia is a creative communications leader with a strong track record of delivering high-impact, integrated strategies for some of the world’s most recognised brands and leading campaigns that have reshaped brand perception and driven meaningful business outcomes.

She is an experienced collaborator, working closely with Boards, CEOs, and senior leaders across functions and has extensive experience leading global transformation programmes. She is passionate about pioneering AI-first approaches in communications, building workflows that increase output, and empowering teams and creativity.

Senior Director, International Comms

Gareth is a global social and digital marketing leader, renowned for driving transformative strategy and innovation for some of the world’s most iconic brands. He is recognised as an authority in social media leadership, and brand scaling and loves to demystify complex digital landscapes. Working at Canon he leads the social and digital activity across the EMEA region.

Global Social and Digital Marketing Leader

Laura Thomas is Global Marketing Transformation Lead for Unilever Home Care, where she leads global initiatives to build future-ready marketing capabilities across AI, design, commerce, and social intelligence. With 16 years of experience spanning marketing, ecommerce, media, digital transformation, and commercial leadership, she has a proven track record of driving growth, scaling innovation, and delivering business impact across both agency and client-side organisations. Passionate about the intersection of technology, creativity, and talent, Laura helps teams unlock new ways of working and create more effective consumer experiences at scale.

Global Marketing Transformation Lead

eight&four

Insight Agents was founded in the U.K. in 2013 by Sam Knowles, who’s the MD and Chief Data Storyteller. Sam combines long and varied consultancy experience with a planner’s facility for turning relevant data into narratives that resonate and campaigns that deliver. His purpose is to help organisations sound like people and to talk that rarest of corporate dialects: ‘Human’.

Through Insight Agents, Sam helps all sorts of organisations to identify and craft the most compelling, data-driven stories in their sector. He finds flow through coaching, mentoring, and solving data storytelling challenges.

Sam is the author of the ‘Using Data Better’ trilogy of books with Routledge. This comprises the critically-acclaimed Asking Smarter Questions (2023), the best-selling How To Be Insightful (2020), and the award-winning Narrative by Numbers (2018). His popular training courses based on the intellectual property in these books are delivered both in person and in the online training course, Using Data Smarter.

Sam holds a doctorate in psychology, one source of his understanding of human motivation and behaviour and his love of telling stories with data. He is a Fellow of the Market Research Society, the Royal Society of Arts, and the Professional Speaking Association. He chairs the Data Storytelling Council of I-COM, a global association focused on smart data marketing.

An experienced and sought-after keynote speaker, Sam is also a prolific podcaster, as both host and guest. He is the creator and host of Data Malarkey – the podcast about using data, smarter – as well as co-founder and co-host of the Small Data Forum podcast (2016-2024), a sideways look at the uses and abuses of data big and small in business, politics, and public life.

John is a GEO expert at Golin Ketchum, combining deep technical SEO expertise with a strategic background in PR and communications. Previously Head of SEO at Pi Datametrics, he also served as a data-led PR strategist at Porter Novelli and Ketchum. His experience across search, data and earned media gives him a unique perspective on helping brands build visibility in an AI-first world. He is currently guiding FMCG giants through their GEO transition.

Meet the speakers behind Summit

All Speakers

Dr. Carmen Simon

Ching Yee Wong

Pras Ganesh

Madhurjya (Banjo) Banerjee

Lavinia Rajaram

Zeeshan Khan

Ling Ang

Jam Henares

Lauren Myers-Cavanah

Alyce Erikson

Sammy Elazab

Manoj Damodaran

Neel Murty

Brian Keenan

Manisha Seewal