Speakers

International and national speakers from science, economy and politics will give a speech at AiCon2020.

Dorothea Baur

Consultant for AI & ethics, CEO & founder of Baur Consulting

Dorothea Baur is an independent consultant for ethics, sustainability and responsibility in tech and finance. After getting her PhD on business ethics from the University of St. Gallen she spent several years as a researcher and lecturer at leading European business schools. Since 2015 she has been supporting companies, particularly from the tech and finance industry, in aligning their business model with their values. Over the past years she has moreover established herself as a leading voice on AI and ethics. Among other distinctions, she has been named as one of “100 brilliant women in AI ethics”. She is currently working on an auditing system for AI applications. Apart from that she is teaching at different universities on AI and ethics and she is a frequent keynote speaker and interview partner.

Andreas Barraud

Member of the Government of Canton Schwyz

Andreas Barraud is Member of the Government of Canton Schwyz and Head of the Department for Economic Affairs.

Ivo Furrer

President of digitalswitzerland

Ivo Furrer studied law at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg. He was elected president of digitalswitzerland in September 2018. He is on the Board of Directors of Bank Julius Baer and Helvetia Group and holds other mandates with Inventx and responsAbility Investments AG. Until the end of March 2017, he headed Swiss Life’s Swiss business for nine years. Prior to that, he held various management positions at Zurich Financial Services, Credit Suisse and Winterthur Insurance.

Marianne Janik

CEO Microsoft Schweiz

Since July 2015 Marianne Janik has held the role of CEO heading Microsoft Switzerland. For around four years she was responsible for the public sector, education and healthcare as part of executive management at Microsoft Germany. In this central Microsoft business division she drove continuous growth and successfully supported her customers in their innovation and transformation processes. The French born Doctor of Law has years of sales and leadership experience in various businesses and sectors at her command. Marianne Janik started her professional career at Daimler Benz ltd in the Public Affairs division. Next, she took over the Contract Department of a subsidiary of EADS and following that, the sales department for public authority, army and industry customer transactions. Marianne Janik is strongly committed to digital change in Switzerland, especially in the areas of innovation, security and education. She is a member of the Executive Committee of Digital Switzerland, member of the executive boards of ICT Switzerland, ASUT and Migros-Genossenschafts-Bundes (MGB). Marianne Janik is married with two children.

Pascal Kaufmann

Founder of Starmind, President of the Mindfire Foundation

Pascal is a neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur pushing the limits of the unknown, devoted to the creation of human level Artificial Intelligence for empowering humans. Having received his Master’s Degree in Neuroscience and Economics at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich and Northwestern University in Evanston, IL (USA), he continued more in-depth studies at the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Zurich, Switzerland. Working at the interface between brains and machines he tackles the secrets of neural networks and brain activity. Pascal is one of the Founders of Starmind, a tech company connecting employees and turning them into powerful problem-solving networks. In 2017, Kaufmann initiated the non-profit Mindfire foundation dedicated to progressing AI openly, responsibly and ethically. Ultimately, to use the power of human level AI to solve our most pressing global challenges.

Gerd Leonhard

Futurist & Humanist, Author, CEO The Futures Agency

Gerd’s passions are the future of humanity, culture, society, and business in the face of exponential technological progress. In a world dominated by technology, data and algorithms, robots and intelligent machines, what will it mean to be human? Are humans and machines really destined to ‘converge’? What do we need to do, today, to make sure that human happiness and collective flourishing remain the most important objectives? Is our current economic system suitable for a future were technology is virtually unlimited?

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin

Head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Guy Parmelin has been a Member of the Federal Council since 2016. Guy Parmelin has served as head of the Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research since 2019.

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