Event Speakers

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Dr. Mark Jackson is the Scientific Lead at Cambridge Quantum Computing. He received his Ph.D. in Theoretical Physics from Columbia University. He then spent 10 years researching superstring theory and cosmology, co-authoring almost 40 technical articles. To promote the public understanding of science, he founded the science crowdfunding platform Fiat Physica and non-profit Science Partnership Fund. He is Adjunct Faculty at Singularity University and a Director of the BoldlyGo Institute and Astronomers Without Borders.

Kenneth F. Kroner is the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer of Pluribus Labs. Previously, Ken was Senior Managing Director at BlackRock, where he was the head of Multi-Asset Strategies and head of Scientific Active Equities. He served on BlackRock's Global Executive and Global Operating Committees. Prior to BlackRock Ken worked at Barclays Global Investors (BGI), which was acquired by BlackRock in 2009. At BGI, he oversaw asset allocation, fund of hedge funds and client solutions businesses. Ken began his career as an economics and finance professor at the University of Arizona. He has a BSc in mathematics and economics from the University of Alberta and a PhD in economics from the University of California at San Diego. He serves or has served on several corporate, academic, and foundation boards as well as academic journal editorial boards. His research on forecasting volatility and asset returns has been widely published in both academic and practitioner journals.

Dr. Mahdavi is a technology entrepreneur with focus on breakthrough digital transformation for the Fintech and the energy sectors. He is a recognized expert and frequent keynote speaker on application of AI, IoT, and Cloud computing in financial sector and industries. Dr. Mahdavi managed major global businesses in the energy sector. He is currently the executive director of the Financial Data Professionals Institute (FDPI), a non-profit organization founded with CAIA. FDPI provides chartered designation, FDP, for the financial professionals working in the fast-growing field of AI and data science. Dr. Mahdavi is a trusted advisor for global 500 firms in the field of digital transformation. Prior to this position, he served as the Chief Digital Officer of Weatherford International. He also had and a 22-year career in Schlumberger in variety of technical and management positions. Mehrzad holds a PhD in Nuclear Science and Technology from the University of Michigan a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.