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Speakers
Digital Ecosystems in Action
Summit 2025 Speakers
Ulrich Ahle
Gaia-X, CEO
Ulrich is a reputed executive in the IT sector, formerly Vice President and leader of the Manufacturing and Industrie 4.0 System Integration business at Atos in Germany. He is also founder and member of the Board of the International Data Spaces Association in Germany and served 16 years on the Board of the prostep IVIP organization until April 2018. After an apprenticeship as toolmaker at Hella KG, he studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Paderborn. In his career, Ahle hea ld several positions as development engineer, Director of PLM services, sales director and Vice President. He has been part of Nixdorf a Computer AG, Siemens and Atos. From January 2017 to November 2023 Ulrich Ahle was Chief Executive Officer of the FIWARE Foundation headquartered in Berlin, Germany.
Mauro Brambilla
COO, Dynamo
Mauro brings a proven track record of business transformation, with expertise in operational excellence, strategic planning, and cross-functional leadership, Mauro excels at optimizing business processes and building high-performing teams. He holds an Executive Master in Organizational Leadership from CFMT Milan, a Master’s degree in Law from Università Statale Di Milano, and a degree in Computer and Information Sciences.
Leonardo Camiciotti
Executive Director, TOP-IX Consortium
Leonardo Camiciotti is the Executive Director of the TOP-IX Consortium. Since 2006 he has been responsible for the TOP-IX Development Program, which facilitates the creation of new businesses by providing infrastructure support and promotes technological innovation projects in various sectors, such as Big Data, HPC, Open Manufacturing and Civic Technologies aimed at producing an economic and social impact. Previously, he was a research scientist, head of business strategy and development and business owner at Philips Corporate Research. He holds a Master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Florence and an MBA from the University of Turin.
Mario Campolargo
Independent Board Member, Gaia-X
Biography
Government of Portugal:
Secretary of State for Digitalisation and Administrative Modernisation of Portugal – March 2022 – April 2024 (2 years 2 months)
European Commission
Director General DG Informatics DIGIT – March 2021 – March 2022 (1 year 1 month)
Deputy Director General – DIGIT – September 2016 – March 2021 (4 years 7 months)
Delphine Claerhout
Software Engineer, Gaia-X
I grew up and studied digital design and development in Belgium. Upon graduation I moved to London where I worked for a couple of years as a full stack developer. When I moved to Bordeaux, I ended up specialising myself as a front-end developer even though I missed being able to jump around languages and projects. Now I’m excited to do some more backend development again.
Outside of work I like to go dancing and took up running to work on my cardio. I also love doing yoga and reading.
Fabio Coelho
Senior Researcher, INESC Technology and Science – Associate Laboratory / High Assurance software unit – Distributed Systems
Alberto Curatolo
Chief Financial Officer, Gaia-X
Alberto leads the Financial, Legal and HR departments for Gaia-X.
He holds a Master’s Degree in International and Diplomatic Sciences from Bologna University and a Master’s in European Law and Economics from Sorbonne University. He has been working as a Project Manager in the social economy sector, also responsible for corporate, legal and financial matters. During his years as a Legal Officer and Public Procurement Correspondent at the European Commission, he acquired an extensive experience in all legal and financial aspects of EC-funded projects and public procurements.
As Financial Director at the European Organisation for Security (EOS), he led the company’s financial department, the EU Project Management Team and the HR department. During his career, he has also supported the creation of several AISBLs in Brussels. He speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Marco D’Angelo
Founder, Cloud Ecosystem Open Source, Director, CLoud Ecosystem Lead Open Source, Huawei
Matthias De Bièvre
Founder / CEO of Visions & Co-Founder / President of ‘Prometheus-X’
Matthias founded Visions in 2017 after working for the French State’s open data department.He was and is convinced a more human-centric management of data will lead to incredible innovations in all sectors. Matthias united, through aNewGovernance and PrivacyTech, from 2018 more than 100 organisations across EU to advocate for a human-centric data sharing infrastructure plan which he presented at the French Parliament and at the European Commission. He developed the first version of the VisionsTrust tool. In 2020, He united a community of 40 skills and education organisations to start building the european skills data space and lobbied the EC to ensure funds were allocated to it. He co-founded and is elected president of Prometheus-X in 2021 the leading non profit developing the personal data space and uniting all the personal data industry as well as major public and private organisations. In 2022, he united a consortium to win the skills data space funds and become an official expert of the Data Space Support Centre (the EU body defining the standards for data spaces). In 2023, he united a consortium of 40 EU players to develop the main EU data sharing infrastructure “Simpl” and won 20m€ project to do it. He is considered across EU as the leading expert on personal data spaces and the person that can bring human-centric data sharing to life at scale.
Susanne Dehmel
Managing Director Law and Security and AI, Bitkom
Susanne Dehmel has been a member of Bitkom’s Executive Board & management team since October 2014, where she is currently responsible for the Legal, Security as well as the AI & Data business units. Susanne Dehmel is a lawyer and completed her law studies in Passau, Freiburg & Cardiff. She was an expert member of the Commission on AI of the German Parliament, was part of the Expert Council on Consumer Questions for the German Ministry of Justice from 2018-22 as well as part of the Advisory Board on the German Digital Strategy at the Ministry for Digital and Transport from 2022-24. An important part of her work is promoting trust and security in the digital world and the practical further development of the legal framework for the digital economy & society.
Giuditta Del Buono
Technical Product Manager, Gaia-X
Giuditta is the Technical Product Manager of Gaia-X. She supports the definition of Gaia-X Functional Specification by the members of the Association, in the context of the overall Gaia-X release strategy. Previously, she was in charge of the management of the Gaia-X Committees and Working Groups. She contributed to Gaia-X from the very beginning, by participating in Gaia-X Working Groups for the Italian IaaS provider Netalia, where she was also responsible for analysing regulatory rules, guidelines, and industry standards. She holds a degree in Chemical Engineering and has more than ten years of experience in the innovation & technology transfer sector, where she carried out research activities and contributed to the implementation of scouting and acceleration programs addressed to high-tech startups.
Roland Fadrany
Chief Operating Officer, Gaia-X
Roland is the COO of Gaia-X from May 2022 onwards. He establishes effective policies, processes and organisations that promote the Gaia-X vision and mission. With over 20 years of international management and consulting experience in the IT industry, he brings strong leadership and digitalisation knowledge to the team. He has led a global service line, successfully delivered complex, critical programs, and managed multinational development-, delivery- and partner organisations at companies like EDS, HP, A1 Telekom Austria, Microsoft and Detecon. Roland oversaw comprehensive innovation and transformation initiatives in various industries in Europe and the USA. He holds a master’s degree in “Engineering Management” from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. He speaks English and German and lives in Vienna.
Julien Foliot
Software Engineer, Gaia-X
Julien brings with him over 10 years of experience in software development, with a strong focus on the retail sector. He has worked with major brands from the Mulliez group, including Decathlon, Boulanger, and others. He also gained valuable experience in research and development at the Imprimerie Nationale. Throughout his career, Julien has also led technical teams as a Lead Developer, strengthening his skills in leadership, mentoring, and project management. Curious, enthusiastic, and passionate about innovation, Julien is excited to contribute to ongoing projects and learn more about yours.
Martine Gouriet
Director of Digital Uses, EDF
Martine Gouriet is director of digital uses within EDF Group, a role which she assume in 2019. Most recently, she was Director of IT and Telecom shared services at the company. Previously , she was leading EDf subsidiary Edelia which is specialized within data, energy efficiency and smart grids. She has worked during 17 years within Orange and she has launched in France the IP and VOD TV. Martine Gouriet is also board director of Gaia X, leading the work related to labels and energy in the association. She is gratuated from ” Ecole Polytechnique ” and ” Telecom Paris Tech“.
Pierre Gronlier
Chief Innovation Officer, Gaia-X
Pierre Gronlier has been working in the IT industry for the last twelve years, with a particular focus on operationalising and scaling systems in the field of real-time communication and cloud services. With a penchant for science and an academic background in embedded real-time systems and applied mathematics in signal processing and machine learning, he started as a research engineer in video compression before joining Skype and Microsoft in Estonia. He then moved to OVHcloud in France as a Cloud Solution Architect.
Manuel Gutiérrez
Senior Digital Ecosystems Manager, Gaia-X
With over 20 years in strategic consulting, including experience at a Big Four, Manuel Gutiérrez is an expert in digital transformation. His economics background enhances his strategic insights, helping him achieve significant business results through technology. As the Senior Digital Ecosystems Manager within Gaia-X Stategy Team, he develops and advances engagement plans for Gaia-X lighthouse projects and digital ecosystems. He analyzes current engagement levels, identifies obstacles and opportunities, and integrates projects into the digital value chain. His role ensures that projects meet technical standards and deliver strategic business value, maximizing the potential of the Gaia-X services and deliverables.
Thomas Jarzombek
Parliamentary Secretary of State, Federal Minister for Digitalisation and Government Modernisation, Germany
Catherine Jestin
BoD Chairwoman, Gaia-X; Executive Vice President Digital and Information Management, Airbus
Executive Vice President Digital and Information Management at Airbus since 1 July 2021 and member of the Company’s Executive Committee. Catherine has previously held the position of Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Airbus since March 2020. In this role, she drove state-of-the-art Information Technology systems and solutions supporting Airbus employees, customers and suppliers. Prior to this position, Catherine was Chief Information Officer at Airbus Helicopters, a role she held from July 2013 to February 2020. Before joining Airbus, Catherine held various positions, between 2007 and 2013, at Rio Tinto in Montreal, Canada, in Information Systems & Technology (IS&T). Catherine also spent 17 years at Accenture and was nominated Partner in 2002, a position she held for five years.
Thibaut Kleiner
Director for Future Networks, DG Connect, European Commission
Thibaut Kleiner is the Director for Future Networks in DG Connect. He has worked since 2001 at the European Commission. The first ten years of his career in the Commission were spent in the area of competition policy (merger, antitrust and State aid). In September 2011, he moved to the digital policy area, as advisor of Vice-President Neelie Kroes, in charge of the Digital Agenda, and supervised Internet policies at large (Internet Governance, cybersecurity, cloud, data). From January 2014 to June 2016, he was head of unit in charge of network technologies (5G and Internet of Things) in DG Connect. From June 2016 to December 2019 he was the deputy head of cabinet of Commissioner Oettinger, in charge of Budget and Human Resources and he then came back to DG Connect to head the unit in charge of Research Strategy and Coordination and was subsequently Director for Policy, Strategy and Outreach from December 2020 until March 2025. An economist by training Thibaut holds a Master from HEC Paris and a PhD from the London School of Economics.
Kai Meinke
Co-Founder & Business Lead, deltaDAO AG
Kai is the Co-Founder and Business Lead of deltaDAO AG and the Lead of the Gaia-X Open-Source Software (OSS) community. With a background in IT and Economics. deltaDAO is the orchestrator of the Pontus-X digital service ecosystem, the largest publicly available X-ecosystem, which is now the home of four Gaia-X lighthouse projects and operated by European federators.
Boris Otto
Professor for Industrial Information Management, TU Dortmund University: Director, Fraunhofer ISST
Prof. Boris Otto (born in Hamburg, Germany in 1971) became the executive director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Software and Systems Engineering ISST in Dortmund on January 1, 2017. Since September of 2013, he has held the Chair for Industrial Information Management (until August 31, 2018 the Audi Foundation Chair for Supply Net Order Management) at the LogistikCampus of TU Dortmund. He is also a member of the boards of directors of the Gaia-X, European Association for Data and Cloud, AISBL and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA).
After studying industrial engineering in Hamburg, Otto did his doctorate at the University of Stuttgart under Prof. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, former president of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. He habilitated at the University of St. Gallen’s Institute of Information Management, where he founded and managed the Corporate Data Quality competence center. His career path also included PricewaterhouseCoopers, SAP, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO. Furthermore, Otto was a Research Fellow at the Center for Digital Strategies, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, USA. He joined Fraunhofer ISST in 2014 with the founding of the Fraunhofer Innovation Center for Logistics and IT (FILIT).
Otto’s research focuses on the fields of industrial information management, business and logistics networks, and methods for the design of digital business solutions.
Alberto Palomo
Chief Strategy Officer, Gaia-X
Originally from Madrid, he obtained a PhD in Mathematical Physics, prior to working at an R+D lab in Canada developing numerical simulations for artificial neural networks. Alberto then spent the following 5 years coordinating the technical development of Data Science applications for a large electric utility company in the USA. In 2021, he was appointed Chief Data Officer for the Government of Spain, a novel technopolitical role aimed at prescribing data innovation policy, more so than the management of datasets. Under his lead, the Spanish National Data Office closely followed the innovative developments around European cloud and data, and with that assembled an architectural and governance model for the deployment of data spaces in Spain. Nationally, they also coordinated several WGs across Spanish ministries, federal agencies and industrial stakeholders, as well as promoted a series of normalisation standards for data management and governance.
Jakob Rehof
Professor, TU Dortmund University, Director at Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, Director of Research Strategy, Fraunhofer ISST
Since 2006 Jakob Rehof is full professor of Computer Science at the TU Dortmund University, where he is chair of Software Engineering, and as of April 2024 director of the Lamarr Institute for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Dortmund. By joint appointment, Rehof was director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Software- and Systems Engineering (ISST) in Dortmund 2006-2021, and since 2021 he is director of Research Strategy at the Fraunhofer-ISST. Jakob Rehof studied Computer Science and Mathematics at the University of Copenhagen and got his Ph.D. in Computer Science at DIKU, Department of Computer Science, University of Copenhagen. In 1997 Rehof was a visiting Researcher at the University of Stanford, CA, USA.From 1998 until 2006 he was a researcher at Microsoft Research, Redmond, WA, USA.Prior to all of the above he studied Classical Philology (Latin & Greek) and Philosophy at the University of Aarhus and the University of Copenhagen and was a DAAD scholar at the Eberhard-Karls University of Tübingen. In 2023 Jakob Rehof received the CAV Award in Computer Aided Verification. Rehof is a member of the editorial board of the Communications of the ACM.
Ryan Reychico
Software Engineer, Gaia-X
Ryan is a Full Stack developer with over 7 years of experience working on web and mobile applications, often in international and cross-functional teams. He has collaborated with major players in the retail industry like Norauto, ADEO, and Auchan, helping to deliver user-friendly and efficient digital solutions that support business goals. Beyond his technical skills, Ryan is known for his team spirit, mentoring mindset, and ability to adapt quickly to new challenges. Comfortable in agile environments, he enjoys working closely with product and design teams to bring ideas to life. Curious and proactive, he’s always ready to contribute to meaningful projects and grow with the teams he joins. Outside of work, Ryan is passionate about motorcycles and staying active through sports. He plays badminton twice a week and regularly takes part in other activities like football. These hobbies keep him energized, focused, and balanced in his daily life.
Francisca Rubio
General Manager, Gaia-X Hub Spain
Francisca is electronic engineer with master in Photovoltaic Energy (PV) and Business (MBA). She has always worked as R&D and Innovation director of different companies in different sectors.
Antonio Salvado
Consultant, TICE.PT, Gaia-X Hub Portugal, BoD Gaia-X
Former director in areas of software for the research and development centre in a Portuguese telecommunications company, joined TICE.PT at the end of 2022, working in the strategic stream for the development of the new data economy. Developed a specific interest in the area of data spaces, following several initiates towards their definition and de-facto standardization. Nationally involved in the dissemination of information about data spaces, and in the broader cooperation, with some of the more relevant European initiatives in the area.
CEO, Cloud Data Engine
European tech entrepreneur and policy strategist. As Co-founder and CEO of Cloud Data Engine, he leads initiatives in trusted digital infrastructure.
Yassir Sellami
Software Engineer, Gaia-X
Yassir works in cooperation with the CTO Office as a Software Developer. His goal is to bring my technical expertise as a software developer in all aspects of a software engineering lifecycle. Yassir has been working lately in the e-commerce and retail industry and is very excited to work on an ambitious and meaningful project Gaia-X. It’s essential for him to constantly learn and broaden perspectives concerning computer science to always have a healthy challenge at hand. Yassir speaks English, French and Arabic and has a beginner level of Japanese.
Catherine Simonnin
Tech lead Trust, Design Architecture & Innovation Governance, ORANGE/OBS/CTIO/DA/Emerging Technology & Incubation
Catherine has been working in the IT architecture domain for the last 19 years in different domains and entities of Orange. She is always looking for new technology challenges and innovative solutions even in management domain. With it’s master from Telecom Paris, she started to work on Intelligent Network first development in first generation GSM in SFR, then on telecom services for Equant customers. Catherine is today the Lead of the Sprint Conformity and label operationalization in Gaia-X.
Ernst Stöckl-Pukall
Head of Division, Digitization and Industrie 4.0, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action
As Head of Division “Digitization and Industrie 4.0″ in the Department for Industrial Policy in the Federal Ministry for Economics and Climate Action Ernst Stoeckl-Pukall focuses on topics regarding a successful digitalization of the manufacturing sector in Germany. He focuses on setting up the federated and globally interoperable industrial data ecosystem Manufacturing-X. In that role he is also responsible for the “Plattform Industrie 4.0” and he takes care of Germany’s various bilateral and multilateral cooperation activities in the field of Industrie 4.0. The Plattform Industrie 4.0 is headed by the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy and the Federal Minister for Education and Research. The platform is a central player in the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector in Germany and includes all relevant stakeholders such as industry, academia, trade unions and politics. It also initiated the project GAIA-X which aims at building a sovereign data infrastructure. Ernst Stoeckl-Pukall is also in charge of various research and support funding schemes addressing in particular the automotive sector and topics like autonomous driving and the digital transformation of the sector. He is also responsible for the “Important Project of Common European Interest” designed to set up the next generation cloud-edge structures in Europe. The project is also known as “8ra-cloud edge continuum”. Before his current post Ernst Stoeckl-Pukall was in charge of the maritime sector after having returned from his post at the German Embassy of New Delhi where he served as economic and commercial counsellor. He graduated in Economics at Ludwig Maximilians-University in Munich.
Christoph Strnadl
Chief Technology Officer, Gaia-X
Educated as a research scientist in Theoretical Physics, Dr Strnadl has over 30 years of consulting and management experience in IT and how to leverage it for businesses. After 10 years as a strategy consultant and business manager at Atos, he joined Software AG in 2005, where he held various technical leadership positions in Austria, central and eastern Europe, and finally, at the global level as Deputy CTO. His accountabilities centred around aligning technology solutions and products with business requirements and strategies with a pronounced focus on innovation and evangelisation. In this capacity, he has been responsible for Software AG’s ecosystem engagements, such as Gaia-X or dataspaces, since 2019. Before joining the Gaia-X AISBL as CTO, he led the efforts of the IOTA Foundation, a Berlin blockchain/DLT association, to define and implement a technology adoption department in 2024. He is a recognised public speaker with over 300 appearances, a university lecturer for BPM technologies, and a co-author of/contributor to six books.
Hubert Tardieu
Independent Board Member, Gaia-X
After 27 years in Sema then SchlumbergerSema then Atos in various positions on Executive Committee including EVP for Global Telecom, Global Finance, Global Consulting& Systems Integration, Hubert Tardieu has been the advisor of Atos CEO helping him to form the vision of what will be our world in 5 years ahead. To help him in this task he formed the Atos Scientific Community in June 2009 which he chaired until October 2020. He is now consultant with his own company. Hubert Tardieu is the author of several books on Information System Design Methodology Merise and in March 2020: “Deliberately Digital: Rewriting Enterprise DNA for enduring success” Tardieu and all. Springer ed Hubert Tardieu has been successively, in 2020 the Interim CEO then in 2021 the Chairman of the Board of the Gaia-X AISBL until June 7. He is currently Independent Board Member in charge of relationships with governments.
Joëlle Toledano
Professor Emeritus associated with the Governance and Regulation Chair, Paris Dauphine-PSL University, Member of the French National Digital Council
Joëlle Toledano is an emeritus professor of economics and a member of the “Governance and Regulation” Chair at Paris-Dauphine University. Furthermore, she serves as a member of the National Academy of Technologies of France and as board member of digital companies. She holds a PhD in mathematics and economics and has pursued a dual career in academia and business before becoming involved in public policy issues. From 2005 to 2011, she served on the board of the French regulatory authority for electronic communications and posts (Arcep), and from 2013 to 2022, on the board of the French national frequencies agency (Anfr). Joelle has published extensively on industrial economics and the economics and regulation of digital and postal services, including several books, numerous articles, and a series of public reports and research papers. Her latest book, GAFA: reprenons le pouvoir (Odile Jacob, 2020), has been the recipient of three awards, including the prize for the best economics book.
Javier Valiño
Program Manager, Eclipse Foundation
Javier Valiño (male) received a double major in Telecommunications Engineering (Telematics and Radio-communications) from University of Cantabria in 2007, with Master thesis in point source detection in collaboration with European Space Agency (ESA) Plank project. He worked as network and systems engineer leading both commercial and research IoT/4G/5t projects in TST. He joined Eviden/Atos Research and Innovation in 2016, as Head of the Energy, Climate and Decarbonization Unit. He is the coordinator of OMEGA-X project.
Bert Verdonck
CEO, LNDS
Bert Verdonck is the CEO of LNDS, a governmental organisation created to solve the hard problems in public sector data sharing. He has a background at Philips, where he worked on health data sharing and data & AI strategy. He has expertise in business, marketing, sales, product management, clinical informatics, cloud, data spaces, data and AI, population health, and medical image processing. He explores the adoption of the Gaia-X framework, scouting for European initiatives with a potential to scale.
