Matt Carpenter

Chief Financial Officer of Audi of America and Audi Canada

Serves as Chief Financial Officer of Audi of America and Audi Canada. Matt has a breadth of experience managing in the automotive industry. He started his career path with Ford Motor Company in Michigan where he worked for 5 years as a Zone Manager. In 2007 he began his journey with Audi of America as a Business Management Consultant at Pied Piper Management Company LLC. In 2007 he started to work directly for Audi of America. He began as a Vehicle Merchandising Manager before in 2011 receiving a promotion to General Manager of Vehicle Sales. Due to his outstanding work, in 2016 Matt was awarded the position of Chief Financial Officer of Audi of America and Audi Canada.

Dr. Simon Hassannia

Head of Business Innovation at ATU, Germany

Dr. Simon Hassannia has extensive management experience in consulting and industry in the areas automotive, telecommunications, consumer electronics and entertainment with focus on disruptive innovations and digital business.
Currently as the Head of Business Innovation at ATU, the German’s leading automotive service provider with over $1 billion turnover, he is responsible for digital growth areas such as connected car, mobility-as-a-service and mobile solutions.
In various business projects he has consulted further companies such as Mercedes Benz, Universal Studios, LG Electronics, Bosch and Telefónica Germany with multinational assignments in Canada, China, Germany, Poland, Singapore, Spain and USA.

David Carp

ex-CPO for Kia Motors America

David Carp was the previous Director, Fleet, Remarketing & CPO for Kia Motors America, Inc for the last 15 years. David headed up both Fleet & Remarketing for Kia Motors, David also developed Kia’s CPO Program and led it for 11 years has the fastest growing CPO Program in the Industry. With over 25 years’ experience, David’s automotive experience includes Retail, Wholesale, Finance, Vehicle Valuation, Fleet & Remarketing. David began his automotive career selling Buick’s at Perry Buick in Norfolk, VA. He moved on to wholesale cars before joining the NADA Official Used Car Guide Company as the Import Vehicle. David’s first role with a Manufacturer was Nissan/Infiniti Motor Corporation as their Regional Remarketing Manager. David held positions in Remarketing with AutoNation USA and Vehicle Acquisition with CarMax. David then was with Saab Cars USA as their Remarketing Manager before joining the other Swedish carmaker Volvo Cars of North America as their Asset Remarketing Manager, the position he held before joining Kia.

Dr Paolo Tasca

Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Blockchain Technologies

Paolo Tasca is a Digital Economist specialising in P2P financial systems. An advisor on blockchain technologies for different international organisations including the EU Parliament and the United Nations, Paolo is founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Blockchain Technologies at University College London (UCL CBT). He recently has also been appointed Dean of Research of the Jiangsu Huaxin Blockchain Research Institute (JBI) in Nanjing and Honorary Research Professor of Sogang Univ. Blockchain Research Center in Seoul. Previously, he was Lead Economist on digital currencies and P2P financial systems at the German Central Bank, Deutsche Bundesbank in Frankfurt.

Donald G. Stephenson

President of Alleghany Management Inc

Don had been working as Senior Vice President of Volkswagen of America where he held P&L responsibility for parts and accessory sales and marketing, customer satisfaction and field force management wherein he championed the monetization of connected car and social media tools to drive revenue growth and improved customer retention. Prior to Volkswagen Don held director positions at Toyota in network development, retail development and after sales. As a Regional VP he managed regional operations for BMW, Lexus and Audi of America.
Right now Don is the President of Alleghany Management Inc. an automotive consulting firm based in Atlanta, GA. He has over 30 years of automotive brand experience with field and headquarter experience at Ford, BMW, Lexus, Toyota, Audi and Volkswagen in the US, Mexico and Puerto Rico.

Mark Taylor

Head of Business Development at PureCars

Currently working at PureCars and responsible for acquiring and managing strategic partnerships with the Automotive Manufacturers (OEMs). Prior to PureCars, Mark spent over 15 years with AutoNation, the largest Automotive Retailer in the US. He carried out P&L responsibility for a budget of roughly $35M annually that drove top line revenues in excess of $3 Billion per annum.

Ed Cicale

VP AutoNation e-Commerce and Customer Communications

Ed has over 30 years’ experience in marketing and advertising with over 20 years in Automotive marketing. As Vice President of e-Commerce and Customer Communications at AutoNation he is responsible for developing the Marketing Website Strategy, media placements and AutoNation’s customer database for their over 250 dealerships.

Richard Patterson

Owner of Wingfield Consulting

Serial entrepreneur & innovator with over 35 years experience of founding, managing and growing successful businesses. Have designed, negotiated and sold multi-million pound deals to major organisations across the globe for over 19 years. Responsible for the innovation of key technologies/market positions that lead to millions of pounds of revenues & dominant niche market positions for Sun Microsystems, Apple Computer Inc. & Dell.

Ryan Scott

CEO and Founder at CAUSECAST

Ryan Scott is an entrepreneur, social impact investor, humanist, philanthropist and online marketing pioneer, legendary for developing and patenting the double opt-in email methodology. After selling NetCreations in 2001 for $111 million, Ryan became an angel investor alongside Sequoia Capital, Mark Cuban, News Corp, CBS Corporation, Elon Musk, and Burda Media, in a number of companies such as Inside, Tesla, CrowdFunder, Tiltify, Lottery.com, Earth Class Mail, Principle Power, Signum Biosciences, Greener World Media, Sierra Nevada Solar, and Cool Earth Solar. Ryan's most significant personal investment since 2011 has been Causecast, the world's most innovative workplace giving, volunteering and social impact platform. Ryan's vision is to create a world in which corporations compete with each other to make the most positive social impact.

Roger Crook

CEO at Capital Springboard

Roger is an entrepreneur, disruptor and independent strategic advisor in FinTech, LogisticsTech and Logistics including blockchain/cryptocurrencies. He was formerly a Member of the Board of Management, Deutsche Post AG (DeutschePost DHL a Dax 30 listed company) and Global Chief Executive Officer, DHL Global Forwarding & Road Freight Division from 2011 until 2015. The division had revenues of around €15 billion, with approximately 45,000 employees and operated in more than 200 countries and territories. Roger has extensive business experience in China visiting on multiple occasions and doing business in China over last 25 years.

Hillik Nissani

CMO at CRYPTALGO

Mr. Nissani is a seasoned senior executive and advisor with a proven track record of over 25 years across five continents in growing B2B and B2C companies. Mr. Nissani is a growth expert and he serves as a board and advisory board member in several EU and Israeli high-tech and Blockchain companies (such as STOX.com), advising on strategy, marketing, operations and human capital management. His abundant working experience includes the Vice President managing 888.com’s high liquidity business unit with revenues of close to $100M, and easy-forex Chief Marketing Officer where he managed sales and marketing budgets of tens of millions annually.

Ms. Julia Z. Nikolaev

Managing Partner at Crypto Law Group

Ms. Julia Z. Nikolaev is an attorney with over 20 years of experience in various areas of law, who is licensed to practice law in the United States and Russia. She initially specialized in business immigration only, assisting Silicon Valley companies in bringing the most talented and unique professionals from all over the world to the mecca of innovation and technology. Wishing to provide a more comprehensive range of legal services to her clients, Ms. Nikolaev has expanded her service portfolio to also include business formation and structuring, contracts, and business transactions. She worked for both large corporations and small companies providing expertise in complex legal matters involving startup, business transactions, and business immigration law. Since early 2016, she has been actively involved the blockchain and bitcoin community. Ms. Nikolaev is an active member of California Bar Association and of The International Women's Leadership Association. In 2013, she has been recognized by Worldwide Who’s Who organization for showing dedication, leadership and excellence in legal profession.

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