Infosys Topaz AI Conversations: Düsseldorf Chapter

Andrea Hendrickx is Country Head Germany at Infosys. In her role, she is responsible for delivery and operations as well as driving branding and talent strategy for Germany. Prior to joining Infosys, Andrea worked at in the insurance sector and in IT-consulting as well as for Capgemini where she held various roles. Andrea Hendrickx has extensive expertise in profit driving growth, margin improvement, strategy, project and people management, global delivery and IT service management.

Anna Marino is the Data and AI Channel Sales Lead at Google Cloud. With over 24 years of experience in the IT industry, she has held business and technical leadership roles at large corporations, serving customers across all industries. Currently focused on driving customers digital excellence through the adoption of Data and AI solutions to help customers to help customers sustain growth in the market.

Balaji Jayaraman serves as the Global Head of SAP and AI Development for ERP at Roche. He is currently leading the SAP Build initiative for the ASPIRE product. Additionally, Balaji spearheads the development of AI solutions for both ASPIRE and Roche's ERP systems as the ASPIRE AI Lead.

Balakrishna D.R., popularly known as Bali, is an Executive Vice President at Infosys and leads the Industry Verticals and AI and Automation practice globally. Bali holds P&L accountability for a $3 Billion portfolio and is responsible for new service offerings, solutions, platforms, and partnerships. He also champions the adoption of AI and automation in all service offerings and internal functions within Infosys, aiming to improve efficiency and drive differentiation.

Bali has been with Infosys for nearly 30 years in sales, occupying roles in program management and delivery across different geographies and industry verticals. In his previous roles, he led ADM, SAP, and Testing service lines and served as the head of the Bangalore development center. During his eight-year tenure in the US and Canada, he established Infosys' first Global Development Center in Canada. He has managed several large programs for Infosys, catering to different Fortune 500 clients.

He is an active member and speaks at multiple industry forums and panels, such as NASSCOM, CII, SPE, TM Forum, British High Commission-UK-India Tech Team, and AI Governance in India. Additionally, he collaborates with multiple universities and startups and has authored several thought leadership papers and articles on AI.

Egemen Lipinski is currently a Senior Vice President Internal Audit at Uniper. Egemen Lipinski brings experience from previous roles at Enerjisa and E.ON. Egemen Lipinski holds a University of Mannheim. With a robust skill set that includes Financial Analysis, Management, Accounting, Finance, Microsoft Office and more.

Giampiero Riggio is leading the Experience Design team at WongDoody Berlin. With over ten years of experience at the company, he has been involved in a wide range of projects, including e-commerce, digital content production and branding. Together with his team of designers and researchers, he is dedicated to exploring the intersection of creativity, UX and emerging technologies such as generative AI and immersive experiences, with a passion for inclusive and human-centered design.

Jan Kleibrink is Chief Growth Officer of Handelsblatt Media Group Solutions and Managing Director of the Handelsblatt Research Institute. In this role, he works on the long-term strategic direction of the Handelsblatt Media Group. Before joining the Handelsblatt Media Group in 2015, the doctor of economics worked in empirical economic research at various universities and institutes.

Driving effective collaboration between man and machine - that's what defines Martin Weis' career! He has been Managing Partner and Managing Director Germany and Switzerland at Infosys Consulting since 2022. He also heads the global AI Experience Practice within the company. Previously, he held various management roles at McKinsey and EY. At EY, Martin Weis founded and led the Artificial Intelligence, Automation and Analytics practice for the European region and at McKinsey the Enterprise Platform Transformation Practice.

He has more than 15 years of experience in the AI sector and has been active in strategic planning and operational management consulting for over 20 years. Martin Weis draws on this wealth of experience in his leadership of major transformation programs for multinational companies, with a particular industry focus on retail, healthcare and life sciences. Customer centricity, cloud and artificial intelligence are the topics that shape his work. With his extensive expertise, Martin Weis has successfully supported over 50 major international corporations[NH1] in the development and implementation of their technological transformation and automation. He is instrumental in driving the technology agenda for enterprise clients looking to replace traditional business models and future-proof their innovative solutions.

Martin Weis holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the College of San Mateo, USA, and a degree in Business Administration from the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, Germany.

Mona Dash heads the AI and Automation practice – Infosys Topaz - in Europe. She is a business leader with over twenty years of experience in the European region, driving complex solution adoption, such as OSS, BSS, and more significantly in AI and Automation for the last eight years at Infosys. Mona works across partner ecosystem and industry verticals with a view to articulate and enable Infosys service lines and customers with AI.

Mona is a Telecoms Engineer and holds an MBA as well as a master’s degree in creative writing. She is an award-winning author of five published books, has been featured in more than thirty-five anthologies, and is also a public speaker.

Ruben is Manager Data Services at Stater N.V. with nearly 20 years of experience in the financial industry. After successful defining and implementing Stater’s data strategy, I am now responsible for defining and scaling Stater’s AI strategy. Stater N.V. is a leading mortgage servicer in Europe servicing money lenders in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany. Stater is acting in a highly regulated financial industry. Stater’s AI strategy is built around the pillars of responsible AI, organization, technology and generating business value by executing multiple use cases. The approach is incremental, which means, think big, but start small, be agile and learn and grow by doing while generating value. Generative AI is still new and is developing in an enormous pace, so organizations should be able to easily adapt to these new developments to be successful in scaling AI.

As Head of Marketing, Stefan Hezel is responsible for the Infosys presence in Germany, Switzerland, Benelux and the Nordics. He previously worked within the worldwide agency network Omnicom Media Group in digital consulting, performance marketing and most recently as Head of Marketing and PR in Düsseldorf. Stefan developed his digital expertise at Ströer, the market leader for outdoor advertising and digital media in Cologne.

Syed is an industry leader in AI, with a specialized focus on Responsible and Ethical AI. As the Head of the Infosys Responsible AI Office, Syed plays a crucial role in promoting and advancing Responsible AI across various geographies. He collaborates closely with policymakers, industry bodies, academic institutions, and policy think tanks to shape the future of AI governance.

Syed is instrumental in developing comprehensive technical, process, and policy-driven guardrails at Infosys. His work ensures that AI solutions are aligned with legal, security, and data privacy standards. His contributions to the field are recognized globally, as evidenced by his active involvement in key organizations such as ISO SC42 for AI, BIS LITD 30, and his role as NIST Primary for AI Safety. Additionally, Syed is a member of the Forbes Technology Council, where he continues to influence and lead discussions on the ethical implementation of AI technologies.

Ulrich Irnich has recently started his own business as a TechAdvisor and Interimsmanager to help companies in making their transformation a success. Before that he has been CIO since 2020 and a member of the Executive Board of Vodafone Germany since May 2021. As Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Head of Modernization Garage in the global organizational unit 'Digital & IT', he leads the customer-centric orientation of IT at Vodafone Germany. He is responsible for future topics related to digitalization, new technologies and the modernization of IT processes and systems. Ulrich Irnich has been gaining experience in the field of IT and telecommunications for 32 years. Before joining Vodafone Germany, he drove agile and digital transformation in the position of CIO at Unitymedia. In the position of Director Simplification & Transformation at Telefónica, he was responsible for the radical simplification and transformation of the company. Prior to that, he was responsible for the start-up Cash & Phone and the Group's digital transformation program at the E-Plus Group. Prior to joining E-Plus, he spent several years as Managing Director at Computacenter, where he was responsible for the Managed Services business and before that as Director of the SixSigma program at GE Capital.

Dr. Vimal Rawat is a seasoned expert in artificial intelligence and data science, currently serving as the Division Lead for Artificial Intelligence at BASF-SE, Germany. With over 15 years of experience spanning academia and the agriculture IT industry, Dr. Rawat has played a pivotal role in driving digital transformation initiatives and integrating AI strategies across multinational environments. In his current role, he is responsible for defining and executing AI strategies that deliver significant business value while fostering the adoption of AI within the AP division. Dr. Rawat’s expertise in scaling AI solutions is underpinned by his leadership in managing high-impact commercial projects and mentoring diverse teams of data scientists.