Hear from world-class Thought Leaders and Innovators as they share their triumphs, their challenges and their stories.
*Speaker job titles were accurate at the time of their participation in the event.
Wendy Mars is President of Cisco’s Europe, Middle East, Africa and Russia region (EMEAR).
Wendy is responsible for Cisco’s growth, business and operations across the EMEAR region. Her focus is on
driving strategies which deliver on customers’ digital and sustainability transformation requirements and which help to close the digital divide. The region delivers over $12bn annually and represents more than a quarter of Cisco’s revenue.
In her previous roles at Cisco, Wendy has led the Partner, Enterprise and Technology teams for EMEAR.
Wendy is a passionate supporter of greater diversity in business. She specialises in creating high-performing teams that are grounded in a strong sense of common purpose, a focus on results and holding each other accountable. She is driving initiatives that promote greater inclusion and is the Executive Sponsor of Cisco’s
Connected Women community. She understands the talent and skills challenges facing the technology industry and firmly believes in promoting education in digital skills as a driver of transformation and differentiation.
Prior to joining Cisco, Wendy was the Global CTO at ThruPoint for 11 years, working primarily with its enterprise and service provider customers. She began her career at Morgan Stanley, where she lived abroad working on a variety of IT programmes in Europe, the US and Asia.
Originally from the North of England, Wendy now lives in London and in her spare time loves walking, wildlife and nature. She has a BEng(H) in Electronic Engineering from York University and an MSc in Operational Research from Lancaster University.
Yewande is an Angel Investor, Entrepreneur, Operator, Mentor, and Startup Advisor. She has a background in Engineering, Technology, and Business with extensive experience leading cross-functional teams over the last 15 years. She has founded several companies, and initiatives, and is a 2x Co-Founder (+Acquired Startup)She has vast experience in early-stage tech investing on the continent and has invested in various early-stage startups in Africa. She is the founder of Startup Plug and Nanotraction - focused on supporting and angel investing in early-stage startups respectively. So far, she has supported early-stage startups collectively to raise over $50m, between pre-seed and Series A, and supported expansion into key markets in Africa and parts of Europe.She currently leads Hoaq Ventures Fund, an early-stage fund focused on investing in founders building tech and tech-enabled startups for Africa and its Diaspora.
Zahra Bahrololoumi is the CEO of Salesforce UK and Ireland. She was appointed in March 2021 to lead the company’s operations across both key growth markets.
Prior to joining Salesforce, Zahra worked for Accenture where she led the Technology business for the UK and Ireland with a particular focus on transformation in artificial intelligence, cloud computing and platforms underpinning new applications. Zahra has been widely recognised throughout her career as an industry leader, including Computer Weekly’s Most Influential People in UK Tech 2022, Woman of the Year for MENA Women In Tech Awards 2022 and Most Influential Women in UK Tech 2021.
Zahra is a strong advocate for equality for all and has held many D&I roles across the world. She currently sits on the boards of TechUK, Cancer Research UK and Movement to Work.
How do you launch marketing campaigns targeting minority audiences? What challenges do users with colour-blindness face when using your technology? And how do you increase diversity and inclusion at every level of your organisation? While many see Inclusion, Diversity & Belonging (ID&B) as an HR topic, Zakaria Milad has had experience delivering ID&B both within organisations internally, and also externally in everything the organisation does. He has had years of experience working in Tech companies from Google to Amazon, and now Just Eat Takeaway.com
