Gorazd Čibej, LL.M, has been Managing Director of the Insurance Supervision Agency of Slovenia (AZN) since January 2018 and since November 2017, he has also been the President of the Council of Experts of AZN. He is a member of the Board of Supervisors of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and has also been appointed a member of BUL (Breach of Union Law) Committee and a substitute member of the Mediation Panel. He is a Regional Co-ordinator for the CEET region within the Executive Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) and a member of Implementation and Assessment Committee. Since 2019 he has also been a member of the Council of Securities Market Agency of Slovenia.

He graduated cum laude from the Faculty of Law, University of Ljubljana in 2000 and he holds a Master's Degree in European Law (LL.M) from Lund University, Sweden, which he attained in 2001. Later in 2016 he completed the Certified International Business Negotiation Programme at the Mitchell Hamline University, USA and in 2017 he participated in advanced training in the field of Corporate Governance at the Harvard University, USA.

Gorazd is a regular speaker at insurance conferences and webinars at home and abroad.

Klemen Boštjančič, born 1 September 1972, is a university graduate in economics.

For the last 10 years, he has led his own consulting firm specialising in financial and business restructuring (primarily of companies in difficulties), business model analysis, acquisitions and mergers, licencing and recruitment.

He was involved in several projects carried out by banks and other financial institutions. He has managed numerous restructuring projects, and cooperated with many investors, such as banks, financial funds, natural persons and the state.

He has also held several management and supervisory positions. He was Chairman of the Management Board of Sava d. d., Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sava Turizem d. d., and a member of the Management Board of the Slovenian Directors’ Association.

He was also Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of Vegrad d. d. (in the last 10 months before the company's bankruptcy) and Intereuropa d. d., and a member of the Supervisory Board of Merkur Trgovina d. d.

He was a holder of the procuration of Trimo d. d. For two years he served as Chairman of the Board of Adria Airways d. d., and during that time the company successfully concluded financial restructuring and started implementing a restrictive but very ambitious plan of operational restructuring. He left Adria due to differences in views as to the restructuring strategy, measures and intensity thereof.

Prior to his position at Adria Airways, he was a member and then Chairman of the Board of Mineral d. d. During the financial crisis, which severely affected the construction sector in particular, he led the company through a compulsory settlement process, from the brink of bankruptcy to profitability.

Miha Dominko, PhD, is a Research Associate at the Institute for Economic Research and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law and the School of Economics and Business, University of Ljubljana. He is currently a short-term economic consultant at the World Bank, where he specializes in the labor market. Moreover, he works as an economic consultant for Pro Plus, providing expert commentary on economic issues.

He has published several academic articles in high-impact international journals on the green transition, financial cycles and subjective well-being. He has also completed numerous methodological training courses in econometrics and economic modelling in Madrid, Paris and Utrecht.

He has participated in several projects, such as the Integrated National Energy and Climate Plan of the Republic of Slovenia, the development of a modelling platform for assessing the impact of individual measures and structural reforms, modelling the impact of COVID-19 response policies on the economy and greenhouse gas emissions, etc.

Hanne van Voorden joined the IAIS Secretariat in July 2017. She is the Head of Supervisory Practices and Operations and a member of the Senior Management Team since September 2021. Prior to this role, Hanne was as a Senior Policy Advisor and during her four years with the organisation, she has coordinated multiple complex projects relating to supervisory practices, financial stability and climate risk.

As Head of Supervisory Practices and Operations, Hanne is responsible for managing activities related to developing guidance on effective supervisory practices – particularly those related to the IAIS’ key strategic themes such as climate risk, digital innovation, cyber risk, culture and conduct and diversity, equity and inclusion. In addition, she manages the organisation’s core internal operations.

Prior to joining the IAIS, Hanne worked at the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank) and held several roles in financial stability and insurance supervision.

Hanne holds a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Kevin Bauer joined the GSEFM's Ph.D. program in 2013, after completing his Bachelor's degree in Economics and Business Administration at the Goethe University.

In 2017 he completed his first master's degree in Law and Quantitative Economics. He completed his Ph.D. in 2018 with the academic title Dr. rer. pol. with a summa cum laude. His thesis 'On the Economic Significance of Social Groups: New Evidence on Self-Selection, Social Identity and Social Preferences' focuses on the empirical analyses of economic relationships.

While doing his Ph.D., he started a second Master's degree in Information Systems at the Goethe University focusing on machine learning and artificial intelligence. After finishing his Ph.D., Kevin Bauer joined the TechQuartier as the AI specialist, where he is still active as an external consultant on AI related topics.

Since January 2020, Kevin Bauer was working as a postdoctoral researcher at the SAFE Leibniz Institute where he is part of the 'Digitization of the Financial Industry'-research Group (headed by Prof. Hinz). Since January 2023 he is Professor at the University of Mannheim.

Timotej Jagric, received his first PhD from University of Maribor and his second PhD from University of Primorska. He is certified in quantitative risk management (CQRM) and is full professor of applied economics and econometrics and full professor of finance. He works at University of Maribor.

In the past he worked as vice-dean for Scientific Research and Postgraduate studies and as advisor of Vice Rector of University of Maribor for economic cooperation with companies.

He is currently head of the Institute for Finance and Artificial Intelligence. He gives classes at the Faculty of Economics and Business, Faculty for natural sciences and mathematics and other universities in and outside Slovenia.

He was visiting researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin in the Collaborative Research Center (SFB) 649 “Economic Risk” and is currently visiting professor at Technical University of Graz (Austria). He has worked as chairmen of the supervisory board of a re-insurance company, as member of the Strategic council of the government of the Republic of Slovenia, and as advisor for many government and other public institutions in CEE region. He is actively working as consultant in the field of risk management and artificial intelligence, is member of the steering committee of the Slovenian risk association - SI.RISK, and acts as an expert for WHO. He was a member in the research Programme CORE@UM co-founded by the EU.

He is currently active member of Digital Innovation Hub University of Maribor, where he acts as expert in the fields of artificial intelligence and finance. He worked on “Stress testing Scenario Modelling for Banks and Insurance companies operating in CEE Financial Markets” founded by Slovenian Research Agency and Austrian Agency for International Cooperation in Education and Research. He acts as a referee for research projects of Bank of Slovenia, Institute of Macroeconomic Analysis and Development of the Republic of Slovenia and Slovenian Research Agency.

He is also member of extended committee for financial stability for the area of fintech and cybersecurity. He has published papers in major scientific journal, books and actively participated at scientific conferences around the world.

Karel Van Hulle lectures as emeritus professor at the Economics and Business Faculty of the KU Leuven. He is emeritus professor of the Goethe University in Frankfurt and fellow of the ICIR. He is a member of the Board of the Bermuda Monetary Authority and Chairman of the Conflicts of Interest Oversight Committee of the European Money Markets Institute.

He served as head of insurance and pensions at the EC until March 2013 and was member of the Public Interest Oversight Board from March 2016 until April 2021.

He joined the EC in 1984 after serving eight years with the Belgian Banking Commission. Before becoming head of insurance and pensions in 2004, he was head of accounting, auditing, and company law.
Van Hulle is a lawyer by training. He studied law at the KU Leuven and at the Marquette University Law School in Milwaukee.

In 2013, Van Hulle was nominated distinguished fellow of the IAIS and in 2014 he was elected honorary fellow of the UK Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. In 2019, he summarised his experience with the development of Solvency II in a book “Solvency Requirements for EU Insurers. Solvency II is good for you”, Intersentia, Cambridge, Antwerp, Chicago, ISBN 978-1-78068-177-1, 727 p.

Pamela Schuermans is Principal Expert on Insurance Policy at the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), based in Frankfurt am Main.

In her current role she is responsible for the integration of environmental, social and governance risks (ESG) into insurance and pension policy and regulation. This involves work on protection gaps and solutions to improve societal resilience to catastrophe risks, in particular the role of the insurance industry. In previous roles, she has led the Solvency II project and coordinated policy regarding Brexit.

Before joining EIOPA, Pamela worked for the Belgian financial supervisory authority.

Tadej Čoroli, member of the Management Board, is responsible for the Client Contact Unit, the Marketing Department and the Insurance Sales Division, the Insurance Marketing and Distribution Division, the Non-Life Insurance Division and the Non-Life Insurance Claims Division.

With over 20 years of progressive experience across diverse industries, including telecommunication, retail, banking, and insurance, I've honed my skills in customer interaction, digital marketing, and e-commerce. My tenure in retail saw me spearheading the development and implementation of CRM platform, fine-tuning digital marketing strategies, and overseeing e-commerce functionalities.

In the banking and insurance sectors, my goal was to run and improve customer interaction experience and co-shape customer-centric digital strategy. I possess a passion for tapping into the potential of digitalization and utilizing AI to amplify operational efficiencies and enrich customer experience.

Regardless of the industry, my consistent approach has been to champion process improvements and leverage technology to fuel business growth and heighten customer satisfaction.

Aleksander Sadikov, PhD, is an Assist Prof and Head of the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Computer and Information Science. He is the Chair of the Slovenian Artificial Intelligence Society (SLAIS).

His main research interests are artificial intelligence (AI), specifically heuristic search and game playing, machine learning and data mining, and recommender and (clinical) decision support systems. In recent years he led several large European projects, mainly combining AI and medical decision support, including a Marie Curie ITN project PARENT, researching eye-tracking and its use for early detection of motor and cognitive impairments in preterm children.

He was the co-chair of the premier edition of the European Summer School in AI and Advanced Course on AI (ESSAI & ACAI 2023). The event was held under the auspices of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence (EurAI) in Ljubljana in July 2023 offering 36 courses by world-renowned AI researchers and attended by over 600 participants.

Stefan Koller has a degree in Business Administration and started at Generali Austria in 2007. After successfully implementing several projects in IT consolidation, process optimization and product development, he was appointed as head of Business Organization and Central Services in 2018. In this role, Stefan Koller is responsible for project and process management, digitalization and automation as well as data analytics and AI.

He is convinced that digitalization and automation are key levers to support employees in completing their tasks, while enhancing the customer experience. Avoiding unnecessary tasks and simplifying workflows are prerequisites for successful digitization.

Kobi Bendelak is a prominent figure in the Israeli Insurtech ecosystem, serving as the visionary CEO of InsurTech Israel. With his entrepreneurial drive, Kobi established the company with the aim of promoting and spearheading the advancement of Insurtech in Israel. Under his leadership, InsurTech Israel has become the foremost and most active organization in the country's Insurtech landscape.

The company encompasses four key areas of operation: investments, consulting, media, and an acceleration program. Through these strategic activities, Kobi and his team have cultivated a thriving ecosystem that bridges the gap between traditional insurance practices and cutting-edge technological innovation.

Prior to his role at InsurTech Israel, Kobi showcased his expertise as the founder and CEO of Reshef Insurance Brokers, a prominent entity within the Migdal/Generali Insurance Group. With over 22 years of experience in the insurance industry, Kobi has honed his knowledge and developed a deep understanding of the complexities and dynamics of the field.

Kobi's educational background includes a Bachelor's degree in Management and a Master's degree in Law, both attained from Bar Ilan University. Additionally, he has demonstrated exceptional leadership capabilities and a commitment to his country as a Colonel in the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) Reserve.

Through his unwavering dedication, strategic acumen, and extensive experience, Kobi Bendelak continues to drive the transformation of the Israeli Insurtech sector, leaving an indelible mark on the industry.

Matjaž Pušnik is Director at KPMG in Slovenia and responsible for financial institutions and IT topics. At KPMG in Slovenia, Mr. Pušnik leads the digitalization workgroup for use of emerging technology’s like AI. As project manager and subject matter expert, he has been advising Slovene institutions on digitalization topics for more than twenty years. In recent years, Mr. Pusnik has focused on insurance companies digitalization implementation in particular platform implementation and integrations as well on operational performance improvement.

Mr. Pušnik holds an M.Sc. degree in economics from the University of Ljubljana and B.Sc.in Computer Science University of Maribor. He is Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) and Certified IT Auditor at the Slovenian Institute of Auditors.

Is an economist and Business Administrator graduated from the University of Costa Rica with a master’s degree in Economics from the Catholic University of Chile, where he graduated with honors and has a degree in Business Administration from the American University of Costa Rica. He served as Parliamentary Counsel from 1991 to 1997 and as Coordinator of Economic Advisory Congress from 2000 to 2001.

In 2002 was appointed Vice-President of the American Commission on Organization of Management Systems, until 2006. For the period 2002 to 2008 served as Deputy Technical Secretary of the International Association of Bodies Supervision of Pension Funds (IAOS). From 2001 to 2005 worked in the Superintendence of Pension of Costa Rica (SUPEN) as Director of Special Studies and Risk Assessment and from 2005 became director of Planning and Standards. Since 2008 and until October 2012, served as Intendent in the Superintendent of Insurance of Costa Rica Sugese) and from November 6, 2012, serves as General Superintendent of Insurance.

Between 2002 and 2006 he participated in the Inter-American Conference on Social Security as Vice President of the American Commission CAOSA. From 2002 to 2008, he served as Deputy Technical Secretary of the International Association of Pension Fund Supervisory Organizations (IAOS).

Currently, he is the President of the Association of Insurance Supervisors of Latin America (ASSAL) and participates as a member of the Council of the Insurance and Private Pensions Committee (IPPC) of the OECD. Furthermore, he actively participates in the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), as a representative of the Governing Council and Executive Committee of the Access to Insurance Initiative (A2ii), and Chair of the Financial Inclusive Forum (FIF).

In the educational field, he has helped developed various areas of economics at the University of Costa Rica and has participated as a speaker at national and international forums related to the financial system and insurance. Finally, he has authored various texts and conducted extensive research on issues related to the supervision of insurance and pensions.