Speakers RC25 (List) | Resilience Conf

Resilience Conference 2025 Speakers

Kerry Baldwin

Chair

MOD Defence Investors Advisory Group

Kerry is co-founder and Managing Partner at IQC, an early-stage VC firm with $1bn under management. With 28 years leading deep-tech venture, she specialises in adoption and commercialisation across defence, dual-use, cybersecurity, neurotech, data infrastructure, and regulatory technologies and supporting founders with their growth ambitions from seed to exit.

Andy Bamford

CEO

NSSIF

Andy Bamford is the Managing Partner and CEO of the UK National Security Strategic Investment Fund (NSSIF). He received his BA ‘02 from the University of Warwick in Politics and International Studies and MA ‘04 from the Australian National University in International Relations.

General Sir Richard Barrons KCB CBE

Co-Chairman

Universal Defence & Security Solutions Ltd

General Sir Richard Barrons served as Commander Joint Forces Command, one of the six ‘Chiefs of Staff’ leading the UK Armed Forces, 2013-2016. His military career began as an artillery officer and included the last decade of the Cold War, leadership from Captain to General on military operations in Bosnia, Kosovo, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan, and serving as the Director of all UK military operations as Lieutenant General. Now as Co-Chairman of Universal Defence & Security Solutions, he advises on senior leadership, defence and national security matters - especially Digital Age transformation for 21 st Century warfare - and is a regular media commentator. He was one of the leaders of the UK Prime Minister’s 2025 Strategic Defence Review and is a Senior Consulting Fellow at Chatham House. His latest book, ‘War and Peace, the Life and Times of General Sir Richard Barrons’ was published in 2024.

Andy Baynes

CSO

Tiberius

Architect at Tiberius, former Apple, Nest and Google executive, serial entrepreneur, and product design and innovation specialist

Ryan Benitez

DIANA Chief Commercial Officer

NATO DIANA

Ryan Benitez is the Chief Commercial Officer at NATO's Defence Innovation Accelerator of the North Atlantic (DIANA), where she is responsible for leading the organisation’s industry and venture capital engagement strategy, building pathways to commercialise and scale dual-use startups across NATO member countries. Her focus is to drive growth and adoption of emerging and disruptive technologies in both the commercial market and into the hands of the warfighter.

John Biggs

Editor-at-Large

Resilience Media

John Biggs is an entrepreneur, consultant, writer, and maker. He spent fifteen years as an editor for Gizmodo, CrunchGear, and TechCrunch and has a deep background in hardware startups, 3D printing, and blockchain. His work has appeared in Men’s Health, Wired, and the New York Times.

Will Blyth

Co-founder and CEO

Arondite

Will began his career in the British Army, serving as an infantry officer, before joining a specialist unit and later working in the Ministry of Defence. After leaving the military, he spent time with tech companies Palantir and Helsing.

Perry Boyle

CEO

MITS Capital LLC

Mr. Boyle has more than 30 years of experience driving the growth of companies and non-profits. He has served as a C-suite leader in the investment banking and investment management industries, as well as Chair and Board Member for non-profits, industry associations, and think tanks. His extensive global experience spans Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

Ophelia Brown

Founding & Managing Partner

Blossom Capital

Ophelia Brown is the Founder of Blossom Capital, an early-stage VC backing Europe’s most visionary founders. Known for her tenacity and founder-first approach, she has led investments in standout companies like Checkout, Pigment, Tines, and MoonPay. Blossom recently expanded its focus to include defence, partnering early with Frankenburg Technologies.

Eveline Buchatskiy

Managing Partner

Eveline Buchatskiy is the Founding Managing Partner at D3, a seed-stage fund dedicated to defense technology startups that Dare to Defend Democracy. With over a decade of experience scaling high-growth startups, she has been instrumental in driving innovation and impact in the tech ecosystem.

Samuel Burrell

Partner at Expeditions

Expeditions

Samuel Burrell is a Partner at Expeditions where he is Investment Lead for the UK & US. Expeditions is the leading European fund investing in security and defence technology. Samuel was previously a Senior Investment Partner at NSSIF, a UK government fund focused on investing in technologies advancing national security, and a Royal Marine prior to that. He completed an MBA at INSEAD and has 8 years of venture investing experience gained at Octopus Ventures, NKB Group and NSSIF.

Mike Butcher MBE

Journalist

Mike Butcher MBE is the former Founding Editor-at-large of TechCrunch, the Silicon Valley tech media outlet. He has been frequently named as one of the most influential journalists in European tech, and is a regular broadcaster. He is also the co-founder of TechVets, a UK charity which assists veterans and service-leavers in attaining employment in cybersecurity and other tech roles.

Grace Cassy

Co-Founder

CyLon Ventures

Grace is Co-founder of CyLon Ventures and a Board Member at 1011 Ventures, recognised by Fortune as a top global security investor. She advised the UK Defence Secretary on the 2025 Strategic Defence Review, is an Associate Fellow at Chatham House, and serves on the European Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, she spent a decade in the UK Diplomatic Service, including as foreign policy adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Jessica Cecil

Athena

Jessica Cecil works both commercially and in publicly-funded bodies grappling with the challenges new technology is throwing at the media and creative industries.

Melissa Chambers

CEO & Co-Founder

Sitehop

Melissa is the CEO & Co-Founder of Sitehop, and leads the development and scaling of high-speed, post-quantum encryption hardware and securing data-in-motion without compromising performance. With a background in hardware engineering, Melissa specialises in designing, manufacturing, and scaling deep tech products from concept to market.

Jacomo Corbo

CEO & Co-Founder

PhysicsX

Jacomo Corbo is the CEO and Co-Founder of PhysicsX, a physical AI company accelerating engineering and manufacturing innovation in advanced industries.

Caroline Daniel

Partner

Brunswick Group

Caroline Daniel is a Partner at Brunswick Group, and specialises in technology, artificial intelligence and media, providing strategic communications advice to boards and senior executives at both FTSE100 companies and tech start-ups. Her work includes advising on crisis situations, AI narrative development, IPOs, critical issues, financial transactions and stakeholder engagement. She spent 17 years at the Financial Times in leading editorial roles including Editor of FT Weekend (2010-2016), Opinion Page Editor, White House correspondent and technology writer. She has made multiple broadcast appearances, and been a frequent moderator at tech and geopolitical events including Brilliant Minds, WebSummit, Resilience and CogX. She is on the editorial board of Resilience Media; was a member of the BBC’s Editorial Guidance and Standards Committee, a BBC Board committee (2022-5); UK member of the Trilateral Commission, a global non-governmental discussion group of executives and politicians; and Trustee of the UK’s non-fiction prize.

Robin Dechant

Partner

General Catalyst

Robin leads the European resilience thesis at General Catalyst with a focus on seed-stage investments. He's passionate about tech solving tough real-world problems, especially in manufacturing, energy, and defence.

Oleksii Dorohan

CEO

Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO)

Oleksii Dorohan is the CEO of the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO), an expert in digital transformation, public governance, and deregulation. BRDO is an independent analytical think tank with a team of over 100 professionals — lawyers, analysts, developers, and communication experts — working in the fields of economics, law, public administration, sectoral regulation, and defence policy. Under Oleksii’s leadership, the BRDO team develops digital solutions for the state, contributes to reform design, and helps implement transparent rules — from business development to strengthening national defense capabilities.

Dr Rich Drake

General Manager

Anduril Industries UK

Rich is currently the General Manager of Anduril Industries UK, a defence technology business specialising in robotics and AI. Prior to Anduril, Rich served as Chief Technology Officer at Babcock International Group.

Alex Ferrara

Managing Partner

Bessemer Venture Partners

Alex Ferrara led the opening of BVP's London office in 2021 and currently leads Bessemer's European efforts. He primarily focuses on defence tech, cybersecurity and fin tech. Alex joined Bessemer in 2005. As well as being an Investor in The Exploration Company, he also led Shopify’s Series A, Pipedrive’s Series A, and has backed a range of successful cybersecurity and B2B cloud startups.

Dr Mikolaj Firlej

Co-founder and General Partner

Expeditions

Mikolaj Firlej is a co-founder and General Partner at Expeditions. Over the last decade, Mikolaj has worked on autonomous weapon systems and the application of AI in defence and intelligence sectors. He started his career in venture since 2016 working for a US deep-tech firm, and established the Centre of Tech and Global Affairs at the University of Oxford. In the past, he worked for the Polish Government at the Prime Minister's Office. Mikolaj holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford for a thesis on the use of AI-augmented and autonomous weapon systems in the US DoD. In his personal life, he is supporting gifted schoolchildren, particularly from Beskid Mountains.

Alex Fox

Senior Advisor, Serendipity Capital
Commercial Director, Ocean Infinity

Ocean Infinity

Alex Fox is a technology executive at maritime robotics and autonomy company, Ocean Infinity. He advises a multi-stage venture capital investment fund, Serendipity Capital, and governments seeking to build defence and national security technology companies.

Tom Garnett

CEO & Co-founder

Refute

Tom has spent his career building data analysis solutions and scaling teams to tackle cybersecurity, financial crime, and terrorist threats. He co-founded Refute to address the next critical threat to commercial organisations: disinformation. At Refute, Tom and his team help organisations detect and respond to disinformation threats at the speed of the attackers: protecting their reputation, preserving their financial valuation, and preventing threat actors from destabilising their operations.

Kaspar Gering

Co-founder & General Partner

Darkstar

Kasper is a founder with a successful exit and angel investor, he now focuses exclusively on defence as Co-Founder and General Partner of Darkstar

Walter Goodwin

Founder and CEO

Fractile

Walter Goodwin founded Fractile in 2022 to build the hardware needed to unlock colossal scaling of frontier AI inference compute.

Volodymyr Gorodnychyi

Senior Officer, Information Security Service

Nemesis Regiment, Unmanned Systems Forces, Armed Forces of Ukraine

Bio not available for security reasons

Amelia Gould

General Manager, Maritime

Helsing

Amelia is General Manager, Maritime, the group lead for the Maritime Domain. She began her career as an Engineering Officer in the Royal Navy, serving for 11 years before becoming an Enterprise Architect for digital transformation. Amelia then moved to BAE Systems, where she was a Technical Authority, Chief of Staff to the CEO, and finally led the Maritime Combat Systems business. Amelia is a WISE Woman in Industry Award winner (2017), a Chartered Engineer and a non-Executive Director on the Maritime UK Solent Board.

Rear Admiral Rich Harris

Director Develop, Royal Navy

Royal Navy

Serving in HM Ships MARLBOROUGH, IRON DUKE, DRAGON and QUEEN ELIZABETH as a weapon engineer, Rich’s seagoing appointments have seen him deploy to the Indo-Pacific, Middle East, South America, and High North. He was privileged to be the Commander Weapon Engineer during the aircraft carrier’s first work up and first embarkation of 617Sqn and the USMC VFMA-211.

Khaled Helioui, Partner at Plural

Partner at Plural

Plural

Khaled is a partner at Plural, the early-stage venture capital fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology. He led Plural's investments in Helsing, Isometric and The Exploration Company, among others, and has been backing founders addressing the opportunity gap worldwide and tackling systemic risks for the last ten years. As CEO, he led Bigpoint’s four-year turnaround which culminated in a sale to Youzu. Now a full-time investor, he only invests when he has a direct relationship with the founding team and a clear sense of how he will support them.

Leslie Hitchcock

Co-founder and Publisher

Resilience Media

Leslie Hitchcock is a seasoned media executive and co-founder of Resilience Media, an independent publication dedicated to the defence of democracy and the intersection of startups, security, and defence technology. With nearly two decades of experience in the tech industry, she has been instrumental in shaping conversations around innovation and resilience in the face of global challenges.

Dr Duncan Hodges

UK CTO – Emerging Technologies, Academic and Industrial Partnerships

Leonardo

Dr Duncan Hodges is UK CTO for Emerging Technologies, Academic & SME Partnerships at Leonardo, leading and accelerating the flow of cutting-edge research into programmes and products. With Leonardo UK investing around £500 million in R&D last year, he focuses on turning ideas from universities and SMEs into deployable capability and competitive advantage.

Leah

Senior VC Reporter

PitchBook News

Leah Hodgson is a London-based senior reporter for PitchBook, covering the venture capital ecosystem across Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Leah, who joined PitchBook in 2018, graduated from the University of Surrey with a BA in international politics with French. She has previously been a radio reporter in France. She later turned to financial journalism, covering the wealth management industry.

Dr. Klaus Hommels

Founder & Chairman

Lakestar

Klaus Hommels is one of Europe’s leading business angels and venture capitalists. He is also a prominent voice for the European Tech Ecosystem with the aim of strengthening Europe’s sovereignty in times of digital transformation.

Junaid Hussain

Founder

Auctor

Junaid is the founder of Auctor Group, an evergreen holding company building companies from inception and making strategic investments.

Shashank Joshi

Defence Editor

The Economist

Shashank Joshi is defence editor at The Economist, where he covers nuclear, military, intelligence and national security issues. He is also a visiting fellow at the Department of War Studies at King’s College London and sits on the advisory board at the Royal United Services Institute. He was educated at Cambridge and Harvard. He had published books on Iran’s nuclear programme and India’s armed forces. His special reports for The Economist have covered the future of war, lessons from Ukraine and how technology is changing intelligence.

Alon Kantor

Partner

10D Ventures

Alon brings over 30 years of experience in strategy, business, and technological innovation. He co-founded and served as CEO of Toka, a leading defence tech startup backed by investors like A16Z and Upfront Ventures. Prior to that, he spent 20 years at Check Point, where he was VP of Business Development, leading global partnerships, M&A, and market strategy.

Maj Gen Mike Keating CBE

Chief of Staff Allied Rapid Reaction Corps

British Army

Maj Gen Keating is the Chief of Staff of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC) a NATO Headquarters held at high readiness to deploy in crisis and conflict at the direction of the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). The ARRC is a British-led headquarters of ~400 personnel, to which 21 NATO member states contribute staff officers. Prior to this role, Maj Gen Keating served as the Deputy Commanding General-Manoeuvre for the United States Army's 3rd Armoured Corps at Fort Cavazos, Texas, and the Chief of Defence Staff's Liaison Officer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington DC.

Mimi Keshani

Co-Founder & CSO

Hadean

Mimi oversees our corporate development, focussed on how we grow Hadean exponentially through key strategic deals, partnerships, and funding opportunities.

Alex Kinash

European Partnerships Director

Vermeer

Alex lives and works full-time in Ukraine, bringing firsthand insight into defence tech deployed on the battlefield. At Vermeer, he helps deploy visual navigation for unmanned systems into combat. As a Venture Partner at Darkstar, he evaluates lethal and dual-use technologies in-country, drawing on a trusted network across the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Security Service, and key ministries.

Victoria Knight

Strategic & Operations Director National Security & Government

BAE Systems Digital Intelligence

Victoria brings over 25 years of experience in the technology sector, with a career rooted in leading high impact, high trust programmes across national security, defence, and cyber domains. She has been at the forefront of developing and delivering complex digital and data strategies in some of the most sensitive and critical environments, consistently driving innovation, operational excellence, and strategic outcomes for UK government and its international partners.

Dimitrios Kottas

CEO & Founder

Delian Alliance Industries

Dimitrios is the CEO & Founder of Delian. Before this, Dimitrios worked on perception for autonomous systems at the Apple Special Projects Group. His academic work on sensor fusion and GPS-denied navigation for mobile robotics has over 1.4K citations.

Serhii Kupriienko

Founder & CEO

SWARMER

Serhii Kupriienko, the 40-year-old co-founder and CEO of Swarmer, is a Ukrainian innovator reshaping modern military tech through AI-powered drone swarms. Stanford’s lead alum, Serhii brings extensive experience from leading the AI and computer vision team at Ring.com, where he managed over 500 engineers, and from his prior roles as CTO of successful AI startups. Serhii founded Swarmer in 2023 with a mission to revolutionize how drones operate in combat. Under his guidance, Swarmer’s software allows a single operator to control multiple drones with real-time adaptability, navigating complex, GPS-denied environments. Driven by his belief in the power of great teams and high-stakes technology, his focus remains steadfast on advancing AI’s practical deployment in real-world scenarios. For Serhii, the complexity of balancing software adaptability with reliable, human-centered oversight is the kind of challenge that excites him daily.

Mike Lawton

Co-Founder & Director

Oxford Dynamics

Mike is founder of space-tech business Oxford Space Systems (OSS) and co-founder of Oxford Dynamics an AI & robotics company focused on defence & national intelligence. OSS is internationally recognised for its deployable satellite antennas and is currently one of the highest valued space tech businesses in the UK. OSS is also seen as “strategically important” to the UK defence sector, with much of its work not in the public domain. VC-backed OSS is Mike’s third technology business, with previous ventures including a remote telemetry business built around an idea he had at university and a biofuel technology business that led to a joint venture in India, which won Mike the title of Green Entrepreneur for India 2009.

Michelle Le merre

Finance Director - Corporate Development and Strategy

BAE Systems

Michelle is Finance Director for Corporate Development & Strategy at BAE Systems, a global company that provides some of the world's most advanced, technology-led defence, aerospace and security solutions. She has created a central team at BAE Systems focused on inorganic growth strategy, execution and integration. Michelle is a member of BAE Systems’ Strategy Council, Finance Council and Chief Technology and Information Office. She is also a member of the GCV Global Defence Council for defence venture investing and the UK Defence Investor Network. She is also a Trustee of BAE Systems' Executive Pension Scheme. Prior to joining BAE Systems, Michelle led Corporate Development for Parker Hannifin's Europe, Middle East and African operations. Parker Hannifin is a Fortune 250 Global Leader in Motion and Control Technologies with a market capitalisation of $90bn. Michelle supported Parker in executing is inorganic growth strategy and portfolio optimisation as well as led the project management for the European integration of key transformational acquisitions including Clarcor ($4.3bn industrial filtration business) and LORD ($3.7bn materials technology business). Michelle started her career in Financial Services Banking and Capital Markets Audit at Ernst and Young and qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in the United States. She then spent twelve years at British investment bank Close Brothers Corporate Finance (now known as DC Advisory) where she was a Director on the Industrial team, providing corporate finance advice to private, public and private equity backed companies.

Lital Leshem

Co-Founder & Managing Partner

Protego Ventures

Lital Leshem is an American-Israeli entrepreneur and corporate advisor experienced in rapidly scaling startups.

Tim Little

International Campaign Lead - Ukraine

BAE Systems Digital Intelligence

Tim is responsible for coordinating BAE Systems Digital Intelligence business development and capability provision to Ukraine, covering capabilities across Cyber, Digital, CEMA and Space. He has been involved in Ukraine since 2023, spending the previous 7 years in Business Development for UK National Security, with a key focus on the use of a supplier ecosystem in sensitive environments.

Philip Lockwood

SVP of Strategy and Managing Director

STARK

Philip Lockwood leads strategy and international business for Stark, a new company reshaping the future of defence technology to give NATO a decisive edge.

Peter Lovell

Global Head of Defence & Security

PA Consulting

Peter Lovell is PA’s Global Head of Defence and Security, leading a team of 550 defence and security specialists. Peter has 20 years of experience as a transformation expert in UK Defence, working with both the MOD and wider defence industry. An engineer by background, he is a specialist in designing and delivering multi-faceted transformation programmes for highly complex organisations and works at the most senior levels of MOD.

Dr Chris Magazzeni

Investment Director

Lakestar

Chris Magazzeni is an Investment Director at Lakestar, leading investments across Aerospace, Defence, Industrialisation, and Resilience in Europe. He backs founders building critical technologies for European security and industrial sovereignty.

Charlie March

General Partner

Never Lift

Charlie manages Never Lift, investing across resilience themes in Europe and America. Previously, Charlie has held roles at Thrive and 8VC. He was MD of Strategy for Afiniti, an AI company in London, prior to starting Never Lift. He also sits on the board of his family business, Goodwood. He holds an MBA from Columbia and a BA from the University of Oxford.

Massimo Maroni, Ph.D.

Vice President Aircraft Technologies & Systems, Leonardo Aeronautics Division

Leonardo

Massimo has 25 years’ experience in the Aerospace industry, in the area of Fly-by-wire, Aircraft Systems, and Air Vehicle Technology. He is currently VP within the Engineering organization of Leonardo Aeronautics Division, combining work on legacy and new programs, fostering adoption and consolidation of modern and new technologies: model-based system engineering, big data analysis, and deep learning surrogates.

Iain Martin

Senior Editor

Forbes

Iain Martin is a senior editor with Forbes and covers AI, startups, and edits the Midas List ranking of the world’s best venture capital investors. Prior to joining Forbes, Iain worked for the journalism startup Storyful (acquired News Corp) as its Asia Editor from its Hong Kong bureau, and started his career as a financial journalist in London.

Cameron McCord

Co-Founder and CEO

Nominal

Cameron is the CEO and Co-founder of Nominal, a dual-use software company that builds tools and data infrastructure for complex hardware development and testing.

Lorenz Meier

CEO

Auterion

Dr. Lorenz Meier is the founder and CEO of Auterion, the operating system for autonomous mass. A pioneer in the drone industry, he created key open-source projects including PX4, MAVLink, QGroundControl, and the Pixhawk autopilot. He chairs the Dronecode Foundation and was named one of MIT’s Top 35 Innovators under 35.

Senior Mission Leader

UK Intelligence Community

Information withheld for security reasons

Antoine Moyroud

Partner, Europe

Lightspeed Venture Partners

Antoine Moyroud is a partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners and sits on their European investment team since 2022. Specializing in Machine Learning and Data topics, his work on the emerging AI space has brought Lightspeed Venture Partners to partner with Mistral.ai, leading their inaugural round in 2023.

Peter Munford

CEO

Vantix Partners

Peter is co-founder and CEO of Vantix Partners. His background is in national security operations and diplomacy, working in the UK and overseas. He negotiated on national security topics at the United Nations, spent time in the Middle East, and worked alongside the UK military in hostile environments. After government service, he advised senior business leaders on security and risk governance with strategic advisory firm Hakluyt.

Professor Dame Fiona Murray

Vice Chairman

NATO Innovation Fund

Professor Dame Murray is the Associate Dean of Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) School of Management. She is the Faculty Director of MIT’s Office of Innovation. Dame Fiona is an associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research and serves on British Prime Minister’s Council on Science and Technology. She received her BA and MA from the University of Oxford in chemistry and then earned an PhD from Harvard University in engineering and applied sciences. She is an international expert on science, technology and innovation policy, advising companies and governments on building innovation ecosystems that drive security and prosperity.

Nicholas Nelson

General Partner

Archangel

Nicholas Nelson is the leading investor at the forefront of European defence technology. He is the General Partner at Archangel, Europe’s first defence-first venture capital fund, where he backs breakthrough deep tech startups across Europe. He previously founded Offset Ventures, Europe's first defence-focused VC syndicate. Prior to this he held senior roles in early-stage venture capital, strategy consulting, and government, including deploying to Afghanistan.

Dr. Jennifer Nelson

Executive Vice President

In-Q-Tel

Dr. Jennifer Nelson currently serves as Executive Vice President, International where she directs IQT’s overseas investment activities as well as the expansion of global footprint in support of the IQT’s mission of identifying, evaluating, and leveraging emerging commercial technologies for the National Security Community and its allies. Over her sixteen years at IQT, Dr. Nelson has held a variety of roles including the position of Chief of Staff, where she led strategic prioritization and alignment across the executive team, and as Senior Vice President where she oversaw technology transfer from IQT’s Portfolio to the US Government. Prior to joining IQT in 2009, Dr. Nelson worked at IBM Corporation, where she supported the public sector with technology strategy development. Dr. Nelson holds bachelor’s degrees in both Finance and Management, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Virginia Polytechnic and State University, and a doctoral degree from Vanderbilt University.

Prof. Mart Noorma

Co-Founder/Professor

Darkstar/Univ. of Tartu

Mart Noorma is a co-founder of Darkstar Ventures Fund and Professor of Space and Defence Technologies of the University of Tartu. He has led innovation and technology development in different roles as the Director of NATO CCDCOE, the R&D Director of Milrem Robotics, a member of the NATO EDT Advisory Group, NATO STO Applied Vehicle Panel etc.

Lieutenant Colonel Timothy D. Otten

Embedded Liaison to the United Kingdom

Defense Innovation Unit

Lieutenant Colonel Timothy D. Otten serves as the first U.S. Defense Innovation Unit Embedded Liaison to the United Kingdom. His mission: connect innovation, technology, and defense across the Atlantic. Working with the UK Ministry of Defence, Parliament, and industry leaders, he helps accelerate collaboration on next-generation capabilities.

Sille Pettai

CEO

SmartCap

Sille is the CEO of SmartCap, Estonian state backed investment company focused on venture capital and growth investments with total assets under management close to EUR 500 million.

Torsten Reil

Co-founder and Co-CEO

Helsing

Torsten is co-Founder and co-CEO of Helsing. Originally a biologist, he previously founded NaturalMotion, one of the UK's most successful games and technology start-ups. He is an active technology and biotech investor and has spoken at TED, TED Global, Google Zeitgeist and the Apple iPhone 5 keynote. Torsten was named as one of MIT's Top 100 Innovators and is a member of the Munich Security Conference Innovation Board.

Alexander Ribbink

General Partner - Investor

Keen Venture Partners

Alexander Ribbink is a Dutch tech investor whose early fascination with defence and international affairs began with the moon landing and a Kissinger lecture on deterrence. After a corporate career, he joined the founders of TomTom, helping scale the GPS company, and went on to build a successful career in tech and venture investing.

John Ridge

Chief Adoption Officer

NIF

John leads on Adoption for the NATO Innovation Fund – getting our portfolio companies’ technology into the hands of end-users across the Alliance. To do so, he works closely with ministries of defence and governments across NATO as well as with a broad spectrum of industry partners. The Adoption team’s insights into future defence and national security requirements also help shape the Fund’s investments.

David Rothzeid

Principal

Shield Capital

As a Principal Investor at Shield Capital, David Rothzeid is responsible for identifying and evaluating high-potential startups at the nexus of commercial innovation and national security. With over $350 million in assets under management, Shield Capital partners with visionary founders to scale transformative technologies. David sits on multiple boards and leverages his expertise to help portfolio companies navigate the complexities of federal procurement and access key government markets.

Kusti Salm

CEO

Frankenburg Technologies

Mr. Salm is the CEO of Frankenburg Technologies, which produces affordable, mass-manufacturable missile systems. He sits on the board of the NATO Innovation Fund and previously served as Permanent Secretary of the Estonian Ministry of Defence. Earlier, he led the Estonian Centre for Defence Investment and was chief negotiator for the European Defence Fund in 2017.

Ragnar Sass

Co-Founder

Darkstar

Ragnar Sass is the Co-founder of Pipedrive, Estonia’s fifth unicorn, which exited to Vista Equity in 2020. He's an active angel investor with over 50 portfolio companies and the founder of Help99, an NGO supporting 200+ Ukrainian military units.

Dr. Julian Senoner

Co-Founder & CEO

EthonAI

Julian Senoner is the Co-Founder & CEO of EthonAI, an industrial AI company backed by General Catalyst and Index Ventures, with customers including Siemens, Bosch, and Roche. He holds a PhD from ETH Zurich, with award-winning research published in top journals and contributions to the World Economic Forum and United Nations. In 2022, he was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list.

Teemu Seppälä

Technology and Innovation Director

Defence Innovation Network Finland (DEFINE) / City Of Riihimäki

Teemu Seppälä is Technology and Innovation Director of the City of Riihimäki, where he leads the Defence Innovation Network Finland (DEFINE) ecosystem. DEFINE brings together a dual-use accelerator, innovation hub, and RDI lab, supporting startups to scale into the defence and security markets. In its first year, 24 companies graduated from the accelerator, with exits, VC funding, and commercial contracts with defence forces and industry primes.

Zach Shore

Chief Revenue Officer

Hermeus Corporation

Zach Shore is the Chief Revenue Officer at Hermeus Corporation, spearheading the company’s growth across commercial and defense markets. Prior to Hermeus, he was Vice President of Product at Vertafore and Senior Director of Business Development at Anduril Industries, where he established and led the Command and Control (C2) business line as one of the company’s earliest employees.

Jacek Siewiera

LTCOl Prof.

Baltic Strategic Analysis Center

Jacek Siewiera, former Secretary of State and Poland’s National Security Advisor (2022–2025), shaped defence strategy and NATO policy during the war in Ukraine. A retired Lieutenant Colonel, doctor, and lawyer, he led major rescue missions and is a recognized voice on resilience, hybrid threats, and innovation.

Senior Speaker

UK Intelligence Community

Information withheld for security reasons

Major General Zac Stenning

Director Strategy

Cyber & Specialist Operations Command

Maj Gen Zac Stenning has served for over 30 years in the UK Armed Forces, in a number of roles in the British Army and across Defence. He has a range of operational experience, including Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. Maj Gen Stenning was part of the Review Team that led on the MOD's contribution to HMG's Integrated Defence and Security Review in 2021. He was Commandant, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst between 2022 and 2024. Maj Gen Stenning started his current appointment as Director Strategy Cyber & Specialist Operations Command (previously UK Strategic Command) October 2024. Maj Gen Stenning was awarded the OBE in 2013 for his service in Afghanistan, and appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 2025.

Dr Tobias Stone

Co-Founder

Resilience Media

Tobias Stone co-founded Resilience Media to help bring together the military and national security with the tech sector to support innovation in defence.

Oluseun Taiwo

Founder & CEO

Solideon

Oluseun revolutionized the sector with his 3D-printed rocket engines, becoming the first American to launch one in 2017 at Rocketlab USA as employee number 15. He spearheaded 3D-printing initiatives at Argonne National Lab, Virgin Orbit, and 3D Systems’. A true innovator, Oluseun was recognized as one of Forbes’ 30 under 30 for his transformative contributions of consistently pushing the aerospace industry’s boundaries.

Sten Tamkivi, Partner at Plural

Partner

Plural

Sten is a partner at Plural, the early-stage venture capital fund that backs the most ambitious founders on a mission to change the world through technology. He's led early investments in a range of frontier tech, robotics, defence and AI companies, including Labrys.

Senior Technology Leader

UK Intelligence Community

Information withheld for security reasons

Oleksandr Vorobiov

Senior Officer, Air Defense Training Department

3rd Army Corps, Armed Forces of Ukraine

Bio not available for security reasons

Yoram Wijngaarde

CEO & Founder

Dealroom.co

Founder of Dealroom, which was launched in 2014 in Amsterdam to provide insights and intelligence about the world's most promising companies. Top tier venture capital firms like Sequoia, Insight Partners, Balderton, Atomico, and world class corporates like Google, Amazon, Stripe, McKinsey, BCG, EY, Deloitte, Unilever, Pepsi and others use Dealroom software and data to stay at the forefront of innovation and discover the world’s most promising companies. Before founding Dealroom, Yoram was an investment banker at Lehman Brothers, Nomura Securities and NOAH Advisors in New York and London. Yoram has a cum laude Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Amsterdam.

Greg Williams

DEPUTY GLOBAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR OF WIRED

WIRED

Greg Williams is the Editor-in-Chief of WIRED UK and Deputy Global Editorial Director of WIRED. A content creator, speaker and strategic forecaster who has held senior leadership roles in London and New York, Greg is interested in what's coming next and understanding the ideas, organizations, trends and technologies that will shape the future. He has interviewed many senior leaders in business, technology and policy, including Bill Gates, Satya Nadella, Demis Hassabis and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.

George Williamson

CEO

HMGCC (His Majesty's Government Communications Centre)

George joined HMGCC, at Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, as CEO in 2021. Prior to this, he held a series of senior roles within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), most recently as a Director General in Technology. He has served in the UK’s diplomatic service for over 20 years, with roles in both the UK and over-seas.

Jeannette zu Fürstenberg

Managing Director, Head of Europe

General Catalyst

Dr. Jeannette zu Fürstenberg is Managing Director of the global VC firm General Catalyst (GC) and in charge of its European business. Jeannette is also Founding Partner of La Famiglia VC, one of Europe’s most distinguished early-stage Venture Capital platforms connecting the established industry and the start-up ecosystem. Today, La Famiglia VC is the nucleus of General Catalyst's Global Seed Investment Program. Jeannette embodies the role of a passionate generalist with a founder-led approach. Her investments are driven by her vision of a resilient, more prosperous Europe, with technology as a key driver of transformation which is also reflected in her areas of expertise which include AI, climate, industrial transformation, defense and traditional software-centric opportunities.