Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Executive Director Omdia
Maria Rua Aguete is an executive director at IHS Markit, focusing on Media, Service Providers & Platforms.
Ms. Rua Aguete leads the strategic development and manages the day-to-day operations of the media team, tracking the evolution of global service providers and operators. She created the team while at Screen Digest, now part of IHS Markit. Their research on service providers leverages long-standing relationships with operators in all 70+ markets covered by IHS Markit, resulting in the most comprehensive source of television and operator market intelligence in the world. She has participated in reports, including the European Cable Yearbook and has led or been a significant contributor to many consulting projects for high profile media and technology companies, including market launch plans for an emerging television group, launching a Latin American DTT platform for a major channel group, evaluating purchase of a satellite pay-TV provider for a private equity group, performing commercial due diligence on a cable TV components business for a major international bank, competitive review and strategic analysis for a major international channel operator, review of investment opportunities in the European cable market for a venture capital group, and market report and due diligence on a localization services (dubbing/subtitling) company for an investment bank. Ms. Maria Rua Aguete holds a first class degree in economics and business studies from Vigo University, Spain, and an MBA from Cardiff Business School, United Kingdom. She is a regular speaker at events like IBC and MWC.
CEO, Bulsatcom Chairman Webit Digital Entertainment & Media Board
Mr. Stanislav Georgiev is a senior industry executive and influencer in the global media, content and broadcast industries. He is the Chief Executive Officer of Bulsatcom, Bulgaria’s #1 pay-TV provider and also the Chairman of Webit.DEMS. Before taking over the leadership of Bulsatcom, Mr. Georgiev had been engaged as a Senior Advisor at Arthur D. Little, working with the management boards of top media companies across Europe, MENA and Asia on their business development strategies, growth and transformation.
Formerly, Mr. Georgiev steered A1 Group’s media, TV and content strategy, and spun off A1 Broadcasting, rapidly positioning it among the leading B2B service providers in Europe for broadcast, teleport services and playout. While heading A1 Broadcasting he managed to launch DTH pay-TV platforms in 5 countries in Europe, host encryption for more than 1 mio pay-TV subscribers, and distribute the signal of more than 60 premium TV channels across Europe, Middle-East and Asia.
Mr. Stanislav Georgiev’s career originates in the ICT industry, where he was formerly the CIO at Vip Mobile (Serbia) and the Head of Group IT at A1 Group. He possesses an MS degree in Computer Science from Sofia University and an MS degree in Management from Stevens Institute of Technologies..
SVP Strategy, Content Distribution and Digital ViacomCBS
David Urgell is Senior Vice President of Strategy, Content Distribution and Digital for Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Southern and Western Europe, Middle East & Africa. In this role, he is responsible for developing new business and expanding the presence of VIMN brands including MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central in the regions, as well as overseeing the digital, and content distribution. David Urgell has more than 20 years of experience in company management and finance within media, consulting and aerospace industries.
Prior to joining VIMN, David worked for Fox International from 2006 to 2014, where he rose through the ranks to become the Vice President of Business Planning and Development for Europe and Africa. From 2003 to 2006, he worked as Controller of the Business and Controlling Department for Aries Complex, one of the biggest aerospace subcontracting companies in Spain. From 1998 until 2003, Urgell was a Senior Consultant for IBM Business Consulting Services in Information, Communication and Entertainment, specialized in Strategy and Business Process.
David Urgell holds an Executive MBA from the ESADE Business and Law School. He also completed the ESIC: Business and Marketing School GESCO program and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He is fluent in both Spanish and English.
CEO and Co-Founder STARZPLAY
Maaz Sheikh is the CEO and Co-Founder of STARZPLAY, MENA’s leading video streaming service that is based out of Dubai and delivers its service from Marrakesh to Karachi across 21 countries in 5 languages.
Prior to starting STARZPLAY, Maaz was the COO at OSN where he led the company through industry consolidation and growth phase from 2005 to 2014. Before OSN, Maaz spent over a decade in Silicon Valley building two start-ups – Virtela Communications, which was eventually sold to NTT and StorePerform Technologies, which was acquired by JD Software. Maaz started his career as an engineer with Sprint Corp.
Since its inception in 2014, STARZPLAY has raised over $125M in funding from Lionsgate, State Street Capital Group, and SEQ Capital. In 2019, IHS Markit recognised STARZPLAY as MENA region’s #1 streaming service in terms of subscribers and revenue – ahead of any global and local service. Over the course of 5 years, STARZPLAY has received numerous industry awards and recognitions including being recognised by Financial Times as one of the ‘Top 25 tech companies to watch out for.’
Maaz is a regular contributor in the media industry publications and events. He was named CEO magazine’s ‘Media CEO of the Year’ in 2019. He has been recognised in the ‘GCC 100 - Inspiring Leaders’ and ‘DXB 100 - Influential People Helping Shape the Emirate.’
Maaz has a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Oklahoma State University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Kansas.
Special Panelists
Host
Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Chief Executive Officer Forbes
Mike Federle is the Chief Executive Officer of Forbes, one of the world’s most instantly recognizable brands and one of the largest media companies by audience.
Under Mike’s direction, Forbes continues to expand its product portfolio and its reach. Today, Forbes, which is synonymous with “success” in almost every country around the world, engages 140 million people across every platform every month – the most in its 103-year history.
Since he was appointed to CEO in December 2017, Mike has accelerated Forbes’ digital transformation efforts and led the company to two of its most successful years on record, in 2018 and 2019. He works closely with his management team and employees at all levels to set corporate strategy and nurture a #OneTeam culture that fosters innovation and allows the brand to quickly pivot in a rapidly changing marketplace.
Today, Forbes delivers the most-diverse audiences of any business media brand – entrepreneurs, the C-suite (CMOs, CEOs, CFOs, CIOs), small-business owners and more – through a robust product portfolio that includes the industry-leading BrandVoice, Insights, ForbesWomen, LIVE and Forbes Virtual platforms, as well as highly recognizable global franchises, including Under 30, Philanthropy, Forbes 400 and more.
Under Mike’s direction, the company also has undertaken an aggressive and highly successful licensing strategy that includes 40 licensed local editions in 70 countries, as well as brand extensions in education, financial services and more. Forbes has also embarked on a strategic M&A strategy that extends the brand into new areas and is differentiated in the marketplace.
The combination of Mike’s vision, execution and employee empowerment skills makes him a widely respected through leader on a range of subjects such as the intersection of tech and media, digital transformation/change management, corporate culture, and emerging technologies (AI, Blockchain, automation).
In addition to serving as CEO, Mike serves as a Director on the Forbes Media, LLC Board of Directors. Mike previously served as the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer.
Prior to joining Forbes in 2011, he was a Co-Founder, President and Chief Operating Officer of Techonomy Media Inc, a multimedia company based in New York, in which Forbes acquired an equity interest in July 2011. Techonomy was sold in 2018 to Clarim Holdings, a private holding company established by Jim McCann, founder of 1-800-Flowers.
He is a 25-year veteran of the media industry, where he has held top positions as Publisher of Fortune magazine, Group Publisher of the Time Inc. Business & Finance Network that included media properties such as Fortune, Money, Business2.0 and CNNMoney.
Executive Producer Digital Domain
John brings a career that has spanned the technology and methodology for creating and delivering media, games, and immersive experiences, from concept to consumer, and customer to his role as Executive Producer for New Media & Experiential for Digital Domain.
John has endeavored to help companies and causes not only tell their stories through dynamic media but also leverage disruptive and transformative technology, to maximize the creative impact.
John also serves as the Chairman of the New Media Council for the Producers Guild of America representing the interests of producers of broadband video, games, transmedia, iTV and VR/AR content in the entertainment industry.
Previously, John was the VP of Interactive Experiences for NBC Entertainment Digital, where he developed native interactive experiences, be they 2nd screen, social media, or virtual reality for some of the largest shows on TV, such as The Voice, World of Dance, America’s Got Talent, Blindspot, Blacklist, and more.
Founder Vionlabs
With a background in game development and game design, Arash Pendari is a talented serial entrepreneur with an extensive experience in running technology-based businesses.
He is the Creative Director and Product Evangelist at Vionlabs, the company he founded in 2010 with the mission to enhance the user experience for TV and movie lovers across the globe. Over the last decade, the company has developed truly unique content discovery tools and experiences, powered by AI, to increase time spent watching, by reducing time users spend searching for interesting and compelling content.
CTO Azure Media and Entertainment Microsoft
As CTO for Azure Media and Entertainment Hanno Basse works with customers, partners, industry groups and vendors to bring Microsoft’s cloud, edge and AI technologies to bear on today’s problems and tomorrows opportunities. His current focus is on content production and post-production workflows for Studios and their surrounding ecosystems.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Hanno was the chief technology officer (CTO) of 20th Century Fox Film Corp. At Fox, Hanno and his team of engineers worked on next generation entertainment technologies like High Dynamic Range and Ultra-HD as well as Virtual/Augmented Reality, innovative production technologies and workflows and were involved with other industry initiatives, including Content Protection, Immersive Audio etc. He earlier spent more than 14 years at DIRECTV, ultimately as senior vice president of broadcast systems engineering, with accomplishments including the 2005 successful launch of the largest HD channel rollout at that time and the 2009 implementation of DIRECTV’s video-on-demand infrastructure. Hanno began his career in 1991 as a scientist-engineer at the Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT) in Munich, Germany, and worked as a systems engineer at ProSieben Media AG, also in Germany.
Hanno is a board director of Live Planet Inc. and serves on the advisory board of Vionlabs, AB.
In early 2019, he was appointed chairman of the Infinity Festival. From 2015 – 2017, Hanno served as the first president and chairman of the board of the UHD Alliance. He also formerly served as chairman of the board of directors of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California.
He has been awarded 28 patents and was named a Fellow of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers in 2014. Hanno is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences.
Special Panelists
Host
Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Head Channel 4 Ventures
Vinay leads Channel 4 Ventures, the media investment arm of Channel 4, a leading UK public service broadcaster with a global reputation for uniquely young and affluent viewers. The investment division invests media assets in return for stakes, and helps digital companies reach mass scale. Since joining in 2015, Vinay has overseen over 20 primary investments, and his portfolio has included two IPOs, including Pinterest. Vinay is passionate about digital consumer investment and solving for challenges in the marketing and growth phase funding ecosystem. Vinay has degrees in Law from University College London, and a MBA from Imperial College, and previously worked for major blue chip media companies, including Getty Images and Liberty Global.
Founding Partner Crowberry Capital
Jenny is a Founding Partner at Crowberry, a Nordic venture fund based in Reykjavik. She has served on the board of numerous tech start-ups. Prior to becoming VC she headed Business Development at BionX, a Boston based Health Tech startup, exited to Otto Bock GmbH. Earlier Jenny was a Product Manager at Össur OSSR:DC and CEO at Krumma ehf.
Jenny earned her Dipl.-Ing. in engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Microsystems and Robotics. Jenny has served on the Education committee of Association of Chartered Engineers since 2006. She holds B.S. in Mechanical and Industrial engineering from University of Iceland and registered IPs.
Venture Capital Investor OpenOcean
Reid has been working with start-ups for most of his life, both as a founder and an investor. Before OpenOcean, he worked for IDG Ventures USA in San Francisco, focusing on the enterprise software and video game industries. Prior to that, he was the co-founder and CEO of Negotiable Software, an enterprise software platform to negotiate legally-binding agreements. Before this, he was the founder and CEO of Verdict, an anonymous social media photo-sharing application. Reid has been at OpenOcean for two years, as a member of the investment team and helping to run UK operations.
Reid studied at the University of Pennsylvania, where he majored in Political Science, was a member of the Engineering Entrepreneurship programme, and served on the board of the Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Club at the Wharton School of Business.
Beatdapp offers a tracking system that authenticates, verifies, and validates media streamed in real-time. The service reduces the tracking discrepancies between Digital Service Providers (DSPs) and rights holders, increasing royalty revenue for rights holders while limiting legal exposure to royalty lawsuits for DSPs. Think of it like a PWC for music play count. Beatdapp helps music labels and streaming services solve a 15% play count discrepancy by tracking and validating media usage for royalty payments.
Show4me is the project of the UK-based company Wefuture Ltd. The goal of Show4me is to level the playing field for musicians and give the opportunity to get a fair reward for their art by building a close relationship with their fans through Show4me direct interaction model. Show4me is a Music Interaction Network for the music industry professionals and music lovers that simplifies and upgrades music industry processes, unites and optimizes all necessary elements for conducting a successful and risk-free music business.
AirConsole transforms your TV or your computer into a gaming console. Your smartphones are the gamepads. Your browser is the console. Play games with your friends on the same screen.
Executive Chairman Webit Foundation
Dr. Plamen Russev is the initiator and focal connector of one of the world’s largest impact networks and curator of the global Webit community, reaching out to over 800,000 digerati, policy makers, innovators and media. His success stories include creating the global Webit brand from scratch, supporting founders and brands in establishing and growing a successful marketing strategy, creating meaningful relations with potential partners, customers and media. Plamen supports causes which impact the achievement of the UN’ SDGs.
He is an investor, philanthropist and serial entrepreneur and proven success record in developing business ventures in multicultural and challenging business environments.
Plamen Russev is B.Sc in Marketing and Management, M.Sc in Electronic Education/Mathematics and Physics, and Ph.D in Healthcare Management.
Plamen Russev has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Digital Affairs of his home country – Republic of Bulgaria and a member of European Commission’ BOF.
Dr. Russev’ work and impact have been recognised and awarded by governments, associations and NGOs along with 2 honorary doctorates from Universities in Europe and South America. Plamen Russev is featured in hundreds of international and local media including The Economist, Bloomberg, CNBCe, Forbes, Venture Beat, CNN to name a few.
Dr. Russev is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Webit Foundation and host of Webit Virtual.
He is happily married to the most wonderful girl in the world and father of 2 boys.
Senior Editor, Media & Entertainment Forbes
Zack O'Malley Greenburg is Senior Editor, media & entertainment at Forbes and author of four books. His latest, A-List Angels, was published in 2020 by Little, Brown. Previously, he penned 3 Kings, Michael Jackson, Inc. and Jay-Z biography Empire State of Mind. Zack’s work has also appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Vanity Fair, Vibe, Billboard, Sports Illustrated, McSweeney's and the Library of Congress; he's been a source for BBC, NPR, MTV and 60 Minutes, and a speaker at SXSW, CES, TEDx, Princeton and Harvard.
News Presenter, BBC Voice BBC
Ru Abbass Kermani is a News Anchor, writer and producer with 12 years experience in Broadcast Journalism.
She has worked for premier global broadcasters including the BBC, CNN, Al Jazeera and most recently at France 24, presenting and writing hourly live news bulletins.
She’s also worked for Channel 4 News and ITN.
Senior Broadcast Journalist BBC Global News
Ahmed Zaki is a Senior Broadcast Journalist with BBC Global News. He is a producer for World At One / Newsnight news programs on BBC Arabic TV. He reports and comments frequently on Saudi affairs for BBC World News, BBC World Service Radio, BBC Domestic radios and BBC Arabic TV/Radio/Online. During the last four years he produced and presented a number of digital explainers about various topics related to the region in English and Arabic.
Executive Editor CNN Digital International
Inga Thordar is the Executive Editor of CNN Digital Worldwide, overseeing all international news, sport and programming teams.
Thordar oversees teams of journalists in London, Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Lagos and NY who produce, write and distribute CNN’s multi-platform journalism globally across an array of digital platforms.
She was previously Senior Editor on BBC World bringing together TV and digital production teams and commissioning.
Thordar edited the BBC's news front page as well as led digital innovations on both TV and radio platforms. Prior to that, she led a team of video journalists at the BBC who used the latest technology available to create innovative quality videos for digital and TV properties.
An Iceland native, Thordar is based in London and a graduate of SOAS, University College London and the University of Iceland.
Special Panelists
Host
