2026 Speakers
This year's Symposium speakers include:
Susanne Wiegand, Brenntag SE, Quantum-Systems & CSG
Susanne Wiegand is an experienced leader with more than 20 years of experience in senior positions in international listed and family-owned companies in the defence industry and in mechanical and plant engineering (shipbuilding). After studying business administration at Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main, she worked for several years as a management consultant for large industrial companies before joining Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Hamburg, in 2005 as Senior Vice President with responsibility for strategy, business development, and M&A. In 2007, she was appointed to the management board of Nobiskrug Werft, Rendsburg. She subsequently also took over the management of German Naval Yards Kiel GmbH and Lindenau Werft GmbH, Kiel. From 2018 to 2021, she was a member of the Executive Board Defence of Rheinmetall AG and CEO of the group's Electronic Solutions division. From 2021 to 2025, she was CEO of RENK Group AG, an MDAX-listed, world-leading manufacturer of tank transmissions and mission-critical military drive solutions, which she successfully floated on the stock exchange in 2024. Since stepping down from RENK Group AG at the beginning of 2025, Susanne Wiegand has devoted herself to other roles in the context of security and defence and is involved, among other things, as an investor in several defence startups, as a supervisory board member of Brenntag SE (DAX), CSG N.V., BWI GmbH (IT for the German Armed Forces) and Quantum-Systems GmbH, and as a board member of the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP e.V.) as well as a member of the Government Commission on the German Corporate Governance Code.
Air Marshal Andrew Turner, Saibre Capital
Air Marshal Andrew Turner CB CBE FRAeS CMgr CCMI was a combat pilot in the Royal Air Force for 20 years operating in Northern Ireland, Arctic, Caribbean, Balkans, Iraq, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and North Africa. He then served as the Director of UK military planning, principal UK military officer in the White House, Chancellor of the UK Defence Technical University, Director General of UK global military operations and Deputy head of the RAF. Since leaving in 2022 he has become an angel investor, director and chair of space, quantum and advanced material businesses; advises the Government on quantum investments; and is the Chief Executive of Saibre Capital, a national interest investment advisory service.
Jan Friedrich Kallmorgen, EY-Parthenon
Jan Friedrich Kallmorgen is a Partner at EY-Parthenon Strategy & Transactions advising corporate leaders and investors on the impact of geopolitics on strategy, M&A and operations. He helps executives implementing risk mitigation strategies and developing new investment opportunities leveraging the firm’s and his own global network and supporting with corporate diplomacy. Jan’s sector focus is on defence working with a pan-European team combining a deep understanding of international security, the military, governments, industry and capital markets. He works closely with defence companies and scale ups seeking growth finance as well as private equity, family offices, venture capital firms and other asset managers. Prior to EY he worked at The World Bank, Goldman Sachs, the German Council on Foreign Relations, Bohnen Kallmorgen & Partner and the Interel Group. He founded and led Berlin Global Advisors, one of Germany’s leading geopolitical and public affairs advisory firms. Jan is on the board of the non-profit think tank Atlantic Initiative and co-chairs the AmCham Berlin Brandenburg. His memberships include the Atlantik-Brücke, Global Bridges, the BMW Foundation Responsible Leaders’ Program, the CDU Economic Council, Rotary and the Order of St John. He received his education at the University of Bonn and the Freie University Berlin, where he graduated with a master’s degree in history. He also received a master’s from Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Washington DC. He lives in Berlin with his wife and three children.
Charles Parton, Royal United Services Institute
Charlie Parton spent 22 years of his 37 year diplomatic career working in or on China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. In his final posting he was seconded to the EU Delegation in Beijing, where, as First Counsellor until late 2016, he focused on Chinese politics and internal developments, and advised the EU and Member States on how China’s politics might affect their interests. He has also worked in Afghanistan, Cyprus, Libya and Mali. In 2017 he returned to Beijing for four months as Adviser to the British Embassy to cover the CCP’s 19th Congress. He is a senior associate fellow of three think tanks, the Council on Geostrategy, the Royal United Services Institute, and MERICS in Berlin. He was a Specialist Adviser on China to the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee for its 2018-9 China Inquiries. He runs his own advisory company on China, China Ink. He has published extensively in academic journals, many UK newspapers and magazines, and appears regularly on the BBC, France 24, LBC and other media.
Andrew Thomis, Cohort plc
Andrew Thomis graduated with an MEng degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London in 1987. He spent nine years in science, technology and policy roles in the UK Ministry of Defence. He left in 1996 and, after a period working with public and private sector clients at Capita plc’s management consultancy arm, he joined Alvis in a role covering strategy, M&A and business development. Following the acquisition of Alvis by BAE Systems in 2004, Andrew worked with Nick Prest and Stanley Carter on the creation of Cohort plc, acting as Finance Director during the flotation and subsequently Corporate Development Director. From 2007 to 2009 he was Managing Director of MASS. Andrew is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Taavi Veskimägi, Sentris Capital
Taavi Veskimägi is a former Minister of Finance of Estonia and the long-serving CEO of Estonia’s national energy TSO, Elering AS, with responsibility for national energy security. In 2009, he founded the Estonian Defence and Aerospace Industry Association and served as Chairman of its Board. He is a Partner at the venture capital firm 2C Ventures. Since 2018, together with partners, he has been investing in the defence and resilience domain through the asset manager Sentris Capital with a current portfolio of more than 20 early-stage investments across Europe.
General Philippe Lavigne, Boston Consulting Group
Gen (Ret) Philippe Lavigne served as Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force from 2018 to 2021, overseeing strategic operations, modernisation efforts, and international defence cooperation. Most recently, from 2021 to 2024, he was NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, responsible for anticipation with strategic foresight analysis, for operational strategy to capability development through transformation including innovation, and for talents challenges, across the alliance. A seasoned fighter pilot, Philippe has flown over 3,000 flight hours, including more than 50 combat missions in the former Yugoslavia and Iraq. He has led key military operations, including in Afghanistan as the last French forces commander and the director of the Kabul international airport. His expertise spans defence policy, space and European security cooperation, operational strategy and military technology innovation. He is now Senior Advisor at Boston Consulting Group for Public Services and Industrial Goods in France, Europe and Middle East, Strategic Advisor for 5 starts up and for 2 European investment funds (VC), Administrator in the Board of 2 Companies, and distinguished fellow in 2 think tanks.
Burkhard Dallosch, CERGE-EI Foundation
Burkhard Dallosch is a seasoned finance executive with over three decades of experience in banking and real estate fund management. In 2024, he founded expadBridge Advisors, a Frankfurt-based advisory platform focused on business development, risk management, process optimisation, and strategic transformation. Prior Mr. Dallosch served 16 years as Managing Director for the Real Estate Division of DekaBank Group. Earlier in his career, Mr. Dallosch held several key positions, including CEO of the Wohnungsbauförderungsanstalt (Wfa) at the State Development Bank of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW Bank), and CRO/CFO as member of the Board of Managing Directors at Hypothekenbank in Essen AG. He began his career at Commerzbank, where he advanced through various leadership roles, culminating in his appointment as General Manager of the Prague branch (2002–2006), overseeing operations in the Czech and Slovak markets. Mr. Dallosch holds a master’s degree in business administration from Georg August University in Göttingen.
Beyond his corporate responsibilities, he has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the CERGE-EI Foundation since 2018. He is also a Board Member of the Institute for Corporate Governance for the German Real Estate Industry (ICG).
Brigadier General Rob Spalding, SEMPRE
Brigadier General (USAF, ret.) Rob Spalding is the CEO of SEMPRE, a company redefining secure, mission-critical communications for military, government and enterprise. As a national security strategist and technology innovator, Spalding focuses on strengthening U.S. resilience against modern threats like information warfare and digital infrastructure vulnerabilities. His work in secure communications, 5G and data sovereignty is shaping the future of defence and critical infrastructure. As Senior Director for Strategy at the National Security Council (NSC), Spalding was the chief architect of the national security strategy, as well as the U.S. policy to protect 5G networks from foreign influence, reshaping global security strategy. He also served as the Senior Defence Official and Defence Attaché at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, advising leaders on China’s strategy and ambitions. A former B-2 stealth bomber pilot, Spalding served as operations group commander and vice-wing commander of the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, overseeing U.S. nuclear deterrence operations. His experience integrating advanced technology into military strategy informs his leadership at SEMPRE, where he is building cyber- resilient digital infrastructure. Spalding is the author of Stealth War: How China Took Over While America’s Elite Slept and War Without Rules: China's Playbook for Global Domination, detailing modern geopolitical and technological challenges. A frequent media contributor, he advocates for stronger digital defences and U.S. leadership in emerging technologies. Spalding holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Mathematics from the University of Missouri, as well as patents for SEMPRE’s isolated control plane architecture, which ensures secure, autonomous network operations even in contested environments. His national security experience, military leadership and deep technical knowledge position him at the forefront of securing the digital battlefield of the future.
Professor Michael Mainelli, Z/Yen
Professor Michael Mainelli KStJ OMRI FCCA FCSI(Hon) FBCS is a qualified accountant, securities professional, computer specialist, and management consultant, educated at Harvard, Trinity College Dublin, and LSE, where he was also Visiting Professor. Originally a research scientist in aerospace (rocket science) and computing (architecture & cartography), he became a senior partner at accounting firm BDO Binder and a director of UK Ministry of Defence research. During a mergers & acquisitions spell in merchant banking with Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, he co-founded Z/Yen, the City of London’s leading think-tank, promoting societal advance through better finance and technology. Z/Yen is renowned for its Global Financial, Green Finance, and Smart Centres indices, and numerous technology ‘firsts’. Michael is Chair of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service and an AI alignment firm, and non-executive Director of a listed mining firm; Emeritus Professor & Life Fellow at Gresham College, Fellow of King’s College London, Birkbeck, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Goodenough College, Durham Institute of Research, Development, and Invention (DIRDI); a bencher at Middle Temple; Visiting Professor at UCL’s Bartlett School and City St George University. His book, The Price Of Fish: A New Approach To Wicked Economics & Better Decisions, written with Ian Harris won the Independent Publisher Book Awards Finance, Investment & Economics Gold Prize. He is active in seventeen livery companies, an Alderman of the City of London, with charity interests in the environment, education, and care.
Anna Rosenberg, Amundi Investment Institute
Anna Rosenberg is the Head of Geopolitics for Amundi Investment Institute. In this role, Anna helps Amundi’s investment teams and the company’s clients make better investment decisions by seeing through ongoing geopolitical shifts.
Anna joined Amundi in 2022 from Signum Global Advisors, where she was co-founder and Senior Partner responsible for the firm’s predictive research output focused on Europe. Anna helped grow the business from a start-up into a rapidly growing and well-respected company. Before Signum, Anna helped executives at multinational companies adjust their expansion plans across emerging markets to political and economic developments. At Frontier Strategy Group (now FrontierView), Anna also launched and headed the Sub-Saharan Africa research practice and co-created the firm’s macroeconomic forecasting product, for which her department won various awards.
Throughout her career, Anna has produced ‘out-of-the-box’ thinking and research helping firms perform better in volatile environments. Her commentary on politics and work on business strategy has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Bloomberg, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC and CNBC, among others. Anna has been nominated a Responsible Leader of the Herbert Quandt Foundation in 2023 and a Bloomberg Future Leader in 2024. She is also a Visiting Scholar at the London Institute of Banking and Finance and a BBC Expert Woman.
Anna is a historian by training and holds an MA with Distinction from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. She speaks fluent German, Spanish and Portuguese, reads French and Italian and has studied Arabic and Latin.
Thomas Oehl, Vsquared Ventures
Thomas Oehl is a Founding Partner of Vsquared Ventures. Before founding Vsquared, he built its predecessor fund, Vito Ventures, as one of its Managing Partners, investing in deep tech companies for nearly a decade. Thomas founded his first company while studying at university and successfully exited the business in 2013. He subsequently joined Uber Germany as one of its first employees.
At Vsquared, Thomas focuses on investing globally in deep tech companies developing technologies that address real-world challenges at scale. Vsquared’s portfolio of more than 40 companies includes Isar Aerospace, IQM Quantum Computing, NEURA Robotics, The Exploration Company, and Ground A.
Eric Hontz, CIPE
Eric Karl Hontz is an international development, investment, and governance professional whose work focuses on the intersection of markets, institutions, and democratic governance. He leads the Accountable Investment practice area at the Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE), where he examines how domestic and international investment can strengthen, or undermine, market institutions, corporate governance, the rule of law, and broad based economic growth.
Hontz brings experience spanning international development, law, and finance. Earlier in his career, he worked as an attorney and as a vice president at an investment bank, where he evaluated complex alternative investment products. He has extensive experience working in Europe and Eurasia and is frequently consulted on economic reform, investment, and governance issues in Ukraine and other former Soviet states.
Hontz holds bachelor’s degrees in Russian and Political Science from the University of Montana and a JD/MBA from the University of Maryland. He is licensed to practice law in Maryland and previously served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Severodonetsk, Ukraine. He is also active in civic and nonprofit organizations in Baltimore.
James Everard, Anders de Wiart Associates
General (Retired) Sir James Everard KCB CBE attended the Royal Military Academy in 1982, joining the 17th / 21st Lancers (The Death or Glory Boys) in 1983 He commanded the Queen’s Royal Lancers, 20th Armoured Brigade, 3rd Division and the UK Field Army. He also served as the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (3*) for Military Strategy & Operations based in the UK Ministry of Defence. His final appointment was as the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe (April 2017-April 2020) / Operation Commander European Union Operation ALTHEA, Bosnia-in-Herzegovina (March 2017 – March 2019). Between 2020-2025 he was the Lead Senior Mentor in Allied Command Operations NATO, primarily focused on the implementation and refinement of Allied plans for the deterrence and defence of the Euro-Atlantic Area. He now works across Europe, with a portfolio of work focused on future war, including his role as Chairman of Anders de Wiart Associates.
Jan Ruzicka, PPF
Jan Ruzicka serves as Senior Adviser to the Shareholders of PPF Group, advising the Group’s owners on strategic, geopolitical and external affairs matters. Prior to this role, he spent four years as Chief External Affairs Officer at PPF Group, an international investment firm based in Prague with operations across Europe, Asia and North America. In this capacity, he oversaw business development, reputational risk, public affairs and communications, regulatory affairs and thought leadership across the Group’s 25 markets. He has been with PPF since 2017, spending most of these years in Asia (Beijing, Hong Kong), where he led business development, external affairs, and risk at Home Credit Group, PPF’s financial arm. Prior to that, he spent 10 years working for the Czech government, shaping health reform as Director-General at the Ministry of Health and serving as a political advisor to the government leadership. He also coordinated multiple international projects, collaborating with the EU, WHO, and UN across three continents. Jan is closely connected to academia, teaching behavioural economics at universities in Asia and Europe. He studied in Cambridge, Columbia and Prague. He serves in the army reserves, plays basketball, listens to classical music, reads about history, and travels with his wife and daughter.
Rt Hon Tobias Ellwood, Atlantic Council
Tobias Ellwood is a former British Army Officer, senior UK Parliamentarian and now writer and commentator on national security & foreign policy issues. As a former Foreign Minister for the Middle East, Defence Minister and Chair of the House of Commons Defence Committee he has been at the forefront in helping shape & critique UK security and foreign policy - in ever increasing turbulent times. Prior to his parliamentary career Tobias served in the British Army with the Royal Green Jackets – with postings across Europe and the Middle East. He worked at the London Stock Exchange and Allen and Overy as a Business Development Manager. He was born in New York (due to father’s posting with the UN), went to school in Vienna Austria and studied his first degree at Loughborough University. He completed a Masters at City University Business School and the Senior Executive Course in National and International Security Studies at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Tobias is a joint UK/ US dual national, private pilot and eagle scout. He is Honorary Colonel of the 7th Battalion, The Rifles. Tobias is a Distinguished Fellow of the Atlantic Council and at the Royal United Services Institute and Non-Executive Director for Satellite Applications Catapult. Tobias has just completed his first book ‘Ten Steps to Avoid World War Three’.
Koray Köse, KŌSE Advisory
Futurist, AI strategist, adjunct professor, and public speaker, Koray operates at the intersection of geopolitics, technology, and global economic strategy, advising executives, investors, policymakers, and global stakeholders on the decisions that define competitive position, resilience, and long-term growth.
He is the Founder and Chief Analyst of KŌSE Advisory, a global advisory firm where GeoTech, geopolitics, and AI converge across global value chains, translating complex strategic environments into actionable frameworks. Over two decades of senior advisory and executive experience, Koray has operated as both practitioner and strategist, from Analyst to Director at the Federal Reserve Bank, and from Chief Procurement Officer to Chief Industry Officer across global organizations, spanning automotive, defence, pharma, life sciences, semiconductors, and high-tech. He has been appointed Special Adviser to the Centre for the Geopolitics of Global Change at ODI Global covering the convergence of geopolitics, geoeconomics, technology, and AI. Koray is a member of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Expert Network, contributing perspectives on geopolitics, AI, emerging technologies, and global value chains reshaping international competitiveness.
He is the inaugural Senior Fellow at the GeoTech Research Center of GLOBSEC, selected by General John R. Allen to help establish what has grown into one of Europe's leading GeoTech research institutions and a Board Member of the Slave-Free Alliance, a member of the Forbes Technology Council, and a participant in NATO's 2030 Private Sector Dialogues. He teaches MBAs at HULT International Business School and Northeastern University. A published author of more than 100 works, his analysis has been featured in The New York Times, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Reuters, and Forbes, and he is a regular on-air commentator on Bloomberg, CNBC, and Channel News Asia. His advisory engagements span technology firms, multinational corporations, think tanks, NGOs, VC and PE funds, and major conferences, including contributions of strategic intelligence assessments, geopolitical analysis, and human intelligence context to senior government and intelligence community forums across North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Faysal Rahman, Deutsche Bank
Faysal Rahman is a Director and Global Defence Coordinator at Deutsche Bank. He is a recognised specialist in defence financing and the rapidly evolving relationship between private capital, government and the defence industrial base. He has more than a decade of banking experience and has played a central role in developing and executing Deutsche Bank's defence strategy, building the bank's engagement across defence corporates, sovereigns and public-sector institutions. His current remit spans Fixed Income & Currencies and the Corporate Bank, bringing together financing and risk-management capabilities for defence clients.
Faysal has extensive experience in the origination and execution of complex financing transactions and in structuring bespoke capital solutions. His expertise encompasses defence financing, corporate and sovereign lending, export and structured financing, risk management and the financing requirements of emerging defence-technology businesses. His work extends well beyond traditional corporate banking. Faysal has developed relationships across the wider international defence ecosystem, engaging defence companies, Ministries of Defence, governments, supranational institutions and industry bodies. A significant part of his expertise lies in connecting strategic defence requirements with the capital needed to deliver them. His work spans established defence primes and mid-caps through to defence technology, industrial capacity and enabling infrastructure.
Faysal is also an established external voice on defence, financing and geopolitics. He regularly represents Deutsche Bank at industry forums, addressing themes including defence investment, procurement, the changing security environment and the role of private capital. Public profiles from GLOBSEC and the Delphi Economic Forum describe him as a defence thought leader and regular industry speaker; he has also presented on the changing defence landscape at the King's College London, University of Cambridge & UCL. Through this combination of sector expertise, financing experience and connectivity across industry and government, Faysal has established himself as an important voice in the debate around how Europe and its allies finance the next generation of defence capabilities. He brings a distinctive perspective that connects the strategic imperatives facing governments and defence companies with the practical realities of mobilising institutional and private capital.
Nikolas Samios, PT1 Ventures
Nikolas Samios is a serial entrepreneur, long-time expert for transformational startups and venture capital, early sustainability advocate, and Managing Partner of PT1 Ventures. He founded his first company around 25 years ago in parallel to doing A-Levels in Munich, Germany, and was quickly sucked into the grand new thing called "the Internet", mainly helping traditional industries like print publishers, TV stations, retail chains or banks to digitise their businesses. Around 15 years ago, he increasingly focused on the transactional aspects, financing, buying and selling startups. He set up a special family office for like-minded Internet entrepreneurs and venture capital investors that, for example, built up and managed the personal investment holdings of MP3 inventor Prof. Karlheinz Brandenburg and AOL Europe founder Jan Henric Buettner.
After many years, participating in more than 100 venture capital transactions and co-authoring the German standard reference book on venture capital methodology DEALTERMS.VC, he co-founded PT1 Ventures, an early-stage VC fund upgrading the physical world. PT1 backs the boldest founders fueling Europe’s transformation, from electrification and infrastructure resilience to built world AI and robotics. Nikolas was also appointed “Co-Chairman” of the PropTech platform of leading German real estate association ZIA and former Deputy Chairman of the Young Digital Economy Advisory Board to German federal minister and Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck. He was awarded “Head of the Year 2023” by Immobilienmanager magazine.
Dame Penny Mordaunt
Rt Hon Dame Penny Mordaunt DBE PC was a Parliamentarian for 14 years, holding nine ministerial roles, four in Cabinet. She now has a portfolio career working in business, defence, development, investment, media and philanthropy.
She was Secretary of State for Defence, for International Development and Minister for the Armed Forces and sat on the UK’s National Security Council. As Paymaster General she was the UK’s first defensive cyber lead. She headed the UK’s civil contingencies and rewrote the UK’s resilience strategy post covid. As a local Government Minister, she had responsibility for the fire service. Her experience spans disaster and humanitarian relief, disease outbreaks, terrorist attacks and all UK defence operations and force generation. She has chaired COBRA, NATO and the EU Battle Group exercises. She was a Royal Navy Reservist for 10 years and an honorary officer for six, affiliated to our Mine Hunters and bomb disposal divers. She retains a support role with the Royal Navy as part of Barham Squadron.
Crispin Ellison, Marsh
Crispin Ellison has 29 years consulting experience, 26 of which have been at Partner level. He has a deep background in public sector, especially in defence. Prior to consultancy, he was an officer in the British Army, leaving as a Lieutenant Colonel.
For the past four years Crispin has worked full-time in and for Ukraine. He has made over forty trips to Ukraine, spending one week a month in Kyiv working closely with government ministers, top officials and corporates including MOD and the armed forces. His focus has been in two areas:
- De-risking: including developing war risk insurance facilities for the Black Sea, commercial aviation and energy. Developed Ukraine war risk data platform with NSDCU; and
- Strategic projects: including sourcing emergency power generation at scale; conducting the underlying analysis supporting the US/Ukraine ‘minerals deal’; helping Ukraine defence companies find parters, investors and new markets outside Ukraine.
