Keynote Speakers
Jay Mitra
Essex Business School, University of Essex
Jay Mitra is a Professor of Business Enterprise and Innovation at Essex Business School, University of Essex, and Director of the Venture Academy. He has advised the OECD, held visiting professorships at multiple global universities, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. Mitra founded Essex’s School of Entrepreneurship and Business, developed its first doctoral program in Entrepreneurship, and led the International Centre for Entrepreneurship Research. He also revived the MBA program and pioneered entrepreneurship centers at UK universities. An author and editor, he has published extensively on entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic development.
Konstantīns Kuzikovs
Latvian Advertising Association
Konstantīns Kuzikovs is a seasoned media executive and board member with over 20 years of experience in digital media, advertising, and business development. As former CEO of Delfi Latvia, he transformed the platform into a multimedia leader, launching a successful digital subscription model and innovative advertising products. He also led the growth of the D Screens network from 4 to over 100 locations. Konstantīns is passionate about media innovation, sustainable growth, and digital transformation. He is also active as a lecturer, mentor, and expert commentator in the media industry.
Sergio Arzeni
INSME, International Network for SME
Sergio Arzeni spent 35 years in the OECD in Paris where he created and led for several years the Directorate on Entrepreneurship, SME, local and regional development, social innovation and tourism.
Prior to the OECD worked in cabinet of a vice president of the European Commission, and also as policy analyst with the Italian Parliament, Trade Unionsand as an economic journalist.
His research and publications focus on entrepreneurship and innovation.
He is serving in several Boards such as ELEC (European League for Economic Cooperation), GEI (Group of Industrial Economists), SRM (Studies and Research on the Mediterranean).
Sudip Roy
Sudip is an accomplished Entrepreneur, Technology Management Consultant, and Programme Director specialising in the implementation of AI-driven transformation projects across both private and public sector organisations. His extensive experience includes successful collaborations with renowned institutions such as the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), tier-one high street banks including HSBC, regulatory bodies like Ofgem, and numerous large, medium, and small enterprises.
With over 20 years of expertise in scaling organisations across diverse and complex business landscapes, Sudip has consistently delivered impactful results through enterprise transformations, generative AI applications, process intelligence initiatives, and strategic consulting. His areas of specialisation encompass digital transformation, strategic innovation, and shared services benchmarking, positioning him as a trusted advisor and leader in leveraging technology for sustainable organisational growth.
Jānis Grēviņš
Janis Grevins is Director at The Higher Education and Science Information Technology Shared Service Centre, or VPC, was established by Latvia’s four largest universities RTU, RSU, LU, and LBTU to drive forward the digitalisation and advancement of Latvia’s education system.
Jānis is an academic executive with a strong focus on institutional development, technology implementation and business linkages. He has been the Director of Riga Business School at Riga Technical University since April 2003. He also serves as an independent member on the Supervisory Board of Tet Ltd., Latvia. Between 1998 and 2003, he studied for his MBA and PhD degrees and worked as a project coordinator at the School of Management of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, USA. His research focused on analyzing the impact of modern communications on project management performance.
The strong academic training combined with broad international management experience has allowed Mr. Grevins to provide leadership for international institutional development initiatives and implementations for several national strategy projects linked to technology adoption.
Bella Butler
Curtin University
Bella Butler is Associate Professor at Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) of Curtin University, Australia. She is a Course Coordinator for one of the best performing courses at SoMM – Master of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MIE) and the newly launched course Master of Leadership and Governance. A/Prof Butler initiated, co-designed and led the development of the course Master of Governance and Leadership in collaboration with the Governance Institute of Australia. She has a diverse teaching portfolio and leads a team of academics at all campuses of Curtin University (Australia, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, and United Arab Emirates). The subjects which A/Prof Butler coordinates and teaches include Corporate Strategy, Organisational Change and Responsible Leadership. She received several teaching excellence awards and was recently nominated for the MBA Australasia Award in the category “the most Inspirational MBA Lecturer.” She served on several boards and currently serves at the MBA and Executive Education Board of Curtin University. A/Prof Butler’s innovative teaching is informed by her scholarship in learning and teaching as well as by her disciplinary expertise and professional networks. A/Prof Butler has published in top international journals, including Journal of World Business, Industrial Marketing Management, Management Decision, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. A/Prof Butler is an experienced HDR supervisor with 7 doctoral graduates under her supervision. Currently, she supervises 2 PhD and co-supervises 1 DBA student.
Justs Dimants
Sustainability Cluster Latvia
Justs Dimants PhD is Head of Research at Sustainability Cluster Latvia, a non-governmental organisation that supports businesses and society by promoting sustainable development as a competitive advantage.
He has over 20 years of experience in academic and scientific work, including positions in Latvia (University of Latvia, private sector) and in the United States, California (UCLA).
His business background is complemented by more than 15 years of leadership experience across the education and science, healthcare, renewable energy, public relations, consulting, and NGO sectors. Recently foccusing on business development strategy, digitalization strategy, sustainability and Start-up mentorship.
The project portfolio overseen by Justs has exceeded €80 million in total value, covering national and EU-level initiatives related to sustainability, innovation, and economic development.
Andris Grafs
Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance
Andris Grafs is the Vice President Latvia at the Baltic Institute of Corporate Governance. He has held senior positions in public policy and the non-profit sector, contributing to governance, leadership, strategy development, project management, public communication and advocacy at a senior level. Andris is a co-author of major corporate governance reforms for state- and municipality-owned enterprises in Latvia. He currently lectures at universities, chairs the Advisory Council on the corporate governance of Riga city-owned companies, and represents BICG on the Corporate Governance Advisory Council under the Latvian Ministry of Justice.
Emil Velinov
RISEBA University of Applied Sciences and Newton University
Dr. Emil Velinov, Associate Professor at RISEBA and Newton University, specializes in International Business, Emerging Markets, CSR, and DEI. He has taught at institutions like Skoda Auto University, EM Normandie, and DHBW, and holds a PhD in Management. A frequent speaker at international conferences, his research focuses on cross-cultural management, DEI strategies, and emerging economies. Dr. Velinov has published nearly 50 articles in Web of Science and Scopus and actively promotes inclusive practices in academic and corporate settings.