Dato’ Abdul Rahman is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of PNB, Malaysia’s leading asset management firm, a role he also held between 2016 and 2019. Prior to his current position, he was the Group CEO of CIMB Group, one of ASEAN’s largest financial institutions. A Chartered Accountant, he began his career in 1992 at Arthur Andersen in London and has led various corporate organisations, including Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad, Media Prima Berhad, and Ekuiti Nasional Berhad, a government-linked private equity firm.

Ahmad Zulqarnain Onn is Chief Executive Officer of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), the largest Malaysian retirement fund. He was previously Group Chief Executive of Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), the largest asset management company in Malaysia. Prior to PNB, he was Deputy Managing Director of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, where he held various positions including Head of Strategy, Head of the Strategic Fund, and Head of the Financial Institutions Group. Zulqarnain was the founding Chief Executive Officer of a financial guarantee insurer which provided credit enhancement and structuring for large infrastructure projects.

He has had various roles in institutions leading debt restructuring and resolutions in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis and at investment banks. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Harvard University.

Dr. Alice Evans is a Senior Lecturer at King’s College London. She is writing a book on “The Great Gender Divergence”: how the entire world became more gender equal, and why some societies are more gender equal than others. She has published on gender, urbanisation, the drivers of social change, inequality, and global production networks.

Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan was appointed as a Board member of Khazanah effective 12 January 2024. Amir Hamzah Azizan is currently the Finance Minister II, effective 11 December 2023. Prior to assuming the role of Finance Minister II, he had helmed the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as Chief Executive Officer since March 2021. With a corporate experience spanning more than 27 years, Amir Hamzah began his career with a decade-long tenure at the Shell Group of Companies. During this period, he held diverse roles in Malaysia, Singapore, and the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he joined MISC Berhad in 2000 and held several senior management portfolios before being appointed as President and Chief Executive Officer in January 2009.

Following his tenure at MISC Berhad, Amir Hamzah took on the role of Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad in June 2010. In August 2012, Amir Hamzah joined PETRONAS Lubricants International as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, concurrently serving as the Vice-President for Downstream Marketing, and subsequently as Vice-President of Lubricants for the PETRONAS Group.

In March 2016, Amir Hamzah joined Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas) to steer its investee company Icon Offshore Berhad as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Subsequently, he took on the role of Group Chief Executive Officer at Themed Attractions Resorts and Hotel Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad. In April 2019, he further showcased his versatility across industries by taking on the role of President/Chief Executive Officer at Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

Amir Hamzah has also contributed to various organisations in non-executive capacities. He formerly served as the Non-Executive Chairman of Malaysian Resources Corporation Berhad (MRCB) and held directorial positions on the boards of Sime Darby Plantation Berhad and Sime Darby Oils International Limited. Amir Hamzah holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management (majoring in Finance and Economics) from Syracuse University, New York. He has also attended the Stanford Executive Programme at Stanford University, and the Corporate Finance Evening Programme at London Business School.

Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim was appointed as the Chairman of Khazanah effective 3 January 2023. He is the current Prime Minister of Malaysia and Minister of Finance. He was the Deputy Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998 and has also held various ministerial posts, including Minister of Education, Minister of Agriculture, and Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Dr. Anya Schiffrin is the Director of the Technology and Media Specialisation at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and a Senior Lecturer in the discipline. She received her PhD, with honours, from the University of Navarra, after writing a dissertation on the subject of solutions to online mis/disinformation. Recently, she has been looking at government policies to support journalism globally, as well as platform remuneration policies and the role of philanthropy. She speaks regularly and writes on generative AI and platform regulation.

She is the editor of both Global Muckraking (New Press 2014) and Africa Muckraking (Jacana 2016), which are collections of investigative reporting in the Global South that go back more than 150 years.

Audrey Charles is Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Lam Research. In this position, held since 2020, she is responsible for leading the executive management team in the development of strategic priorities and key initiatives that support the company’s long-term profitable growth. Audrey also oversees Lam’s Corporate Development team and the company’s investment arm, Lam Capital, which invests in disruptive companies that advance the semiconductor ecosystem through next-generation industrial automation, technology and product innovation, and new market opportunities. She brings a broad base of experience to her role, including engineering, marketing, customer management, and investor relations.

Since joining Lam in 1995, she has served in a range of leadership positions, including Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources, Vice President of Corporate Initiatives, and Chief of Staff to the CEO. Audrey earned an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a BSc in applied physics from Dublin City University.

Avi Satwalekar is the President of FTAM (India) Private Limited, where he leads Franklin Templeton’s business in India. He also serves as the Country Head and CEO of FTAM (Malaysia), as well as the CEO and CIO of Vietcombank Fund Management in Vietnam. Avi is currently the Vice Chairperson and has experience as a portfolio manager and research analyst for the Franklin Small Cap Growth team, where he is the lead manager for private small-cap accounts. He is a board member of FTAM (Malaysia) and the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI). Avi holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Bombay and an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder.

Cack Wilhelm is a general partner at IVP, focusing her investing energy on high-growth companies helmed by technical founders with a precise vision. As a former professional runner, she applies the same discipline and ambition she learned while running to help coach founders to their full potential. Her enterprise sales experience at Cloudera and Oracle enhances her ability to assist infrastructure companies in scaling quickly. Her active investments include Cribl, CircleCI, Cortex, Monte Carlo, Papaya Global, and Perplexity. Cack was recognised in Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in 2022.

She earned a B.A. in History from Princeton University, where she was an All-American runner, and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Datuk Hajah Nik Amlizan Mohamed joined Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) [KWAP] in 2007 and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2020. KWAP is Malaysia’s sovereign wealth pension fund for public sector retirees, with the mandate to manage investments, grow the fund, and act as the government’s agent to process all pension-related payments.

With over three decades of experience, her expertise includes investment functions across diverse asset classes, financial services, asset management, transformational change, change management, and corporate governance. Currently, Datuk Nik chairs the Malaysian Institutional Investors Council (IIC) and serves on the board of Prima Ekuiti (UK) Ltd and KWEST Sdn. Bhd. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics/Accounting from Claremont McKenna College in the United States and has completed the Advanced Management Programme at Harvard Business School. She is a member of the Harvard Business School Alumni.

Dr. Johari Jalil has been the Group Managing Director & CEO of Cenviro Group of Companies since May 2019. He has over 20 years of experience in the Oil & Gas Downstream sector with Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil, holding various local, regional, and global roles, including Country Manager of Commercial Sales for ExxonMobil Malaysia, GM of LPG Business Shell SEA, Commercial Director of Shell Downstream Indonesia, and Global Manager of Trading & Supply in Shell. Before that, he spent 10 years of his early career in the Corporate Banking sector with various banking institutions including Public Bank, Kuwait Finance House, and Aseambankers. He sits as a board member of the joint venture and associate companies, E-Idaman Sdn Bhd and Shan Poornam Sdn Bhd.

Dr. Johari holds a Bachelor’s degree and MBA in Applied Finance & Investment, and a Doctorate in Business Administration. He sits on the Academic Advisory Board Member of Universiti Putra Malaysia, Universiti Utara Malaysia, and Universiti Kuala Lumpur.

Joseph E. Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University. He is also the co-chair of the High-Level Expert Group on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress at the OECD, the co-chair of The Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation (ICRICT) and the Chief Economist of the Roosevelt Institute. Stiglitz was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. He is a former senior vice president and chief economist of the World Bank and a former member and chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Stiglitz founded the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank on international development based at Columbia University, in 2000. He has been a member of the Columbia faculty since 2001 and received that university’s highest academic rank (University Professor) in 2003.

In 2011 Stiglitz was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2024 he was named an Honorary Academician by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. He is the author of numerous books, including, most recently, The Road to Freedom: Economics and the Good Society.

Karen Harris is the Managing Director of Bain & Company’s Macro Trends Group and a partner in the New York office. The Bain Macro Trends Group (MTG) is the capability group for developing Bain’s insights about global macroeconomics, macrosocial trends, and geopolitics as they impact the results of Bain’s clients. The group’s proprietary research includes work on trends driving global growth in GDP and capital markets, as well as specific geographic analyses (including China, the United States, and the Eurozone), which it uses to help clients understand the potential impact of the volatile global environment on their businesses. She frequently works with institutional investors to embed macro strategy into their investment strategy and due diligence efforts. Karen has an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School and a JD from Columbia Law School. She graduated with honours from Stanford University, where she received a BA in Economics and a BA in International Relations.

Karen is regularly featured in major media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, Economic Times of India, Caijing China, CEO Forum Australia, Bloomberg, and FOX Television. She is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Committee on US-China Relations, and the Economics Club of New York. Karen is a Global Futures Council member for the World Economic Forum as well as a member of the Community of Chief Economists. She also serves on the board of Helen Keller International.

Law Yao Hua is co-founder of Macaranga Media, Malaysia’s specialist environmental journalism media outfit. He has been reporting on science and the environment since 2014. He is a two-time Pulitzer Centre Rainforest Investigative Network fellow and has written for Science, Nature, and The Atlantic. His story on snakebite burden in Indonesia won the One World Media Award in 2020. His stories for Macaranga have won the Sigma Award for data journalism, the Said Zahari Young Journalist Award, and multiple Malaysian Press Institute awards. Yao Hua has been teaching in various capacities since 2001 and continues to conduct journalism workshops. He loves to eat durians and observe insects, reliving his days as a full-time insect ecologist.

After receiving his bachelor’s degree from Duke University and studying Mandarin at Nanjing University, Louis joined the French Army. A few years later, he left and joined Paribas, where he worked as a financial analyst—first in Paris, then in Hong Kong. In 1998, he co-founded Gavekal with his father, Charles, and Anatole Kaletsky. The idea was that Asia would become an increasingly important factor in global growth, and consequently, Gavekal needed to provide its clients with more information and ideas related to Asia.

Louis has written seven books, the latest being “Avoiding the Punch: Investing in Uncertain Times,” which reviews how to build a portfolio during times of rising geostrategic strife. Louis speaks English and French and has spent many hours studying Mandarin and Spanish, which he once spoke proficiently. 

Dr. Miao Yanliang joined CICC in March 2023 as Chief Strategist and Executive Head of the Research Department. Dr. Miao is among the most sought-after and influential analysts in China. Prior to this, he served for 10 years at the China State Administration of Foreign Exchange, including as its Chief Economist since May 2018. He joined in 2013 as Senior Advisor to the Administrator and then Head of Research. He helped formulate global macro views and built a top-notch research platform for the world’s largest sovereign wealth manager. As Chief Economist, he also advised the senior management of PBC/SAFE on a range of economic and policy issues. Before SAFE, he was an economist with the IMF, where he worked on emerging markets and the euro area crisis, including as policy coordinator for the Portugal programme. Before the IMF, he visited the Bank of Israel in 2007 as Special Assistant to the Governor and taught economics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University.

Dr. Miao is an adjunct professor at Peking University’s National School of Development, a member of the China Finance 40 Forum, a trustee of Shanghai University, and an external member of the Academic Committee of the China Development Bank. He publishes extensively on global macroeconomics and occasionally as a columnist for Project Syndicate. He holds a Ph.D., an M.A., an M.P.A., all from Princeton University, and an M.A. in economics from Fudan University.

Michael Muthukrishna is Associate Professor of Economic Psychology, STICERD Developmental Economics Group Affiliate, Data Science Institute Affiliate, and founder of Culturalytik at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Michael has won several awards for his research, which focuses on how culture affects innovation, corruption, decision-making, and how we can best navigate diversity and cultural differences. Michael’s research and interviews have appeared in a variety of international and national news outlets, including CNN, BBC, Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Scientific American, PBS, Vice, Newsweek, New York Magazine, and, in the UK, in the Times, Telegraph, and Guardian.

Michael’s research is informed by his educational background in engineering and psychology, with graduate training in evolutionary biology, economics, and statistics, and his personal background living in Sri Lanka, Botswana, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He is the author of A Theory of Everyone: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going. 

Dr. Michel Laberge is a physicist with extensive practical experience in plasma physics and modern plasma diagnostic techniques. He possesses comprehensive knowledge of the latest technologies related to electronics, computers, materials, lithography, optics, and fabrication, and is skilled in designing and constructing test apparatus to evaluate technical concepts. Prior to establishing General Fusion, Michel spent nine years at Creo Products in Vancouver as a senior physicist and principal engineer. His roles included inventor, designer, and scientific project leader on projects that resulted in more than $1 billion in product sales.

Dr. Naveed Sherwani is a highly regarded veteran of the semiconductor industry with over 35 years of experience. He is a recognised innovator and leader in ASIC and microprocessor design automation. Having founded or co-founded over twenty silicon companies and raised over $1 billion in funding, Naveed has established a remarkable entrepreneurial track record. 

He is a strong supporter of the open-source movement and continues to play a significant role in promoting the RISC-V movement globally, having led SiFive and co-founded StarFive and LeapFive. He served on the board of RISC-V International and has been honoured as the leader of the “Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company” by the Global Semiconductor Alliance five times. In addition to serving as chairman of several companies, Dr. Sherwani is leading the National Semiconductor Hub (NSH) projects in Saudi Arabia, aiming to create a fabless design ecosystem of 50 companies. 

Nelson Barbosa is the Planning and Project Structuring Director at the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES). His previous roles in the Brazilian Government include Minister of Finance (2016), Minister of Planning, Budget and Management (2015), Deputy Minister of Finance (2011–13), and Secretary of Economic Policy and Economic Monitoring (2007–10). Nelson Barbosa holds a PhD in Economics from the New School for Social Research and is currently on leave from his academic positions as Full Professor of Public Policy at the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) and Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Brasilia (UnB).

Nurul Syahirah Binti Nazarudin, popularly known as Syahirah Stargazer, is a renowned astronomical artist, space art educator, and dark sky advocate in Malaysia. Her beautifully abstract astronomical artwork has gained international recognition, leading to her membership in the International Association of Astronomical Artists. As a full-time teacher, Syahirah dedicates her career to inspiring future generations with her profound knowledge of astronomical art. Beyond her artistic prowess, she advocates for dark skies in Malaysia, raising awareness of their importance for astronomy and the natural environment through her art. Through her dedication to astronomy, education, and art, Syahirah inspires and educates people of all ages about the wonders of the universe.

Peter Kallang is a Sarawakian Kenyah, a Bornean indigenous. Starting as a student, Peter has been involved in voluntary, humanitarian, and social activities, including trade union work. Opting for early retirement at 49, he is a dedicated activist. He served as chairman of the Orang Ulu National Association, a social and charitable organisation, for five years. In 2006, he founded the Persatuan Kenyah Miri, a cultural and educational association dedicated to Kenyah cultural heritage. For three years, he was the Regional Representative for Southeast Asia in the Indigenous Communities Conservation Area (ICCA) Consortium. In 2011, eight non-governmental organisations formed a coalition called “SAVE Rivers” to coordinate resistance against the construction of twelve hydroelectric dams. Under Peter’s chairmanship, the SAVE Rivers Network played a key role in stopping the construction of the proposed Baram Dam, which was intended to be the second of the twelve dams. In 2019, he received the Seacology Prize, an award given to a person who has shown exceptional achievement in preserving island environments and cultures. 

Rahayu Ramli began her career in technology consulting, with a primary focus on enterprise solutions across various platforms, and eventually within emerging technologies and the cloud. She later joined Google as the Head of Education for Malaysia, working alongside the Malaysia Ministry of Education (MoE), education partners, and collaborators in the education community to drive efforts at the national level to integrate technology with pedagogy in the classroom.

Initially part of PETRONAS’ digital transformation programme, Rahayu joined the PETRONAS Cybersecurity team in 2020. She is currently the Head of Cyber Strategy & Architecture at PETRONAS, and the Chief Information Security Officer for Setel, a part of the PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad family. Across these aspects of her work, she leverages her deep interest and experience in the complexities of technology and human interaction to establish a working environment that is safe and secure by design.

Razlan is the founder of Aphelia, a deep tech space startup developing wireless power technology for satellites and Moon applications. He is a founding member of the Malaysia Space Industry Consortium (MASIC). Aphelia has secured prospective customers from the USA, Canada, and Europe and has received awards from Real Tech Fund, Asian Entrepreneur Award 2022, and Cradle Fund. They recently won the Malaysia region of the Startup World Cup 2023 and competed globally in San Francisco, attracting foreign VCs. It is currently working with regulatory bodies and preparing a ground tech demo for international stakeholders.

Mr Hu headed the Sustainability and International Policy Group at Temasek from 2016 before becoming its Vice Chairman, Asia, in 2022. He is currently Advisory Senior Director at Temasek, and Chairman of Constellar Holding Ltd, a Temasek portfolio company in the exhibition and convention business. He is also Chairman of Mandai Nature, a non-profit foundation endowed by Temasek Trust, dedicated to protecting biodiversity and wildlife conservation in Southeast Asia. Prior to Temasek, Robin was the Group CEO of the Hong Kong-listed English-language daily, South China Morning Post Ltd., where he led the group’s transformation into a digital-centric media platform, which led to its subsequent divestiture to Alibaba Group.

In early 2023, Mr Hu was appointed Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Timor-Leste, ahead of its impending accession to ASEAN membership. In the same year, he assumed the role of Asia Chairman at the American think tank, Milken Institute, to expand its presence and influence in Asia. Mr Hu serves on the International Advisory Council of the London-based monetary policy think tank OMFIF, and the Bank of Singapore CIO Global Advisory Council.

Mr Hu has worked and lived in several cities across Asia, including Singapore, Taipei, Beijing, Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hong Kong, spanning multiple industries such as IT, internet, media, investment, and government.

In the 1970s, when archaeology was little known in Malaysia, Zuraina embarked on a personal mission to establish it as an academic discipline. She not only trained a generation of archaeologists and pioneered multidisciplinary research with a critical mass of scholars, but she also succeeded in building the country’s only Centre for Archaeological Research at Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 1996. Her scientific research and discoveries have enriched the history of Malaysia deep into the past, providing structure and content for the Prehistory of Malaysia. Her life’s work in the Lenggong Valley has impacted global history. For this significant contribution, the Lenggong Valley received the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage inscription in 2012. As an Emeritus Professor, she continues to mentor archaeologists at USM, while also fostering interest in archaeology at Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), where she currently holds the Za’ba chair.

Dr. Tricia Yeoh is Associate Professor of Practice at the School of Politics, History and International Relations, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Nottingham Malaysia, Visiting Senior Fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute and Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at Monash University Malaysia. She was up to recently CEO of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS). She holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Nottingham Malaysia. She is author of States of Reform: Governing Selangor and Penang. She was conferred the Pingat Jasa Kebaktian by the Sultan of Selangor in 2011.

She speaks and writes on national issues, having been featured in The Economist, and on CNN, Al-Jazeera, Bloomberg, CNBC, amongst other platforms.

Vikram leads the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Enterprise business across ASEAN, overseeing a sales team dedicated to assisting large enterprise customers with innovation, business transformation, and socioeconomic growth. Based in Singapore, Vikram joined AWS in 2018 to establish and head the AWS Marketplace business across Asia Pacific and Japan. AWS Marketplace is a growing global service that allows customers to try, buy, and deploy software from a wide selection of third-party vendors.

Before joining AWS, Vikram ran divisions in various global corporations and startups, including co-founding and successfully exiting his own companies. He has extensive experience in AI, digital, big data, and analytics across telecommunications and banking sectors. Vikram holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.

Dato’ Seri Wong Siew Hai is a member of Pemudah, a public – private sector special task force to facilitate business and improve Malaysia’s global competitiveness.

Dato’ Seri Wong served with Intel for 27 years. His last position with Intel was Vice President of Technology and Manufacturing Group (TMG) and General Manager of Assembly and Test Manufacturing (ATM), responsible for all assembly test factories worldwide.

Wendy Liu rejoined J.P. Morgan in August 2021 as Chief Asia and China Equity Strategist. Previously, she was Head of China Strategy at UBS AG and received the #1 ranking in portfolio strategy in the China Institutional Investor Survey (overseas section) for 2019 and 2020, and the #2 team ranking in equity strategy in the APAC Institutional Investor Survey for the same years. From 2007 to 2018, Wendy served as Head of China Equity Research and China Equity Strategist at ABN/RBS and Nomura.

From 2000 to 2007, Wendy was a telecom analyst at Merrill Lynch, initially working on the US wireless team, then covering Greater China telcos, and eventually co-heading the APAC telco team. Wendy first joined J.P. Morgan in 1997 as an investment banking associate (mergers and acquisitions) in New York. Wendy holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from the University of Kentucky.

Wong Siew Lyn is co-founder of Macaranga Media, Malaysia’s specialist environmental journalism media outfit. She has been creating content about the environment for over 30 years, having covered everything from protected areas to the climate crisis’ impacts on coasts and sustainable travel to indigenous knowledge. She is well-versed in print, digital, and broadcast media, and her clients have included media, publishers, government bodies, development agencies, NGOs, and corporations. Macaranga.org is the fourth content portal she has built and run. Her aim is to raise the profile of journalism as a powerful medium to tackle Malaysia’s huge environmental, climate, and sustainability issues. She has a soft spot for conservation, grassroots efforts, and marine issues.