Alvin Tan is the General Manager of Portfolio Construction and Risk (PCR) at HESTA. He is responsible for supporting product development to meet members’ needs, leading senior discussions on investment objectives, risk appetite, and constraints, and developing investment strategy.

Prior to joining HESTA in July 2018, Alvin held roles at Goldman Sachs, AllianceBernstein, Macquarie Bank, and the Reserve Bank of Australia. He holds a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) and a PhD in Econometrics from Monash University and is a CFA Charterholder.

Amir Lebdioui is the Director of the Technology and Industrialisation for Development (TIDE) Centre at the University of Oxford. He is also an Associate Professor of the Political Economy of Development and the Managing Director of the Nature’s Intelligence Studio, an initiative dedicated to nurturing bio-inspired tech ventures in the Global South. 

His research has focused on industrial policy, export diversification and bio-inspired innovation models. He is the author of Survival of the Greenest: Economic Transformation in a Climate-conscious World (Cambridge University Press, 2024). Amir also regularly advises governments and international institutions on green industrial policy. He currently sits on the Advisory Council of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

Datin Ar Junn Ng is the Director of Architecture and Heritage at CGB Consultants Sdn Bhd. She has led the conservation and heritage management of Malaysia’s most significant sites, including Carcosa Seri Negara, Parliament House Malaysia, Penang City Hall, St. Mary’s Cathedral, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

She pioneered Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) for infrastructure in Malaysia. Together with her team, she has delivered HIAs for MRT Lines 2 and 3, the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL), LRT 3, and other national projects, ensuring that development respects cultural and natural heritage.

She is a Registered Architect with the Board of Architects Malaysia, a Registered Heritage Conservator with the Department of National Heritage, a Registered EIA Consultant (Culture & Archaeology), and a Heritage Expert with the National Heritage Council. She also played a key role in heritage management for two of Malaysia’s UNESCO World Heritage nominations.

Datin Ar Junn Ng authored The Legacy and Heritage of Loke Chow Kit following the conservation of Loke Hall. She also works with ICCROM and WHITRAP on global heritage management and develops Conservation Management Plans for sites including FRIM, Carcosa Seri Negara, Kuala Lumpur Town Hall, and the former FMS Survey Office.

Bilahari Kausikan spent his entire career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore (MFA). Over 37 years, he served in a variety of appointments at home and abroad, including Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Deputy Secretary for South-east Asia, Second Permanent Secretary, and subsequently Permanent Secretary. Upon retiring in 2013, he was appointed Ambassador-at-Large, a position he held until 2018.

He became Chairman of the Middle East Institute, an autonomous institute of the National University of Singapore, in 2017. Although he retired in 2024, he remains associated with the institute as a Distinguished Fellow.

He has published four books: Dealing with an Ambiguous World (2016), Singapore Is Not An Island (2017), Singapore Is Still Not An Island (2023), and The Myth of the Asian Century (2025), as well as numerous articles in local and international journals. He continues to lecture on global geopolitics and developments in North-east Asia, the Middle East, and South-east Asia, as well as corporations and financial institutions.

He studied at Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore, and Columbia University.

Bryan is a visionary aviation leader with over two decades of global experience across the MENA, Asia Pacific, and African regions. Currently the Chief Airports Officer at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB), he spearheads the growth and operational strategy for 39 national airports.

Renowned for his exceptional change capability, Bryan excels at leading complex operational turnarounds, elevating passenger experiences, and delivering mega infrastructure projects. His career is anchored by high-impact tenures at the world’s most dynamic hubs, notably serving as CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports and driving major strategic development for Dubai Airports.

Combining deep P&L accountability with a talent for scaling operations, Bryan consistently transforms ambitious blueprints into world-class, future-ready aviation realities.

Carl Benedikt Frey is the Dieter Schwarz Associate Professor of AI and Work at the Oxford Internet Institute and Oxford Martin Citi Fellow at the Oxford Martin School, both at the University of Oxford. He is also a Fellow at Mansfield College and the Institute for New Economic Thinking at Oxford.

His 2013 study with Michael Osborne, “The Future of Employment”, estimated that 47 per cent of jobs are exposed to automation and helped shape the global debate on technology and work. His most recent book, How Progress Ends (2025), was a finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Financial Times Business Book of the Year Award, and won the 2026 PROSE Award in Economics. His previous book, The Technology Trap: Capital, Labor, and Power in the Age of Automation (Princeton), was named a Financial Times Book of the Year.

His scholarly work has been used by President Barack Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, the Bank of England, and the World Bank. He has advised the G20, the OECD, the European Commission, and the United Nations. Frey has also written for The Economist, Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Scientific American, and Foreign Affairs.

Chucheng Feng is the founder of Hutong Research, a Beijing and Shanghai-based macro and geopolitical advisory specialising in China’s political economy. Previously, he co-founded Plenum China Research and held research and advisory roles at Blackpeak, Eurasia Group, and the Asia Society Policy Institute under former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

Over the past decade, he has advised sovereign wealth funds, leading global investors, multinational companies, and international organisations on China’s political and policy landscape. Born in Beijing, Chucheng has lived and worked across both coasts of the United States, as well as in Shanghai and Hong Kong.

He holds degrees from the University of California, Berkeley, and Columbia University, and has been recognised as a Forbes Under 30 Asia honouree.

Swee Kiang (SK) Fong (馮瑞強) has over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. He began his career at Intel, where he spent more than 20 years in various technical and management roles in both the United States and Malaysia. During his tenure, he played a key role in establishing Intel’s Design Center in Malaysia and grew the organization to 1,500 employees, responsible for microprocessor, chipset, and SoC design and development.

He later joined Altera Corporation as Vice President of R&D, leading the development of advanced FPGA technologies, IP, and Quartus software in Malaysia. He also served as Senior Director at Broadcom Corporation, overseeing the global operations of a USD 1 billion division, before founding SkyeChip.

SK Fong holds a First-Class BSEE degree from the University of Technology Malaysia, and an EMBA (Beta Gamma Sigma) from the Olin Business School, Washington University in St. Louis, in collaboration with Fudan University, Shanghai, China.

He was conferred the Darjah Setia Pangkuan Negeri (D.S.P.N.) in 2025, which carries the title Dato’, in recognition of his visionary leadership, relentless dedication, and outstanding contributions to the technology industry and the community.

Gautam Kumra is Chairman of McKinsey & Company’s Asia offices (ex-China) and a member of the firm’s Shareholders’ Council and global Enablement Team. A 30-year McKinsey veteran, he co-founded the McKinsey Center for CEO Excellence and advises Asian and global clients on growth strategy, leadership development, organisational transformation, and governance.

He is a recognised thought leader on Asia’s role in AI and technology, global trade realignment, and taking Asian companies to scale on the world stage. Beyond McKinsey, he serves on the boards of the Public Health Foundation of India, the IIT Delhi Endowment, and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York.

Prof Dr Mohd Hazwan Hussin received his B.Sc (Hons.) in Chemistry and M.Sc degrees from Universiti Sains Malaysia, respectively. He was awarded double-PhD degree program with USM and Universite de Lorraine, France. His research area involves lignocellulosic materials, lignin, cellulose and corrosion protections (inhibition and coatings). He was listed as Top 2% Scientist in the world (under the category of sigle year citation from 2019-now) by Stanford University. He was awarded the Top Research Scientisi Malaysia (TRSM) 2023 by Academy of Science Malaysia and Young Scientist Award in Chemistry (ASMN) 2025 by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Malaysia.

He was also a Research Fellow for CEGEOTECH, UNIMAP and has been appointed as Visiting Professor at the Universite de Lorraine, France. He has served as the Programme Manager for Industrial Chemistry and the Deputy Director for Research Creativity and Management Office (RCMO) USM. Currently, he is the Director of Centre for Innovation and Consultation (CIC), Coordinator for USM-UL Centre and Point of Contact for Malaysia-France University Centre (MFUC).

Hon is the Founder and CEO of Cortical Labs, a deep tech startup building biological computing devices. Cortical Labs pioneered the use of biological neurons for intelligence and computation through its CL1 biological computer and the world’s first wetware-as-a-service, the Cortical Cloud platform. 

Hon is a medical doctor trained at the University of Melbourne and Johns Hopkins University. He was also the CTO and co-founder of CliniCloud, a medtech business building smart medical devices. His interests span biomedicine, software engineering, and machine learning. Hon enjoys reading history and cooking in his spare time.

Jayne Bok is Head of Hong Kong & Macau and Head of Investments, Asia at WTW,based in Hong Kong. She is responsible for leading WTW’s Investments business across Asia, overseeing strategy, client delivery, talent development and business growth, while also leading the firm’s Hong Kong and Macau operations.

With more than 25 years of consulting and leadership experience, Jayne advises some of the world’s largest institutional investors, including sovereign wealth funds, public pension funds, central banks, reserve managers and family offices. Her work spans investment strategy, governance, organisational design, strategic asset allocation, Total Portfolio Approach and investment implementation.

Prior to her current role, Jayne served as Head of Sovereign Advisory for Asia, where she led WTW’s work with government-sponsored investment institutions across the region. Before relocating to Hong Kong in 2013, she spent nine years in Korea, where she played a leading role in building WTW’s local investment consulting business. Jayne began her career at WTW in the firm’s Work & Rewards practice before transitioning to Investments in 2004.

Jayne currently serves as Chair of the CAIA Association Board. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Yonsei University and is both a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA).

Dr Jillian Ooi has spent more than a decade working to overcome what she calls “seagrass blindness” in Malaysian conservation, building the case for an ecosystem that has long been overlooked in policy. An Associate Professor of Geography at Universiti Malaya and a 2022 Pew Fellow in Marine Conservation, she has contributed to the protection of new marine areas in Johor and enjoys taking policymakers and corporate leaders into the meadows to experience seagrass first-hand.

She is also an award-winning composer and Artistic Director of Rhythm in Bronze, a contemporary gamelan ensemble. Her 2023 gamelan theatre production, Seruan Setu, brought the story of seagrass to the stage, into national policy conversations, and to COP28 in Dubai.

Joyce Chang is the Chair of Global Research at J.P. Morgan Chase. She has spent 35 years working in Global Research, with expertise in macro, fixed income, emerging markets, geopolitical, and strategic research. Prior to joining J.P. Morgan Chase in 1999, she was a Managing Director at Merrill Lynch and Salomon Brothers. She is the Executive Sponsor for J.P. Morgan Chase’s network for employees of Asian heritage (AsPIRE).

She serves on the Board of Directors of the German Marshall Fund, Trickle Up, and the Fixed Income Analysts Society, as well as the Advisory Councils of the Bretton Woods Committee, the Center for Financial Stability, and Georgetown University’s Baratta Center for Global Business.

Joyce holds an M.P.A. from Princeton University and serves on the External Advisory Council of the Julis-Rabinowitz Center for Public Policy and Finance. She also holds a B.A. from Columbia University, where she received the John Jay Award for Professional Achievement and serves on its Board of Visitors and the Board of Directors of the Asian Columbia Alumni Association.

Krislert Samphantharak is Professor of Economics and Public Policy in the School of Global Policy and Strategy at the University of California San Diego. He received his PhD in Economics from the University of Chicago. His research sits at the intersection of finance, politics, public policy, and economic development, with a particular focus on the study of household and firm behaviours in emerging Asian economies.

He co-authored the monograph, Households as Corporate Firms (Cambridge University Press), and has published research articles in leading academic journals in economics, finance, and political science.

He was Executive Director of the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research at the Bank of Thailand and currently serves as an adviser to the Bank of Thailand and the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

Kiren Kaur is a social entrepreneur and Founder of Infinite Minds Academy, a Malaysian Government-accredited social enterprise, and a driving force behind Beamworks Creative Studio, an impact platform that transforms digital skills into real opportunities for neurodiverse youths. Through empathy-driven leadership, she has developed ESG-aligned pathways in digital design, animation, virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and creative technology.

Her work moves inclusion beyond awareness by creating pathways to income, employment, enterprise, and dignity. With Beamworks, Social Enterprise World Forum accreditation, and impending expansion into the Middle East, Kiren champions Malaysian social innovation as a scalable model that empowers neurodivergent individuals to become independent, self-sustaining, and valued contributors to the digital economy.

Dr Loo Yen Yi is a Research Fellow at the Sunway Centre for Planetary Health, Sunway University. She is an ornithologist specialising in bioacoustics and soundscape ecology to understand the interconnectedness between the health of nature and people. Her research focuses on monitoring biodiversity through soundscapes, discovering cryptic vocal behaviours, and conserving migratory birds along the East Asian–Australasian Flyway.

As an early career researcher, she has built long-term soundscape datasets in various habitats, from deep forests and coastal areas to urban green spaces in Peninsular Malaysia, contributing valuable insights to strengthen ecosystem resilience. Through her work, she aims to bridge science with policy implementation, and promote an innate appreciation for nature with acoustic sensory immersion and experiential learning.

Michele Gelfand is the John H. Scully Professor of Cross-Cultural Management, Professor of Organizational Behavior, and Professor of Psychology by Courtesy at Stanford University. She uses field, experimental, computational, and neuroscience methods to understand the evolution of culture and its multilevel consequences.

Her work has been published in journals including Science, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Psychological Science, and Nature Human Behaviour, among others. She is the founding co-editor of the Advances in Culture and Psychology series (Oxford University Press). Her book, Rule Makers, Rule Breakers: How Tight and Loose Cultures Wire the World, was published by Scribner in 2018.

Gelfand is the Past President of the International Association for Conflict Management and co-founder of the Society for the Study of Cultural Evolution. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Redouane Elkamhi is Professor of Finance at the University of Toronto and a leading authority on institutional portfolio management, total portfolio strategy, governance, and risk. For nearly three decades, he has advised leading pension funds, major Canadian banks, insurers, and multinational corporations worldwide, while producing influential research that bridges theory and practice.

Since 2019, he has served as Senior Advisor to the CIO and Total Portfolio team at HOOPP. He has published more than 50 academic and practitioner articles. His recognition includes the Shimomura Fellowship and teaching and research excellence awards from McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Iowa.

Ms. Peterson is an Operating Partner at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), where she spans consumer and healthcare investing and spearheads the firm’s technology and AI capabilities to support its investments and portfolio companies. She is the Lead Independent Director of the Microsoft Board of Directors.

Prior to joining CD&R, she was Group Worldwide Chairman of Johnson & Johnson, where her portfolio included medical devices, consumer, global operating infrastructure, technology, supply chain, and key strategic initiatives. Previously, she served as Chairman and CEO of Bayer CropScience AG, CEO of Bayer Medical Care, and President of Bayer HealthCare AG’s Diabetes Care Division. She began her career at McKinsey and later held executive positions at Medco Health Solutions (formerly Merck-Medco), Nabisco, and Whirlpool.

Ms. Peterson is Executive Chairman of Volastra and serves on the boards of Zephyr AI and Seaport Therapeutics. She is also Chairman of the Board of the American Academy in Berlin, serves on the international advisory board of Hakluyt & Company and Temasek, and is an Executive Committee Trustee of the Institute for Advanced Study.

She has appeared on FORTUNE magazine’s Most Powerful Women list numerous times and was featured on the Magazine’s inaugural list of Leaders Who Are Changing Healthcare. She attended Princeton University (M.P.A., Applied Economics), and Cornell University (B.A., Government).

Siti Rahayu Baharin is an advocate for children’s rights, education, and social justice, with over 15 years of experience working alongside underserved communities in Malaysia. She is the Co-Founder of Buku Jalanan Chow Kit, where she works around policy advocacy, coalition building, and strategic engagement on issues affecting vulnerable children, including access to education, legal identity, and child protection.

Her work bridges grassroots experience with national policy, contributing to legislative reform and multi-stakeholder collaboration. Passionate about building inclusive communities, Rahayu believes lasting social change begins with dignity, compassion, and collective action that empowers every child and strengthens society as a whole.

Stephen Kotkin is the Kleinheinz Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. He founded and directs the Hoover History Lab, which uses history to address contemporary policy challenges. His research focuses on geopolitics and authoritarianism.

Before joining Stanford, he spent thirty-three years at Princeton University, where he is the Birkelund Professor of History and International Affairs Emeritus. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Bilderberg Group.

Ulrike Schaede is Professor at the University of California San Diego. Her research focuses on Japanese business strategies, management and employment practices, corporate culture, financial markets, manufacturing, and innovation. Her latest English books include The Business Reinvention of Japan (2020) and Japan Re-Emerges (2024). She is an outside board member of Marubeni Corporation in Japan.

Schaede holds a PhD in Japan Studies and Economics from Marburg University, Germany. She has conducted research and taught at various universities and research institutes in Japan for more than nine years.

Zad Chin is the co-founder of Anygraph, an applied AI lab on a mission to protect the world from fraud. Anygraph trains specialised models and builds novel agent architectures that enable frontier AI to perform sustained, evidence-grounded investigations across entire transaction populations. Built in Kuala Lumpur and deployed globally, its technology helps major enterprises, financial institutions, and accounting firms prevent value leakage, fraud, and financial misstatements.

A Yayasan Khazanah scholar, Zad holds a BA in Statistics and Mathematics and an MA in Statistics from Harvard University.