Hannah C. Elsakr is Vice President of GenAI New Business Ventures. She recently launched Adobe Firefly Enterprise businesses starting with Firefly Services for creative automation and Adobe Foundry, a GenAI deep-tuning managed service. Hannah is passionate about looking around the corner for new technology opportunities that delight customers & ecosystem partners. She previously led Corporate Development and was Chief of Staff to Adobe’s CEO, Shantanu Narayen, and led the office of the CEO.  Hannah is also Board President for the Adobe Foundation, which creates positive change through support for creative and digital literacy, social equity and opportunity, and active engagement in the communities where we live and work. Hannah has experience leading global businesses in ecommerce & marketplaces, consumer products, SaaS and advisory services. Prior to joining Adobe, she was the Vice President at eBay with P&L responsibility for eBay’s Canada, Latin America and U.S. Exports businesses as well as business operations. Hannah previously held leadership roles at eBay, Del Monte Foods, Avon Products, McKinsey & Co., and J.P. Morgan.  Hannah holds a Bachelor of Science degree in applied mathematics with computer science from MIT and an MBA from Harvard Business School. 

Elav Horwitz is a visionary leader reimagining the intersection of technology, creativity, and business transformation. As EVP and Global Head of Strategic Partnerships and Solutions at WPP, she translates complex technological landscapes into breakthrough opportunities, guiding organizations to harness emerging technologies like Generative AI and crafting innovative marketing solutions for global brands. With over 20 years of experience driving growth for industry giants like McCann Worldgroup, L'Oréal, GM, and Nestlé, Elav specializes in turning innovation into impactful business results. Her expertise spans AI, XR, and Web3, consistently pushing the boundaries of what’s possible by creating new pathways for organizational transformation. A dedicated champion of responsible technology and diversity in leadership, Elav is a founding member of Chief and an active mentor to AI startups, where she fosters human-centered innovation and empowers female founders. She serves as an advisor to influential groups like the Meta Creative Council and has built global C-Suite Innovation Councils, establishing herself as a leading voice in innovation and strategic partnerships.Her contributions to the industry have earned her recognition from Cannes Lions, Campaign Magazine, and ‘The She Runs It’ Award. Elav is frequently sought after as a speaker, industry judge, and thought leader, sharing her insights in top publications like AdWeek, The Drum, and Forbes.

Samira Panah Bakhtiar is a dynamic leader in tune with the powerful relationship between digital media and technology. As General Manager of Media & Entertainment, Games, and Sports at Amazon Web Services (AWS), she leads a high-performing, multi-generational team of builders and champions diversity. For close to two decades, her work at AWS and Cisco, where she served as Director of Media Operations, led to strategic alignment and business transformations with some of the world’s largest entertainment companies. She has a proven track record in tech strategy, business development, and sales – focusing on introducing innovation and enhancing operational efficiency in the areas of content production, media supply chain, broadcast distribution, OTT, interactive experiences, and content monetization. Recognized for her exceptional ability to quickly understand and apply new concepts, address cross-functional challenges, and execute complex projects seamlessly, she infuses the AWS executive team with a fresh perspective. Striking the right balance between hitting performance targets and delivering at the highest standards, she’s secured $9B+ in committed contracts during her tenure. Samira also mentors numerous individuals at AWS and advocates for the promotion of team members of all levels within her organization to leadership roles. A visible female force in the entertainement industry, Samira has spoken 20+ internal and external events in the last two years, including the WICT Leadership Conference on Driving Innovation, AWS re:Invent, yearly AWS Kick Offs, and the Metropolitan Police of London’s International Women’s Day Event. Topics ranged from ID&E, Intersectionality, and Career Planning to Owning Authenticity and Building High Performing Teams. Passionate about advancing the status of women in technology, she is a presence in media, tech, and the NYC-based entrepreneurial community, as well as throughout major nonprofits and social impact organizations. Her humanitarian work focuses on the abolishment of human trafficking where she sat on the board of Together1Heart (an anti-human trafficking organization based in Cambodia) from 2017-2020. Samira’s philanthropic work has always been a strong personal driver, and as a result, she launched Bridge2Act in 2015, a venture focused on transforming the giving landscape through the use of technology. A graduate of the prestigious executive development program from the Betsy Magness Leadership Institute (Class 35), Samira continues to find ways to connect and inspire other ambitious women in tech. Samira was the inaugural winner of the Woman to Watch in Technology by The WICT Network in 2017, named a 40 Under 40 by NYC Television in 2019, and a Wonder Woman by Multichannel News in 2023. She is also a member of social organizations such as Soho House, Zero Bond, and Summit, and a Board Member At-Large for The WICT Network. Samira graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona with a B.S. in Finance and Magna Cum Laude from the Fordham University MBA program. Committed to continual learning, she obtained her Press Speaking Certifications at Amazon in 2022 (and is now an official Spokesperson) and her Solution Architect Certification in 2021. In 2022, she was cited as one of the most anticipated speakers on the IBC 2022 Website, presenting with Media Monk’s SVP on the “Future of Cloud Production.” In her personal time, Samira loves spending time with her family (including her 6-year-old son and 2 year-old daughter), traveling, practicing Muay Thai Kick Boxing, Hot Yoga, and hitting up the culinary scene with her husband, Koorosh, a restaurateur in Manhattan.

Kristina Shepard serves as Executive Vice President of Streaming and Performance Sales and Partnerships. In this role, Kristina brings together key sales verticals including performance, small- and medium-sized business growth (SMBG), and all major East Coast agencies. She also oversees partnerships spanning streaming, programmatic, retail media, social, and the company’s FAST networks. Reporting into Alison Levin, President of Advertising & Partnerships at NBCUniversal, Kristina’s scope centers around demand diversification and client-wide adoption of digital partnerships. Kristina previously served as the Vice President of Global Advertising Sales and Partnerships at Roku. In her role, she oversaw Roku’s entire global ad revenue teams across all verticals, such as Agency and Strategic Ad Partnerships. She joined Roku in 2017 as the Head of U.S. Brand Sales and helped Roku’s business grow with Roku’s largest clients. From 2012 to 2016, Kristina was a Sales Director at Opera Mediaworks, a mobile ad platform company specializing in selling brand and app installs on video, display, native, and programmatic formats. Prior to Opera Mediaworks, she was the Account Lead for National and Retail Advertising at News Corp. Kristina was named to the 2021 AWNewYork Future Is Female Shortlist and 2021 Cynopsis It List. Most recently, she was recognized in the 2023 AdMonsters Top Women in Media and Ad Tech Awards. Since 2019, she has been a member of Chief. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration, with a minor in management and international business from Villanova University.

Leslie Shannon, Head of Ecosystem and Trend Scouting, Nokia: Leslie entered the mobile communications world as a billing database analyst in the early 1990s. She joined Nokia Australia in 2000 and became the manager of the FutureLab, an early developer incubator in the days of WAP, GPRS and 3G. Building on her first-hand technical and business experience of the reality of bringing applications to market, she developed an analysis service for Nokia that examined success and failure factors for operators bringing mobile data to market for 4G that proved so successful that Nokia created a new department around her work. While in this role, she was based in Finland and worked with over 100 operators in more than 70 countries. Leslie relocated to Silicon Valley in 2015 and now focuses on identifying disruptions and opportunities for Nokia and its operator partners coming from outside the traditional telco world, particularly in the worlds of 5G, AR, VR, MR and the Spatial Internet. She is passionate not only about bringing strategic insight to Nokia and its customers, but also about introducing successful new paradigms from Silicon Valley to the telecommunications mindset, and continues to be a highly-regarded analyst and speaker. Born in Manhattan, Leslie has a BA in Psychology from the University of Virginia and a Master’s Degree in the History of Art from Yale University. She was an undefeated five-time champion in the American television game show “Jeopardy!” in 1992 and was invited to return to the show to compete in a tournament for one million dollars as one of the show’s “most memorable contestants” in 2002 and again in 2014. (She didn’t win, but still had a lot of fun.) She also got four questions away from willing a million dollars on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” in August 2017. Leslie lives in Santa Clara, California, with her husband and their two mobile-data enthusiast children.