Prolific Author & L&D Leader
Director of AI Innovation
AI Singapore
IHH Healthcare
Business Transformation & IBM Garage Leader
IBM
Head of Global Learning & Development – Singapore
Micron Technology
Global Head of Learning & Organisational Development
Head of Group Talent Management
OCBC Bank
Vice President, Group People & Sustainability
Global Head, Organisation Development & Learning
Shell
Professor & Director, i2e – The Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre
SP Jain School of Global Management
Head of Talent & Diversity – Asia
Sanofi
Chief Executive Officer
The People Decoder
HR Director & APJ HR Business Partner – Modern Data Centres & Analytics
Tech Data
Chevaun is a seasoned talent developer who is passionate about nurturing leaders, creating positive work culture and enabling organisations. Chevaun started her career in advertising but transitioned to learning and development and in the last few years, she focused on leadership development.
Chevaun works with leaders to drive change, empower teams and to better themselves. Her work reflects her belief that leaders have tremendous power to impact the teams, the organisation and the communities they operate in. In her current role as Head of Group Talent Management, Chevaun is focused on bringing out the best in the people and helping the organisation harness the potential in their people.
Yunli Zhao is a passionate and seasoned professional with extensive experience in learning and development. Currently serving as the Head of Global Learning and Development – Singapore at Micron Technology, Inc., Yunli has been with Micron since 2010.
Yunli leads the Singapore Learning & Development team, providing talent solutions that encompass new hire onboarding, leadership development, and team member professional and career development initiatives. Her role involves partnering with business leaders, Talent Management CoE, talent acquisition, business partners, and strategic external partners to build a sustainable workforce and future talent pipeline that is future-ready.
Yunli’s career is distinguished by her ability to lead cross-functional global teams and design enterprise-wide frameworks for career development and mentoring programs. She has a proven track record of managing global projects, developing learning resources, and implementing performance management processes. Yunli is enthusiastic about mentoring and coaching, and is devoted to unleashing the potential of individuals and teams through impactful employee learning experiences.
Shailaja is a global HR leader with significant experience in leadership and people development, well-being and DEIB. Having worked across Consumer Goods, Pharmaceuticals, Information Technology, Financial Services and currently as the Executive Director, Group Learning & Talent Management for SGX; Shailaja brings a wealth of knowledge and experience that builds sustainable organisations and people.
People Sustainability is a passion for Shailaja. She truly believes that a sustainable organisation needs to care for its people; through developing them, looking after their well-being and providing an inclusive climate. Challenging the status quo, asking provocative questions to create reflective spaces comes naturally to Shailaja. She is a thought leader, speaker and active champion, both within organisations and in society; energising an ecosystem of like-minded individuals and agencies to create systematic solutions.
With extensive experience in human resources, Meng Hwee has significantly transformed organisations by directing talent strategy and organisational development, building strong employee commitment and greater organisational success. As a trusted advisor, Meng Hwee collaborates with business leaders to drive successful outcomes, proactively addressing issues with long-term solutions that foster cohesion and sustainability.
At Sanofi, Meng Hwee heads the Talent & Diversity function, with the goal to build strong leadership pipelines and create conditions for diverse talents to thrive. She oversees end-to-end talent management processes, integrating attraction, potential identification, development and retention strategies. As a trained coach, Meng Hwee utilises coaching to expedite talent readiness and promote an inclusive environment, where every employee wants to bring their best selves to work.
Dr. Raman K. Attri is a global L&D leader, a prolific author, and a coach. With over two decades of research and practice, his thought leadership is well recognised for his pioneering work on the science of organisational learning speed. A recipient of the Chief Learning Officer of the Year award, he leads a Hall-of-Fame training organisation at a cutting-edge Fortune 500 technology company.
As the Founder of the GetThereFaster L&D Leaders Academy, Dr. Attri coaches forward-thinking CLOs with unique leadership thinking on creating speed-enabling ecosystems for the future of learning. He engages with leading corporations and forward-thinking businesses to shorten their workforce time-to-proficiency and accelerate employee learning.
A prolific author of 50 books, Dr. Attri is among a handful of keynote speakers offering insights on organisational and workforce speed-readiness. His niche expertise earned him a spot among Brainz Global 500 leaders and one of the ‘50 Leaders Under 50’ by NYC Journal.
Dr. Attri has turned his lifelong disability into an inspiring message to focus on learning excellence. With two doctorates and over 100 international credentials, Dr. Attri is an authentic accelerated learning scientist and business coach who practices what he preaches.
Sarmista has played key global roles in her 18 years of experience in the Talent Development space; transforming and enriching skilled-based learning at scale with technology. She was the global head of all professional development (consulting and leadership development) programs at IBM Consulting. Sarmista now leads GenAI-enabled talent transformation engagements and is also the IBM Garage Lead in the Asia Pacific region.
Sarmista’s keen eye to visualise the future with a data-driven and result-oriented approach, along with consistently “showing personal interest” and keeping her team engaged “to get things done” have been key to her success. She firmly believes in the power of compassion in creating sustainable mentoring and coaching networks.
Sarmista completed her studies in Human Resources from the Xavier School of Management (XLRI), India and has done extensive research in leadership development. She has been a speaker at various global conferences and spends her free time mentoring students at universities in Singapore and India. She also plays an active role in promoting diversity and inclusion, and increasing employability of the disabled and underprivileged.
Cyl is a seasoned HR executive with 19 years of regional experience in Asia Pacific and Japan, currently serving as HR Director & HRBP, Commercial BU. She has a proven track record of providing strategic guidance to business units, partnering with senior leaders to drive critical talent decisions and achieving operational excellence.
Selected by EDB Singapore as the pioneer batch of Top 60 Singapore Leaders Network Fellowship and recognised DEI and well-being advocate, Cyl was named to Top Most HR Leader in Asia 2024, HRD Hotlist 2023 and APJ Champions Club HR Most Valued Player 2023.
Cyl holds a Bachelor of Commerce, double major in HRM & Business, as well as an MBA from Murdoch University (Australia). She is an accredited coach with InsideOut Coaching in Boston and holds certifications, including IHRP-SP and SHRM-SCP (US).
Joyce Tse is a certified trainer, coach and consultant for psychometric tools. With vast experience in learning and organisational development across diverse industries, she is recognised as a regional and global leader.
Currently serving as the Global Head of Learning & Organisational Development at OMRON Asia Pacific, Joyce exemplifies her commitment to inspiring growth by spearheading initiatives in talent development, talent management, and critical organisational topics like diversity, equity and inclusion, driving positive change throughout the region. Additionally, Joyce plays a key role in OMRON’s global leadership development efforts, focusing on cultivating a robust and diverse pipeline of global leaders.
Awarded as one of Asia’s Top 10 Women in IT, Dr. CJ Meadows leads an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre at a Forbes Top 20 International Business School, creating growth initiatives at the intersection of IT, business strategy and design. Her research, consulting and coaching focus on design thinking, leadership and creativity. She founded an advanced technology think tank, envisioning the Future of Work (FoW) and Education, applying AI, biometrics and other advanced technologies to leadership development, team productivity and group innovation.
Dr. Meadows holds a Doctorate in Business Administration & IT from Harvard Business School and has over 20 years of experience in Asia, Europe and North America as a consultant, coach, entrepreneur, eBusiness builder, innovation lab co-founder, and Accenture IT & Business Strategy consultant.
Laurence Liew is a seasoned technologist and AI innovator with over 25 years of experience. He has a proven track record of leading and launching successful businesses in the AI and cloud computing space.
As the Director of AI Innovation at AI Singapore, Laurence spearheads initiatives like the 100 Experiments (100E) program, fostering collaboration to develop real-world AI solutions. He also created and leads the acclaimed AI Apprenticeship Program (AIAP), nurturing the next generation of AI engineers.
Passionate about democratising AI, Laurence champions the LearnAI initiative, empowering individuals with foundational AI knowledge through programs like AI for Everyone (AI4E) and AI For Industry (AI4I). His influence extends globally as he co-chairs the Global Partnership on AI’s (GPAI) Innovation and Commercialisation Working Group, focusing on the broad adoption of AI by SMEs.
Laurence is a recognised thought leader, author of “AI-First Nation: A Blueprint for Policy Makers & Organisation Leaders”, and sought-after speaker on building national AI talent pipelines. He is committed to driving innovation, enhancing global AI adoption, and shaping the future of AI.
Ksther is a versatile People and Leadership Advisor, former CHRO and Chief Business Development Officer, with a diverse career spanning global conglomerates, government organisations, non-profit, consultancies and startups. This extensive experience gives her a deep understanding of talent development, leadership, organisational dynamics, and the unique needs of different sectors.
Passionate about integrating technology into business and HR, Ksther leverages AI to drive smarter decision-making and improve HR functions. With expertise in talent management, leadership development and aligning business strategies with organisational goals, she helps executives and senior leaders navigate corporate complexities to achieve business alignment and career growth.
As a seasoned chair on HR and business discussion panels, both locally and overseas, Ksther brings a global perspective to leadership, business strategy and the complexities of talent development. Known for delivering innovative solutions, she helps organisations navigate workforce scaling, business growth and talent challenges. Ksther promotes the belief that the future of the workforce is built on a foundation of strong talent development and leadership performance.
Arthur is responsible for the IHH Group Learning Academy, serving the leadership needs to a global diverse audience, where one of the exciting works is to explore different learning modalities for learning effectiveness. His interest lies in creating employee centric learning programs.
In IHH, Arthur set up the IHH Learning Academy, providing leadership and learning resources to the leaders within IHH Group. He is also responsible for the IHH Global Leadership of Business Enterprise (I.GLOBE) program, which has achieved 2 GOLDs in the Brandon Hall Group Human Capital Management Excellence Awards this year. For the last 10 years, Arthur has developed and implemented digitalisation transformation strategies, learning frameworks and created metrics to build capabilities.
Michelle has 25 years of global experience in learning, team and leadership development, complex change orchestration, organisational excellence and talent development. She brings a unique integrated approach to actively establish strong partnerships with business and HR teams to drive value delivery in achieving business results.
Michelle’s deep expertise with skill pools across the technical and commercial, as well as leadership competences has worked well with global teams in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Middle East and Oceania – In transformation of operating models and workforce across manufacturing, power, renewable energy, trading and supply industries to drive workforce agility and operational efficiency.
Michelle’s experience with staff councils across the world brings about unique lens into future-proofing workforce(s) that is valued by businesses and nations. Her specialty is in learning strategies to drive business performance, as well as business operating models.
Eng Sing serves as the Vice President, Group People & Sustainability, where he leads Singtel Group’s people strategies for global talent management, employee development, people experience, organisation culture, leadership succession, and workplace diversity and inclusion.
Eng Sing’s extensive leadership experience spans leading organisations, such as Goldman Sachs and UBS, where he held regional positions across Asia Pacific in Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia. His strategic insights and cultural agility uniquely position him to catalyse positive changes, fostering transformative shifts in people management and HR practices.
A member of the Skills Advisory Panel co-chaired by SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG) and the Institute of Human Resource Professionals (IHRP), Eng Sing actively contributes to shaping Singapore’s future workforce development landscape.
Binesh Menon, a distinguished learning enthusiast, currently heads Learning & Organisation Development for Asia Pacific at Emerson. Over two enriching decades, his experience spans leadership roles in diverse geographies, spearheading workshops that impacted over 25,000 individuals in 14 countries. He demonstrates his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by establishing and leading the Asia Pacific DE&I Council for his organisation.
Binesh’s remarkable contributions to talent development led to his recognition as one of Asia’s top 25 influencers by World HRD Congress, alongside acknowledgments from the National Training & Development Congress and HRM Asia.
Being a certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner, Binesh harmoniously blends traditional talent development strategies with unique elements of depth psychology, championing Carl Jung’s works and dream analysis to unlock unconscious potential. Binesh’s methodology involves understanding the unconscious elements that drive behaviour and performance in the workplace. By incorporating Jungian concepts, he focuses on aspects such as archetypes, the collective unconscious and individuation, which can help in identifying and nurturing the innate potential within each employee.
Binesh’s professional journey includes successful tenures at powerhouse companies like Tata and John Deere. He has added value to multiple learning forums in India, UAE, Malaysia, and Singapore with insightful presentations. With his diverse experience and proven leadership acumen, Binesh stands as a poignant figure in the HR and development space.
Amor Villalon, a seasoned HR leader with over 20 years of experience, has successfully driven transformative initiatives in leading organisations, such as Wyeth, Microsoft, Fujitsu, Brightstar, SM Investments and FairPrice Group. With a strong foundation in psychology and advanced studies in management and organisational development, Amor specialises in strategic HR, talent management, leadership development and change management. Her expertise spans diverse industries, including pharmaceuticals, technology, retail and investments.
Amor is a certified executive and leadership coach, leveraging her skills to develop high-potential talent and foster a culture of excellence. A passionate advocate for employee well-being, Amor has volunteered extensively to support overseas workers. Currently leading talent management, organisational development, and learning and development at FairPrice Group, Amor is committed to driving business success through people strategies.
Sunil, a key member of the leadership team at Stewardship Asia Centre (SAC), spearheads research and advisory endeavours at the nexus of sustainability, talent and leadership. Previously, as Asia Pacific Head of Research at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), Sunil directed research and advisory initiatives across the region. His tenure from 2014 to 2016 at the Human Capital Leadership Institute saw him lead global Asian leader research initiatives.
A graduate of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi and Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, Sunil has over 25 years of experience in research and advisory. He has authored several research studies on the future of work, sustainability, board leadership, Asian leadership, and the future of HR.
Mai Chinh Duong is currently the Regional Learning & Development Head for Siemens ASEAN, and partners with senior leaders and their teams to co-create curriculum that helps them to develop organisational capabilities, including agility and leadership. The aim is to build a continuous learning culture to enable transformational change and growth.
In Chinh’s 22-year career as a HR professional in the technology industry, she has gathered experience and expertise that spans across business HR, organisational learning, culture change, and talent and leadership development. She has worked across diverse teams and delivered on strategic priorities, and is passionate about helping people learn, develop and fulfil their potential.
David brings close to 30 years of expertise in corporate learning, digital learning transformation, lifelong learning strategies, leadership and organisational development, HR management, and pre-opening / start-up functions. In David’s new role, he leads the HR Development team to support the career development and capability building for the team of this newly setup campus that focuses on developing a systemic population and preventive healthcare model for 1.5-millon residents across Central North of Singapore, with the vision of adding 15 million years to healthy life.
Formerly at NHG Cares Institute, David was responsible for setting up a learning network of providers across the health, social and healthcare ecosystem with the aim to develop and promote thought leadership in community care, as well as facilitate exchanges towards capability building of a future community workforce. David was also at the Centre for Healthcare Innovation in Tan Tock Seng Hospital, responsible for the transformation of digital learning to enable the healthcare workforce, through new learning pedagogies, and a 10-year digital transformation roadmap in learning.
Before that, at BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, David spearheaded its Asia Pacific Learning Campus, the first outside Germany that focused on developing leaders across Asia. At Frasers Centrepoint Limited (now called Frasers Property), he enhanced and strengthened leadership capabilities of its three core businesses, Frasers Centrepoint Homes, Malls, and Frasers Hospitality. He also brings more than a decade of hospitality experience in service excellence, quality assurance and hotel pre-openings with Conrad Hotels and Mandarin Oriental.
David holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Massachusetts, a Diploma in Human Resource Development from Singapore Institute of Management, and is an International Coaching Federation (ICF) Professional Certified Coach (PCC).
Currently the Head of Global Learning & Development – South Asia & Japan at Micron, Arthur is endowed with 27 years of diversified working experience. He has more than 20 years’ experience in management roles across different functions (Talent Management, Learning and Leadership Development, Organisation Development, Training, Recruitment, Sales Management and Marketing) in different geographies within Asia Pacific, and industries (recruitment, telecommunication, pharmaceutical, agriculture and microelectronics).
Being agile, Arthur has many years of leadership experience in both commercial and HR under his belt, moving from being a Pharmaceutical Sales Representative to Head of Sales to Marketing to Corporate Training to L&D to Talent and Leadership Development to Organisational Development.
Saurav Atri is a global leader in learning, human performance and growth, with over 20+ years of experience in various industries and regions. As the Director of Global Learning at Manulife, he is responsible for making learning the driver for individuals, teams and organisational development for more than 34,000 employees worldwide.
Saurav manages two global portfolios at Manulife: New Ways of Working that includes strategy and deployment education and Development on Generative AI, Agile, Human Centred Design Thinking and Functional Learning globally for over 38,000 employees. He leverages his expertise in human behaviour, employee engagement and strengths-based development to help Manulife achieve its business goals and vision.Saurav manages two global portfolios at Manulife: New Ways of Working that includes strategy and deployment education and Development on Generative AI, Agile, Human Centred Design Thinking and Functional Learning globally for over 38,000 employees. He leverages his expertise in human behaviour, employee engagement and strengths-based development to help Manulife achieve its business goals and vision.
Before joining Manulife, Saurav was an Executive Leadership coach, senior workplace consultant and subject matter expert at Gallup, where he advised and coached CEOs, CHROs, and other senior leaders on how to maximise human potential and performance. He also facilitated learning and development programs, trained over 10,000 managers, 3,000 coaches and 1,000 leaders, and won multiple awards for his excellence and impact. He was an ICF certified ACC coach and a senior Gallup course leader. Saurav’s mission is to help people and businesses upgrade through purposeful learning and growth.
Jane Lai is Head of Capabilities Development & Reskilling, Talent & Development at United Overseas Bank Limited. She leads UOB’s core curriculum team that is responsible to drive upskilling, deep skilling and reskilling initiatives and efforts (more affectionately known as “Better U”) in the Bank. Together with her team, Jane focuses on development initiatives that nurture UOB employees to become well-rounded, principled yet innovative bankers – Empowered to drive the Bank’s vision of “Building the Future of ASEAN”.
Prior to this, Jane was leading the LearnTech, program management and training operations team at UOB. With years of experience in training and development, Jane is a learning specialist with a demonstrated history of working in the banking industry, skilled in training consultancy, as well as learning program design and management.
Dani is Co-founder and Principal Analyst for RedThread Research. She has spent the majority of her career writing about, conducting research in, and consulting on human capital practices and technology.
Before starting RedThread, Dani led the Learning and Career research practice at Bersin, Deloitte. Her ideas can be found in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, CLO Magazine, HR Magazine, and Employment Relations.
Dani holds a Master of Business Administration and a Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University.