CEE Swiss IT Solutions & Cross-Cultural Talent Summit 2025

IBM Fellow • Vice President Europe & Africa • Director, IBM Research Lab – Zurich

Dr. Alessandro Curioni is a visionary research leader at IBM. He shapes the company’s global research strategy in Accelerated Discovery and IT Security, and is a renowned expert in high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and neuromorphic systems. Trained as a theoretical chemist, he earned his PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa and began his career as a PhD student at IBM Research – Zurich. Today, he is a leading innovator, a member of the Swiss Academy of Technical Sciences, and a recipient of the prestigious Gordon Bell Prize (2013, 2015).

Senior Program Manager, Developer Relations , Zurich

Dawid Ostrowski is a technology leader at Google, where he drives global developer relations with a focus on AI, Cloud and emerging technologies. Since joining Google in 2012, he has led worldwide initiatives such as the Google Developer Experts program, Cloud Champions and Google for Startups Accelerator Mentors. With a background spanning software engineering, human-computer interaction research and enterprise consulting, he brings a unique mix of technical depth and community-building expertise. Based in Zurich since 2015, Dawid is particularly passionate about bridging ecosystems between Switzerland and Central & Eastern Europe and exploring how digital innovation can advance business, health and society.

President and Managing Director Chamber of Commerce Switzerland Central Europe, CEO & AI Consultant Triple Eight Solutions AG

Oliver Bertschinger is a Swiss business development and AI expert passionate about enabling growth through innovation and collaboration. As President and Managing Director of the Chamber of Commerce Switzerland–Central Europe (SEC), he has built one of the country’s fastest-growing business communities, connecting Switzerland with 17 countries in Central and Eastern Europe. With more than 20 years of leadership experience across Zurich, Basel, New York, Tokyo, and Hong Kong, Oliver combines strategic insight with hands-on execution. Through his consultancy Triple Eight Solutions, he advises companies on AI adoption, productivity, and internationalization.

Professor of International Management and Organizational Behavior at the ZHAW School of Management and Law

Prof. Dr habil. Anna Lupina-Wegener is Professor of International Management and Organizational Behavior at the ZHAW School of Management and Law where she heads the Center for Cross-Cultural Management and serves as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Change Management. Her research and teaching focus on cross-cultural collaboration, organizational identity, and change management in international contexts, with a special interest in digital transformation, interorganizational partnerships and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. Before joining ZHAW, she was a professor at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland (HES-SO) and a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Geneva.