Speakers at the Citi & Imperial College London Symposium

Claire Alexandre is Head of Commercial and Strategy within the M-PESA team of Vodafone Group. She supported the development of the M-PESA proposition early on, as she was in charge of Vodafone financial services regulation and policy, among other public policy positions. More recently, Claire was a Senior Program Officer for Financial Services for the Poor, at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. She has hence been at the forefront of enabling the development of new mobile financial service schemes.

Greg has held a number of senior technology, consulting and business leadership roles across Asia, Europe and North America. He is currently Global Head of Digital Strategy at Citi, where he leads digital strategy across all Citi's businesses and geographies. Prior to joining Citi, Greg was a Partner and UK Board member at Booz & Company, a leading general management consulting firm, where he held a range of institution and business leadership roles across the financial services, public sector and technology practices. Greg has been a regular speaker on the role of digital technology, and the impact of disruptive innovation on business. Greg is a council (board) member of Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs), a leading international affairs think tank.

Greg is a dual Australian/UK Citizen, and is currently based in New York. He studied at Monash, Melbourne and Oxford universities, and holds a BAppSc and MBA.

Ann Cairns is president, International Markets for MasterCard Worldwide, responsible for the management of all markets and customer-related activities outside of the United States. As a member of the company's Executive Committee and based in London, England, Ms. Cairns leverages the company's seamless global structure and presence to the benefit of all stakeholders.

Ms. Cairns brings more than 20 years of experience working in senior management positions across Europe and the U.S., running global retail and investment banking operations. Prior to joining MasterCard in August 2011, Ms. Cairns was a managing director and head of the Financial Industry Services group for Europe with Alvarez & Marsal in London. From 2008 to 2011, Cairns led the European team managing the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings International through the Chapter 11 process.

Previously, Ms. Cairns was chief executive officer, Transaction Banking at ABN-AMRO in London, where she managed a global business with over 5 billion euros in revenue in 50 countries, covering the commercial, retail and financial institutions segments, and reported to the Group Board and served on the bank's Executive Committee.

Prior to joining ABN-AMRO, Ms. Cairns spent 15 years in senior operational positions at Citigroup, including chief operating officer, e-Business, where she led U.S., European and Japanese operations. Ms. Cairns also served as Trustee of Charity Bank in the UK.

At the start of her career, Ms. Cairns spent time as an award-winning research engineer, culminating as the head of Offshore Engineer-Planning for British Gas. Managing a team of 50 plus engineers, Ms. Cairns was the first woman qualified to go offshore in Britain.

Ms. Cairns received a B.Sc. in Pure Mathematics at Sheffield University and an M.Sc in Statistics from Newcastle University, U.K.

Don Callahan is the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Technology & Operations Officer for Citi.
He is a member of Citi's Operating Committee.
He joined Citi in October 2007.

Prior to joining Citi, Mr. Callahan was a Managing Director and Head of Marketing Strategy for the Investment Banking Division at Credit Suisse.

From 1993 to 2006, Mr. Callahan was a Managing Director with Morgan Stanley, last serving as Head of Business Management for the Institutional business.

Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Mr. Callahan held a number of management positions at International Business Machines Corporation (IBM). His last position there was Director of Strategy for IBM Japan.

He serves on the boards of Manhattanville College and the New York Hall of Science and is a Fellow at Foreign Policy Association.

Mr. Callahan received a B.A. in History from Manhattanville College.

David Gann holds the Chair in Innovation and Technology Management at Imperial College Business School and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London. He is a Chartered Civil Engineer with a PhD in Industrial Economics. He previously held the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Innovative Manufacturing at Sussex University. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Queen's Birthday Honours, for services to engineering.

He founded Imperial’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group, one of the world’s leading departments in its field, consistently ranked in the top 3 worldwide by the FT for its work in entrepreneurship and cited in the 2008 UK Research Assessment Exercise for its excellence in research. It hosts research programmes with funding of more than £60m, including: the RCUK Digital City Exchange; EIT ICT Labs KIC; EPSRC Innovation Studies Centre; ESRC/BIS/TSB/NESTA UK Innovation Research Centre (with Cambridge); the Entrepreneurship Hub and the QinetiQ Chair in Technology Transfer. The Group collaborates closely with large and small firms, including IBM, Microsoft, Nokia, Citigroup, Finmeccanica, Arup and BP. He leads executive programmes on innovation for business leaders in organisations such as IBM, Laing O’Rourke, Total, Citigroup, Arup and the Royal Society.

David has deep experience working at executive board level in industry, starting new businesses and advising senior ministers on government policy. From 2007-2011 he was seconded to Laing O’Rourke plc as Group Innovation Executive responsible for establishing group-wide innovation strategy and R&D programmes. David co-founded the Think Play Do Group, an Imperial College spin-out specialising in innovation strategy and management. He is trustee and director of the Institute for Sustainability. In 2011 he was a member of the panel for the UK Government’s Review of Intellectual Property and Growth. He is currently leading a study of Open Innovation and Intellectual Property for the World Intellectual Property Organisation.

He works with business and political leaders, most recently on the UK’s Superfast Broadband strategy with Secretary of State Jeremy Hunt, hosting the launch at Imperial College London; and hosting and debating with IBM’s President, Chairman and Chief Executive, Sam Palmisano.

Previous industrial roles include: Innovation Strategy Adviser, Computer Science Corporation (2004 - 2006); Strategic Adviser to the Board, Willmott Dixon Group (1998 - 2006). He was adviser to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Construction Taskforce and subsequent board member of the implementation body. He has led 11 Department of Trade and Industry Science and Technology Expert Missions in Japan, the USA, Canada, Germany and Sweden.

He is author of a large number of academic papers and with Mark Dodgson and Ammon Salter, has recently published:

Think Play Do - technology, innovation and organization Oxford University Press, 2005
The Management of Technological Innovation: Strategy and Practice Oxford University Press, 2008
Innovation: A Very Short Introduction Oxford University Press, 2010

Dr. Ruth Goodwin-Groen, Managing Director of the Better Than Cash Alliance joined the organization in November 2012. Ruth is responsible for accelerating the global shift from cash to electronic payments by calling on governments, private sector leaders, multilateral and bilateral donors, U.N. agencies and non-governmental organizations that are committed to a transformational shift from cash to electronic payments. Specifically, Ruth works closely with the governments of Colombia, Kenya, Peru, and the Philippines, and the development organizations USAID, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Food Programme, Mercy Corps, CARE USA and Concern Worldwide to encourage the digitisation of disbursements and payments to people living in poverty. Please click here for an overview of the Better than Cash Alliance.

Prior to joining the Better Than Cash Alliance, Ruth was the AusAID Adviser on Financial Services for the Poor and the Financial Inclusion Adviser to the Australian Co-Chair of the G20 Financial Inclusion Experts Group. She has 15 years of technical consulting experience in microfinance and financial inclusion in Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific. She is also a Board member of Microfinance Investment Support Facility for Afghanistan. Goodwin-Groen holds an MBA (Distinction) from Harvard Business School, a B.Sc. Hons I from the University of Western Australia and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Bath, writing a thesis on the Development of Inclusive Financial Markets.

Justin Ho is the Co – CEO of Singapore based Utiba Pte Ltd, a pioneer in the field of mobile commerce and mobile based transaction systems in the world, with installations in more than 15 countries. Utiba has lead development in many areas like mobile banking, mobile retailing, micro-finance, international remittances, financial inclusion in partnership with governments, banks and mobile operators in multiple nations.

Prior to starting up Utiba, Justin worked with Tandem Computers, Compaq Computers and Security Domain. Justin was also associated with NCR Corporation. Justin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Melbourne University. On personal front, Justin nurtures a passion for golf, radio control aeroplanes, development and aid work in developing countries, and spends time with his family and dog.

Thaer Sabri, chief executive officer, Electronic Money Association. He has more than 18 years experience in payments, mostly in payments innovation. He has worked in regulatory capacity as well product management and business development.

Thaer leads industry regulatory interface with member state regulators as well as EU institutions, addressing payment services regulation as well as anti money laundering and financial crime. He is a member of the European Commission Payment Systems Market Experts Group.

In his role as lawyer and consultant, Thaer has assisted numerous payment service providers on various regulatory issues in the EU and globally. He provides training, advises industry on innovation in payment services regulation and speaks at conferences internationally.

Dr. Jochen Schanz is an Advisor to the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England, where he focuses on the implementation of monetary policy and the impact of quantitative easing on inflation and growth. In previous roles he worked on prudential liquidity regulation and liquidity risk in large value payment systems. During that time Jochen co-edited a book on the economics of large value payment systems.

Ashwin Shirvaikar has been at Citi Research since early 2000 and has worked in or written about the Services sector (both Computer Services & Business Services) since 1991. Before joining Citi, Ashwin worked at AlliedSignal for three years, within its defense/aerospace M&A group, and was responsible for the P&L at the New Ventures group. Ashwin also has over 6 years of consulting and account management experience working with several blue chip clients. Ashwin earned an MBA degree from Cornell University in 1997. In addition, he holds a Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He is also a CFA Charterholder.

Naveed Sultan is Global Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions for Citi Transaction Services. With over 25 years of institutional banking experience, Mr Sultan has been at Citi for over 18 years, and in his current role, is responsible for Treasury and Trade Solutions globally. Treasury and Trade Solutions reported revenues of $7.7bn in 2011, making it one of the largest global businesses that encompasses multiple integrated solutions within Citi Transaction Services including: Trade and Supply Chain, Export Agency Finance, Liquidity and Investments, Cash Management, Wholesale Card Service, Information Services and Receivables serving public sector clients, corporates and financial institutions, a client base that includes 94% of the top 500 companies in the world in over 120 countries.

Prior to his appointment to his current role in June 2011, Mr Sultan was Global Transaction Services Region Head for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), the largest region for CTS with a presence in over 50 markets and a multi-billion dollar revenue base.

Mr Sultan also serves as a director on the board of LCH.Clearnet and has served on the board of Citibank A.S (Turkey) and Citibank Europe Plc, he is also a member of the Management Committees for Citi’s EMEA Operating Committee, Institutional Clients Group and Global Transaction Services. He is also a member of Citi’s Innovation Council and chairs the GTS Global Innovation Council.

Previously, Mr Sultan was Head of Treasury and Trade Solutions for GTS in EMEA. He joined Citi with Saudi American Bank (SAMBA), an affiliate of Citibank, in 1993 where he held several senior positions including Global Transaction Banking Group Head and Senior Country Operations Officer. In 1999, he became the business head for Citi’s Transaction Bank for Western Europe, based in London. Before joining Saudi American Bank, Naveed was the Country Corporate Banking Head for Standard Chartered Bank in Pakistan.

Mr Sultan has wide-ranging experience covering Corporate Banking, Corporate Finance, Transaction Banking, Operations & Technology and is a regular speaker and author on such topics. He has also taught Business to Masters graduates at the University of Punjab in Pakistan. He is also engaged with Oxford University and Imperial College London in an advisory and lecturing capacity.

Mr Sultan holds an M.S. in Management from M.I.T’s Sloan School of Management as well as an M.B.A. from the Institute of Business Administration, Lahore.