Istanbul

Speakers – 6th CSO 360 Congress 2022

Keynote Speakers

Emre Celik
Employee Relations and Investigations Partner
Google

 

Emre (he/they) is a German-Turkish DEIfluencer, speaker, founder, TikToker and now works at Google as an Employee Relations and Investigations Partner. Emre’s work is mainly focused on diversity, equality, and inclusion as They want to create a world where everyone belongs. He combines in-depth knowledge of investigations with the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Figen Murray OBE
ASyl, F.ISRM

Figen Murray is the mother of Martyn Hett, who at 29 years of age was tragically killed alongside 21 others at the Manchester Arena terrorist attack in May 2017.

Since the Manchester Arena attack, Figen has been working with the Government and the security industry to make the tangible changes that can help ensure no other family has to go through what hers has. She is the force behind Martyn’s Law (Protect Duty), a legislation requiring publicly accessible locations to improve security against the threat of terrorism. Her ambitions to better understand counter terrorism saw her achieve a distinction in a counter terrorism master’s degree from the University of Central Lancashire.

Figen’s dedication and work in counter terrorism saw her awarded an OBE in the 2022 New Year’s Honours List. She is a Visiting Fellow for the Institute of Strategic Risk Management, a member of the senior leadership team for TINYg, and an Associate Member of the Security Institute.

Figen was born in Istanbul.

Frank Gardner OBE
Security Correspondent
BBC 

Frank spent nine years as an investment banker in New York, London and Bahrain before switching to journalism and joining the BBC in 1995. Frank has reported extensively on the global ˜War on Terror’ in Guantanamo Bay, Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East.  In 2004 Frank survived being shot six times at close range by Al-Qaeda terrorists in a Riyadh suburb in Saudia Arabia. He went on to write the best selling book Blood and Sand, the poignant story of what can happen to your belief system when the culture you have embraced ends up trying to kill you.  Frank has gone onto write three best selling spy thrillers Crisis, Ultimatum and Outbreak. He was awarded an OBE in 2005 for services to journalism. In 2018 he was awarded the University of Southern California’s Tommy Trojan Trophy for distinguished speaking.

As a career broadcaster and a witty and gifted communicator, Frank shares his passion for the Middle East, travel and adventure. He draws on a unique perspective and understanding of both domestic and international security. Frank’s own personal story of survival combined with his extensive knowledge of Middle Eastern history and politics make for a compelling event.

 

Dimitri Chichlo
NED, Vice-Chairman
JSC Ukreximbank

A French and Swiss citizen, Dimitri Chichlo started his career in Ukraine in 2004, then moved to Switzerland in 2009, working mainly for international financial institutions in the fields of operational risk and cybersecurity. In 2017, he completed an Executive MBA at INSEAD. In 2019, he joined the Supervisory board of Ukreximbank, the third largest and State-owned bank in Ukraine, as vice-chairman and chair of the Operations and Digital Committee. In 2020, he founded his consultancy practice in cybersecurity and digital transformation, AndSecure. Since February 24th, 2022, he is actively involved into providing humanitarian support to Ukraine. He currently lives in Geneva.

CSO 360 Roundtable – Wednesday 30 November 2022
Kindly Chaired by

Mark Wolsey, Group Security Director, CRH Group plc 

After 25 years’ service as an officer in the Royal Marines, Mark made the transition into Corporate Security in 2006. He has been the Director of Global Security at Smiths Group, Cadbury, Philip Morris International and PwC before taking up their present position as Group Security Director at CRH. Specialties: Security of People, property, information and reputation. All levels of investigation (including fraud and corruption), risk assessment and mitigation, contingency planning, crisis management, business intelligence and business continuity.

CSO 360 Congress – Thursday 1 December and Friday 2 December 2022
Kindly Chaired by

Simon A. Scales FCMI, Group Head of Conduct Investigations, Financial Services

Simon has over 30 years significant investigative, security and compliance related experience, formed from an extensive corporate and law enforcement background. He is recognised for having conducted complex Bribery, Corruption, Fraud and Misconduct investigations worldwide, in regulated and non-regulated arenas. He is internationally recognised for his public speaking credentials and his vast experience, having successfully led, directed and managed investigation, ethics, compliance and integrity teams within Europe, the USA, Africa and the Middle East. He has also been instrumental in delivering investigative services to the key emerging markets of South America, India and China.

Lady Olga Maitland, Chairman of the Board at Algeria British Business Council; President, Defence and Security Forum; Board Advisor

Lady Olga Maitland has wide experience in all major Governance, risk Management and Compliance issues in general and global Fraud and Corruption problems in particular. She is a special adviser to a number of dignitaries and a widely sought after speaker at all Major Conferences on several Corporate Governance issues. Lady Olga is a former British MP for the Conservative party. Prior to her political career she was a reporter for the Fleet Street News Agency, a columnist in the London.

 

International Speaker Panel Including

Araba is a security risk management professional with a broad range of skills, interests, and experiences, including a degree in archaeology, operational experience with the British Army, and security roles with international humanitarian and development organisations such as NRC, INSO, and the World Bank. She has spent her career in some of the most vibrant and dynamic places in the world, including DR Congo, Afghanistan, Libya, and Ethiopia, and now works on creative, insightful, and delivery-orientated approaches to security risk management and operational resilience.

Alexandra Delgado is a global security & risk advisor with nearly 15 years of experience in managing complex operational environments. Alexandra has worked with a variety of leading corporate and multilateral entities, including the United Nations, the World Bank Group, and the Inter-American Development Bank, designing and deploying civilian security and conflict resolution initiatives, security assessments for major projects, and field security and travel risk management programs. Alexandra is a graduate of the American University in Washington, DC and the École Nationale d’Administration of France, in addition to holding international certifications in fraud examination and business continuity

As Head of IoT Cyber Security of Arcelik Group, Cagatay is responsible from cyber security design infrastructures of IoT based home appliances(edge devices), mobile application that is for controlling&monitoring to these devices, and finally related cloud services that are for those devices and mobile apps. So in one team, they are applying both individually and also end to end IoT cyber security principles for these embedded, mobile and cloud domains. He is managing all different IoT product groups’ cyber security infrastructure and policies used in more than 140 countries globally. It is not enough to make them compliant with upcoming IoT security regulations, but also requires to create an upper level of security to protect the customers.

Andy Williams is a Director at Crilly Consulting. Andy has over 20 years of international safety, security and crisis management expertise within hotel, real estate development and travel security risk management fields. On the Association and volunteer leadership front, Andy has served as a Regional Vice President for ASIS International, the technical review committee for international security standard PSC1; advised the UK government on counter terrorism and public safety initiatives, presented to the EU Council and most recently published a case study paper on crisis management for United Nations UNISDR.  Andy is a newly elected ‘Member of the Board ASIS Europe’.


In May 2017 I reach 20 years working in the security industry, 18 of those recruiting within the corporate security & resilience field. I have placed candidates in senior level and niche roles across 40+ countries and 5 continents in a wide range of industry sectors including oil & gas, mining, pharmaceutical, tobacco, FMCG, food, engineering, technology, telecoms and financial services. In 2013 I joined Barclay Simpson, the world leader in Corporate Governance recruitment, to develop their global corporate security recruitment function. Our consultants, based in offices in London, Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai and New York work with clients throughout the globe and we place permanent and interim positions within internal and IT audit, risk, security & resilience, compliance, legal, and treasury across all economic sectors. Alongside my work at Barclay Simpson I launched Intelligent Access International in January 2017, connecting CSOs to proven security service providers internationally to save time and money. Why pay for a consultancy to fly halfway around the world, or pay a large mark-up when the project is sub-contracted anyway, when you can utilise a reliable local firm who can fulfil your requirements? Whether it be site security surveys in Turkey, executive protection services in Cote D’Ivoire, threat intelligence in Saudi Arabia, brand protection support in Malaysia, security training in Mexico, crisis management support in Russia or forensic investigations in Ghana; IAI are here to help you identify the best resource for you to use in a specific country.

As Group Head of Security and Investigations for British American Tobacco, Crawford is BAT’s most senior security professional responsible for global security, investigations, and resilience programmes. His commercial acumen at senior levels across a range of business sectors has enabled a history of positive Board level engagement in influencing, establishing and developing security strategy and programmes.

Head of Forensic Services, KCB Group
Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, Certified Public Secretary (CPS) Kenya, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE),

Faith is the Head of Forensic Services, KCB Group and is responsible for providing strategy on financial crime management across the Group.  Faith has over 22 years of experience in financial crime management; risk management; legal advisory and compliance; regulatory affairs; business ethics and misconduct advisory. Prior to joining KCB, Faith worked for Safaricom Ltd as the Senior Fraud Manager responsible for fraud risk management. Faith has also worked with KPMG as a Forensic Manager providing advisory on financial crime management and business advisory. Faith  has also worked for the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission, as an Investigation/ Legal Officer undertaking forensic investigation of corruption and economic crimes, asset tracing and civil litigation.

Prior to starting a career in financial and economic crime management, Faith was employed in the law firm of Archer and Wilcock Advocates and has a number of years experience as a commercial and litigation attorney.

Faith is a speaker at various local and international workshops and conferences on Financial Crime, Ethics,Risk Management, Fraud and Corruption.

Faith is former member  of the Kenya National Task Force on Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Terrorism Financing.

Faith is a past chair of the Kenya Banker’s Association (KBA) Fraud and Security Committee, former Training Director of the ACFE Kenya Chapter and former Convenor of the LSK In-House Lawyers caucus.

Faith holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Studies. She is also a Certified Public Secretary (CPSS)Kenya, Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Computer Forensics Expert.

Faith was recognized as one of  the Top 40 under 40 women in Kenya in 2012 and 2013.

Justin is a military veteran with 25 years of full and part time experience. With degrees from the University of Durham and King’s College, London, he was initially a corporate finance analyst at JP Morgan Chase & Co before being called up for military service after 9/11. This started a security focused career that led to founding Sibylline. He continues to serve as a Challenger 2 Main Battle Tank commander with the Royal Wessex Yeomanry in the UK.  His focus areas are global jihadism, the evolution of cyber and technical threats, and the creation of innovative and effective risk models. He is an acknowledged authority on business intelligence, global risk analysis and governance, the Vice President of the Association of International Risk Intelligence Professionals (AIRIP); a member of the UK Risk and Security Management Forum; on the steering group of the International Security Foundation; and mentors next generation military professionals starting in business through Heropreneurs. He has on-the-ground experience in over 65 countries and is a regular print and broadcast media commentator, as well as the author of Corporate Security Intelligence and Strategic Decision Making, the first work dedicated to the topic.

 


Jenny Reid is a self-made success, the driving force behind iFacts, is a woman who makes things happen. Where others see challenges, she envisions solutions. She has become an outspoken advocate of change, integrity and innovation. Her solid experience gets her respect, while her fearless attitude is admired by her peers, the media – and her clients. Jenny’s work took her far and wide, including beyond the basic focus on iFacts. She is a regular speaker at conferences in the security as well as the HR and risk markets. Jenny has been asked to speak at conferences in various countries around the globe about the importance of vetting and screening. Jenny started her career in the security industry in 1995 and her integrity and talent was recognised when she became the first woman president of the Security Association of South Africa (SASA) in 40 years. She bought the iFacts brand in 2009 and saw an opportunity to help her clients remove risks and develop progressive solutions to employee screening. From this, Jenny took her idea a step further and developed a holistic enhancement programme, aimed at helping business owners create a loyal, productive and healthy workforce. In 2018 Jenny became a partner in a business 50Plus-Skllls which is a skills platform for the over 50’s who have often retired too soon and either require paid work to live in the later segment of their life or who want to give back to society through work or play. Jenny has since become a Master NLP Coach and created an online health and wellness platform to help people become the best me they can be. Her tag line is Dream It Do It Be It. She specializes in programmes for career development, personal development, health & wellness and retirement planning www.ifacts.co.za www.theorangesa.co.za www.50Plus-Skills.co.za.

Mr. Melih Türk is the Founder & CEO of MTN International Consulting and Global Risk Management LTD. He got BA Degree at Political Science from Bilkent University. Mr. Türk had 11 years of experience at Turkish State Bureaucracy. He had many overseas joint ops duties such as in Kabul-Afghanistan NATO-ISAF HQ , Azerbaijan , France, Italy. He had experienced at humint, opint, executive protection and crisis management services with global companies and international institutions.

Mike Croll has held some of the most senior appointments in international security management including Head of Overseas Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Head of Security for the European Union’s External Action Service, Director of United Nations Global Security Operations, Facebook’s Head of Security for EMEA. He has worked in Africa for one of the earliest private military companies and he’s been a uniformed security guard at a supermarket. He has spent 30 years working internationally from Baghdad to New York, from Phnom Penh to Maputo. As well as a security specialist, he has also been a diplomat and a British Army bomb disposal officer.

Mike has over 40 years’ experience working in law enforcement and until his retirement in July 2018 Mike was Head of Security and Department Security Officer for the National Crime Agency. This covered the physical, personnel, information, technical and operational security of the NCA’s considerable intelligence and capability assets across the UK and worldwide. He was the UK Designated Security Authority for Law Enforcement in Europe and had a seat representing the UK at the formal Europol Security Committee. He is now an independent consultant and has been working part time on projects involving HMG incident response capability and a Regulatory Body’s third-party security assurance review.

Mike PhD thesis was on identifying the Critical Success Factors required to improve security incident reporting. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Information Security (CIISec) and co-chair of the CIISec Membership Accreditation Committee and was a founder member. Amongst many qualifications and accreditations, he also holds an MSc with Distinction in ICT Security with a dissertation on Protecting Critical National Infrastructures, and is an ISO27001 lead Auditor. Mike has also been working with the College of Policing and CIISec on the new professional body that accredits Digital Investigators against a skills framework. He is the co-chair of the Institute of Cyber Digital Investigators Profession (ICDIP) Membership accreditation committee and has been involved in the thought leadership workstream that assisted in the formation of the newly established UK Cyber Security Council.

Mesut Demirbilek graduated from the Turkish National Police College and Academy, and he started his career in law enforcement as a homicide detective in the Istanbul Homicide Bureau. During this time, he played an active role in the investigation process of many murder cases for nearly a decade.

He decided to travel to Australia to study Academic English at Sydney Technical University which later on enabled him to win a scholarship from the Turkish government to get a post-graduate degree in New York, U.S.A. in 2000.

He completed his master’s degree in one of the most prestigious universities in the world, John Jay College of Criminal Justice. After obtaining his post-graduate degree in “Crime research and technologies”, he returned to Turkey in 2002 to continue his government service. The scientific research and analysis that he used for his master thesis “A profile of homicide incidents in Istanbul and its comparison to other metropolitan cities in the world” is still used as a reference in homicide research in the world.

After his return to Turkey, he was appointed as the head of the National Organized Crime Unit within the National Anti-smuggling and Organized Crime Department. Furthermore, he was the founder of the “National High-tech Crime Unit” which is now known as the “National Cyber Crime Department” in Turkey.

In later years, he was appointed as the head of the National Crime Scene Investigation Unit (CSI) and he played an important role in the re-shaping of nationwide CSI methods and introduced different technologies to the landscape which are still used to this day.

Mesut Demirbilek attended many programs and trainings in the fields of cyber and physical security in Turkey, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.A. After serving in the government for 22 years, he retired from his position as Chief of Police in 2005 to utilize his expertise in the corporate world.

He continued to work as a senior executive in corporate security and investigation departments of the largest global companies in the Finance, FMCG, and Telecommunications areas. During this time, he gained valuable experience in the investigation and prevention of internal & external fraud, corporate risk and crises management, employee & asset security, business continuity management, and information & technology security.

Mesut Demirbilek observed a shift to data science & analytics in the fight against crime methods in the world and focused his work on these areas. He combined his expertise with the capabilities of data science and founded the first “security analytics” companies in Turkey: My Security Analytics and DataRitma. Currently, Demirbilek continues providing services to both the public and private sectors to help them manage harmful risks and fight crime by creating analytical platforms and applications in the fields of crime analytics, fraud analytics, cyber security analytics, and physical security analytics. Mesut Demirbilek’s work and expertise have been published in numerous global and local publications in the fields of security, the fight against crime, future crimes, and policing.

He also holds a “Certified Fraud Examiner” title by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) and he is an active member of ACFE’s representative agency USIUD and ASIS International in Turkey. He has been sharing his expertise and assessments, especially about homicide investigations and cybercrime, in various global and local media including national newspapers, magazines, documentaries, and T.V. shows.

In 2014 and 2016 Demirbilek co-wrote a series of true crime books titled Cinayet Sohbetleri (Chatting about Murder) with Onur Akhan, a T.V. program editor for CNN Turk. The first book “Chatting about Murder – Corpses only talk to those who know how to listen” and his second book “Chatting about Murder – We Are All Killers” were based on Demirbilek’s personal experiences in crime and homicide investigation.

In May 2022, he partnered up with the famous crime novelist and translator Algan Sezgintüredi to co-write his first fictional novel “Kavgaz – Çantacı” which was inspired by Demirbilek’s own journey as a homicide detective in Istanbul.

He has been a guest lecturer in many universities in the field of crime research and analytics. Since 2017, he has been a faculty member in the Forensic Science Department of Uskudar University and his lectures focus on “the investigation and interrogation of homicide-related crimes”.
Demirbilek has been the Deputy Chair of the Executive Board of the Cyber Security Federation in Turkey since 2020.

As Chief Intelligence Officer, Henry has overall responsibility for the company’s intelligence and analysis operations, products, services and methodologies and leads our team of analysts and researchers.  Henry joined Risk Advisory in 2006 and was appointed Head of Intelligence and Analysis in 2012, the practice that became Dragonfly.  Henry has a first-class degree in War Studies from King’s College London.

Mehdi KHOALI joined the African Development Bank in 2004 and has worked in various departments including internal audit, agriculture & agrobusiness, water supply & sanitation and energy production & power systems before joining the office of integrity & anti-corruption in 2009. As an operations specialist, he managed a portfolio of projects in over 15 countries interacting both with governments and the donor community on policy reforms and sectoral strategies.

In his previous role as chief investigator, he has been exposed to the unique challenges posed by conducting investigations in developing countries and has led sensitive and complex investigations into staff misconduct and sanctionable practices; and have participated in settlement negotiations with multinational companies found to have engaged in fraudulent and corrupt practices in Bank-financed operations.

Mehdi led the review of policies, guidelines, directives, and manuals pertaining to the integrity framework of the Bank; also conducted outreach programs for regional offices, civil society organizations and anti-corruption agencies in African countries, and regularly represents the Bank in various international forums. A trained engineer, Mehdi also holds a master’s degree in mathematics of finance from Columbia University.

 

As Head of Global Intelligence & Security Programs, Ned oversees all aspects of security for Transocean, a world leader in ultra-deep water and harsh environment offshore drilling. Reporting directly to senior leadership, Ned is tasked with building out a comprehensive, security program, proactively mitigating geopolitical and security risks to operations worldwide. Prior to Transocean, as Geopolitical Risk Manager at American Airlines, Ned designed and implemented the geopolitical risk and security intelligence program. Ned has also served in a variety of leadership positions within the US State Department’s Overseas Security Advisory Council (OSAC).
Ned previously worked at Royal Dutch Shell, the Inter-American Development Bank, the US Congress, and Morgan Stanley. Ned received his B.A. in Political Science from McGill University in Montreal and his M.A. in International Affairs from American University in Washington, DC. He also studied at the Universidad de Salamanca in Salamanca, Spain. His graduate coursework focused on European energy security and Islamic extremist terrorism in Europe. He is fluent in Spanish and proficient in French.

Mr Topcu served Turkiye’s Ministry of Interior in a number of different positions as a government employee for 24 years, starting from Data Processing Dept under Turkish National Police HQ, Civil Defense General Directorate, Prime Ministry Emergency and Crises Management etc… He also took part in United Nations Missions in Bosnia Mission Ops HQ, and also in UN mission in Kosova with in mission critical operations, such as Risk Assessment, Intel Unit, Mission Ops etc.. He always demonstrated scalable successes via pioneer business oriented operational thinking always accompanied with characteristic approach of doing/being “firsts” in several diverse working environments. The ability of thinking out of box and being pioneer for many certainly defines his unique character.His combined knowledge and experience on Information Communication Technologies, Disaster Risk Management and Physical Security with his service in a very wide range of different intergovernmental, international domains such as UN/DRR – DPPI took him to his current position in Microsoft. Currently working as regional Security Manager in Microsoft managing North West Europe (Nordics, Dach ) Turkiye

 

Owen Miles as worked for Everbridge for over 13 years and within the operational resilience and Critical Event Management space for over 20 years. Owen has spent 7 years focused on the delivery of the Everbridge Critical Event Management platform to customers. Having worked with over 800 customers across multiple industries, Owen brings years of experience in enhancing operational resilience.

 

 

A former lieutenant colonel from the Israeli intelligence services, Tzahi spent 29 years in service gaining vast experience in the field of operational intelligence. His deep expertise in strategic, risk and counter-terrorism analysis and intelligence collection has helped turn MAX into one of the security industry’s most innovative intelligence operations. Tzahi was twice awarded the Prize for Creative Thinking from the head of the Military Intelligence Directorate for leading collection and analysis projects, and holds an MA in Law and a BA in Middle East Studies

Patrick Kane is Senior Director Security for Atlas Air, a US airline conducting cargo and public/private passenger operations worldwide.  He is also the past Chair of the OSAC Aviation Security Working Group.  He has over 20 years working in private sector corporate security, most of that time focused on international operations and in particular, the protection of crewmembers and traveling staff.  Since 1996 Patrick has been a Certified Protection Professional (CPP) in good standing under the auspices of the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS).  He received an International Executive MBA from Instituto de Empresa in Madrid, Spain in 2004.  He is also the author of the book Practical Security Training, as well as numerous articles and several security guides, and was a contributing author to the book Personal Security, written by Tanya Spencer.  Prior to entering the private sector, Patrick served as an infantry officer in the US Marine Corps.  He welcomes questions, comments and suggestions and can be reached at pkane@atlasair.com.

Robert is the Interim Head of Information & Technology Security Strategy at DS Smith PLC. He also holds a number of board positions including Chair of Crossword Consulting Ltd Board, Non-Executive Director of Crossword Cybersecurity PLC, Chair of the Board at Think Cyber Ltd and advisor to the Government of Singapore Ministry of Health. He is also a Governor/Trustee and Audit Committee Member of the University of Brighton.  Robert has over 35 years of audit, risk and security experience and has held a number of senior leadership positions, including CISO for the NHS and health & care system, GSK, National Grid, and Merrill Lynch and Head of InfoSec at Royal Bank of Scotland, and he was a partner at KPMG.
Robert is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Assurance Research and Engineering at George Mason University, Washington DC. He is also an Honorary Professor at UCL. He was awarded a PhD in psychology by the University of Leeds for his work on the perceptions of information and IT risk and has published and presented on this and other topics. He continues to undertake research in these areas. He was also awarded an MBA from Manchester Business School.

Ryan Long is the Head of Global Intelligence at McDonald’s where he helped design and launch the company’s intelligence program. Ryan began his professional career in 2003 as a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer and he’s held a variety of analyst, advisory, and management positions in both a reserve and active capacity, to include deploying multiple times to both Iraq and Afghanistan where he served with distinction while receiving numerous decorations. Ryan still serves in the Army Reserves where he commands an intelligence organization focused on analytic, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism support to the United States European Command.

Ryan is also an active board member of the Association Of International Risk Intelligence Professionals (AIRIP), where he previously served a two-year term as AIRIP’s president. As a Veteran advocate, Ryan is a founding board member of the Veterans Leadership Council, the foremost business network for the current generation of Veteran leaders. Ryan’s latest endeavor is the creation of The Business Of Intelligence, a business podcast focused on discussing and innovating the field of private sector intelligence. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree with Honors in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law.

Sam Finn is the Manager of Aviation Security Intelligence for Air Canada. Sam’s core responsibility is the development, implementation, and management of the intelligence program. It is his goal to develop a functional program capable of enabling stakeholders across the organization to make intelligence-led decisions beyond the traditional security scope. Previously, Sam served as the Geopolitical Risk and Intelligence Advisor for WestJet Airlines. At WestJet, Sam focused on the collection, analysis, and dissemination of intelligence across the organization.

Sam holds a Master of Strategic Studies from the University of Calgary and has a strong academic interest in military innovation studies. Sam is an abide traveller but at home in Canada he enjoys mountain biking and getting out with his dog.

Ryan Long is the Head of Global Intelligence at McDonald’s where he helped design and launch the company’s intelligence program. Ryan began his professional career in 2003 as a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer and he’s held a variety of analyst, advisory, and management positions in both a reserve and active capacity, to include deploying multiple times to both Iraq and Afghanistan where he served with distinction while receiving numerous decorations. Ryan still serves in the Army Reserves where he commands an intelligence organization focused on analytic, counterintelligence, and counterterrorism support to the United States European Command.

Ryan is also an active board member of the Association Of International Risk Intelligence Professionals (AIRIP), where he previously served a two-year term as AIRIP’s president. As a Veteran advocate, Ryan is a founding board member of the Veterans Leadership Council, the foremost business network for the current generation of Veteran leaders. Ryan’s latest endeavor is the creation of The Business Of Intelligence, a business podcast focused on discussing and innovating the field of private sector intelligence. Ryan has a bachelor’s degree with Honors in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a law degree from the University of Illinois-Chicago School of Law.


Dr Leivesley chairs regular international scientific meetings on themes of catastrophic risk covering nuclear; novel coronavirus; resilience of CNI including cyber; and resilience from hazardous near earth objects. The focus of work is generic solutions to catastrophic risks across all disciplines and practical applications to government policy and business resilience. She is an Advisor to companies and governments on protection of people and infrastructure and strategies for security and business. Worked across industry sectors gas and petrochemicals; power distribution; hazardous goods transportation by rail; underground and aboveground rail; underground mines; bulk shipping and banks.

As an  International media commentator after 9/11 she has provided services for the BBC World Service and other news outlets on extreme threats – cyber; terrorism;  emerging conflicts – Kabul 2021 evacuation; South China Sea;; aviation losses; nuclear reactor explosions; Polonium-210 and Novichok poisonings, Beslan siege; Iran; DPRK; USA Presidential security abroad; Covid-19, unexplained incidents such as MH370 and chemical incidents. She has contributed to journals and books on major incidents including death and injury in disasters and expedient housing post disaster.  Director of two disaster recovery units in Australia (weather and chemical incidents) in support of community recovery. Trained by British Home Office as Scientific Advisor, CBRN, and Cold War appointment as SA on all aspects of nuclear war.  PhD London University –disasters and catastrophic risk, awarded in field of Economics; Member of the Register of Security Engineers and Specialists RSES; International Association of Bomb Technicians  and Investigator; Royal United Services Institute, and Information Assurance Advisory Council Community. Panel adviser to the first British IET and CPNI supported publication for Cyber Security in the Built Environment.  

Will joined S&P Global in June 2016 and is the Senior Director (APAC), for Global Security & Crisis Management, based in Singapore.

Prior to S&P, Will spent 4 years as the Business Development Director (APAC) for Drum Cussac (now Crisis 24), providing risk management solutions for organizations with operations on and off offshore Asia Pacific and Africa.

In 2002, Will began his career as a British Army officer in an Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment.  Will led teams of various sizes, on and off operations for nine years, which included tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as stints in East Africa and the Middle East.

Will is a graduate from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Newcastle University and Manchester Business School and is currently studying for an MBA at Quantic School of Business & Technology. He is the President of VALOR -an S&P Employee Resource Group for veterans and has been a Board Member of the Asia Crisis Security Group since 2020.

Valerie Kong is the senior operational security analyst for British International Investment plc (BII), which has offices in South Asia, Africa and the Asia Pacific region. She has been working in security intelligence and enterprise risk management across several industries for nearly 10 years, including in financial services, pharmaceuticals, defence and technology, humanitarian aid, media and governments.  Prior to BII, Valerie led on gender diversity and inclusion in the security fields for a security risk management consultancy, while providing practical risk analysis and advisory services for organisations operating in higher threat environments. Her roles have focused on managing geopolitical and workforce mobility risks, developing security assessment frameworks, and global governance of crisis and emergency response management. She is an Associate Member of the Business Continuity Institute and has a Master’s degree from King’s College London.

If you would be interested in getting involved as a Speaker, please let us know! We would also very much value your input into companies, topics or specific persons you may like to see on the 2022 agenda!

We are looking for:

  • best practice corporate case studies
  • interactive formats
  • future-facing persons and companies
  • practical and actionable takeaways
  • inspirational speakers – the world’s smartest thinkers and doers!

We welcome your input into shaping the agenda. Please emaisara.hook@pulseconferences.com with your thoughts.

Many thanks!

International Speaker Panel (so far) including:

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