Speaker Bios

Bryan Ackermann is head of AI strategy and transformation and managing partner of assessment and succession, leadership and professional development, at Korn Ferry. Ackermann brings over thirty years of experience to the firm. He provides individual insights via assessments and multi-raters, and all leadership, professional development, and training solutions in Korn Ferry’s consulting and digital lines of business.

Prior to this role, Ackermann was the chief information officer of Korn Ferry, responsible both for the corporate enterprise as well as client-facing technology teams. He was previously the chief information officer of Adecco, North America. Prior to Adecco, Ackermann was at PricewaterhouseCoopers, and served as director for IBM's Center for Business Optimization. He has overseen global systems, infrastructure, information security, and business intelligence capabilities. He is also responsible for exploring new and emerging technologies that will serve as the platform of the future for Korn Ferry and the services provided to clients.

Reece Akhtar is the co-founder and CEO of Deeper Signals, an innovative startup revolutionizing talent assessment. He is also an industrial-organizational psychologist specializing in applied personality assessment and computational psychometrics. At NYU and UCL, he teaches courses on Algorithmic Responsibility and Talent Management, and has published scientific articles on personality, machine learning, entrepreneurship, culture, and leadership. He is a contributing author at Harvard Business Review and Forbes, and recently published the book, The Future of Recruiting: Using the New Science of Talent Analytics to Get Your Hiring Right.

Matt Breitfelder is partner and global head of human capital at Apollo Global Management, a high-growth, alternative asset management and retirement services firm. He serves as a member of the firm’s management committee. Breitfelder is responsible for Apollo’s talent management, leadership development, diversity and inclusion, learning, performance management, citizenship, compensation and benefits, and recruiting.

Before joining Apollo, Breitfelder was managing director and chief talent officer for BlackRock, where he also served as a member of the operating committee. Previously, he held talent and strategy roles at MasterCard, PwC, and the Corporate Executive Board. Matt began his career at the US Department of Commerce, where he focused on international trade and economic policy.

Breitfelder serves as chair of the Advisory Group on AI, Analytics, and the Future of Work at Georgetown University and on the Board of Advisors of Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business. He serves on the advisory board of the Aspen Institute’s Business and Society Program, and on the Board of Directors of the Lumina Foundation, which is committed to advancing post-secondary education for all Americans. He has been recognized as a top chief human resources officer by n2Growth and Stanford Business School and has co-authored a number of Harvard Business School case studies and articles on human resources, leadership, and talent innovation.

Jake Calhoun is the CEO of Wiser, a leadership coaching platform built in partnership with the Hudson Institute of Coaching. Wiser combines world-class coaches and cutting-edge technology to help organizations scale coaching in all its forms, bringing it to every part of an organization. Before Wiser, Calhoun spent a decade as CFO and COO of One Acre Fund, an award-winning social enterprise. During his tenure, he managed the organization through 50x growth, supporting 8,000 staff in providing life-changing services to 1.5 million smallholder farmers across Africa. Calhoun also founded Yum Deliveries, which grew into the leading restaurant delivery app in Kenya.

Robert Garcia, vice president and chief staff officer of ICF Coaching in Organizations is responsible for leading the operations that enable global organizations to build coaching capabilities and develop a strong coaching culture. A pivotal leader in coaching culture development, Garcia is renowned for his strategic approach to expanding organizational coaching capabilities. His global expertise is reflected in strong partnerships across 50+ countries. An executive coach, a seasoned professor, and an eloquent keynote speaker, Garcia’s sessions are a confluence of insight and inspiration.

He has held senior level positions at Randstad, Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Baptist Health, Florida International University (FIU), LHH, ADP, and United Healthcare. Garcia is fluent in English and Spanish, has presented in six continents, and has visited 92 countries and counting.

One of the founders of the coaching profession, David Goldsmith worked closely with Thomas Leonard, served as the first president of Coach U, and later went on to lead CoachInc.com. He trained the first Japanese coaches, wrote the Dear Coach column for the Sunday London Times and co-founded the Foundation of Coaching, which later became the Institute of Coaching at Harvard.

Will Guillaume Foussier is the founder and CEO of AceUp. His belief that we can do well by doing good fuels his passion for empowering others through science-based, data-backed leadership development coaching at scale. A Harvard University graduate, TechStars, and Forbes 30 Under 30 alumni, Foussier has a background in social impact investment and finance. He founded AceUp out of the Harvard Innovation Labs after his own transformational experience with executive coaching to democratize it and make it more scalable, measurable, and accessible for all.

Foussier is also a strategic advisor at the Institute of Coaching, affiliated with Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital, and a founding member of the IOC of the Research Consortium for Human-Centered Leadership. Foussier works with business and HR leaders all around the world to create cultures of coaching that unleash individuals, teams, and organizations' full potential, and that drive systemic change within organizations.

Alex Haitoglou founded Ovida, the world's first AI platform aimed at enhancing the fundamental communication skills for leadership and coaching. Ovida supports leaders and coaches in their growth by providing AI-generated objective data, video reviews for self-reflection, and expert human mentoring.

With a background in Business Economics and German, Haitoglou worked with Procter & Gamble in global business leadership roles while also leading the Grow Coaching program, training hundreds of leaders in coaching skills. He later assumed executive positions at Walgreens Boots Alliance working across geographies in healthcare. Moving into entrepreneurship, Haitoglou built a health-tech business that was acquired by a major European retailer, and three years ago launched Ovida with his partner Bryan Watson.

Tim Harrison the founder and CEO of EPOG Academy is the founder and CEO of EPOG Academy, a non-profit that takes a research-driven approach to empowering youth in underserved communities by providing access to top-tier services like executive coaching to inspire and equip them to realize their potential. EPOG's latest initiative leverages Generative AI, to bridge the 400:1 student-to-counselor gap and provide a scalable support system.

Harrison is one of eight global members of the Task Force for AI in Coaching selected by the International Coaching Federation. Outside of EPOG, Harrison’s portfolio includes leadership coaching, peer-reviewed psychology research, and applied AI consulting for individuals and organizations. He is currently the lead consultant on a $3M NIH funded study on the impacts of coaching on the success of underrepresented STEM students in higher education.

Jonathan Kirschner is an executive coach and the Founder and CEO of AIIR Consulting, a coaching and leadership development company that fuses its proprietary leadership framework, proven approach to behavior change, and real-world business expertise to increase the performance of leaders and their organizations. Kirschner founded AIIR Consulting in 2009 when he saw an opportunity to leverage technology to make executive coaching more accessible and impactful. Since then, AIIR has helped clients across the Fortune 500 and around the world build better leaders, better teams, better organizations, and a better future.

Kirschner is also founder and CEO of AIIR Consulting's sister company, AIIR Analytics, a people insights company that empowers organizations with a deep understanding of their leaders. Through its suite of tools, AIIR Analytics helps companies create a leadership pipeline that drives organizational success. Kirschner  resides in the Philadelphia area with his wife and four kids. When not working, Jonathan derives energy from his vegetable garden, reading existential philosophy, mastering the art of BBQ, and playing late night ice hockey for his local team.

Pam Krulitz co-founded Optify in 2018 with a mission to make coaching a force to develop the next generation of leaders.  She is the visionary behind their coaching platform that enables Optify and its customers to create scalable leadership coaching programs, accessible to leaders across organizations. After a successful career in the IT consulting industry, she has served as a leadership coach for nearly twenty years, coaching hundreds of leaders across industries and levels to become more self-aware and more effective in their leadership capabilities. As a faculty member of the Georgetown University Leadership Coaching program, she mentored dozens of students on their journey of becoming certified coaches. Krulitz holds a PCC certification from the ICF.

Parker Mitchell is an award-winning entrepreneur known for building high-performing teams and cultures. Recognized as Ernst and Young's Entrepreneur of the Year and one of Canada’s Top 40 Under 40, he founded Engineers Without Borders, which under his leadership became an award-winning social mission organization, praised by the Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, and Financial Times. Mitchell believes in putting teams at the heart of change for success.

He launched Valence to provide tools for employee engagement in transformation initiatives and recently has built out the world's most advanced Generative-AI coach, Nadia, utilized by enterprise leaders from Experian, Coca-Cola, Nestlè, and other Fortune 500 companies to reshape teamwork culture and scale out executive coaching.

Uri Ort is the co-founder and COO of Deeper Signals, a groundbreaking startup reshaping talent assessment. With a background in organizational psychology, he earned his master’s from Columbia University. At NYU, Uri teaches courses on Talent Management and Algorithmic Responsibility, and has published scientific articles on personality and machine learning.

Jonathan Passmore is a chartered psychologist, author and executive coach. He is senior vice president of EZRA and also holds full professorship at Henley Business School. Prior to this he has worked for PWC, IBM, OPM, and CoachHub. He has published widely with over 40 books, and 250 scientific papers and book chapters making him one of the most widely published researchers in his field. His latest books include Coaching Tools: Volume 3, The Digital & AI Coaches’ Handbook, and Becoming a Team Coach: The Essential ICF Guide. He has served as the inaugural chair of the British Psychological Society Coaching Psychology Division as well as acting as advisor to EMCC, ICF, and ILM on coaching issues. Passmore is listed in the Global Gurus and Thinkers 50 coaching lists.

John Penrose serves as Chief Executive Officer of Leading Indicator Systems, Inc. (doing business as AgileBrain). AgileBrain is a revolutionary neuroscience-based platform for emotional/motivational management. Penrose is a frequent guest speaker and has authored articles on a range of human capital topics, including organizational culture, employee engagement, emotional measurement, and assessment design.

Prior to joining Leading Indicator Systems, Penrose served as an executive officer for DeWolfe Companies, a publicly traded real estate and financial services company where he envisioned and built the leading residential real estate portal in the New England market. Earlier in his career, Penrose served as a director in the strategy practice of Deloitte Consulting and as a vice president at Citibank in New York and Kinshasa, Zaire.

Hannah Priest is a business psychologist, executive coach, and experienced leader in designing high-impact behavioral change solutions. With a passion for digital innovation and human-centred design approaches, Priest has led the digitization of coaching solutions across a number of organizations, markets, and industries.

At Talking Talent, Priest leads a multidisciplinary team of psychologists, coaches, designers, scientists, and digital experts to drive cutting-edge research and design innovative DEI coaching solutions. As well as transforming the digital platform to supercharge the coaching experience and support ongoing behavioral change.

Talking Talent’s programs deliver impact through the retention, promotion and enhanced performance of key talent who would otherwise have disengaged or exited. Advancements in digital, AI and new technologies enable the business to scale these solutions and deliver greater impact to coaches and clients across the world.

Varun Puri is the co-founder of Yoodli, an AI-powered communication coach. Yoodli provides private and judgment-free analytics on your filler words, body language, content and more. Yoodli is being rolled out by Korn Ferry to major Fortune 100 clients, Toastmasters International to 300,000+ members globally, and thousands of coaching companies and universities. Yoodli has raised $7M+ in funding, and been featured across media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, and Inc.

Before Yoodli, Puri ran special projects for Sergey Brin, one of Google’s founders. Puri is a TEDx speaker, part of Forbes 30 under 30, and was voted the Young Entrepreneur in the Pacific Northwest.

Rebecca Rutschmann is a pioneer in the convergence of coaching technology and artificial intelligence. She has founded the AI coaching companion startup evoach in 2019, being responsible for all product development and acting as co-CEO overseeing product development and marketing until January 2024. Now she works mostly as an AI Consultant delivering keynotes, AI literacy trainings and consulting on creating outstanding integrated AI coaching experiences. As a tech entrepreneur, communications specialist and certified business coach, her expertise shines in crafting outstanding user experiences, a testament to her deep understanding of both technology and human interaction.

Rutschmann’s mission is bold and transformative: she aims to make coaching accessible through designing and developing innovative AI coaching and learning experiences. This groundbreaking work is designed to empower coaches and their clients, unlocking their utmost potential in an ever-evolving digital landscape. Her focus extends beyond theoretical frameworks to practical applications, particularly in coach enablement. She dedicates herself to making AI an accessible and integral tool for coaches, fostering a deeper understanding and practical navigation of AI in coaching.

Kasia Smith leads the provider network at Pillar and brings over a decade of expertise in healthcare liability and risk management. At Pillar, she partners with digital health and healthcare organizations to staff and scale their coaching programs.

Smith has developed a deep understanding of the coaching landscape across various domains from chronic condition management to women's health and musculoskeletal care. Her contributions extend to research on the field published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine in partnership with the USF College of Public Health.

Pillar is a white-label care enablement platform that scales coaching programs by centralizing access to content, programming and services. Pillar equips our partners with automated navigation pathways and real-time engagement tracking that unlocks a data-driven approach to quality coaching and care management. For organizations seeking additional capacity, Pillar offers staffing and placement solutions from a leading workforce of over 1,000 vetted health coach providers.

Neal Sundberg is the Senior Director of Coaching Services at Headspace.  In this role, Sundberg provides strategic vision and drives the process to build scalable solutions within the coaching org. Sundberg has a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, is a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC), and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC). He has experience working in a variety of mental health and coaching settings prior to Headspace, including residential substance use, supportive housing, private clinics and neurorehabilitation programs. Sundberg’s interest and passion is in developing innovative solutions to addressing the supply-demand imbalance that exists in the Mental Health space.