iTALK XX

Our physical world is interacting with virtual realities closer than ever before.

As business leaders invest in ways to pivot, power and prosper in a sustainable digital society, it is imperative that organisations put strategies with responsibility at their core to work which capture both the opportunities that new dimensions of innovation bring, while also addressing the environmental, social and sustainability concerns that exist.

On the one hand, there are concerns on how we tackle the impact perspective of the metaverse; from energy, environmental sustainability, and the future of work, to ownership of data, safety and psychological well-being associated with how we adapt as a society to 3-dimesensional realities that interact with our physical world.

While on the other hand, achieving greater social sustainability which is more accessible, inclusive, and equitable is being championed - with the potential to positively impact behavioural change and engagement while also reducing the carbon footprint with greater resource efficiency through new technologies, such as digital twins.

During this liminal moment, could the Metaverse be a vital enabler for a prosperous, thriving future at the intersection of technological evolution and sustainability?

Impact 17 + 1 Club are honoured to debate and discover the answers at iTalk XX, held in collaboration with Accenture on Wednesday, 14th December via Zoom - and warmly invite all impactors from across the world to tune in for their Keynote:

Keynote:  The Metaverse Continuum:

                     Re-Shaping the Future at the Intersection of Digital Technological Evolution and Sustainability

Keynote Speaker:  Alexis Lecanuet, Senior Managing Director, Accenture Middle East

Following the keynote address, 8 speakers are invited to share 60-seconds of their impact stories during the ‘iTalk 60seconds’ session on “What does impact mean to you?” aligned with this critical theme of iTalk XX.

If you would like to speak during the iTalk 60-seconds session and share your impact vision, stories and actions, you can choose to register under the category ‘iTalk 60s Speaker’.

Bringing us together in lively debate and discussion, all participants are then invited to the Impact Café; where the audience becomes the stage as part of an integrated, immersive ‘impact zone’ designed to foster ideation and connectivity within the SDG economy.

Agenda

11:00 – 11:05  INTRODUCTION & WELCOMING REMARKS

Aneel Khan • Director of Research & Project Development, The Salon

11:05 – 11:20 KEYNOTE ADDRESS: THE METAVERSE CONTINUUM

Re-Shaping the Future at the Intersection of Digital Technological Evolution & Sustainability

Alexis Lecanuet • Senior Managing Director, Accenture Middle East

11:20 – 11:30 QUESTION & ANSWER SESSION

Alexis Lecanuet • Regional Senior Director, Accenture Middle East

Hosted by: Aneel Khan, Director of Research & Project Development, The Salon

11:30 – 12:00 ITALK 60-SECONDS

“What Does Impact Mean to You?”

Moderator: Robin Titus, Executive Director OF Global Strategic Alliances & Partnerships, The Salon

12:00 – 12:30  IMPACT CAFÉ

Discussion and Debate: How can the Metaverse bring us closer to a Sustainability, Prosperous Reality?

Hosted by: Aneel Khan, Director of Research & Project Development, The Salon

Speaker Profiles

Keynote Speaker: Alexis Lecanuet • Senior Managing Director, Accenture Middle East

Alexis Lecanuet is the Senior Managing Director for Accenture in the Middle East. In his role, he is responsible for Accenture business in the region, including defining and executing Accenture’s strategy, leading the Clients’ portfolio and managing the local operations.

Previously, Alexis led and grew the company’s products portfolio in the Middle East and Turkey region and focused on onboarding and retaining the largest names in the retail business. During his 24 years of career with Accenture, he has commanded large complex transformation projects across Europe and MENA mostly for the consumer and retail industries.

Alexis is a recognized Regional leader, a seasoned speaker in several conferences, ranked one amongst the Forbes regional “Global meets local” of top 50 leaders.

He is a board member for the non-profit, Injaz ME.

Alexis holds a Masters in Business Consulting from ESCP Europe Business School and a Business Finance degree from SKEMA Business School. He is married with four children and is currently based in the UAE.

Corporate Profiles

Accenture: Accenture is a global professional services company with leading capabilities in digital, cloud and security. Combining unmatched experience and specialized skills across more than 40 industries, we offer Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Operations services and Accenture Song — all powered by the world’s largest network of Advanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers. Our 721,000 people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, serving clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, people, shareholders, partners and communities. Visit us at www.accenture.com.

Organiser & Host Profiles

Co-Host:Metin Guvener, Founding Chairman, Optima Orbits; Co-Founder, Impact 17+1 Club

Metin has evolved throughout his career creating and adding value in accordance with his self-reflective, philosophical, entrepreneurial and philanthropic values. He believes reflection brings realisation, which in turn creates transformation and a powerful resonance within ourselves and our interaction with others. That is, if we have the right tools available to us in our toolbox.

Metin has had an illustrious career integrating value as a founder, co-founder and investor through boutique platforms in financial services, real estate, private equity, hospitality, asset management and thought leadership.

Passionately connecting visions and enabling missions, Metin brings people together to innovate and appreciate heritage and succession.

As becomes evident in time, increased awareness positively correlates to our appreciation of how little it is we “know for certain”. As such, collaboration is necessary to pool our collective perspectives and resources. The Salon is founded on our mutual ability for empowerment based on increasing awareness and broadening horizons through innovative and authentic collaboration.

Carrying this spirit with him, Metin continues to participate as a panel speaker on:

· The Salon | Leadership Circle

· The FT Wealth Summit

· KPMG Family Office Network

· The Horasis Global Community

· Camden Wealth

· Prestel & Partner

Co-Host: Bo JI, Assistant Dean & Chief Rep. for Europe, CKGSB; Co-Founder, Impact 17+1 Club

Bo JI is currently the Assistant Dean of Global Executive Education & Chief Representative for Europe at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Bo had an over-20-year successful business career in Global Business Development, Innovation, Strategy, Supply Chain Management, M&A, etc. He served as the senior executive at the headquarters of many Fortune 500 companies such as Monsanto, Cargill, Pfizer, Wrigley and Mars. After a long corporate life, Bo became a serial entrepreneur and investor, he is also an inspiring TEDx speaker, a China expert and an advocate of EU-China trade. Combining his extensive business experiences and in-depth knowledge, Bo serves as a mentor & advisor to startups and scaleups at incubators, accelerators and co-working spaces around the world. Meanwhile, he is a well sought inspiring speaker at renowned international conferences, forums, TV media and annual corporate meetings.

Organiser & Host Corporate Profiles

Optima is the ever-evolving genesis of the many orbits energizing and synergizing expanding ecosystems. The three growing orbits of Optima includes: The Salon, Sensory and Syndicate focusing on business alliances, thought leadership and creative projects inclusively.

Transcending traditional boundaries by synergic value creation together through the symphony of synchronicity. Optima blends disciplines, cross-generations, sectors and geographies, energizing to cultivate many mesmerizing molecular moments manifesting in momentum.

The Salon is a forward-thinking and pioneering platform harnessing and reigniting the best elements from great historical importance as the theatres of conversation and exchange.

Through innovative collaborations together with academic, entrepreneurial, cultural and philanthropic partners, the modern-day Salon projects a shared vision of positive global impact by fostering new friendships and contemplating new ideas.

The Salon focuses on 8 key spheres formed as “LIVES”: Thought Leadership, Innovation, Impact, Venture, Entrepreneurship, Economies of the Future, and Sustainability.

Sensory is an integrated design-concept hub that is felt and driven by innovation, affiliating with creativity at large. In the intersection of art, architecture and engineering, Sensory develops innovative concepts for bespoke projects. By having the power of a multi-disciplinary cross- sectoral team, Sensory is capable to deliver any kind of creative idea from concept to project.

Syndicate is a synergic value creation matrix focused on people, projects and platforms. Driven by the desire to create and add value by intertwining an amalgamation of relationship dynamics across multiple decades, concentrating on areas which includes deals, ventures and capitals using common infrastructure to interact seamlessly and efficiently, reacting to the fast nature of shared opportunities while sourcing and sharing top tier deals among partners and affiliates. Sharing common due diligence, research capabilities and expertise to locate the best projects, opportunities and investors.

· Initiate – Introduce relevant partners to project of their interest, class and size  · Incubate – Enhance the project using combined skills and expertise

· Invest – Helping companies to raise funds  · Interlace – Helping companies to find the right industry partners

We aim to collectively operate consciously and reflectively across abroad spectrum of business opportunities by building a strong foundation of trust that interweaves all of our enduring relationships, and create a balanced conscious- governance that embraces a culture of consciousness, towards an authentic purpose.

Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) is China’s first privately-funded and research-driven business school, offering unrivalled access to China business insights. The school aims to cultivate transformative business leaders with a global vision, social responsibility, innovative mindset, and ability to lead with empathy and compassion.

CKGSB is the preferred choice by Chairmen and CEOs of the most prominent and influential companies, iconic entrepreneurs and a new generation of disruptors in the Greater China and beyond. Most of our 40+ full-time professors held tenured positions at top academic institutions worldwide – such as University of Chicago, Columbia University, Darden School of Business, University of Michigan, MIT, Wharton and Yale - prior to joining CKGSB. They provide a global perspective to our programs. CKGSB offers a life-long learning platform with access to an elite business network of: 18,000+ alumni, more than half of whom are at the CEO or Chairman level and, collectively, lead one-fifth of China’s most valuable brands; 1,000+ founders of unicorn and soon-to-be-unicorn companies; and 4,000+ global senior executives at multinational companies.