C. Foo James is an Adjunct Professor with the National University of Singapore and the Founder of Financial Storytelling. He has dedicated his life to helping non-financial people understand the power of financial statements in a simple, easy, and fun way.
With years of experience as a former regional finance head of a US Fortune 500 company, James is an expert in his field, but what sets him apart is his love for storytelling. By weaving together engaging narratives with complex financial concepts, James is able to make finance come wonderfully alive for his learners. His upcoming book, "Financial Storytelling: Once Upon a Balance Sheet," is poised to revolutionize the way we think about finance. By emphasizing the power of financial analysis as a storytelling tool, James shows us that financial statements are not just numbers and figures but a window into a business's strength, performance, and health.
Walter de Oude is a Singapore-based fintech entrepreneur, venture investor, and business leader best known as the Founder of Singlife, one of Singapore’s leading digital insurance companies. With extensive experience in financial services, digital transformation, and business innovation, Walter is widely recognised for building resilient, customer-centric businesses in highly competitive and rapidly evolving markets.
Throughout his career, Walter has successfully led organisations through disruption, market uncertainty, and large-scale transformation, making him a sought-after speaker on leadership resilience, innovation, customer trust, and navigating change. His expertise spans entrepreneurship, business agility, digital disruption, and strategic decision-making in complex environments.
A dynamic and engaging speaker, Walter shares practical insights on adapting business models, leading through uncertainty, and fostering innovation during challenging times. His real-world experiences building and scaling transformative businesses make his sessions highly relevant for franchise, retail, and consumer-facing organisations navigating today’s fast-changing business landscape.
Vinay Dixit is a global business leader and marketing strategist with over 25 years of experience across luxury, hospitality, automotive, retail, financial services, consulting, and healthcare sectors. He has led large-scale international initiatives focused on integrated marketing, digital transformation, and growth strategy in highly competitive markets. Known for designing innovative, data-driven marketing solutions, Vinay has supported organizations in streamlining processes, building global brands, and driving measurable commercial outcomes across regions. His career spans multi-market leadership roles, working with diverse stakeholder groups across Asia, Europe, and other global markets.
Invite Vinay Dixit to engage with senior leadership teams, global brand forums, and international business summits.
João Custódio is an accomplished business leader with over 15 years of experience in customer success, sales, and revenue management across the Asia-Pacific, Japan, and China (APJC) regions. As Managing Director of APJC Renewals and Revenue at Cloudflare, João drives customer retention and revenue growth by leading renewals, optimizing customer success strategies, and fostering strong client relationships in the digital security and performance space. He has expanded his expertise to cover key regions, including ASEAN, India, and Korea, focusing on customer satisfaction and business innovation. João also shares his industry insights as a Thinkfluencer at Tigerhall, a mentorship platform bridging the gap between education and real-world success. Previously, he held senior roles at Autodesk and Cisco, where he led sales and subscription renewals initiatives across the APJC region. João holds a Master's in Computer Science from FCUL and executive education in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore.
Based in Singapore, Harsh is the Founding Partner of Capital Code, a bespoke investment management firm specializing in the food and agribusiness value chain. His team’s unique edge comes from their extensive AgriFood industry knowledge, M&A and corporate finance experience, and a network with significant involvement. Harsh boasts a robust background in global M&A, investment, and business development, having successfully managed over 30 M&A transactions, investments, and strategic projects across regions such as SEA, India, the Black Sea, ANZ, the US, and Africa. His previous roles span management consulting, investment banking, and corporate M&A at firms like McKinsey, Macquarie, Olam, and Rippledot. With 20 years of experience, Harsh has cultivated deep expertise and strong relationships with strategic partners, business leaders, founders, investors, and advisers in the AgriFood and Natural Climate Solutions sectors.
Amit Agrawal is an investment banking and corporate finance professional with 20+ years of experience across M&A advisory, transaction structuring, restructuring, family business advisory, capital raising (Angel, Seed, VC, PE), debt syndication (INR and ECB), business planning, and valuations. He has advised clients across India, the US, the Middle East, and Asia and serves as guest faculty and entrepreneurship mentor at institutions including FMS, MDI, SRM, FORE, FIIB, IILM, and Jaipuria. Invite Amit Agrawal for corporate finance conferences, entrepreneurship forums, board-level strategy sessions, and investment summits.
Nishank is a financial expert with over 22 years of experience in investment banking and wealth management. His expertise spans emerging market structured loans, leveraged finance, principal finance, real estate, asset finance, distressed debt trading, derivatives, commercial banking loans, and various forms of lombard loans. He has worked with corporates, banks, non-bank financial institutions, insurance companies, sovereigns, SPVs, funds, hedge funds, and private equity sponsors. Nishank has successfully initiated new lending initiatives and established best practices in risk analysis, forecasting models, early warning tools, MIS, and stress testing. He specializes in risk evaluation, devising hedging strategies, drafting risk policies, financial modeling, equity valuation, and developing rating models for structured credit transactions. His strategic risk management approach supports the growth of wealth management businesses.
Anju Patwardhan is a globally experienced board director, fintech investor, and former banking executive specializing in digital assets, financial innovation, and risk governance. She serves as an Independent Non-Executive Director on the boards of Gulf International Bank (Saudi Arabia), Upgrade Inc. (USA), and Xapo Bank (Gibraltar), where she chairs the Board Risk Committee, as well as AWARE Singapore. A member of the World Economic Forum’s FinTech Steering Committee since 2015, she also sits on Stanford University’s Distinguished Careers Institute Global Advisory Council. Previously, Anju held senior global leadership roles at Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank, including Global Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Risk Officer. Since 2016, she has invested in 50+ fintech companies and VC funds across the US, UK, and Israel through a top-decile $500M fintech fund. An IIT Delhi and IIM Bangalore alumna and Fulbright Fellow, she champions financial inclusion and longevity-focused financial well-being.
Jeremy Rolleston is an Olympian and leadership speaker specialising in resilience, performance under pressure, and personal reinvention.
A two-time Olympian across bobsleigh and rugby, he has also won world titles in surf lifesaving and held senior roles at Swiss Re, Goldman Sachs, and Artesian Venture Partners.
Jeremy delivers keynote sessions on resilience, goal pursuit, navigating setbacks, and sustaining peak performance for corporate and leadership audiences.
Invite Jeremy Rolleston for leadership offsites, corporate conferences, high-performance summits, and culture-building events.
Cyrus Daruwala is a financial services and fintech transformation expert specialising in digital banking, AI in finance, and regulatory technology.
He is the Managing Director for Global Financial Services & FinTech at IDC, leading research and advisory across banking, insurance, capital markets, and digital transformation in Asia Pacific.
Cyrus delivers keynote sessions on digital transformation in financial services, AI and data in banking, fintech strategy, and navigating regulatory change for corporate and leadership audiences.
Invite Cyrus Daruwala for financial services conferences, fintech summits, CIO/CDO forums, and executive leadership events.
Jian Yuan Tan is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Lucerne Asset Management Pte. Ltd., a position he has held since October 2016. With over eight years of leadership experience, he oversees the company's operations in Singapore. Prior to his role at Lucerne, he gained extensive experience in the financial services industry, focusing on commercial banking, credit analysis, and credit risk. Jian Yuan served as Assistant Vice President at HSBC Commercial Banking, Relationship Manager at ANZ, and held several roles at Standard Chartered Bank, including Business Finance Manager and Sales Executive.
He is skilled in commercial lending, banking, and business development. Jian Yuan holds a Bachelor of Economics degree from The University of Western Australia. His career reflects a strong foundation in financial services, with a demonstrated ability to drive growth and manage risk.
Lyndon Desa is the Owner and Director of LGD Strategic Solutions, delivering independent management consulting across the energy, materials, and technology sectors in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and India. With over a decade of experience in the oil and gas industry, including roles as an industry banker and structured finance specialist at ANZ, Lyndon brings deep expertise in strategy formulation, business valuation, M&A, capital raising, risk management, and transfer pricing.
He works closely with corporates, investors, and family offices, leveraging a strong regional network of strategic players, private equity funds, and financial institutions to deliver pragmatic, execution-focused solutions. Known for his sharp geopolitical and market perspectives, Lyndon is also a high-energy speaker who brings clarity to complex global trends shaping energy and capital flows.
Invite Lyndon Desa to speak on energy markets, geopolitics, investing, and strategic decision-making.
CF Wong is a seasoned finance professional with over 15 years of experience in finance business partnering. He serves as a Portfolio CFO, supporting SMEs, venture-funded startups, and listed companies, leveraging his extensive background as a Head of Finance in multinational and listed companies across Asia and his tenure at Big Four auditing firms.
Wong holds an Executive MBA from the Kellogg-HKUST program and a Bachelor’s (Honors) degree in Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He is a former AICPA-CIMA North Asia Advisory Panel member and serves on Lingnan University’s Business School Advisory Committee.
A regular keynote speaker, Wong engages with university students in Hong Kong and Singapore on topics like business turnaround strategies and career development, sharing insights to inspire the next generation of finance professionals.
Chloe Lin is an international speaker and the founder of Arigato Investor, dedicated to empowering individuals with the knowledge and confidence to take control of their financial future. She has inspired audiences worldwide, speaking in countries such as Japan, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam, and has trained thousands to build a strong foundation in personal finance and investing.
Known for her approachable and relatable teaching style, Chloe is passionate about simplifying complex financial concepts and making investing accessible to everyone. Her work has been featured in Singapore’s national newspapers and radio stations, where she advocates for financial literacy and smarter money management, particularly among women.
Chloe has shared the stage with iconic figures like Robert Kiyosaki, Mary Buffett, and Nick Vujicic. As a fast-growing content creator, her TikTok channel, Arigato Investor, with over 200,000 followers, continues to inspire and educate a global audience.
Sim Peng Thia is an executive and team coach with over 1,600 coaching hours and more than 25 years of corporate experience across banking, engineering, and entrepreneurship. She spent over 15 years in banking, where her work spanned wholesale banking strategy, M&A, credit portfolio management, and global treasury markets. Sim has supported C-suite leaders and complex stakeholder ecosystems, including during crisis periods such as COVID-19. Earlier in her career, she worked as a weapons systems engineer and later in product development and startup financing, giving her a rare blend of technical, financial, and entrepreneurial insight. This diversity deeply informs her coaching approach, which combines analytical rigor with human understanding. Sim works with leaders across finance, technology, healthcare, engineering, and FMCG sectors and is known for connecting authentically across cultures and organizational hierarchies.
Invite Sim Peng for conferences, leadership summits, executive offsites, and curated forums.
