Speakers & Awards Judges
01
The Speakers
Tim Ying
Chief Executive Officer
Tim Ying
Tim Ying is the Chief Executive Officer of Octopus Holdings Limited, leading the Hong Kong-based, global financial technology pioneer in the region and overseas.
A seasoned product and people leader, Tim is passionate about delivering best-in-class user experiences to Octopus’s more than 7 millions customers and clients, from transit operators to merchants, across four continents.
Prior to Octopus, Tim had extensive experience building companies and teams for corporations and start-up. Most recently, he was General Manager of Digital Experience at Cathay Pacific Airways where he led digital experiences across the flight, cargo, and lifestyle business sectors, including Asia Miles. Tim held various management positions at HSBC, with his last position there as Chief Product Officer of PayMe. Tim has also co-founded and exited one of the first central bank-licensed digital assets exchanges in Southeast Asia.
Tim holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and information technology from York University, Canada.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Tat Lee
Chief Executive
Tat Lee
Tat Lee is a visionary leader and trailblazer in the Hong Kong fintech and banking sectors, boasting over two decades of transformative experience in fintech, artificial intelligence, and retail banking. Since joining WeLab Group, the parent company of WeLab Bank, in 2013, Tat has been the driving force behind the creation and exponential growth of WeLend, establishing it as Hong Kong’s preeminent AI-powered online lending platform. As Chief Executive, he spearheaded WeLab Bank to achieve profitability in a remarkable four years—defying the industry standard of 5–7 years—while earning prestigious global accolades, including “Hong Kong’s Best Digital Bank for Consumers” by Euromoney and “Best Digital Bank – Hong Kong” by FinanceAsia. Under his leadership, WeLab Bank was also distinguished as the most innovative company by the Chinese University of Hong Kong, cementing its reputation as a true leader in digital banking innovation.
Renowned for his pioneering mindset, Tat has revolutionized the banking landscape by harnessing cutting-edge AI technologies to deliver seamless, intelligent, and customer-centric financial services. Prior to WeLab, Tat held senior roles at HSBC, where he redefined retail banking through groundbreaking fintech innovations and strategic initiatives that set new industry standards.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
John Hsu
Group Chief Technology Officer
John Hsu
Mr Hsu is HKEX’s Group Chief Technology Officer, overseeing the Group’s IT infrastructure, operations, development and support functions in Hong Kong and Mainland China. He is also a member of the Management Committee at HKEX.
Mr Hsu previously worked with HSBC, where he was Chief Information Officer Asia Pacific since May 2019. Prior to this he held senior roles at Huawei Technologies, SF Express and Deloitte.
Mr Hsu has a BS in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSc in Information Systems and Management at Carnegie Mellon University in the US.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Aseem Puri
Digital Chief Executive Officer
Aseem Puri
Aseem Puri comes with 15+ years of rich brand leadership experience across India, China and South East Asia with a track record of doubling / tripling brands, high success rate in landing new brand innovations and delivering the top 2 category innovations in the last decade on sales and profitability.
He has been with Unilever since 2003, starting off as an area sales and customer manager. In his time with the FMCG company, Aseem has held several senior roles such as regional brand manager, marketing director, and VP of global marketing and business development. He has previously worked on eCommerce launches, global CRM platform building and white space mapping, among others.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
King Leung
Global Head of FS, Fintech and Sustainability
King Leung
As the Global Head of Financial Services, Fintech & Sustainability at InvestHK, the department of the Hong Kong SAR Government responsible for attracting Foreign Direct Investment, Mr. Leung’s mission is to attract investment and boost job creation in the financial services, fintech, and sustainability sectors in Hong Kong. Moreover, Mr. Leung and his teams also help enrich the ecosystem and contribute to raising the long-term competitiveness and innovation of the related sectors in Hong Kong. Mr. Leung achieves this goal through collaboration with a broad range of stakeholders – policy bureaus, regulators, financial institutions, investors, fintech and sustainability companies, associations, etc. in Hong Kong, Mainland China, and other major international financial, fintech, and sustainability hubs.
Prior to joining the government, Mr. Leung had a diverse private sector background as a serial tech entrepreneur, angel investor, fintech lecturer where his first data-related startup was established through seed investment from Credit Suisse. His startup served numerous world-renowned financial institutions in wealth management, insurance, personal finance, etc. Prior to embarking on his entrepreneurial journey, King was a management consultant at Booz Allen & Hamilton and KPMG Consulting in the US, as well as a venture capitalist at Innovate@, a technology fund jointly managed by Booz Allen & Hamilton and Lehman Brothers in the US.
King received his MBA in Finance and Strategy (honors) from the University of Chicago and BSc in Mechanical Engineering (honors) from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
Moderator
Louis Mah
Director, Group Information Technology
Louis Mah
Louis Mah has over ten years of experience as the Director of Group IT at Maxim’s Group, overseeing technology operations across multiple markets including China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Southeast Asia. His responsibilities include developing innovative technology strategies, managing functional IT teams, and supporting business, manufacturing, and functional departments with IT operations and investment services. Louis has been instrumental in driving digital transformation in the food and beverage industry, managing digital, mobile, website, and automation projects to enhance customer digital experiences and eCommerce channels.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Edgar Gehringer
Chief Operation Officer, Asia Pacific
Edgar Gehringer
Based in Hong Kong, Edgar is Chief Operating Officer, HSBC Asset Management, Asia Pacific. His responsibilities include leading several components of the AM Operations model in Asia. Including Hong Kong and APAC for global and international markets.
Edgar has over 24 years of global and regional experience in securities, retail, insurance and retirement operations, automation and digitization technology’s, projects and stakeholder management. Before joining HSBC Global Asset Management in October 2023.
Edgar was the Chief Operations Officer of Asia Operations at Manulife Investment Management Asia for 7 years based in Hong Kong joining from Nikko Asset Management Tokyo, Japan. Where he was the Global Head of Operations & Technology for 10 years. Including Japan, Singapore, Sydney, London and NY, Edgar held several senior roles with Fidelity Investments companies in Tokyo, Paris and London leading the Information Technology Divisions and Projects.
Edgar holds an engineering degree from the ABB Engineering School in Baden, Switzerland and a Masters in Business Economics from the Industry HandelsKammerin Frankfurt, Germany.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Steven Lam
Co-founder and Chairman
Steven Lam
Steven Lam is the Co-Founder and Chairman of GoGoX, Asia’s pioneering logistics technology leader. Under his leadership, GoGoX has evolved from a local van-hailing app into a diversified tech powerhouse offering on-demand delivery and customized enterprise solutions across 370+ cities in six Asian markets. Dedicated to eliminating inefficiencies through innovation, the company connects millions of partners to redefine agility and convenience. In 2022, GoGoX achieved a historic milestone as the first logistics technology firm to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, cementing its role in transforming global supply chains.
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Jiang Tao
Founder and CEO
MODERATOR
Louis Shun
Regional Chief Information Officer
Louis Shun
Louis has been a driver on transforming businesses through technology and digital innovation for the past 25 years.
As the Regional Chief Information Officer of IHH North Asia and the Chief Information Officer of Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong, Louis is always searching for innovative and emerging technologies to streamline operations, enhance patient experience and provide new clinical services. Gleneagles has also been in the forefront of integrating latest innovations and reinventing conventional processes to improve clinical operation and patient experience, including the use of mobile technologies, robots, kiosks, IoTs, 5G networks, data analytics, automation and A.I..
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Ricky Woo
Chief Information Security Officer
MAIN STAGE SPEAKER
Ricky Woo
Ricky is currently the Executive Director, Chief Information Security Officer of DBS Hong Kong. In his current role, he is responsible for establishing and maintaining robust security governance framework to make sure that information and digital asset of the bank are adequately protected. Before joining DBS, Ricky was the Head of Technology Risk Management of Bank of China (Hon Kong) overseeing the entire technology risk governance framework and various control measures of the institution. During his tenure, the institution won the First Computer IT Governance Achievement Award from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), and it was the only winner of non-public sector.
Mr Woo has held senior management positions in various international consulting firms, heading the technology risk consulting, IT auditing and consulting services in Mainland China and Hong Kong. He was appointed as the Convenor of Cyber Security Specialist Group of Hong Kong Computer Society from 2018 to 2022 and he is now the advisor of the group. He has shared his insight and advice on cybersecurity topics in many newspapers and publications. In addition, he is the organizer of several large-scale cybersecurity forums and seminars, and contributed in promoting cybersecurity and experience sharing in the industry.
Kevin Pereira
Managing Director
Kevin Pereira
Kevin Pereira is currently a Managing Director at Blu Artificial Intelligence, a consulting firm that specializes in Artificial Intelligence. After growing up in Hong Kong, he started his career in Private Banking with Citi in New York. He then moved back to Hong Kong and joined Bank of New York Mellon’s Asset Management business. After pursuing his MBA, and prior to his current role, he worked at a technology startup in Myanmar that was building internet infrastructure which included fiber optic, cell towers and data centers.
Kevin is also an Adjunct Associate Professor and Lecturer at several universities in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), and the University of Hong Kong (HKU) amongst a few others. He teaches classes related to the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and different areas of business such as Marketing and Finance. In terms of lecturing in the larger Asia Pacific region, Kevin is also an Adjunct Faculty at the Asian Institute of technology in Thailand. In addition to his education work in academia, Kevin has delivered numerous corporate AI workshops to innovation and strategy teams from a myriad of industries in multiple locations around the world.
Kevin graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Economics with concentrations in Finance, Management, and Marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has an MBA from INSEAD.
MODERATOR
Lorence Liao
Head of International AI Architecture
Lorence Liao
Lorence Liao serves as the Head of International AI Architecture at Tencent Cloud. With over a decade of expertise in artificial intelligence, he possesses extensive experience in AI product development and project management. He provides AI technology consulting services to diverse industries, including smart city solutions, financial services, education, and other key sectors.
WORKSHOP SPEAKER
02
The Awards Judges in 2025
Mr. Silviu Sacagiu
Ms. Cornelia Kwok
Ms. Jaslin Goh
Ms. Carol Lee
Ms. Neha Malhotra
Mr. Duncan Chiu
Prof. Jason Lau
Dr. Jiang Tao
Joseph Chan
Mr. Shaofei Huang
Mr. Kyung Jin Kim
Mr. Steve Ng
Ir. Wilson Wong
Mr. Sankar V S
Mr. Sega Cheng
