Ajay Banga
President and Chief Executive Officer, MasterCard Worldwide
Ajay Banga is president and chief executive officer of MasterCard and a member of its board of directors.
Prior to joining MasterCard in 2009, Mr. Banga was chief executive officer of Citigroup Asia Pacific responsible for all businesses in the region, including institutional banking, alternative investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards. He joined Citigroup in 1996 and held a variety of senior management roles in the United States, Asia Pacific, and the Europe, Middle East and Africa regions. He was also responsible for Citi’s brand marketing, and from 2005-2009 oversaw its efforts in microfinance.
Mr. Banga began his career at Nestlé, India, where for 13 years he worked on assignments spanning sales, marketing and general management. He also spent two years at Pepsico, where he was instrumental in launching its fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.
Mr. Banga currently serves on the board of directors of Kraft. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Roundtable and chairs its Information and Technology Initiative. In addition, he is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Economic Club of New York and The Financial Services Roundtable. He is also a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association.
Mr. Banga previously served on the board of trustees of the Asia Society, the New York Hall of Science, Enterprise Community Partners and the National Urban League and was a director for the Council for Economic Education. He received a B.A. in Economics from Delhi University where he graduated with honors and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.
A.G. Lafley
Former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Procter & Gamble Company
A.G. Lafley is the former Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of Procter & Gamble.
Under Lafley’s leadership from 2000 – 2010, P&G focused on consumer-driven innovation and consistent, reliable, sustainable growth. With Lafley at the helm, sales doubled, profits quadrupled, and the Company’s market value increased by over $100 billion, making P&G among the most valuable companies in the world. The portfolio of billion-dollar brands — like Tide, Pampers, Olay, and Gillette — grew from 10 to 24.
A.G. graduated from Hamilton College in 1969 and joined the U.S. Navy in 1970 where he oversaw retail and service operations in Japan for several thousand Navy and Marine corps and their families. After the Navy, A.G. earned an MBA from Harvard Business School and joined P&G in 1977.
Starting in Marketing, A.G. moved up through the Company’s laundry and cleaning businesses, delivering record results. He went on to run operations in Asia and North America and to start-up P&G’s first global beauty business before his CEO appointment in 2000.
A.G. has been honored with some of the highest recognitions in business, including Chief Executive Magazine’s CEO of the Year and the Peterson Award for Business Statesmanship. He also received the prestigious Edison Achievement Award for Innovation and the Warren Bennis Award for Leadership Excellence.
A.G. is co-author of The Game Changer, an operating manager’s guide to turning innovation into strategic advantage, and selected as one of Business Week’s top ten business books in 2007. A.G. also authored the critically acclaimed Harvard Business Review articles “What Only the CEO Can Do” and “The Art and Science of Finding the Right CEO.”
A.G. currently serves as Special Advisor at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, as Director at General Electric and Legendary Pictures, and as Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Hamilton College. A.G. is a highly sought-after speaker, teacher, consultant, and coach on strategy, innovation and leadership development, including succession.
Eugenio Minvielle
President & CEO, Unilever North America
Eugenio Minvielle is President & CEO of Unilever North America (US, Canada and the Caribbean) since early 2010 with revenues of approximately $ 10 million.
Before joining Unilever Eugenio was President &CEO of: Nestle France SAS for 6 years starting in 2004 with revenues of approximately $8 million, Nestle Mexico from 2001 to 2004 with revenues of $ 2.5 million and Nestle Venezuela from 2000 and 2001 with revenues of $400 million. Previous to this he also worked for Nestle in different positions as Commercial Director in Venezuela 1998 to 1999, General Manager Food Services Out of Home Organization in Mexico 1996 to 1997, and a Business Manager (Vending) in Spain 1994. Eugenio also worked with Procter & Gamble Spain as a Marketing Manager from 1991 to 1994.
Mr. Minvielle received his MBA in Harvard University in 1991 and BA from the University of North Texas. He is an active Board Member of the US Retail Industry Leadership Association and the Personal Care Product Council, created and promoted the Nestlé Foundation to enhance wellness and reduce obesity in France, led external initiatives in health sector as Vice President of Funsalud, Board Member of the Federico Gomez Infant Hospital in Mexico and recognized by the Venezuelan Government with the “Saman de Aragua” decoration for his active contributions to both the private and public sectors in Venezuela.
Eugenio is married with two children. His main hobbies are golf and sculpting.
Steve Cohen
Partner & Co-founder, In4mation Insights
In 2011, Steve won the Charles Coolidge Parlin award from the American Marketing Association, which recognizes the lifetime achievements of selected research practitioners and academics. This award is known as the most prestigious that can be given to a researcher in the USA.
Chris LaSala
Director, Mobile Partnerships, Google
With a decade of experience Chris LaSala is a seasoned veteran in the digital media space. Chris currently heads Google’s mobile publisher business development efforts where he works with established media brands as well as the emerging mobile application developer community. Prior to this role, Chris held roles leading a channel program aimed at delivering Google’s advertising solutions to local business and leading Google’s North American advertising agency strategy.
Prior to joining Google, Chris held the roles of director of business development at Looksmart where he was responsible for developing partnerships for the distribution of LookSmart’s advertising and search solutions, and strategy development consultant at Strategic Decisions Group, where he advised clients in the oil and gas and technology industries on making multi-billion dollar investments. Chris began his career as a CPA for five years at Coopers & Lybrand. Chris holds a bachelor of science from Boston College and an MBA from Duke University.
Chris is also active outside of work. He was an early advisor and contributor in the creation of the Fuqua School of Business Center for Media, Entertainment & Technology and currently holds the position of Executive in Residence at Harvard Business School. Chris is also Vice Chairman of the Economic Development Commission in Fairfield, CT where he resides with his wife and two children.
Jeff Severts
Chief Marketing Officer, Best Buy Europe
Jeff Severts is the chief marketing and services officer for Best Buy Europe, a London-based joint venture between Best Buy and Carphone Warehouse PLC. Before crossing the Atlantic, Jeff was a vice president at Geek Squad, the services arm of Best Buy. In that role he helped grow Geek Squad from a small, local venture into one of the country’s premier consumer services brands. Earlier in his career, Jeff worked in marketing and management jobs in a diverse set of environments, from a large national retailer (Best Buy) to a small internet start-up (Techies.com), to a multinational food manufacturer (General Mills).
In his spare time, Jeff has dabbled in the dark arts of prediction markets and forecasting. Some of his experiments have been profiled in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Gary Hamel’s The Future of Management.
Jeff received a BA in economics, magna cum laude, from Carleton College and an MBA with highest distinction from Harvard Business School.
Wes Nichols
Co-Founder, CEO, MarketShare
Wes Nichols is an industry authority in predictive analytics, marketing optimization, attribution and cross-channel measurement, creating solutions for Fortune 500 companies for over two decades. His focus is on helping marketers successfully marry art and science to drive business results, definitively quantifying these impacts on shareholder value and finance.
Wes is co-founder and CEO of MarketShare, the leading analytics company that helps companies grow revenue more efficiently by quantifying what is really driving demand. Uniquely combining science, technology and expertise, MarketShare’s analytics and software-as-a-service solutions are having significant impact on optimizing resource allocation and marketing investments, having directed the investment of over $100 billion in marketing over the past several years. With MarketShare, MarketShare is pushing the boundaries on the use of big data and cloud computing to deliver faster and better value to customers, including half of the Fortune 50 companies.
With industry luminaries like academic leader Dr. Dominique Hanssens, former P&G CMO Jim Stengel, Facebook product executive Gokul Rajaram, tech innovator Ted Meisel and many more, MarketShare is matching marketing and media deployment with how today’s consumer is actually using new technology, including search, display and social media. MarketShare is backed by Elevation Partners, the $1.9 billion private equity firm focused on technology, media and entertainment.
Prior to starting MarketShare, Wes was with Omnicom Group (NYSE: OMC) as President and CEO of TEQUILA\, one of the world’s largest digital agency networks. TEQUILA developed digital marketing solutions for clients like Nissan, Sony, Pfizer, Adidas, and numerous other key brands.
Prior, he was the founder and Managing Partner of Direct Partners, building from scratch one of the industry’s first digital agencies, with offices in three countries and over $400 million in billings, which was acquired by Omnicom Group. Direct Partners worked with firms like EarthLink, Pfizer, Nissan, DIRECTV, and Disney. A winner of the Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Companies award and Cisco Technology Innovation Award, DP is still known as one of the most innovative digital marketing firms in the industry.
Wes is on Wharton’s Future of Advertising Global Advisory Board, as well as the MASB Board, an organization focused on marketing accountability standards and practices. An active Young Presidents Organization (YPO) member, Wes graduated from Randolph-Macon College and The Johns Hopkins University, with degrees in Psychology and Business, respectively.
Vipin Mayar
Senior Vice President Customer Knowledge & Strategic Insights (CK&SI) Fidelity Investments
Vipin Mayar leads a central customer and marketing insights organization at Fidelity Investments focused on delivering data driven analytics and insights for driving customer loyalty and business growth.
Previously, Vipin was the global head of McCann Worldgroup’s data and analytics practice consisting of over 300 data and marketing professionals, and managed teams/engagements in 13 key global markets He was a member of the McCann Global Board and a recipient of the HK McCann Leadership Award for extraordinary excellence in analytics. Vipin was selected in the 2010 iMedia Top 25, an annual list of 25 thought leaders in the field of digital marketing. He recently authored a book, Digital Impact published by Wiley & Co on driving measurable ROI through Performance Measurement and Engagement across all major digital channels, including Search, Social, Mobile, Video, Display and Email.
Vipin is a recognized industry expert in CRM, marketing research, analytics and digital marketing. During the past 20 years he has been responsible for creating industry leading CRM programs, database platforms, research, launching marketing mix and online optimization models. His unique experience spans the client, consulting and agency side. He has been a service provider to AARP, Department of Defense, US Army and several Fortune 500 Companies that include Dell, Microsoft, Intel, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Coke, J&J, MasterCard, American Airlines, Nestle, General Mills, iShares, AT&T, Showtime, General Motors, Kohl’s, BMS, Whirlpool, PACCAR and Exxon Mobil.
At Bank of America, Vipin led a central research and analytics organization, $55 MM marketing program budget, 130-person team of marketing professionals and helped direct over a $1Billion of marketing investments.
As Vice President Sales & Marketing, Vipin led efforts at Fidelity Investments to create sales and marketing programs, technology & tools, and analytics for its B to B partners.
Vipin has been a keynote speaker at industry conferences including the American Management Association, OMMA, Retail Financial Services Best Practices Conferences, and the Marketing Services Institute. He graduated magna cum laude with an MBA in Finance and Marketing from Tulane University and an undergraduate in Chemical Engineering from the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), Delhi.