2025 GDS Speakers
EEVAMAIJA VIRTANEN
Founder of Helsinki Data Week and the DataTribe Collective
​Founder of Helsinki Data Week and the DataTribe Collective, Eevamaija Virtanen is at the center of Finland's exploding data community. Currently Senior Data Engineer and Co-Founder at Invinite Oy, Eevamaija began her career as a flight attendant, where she mastered interpersonal skills in high-pressure environments, before transitioning to business process outsourcing, where she learned project management and business development. She pursued her data engineering and analytics education, while exercising her creative instincts as a photographer and videographer, exploring storytelling and design. Eevamaija's broad experience has strengthened her belief in collaboration, trust and building systems that align with purpose. Sharing her passion for community and mentoring, Eevamaija also serves on the board of Finland’s Information Technology Association (TIVIA).
KAREN LOPEZ
Senior Project Manager and Architect at InfoAdvisors
Karen is a senior project manager and architect with an extensive background in development processes and information management. She specializes in taking practical approaches to systems development.
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She has 20+ years of public speaking (keynotes, speeches, and demonstrations). She wants attendees to have fun, gain insights and take away inspiration for working with new technologies and methods. She's known for her slightly irreverent and practical approach to IT training and speaking. She wants you to be part of #TEAMDATA.
Session 1: Responsible AI Frameworks: An Introduction
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Session 2: Updating Data Programs with Responsible and Ethical AI
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DONNA BURBANK
Managing Director at Global Data Strategy
Donna Burbank is a recognized industry expert with over 25 years of experience in data management and enterprise architecture. She currently is the Managing Director of Global Data Strategy Ltd, an international data management consulting company, and has worked with dozens of Fortune 500 companies worldwide in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
Her background is multi-faceted across consulting, product development, brand strategy, and business leadership. As an active contributor to the data management community, she is a long time DAMA International member, TDWI Faculty Member, and was awarded the Excellence in Data Management Award from DAMA International. She speaks regularly at industry conferences, has co-authored several books on data management.
DIRK LERNER
Experienced Independent Consultant and Owner of TEDAMOH
Dirk Lerner is an experienced independent consultant and managing director of TEDAMOH. He is
considered a global expert on BI architectures, data modeling and temporal data. Dirk advocates
flexible, lean, and easily extendable data warehouse architectures.
Through the TEDAMOH Academy, Dirk mentors, coaches and trains in the areas of data solutions,
temporal data, data modeling certification, data modeling in general, and on Data Vault in particular.
As a pioneer for Data Vault and FCO-IM in Germany he wrote various publications, is a highly
acclaimed international speaker at conferences and author of the TEDAMOH-blog and Co-Author of
the book ‘Data Engine Thinking’.
MARCO WOBBEN
CaseTalk - Business Information Modeling | Trainer | Engineer | Artist | Author
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Marco Wobben has decades of experience in designing and realising information systems, and is now considered an expert in fact-based modelling. As an author, product developer and trainer of this method, he shares his knowledge and experience in lectures and courses worldwide.
REMCO BROEKMANS
Business Data Modeling Professional, Facilitator, Trainer, Advisor, VP International Programs, Genesee Academy, LLC.
Remco Broekmans, VP of International Programs at Genesee Academy, LLC, brings over 25 years of experience in Data Warehousing, Business Intelligence, and Data Modeling, with a focus on Ensemble Modeling and Data Vault. He specializes in aligning business and data teams through ELM workshops, guiding organizations toward creating refined and aligned Logical Data Models. Remco has authored The Guide to the Ensemble Logical Model and the ELM Artifacts, and develops training materials for Data Vault Certification and Business Mapping & ELM. A frequent speaker at conferences, he shares insights on data modeling and the Business-First approach to Enterprise Data Initiatives.
Session 1: From Stories to Solutions
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Session 2: AI-Powered Business Mapping and Concept Modeling​​
WINFRIED ETZEL
Senior Specialist Data Management and Key Figure in the Nordic Data Community
Winfried Adalbert Etzel is a key figure in the Nordic data community, known for his strong contributions to professional forums and his commitment to promoting Data Governance, Data Strategy, and organizational design for data teams.
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Winfried has dedicated his career to emphasizing the importance of information and data management, as well as a strategic and holistic approach to treating information and data as a valuable asset for organizations.
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Through his work with the #MetaDAMA podcast and his voluntary engagement in the Nordic data community, he has been a driving force for innovation and has helped build a strong data community while promoting professional development across the Nordic region.
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Winfried is currently working on his book under the working title «Data Governance in the Wild», where he explores how Data Governance needs to change to adapt to distributed landscapes and the need for automation.
STEPHEN BROBST
CTO for Ab Initio Software
Stephen is the CTO for Ab Initio Software. He performed his graduate work in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where his Masters and PhD research focused on high-performance parallel processing. He also completed an MBA with joint course and thesis work at the Harvard Business School and the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has dozens of patents and hundreds of publications in the areas of data management and machine learning.
Stephen is a TDWI Fellow and has been on the faculty of The Data Warehousing Institute since 1996. During Barack Obama's first term he was appointed to the Presidential Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST) where he worked on development of the Big Data strategy for the US government. In 2014, at the height of the Big Data phenomenon, he was ranked by ExecRank as the #4 CTO in the USA (behind the CTOs from Amazon.com, Tesla Motors, and Intel) out of a pool of 10,000+ CTOs.
NDIVHUWO MAKONDO
Research Manager at IBM Research
Ndivhuwo Makondo is a research manager at IBM Research Africa, leading a team of scientists and engineers to conduct basic and applied research in the integration of knowledge, reasoning and learning and natural language processing (NLP) for various scientific and business use-cases; and building AI systems and capabilities to contribute to IBM Research strategy to infuse research into platforms and products, and localizing the capabilities through partnerships in the African continent. He is also a visiting researcher at the School of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, where he collaborates and supervises students in natural language processing (NLP) and robotics research.
He has a PhD in Computational Intelligence from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in Japan; MSc (Robotics) and BSc (Control Engineering) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. He is also a member of the Working Group commissioned by the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) of South Africa, on Recommendations Towards the Development of a National Artificial Intelligence Strategy of South Africa led by the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI), where he serves as the chair of the Research and Innovation sub-committee.
CAMERON TURNER
Founder and CEO of TRUIFY.AI
Cameron Turner is founder and CEO of TRUIFY.AI, serving US Fortune 500 with AI solutions. Drawing from 30 years experience in enterprise data, including the founding of two companies (ClickStream, acq. Microsoft 2009 and Datorium, acq. Kin+Carta (LON:KCT) 2021) Cameron brings a wealth of hands-of experience in leading teams to deploy solutions that uniquely fit the technology and culture of his clients. Cameron also serves as General Partner of Oxonian Ventures, a VC fund investing in Oxford University graduates, and volunteers with the Venture Studio at the Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Stanford University. Cameron received his BA from Dartmouth College, MBA from Oxford University and MS in Statistics/AI from Stanford University.
HJALMAR GISLASON
Founder and CEO of GRID
Hjalmar Gislason is the founder and CEO of GRID, a company dedicated to empowering users to transform spreadsheets into dynamic web reports, dashboards, and interactive applications. Before founding GRID, he served as Vice President of Product Management at business intelligence firm Qlik, which acquired DataMarket, a company he founded in 2008 and built alongside a talented team. In 2004, he inadvertently launched Spurl.net, an online service that pioneered the concept later known as social bookmarking. Efforts to develop a business model for the popular consumer site led to experiments with search technologies, ultimately resulting in an acquisition in 2006. This acquisition formed the technological foundation for directory services firm Já, later spun out of Iceland Telecom.
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Following two years of leading new business initiatives at Iceland Telecom, Gislason's entrepreneurial drive led him to establish DataMarket, with the vision of making global data more accessible to decision-makers. The acquisition by Qlik further advanced this mission, propelling him deeper into the world of data-driven insights and innovation.
TIANKAI FENG
Director for Data & AI Strategy in Thoughtworks and author of "Humanizing Data Strategy"
Tiankai is data leader by day, a musician by night, and an optimist at heart. He is the author of "Humanizing Data Strategy", and is currently working as the Director for Data & AI Strategy in Thoughtworks. With 12+ years experiences in Data Analytics, Data Governance and Data Strategy, he found a passion for the human aspect of data: how to collaborate, communicate and be creative around data. He is passionate about making data more understood, approachable and fun through unconventional methods like music and memes.
ROWANA URIP-SANTOSO
Data Privacy Protection Officer
Rowana is a Data Privacy Protection Officer, where she is part of the Compliance team and supports the organisation in data privacy compliance. With a career spanning nearly 10 years in a regulated industry, Rowana has established herself as a seasoned data privacy compliance expert.
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Rowana holds a Master's Degree in Dutch Private Law from Tilburg University and is certified as an Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E). Her expertise and unwavering dedication have enabled her to make valuable contributions to multiple processes and projects, ensuring data privacy compliance within the organisation. She has leveraged her knowledge and skills to drive data privacy initiatives, effectively assuring compliance and increasing awareness among her colleagues.
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In addition to her daily work obligations, Rowana also enjoys kickboxing and sewing which both help her to relax and tap into her creative side.
CARSTEN SCHWEIGER
DWH Consultant at Datavault Builder
With over 20 years of professional experience, including 14 in consulting, Carsten brings deep expertise in Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing. After completing his Business Informatics studies at HP, he led numerous projects as a Requirements Engineer, Architect, and Developer. As a coach, he has guided more than 25 teams and executives in their transition to agility. Now, as part of the Datavault Builder team, he creates synergies between DWH automation and agility.
JODY JOHANS
DAMA CDMP, Senior Data Architect at IKEA
Solid career as a data professional in the US and Europe. No matter what the tech, I've maintained a continuous focus on understanding and leveraging data to it's fullest potential. Having worked in a variety of industries I developed a talent for grasping details as well as the full picture and communicate easily with all levels of business users and technical professionals. Someone who realizes that an organization’s success is not just about obscure data and complex technology but reliable and highly valuable information telling a real-world story and answering the complex questions asked by an organization and it's brightest minds.
JOE REIS
Data Engineer and Architect | Best selling author and course creator | Recovering Data Scientist ™
Joe Reis, a seasoned data professional with over two decades of experience, is a globe-trotting author and speaker. Known as a "recovering data scientist," his expertise encompasses data engineering, architecture, and machine learning.
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He is highly sought-after as a keynote speaker at major data conferences worldwide, advising and investing in innovative data product companies. Additionally, he contributes regularly to his personal blog and Practical Data Modeling, and hosts popular data podcasts like "The Monday Morning Data Chat" and "The Joe Reis Show." In his spare time, Joe is passionate about authoring new books and articles, continuously striving to push the boundaries of the data industry.