With 40+ years in online learning, he literally 'wrote the book' on AI for Learning in 2001 (2nd edition 2024). As founder and CEO of Epic Group plc (floated and sold in 2005), investor and board member of Learning Pool (sold in 2021), also CogBooks (sold 2021), he has invested and advised on learning technology for private and public organisations. With experience in AI going back to his student days, he has focused entirely on AI since 2014, building product, consultancy, speaking and writing books. See less Donald Clark is a Learning Tech Entrepreneur, CEO, Author, Blogger, Podcaster and Speaker. He was CEO and one of the original founders of Epic Group plc, which established itself as the leading company in the UK online learning market, floated on the Stock Market in 1996 and sold in 2005. He has been involved at all levels of investment – angel, VC, growth, PE and IPO. As well as being the CEO of Wildfire an AI learning company, he also invests in, and advises, EdTech companies. An investor and board member of learning companies such as Cogbooks (sold in 2021 to Cambridge University) and Learning Pool (sold 2021 for $200 million), he was also on the Boards of City & Guilds, Learn Direct, University for Industry and the Brighton Dome and Festival. He has published 5 books; AI for Learning (1st & 2nd editions), Learning Experience Design, Learning Technology, Learning in the Metaverse, AI and Productivity. Alongside these he has completed a series of articles on over 350 learning theorists from the Greeks to the Geeks and over 40 podcasts derived from these articles in Great Minds on Learning. Donald has over 40 years' experience in online learning, adaptive learning and AI projects. He has designed, delivered and advised on online learning for many global, public and private organisations. His interest in AI started at Dartmouth College in the US, continued in Expert Systems in the 1990s and in adaptive learning company CogBooks in 2013, also Learning Pool. He founded the world's first AI content generation company in 2014 and has been involved in many AI for Learning projects. He came 28th on the TYTO Tech 'influencer' list and number two on the European 'EdTech influencer' list in November 2024. Awards An evangelist for the use of technology in learning, he has won many awards, including the first 'Outstanding Achievement in E-learning Award' and 'Best AIM Stock Market Company', 'Most Innovative Online Product', 'Best Online Learning Project' and 'JISC EdTech Award'. Neon Elephant Award from Will Thalheimer (2023), and Edufuturists Outstanding Achievement Award (2024). Author He is a well known author, with 5 published books, one in its second edition, also published in South Korea and China, as well as contributions to other books on AI. AI for Learning (2020) Learning Experience Design (2021) Learning Technology Learning and the Metaverse (2022) AI for Learning 2nd edition (2024) – also published in South Korea AI and Productivity (2025).

Aruj Khaliq is an award-winning intervention scientist, Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability governance specialist, and 30 Under 30–nominated educational leader whose work has created opportunities for over one million individuals across the Global South over the past 13+ years. A postgraduate scholar at the University of Oxford, she specialises in designing large-scale social interventions and policies at the intersection of AI governance, human agency, and sustainable development.

Aruj is the founder of ALIF, an executive advisor of Pakistan’s National Artificial Intelligence Task Force, and Head of Academics at Learning Alliance International. She has designed and led pioneering interventions including the world’s first systematic review on AI and Teacher Agency, a global comparative analysis of AI teacher-readiness policies, and advisory roles supporting governments and organisations in AI Literacy programme design and implementation. In sustainability education, she is the architect of Pakistan’s largest school-based intervention, ECO Schools, and the brains behind IB Ripple- the world’s first research journal for IB students. She has also contributed to influential global projects such as the Youth Support Programme (University of Warwick), Generation Justice (European Union), and Think–Educate–Aspire (University of Birmingham), advancing youth capability, digital equity, and pedagogical innovation.

In 2023, Aruj became the only Pakistani invited by UCL to present at UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, where she introduced the first Global South–driven theoretical framework on Whole School Approaches to Sustainability. Her authorial work appears in international venues, with a major Bloomsbury publication forthcoming in 2026. Her impact has been recognised by UNESCO Youth, UNDP, national and international media, and the International Baccalaureate. She currently divides her time between the UK and Pakistan while advancing research and policy in AI governance and sustainability interventions.

Mairéad Pratschke is an independent researcher, author and advisor working at the intersection of AI strategy, ethical governance, and human-centred design. With over 25 years of experience in digital education and learning innovation, she focuses on learning systems design that prioritises pedagogical alignment and human development.

She is the author of Generative AI and Education: Digital Pedagogies, Teaching Innovation and Learning Design (Springer, 2024); New Horizons for Higher Education: Teaching and Learning with Generative AI (National Digital Education Leadership Network, 2025); ‘From Consumers to Designers: Strategic Pathways for European Higher Education in the AI Age’ (Journal of Digital Politics, 2025); and – most recently – a chapter in the Foundational Frameworks section of the new Handbook of Generative AI in Education: Integrating Research into Practice (Springer, 2026), entitled ‘From AI Tools to AI Systems: Designing Pedagogical Systems for Learning’.

In Generative AI and Education she introduced the term ‘the new hybrid’ to describe a future of human-AI collaboration rather than replacement, and she is the originator of the Generativism, TPAIK, Context Framework and Agentic Community of Inquiry (ACoI) frameworks for designing learning in and for that future.

Mairéad is a Visiting Professor at the LSE Data Science Institute (2024-27)and serves on the External Advisory Board of the US National Science Foundation-funded AI Institute for Adult Learning & Online Education (AI-ALOE) at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech). She also sits on the Expert Review Panel for the Workforce Development Applied Research Fund (2026-27) of Singapore's Skills & Workforce Development Agency (formerly SkillsFuture Singapore), which is run in collaboration with Singapore's Ministry of Education and Ministry of Manpower.

Mairéad is a regular keynote speaker internationally on AI and education. She works with educational institutions, national government agencies, policy bodies and learning organisations on how to prepare for the AI-driven future, helping them turn research into decisions they can trust.

Website: maireadpratschke.com

Michael Onyango is the founder of Africa’s Forgotten Bottom Millions (4BM), a transformative WhatsApp platform that reaches over 500,000 people weekly, providing young Africans across several countries with access to career opportunities through digital technology. Since 2016, 4BM has shared over 500,000 verified opportunities, including scholarships, fellowships, grants, and job offers, helping young people gain skills and build successful careers.
Michael has been at the forefront of economic empowerment, chanmpioning the use of frontier technoolgies, leading initiatives across interdisciplinary sectors within governments, NGOs, and the private sector in Africa and globally. He served as a key member of the Distributed Ledgers and Artificial Intelligence Taskforce under the Ministry of ICT, Kenya, and was formerly the Minister responsible for Communication, Information, and Technology in the County Government of Kisumu.
Currently, Michael is a Senior Skoll Foundation Fellow, an alumni Fellow in Social Innovation from the Rockefeller Foundation, and serves on the Advisory Board of the African Blockchain Institute. He actively works with young Africans, leveraging technology to drive impactful change. Michael has also played a significant role in shaping Kenya’s creative industries, including co-developing the roadmap for the sector in collaboration with IBM, positioning it as a catalyst for economic growth and outlining strategies to double its contribution to Kenya’s GDP.

Dr Helen Beetham is a researcher, writer and consultant in digital education. She has edited a number of standard texts, including Rethinking Pedagogy for a Digital Age (Routledge), and has published peer-reviewed articles on topics ranging from digital literacy to surveillance pedagogies, and from curriculum practice to feminist theories of technology.

Helen has advised universities in the UK, Europe, Africa and Australasia on their digital education strategies and has worked for international organisations such as the EU, UNICEF, UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning. Since 2004, she has played a leading role in Jisc programmes, building capacity for digital transformation in UK universities and helping to centre the student learning experience in that strategic work.

Her Digital Capabilities framework is widely used in the UK and beyond, including in universities, healthcare settings and libraries. She has developed and taught on Master’s programmes in digital education, including at the University of Manchester, where she now works. Since 2023, she has written the AI-critical Substack Imperfect Offerings.

President Gregory W. Fowler, PhD, is a visionary leader in global higher education, committed to advancing educational access for adult learners.

Now in his sixth year as president of University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC), he has led a comprehensive transformation of the university ecosystem, from recruiting and support services to course design, space utilization, partnerships, institutional effectiveness, and more. By leveraging artificial intelligence and data science, he is creating an institution that thrives in volatile markets. Under his leadership, UMGC emerged from the global pandemic and entered a period of robust growth, serving 100,000 learners in a single year for the first time. This expansion led to the opening of new national and overseas locations. Persistence and success increased as well, with the university granting a record 16,108 credentials in FY 24 and 19,330 in FY 25. Previously, as a board member and commissioner of the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE), Fowler co-chaired the team responsible for the future of post-pandemic remote postsecondary learning experiences. As a two-time Fulbright Senior Scholar, he assessed the impact of the Bologna Accords.

He currently serves on the governing board of the Presidents Forum, the ASU-GSV Higher Education Insights Board, the Executive Board of the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield Board of Directors.

Prior to his tenure at UMGC, he served as president of Southern New Hampshire University Global Campus and held senior positions at Western Governors University. A graduate of Morehouse College, Fowler was a Charles A. Dana Scholar at Duke University and has been a featured higher education leader at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, as well as completing leadership and negotiation training at Harvard’s Business School. He holds master's degrees from George Mason University and Western Governors University and a PhD from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo.

Annasofie Wædeled-Møller is Head of Education at Greenland Business School – Niuernermik Ilinniarfik in Nuuk, Greenland. Her work is centred on the role of educational institutions and educators in a digital age, and on the transition from educator-centred to learner- and practice-centred education.
Her perspective is shaped by her work in Greenland and by extensive experience with the Danish and Swedish Defence. Defence taught her that capability is collective; Greenland sharpened her understanding of community as an orientation, not just a resource.
A central question in her work is how education can reclaim and take responsibility for its formative role, and what this means for educational institutions and educators in a digital age. Her work draws on Reflective Practice-Based Learning, Self-Determination Theory, psychological safety, transformative learning and Bildung.

Dr Margaret Korosec is a senior leader in digital education recognised for shaping open, online, flexible, and digitally enabled learning at institutional scale. She currently serves as Director of Digital Education and Learning Innovation at the University of Leeds, where she leads the strategic alignment of partnerships, capabilities, and institutional enablers that strengthen student education and the digital student experience. Previously Dean of Online and Digital Education, she led the growth of the University’s online degree and flexible learning portfolio, widening participation for diverse learners. Before joining Leeds, Margaret held leadership roles at the University of Derby Online Learning and Western Governors University in the United States, helping to expand online degree provision and deepen her commitment to accessible, high-quality education. She is a Fellow of CODE at the University of London and a Board Member of the International Council for Open and Distance Education.

Patrik Hedljung is an AI Catalyst at Scania, where he drives the adoption of generative AI across the organisation. With a background in learning, development and leadership, he focuses on the human and organisational conditions needed to turn AI from an individual productivity tool into a shared capability and organisational change. His work explores how organisations can build agency, responsible experimentation and new ways of working in an AI-enabled future.

I am Dr. Serena Gonsalves-Fersch, Global Talent and Learning Leader, and the 2024 Colin Steed Award winner for Outstanding Contribution to Learning.

With a doctorate from Middlesex University on the future of learning and talent development in hyper-growth organizations, I have built and led key Talent functions and initiatives including L&D, performance management, succession planning, leadership development, talent identification, DEIB, and corporate universities.

Having been both a client-facing management consultant, and an internal head of Talent functions, I see myself as a consultative problem solver. I have extensive experience in creating, building, transforming, restructuring, managing, and leading Talent, Learning and Engagement strategies that are technology enhanced, business-value driven, and commercially minded. I build and thrive in dynamic environments where creativity and leadership drive impact, and ensure I take teams and organisations along on the journey.

As a Fellow of the Learning and Performance Institute, an advisory board member to start-ups and think-tanks in L&D, a co-founder of Women in Learning & Leadership (WILL) and an industry speaker, I am passionate in both research and giveback to contribute to addressing the global skills gap, studying the relationships between humans and technology in future organisations, creating skills frameworks, and advancing learning and talent innovation.

My expertise also spans impactful and measurable organizational design and development, change management, and implementing talent and learning systems to future-proof workforces.

Laura Overton is an award-winning research and founder of Learning Changemakers.

Dr. Ingeborg Kroese is an internationally recognised expert on inclusive learning and development (L&D). She is a scholar-practitioner, and combines more than 15 years of corporate experience in sales, management, and leadership with 20 years as an L&D professional and over a decade of research and practice in inclusive L&D. Ingeborg is a Visiting Fellow at The Open University (UK) and her academic research on inclusiveness in workplace learning has been published in leading journals, including Gender, Work & Organization, Human Resource Development Review, and Management Learning. Bridging research and practice, Ingeborg supports L&D professionals in developing more inclusive learning experiences through consulting, workshops, webinars, conferences, podcasts, and publications. Having worked across the globe and lived in Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Austria, and the Netherlands, she brings a global perspective to advancing inclusive learning in both research and practice.

Jaime Cará Junior is an education and learning leader with more than 25 years of experience across higher education, EdTech, corporate learning, cybersecurity and the space sector. He has led international educational programmes for ESA Academy, managed large-scale digital learning initiatives reaching nearly 500,000 learners, led the companies' organisational renewal at critical times, and advanced the strategic development of a cybersecurity training academy. Jaime holds a PhD and is a former Research Councillor at the University of São Paulo, with 18 publications and extensive experience in educational research, instructional design and learning strategy. His work focuses on the intersection of learning, technology, organisational performance and the future of education.

Jasmina Nikolić is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Philology, University of Belgrade, Serbia. Her research explores the intersection of Hispanic studies, oral tradition, translation studies, and artificial intelligence, with a particular interest in AI applications in the humanities and education.

Mirjami Ikonen is a researcher and educator dedicated to advancing knowledge and inspiring young and more mature minds. She has a PhD in trust research and has received multiple teaching awards. In her research, she is passionate about understanding and fostering trust within society, and commitment to delivering high-quality education. In pedagogy, she relies on inquiry learning with different collaborative learning methods. She believes everyone has the potential to achieve great things, and she is the one who wants to be there to support their journey.

Hedderik van Rijn is Professor of Cognitive Science and Neuroscience at the University of Groningen. His research integrates state-of-the-art computational memory models with classroom-based educational interventions and precise assessment of cognitive functioning in medical domains. His work is the basis of two spin-out companies, MemoryLab, an adaptive learning platform used in primary, secondary and higher education, and Precision Cognition Labs, which develops cognitive biomarkers for early detection of cognitive decline. He has received multiple awards for his teaching and is known for his outreach activities, including a record-breaking interactive museum exhibition and video lectures aimed at the general public at national level, for example in collaboration with the Universiteit van Nederland.

Claudia Lasagna is a Project Manager and Instructional Designer in the Digital Learning team at IE University’s Lifelong Learning department. She specializes in designing innovative, learner-centered educational experiences and managing complex digital learning projects from concept to delivery.

Her work brings together instructional design, educational technology, artificial intelligence, and cross-functional collaboration. She is particularly interested in how AI can enhance assessment, provide meaningful personalized feedback, and create scalable learning experiences without losing the human dimension of education. Known for bringing clarity to complex challenges and helping diverse stakeholders move projects forward.

At OEB, she will showcase practical tools and methodologies for redefining assessment in the age of AI, drawing on her experience developing innovative learning solutions within a global higher-education environment.

Arzu is a doctoral researcher in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Woolf University. After 22 years as a mathematics teacher, she transitioned into academia to bridge classroom experience with educational research. As a third-generation educator, Arzu believes that meaningful educational transformation begins with a deep understanding of classroom realities. She believes that sustainable educational innovation must be informed by the lived experiences of classroom practitioners and that teachers' practical knowledge should play a central role in shaping educational research and policy. Her professional experience has inspired her commitment to contributing to the future of education through evidence-based research and innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

Her doctoral research, Examining Artificial Intelligence Integration in Teacher Education Toward a Sustainable Framework for Teacher Competence and Readiness in Turkey, explores how artificial intelligence can be integrated into teacher education to develop a sustainable framework for teacher competence and readiness. Her research interests include artificial intelligence in education, teacher education, educational innovation, digital transformation, and sustainable educational development.

Ingjerd Thon Hagaseth is Associate Professor in Organization, Leadership and Innovation at NTNU – Norwegian University of Science and Technology. She describes herself as a pracademic, combining extensive leadership experience from education and public services with teaching, research and educational development in higher education. She leads development work on flexible and online study programmes at NTNU, with a particular interest in student engagement, progression, learning design and the balance between flexibility and structure in online education.

A well-known and recognized e-Learning expert, Prof. Richard Powers is currently a Professor, Trainer and Learning Designer with Stuttgart University in Germany, where he designs blended learning courses to develop competences in digitalization and diversity for pre-service teachers across five universities. He is an eTwinning Ambassador for Germany, training other teacher educators throughout the EU.. He teaches Universal Design for Learning (UDL), Project-Based Learning with eTwinning & Erasmus+ for Interculturality, and Instructional Design for Digital Accessibility. Prof. Powers won the 2022 Teaching Award for Excellence at Stuttgart University, and the 2023 European Union Award for best Teacher Training Institute for eTwinning Virtual Exchanges. He routinely teaches and trains faculty in Stuttgart and remotely at City Colleges of Chicago how to teach online with Moodle, ILIAS and Brightspace in webinars via Webex and Zoom. In 2025, Prof. Powers co-facilitated UDL, AI and instructional design training with universities in Ukraine, Malta, Lebanon and Namibia, partnerships he continues to support.

Eric Paquin leads the research and technology agenda at Learnovate, driving innovation for the future of learning and work. With over 20 years in technology, he has held leadership roles at Microsoft, Fexco, ADAPT Centre, and CLEAR Global, specialising in product innovation, digital transformation, and human-centred design. An active contributor to Ireland’s innovation ecosystem and the NSAI ISO 56000 standards group, Eric has co-founded a start-up, advised on AI strategies, and developed innovation training. Holding an MSc in Product Management, he is passionate about turning complex challenges into opportunities through collaborative innovation and inclusive, impactful design.

Kelsey's been awarded multiple Brandon Hall Awards for the design of marquee Google programs - Facilitation Academy, Deliver Like a Boss, and her team's delivery of Google Way of Coaching and Google Sales School. In 2018 she won the Rising Star Award for Analytical Academy, a new multi-course program at Google to train and develop the finest analytical thinkers. As the Global Head of Learning Experiences at Google Kelsey Kates looks after the activation and delivery of 15+ facilitated programs within the Global Business Org for more than 20,000 Googlers, as well as the team's marketing and communication and the enablement and management of their 150+ facilitators. Kelsey has her B.S from the University of Denver and her Masters from Northwestern. She's a marketer turned analyst and now in the corporate learning and development space with a ton of passion for re-imagining great learning and education. She's not afraid to challenge the status quo and believes deeply in changing the world through more impactful and delightful learning experiences that transform how we show up. As a lifelong learner, she's currently pursuing an Executive Certificate from MIT in Neuroscience. Today, Kelsey lives in Dublin with her husband, son and dog.

Ines Springael is Programme Lead CTL/AI at Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) in the Netherlands, where she leads the institution's AI strategy and coordinates the Centre for Teaching and Learning & AI . She developed the AI Strategy Compass, a framework now used across BUas to guide institutional AI implementation, and led the university's institution-wide AI programme, reaching approximately 7,500 staff and students.

Ines is a co-founder of TLWAI Europe and active in international networks including AIEOU Oxford, where she contributes to work on governance, policy, and systems design in AI and education. She is also part of the IEEE P7023 working group, contributing to the development of the IRIS standard for human-AI interaction readiness.

Rutger Thielen is AI Curriculum Coordinator at the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL-AI), Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas), in the Netherlands. He leads a training team and safeguards an institution wide AI curriculum for teachers, researchers and operational staff, working on curriculum governance, learning outcomes and AI competency frameworks.

His work is grounded in the idea that lasting change in education starts with the conditions people learn and work in, not with the content itself. Drawing on systems thinking and organisational learning theory, he positions CTL-AI as a driver of organisational change rather than a purely training focused unit.

Rutger brings over two decades of experience in logistics education, facilitation and lean methodology. He combines this practical grounding with an ongoing academic interest in cognitive modifiability, andragogy and complexity theory, applied to how organisations adopt and adapt to AI.

Samir Aliyev is the Founder and CEO of the Swiss Cyber Institute in Zurich which offers cyber security and AI education programs, training, and access to a global cyber security community while chairing the Global Cyber Conference that builds bridges between security professionals, business experts, and academics.

Since 2018, Samir Aliyev has developed the CAS Data Protection Officer and CAS Cyber Security for Executives (CSF-HSG) programmes. He is also programme director and lecturer in CAS Cyber Security for Executives at the Executive School of Management, Technology and Law at the University of St. Gallen.

Samir has been a member of the National Cyber Security Committee at digitalswitzerland since 2023. Previously, he was a cybersecurity training expert at expert group meetings in Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, and Latin America for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

According to BILANZ Wirtschaftsmagazin, Samir Aliyev is one of Switzerland’s leading trainers of cybersecurity executives and experts and was named a Digital Shaper 2023 and 2026. He is a doctoral researcher in AI Governance at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland.

Marti Grimminck is Founder and CEO of International Connector and has spent 20 years studying emerging talent and the future of work. Her work spans employers, universities, governments, and young people, drawing on engagement across 190 countries and programs operating on 300+ university campuses. Working with organizations including Microsoft, Google and IBM, she focuses on how changing talent expectations, AI, and employer needs are reshaping workforce readiness. Marti is the visionary behind Your Big Year® and CareerReady Connect, initiatives designed to help young people build the skills, experiences, and connections needed for a rapidly changing world of work.

Eric Steffann is an educational developer, trainer and teacher at Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands. His work focuses on blended learning, educational innovation and the meaningful integration of emerging technologies in education. With a multidisciplinary background in engineering and teacher education, he combines a practical, design-oriented mindset with pedagogical expertise. At Fontys, Eric develops and delivers professional learning for educators and explores how generative AI can create new opportunities for learning, teaching and educational design. His current interests include personalised and inclusive learning, learner agency, AI literacy and the use of generative AI to create new learning tools and experiences.

Sarah Snep is an education innovator within the Blended Learning team and an AI specialist at Fontys University of Applied Sciences. With more than 20 years of experience in education, she focuses on translating developments in AI into practical and meaningful applications for teachers and students.

Her expertise includes personalised and inclusive learning, AI literacy, generative AI and vibe coding. A key mission in her work is to help educators take ownership of AI: making conscious choices, remaining critical and using AI purposefully. In her training sessions, she shows how AI can not only enrich education, but also enable educators to design and build their own digital learning activities and applications.