Gary Muddyman
Founder and CEO, Conversis
Oxfordshire, UK
Gary is the Founder and CEO of Conversis. Established in 2003, Conversis is a leading provider of globalization, internationalization, localization and translation services with offices in the UK and USA. Conversis serves industry-leading brands throughout the world and with a particular focus on the life sciences, energy, technology and finance sectors. Prior to starting Conversis, Gary spent 16 years in leadership roles for London-based HSBC Asset Finance U.K. Ltd., one of the largest banking and financial services organizations in the world.
Gary is a previous Chair of GALA, the leading trade association in the localization industry. He is a regular speaker on all aspects of commercial localization at industry and non-industry events and is an advisor to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, a UK government-backed working party looking to advance excellence in the use of foreign languages in schools, business and government. He has also sat on the advisory boards of the two leading translation industry charitable organizations, the Rosetta Foundation and Translators without Borders, and is a keen supporter of UK and international charities, particularly those serving children and young adults.
Dr. Nek Manji
Independent management consultant working in corporate development with Vita Healthcare Solutions (UK), Meroven Ltd. (Ireland) and Advanced Medical German Co
Kuwait
Nek is a seasoned executive with more than 20 years’ experience in large institutions within the public and private sectors. He has extensive domain expertise in healthcare, education and related infrastructure. His international experience includes Canada, the USA, Europe, Middle East and South Asia.
As a trusted independent advisor to both executive offices and boards, his practice focuses on strategy and corporate and institutional development. He has experience overseeing and directing special projects, leading strategic advisory and planning efforts, and managing comprehensive techno-economic assessments, including operational and technical feasibility, capital budgeting and project finance. He has advised on deals, projects and transactions valued at more than US$1.5 billion, including public-private-partnerships.
Comfortable in both technical and financial circles, Nek seeks to identify the value proposition and strategic elements in every project and deal in order to create value and achieve realizable gains and outcomes with the highest possible impact. He has a wide range of investment expertise, including deal origination, due diligence, risk assessment, barriers to entry, competitor analysis, M&A, financial modeling and valuation and leading transaction teams. His expertise also includes business planning, start-up operations and transition management, and structuring and negotiating licenses and international distribution agreements. As well, he has been instrumental in establishing local and international strategic partnerships and joint ventures.
Nek is an accomplished serial entrepreneur. He has founded, promoted and exited several start-ups, gaining extensive venture capital experience and building an international network of industry, technical and financial contacts.
Nek is also a licensed Professional Engineer and holds advanced degrees in applied physics.
Advisory Board
Red Dot Digital is proud and fortunate to count on the support and guidance of an Advisory Board made up of seasoned business leaders across multiple fields. Meet our Advisory Board members below!
Jasmin Ganie-Hobbs
Director of Tech Finance, Business Development Bank of Canada
Toronto, Canada
Jasmin is a senior, results-oriented financial executive who works extensively with emerging technology, innovation and knowledge-based companies, and with women entrepreneurs, providing both financial and consulting solutions. She has extensive experience providing strategic consulting and creative funding and investment solutions to small and mid-cap companies in Canada, and is widely knowledgeable in local and global innovation trends. As a proven thought leader in the Canadian innovation industry, she is consistently able to create competitive value, seek out and seize business opportunities, drive change, capitalize, and commercialize emerging companies. As such, Jasmin is a frequent industry guest speaker.
Much of Jasmin’s success lies in her astute ability to determine the credibility of a business’s management team, and the potential for commercialization and success. She has consistently earned top ranks throughout her 15-year career at BDC, and is currently providing analysis on BDC’s “Beyond the Deal” feature for Dragon’s Den, the well-known CBC reality show in which entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hope of securing investment finance. You can watch an example of Jasmin’s analysis at http://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/bdc/smart-sweets.
Jasmin is also an experienced board member and advisor. She currently sits on the Canada Arab Business Council and the University of Ontario Institute of Technology’s Technology and Entrepreneurship program. She is a graduate of York University.
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Paolo Taticchi,
OMRI
Professorial Teaching Fellow in Strategy and Sustainability and Deputy Director (MBA & International), UCL School of Management
Visiting Professor of Strategy and Sustainability, Imperial College Business School
London, UK
Paolo is a researcher in the fields of performance measurement and management, business networks and corporate sustainability. He has taught in 12 countries and is a regular speaker in international MBA and EMBA programs in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas in addition to his current teaching work with the UCL School of Management and his visiting professorship at Imperial College Business School. Previous to his current positions, Paolo’s past positions with Imperial College Business School include those of Director, Global Online MBA and Global Initiatives, and Principal Teaching Fellow in Management and Sustainability. Paolo also directed the MSc in Management (#15 in the FT ranking) and the MSc in Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Management.
Before that, he was Associate Professor and Director of the MBA Programmes at the Royal Docks Business School of the University of East London (UK); Director of Studies of the Bradford-Perugia MBA (Italy); and Assistant Professor in Business and Management Engineering at the University of Perugia. In recent years, Paolo has held visiting professorships at New York University (US) and ESAN Business School (Peru). He has authored more than 50 scholarly articles and edited and co-authored two books.
Paolo has successfully co-founded and directed six international summer school programs for prestigious universities based in New York and is the co-founder and co-organizer of the Taiwan–Italy International Internship Program. He has significant consultancy experience in the fields of strategy, operations and sustainability with both small and large firms in 10+ industries. He also co-founded two firms in the fields of engineering and consultancy.
Paolo holds a bachelor’s and master’s in mechanical engineering, as well as an MBA and a PhD in industrial engineering operations management. In 2017, he completed the High Potentials Leadership Program (Executive Education) at Harvard Business School. In 2018, he was featured on the Poets & Quants’ “40 Best Business Professors under 40” list. In the same year, Paolo was awarded the decoration of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (OMRI).