Digital Leadership Summit 2026

Benjamin Bargetzi is a Swiss bestselling author, neuroscientist, psychologist, and tech entrepreneur, recognised as one of Europe’s leading keynote speakers and thought leaders. His work sits at the intersection of human cognition and emerging technologies, exploring how leaders can successfully navigate digital transformation when humans and machines increasingly work side by side.

Drawing on his background in cognitive science, psychology, and future technologies, Benjamin translates cutting-edge insights into practical, science-backed leadership strategies. His research focuses on how emotions such as courage, doubt, and fear influence decision-making, change readiness, and transformation success—empowering leaders to rethink digital transformation with clarity, confidence, and a deeply human perspective.

Stefan has been a member of the Executive Committee of Itaú Private Bank Zurich since 2017 and has been responsible for the bank’s operations in Switzerland. He joined Itaú Private Bank in 2008 and played a major role in establishing the bank in Switzerland, following earlier executive positions within the Itaú group in Miami and Santiago de Chile. Since 2021, he has served as CEO of Itaú Private Bank Zurich. Prior to joining Itaú, he worked for more than ten years at various financial institutions in Basel, Zurich, and New York in roles spanning sales, investment consulting, project management, and business management.

Patrick is a Senior HR Executive with more than 20 years of experience across Financial Services, Professional Services and Consulting and Further Education, as well as advisory roles in the airline, public sector, and pharmaceutical industries. His career is characterised by a strong focus on learning, transformation, and human‑centric leadership to bring strategy into execution, combining deep HR expertise with a passion for driving organisational and client impact.

Matthias has a multi‑year background in information & data management, enterprise architecture, and business consulting. Prior to joining Swiss Re, he worked in IT consulting in Germany, focusing on the acquisition, management, and delivery of enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. He is currently Head Data Foundation at Swiss Re based in Bangalore. Throughout his career, he has lived and worked internationally, including in the Netherlands, Japan, Switzerland, Singapore, and now India as part of an international assignment.

Norman is a highly experienced data enthusiast who has been at the forefront of the data revolution and served as one of the first Chief Data Officers in the Swiss financial services industry in 2016. His professional background spans treasury desks, consulting, and line management roles across front office, consulting, and IT at institutions such as JPMorgan, KPMG Consulting, Capgemini, and Credit Suisse, where he has held various positions since 2007. He has since expanded his expertise into blockchain and distributed ledger technology and currently serves as CDAO at St. Galler Kantonalbank, alongside roles in the blockchain and Web3 space.

Markus Himpele is Chief Information Officer at Burckhardt Compression with 25 years of experience leading business transformation, IT operations, and digitalisation across multiple industries, including industrial automation (Schneider Electric), consulting and outsourcing (Capgemini), telecommunications (Vodafone), automotive (Autoneum), utilities (Axpo), and manufacturing. He has held senior leadership roles driving global IT services, application delivery, and digital strategy initiatives. Markus holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Management and an MBA. Based in Winterthur, Switzerland, he is passionate about leveraging technology for impact, advancing future enterprise architecture, cloud, AI, and digital transformation, and is known for a people‑centric leadership philosophy focused on sustainable progress. Outside work, he values family life and is a father of two.

Florian Maurer is a technology and transformation leader with over 15 years of experience driving tangible impact across global (re)insurance and financial services. He focuses on turning digital and AI strategies into real business outcomes—bridging the gap between vision and execution.

His work spans enterprise architecture, data and AI, and large-scale organisational transformation, always with a strong emphasis on delivering measurable value. Florian is particularly passionate about embedding technologies such as GenAI and agentic AI into core business workflows—enhancing decision-making, strengthening operational resilience, and improving customer outcomes.

He leads AI strategy and initiatives across underwriting, claims, and operations, working closely with business and technology stakeholders as well as external partners. At the same time, he drives the adoption of API-first, cloud-native platforms and explores how AI is reshaping software development, operating models, and ways of working.