ALL EYES ON AUTOMATION

Erdem has worked in different industries at global organizations, particularly specializing in technology and digital transformation. Working at Accenture and Mercedes-Benz on diverse IT projects helped Erdem dive deep into the world of digitalization, leading to initiating intelligent automation at Mercedes-Benz. Upon that he worked at Roboyo as managing consultant with primary focus on hyperautomation transformation and strategy, delivering large-scale automation programs to various industries, as well as defining CoE establishment and scaling strategies. Erdem’s actual role is to lead the Intelligent Automation CoE for ING Wholesale Banking globally with a globally formed team to drive organizational efficiency through end-to-end solutions leveraging intelligent automation and AI.

Benjamin Heidenreich is the leader of the RPA and Business Automation Team at Feser Graf, playing an essential role in the company’s digital transformation over the last three years. Starting with the introduction of Robotic Process Automation, the team is also driving the expansion of Intelligent Document Processing, enhancing efficiency and accuracy across business processes. Currently, Benjamin is spearheading the implementation of the Appian platform, paving the way for the company’s journey into Hyperautomation. Guided by the principle, “If you hate it, automate it,” Benjamin is passionate about freeing people to breathe, innovate, and focus on creative, value-driven tasks.

As part of the Digital Integration initiative, Lars Ebbinghaus is spearheading the digitalization of Siemens Energy’s Steam Turbine and Generator business. Over the past several years, Lars has successfully designed and implemented an automation strategy that integrates multiple cutting-edge technologies, including UiPath, Mendix, SnapLogic, and ABBYY’s Intelligent Document Processing, into a cohesive ecosystem. This ecosystem empowers users to develop advanced solutions, enabling them to elevate their capabilities, tackle complex end-to-end processes, and establish a robust foundation for future technological advancements.

Lionel is Group CTO at Permira, the private equity fund based in London. Prior to Permira, Lionel has had CTO roles at both Revantage, a Blackstone company and CBRE, where he spent 10 years in the Real Estate industry. Before real estate, Lionel spent 20 years working in real-time financial data split between Bloomberg, Reuters and UBS. Lionel has degrees in Economics, Management and Psychology. Lionel is also qualified in Data Science. He has always been interested in AI and Machine Learning, working on algorithmic trading at UBS, lease abstraction at CBRE and most recently, generative AI at Permira.

Lucas Preuß is a driving force in Service Operations and Corporate Business Functions at McKinsey, where he’s based in the Hamburg office. Leading Europe’s tech partnerships and the Western European Operations Excellence Program, Lucas helps CxOs navigate large-scale, tech-enabled performance transformations. His mantra? “Automation is way more than tech and code.” With a knack for turning vision into value, Lucas ensures that automation initiatives don’t just launch—they soar!

Sara has 20 years of experience, all at Grupo Salvador Caetano. She started in automotive retail, moved into bus production in the industrial sector, and then returned to retail, where she’s now focused on project management.

With a degree in Economics, Sara spent many years in Finance & Treasury, but her curiosity about automation and digitalization led her to switch paths three and a half years ago. Since then, she’s been leading a project management team, connecting the financial backoffice with operations.

Passionate about improving processes, Sara focuses on implementing tools that reduce inefficiencies and add value to the company, always looking for ways to make everything more efficient and integrated.