Digital-First Economy: The Future of AI and Inspiration for Success - MB8

Mo Gawdat is the former Chief Business Officer of Google [X]; host of the popular podcast, Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat; author of the international bestselling books Solve for Happy and Scary Smart; and founder of One Billion Happy.

After a 30 year career in tech and serving as Chief Business Officer at Google [X], Google's 'moonshot factory' of innovation, Mo has made happiness his primary topic of research, diving deeply into literature and conversing on the topic with some of the wisest people in the world.

2014, motivated by the tragic loss of his son, Ali, Mo began pouring his findings into his international bestselling book, Solve for Happy: Engineer Your Path to Joy. His mission to help one billion people become happier, #OneBillionHappy, is his moonshot attempt to honor Ali by spreading the message that happiness can be learned and shared to one billion people.

In 2020, Mo launched his chart-topping podcast, Slo Mo: A Podcast with Mo Gawdat, a weekly series of extraordinary interviews that explores the profound questions and obstacles we all face in the pursuit of purpose and happiness in our lives.

His latest book is Scary Smart: The Future of Artificial Intelligence and How You Can Save Our World, a roadmap detailing how humanity can ensure a symbiotic coexistence with AI when it inevitably becomes a billion times smarter than we are.

Award-winning film, TV and theatre actor Gillian Anderson achieved international recognition portraying Special Agent Dana Scully in The X-Files. She won an Emmy, a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors' Guild awards for the series.

Since The X Files, Gillian has become one of the UK’s leading actors. TV credits include Bleak House, Great Expectations, The Fall and War & Peace. She won an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a SAG and Critics Choice award for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix’s The Crown and currently plays the memorable Dr Jean Milburn in Netflix’ hit Sex Education, soon returning for its fourth series.

On stage, Gillian played Margot Channing in the West End adaptation of All About Eve and was Olivier award-nominated for her performance as Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire in both London and New York.

Her film credits include The Last King of Scotland, Johnny English Reborn, Shadow Dancer, Viceroy’s House, Crooked House, The Spy Who Dumped Me and The Sunlit Night.

This year, Gillian will star as Eleanor Roosevelt in Showtime’s new series The First Lady. She’ll also appear in Marc Forster’s White Bird: A Wonder Story; and a screen adaptation of the novel Pale Blue Eye.

Photo Credit Richard Phibbs

Simon is a 20-year IT veteran with rich experience across a variety of business development and leadership roles in Asia Pacific. He has served on a number of advisory boards with technology companies in early stage funding, and holds copyright over the Professional 6© Risk Management Methodology, now used by an estimated 5,000+ B2B sales people globally.

Simon was born in Australia, grew up in South Africa and Zimbabwe, before completing his tertiary studies back in Australia - graduating in Engineering from the University of Technology Sydney. He has recently returned from Singapore and now lives in Sydney with his wife and two children.

Before joining Adobe, Simon worked with companies such as NetComm, Gateway Computers, Hummingbird/Opentext, Dell EMC, SAP, and Salesforce. The three values Simon has firmly anchored himself to through his career are: Fun, Family and Freedom.

He considers himself a Rugby ‘tragic’, a motorsport aficionado, and loves a day out boating with friends and family.