Europe’s digital future: leading the next industrial revolution

As EY’s Global Managing Partner, Andy Baldwin leads the execution of EY’s global strategy. With deep expertise in financial services, particularly in Europe’s insurance sector, Andy has spent over 30 years advising major clients and driving transformative initiatives, including technology-enabled transformations, mergers and structural overhauls. Previously, as EMEIA Area Managing Partner, he championed business integration, sector-focused growth and future-ready innovation. A strong advocate for gender equality, Andy also supports initiatives like EY’s Smart Futures program, empowering underprivileged students. He holds an MBA from Cranfield University and certifications in marketing and risk.

Dr Fatih Birol has served as Executive Director of the IEA since 2015, taking up his current position after rising through the ranks of the IEA over two decades. He has been named in TIME’s annual list of the world’s 100 most influential people and by Forbes as one of the most influential people in the world of energy. He chairs the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board and is the recipient of numerous state decorations, including the French Legion of Honour and the Japanese Emperor’s Order of the Rising Sun.

With a distinguished career in Belgian and European politics, Isabelle Durant has held the offices of Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Transport and Energy, and Senator in the Belgian Government. She also served as Vice-President of the European Parliament, President of the European Union Council of Ministers of Transport and as Deputy-Secretary General and Acting Secretary General of UNCTAD. With a wealth of experience collaborating with civil society and the private sector, her time as European Parliament Vice-President included responsibility for relations with civil society. Durant has held posts as a senior consultant on the empowerment of women in local government for the UNDP and as a member of Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium.

Monica Frassoni is an Italian politician who previously served as the Co-President of the European Green Party. Prior to that, during her time as Member of the European Parliament, she was Co-Chair of the European Greens–European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament. She also served for ten years as an officer of the Greens group in the European Parliament and was Secretary-General of the Young European Federalists. In 2010, she co-founded the European Alliance to Save Energy, an organisation which aims to promote and advocate energy savings and a new energy model.

Sapthagiri (Saptha) Chapalapalli is responsible for Tata Consultancy Services’ business in Europe. Before taking this position, he was the Vice-President and Managing Director of TCS in Germany and Austria. Saptha has led TCS to a position of growth leadership and excellence in the German market, during which period TCS has deployed its strategy of customer centricity and localisation in the region, resulting in unparalleled organic growth. Previously, he was a key member of the TCS leadership team in London, where he was responsible for growing TCS business in the telecommunications industry. He has also been based in the US, where is focused on expanding TCS’ business in the telecommunications sector and managing relationships with major customers.

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

*Consultant at Friends of Europe.

Dan Nechita is the EU Director of the Transatlantic Policy Network. Previously, Dan led the technical negotiations for the EU Artificial Intelligence Act on behalf of the 9th European Parliament. Besides artificial intelligence, he also worked on digital regulation, security and defence, and the transatlantic partnership as Head of Cabinet for Dragos Tudorache MEP. Beforehand, he was a State Counsellor for the Romanian Prime Minister with a mandate on e-governance, digitalisation and cybersecurity. He is a member of expert AI working groups with the World Economic Forum and the United Nations, and was an expert project evaluator for the European Commission.

Dr Kamila Kloc is as the Director of Directorate B- Digital Decade and Connectivity of Directorate General for Communications Networks, Content and Technology (DG CONNECT) She previously held the position of the Head of Markets’ Unit in the same Directorate. Beforehand, she served as Deputy Head of Cabinet for Vice President Ansip responsible for Digital Single Market. Prior to joining the Cabinet, she worked at Directorate General for Energy, coordinating exemptions from regulatory access rules for gas pipelines. Prior to joining the Commission, she was employed at the Office for Competition and Consumer Protection in Poland as Advisor to the President. Kloc started her professional career in academia and taught at the Warsaw School of Economics as Assistant Professor.

Pascal Lamy is a French politician and the Vice President of the Paris Peace Forum, a new innovative global governance initiative. He served as the director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO) for two consecutive terms, prior to which he was the European commissioner for trade and head of cabinet for former Commission president, Jacques Delores. Currently an associate professor at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris, Lamy also frequently lectures at the Institut Jacques Delors and speaks on issues related to globalisation, global governance, international trade, international economics and regional integration. He has written several publications on the European Union and the ‘harmonising’ of globalisation and is a Trustee of Friends of Europe.

Felicitas Riedl is the Director of the Innovation and Competitiveness Department at the EIB’s Projects Directorate where she leads technical and economic due diligence for EIB projects. Previously, she served as Head of the Life Science and Health Division and successfully navigated the organisation through the COVID-19 pandemic, forging partnerships with the WHO, BMGF, and Wellcome Trust. Prior to the EIB, Felicitas was an Investment Manager at the European Investment Fund, specialising in technology transfer. She holds a Master of Science in human genetics and molecular biology from Philipps University of Marburg and was a visiting researcher at Stanford University. Riedl recently completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.