Adam Pustelnik studied at the University of Lodz, the European Academy of Diplomacy and the University of Oxford, among others, He holds a master’s degree in law and another in international relations. His career to date has taken him to the Ministry of Sport and Tourism, Łódź City Hall and consultancy company Savills. During his stint at Łódź City Hall from 2015 to 2019, he served as Director of the Investor Service Office, where his responsibilities included leading the implementation of the Łódź development strategy, investor acquisition, the promotion of the city’s economic potential and international cooperation. He was installed as First Deputy Mayor of the City of Lodz in September 2020. His official duties encompass supervision of the Department of Planning and Economic Development and the Department of Asset Management.

Sören Auer is Director of the Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology (TIB) and Professor of Data Science and Digital Libraries at Leibniz University Hannover. His research focuses on knowledge graphs and neuro-symbolic and agentic AI, together with their applications in science and industry. The founder of the Open Research Knowledge Graph (ORKG) and co-founder of DBpedia, he has led numerous large-scale European research and innovation initiatives. His current work is exploring how trusted data, structured knowledge and AI agents can be combined to create AI systems that are more reliable, explainable and autonomous.

Mirek Sopek’s background is in physics and he obtained his doctorate in the field of theoretical and quantum chemistry. He has been the elected chair of the University Council of Łódź University of Technology since 2021, actively supporting scientific development and collaboration between the academic and business worlds. He is also the founder and CEO of a start-up, Quantum Blockchains Inc., which is focused on quantum cryptography.

Piotr Ignaczak is an accomplished technology leader with over twenty years of experience driving innovation for global brands including Cisco, NTT, Orange, and Accenture. He holds an MSc in Computer Science from Lódź University of Technology and an Executive MBA from Warsaw University of Technology. Piotr currently holds the position of Chief Technology Officer at MakoLab, where he leads digital transformation initiatives and shapes the company’s strategic direction for technology.