Desislav Bonchev - Europe’s Most Influential CEOs Driving Innovation and Growth, 2026

Champions of Europe's New Business Renaissance

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Across Europe, there is a new generation of CEOs whose leadership style is changing the face of business during the time of great transformation. Not only are these CEOs leading their firms to success through growth, but they are also shaping the future of Europe's economy. The way they envision the future is by incorporating innovation into their plans, which combine sustainability, digitalization, and competitiveness. They adopt innovative ideas and create a collaborative environment, making their companies leaders of change across different industries, including technology, healthcare, and finance. What makes them unique is their capacity to see change coming and transform it into opportunities for resilience. They are creating an ecosystem where creativityflourishes,risksareturnedintopossibilities,andsuccessis not defined by profits but impact. In a time when Europe finds itself between tradition and innovation, these CEOs demonstrate that successfulleadersarenotthosewhomaintainthestatusquobutthose whoshapethefuture.

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AtCIOViews,wehonortheseempoweringleadersbydedicatingthis issue titled “Europe's Most Influential CEOs Driving Innovation and Growth, 2026” to them. Featuring as the cover story, we have covered the successful & motivating journey of Desislav Bonchev, CEOatDartit.ai.WehavealsoincludedtheinspiringstoriesofLars Gunnar Fledsberg, Founder and CEO of Wittario; Aiden Keegan, CEOofEsquirescoffee;CaterinaBerbenni-Rehm,FounderandCEO of PROMIS@SERVICE; Maria José Amich, Executive Director of The Lisbon MBACatólica; Jane Stevensen, Founding Director of JS Global;LaetitiaCailleteau,ManagingDirectoratDATA&AIEurope Lead, and the Global Lead for Conversational AI; Belton Flournoy, Managing Director at Protiviti; Natalie Foster, CEO of Inspire Legal Group; and Sasa Marinkovic, Managing Director at PEOPLE FOCUSdoo.

CIO Views is a business magazine that mainly focuses on business leaders,theirjourney,viewsoncurrenteconomicstates,andallother relevant subjects that refer to the business world. Our goal is to be a leadingsourceofinformationdedicatedtoprovidingourreaderswith detailed perspectives and views of successful business leaders who aretransformingthebusinessoutlookandredefiningtheirgoals.With exclusive editions on various industries like software, education, healthcare, technology, real estate, and many more, CIO Views is driventopromoteexcellenceintheworldofbusiness. HappyReading!

Mousmi N. Mousmi

Desislav Bonchev

10.

Desislav Bonchev

Desislav Bonchev, Founder and CEO of Dartit.ai, has built his career on turning technological complexity into practical business value. Working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, enterprise architecture, and business transformation, he is developing a platform designed to bring structure, speed, and trust to complex B2B supply chain workflows.

With a Master's degree inArtificial Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University and a Bachelor's degree in Economics, Bonchev believes technology creates value when it helps organizations make better decisions and operate with greater confidence.

Before founding Dartit.ai, Bonchev spent four years at Microsoft as a Senior Cloud SolutionArchitect andAI Champion for Central and Eastern Europe, helping organizations modernize cloud architectures and adopt data andAI capabilities across 24 countries. Earlier, he held CTO and senior solutions architecture roles leading complex technology initiatives.

AFounder-Funded Path to Supply Chain Transformation

“Software should augment human capability, not work against it.” This principle has shaped Bonchev's work in enterprise technology for over two decades. Through this lens, he recognized a systemic failure in the B2B supply chain sector — one that directly contradicts this idea. Despite significant investments in software,

professionals remain trapped in manual, fragmented processes.

An operator might spend an entire afternoon searching for certificates or digging through disconnected systems, storage silos, specifications, and scattered records to evaluate one quote. Keeping a deal moving forward often meant weeks of jumping between different SDS/MSDS, CoA, certificates, emails, chats, calls, portals, and internal tools. This led to the creation of Dartit.ai.Asystem engineered to absorb this complexity. By structuring this data, the goal is to give professionals the clarity, speed, and trust they need to work with confidence.

Staying Independent of the Hype

The initial strategy for Dartit.ai followed a deliberate path. Desislav Bonchev and his team chose to keep the venture founderfunded during its early phase to ensure the business earned relevance through measurable business impact rather than fundraising optics. This decision kept the platform rooted in direct operational experience.

The ambition was to build an organization that stands on its own merits, prioritizing customer value over the next financing round. This independence allowed the team to bypass hypothetical market positioning and work directly with partners on tangible supply chain challenges. Consequently, the

company culture emphasizes architectural discipline and execution over industry trends. Bonchev is direct about the fact that the company does not optimize for vanity metrics. In practice, the work centers on whether the platform reduces friction and helps companies operate more effectively in real

commercial environments.

ManagingAI Uncertainty

High expectations can often lead to a hard fall when it comes to new technology. Hence, Desislav Bonchev maintains a pragmatic view ofArtificial Intelligence,

distinguishing nativeAI systems from conventional, deterministic software. While standard programs follow fixed rules,AI operates on probabilities. It explores possibilities and, by its nature, may occasionally produce an unexpected result.

For enterpriseAI, Bonchev believes this reality must be embraced. This exploratory capability allows models to surface opportunities in environments where the problem space is not fully defined. Rather than forcingAI into a rigid framework, Dartit.ai is designed to operate within this probabilistic nature.

The platform structures knowledge and preserves the provenance of information. By implementing these internal safeguards, the system can validate results, recover from errors, and ensure the human operator remains in control of critical decisions.Acknowledging these limitations allows organizations to manage the volatility of real-world business with greater reliability.

Setting the Record Straight

Acommon misconception is that Dartit.ai is just another marketplace. However, Bonchev is precise in his differentiation between the two. He sees traditional listing platforms as incomplete because they fail to address the complex post-transaction process. He believes that to truly fix the industry, one must change the perspective entirely. "You can never solve a problem on the level on which it was created,"Albert Einstein famously noted.And this principle is baked into the platform's architecture.

Instead, he defines Dartit.ai as a functional layer positioned between raw knowledge and a company's final objectives. The system is designed to transform fragmented supply chain tasks into a single, structured execution pipeline. Beyond surface-level requests or quotes, the platform interprets the evidence behind these interactions, linking them to commercial intents and streamlining collaboration across the entire chain.

This integration facilitates both human-to-human coordination and cross-system interoperability. Desislav Bonchev describes the distinction by saying, "The real

value proposition is not simply visibility of offers or requests. It is the ability to connect objectives, evidence, people, and systems into one operating flow that makes supply-chain work faster, clearer, and more executable.”

The Blueprint of Proximity

Scaling across European markets required a particular approach to network density. In B2B supply chains, where specialization and trust are paramount, an imbalance between supply and demand is more than an inefficiency. It is a risk to the platform's credibility. "We are building the network by traversing

“YOU CAN NEVER SOLVE A PROBLEM ON THE LEVEL ON WHICH IT WAS CREATED.”

real commercial relationships rather than by broadcasting generic invitations," Bonchev notes. This targeted strategy concentrates on the strategic onboarding of established commercial alliances. When a key seller is folded into the platform, the team simultaneously maps and incorporates that seller's specific buyer web. By analyzing the recurring needs within these clusters, the relevant supply side is then identified and integrated. This ensures that every new participant enters an environment of immediate relevance, turning the platform into a structured extension of proven business ecosystems.

Regulatory Frameworks as Operational Tools

While many people view European regulations as a bureaucratic burden, the leadership at Dartit.ai treats compliance as a primary value proposition. Rather than treating rules as external constraints, the platform incorporates them as tools to give partners operational confidence in a complex legal sector. This perspective has fundamentally redefined the company's product plan.

CEO Desislav Bonchev conveys that they are currently integrating capabilities that allow partners to

map product specifications and supporting evidence directly to relevant EU mandates.

This approach aims to surface compliance issues at the start of the process rather than during final verification. By providing these early signals, the system helps organizations avoid operational blockers. It also significantly reduces the manual labor traditionally required for regulatory vetting. Bonchev believes this creates a more predictable environment, where "evolving EU regulation pushes us to build with stronger traceability, better evidence handling, and a clearer connection between product data and operational decisions."

The Measure of Success

We ask this technopreneur about measurable customer outcomes, and the answer centers on the physical passage of time. He evaluates success through "cycle compression". It is the ability to drastically shorten the sourcing and procurement process. In most traditional supply chain environments, teams are bogged down by the volume of documentation required for a single transaction. Days are consumed by a "digital scavenger hunt" through safety data sheets (SDS/MSDS), certificates of analysis (CoA), and disconnected email threads.

Dartit.ai is purpose-built to consolidate this fragmented evidence and internal data into a single, unified thread. This transformation turns manual discovery and evaluation into an instant match-and-

gap analysis process. Tasks such as offer assembly, which typically span several days, are reduced to minutes. When stakeholders collaborate within a consolidated, evidencebacked system, the entire deal cycle moves from weeks to hours.

Bonchev considers this the clearest measure of impact because it removes the burden of non-value work, enables faster execution, and significantly lowers operational risk.

The Foundation of Shared History

Efficiency in high-stakes environments is rarely a product of technical skill alone.At Dartit.ai, the primary cultural advantage is a level of trust cultivated over many years. Numerous members of the leadership and engineering teams have worked together across previous ventures. Such history has provided a profound understanding of individual working styles and professional standards, creating a level of execution quality that is difficult to manufacture in a newly assembled group.

This foundation enables the team to operate with minimal friction and rapid alignment. The edge comes from being more than a group assembled around an opportunity. They are, as Desislav Bonchev notes, people who genuinely believe in what they are building.Alongstanding connection allows for a natural sense of accountability and a commitment to mission-critical solutions, not just what is commercially convenient.

The GreedyAlgorithm for Focus

"My way of handling a fastscaling environment is not through intensity for its own sake," Bonchev states. Leading a company through a surge in demand is a test of disciplined attention rather than raw energy. This industry veteran is candid that Dartit.ai is not yet in a hypergrowth phase.

But his experience with large-scale cloud products taught him how to handle extreme pace. He saw how quickly execution can accelerate. In such environments, the primary risk is not the workload. It is the sudden influx of distractions and competing expectations.

To stay grounded, he uses a method similar to a greedy algorithm. He ignores the surrounding noise and narrows his focus to just two things. Bonchev looks at the long-term strategic goal Dartit.ai has committed to. Second, he pinpoints the single highest-value action that moves them closer to it.

By executing that one task and then moving to the next immediately, he keeps his energy focused and his presence much more stable. To him, staying firmly on the next immediate step is the only way to protect his energy and keep the team moving in the right direction.

ASeat at the Table

While success is typically an accumulation of incremental wins, certain milestones serve to validate the entire strategic course. Desislav Bonchev upholds a disciplined

perspective on product-market fit, valuing operational precision over premature celebration. That consistency is now beginning to be reflected externally. He was recently named one of "Europe's Most Influential CEOs Driving Innovation and Growth, 2026."

Alongside this personal recognition, a significant turning point occurred when Dartit.ai received a Microsoft ISV Partner recognition.

Beyond cloud sponsorship, the partnership signaled that the company's vision resonated within one of the world's most influential enterprise technology ecosystems. It marked a shift from conceptual curiosity to genuine industry credibility. Coupled with active enterprise rollouts, the news confirmed that Dartit.ai's structured, AI-native execution model is both necessary and viable. For Bonchev, it represented a clear transition from a visionary idea to a platform backed by major market players.

The New Frontier of Flow

Desislav Bonchev believes the European B2B supply chain is the ideal setting forAI-native workflows. This space is currently defined by fragmentation. Professionals are forced to jump between scattered systems, documents, and disconnected communication channels.

These activities are conducted merely to execute standard commercial and operational tasks. This is where he feels technology can step in. It can manage

Turn Fragmented Sourcing into Structured Execution

complexity, structure information, and reduce non-value work while restoring people's confidence.

However, there is a catch. Bonchev has observed that manyAI projects fail because the product discipline behind them is too weak. The execution is not rigorous enough. Durable value requires embedding technology into reliable workflowready systems that can handle uncertainty and function consistently within enterprise settings.

For that, such solutions need to be developed by teams with a deep understanding of how enterprise software is designed, delivered, and governed.

For this prescient executive, the next wave of value will not come from generic experiments. It will come from deeply integrated products. Solutions that augment execution quality in high-complexity industries.

The Transition Toward Interdisciplinary Talent

The era of the "pure coder" is giving way to something more nuanced. The evolution of the talent sector suggests that buildingAI-native products now requires more than software development proficiency alone. Bonchev identifies interdisciplinary thinking as the key differentiator.

The future belongs to "explorers" and "thinkers." Professionals who can synthesize engineering with business context, knowledge modeling, and a structural

understanding of real-world systems. They must have a way of thinking that uses technology to make it more capable.

He asserts thatAI is making software development less laborintensive. Yet, it significantly raises the threshold for excellence. Real innovation happens when the person writing the code has enough domain expertise to recognize exactly where a process is failing.

This perspective drives the recruitment philosophy at Dartit.ai. He actively seeks talent from nontraditional backgrounds, prioritizing the capacity to ask the right questions over standard credentials. By creating space for these minds, he ensures the company is built on real insight and the power to connect technology with the intricacy of the world it is meant to serve.

Foundations Over Fireworks

Building a lasting company in theAI space means going back to basics. Desislav Bonchev advises aspiring CEOs to resist the urge to useAI for its own sake. He recommends starting with a structural grasp of the challenge at hand, using that clarity to filter for tools that provide genuine leverage.

However, he acknowledges that even the most disciplined strategy has limits. It cannot eliminate the inherent uncertainty of innovation. Once the base is set, progress requires grit. Kurt Vonnegut's words best capture this reality: "We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the

way down." Ultimately, success depends on learning the ropes as you go.

This C-suite executive believes the strongestAI products will be built by teams who truly comprehend their industry. These are the domain builders who know how to translate that understanding into usable, reliable, and valuable systems.

To find a durable advantage, founders must focus on system integrity. They should review whether it is explainable, trustworthy, resilient, scalable, and aligned with how real organizations operate. Desislav Bonchev concludes with a clear message: "Do not build aroundAI first. Build around the problem, the domain, and the quality of the system you want to create.AI should strengthen that foundation, not replace it."

Lars Gunnar Fledsberg

Giving a new form to outdoor learning games with Wittario AS

Aserial entrepreneur with a vast 23-years managerial experience in the ICT industry, Lars Gunnar Fledsberg, Founder and CEO of WittarioAS, is developing a new way to outdoor learning games by harnessing the power of digital technologies. Wittario is a digital platform for outdoor-game based learning.

He adds, “Schools and businesses increase learning engagement and outcomes by using our gaming platform. We focus on creating fun and efficient experiences through outdoor physical activity and inspirational technology. Inspired by PokemonGo, Wittario moves audiences off their office chairs and school desks out onto a fun and effective hunt for knowledge. The best part is that anyone can create learning games for all.”

Walking the path of revolutionizing outdoor learning games

In his long career, Lars held “safe” corporate management positions until I was 42 years old. His first job was as a product manager in Telenor, a

leading telecommunications company across the Nordics andAsia with 187 million customers and annual sales of around USD 14 billion.

However, at the back of his mind, he always wanted to own a company as he enjoyed the freedom to learn and progress further. So, taking the leap of faith, he cofounded his first company, Skooler, together with the founder Tor Ove Henriksen. Skooler is an EdTech company with customers in over 100 countries worldwide.After his journey with Skooler, Lars has co founded five other companies. Four of them are successful. The most succesful company is Wittario, a company which has occupied 100% of his time the last two years.

All his adult life, Lars has been inspired to see how much school children are engaged in learning when the teacher takes the children outside of the classroom for some outdoor learning. To fill true colors in this concept, he marked the advent of Wittario, a company that delivers an EdTech solution for outdoor-game based learning.

He believes that a person is successful in business when the company manages to reach its business goals and at the same time has satisfied customers, employees, and shareholders. Working on the same notion, he drives the wheel of WittarioAS in the right direction.

Learning valuable lessons on his path

Lars states, “If you only enjoy success without meeting any roadblocks, you will most likely struggle harder to handle the situation when you meet the first heavy roadblock compared to a person who has handled multiple roadblocks on the way.”

While fueling the growth of his first company, Skooler, Lars realized the true value of the quote, “a CEO of a startup should always be fundraising.”

Amalgamating latest technologies at Wittario to create a unique solution

Wittario, an EdTech company which Lars and his colleague Tor Ove Henriksen founded in 2019, has

Founder and CEO, Wittario

developed a game-based mobile application that will promote learning through outdoor movement using augmented reality (AR) and GPS. The app combines reality with virtual elements to create fun and effective learning experiences for schools and companies and was rolled out to a wide audience in March 2021.

Boasting its clear vision, “learning through games and physical activity,” the team wants to change the way of learning. Lars states, “We boldly want to change a 1000-year-old proven tradition of learning by reading and listening, by improving it using education technology.

Wittario was founded on the principles of leveraging outdoor

game-based learning and how we can create a platform that accommodates for more engaging, active, and relevant learning experiences.”

Inside Lars professional and personal lives

As the CEO of Wittario, Lars has numerous hats to wear. From handling the overall responsibilities of sales, marketing, finance to product development, delivery, and support, his typical day commences at around 8AM in the office where he goes through his emails, creates a schedule for his days, and manages everyone by walking around and conversing with his employees.

After that, he meets with his staff, customers, suppliers, and external stakeholders and then leaves work to have dinner with his family at 5 PM. Later, he again works from home from around 8 PM.

Being a goal-oriented leader, he is super proud of his accomplishments. He states, “The best recognition that I have received as a business leader was when the Wittario product were launched four months ago, and quickly got users in six countries. Another great recognition is being interviewed as one of the 10 Most Successful CEOs Making a Difference in 2021 by CIO Views magazine, which is a true honor.”

Lars is well aware of when he is working and when he is off work.

With such designated work and rest hours, he is able to experience more peace and happiness in his life. It has even elevated his productivity.

With proper time analysis and allocation, Lars is able to stay on top of his schedule. Not just this, he stays aware of the schedules of people surrounding him as well and never lets his personal and professional life meddle with each other. His peace of mind comes with regular exercising and meditation.

“Motivation is the electrical power that activates the engine of success.”

Motivation is the key to keep the team dedicated to the company's long-term goals. Keeping his team's work engaging is his way of keeping his employees engaged in work. He adds, “The most powerful way to do this is to give employees the opportunity to experiment and solve problems that really matter. I frequently ask them questions such as: Where can we deliver amazing service to our customers? What's broken in our product that our team can fix? How can we optimize our customer journeys even more?”

In this way, he is able to find the flaws and fix them easily. He also spends his time and money on different social activities and personal development training.Appreciating the employees' hard work and seeking their feedback are other ways to keep the motivation flowing.

For him, motivation comes from attaining the overall company goals, receiving excellent feedback from satisfied customers, and watching a broad smile on his employees' faces.

Outlining the future plans

Lars shares, “My long-term goal for Wittario is to build the world's leading digital platform for outdoor gamebased learning.”

Personally, he shares the same goal as his business goal. He states, “In order to achieve this, my team and I need to further develop our product so that it goes viral in both the business, education, and home markets. Our strategy is executed by a world-class team which results in satisfied

customers, employees, and shareholders.”

Lars knows that learning is life-long and can enhance the understanding of the world and improve the quality of life with better opportunities. With the amazing Wittario platform, he is trying to playfully impart more access to education to everyone.

CEO, Esquires coffee

Aiden Keegan

The Best Coffee Service Esquires

Takes the Lead

Coffee is the most popular

beverage consumed in the world. Statistics say that more than 400 billion cups are consumed each year. The aroma, the essence and relief it offers in a cup, is mesmerizing, making it an important part of peoples' day to day life. Doug Williamson, a 24-year-old young Canadian man realized that people needed a place to congregate outside of the local pub. With love for coffee and the people, Doug and his close friend set out on a daunting venture of exploring this flavorsome industry. They started Esquires in 1993, in a small “strip mall” that has grown to be the leading coffee brand in Canada and New Zealand today.As young, amateurs who had nothing but passion with the power to think out of the box, Doug and his team have an inspiring tale to tell.

Passion that Paved the Way

Starting their first coffee shop in in a small “strip mall”, as we refer to them in Canada, Doug refers to this opportunity as his first lucky break. The small but charming center, comprised of about 30 or so retail businesses, had come under tough times and was in receivership, which worked in favor of Doug's business plan. He grabbed the opportunity

embarking a new career path without any experience. Evidently, the first obstacle that would befall them was sustainability in the market without a name. They needed to work doubly hard to stay put in the competitive field. With the presence of the big brands around, Doug and his team worked tirelessly to earn a position and acceptance within the community. They needed to listen to the customers and evolve to serve them and customize their design according to the taste and choice of the local community. Hard work and dedication saw them through, and they gained the trust of and respect of people living in North Delta.

By the 90s they had established Esquires as a leading specialty retail coffee brand in western Canada. Name and fame followed as the team kept working relentlessly year after year. More doors of opportunities started opening every year. There was all sorts of pressure, as happens in business, to grow and expand, but they had worked really hard building the chain and did not feel a great deal of urgency to expand for expansion's sake. However, fate had something different in store. In 1999, a lovely couple who were franchise experts in UK happened to visit the Vancouver Island store and cite their experience as “We fell

immediately and madly in love with their energy, environment, and friendliness. We knew Brits would just adore this brand!” Well, another lucky break in the book of Esquires wrote a new chapter of success and the following years just Saw Doug travelling across UK opening Esquires franchise outlets throughout the country. Today, they have more than100 stores, but Doug is very proud to say that Esquires Coffee evolved from that one small store in a small suburb of Vancouver; by showing people that they valued their business more than the big brands.

The Essence of Remarkable Services

Today, Esquires is a fast charging coffee brand in the U.K. and Ireland with market leading innovation around food and beverage. Today's coffee shop plays a unique role in their social interaction evoking different emotions in people. The Esquires coffee shops offer many other services apart from their refreshing coffee. They are places to meet friends, places to find peace; they are places where business is performed in an ever-increasing manner, they are places to unwind after the stresses of a busy day. They function as an extension of homes and businesses, as well as a place to escape them. Whatever the reason for visiting

Esquires, every customer enjoys being in a comforting and peaceful environment where they can rely upon exceptional service and delicious food and coffee. Esquires draws on that need by providing a warm and welcoming experience while offering Organic Fair-Trade coffee, along with a range of quality teas and the latest in health focused cold drinks as well as delicious food freshly made in store. This clearly differentiates Esquires and has created a distinct goodwill with our customers who have become enduring and loyal devotees of the brand.

The Expansion of the Business with Strategic Planning

From moving into new markets to developing new products, franchising has given the company different

avenues of growth. More specifically, it has helped the company grow by allowing them to utilize the talents and local knowledge of their franchise owners whilst they can focus on building the brand, the supplier network, generating value and improving their systems.Additionally, having franchise owners that challenge them daily to refine their systems for maximum efficiency is a powerful way of growing, which they would not have otherwise. Indeed, franchising has its challenges as well.Assembling a team of like-minded individuals is incredibly important, as is finding qualified franchise owners that share our vision and values. However, franchising has fostered the growth of the company largely with over 100 successful stores today.

Over the last number of years store growth has been steady and indeed continues to be so and in the more recent past they have also been marrying store growth to in house improvement in profitability through improved food programs and focus on procurement. While the latter does not necessarily bring about growth as such it does drive profitability in store for the people at the coal face, their franchisees.

The Experts Driven by a Vision

Doug started Esquires at the age of 24 along with his friend while they were still in search of a promising career path. Without any experience to begin an entrepreneurial journey was a challenging task however the suburb of Vancouver known as North Delta, is a

land brimming with working professionals, students, and families of all ages, which could have been one of the factors that boosted Doug to take an unnerving step of risk. Taking calculated risks and standing strong despite the challenges has brought Esquires in the lead position today.

Aiden Keegan took over from Doug in 2018 and has played a vital role in the strategic growth of the company and having been a major contributor in the growth of the business. “Having been with Esquires, albeit in the Irish and GCC sides of the business since 2004 it sometimes seems to me that I have done little else! However, I did also spend some years in Ireland's biggest indigenous coffee chain before joining Esquires and before that in various roles across hospitality.” Says,Aiden.

Aiden's roles and responsibilities as the CEO of Esquires are quite varied and cover everything from operational improvements to procurement to franchisee development as well as looking after the balance sheet. In terms of the emotions around this, it is mainly pride in the job being done by the great team,Aiden finds himself lucky to have a skilled team around him and the 'product' they deliver to their customers, the franchisees.

The Vision of a Unanimous Team

The team is passionate about ensuring their customers enjoy their experience at Esquires. They focus on building an emotional connection with the customers, paired with a functional solution to achieve a unique brand attachment and loyalty. Some of their key means of ensuring an exceptional experience in their coffee shops are:

Ÿ Acommitment to third wave coffee excellence and the desire to pioneer new innovative espresso beverages that are helping to shape the future of our coffee such as our recent Black & Tonic.

Ÿ Freshly roasted Organic Fairtrade coffee, teas and chocolate served alongside a selection of carefully chosen healthy and freshly prepared in store food.

Ÿ Individually designed and immediately recognizable cafes, exhibiting our sustainability commitments, independent character and proudly located in premium locations.

Ÿ Comfortable seating and readily accessible internet connections, supported by great music and magazines

Ÿ Staff are extensively trained to ensure they value all customers and practice a personal service

Ÿ Constant innovation to stay ahead of our competitors and strengthen our reputation of always being “the place to be”

The Future of Esquires

Esquires already operates in numerous countries around the globe including Ireland, Canada, China, Pakistan, UAE, SaudiArabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan and Portugal. Franchising at its core, is essentially the leveraging of a good

idea or a suite of good ideas and sharing that IP and adapting it for the market you are entering, however, for it to work one key factor must be at the heart of the business, the Franchisee. Without the Franchisee there is no franchising so their wellbeing in the business is the keystone to building any successful franchise. However franchising may change in the future, this tenet ought to remain true and adhered to. Esquires plan is to continue this expansion but in a sustainable way with strategic partners on the ground in these and new locations.

Esquires started with soul, passion and love.and today, 25 years later it has made a remarkable impression on the coffee industry. With over 100 successful stores, Esquires has taken the lead in the market as one of the best coffee brands with the best service. The skilled leadership and knowledgeable team continues to work hard to stay in the lead.

Caterina Berbenni-rehm

Hard Work is a Virtue, Smart Work is a Talent

When you identify a way of performing a task with intellect over efforts, you have achieved the way of success in this fast-paced business world.

Caterina Berbenni-Rehm, Founder and CEO of PROMIS@Service, started her journey with a similar approach and she mastered the smart way of business. She believed in efficiency and quality which forms the foundation of PROMIS@Service, a Cloud and Intranet eco-system of interactive tools. Caterina was positive about her vision and as she kept going, her entrepreneurial journey sped up. Leading the way with an out of the box thought, Caterina's journey is a true inspiration. In this exclusive read, Caterina shares her success mantras that motivated her to achieve her dreams.

What were your dreams and aspirations while growing up?

My aspiration was to do everything I had to do, with minimum effort!

Whenever a task or goal was set before me, at school or, later, at work, I always looked for the streamlined

method of achieving it. My mother said I was lazy, but, which of us, these days, can afford to keep throwing time, money and effort at the work in hand? This was the beginning of my dream to offer European businesses a way of getting necessary work done in the most efficient way possible.

What led you into this field of work?

My emotional intelligence never squared with technology, but when I met my husband, an informatics engineer working for KPMG, he convinced me that everyone was building mere hardware and machines without considering the 'soft' side of technology e.g. human-machine interaction, cognitive science, psychology, cross-cultural aspects, multilingual communication, rules and ethics at work. These non-tangible aspects were precisely what fascinated me most.

What were the initial challenges and setbacks that you faced?

Everything we do centers on the question of how to make knowledge a tangible asset, because knowledge is

the most valuable individual and human capital.

The challenge at the beginning was to understand the multi-sector, multilayered, multinational, and multilingual requirements of the users, so we could address their problems in the best way. The major challenge here was to simplify all that complexity down to a “bird's eye view”, which meant we had first to map the overall situation, analyzing the statusquo to get a comprehensive understanding of it.

An innovation bringing a paradigm change in the delivery of new services, with high market potential, was never going to develop smoothly! It turned out to be a long and challenging, undertaking, which we would never have managed without a trusted, international team and the support of European institutions.

There were setbacks: it proved difficult, for instance, to demonstrate in practice how these methods and tools could make knowledge a 'tangible asset'; inventing and integrating the new business models into the digital platform's eco-system was not easy; and we experienced that where money can be made, certain business

Maria José Amich

Committed to Developing Students' Full Potential to Become Principled Global Leaders

The most popular sort of business education remains top MBAprograms. According to statistics by the Graduate ManagementAdmissions Council (GMAC), MBAprograms account for two-thirds of all business school admissions. The MBA's capacity to adapt to changing corporate environments is one of the reasons it has stayed so popular throughout the years.

By adapting to new technology and changing corporate needs, MBA programs have maintained their status as significant career boosters.

The Lisbon MBACatólica|Nova is cooperation between two prominent European business schools situated in Portugal: Católica-Lisbon and Nova SBE. It began in 2007, and then in 2009, it partnered with MIT Sloan School

of Management, a relationship that has grown stronger since then.

The Lisbon MBAoffers students a unique blend of a challenging academic component, a "learning by doing" educational method, a truly international orientation, and a unique component in leadership qualities development. Given that its MBAis situated in Lisbon, a diverse and dynamic European centre, with an immersion program at MIT Sloan in Boston, a globally famous start-up hotspot. The MBA program at the institute helps students become inventive thinkers and innovators with an entrepreneurial and forwardthinking attitude, ready to make a significant effect on business and society.

The Lisbon MBACatólica|Nova has been consistently recognized as one of the top MBAs in the world by the prestigious Financial Times ranking, and belongs to the selective club of <1% of MBAs in the world with the Triple Crown Accreditation (AACSB; Equis; AMBA)

The Executive; Maria José Amich

Maria JoséAmich's role as Executive Director of The Lisbon MBAis to continue working to improve the institute's competitiveness, unique positioning of the programs, and international reach by collaborating with deans of the schools, academic directors, and all stakeholders (faculty, alumni, students, and partner companies) to foster long-term and

Executive Director, The Lisbon MBA Católica

sustainable relationships. She states, "Our goal is to continue attracting the best talent to our programs with the integrity and the open-innovative mindset that identifies us, investing in fostering diversity in all criteria and boosting the prestige of The Lisbon MBA in the international academic landscape, reflected in our growing position in the rankings."

The Lisbon MBACatólica | Nova

The Lisbon MBAoffers two MBA programs:

Ÿ An International MBAintensive 12-month full-time program aimed at high-potential professionals with an average of 8 years of experience (minimum of 3), who want to accelerate or change their careers through a unique transformational experience in the development of management and leadership skills.

Ÿ is a 22-month Executive MBA part-time program, aimed at more senior professionals, with an average of 13 years of experience (minimum of 5), who wish to progress to top management positions in their organizations or change careers, with minimum disruption to their professional and personal life.

Both programs feature an immersion program at MIT Sloan: the International MBAlasts one month and the Executive MBAlasts one week, with both focused on entre(intra)-preneurship, digital business transformation, and technological innovation.

According to Maria, the Lisbon MBAis constantly updating its curriculum to incorporate the latest business trends, guaranteeing that students gain the management technical abilities and behavioral competencies that firms, and organizations in general, want in their managers and leaders. She states, "We offer high levels of employability, sector change, and salary increase of 90% after 3 months of completing the MBA and salary increase of close to 80% after 3 years of having completed the program (source: FT Global MBA 2021 Ranking)."

Finally, despite the pandemic's impact over the last two years, executive management programs have grown in popularity, with the institute receiving an increasing number of domestic and international applications as more companies, entrepreneurs, nomad business people, and investors from around the world consider Portugal as a place to live and work.

Redefining Business Education

The management of the Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova is looking for more than just strong CVs. It is committed to quality and diversity. It seeks out future global leaders who can have a substantial effect on business and society with a wide range of abilities, accomplishments, and goals, and who embrace the institution's values of honesty, cooperation, excellence, innovation, and sustainability. "People who have a high degree of self-awareness, can do introspection, and identify exactly their areas of improvement are open to change, to

innovation, and to being challenged outside of their boundaries," explains Maria.

To be able to adapt to the requirements of a global, everchanging corporate environment, the Lisbon MBAemphasizes diversity, inclusivity, and a culture of integrity. It has more than 20 nationalities represented in its programs, with 60% of full-time MBAinternational students coming from a variety of professional and academic backgrounds, including engineering, medicine, law, management, economics, and social sciences, and working in a variety of business sectors.

The educators at the Lisbon MBAare always on the lookout for applicants who can bring a variety of experiences and views to the table, and who can inspire others with fresh ways of thinking, new models of analysis, and new solutions and techniques to improve collective learning.

Furthermore, the faculty is made up of professors who are a mix of academics and practitioners with extensive international experience, bringing not only the results of their original research but also real-world business experience to the classroom, contributing to a global perspective on business management.

Keeping Innovation at the Front

The management of the Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova places a high priority on creativity and innovation, and believes that training managers and leaders with an entrepreneurial

mindset, who can turn ideas into business models and generate creative solutions, is critical. In this regard, its long-standing partnership with MIT Sloan is evidence of this curricular focus, as the internationally acclaimed Professor BillAulet's entrepreneurship course (Disciplined Entrepreneurship) is part of the MIT immersion program for its students, which is supplemented by subjects focused on technological innovation management and digital business models. Students can also take courses in Big Data & Data Analytics,Artificial Intelligence, Business Transformation, and Financing Entrepreneurial Ventures, among other subjects.

In all degrees, the institutions' action learning component – learning by doing – is particularly strong. Students in the International MBA program have the option of completing an in-company assignment, participating in an international consulting project that takes our students to different geographies, being a part of the Lisbon MBAEntrepreneurship Hub's accelerator program, for those students who want to turn their business idea into a viable business project, or participating in an ESG consulting initiative, for those students who want to broaden their knowledge in this key business d

All students in colleges' Executive MBAprograms work in groups to complete a business project and a business simulation, which allows them to put what they've learned throughout the program in marketing, commercial, finance,

operations, organization, and human resources, as well as behavioral skills, into practice in order to excel in their teamwork as high individual and collective contributors for high performance.

It's also worth mentioning the alumni community's vitality, which just inaugurated the Entrepreneurship Chapter, with monthly seminars and a start-up context, in collaboration with the world-renowned Web Summit, which takes place in Lisbon every year. The winner of the context, who might be a Lisbon MBAalum or current student, will receive a booth at the Web Summit.

Rooting with Core Values

By offering students with a unique learning experience in an entrepreneurial and international setting, the Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova is devoted to helping students reach their full potential as global, principled leaders who contribute to a better society.As a result, it has a value proposition based on five elements:

Truly Global MBAexperience, outstandingAction Learning, a Holistic approach, combining the learning and development of hard and "deep transferable" skills, a Meaningful CareerAdvancement, contributing to its students' finding and pursuing their life and career purpose, and finally, the city: Lisbon, the place to learn, live, and grow.

Within these five strategic pillars, the institute is constantly renovating its proposal, by incorporating new projects, new expertise, and new

partnerships that allow it to continue innovating and strengthening its unique value proposition.

Comprehensive, Custom-Oriented MBAProgram

In terms of goals, the management seeks to improve the Lisbon MBA's status as a European and international reference for MBA programs.

As previously stated, the Financial Times has named the Lisbon MBA Católica|Nova as one of the greatest MBAs in the world, and it has been ranked #1 in international experience for several years. It was also named one of the best MBAprograms in the world by The Economist for the first time in 2021. Maria asserts, "As we look for candidates who are open and eager to challenge themselves, at the Lisbon MBA we need to set the example by permanently questioning how we do things and how we can do them better."

Being a part of the world's finest MBAprogram makes the participant extremely proud, but it also comes with a great deal of responsibility to stay one step ahead in every aspect, including academics, but also in the way it recruits, communicates, and offers career services and customoriented program support.

Founding Director, JS Global

Jane Stevensen

A Leader With An Unsurpassable Record In Supporting Businesses In Their Sustainability Journey

Success is different for everyone. Whether it's achieving accomplishments in building a thriving business, academic prowess, public recognition, financial gain, bringing up a family, playing a musical instrument, cooking something delicious, whatever form it takes, for Jane Stevensen, Founding Director of JS GlobalAdvisory, success comes from following a passion and striving to make a difference – and not just for her individually but for the people and the issues that matter to her.

LeadingA Company To Success Is Not An Easy Road To Take

Jane's career has taken her from the world of international oil & gas exploration to advising global organisations on environmental risk and opportunity, governance, climate strategy, and engagement across the whole spectrum of ESG. Jane's working environment has ranged from the oil rigs of the North Sea, the rare Jarrah Forest of WesternAustralia, the rainforest of Papua New Guinea, to theApennine Mountain home of the European Brown bear. Many of these places comprise fragile ecosystems with

enormous environmental challenges, which led her ultimately to set up her own business.

Working in such beautiful and extraordinary locations, and with her underlying love of the natural world, a passion since Jane was a small child, led her to a clear understanding that the planet is a stakeholder in all operational activity, and through the amazing people she met and the teams she led, developed her belief that business has the potential to be a real force for good. “My journey has taken me through a route encompassing international business, commerce, academia, and the third sector. I have gained insight and experience from the oil & gas industry, academic institutions, management consultancy, financial services, and influential climate NGOs, eventually leading me to set up JS GlobalAdvisory in 2018”. After a long career in the commercial world, Jane grasped the opportunity to spend time in the NGO sector for four years leading up to that point in 2018.

Jane was able to draw on over 20 years of experience in senior roles with leading organisations, building on expertise in creating global

engagement programs and developing sustainability-driven strategies. She gained extensive international speaking experience as chair, moderator, and panellist at global events including the UN Climate Conferences most recently at COP 26 in Glasgow in November 2021, at the annual World Economic Forum meetings, the UNCTAD World Investment Forum meetings, the UN Environment Programme, New York Climate Week, and the Global Sustainable Innovation Forum events. Jane is also an advisor to a global consortium on planetary re-greening and re-balancing the carbon budget. This group is comprised of senior business leaders, high net worth individuals, academics, and policy experts, working towards developing a new framework for understanding climate change, and addressing six action areas for implementation.

Challenges Make You Stronger

When Jane started her career in the Oil industry, there were very few women in the professional world she was inhabiting, and being the lone woman was something she became very used to. There were many

occasions when that could have been difficult, but she states she has a definite “glass-half-full” approach to life and has always loved a challenge. “My years in the Oil industry provided me with the opportunity to build real resilience and strength – when working on location there's no HR department to ask questions of, and no time to ask them anyway – you have to deal with the situation as it arises. I believe that, as a woman in those situations, the combination of professionalism and clear understanding of the requirements of the working environment, together with a strong degree of empathy and understanding creates a powerful recipe for success,” she explains.

Jane's decision to move from the commercial world to the non-profit third sector could be viewed in some ways as a roadblocking moment in a successful corporate career, but she would call it a major milestone, and a decision that in many ways was a leap of faith. She viewed this as an unprecedented opportunity to work with people whose passion for the planet resonated with her own, without the pressure of shareholder returns, and by doing so she was able to effectively contribute towards achieving the critical changes the world needs in addressing climate change.

JS GlobalAdvisoryAnd Its Services

JS GlobalAdvisory works across sectors and brings particular knowledge, insight, expertise, and understanding of the natural resources and energy industries – often called the “hard-to-abate” sectors. Their approach to sustainability consulting and climate change strategy and engagement is built on a unique understanding of the diverse perspectives that influence the

way governments, businesses and financial market participants address the mega-trends affecting our planet and society.

The key areas of focus for clients consist of: Engagement programs, sustainability strategy, TCFD advisory –implementing the recommendations of the Taskforce for Climate-related Financial Disclosures, and ESG services – providing a full service Environmental, Social, and Governance advisory capability.

Staying Abreast InA Competitive Industry

The JS Global clientele ranges from global FTSE 250 companies to small independents. Climate change and the need for a sustainable business strategy affect every business and everyone in it. From the initial launch of JS Global, Jane has built strong relationships with other major advisory organisations, and they now have working partnerships with several firms including one of the WPP Group of communications agencies, one of the world's topranking global energy, research and data firms, and a highly respected and influential London and New Yorkbased financial communications and reputation management consultancy.

The vision of JS Global in the next five years is to be able to provide the toolkit for businesses, regardless of sector or size, to address both the risks and opportunities of climate change and be part of the global solution. Moreover, they want to be able to inspire organizations to believe they really can do it and radically increase ambition to achieve much greater targets than they thought possible.

Influencing ChangeAs A Woman In Leadership

“Part of being successful for me is being able to contribute to a wider community and give time, insight, and support to younger people. Mentoring, supporting and listening, passing on knowledge and understanding is an essential part of how I live my life,” says Jane. She is a mentor for two fantastic initiatives supporting young women – 'INSEAD IW50' and 'Inspiring the Future'. She completed her MBAat INSEAD, the international business school headquartered in Fontainebleau, France, and jumped at the chance to be a mentor on their IW50 program, established in 2017 on the 50th anniversary of women joining the MBAprogram. Inspiring the Future is an incredible UK-based charity that matches volunteer mentors with schools, to give the students opportunities to hear from people from across the professional world and boost their motivation, attainment and prospects. The programme is particularly targeted on working with schools in underprivileged communities to inspire the future generation.

Jane's Life Before JS Global Advisory

Before establishing the JS Global Advisory business, Jane was combining the challenges of working life with family life. She was building her career, and became a Director of a major Environmental Management Consultancy when she was expecting her first child, and continued to worksometimes part-time - as her family grew. She took some time out from the business world when her three sons were small, went into academia for a while as a Course Director for the University of Cambridge, becoming involved in the development of CISL,

the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. Throughout all of this, her family has been the most important part of the equation. “To be able to do this requires a huge amount of planning and prioritisation, a lot of help and back-up, and right at the top of the list, it's vital to keep hold of your sense of humour!”

The start of Jane's career was dominated by travel and adventure. Joining the international oil industry opened up a world of new and exciting environments, and a need to be self-sufficient and able to think on your feet. Plus the occasional frisson of danger and no idea how things were going to turn out. She declares that she wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Jane states, “Since establishing JS GlobalAdvisory, it is enormously gratifying - and rather humbling - to find myself regularly invited to speak and participate at major world events, most recently for example at COP26, and recognised as a voice to be listened to, addressing the climate-changerelated challenges the world faces,” She has spent almost all of her working life focused on this. “To see so much engagement now with these complex issues from business, industry, governments and institutions alike –although we have an enormous challenge ahead of us to address global warming – is incredible,” she adds.

Balance In Personal And Professional Life

As Founding Director, Jane, who defines herself as an Optimist, says that the business reflects her style and approach. She is collaborative, she likes to listen to all viewpoints, and determine the facts, but also the nuances and opinions of all the parties

involved. The business is now a partnership, and her co-directors are involved in all the key decisions and client engagement.

As the world is beginning to emerge from the Covid-19 pandemic, our ways of working are starting to go through another period of change as we begin to get back into offices and public spaces. Jane is an early riser, a lark not an owl. The morning is spent checking the emails, working on client pitches, and responding to requests. She has a daily morning Zoom call with her senior business partner where they touch base on what's needed for the day, review new opportunities, discuss the current projects, and generally catch up. She takes a break and if she can she gets out into the fresh air and takes her dog for a walk. Then back to her desk for the afternoon, often with client calls and reviews. Jane enjoys cooking, and dinner is usually around her kitchen table with whoever is at

home from her family. She is looking forward to getting back to the theatre and opera which she loves, and supporting the arts again.

Work-life balance is always a real challenge, and although the pandemic has been devastating for the world in many ways, Jane thinks it has shown us new ways to work and create a more realistic and healthier approach to managing our time. Spending unnecessary hours travelling is something we should be avoiding – for our health and well-being, and it reduces our carbon footprint so it's good for the planet too. Jane claims to be a perfectionist, and second-best simply doesn't cut it for her.

Laetitia Cailleteau

A Progressive Leader Delivering Robust And Innovative Technology Solutions

All of us are constantly driven by the desire to succeed. However, success is a relative term, because what you may consider 'successful', may not fit someone else's definition. Laetitia Cailleteau, states that success for her is about making the world a better place, working as one with clients, communities, and her teams. Creating impact and being a change agent are essential elements of her definition of success. Staying balanced and grounded across all her roles - mother of three, wife, and daughter is an important aspect of her successful journey.

Laetitia is the Managing Director, DATA&AI Europe Lead, and the Global Lead for ConversationalAI for Accenture. She believes that the toughest part these days for many of us is to be in the now, to ride that crest and enjoy it. “I work hard at being present in the moment. But I've always got my eye on the future. I'm always thinking of ways to lead my teams to have that greater impact, to master the transformations required to better serve our clients,” she says.

LeadingACompany To Success With CourageAndALeap Of Faith

The consulting industry, by default, always pushes you to the edge of a world of possibilities driving transformation and change. “The depth and breadth of the impact are exciting, especially in a company likeAccenture that covers all industries and facets of transformation,” she states.

She strongly believes in the fact - what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. “The biggest roadblocks are the ones we learn from most, forcing deep reflection, causing us to question things, reassess and change course. It's hard to pinpoint specific roadblocks,” she explains. Laetitia's job is all about pushing the boundaries of what's possible so perseverance, rethinking, and evolution are key.

There are precious few templates around how to be a woman and mother in such a demanding leadership role in tech. It requires vast stores of energy. And it requires constant awareness of the cultural stereotypes that must be resisted. “I can see meaningful progress in the industry but it's not

happening quickly enough. The key is to grow your support networks with people who believe in you, who give you energy.And you must never stop believing in yourself,” she states.

The Services OfAccenture

Accenture is a global professional services company with cutting-edge capabilities in digital, cloud, and security. Their mix of specialist skills and experience is, truly, unparalleled. They've got 674,000 people working across more than 40 industries. They offer services in Strategy and Consulting, Technology and Operations, and Interactive, all powered by the world's largest network ofAdvanced Technology and Intelligent Operations centers.

“Without hesitation, I can say our people deliver on the promise of technology and human ingenuity every day, giving their best to clients in more than 120 countries. We embrace the power of change to create value and shared success for our clients, our people, our shareholders, partners, and communities,” exclaims Laetitia.

Vision ForABright Future

Laetitia believes that we have entered the 4th industrial revolution and that significant and accelerated change will power the world. She wants to be at the forefront of this movement - a shaper of a better future rather than a passive actor. She loves this quote by Churchill: If you don't take change by the hand, it will take you by the throat.

She strongly claims thatAccenture is the best place to work and that's not only her biased opinion, the market agrees. It has an inspirational ethos and mantra: 'Let there be change'. Change is the only constant and it is what unites them all to be the best at what they do.

Julie Sweet, their CEO, is spearheading their transformation, and Laetitia exclaims that being on this journey with her is very exciting. The organization is about living a purpose. “How we infuse the crossroads of technology and human capability to deliver differentiated value to our clients is made possible only through the individuals here,” she says.

She believes that their talented people are what will carry them forward to even greater success. She also believes they must keep investing in a diverse employee base, as the diversity of thought and experience is what will allowAccenture to thrive in an evolving society. She is committed to creating a vibrant and engaging community to help shape the paths of people, allowing them to see how important they are for the company's future.

Women Empowerment & Representation

Women represent more than half of the global population. They tend to be superstars at emotional intelligence, mastering versatility, and balancing various demands and needs.Asociety without the right level of women empowerment is a society that tends to be more divisive, power-hungry, and reactive, always firefighting. “We are essential in bringing more balance, openness, and harmony to our roles and we do it proactively – fact surveys and statistics tend to overlook,” says Laetitia.

Laetitia surrounds herself with a very diverse team in terms of gender, religion, social background, disabilities, age, and sexual orientation. She states that she knows her teammates well. “I know what they can bring at work but also what motivates them outside of the office. I also make time to see how junior staffers and new hires are getting on in my division. I recently created what I call #nofilter sessions for the 3,500 people aligned to Data &AI,” she adds. She invites all of them to book 20 minutes with her to discuss anything they like.

Authenticity is key in these sessions and Laetitia openly shares her struggles and her coping strategies. She creates a safe space for people to open up, to show her their true selves, and let her help them navigate the workplace.Arecurring topic for working mothers is how to manage the guilt . She helps them find their ways and power in what others may see as quirks or vulnerabilities.

The ultimate recognition for Laetitia is the feedback she receives from members of her team and their clients. “It's often unexpected, coming out of the blue, and it's always appreciated. Knowing you're making a positive difference is such a great reward,” she exclaims.

ResponsibilitiesAs Managing Director

Laetitia, who defines herself as a visionary, is the lead forAccenture's Data &AI business for Europe, which means she's responsible for ensuring its strategic growth. Data is a key enabler for business growth and having the opportunity to lead the charge in this space is a phenomenal opportunity.

“I would say my days are far from regular. That's why I enjoy my work. Oscillating between client requests and the business the piece of work we're doing, means wearing multiple hats and constant multitasking. Every day is exciting,” she states. Laetitia thrives on the challenge of staying on top of market trends, innovating, and delivering leading-edge value to their clients is always on top of her mind.

Balance In Personal And Professional Life

Laetitia claims to be a very driven person and she is passionate about what she does. When she sets a goal for herself, she achieves it. That said, she states that she can't do it on her own. She has a fabulous support system. Her family understands the demands she places on herself and gives her the space to operate. Similarly, she recognizes that getting the balance right for herself and them

requires the right dynamic. They create a good space to thrive as a whole.

Secondly, she surrounds herself with very smart, capable individuals. They are people she trusts, people who challenge her, people who are better than her, people who complement her and each other. Laetitia tries to create an environment for them to flourish. They create a north star and vision of what they would like to achieve as a business and consistently celebrate their successes. Giving teams autonomy and recognition sparks productivity and collaboration. It fosters growth and helps achieve shared objectives.

“It's also not always about work; we have great programs encouraging wellbeing. People are not just a set of professional skills. We consider the whole person,” she says. In addition,Accenture provides a world of possibilities for reinvention. It's a great place for someone to define their space and their interest and drive their ambitions for growth. Laetitia states that when her team grows and is successful, so does the business. They strive to thrive together and that's how they keep raising the bar.

Pearls Of Wisdom For HerYounger Self &Aspiring Businesswomen

“I would give my younger self the gift of having more hope. Nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. We are all humans, even the people at the very top of the career ladder. They are there because of their choices, their focus, their sacrifices, their hard work,” says Laetitia, “Where you come from may give you an advantage but it is not defining who you are. I'm proof of that, the proud daughter of a single

She now has a fantastic mix of international experience, she's made a wonderful family, and she's achieved things that amaze her every day. Laetitia believes in herself, in her abilities, and took opportunities that she created or that presented themselves.

Her message for aspiring businesswomen is - don't compromise

on your values and interests. These become your framework and guide to reaching your level of success. “In the end, what matters is to be passionate about what you're doing. Stop proving yourself and keep improving yourself; do it because it matters to you. The rewards and recognition will follow,” she adds.

teen mum,” she further adds.

Belton Flournoy

A Leader In Technology Consulting Practice While Paving The Way For Minorities To Be More Inclusive

Goal setting is important, it inspires and motivates you.

People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. Belton Flournoy, a director with Protiviti - a global consulting firm, knew he wanted Information Technology to be his second major right from his first IT class and he credits his professor at the time, Dr MonikaAyda, for the same. Belton realised that he rarely saw people who looked like him in business and he then told himself that he wanted to be the first openly gay, Black CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

“To be honest, I don't think anyone knows where they 'want to be.' If you asked me 20 years ago, I knew I wanted to be actively driving change, but was unsure of what that looked like,” he says. Now, as a director with Protiviti, he states that he truly enjoys helping his clients to solve their complex problems—especially the ones that leverage the newest concepts and technologies.

Self-BeliefAnd Hard Work Will Always Earn You Success

Belton remembers wanting to work at Protiviti after seeing it in BusinessWeek's '50 Best Places to Launch a Career,' combined with the

travel opportunities offered by a consulting career. “With Protiviti, I have been able to work in Milwaukee, Seattle, Chicago and now London, as well as having travelled to over 19 countries, including Brazil,Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo. I also found myself at Protiviti,” he exclaims.

As an adult, he struggled with his identity, even going back into the closet when he relocated to the U.K. Over the past 10 years, he has been able to find his authentic self, and that is thanks in large part to Protiviti, which has a great culture that exists no matter where in the world you work.

“Success is not important at all—finding a passion that drives you is,” states Belton. One quote that has stood out for him his entire life was said by Booker T. Washington: “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.” Belton says that he loves this because it helps him to always look at a challenge as the next rung to achieve success, rather than something to drag him down.

ASet-Back Is Not The End, It Is

Success In Progress

Failure has been the single biggest driving force behind Belton's professional journey. “I ended up having to take time away from university due to finances, which was the first time in my life I felt lost. I returned a few years later with a fiery passion to succeed, which led me to get almost allA's after my return and receive offers from three top global organisations upon my graduation,” he explains. That passion has continued well into his professional career.

Belton agrees setbacks should be viewed as a learning opportunity. He has been doing improv for several years now and he never envisaged the impact it would have on his public speaking ability. “The course taught us to stop focusing on what you cannot control (failures/setbacks) and focus on what you can, which is your ability to do better the next time,” he further adds. Even a personal setback, if viewed in the right way, can make a stronger person.

“I've had my fair share of challenges,” he says. But only one stands out and relates to him personally. Belton had just completed a project at a global financial services

Managing Director, Protiviti

company and was invited to meet with their head of change. Right before he walked into the room his client told him, “Don't let him know you are gay.” Belton responded with “I will not, as that has nothing to do with my delivery.” He soon realised that his sexuality is just as important as the colour of his skin, or the fact that he is from Texas. “Hiding it does not make me stronger, it eats away at my ability to be my authentic self at work… I recognise the value and importance of developing an inclusive workforce, and of being a leader who makes people feel empowered and able to be themselves in the workplace, which leads to greater productivity,” he explains.

ProtivitiAnd Its Services

Protiviti is a global consulting firm

that delivers strategic insights to help business leaders confidently face the future. Protiviti provides clients with consulting and managed solutions in finance, technology, operations, data, analytics, governance, risk and internal audit through its network of more than 85 offices in over 25 countries.

Right now, it is facing what it likes to call the 'perform storm' of external and internal drivers that can act as both challenges and opportunities for businesses. These factors include globalisation, digitalisation, evolving regulation, increased cyber-security requirements and ever-changing business models. Protiviti works by balancing risk with opportunity to provide business solutions that enable its clients to realise the potential inherent in their business.

Protiviti's culture makes it different from its competitors. Their CEO, Joe Tarantino, is a strong leader who empowers everyone in Protiviti to work together to serve clients in exceptional ways. “Our culture is a strong asset and competitive differentiator that shapes our daily activities. We focus on building strong and lasting relationships with our clients and we are proud that so many have become long-time trusted partners,” says Belton.

Vision For Protiviti

Protiviti believes in finding innovative ways of providing value to its clients and has trained all its global staff on design thinking concepts. This allows them to work alongside their clients, embedding innovative concepts into their capabilities to

deliver lasting change and value. One example is VISION by Protiviti, which is an exciting new global content resource exploring big, transformational topics that will alter business over the next decade and beyond. Through VISION, Protiviti aims to spark new conversations in boardrooms and the C-suite and provide a platform for innovative ideas to surface.

Organisations are also continually looking to improve their business models, improve the experiences of their customers and automate their business processes. To achieve these goals, firms are now looking for partners who think outside the box to provide tailored ways to solve the challenges. Based on their deep expertise, innovative approaches and wide experience across industries and geographies, Protiviti sees itself becoming a trusted partner for many of them.

They are also excited by many of the latest technology developments, including process mining, identity analytics and quantum computing, and plan to help their clients become more effective and efficient through the adoption of these new technologies.

RolesAnd ResponsibilitiesAsA Director With Protiviti

Belton says that in his day job, he is a director with a global management risk consultancy. He focuses on identity & access management and cyber security and leads a team of security experts who provide their clients with strategic technology solutions.

“Atypical day starts with a team meeting where we cover any critical issues and discuss the state of our business. We then discuss specific client strategies, ranging from how to define and implement a structured digital identity programme, to more targeted discussions related to defining segregation of duties framework or automating processes in a user access lifecycle,” Belton explains.

Besides his client work, Belton is a very active participant in Protiviti's grassroots-driven employee network groups, including its proPride LGBT+ and proCulture ethnic minority groups. He's also a leader for Technology Community 4 Racial Equality (TC4RE), a group of leading U.K. technology organisations dedicated to building a more diverse and inclusive workplace, of which Protiviti is a founding member. Belton is extremely happy to have helped develop the 'Protiviti culture' during his time in the office.

The pandemic presented Protiviti with numerous challenges, and Belton exclaims that he is pleased to say they've been able to give their people the support and care they needed, including providing additional benefits and work schedule flexibility. Together, their culture of putting their people first and making sure they're empowered to achieve their goals has meant that as a firm they've stayed strong and focused. “Protiviti also supports my diversity, equity and inclusion efforts outside the firm, such as my work with The Inclusion Initiative (TII) at the London School of Economics where I am an Advisory Board Member and with TLC lions where I act as an inclusion advocate, frequently speaking with

organisations about the need to maintain focus on ethnic growth at all levels and providing transparency into some of the challenges faced by people of colour,” he says.

Work-Life Balance

The work-life balance culture is one of the best things about Protiviti. Belton loves telling people to go to LinkedIn and search their hashtag #livingprotiviti for an independent view into their inclusive and supportive culture.

Protiviti's leaders and managers work to ensure their people know they are valued and respected, and if they do ever feel overwhelmed, Protiviti offers a variety of programs and benefits to help, including flexible working, part-time working, sabbaticals and other mental health services. “We've been listed seven years in a row as one of Fortune's '100 Best Companies to Work For' and there's a variety of reasons why we continue to receive this and many similar accolades, including our work/life balance,” he further explains.

Amessage Belton has for his younger self is: Don't stress yourself out about every failure—instead, focus on what went wrong and realise it will only make you stronger.

And his message for aspiring leaders is “when you start doubting your abilities—stop and let your boss do that. The imposter syndrome will only drag you down. Oh, and we all suffer from it.”

Natalie Foster

Leading Innovation in the Legal Sector by Founding Advance Virtual Law Firm

Co- Founder of Inspire Legal Group, Natalie Foster is a former business manager at Barclays Bank who transitioned into the legal industry to work in business development. The Group includes Inspire Legal Academy, which will give lawyers and other legal professionals the skills they need to benefit from the world of blockchain, smart contracts, and legal engineering, as well as Inspire Crypto, a company that will help develop products that enable property transactions to proceed via blockchain, are other ventures she has established. She says, It's our intention to inspire lawyers to see that there are many different things they can do in practise and to find new ways of delivering legal services. We are a group of colleagues where everyone has a stake in the success of the business."

Inspire Legal Group

The innovative virtual law firm from Inspire Legal Group, formerly Foster Clay, aims to give lawyers the tools they need to start their own practises and related businesses, such as technology solutions.

Inspire Legal Group currently employs 23 lawyers as consultants who are building their practises with complete back-office assistance. They aim to double the number of consultants by the end of 2022. They work with paralegals, licenced conveyancers, solicitors, and legal entrepreneurs who require a support network to develop their own tech products, and are enouraging other lawyers, at all levels to “join the movement” [one of the Group's taglines] . 11 people are currently

employed by Inspire in Scarborough to help the lawyers.

Early Background

Natalie comes from a business, finance, and lending background. She started a law degree when she had her children, and she is still pursuing her SQE and LLM because being a solicitor would be sacrilege to her. She sees herself as a business leader who develops a team and garners support to bring about change. She works in the legal industry and is aware of the significant obstacles that must be removed before law and procedure can be applied to technology. Although the Law Commission is doing fantastic work in this area, a comprehensive solution is required. Inspire Legal Group and Vleppo (a Danish Blockchain Technology company) have forged

CEO, Inspire Legal Group

a new alliance. She says, "We have the means to do what others are only consulting on at this stage. Being asked by Vleppo to work with them over other larger firms has been an honour and I cannot wait to let the public know what it is we have planned."

Leading Legal Group

In the first lockdown, Inspire Legal Group was created.After hearing Boris on the TV say that the public were not permitted anywhere, Natalie sat in her bedroom with her laptop and felt a sudden wave of freedom being taken away from her. She knew that many lawyers lawyers would find it difficult to function alone at home. She had resigned from her previous partnership position in order to start a business that would "survive the times then flourish." The objective was to establish a business that supported Web 3 and was entirely operationally digital. Regulatory compliance, lawyers' education in terms of understanding and buy-in, and the ultimate consumer client's need to be aware of the advantages of blockchain in the legal sector, such as security and speed, are just a few of the difficulties Natalie mentions.

Consultants who are in their own right entrepreneurial and have project ideas of their own can join the firm to have the support of reserved legal activity insurance when they require it. Under the firm'sABS (alternative business structure), they can offer niche services to their clients, retaining the majority of their fees. She asserts, "We've created personal brand workshops, lead gen support, and back office administration to support them. But what we're doing goes beyond

being part of a “firm”, it's being part of a community. I don't want to be in competition with highstreet firms we are not. I want to , offer a different way of functioning in the sector by removing the issues many artists face when transferring property and support the legal sector in the journey to using block chain technology. This is what Inspire Legal Groupis doing. "

Responsibilities at Inspire Legal Group

As CEO, Natalie is responsible for the strategy, progress, and implementation of all projects within the group and ensures the relevant leaders have all the tools they need to undertake the roles the firm expects them to work with.

Moreover, hers job is to build the brand of the group and ensure people know she is here to listen to new ideas and be non-conformist. She states, , "Not anarchy this is a different thing. People think that disruption is an uncomfortable place to be. It isn't if you have the education, support, and direction of leaders. That's what I do."

Sharing the Significance of Challenges

Natalie quotes Hamilton, "Talk less, smile more." She finds that this saying, although simple, encapsulates the changes she has made to develop and bounce back after trusting in the wrong things and learning from failure. She asserts, "We all fail. We are all allowed one mess up. If we learn from it, it has not been a waste of time and energy."

Natalie states that one should partner with people that share his

or her values and ethics. She adds, "Distance, background, sector, and all kinds of things can be a little obstacle in this digital age, but a gap in ethics or integrity can mess with the balance of a team. When implementing change, there are constant dynamics and relationship changes. These need to be managed and respected, and if one party isn't working as hard as the rest, it causes upset in the ranks." She has learnt from this and selects her partners based on attitude and conduct over anything these days. She thanks the challenges she has faced for allowing her to realise her value to others at darker times, and suggests that you always have something to offer.

In and Out of Work

Natalie fits her work in “a little and often” around the needs of her two small children. Her hobbies are supporting her daughter in her dancing and she is often sat at the back of a hall or theatre emailing the HQ team.

Natalie shares that Inspire Legal Group has great respect for family. It has to be this way. Her team misss nothing. She says, "If we support employees' personal journeys as well as their professional ones, the loyalty you receive and buy-in is unparalleled. The perception by some is that this is a weakness it ,isn't."

Achieving all the Dreams

Natalie admits that while she feels content with what she has accomplished so far, she is unsure of her plans for the next 40 years. She thinks, "We are all working through life in chapters. We do not need pigeonholing, and so what I do now might be different from what I do in 10 years, but whatever

it is, I will always love being in business, providing opportunities for others to develop and building success from the ground up." She further adds, "Hard work doesn't have to be a painful slog. If you have an amazing team and good, smart processes, you can do anything. For me, the process has been everything. I'm lucky to have a strong board who does not allow me to veer off. Energy is not enough you , need strategy and reasoning."

Why are you doing this? is something Natalie asks herself regularly. She finds dreams are subjective. She initially started simply wanting to be able to take a holiday, knowing the team and business were sustainable. She asserts, "Trust gets you there, and

now I want to see that the projects we have are successful and we deliver the change the legal sector so desperately needs. Ask me again next year!"

Key to Success

Natalie has not experienced conventional or even convenient success. If anything, it has disrupted the market more than anything else because she entered the market with a critically constructive perspective. She initially intended to go to law school, become licenced as a solicitor, and

eventually join a partnership. This changed when she observed the extraordinary operational challenges that partners and lawyers in general face, which prevent them from working on future strategy but, more importantly, fire fight daily with outdated views of how people should handle requests and restrict their opportunities for access to justice.

"Success to me now is to influence and construct positive change wherever possible using the gifts and control you have at your disposal," says Natalie.

For her, this is a strong network of partners who support her vision for a web3 solution for the legal industry. That is client-focused, justice-focused, and complaint-driven, and it gives lawyers and the regulator confidence to proceed without fear.

Future of Inspire Legal Group

Natalie's goals for the future include expansion, senior leadership, and a focus on the areas where clients currently lack access to justice.Also included are litigation, business, and corporate, as well as crypto asset tracking. She says, "Anyone who isn't getting where they need to be in the corporate pyramid and knows they have a value talk to us. We set lawyers , up to practise in their own way with their own clients and educate them in tech so they remain relevant, supportive of their clients' needs, and multi-skilled in an ever-changing landscape."

Managing Director, PEOPLE FOCUS doo

Saša Marinkovi

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Buoyant and Successfully Entrepreneur Focused On Building Strong and Inclusive Business Teams

Business Development Specialist, Saša Marinković has more than 20 years of experience as Managing Director in five-plus companies in Serbia and Romania. Saša is an expert in establishing foreign companies in the fields such as IT, Real Estate, Agriculture, Sports, and leading the sectors of HR, administration, and finance. He is the Owner & CEO of PEOPLE FOCUS doo; a company that mostly focuses on the IT and software industries, but their work reaches beyond just that, enabling them to help clients make a mark in whatever industry they might be in.

PEOPLE FOCUS and its growth under Saša's exclusive leadership

PEOPLE FOCUS is still a young start-up company, founded inAugust of 2021. Even though they are such a young company, they managed to be recognized as a good IT recruitment company in a short time, with additional support that can be a very good business development partner

for any company combined with big experience and young professionals from different educational backgrounds.

As a recruiting company, PEOPLE FOCUS is more focused on clients from the DACH region, because of Saša's Austrian background and as a German native speaker, but they are also dealing with clients from other countries like France and Britain.

Their main focus is to work with clients with whom they have a good mutual understanding and good communication. “This makes our life easier and all sides are more satisfied. Connecting good and right people with good companies is our passion,” states Saša.

Success is the ability to do what you love and while maintaining balance in life

If you are in a position of choosing the clients you want to work with, your team, the partners, all the people

you cooperate with and also have your time under control to do most of the things you like without having the feeling that you are working at all, then you may say you have become a successful leader in your area of expertise, and Saša proudly says, “I am lucky I am almost at this point in my career.”

In this situation, you will also have a good work-life balance. Therefore, everyone should focus more on people and choose the right people to work with. In order for Saša to select a person he looks for 3 traits:

1.to have great energy and passion for what they do and to be a trustworthy person.

2.to be a proven professional in the area she/he is involved in or that she/he has the potential to be one of the best in their area of expertise and to be interested in expanding their knowledge when needed.

3.to be capable to teach others and also be taught, for sharing

knowledge is the highest form of creative connection on the road to sustainable mutual success.

Challenges make you wiser and help you grow

Saša claims that his whole life has been accompanied by great challenges, starting from his birth. He believes that challenges, even if they make our work more difficult, are necessary elements of individual growth and bring out our true potential. In today's environment the earlier you start to cope with challenges the better you are capable to deal with new challenges.

“I would like to point out a major challenge I faced when I was 27 years old. It was the end of 1999 and I had just moved from Vienna to Serbia. I started almost from scratch (with no contacts in Serbia) to deal with big challenges and to do business development for different businesses in parallel,” says Saša.

One of the specific challenges he focused particularly on was solving a lack of talent in the IT industry. To expand the IT talent pool, he supported innovative solutions created by startups. The three most successful ones specialized in conducting IT specialization and requalification training and developing an online tool for testing job candidates. This has become one of the best apps in the world in this category where People Focus is also a Sales representative.

Achievements and recognition received as a talent acquisition leader

Saša has a great passion in playing key roles in assembling winning

teams for various projects where he connects and brings together people from different fields. He had that chance in his previous work experience where he developed and led multiple successful projects from different fields in parallel at the same time, but most of all he had a passion in somehow bringing people together from Serbia and the region and connecting them toAustria, where the end result was successful and everyone was satisfied, which was not an easy task but he states it was so fulfilling for he finds inspiration in creating a win-win situation.

The importance of a team is best described by Steve Jobs who used to say – Great things in business are never done by one person. They're done by a team of people.And that is something I always have in my mind.

Personally, Saša finds gratitude and satisfaction in occasions when the employees or people that he worked with on a project told him that they liked to come to work because of the people in the team, that this was the key factor that motivates them to work where they have found a mutual purpose a friendly environment to grow that moves them way beyond the monthly paycheck.

“As a leader there is a need to create a good team which is capable of organizing and reorganizing themselves for different things that pop up in a working day in order to achieve success in any field, and when that is achieved, then there is no better recognition for me than knowing I have assembled a functioning “self-sustaining” team that didn't fail,” states Saša. It is like in sports teams.As a leader you have to select the right people and put them together but you have to do this often

smoothly, and sometimes you will choose the wrong people, it happens and it is normal, but you have to react very fast and choose the right ones for every position you need in your team, then you need to also give your team time to adapt and to learn to work together. “As a leader your main task and goal is to be the team support in reaching the defined goals,” he says.

Life before and after becoming CEO of PEOPLE FOCUS

Born in Vienna, Saša lived and worked in Vienna until the end of 1999, when he moved to Serbia. He started his career in Vienna in 1994 with part-time jobs, for instance, Hewlett Packard in the credit & finance department for Eastern Europe.Also, for over three years, he worked as a technical support team lead at Netway, one of the first Internet Providers inAustria (founded by Raiffeisen Group).

In 2000 Saša accepted a job offer to move to Serbia to re-establish an Austrian company, Teletrader Beograd, in which he remained a managing director for the next 21 years. Teletrader was one of the first IT companies in Serbia that he developed from its inception to a business that now employs over 150 employees. He also managed another smaller IT company, a subsidiary of SUPERFUND for over 15 years. He was also the representative for Sports Sponsoring of theAustrian investment fund SUPERFUND in Serbia.

Another domain of Saša's expertise was agriculture business development. Two companies he established and managed for more than ten years in this domain were Bio Farma d.o.o. in Serbia (Organic

Production) andAgrimir în Timișoara, Romania.

Another complex challenge was from 2017 to 2021 where he ran a complete engineering reconstruction project of an 800m2 office space (two floors), the undertaking of Teletrader Real Estate.

Saša, who defines himself as a 'people-oriented' person states that his passion is playing a key role in selecting the right people for every project, connecting people and therefore supporting businesses to reach their goals. To create a winwin-win situation.

Saša's motto is a saying that you don't build a business – you build people. And then people build the business.

As owner and CEO of PEOPLE FOCUS Saša's responsibilities include a wide range of tasks focused on managing the company's overall operations and resources. Starting with finances, administration and legal work and ending with sales or finding good clients. He is consistent with what he does and the way he does it. Focused on building teams and making people he works with feel valued, included, and motivated in their work.

Plans for the future of PEOPLE FOCUS

The future plan for PEOPLE FOCUS is to become the No. 1 company in Serbia and the surrounding region in the IT recruitment area and in becoming a long-term partner for companies from German speaking countries likeAustria, Germany and Switzerland.

Saša states that he has achieved most of the dreams he put on paper when he was 23, but not all of them. “There are a few more I would like to fulfill, hopefully, by this time next year to accompany my 50th birthday celebration,” he exclaims.

Staying motivated to maintain a balance in life

“Focus on working with the right people (in a company that has an understanding for work-life balance) gives you a chance to be successful in this mission to maintain balance in your personal and professional life,” says Saša.

If you treat every employee as a human being with the respect and acknowledgment they deserve while also apologizing for any mistakes made and allowing your employees to be open with you and express their opinions freely on a regular basis, then you will have your employees motivated.

Also, to offer customized benefits for your team, the company needs to focus on what is important for the employee and not be only focused on

what other companies are doing, i.e. to customize benefits with the personal needs of employees. Each and every company needs a different approach with their employees depending on both the company and the employee needs and capacities. “I can personally say I am mostly motivated when my clients and employees are equally satisfied in reaching the mutual goals,” Saša states.

Saša's message to aspiring entrepreneurs is: you should always be fully focused on your goals and should always find the time to find the right people that you can count on.A good team and partners you can trust give you peace and mind space to concentrate fully on business and private matters. If you make a mistake in choosing the wrong people you can still do the right things eventually, but you will lose a lot of energy, opportunities and more. So be wise in your choices.