Contributors

Neeraj Kaushik

Neeraj Kaushik, Principal Consultant, is a Product Manager for the Infosys® McCamish NGIN platform initiative at Infosys McCamish Systems, US. He is a published author and Top Voice on LinkedIn in 5 areas-Insurtech, Business Analysis, Product Management, Artificial Intelligence and Data Architecture.

Neeraj is an innovative and effective thought leader recognized for achieving exceptional results in highly competitive environments requiring continuous improvement and has driven the business of large-scale technology projects based out of the US, UK, India, and China Geography for the last 18+ years. He has an excellent insurance business domain, architecture, design, and implementation skills in various life insurance administration as well as producer management & compensation systems.

Prior to this, Neeraj was part of Big 4 Consulting firms like PwC & Deloitte where he led digital transformation programs and strategic consulting initiatives across the Life, Annuities, and Property & Casualty Insurance space.

He holds a master’s degree in insurance & risk management from Birla Institute of Management Technology (BIMTECH) and the designations of ALMI (LOMA), Fellow of Risk Management Association of India (RMAI) and President Select Member (Leadership Excellence at Harvard Square).

Nicole Zhou

Nicole Zhou is a Senior Partner from McKinsey, who leads McKinsey’s work on banking and wealth-and-asset management in Greater China. She is also a leader of McKinsey’s work on transformative capability building and growth transformations in retail banking across Asia.

Renee Koh

Renee Koh is the Deputy Head of the Swiss Business Hub Southeast Asia + Pacific, which serves as a gateway to Switzerland’s deep tech ecosystem. Prior to this, she was Head of the Swiss Business Hub ASEAN, where she led export and investment promotion, international and government relations, and both multilateral and bilateral engagements, among other responsibilities.

Salman Shahid

Salman Shahid is a visionary CEO and AI Architect recognized for his digital marketing expertise across diverse industries. 

As the MD of Just Hub LLC, CEO of Noah Technologies with a flagship project OXO Packaging, CMO of DevBatch, and leading other ventures, he drives multidisciplinary business growth through strategic leadership and technological innovation. 

Salman’s passion for AI and business development fuels his commitment to delivering cutting-edge solutions.

Samrat Bose and Keith Davies

Samrat has more than 15 years of professional experience, largely in cross-sector and cross-market strategy and operations consulting. His focus is on consumer-facing functions and corporate strategy, particularly in the energy and utilities, manufacturing, and public sectors. 

Samrat has worked with large corporations and governments on how to identify opportunities and mitigate risks amid an age of digital disruption.

Keith is the Energy, Resources & Industrials Industry Leader at Deloitte Singapore. Prior to joining Deloitte, Keith had more than 20 years of oil and gas industry experience with a leading supermajor. He has held executive leadership positions in strategy, global sales and marketing, and business unit management.

Keith has worked in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the United States, and has business experience throughout the industry value chain.

He has led a variety of strategy engagements in Southeast Asia including corporate and business unit growth strategy, business model design and transformation, route to market, pricing, and innovation, as well as customer proposition design to drive greater consumer insight and brand experience.

Steve Rafferty

Steve Rafferty is a seasoned business professional with a distinguished 35-year career in the global IT industry. Steve joined Zoom's global executive leadership team in August 2024 as Head of EMEA, and since February 2025, he is also responsible for the APAC region. Steve's exceptional leadership skills have been instrumental in building and guiding diverse teams towards success. His ability to implement multi-channel go-to-market strategies has consistently yielded impressive results.

Stuart Rogers & Daphne Lee

Stuart Rogers is the Regional Head of Commercial Banking, International Markets, Asia Pacific for HSBC, looking after the commercial/wholesale banking businesses in Bangladesh, Mauritius, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam. Stuart has held this position since May 2022.

Stuart joined HSBC Group in 1999 and has held a number of senior positions in Commercial Banking, Strategy and Risk Management across Sri Lanka and Maldives, Indonesia, Hong Kong and Australia. He was most recently Head of Wholesale Banking for HSBC in Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Daphne Lee was appointed as the Head of Commercial Banking at HSBC Taiwan since January 2023, leading her team to achieve record-high financial performance in the past 18 months. Before her current role, she served as the Head of Global Trade Solution Team (GTS) in Taiwan strengthening HSBC’s leadership in structure trade finance and sustainability area.
 
With over 25 years of experience in the banking industry, Mrs. Lee joined HSBC since January 2008, and held a variety of managerial positions in different areas of the Bank, including risk management, commercial banking, corporate finance structuring, international trade and sustainability. Prior to HSBC, she worked at Cathy United Bank and KPMG.
 
Daphne holds an MBA degree in international business administration from National Taiwan University.

Sunshine Farzan

Sunshine Farzan is a global marketing executive with a passion for helping companies build and scale their business through the integration of digital, marketing, product innovation, demand generation and PR. She has two decades of experience of building brands, enhancing customer experiences, and transforming businesses through digital innovation in Asia Pacific and North America. She currently leads Global Marketing & Communications at Tricor Group, a PE-backed professional services firm. Sunshine is a board director, an active contributor to business publications, and a certified career coach.

Tessa Distor

Therese Reyes

Therese is Canvas8’s lead editor in the APAC region. She works with experts, journalists, and analysts to understand trends and make sense of them for clients across industries. She was previously editor of VICE Asia, where she led the team in winning a Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) award for Excellence in Arts & Culture Reporting. As a reporter, she covered current events, K-pop, global pop culture, life, and mental health. She’s spent time in Hong Kong but is now based in the Philippines, splitting her time between busy Manila and the mountain city Baguio.